Review: Lair of the Minotaur – I Hail I

Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 1st May 2026 Originally published here: https://thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/lair-of-the-minotaur-i-hail-i/ The return of Chicago’s Lair of the Minotaur has been a long time coming, having been in relative silence since 2010’s excellent ‘Evil Power’ record (seriously, find ‘Let’s Kill These Motherfuckers’ and tell me that’s not on of the best tracks of the decade), and they are bringing us a whole new album, ‘I Hail I’, of their thrash infused doomy sludge. ‘I Hail I’ is out now through the band’s own The Grind House Records, and I really hope it has the brawn to stand up to the expectations we’ve all quietly built for sixteen years. The first time I ever heard Lair of the Minotaur was all the way back in 2004, and I remember being amazed at just how heavy ‘Carnage’ was at the time, completely uncompromising in its doomy-sludgy/thrashy attack. To find this kind of band on Southern Lord was a bit of a surprise, as they seemed far too aggressive and…