Enter the Slasher House
by Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks
  • Record Label: Domino
  • Release Date: Apr 8, 2014
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
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  1. Austin Chronicle
    May 1, 2014
    67
    A burbling psychedelic rain forest that harks back to the vintage wood nymph traditions that once defined the AnCo legacy.
  2. Mojo
    Apr 23, 2014
    80
    The album's stand-outs come when they soften their stance. [May 2014, p.93]
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  3. Q Magazine
    Apr 23, 2014
    60
    File under "trip-pop." [May 2014, p.105]
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  5. Magnet
    Apr 18, 2014
    70
    It's when things slow down that Tare and Co.'s melodic intentions (and intensity) gets a better, clearer outing without losing their daring noisiness. [No. 108, p.58]
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  6. Filter
    Apr 17, 2014
    64
    Fans of Animal Collective may enter the Slasher House and revel in Tare’s fun-sized treats, but others might be too disappointed by the tricks, remaining contented with the Haunted Graffiti next door.
  7. The Wire
    Apr 16, 2014
    80
    There's a generous, sloppy fistful of day-glo power-pop in these songs. [Apr 2014, p.52]
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  8. Fact Magazine (UK)
    Apr 16, 2014
    70
    The result is a strange paradox in typical Animal Collective style: a suite of songs that’s at times alien, other times sentimental; often cutesy, but a little too bristly to curl up with under a blanket.
  9. Under The Radar
    Apr 14, 2014
    65
    Enter the Slasher House is a fairly successful recreation of the sheer joy experienced in the intentionally macabre. It's a little silly sometimes.
  10. Consequence
    Apr 10, 2014
    58
    While the album is undoubtedly fun and includes a few absolute gems, this mismatch [twisted samples meant to indulge the horror intentions, but rarely entirely integrated into the music] makes Slasher House a middling success.
  11. Exclaim
    Apr 8, 2014
    70
    While not as rewarding on multiple listens as anything the Collective has ever produced, Enter the Slasher House is the ideal detour between now and the band's next record.
  12. CMJ
    Apr 8, 2014
    80
    The Slasher House is like going to one of those haunted cornfield mazes around Halloween time. As you sneak through the maze, things are a little scary, and you’re not always sure what will happen next. But it’s exciting, fun, and once you realize you obviously will make it out alive, you want to keep going back in.
  13. Paste Magazine
    Apr 8, 2014
    79
    Ultimately Enter The Slasher House excellently parallels the campy horror flicks and haunted houses that inspired the band’s name.
  14. Pitchfork
    Apr 8, 2014
    73
    Enter works best when it's not begging for an ENT.
  15. Rolling Stone
    Apr 8, 2014
    70
    These 11 songs feel like a natural extension of Animal Collective's sound and a welcome addition to the band's ever-evolving extracurricular catalog.
  16. PopMatters
    Apr 8, 2014
    60
    Each song is fried in a large vat of production grease and because everything is in such excess (the unfortunate mixing on the drums, the reverb, the extra blips and bloops that end up sounding like blahs), it’s an exhausting listen to get to the end.
  17. Pretty Much Amazing
    Apr 7, 2014
    67
    The campy Scooby Doo spookiness that inspires Slasher Flicks’ aesthetic is so charming and irresistible that Enter the Slasher House regularly succeeds despite its faults.
  18. Spin
    Apr 7, 2014
    70
    Buoyed by girlfriend and former Dirty Projector Angel Deradoorian and ex-Ponytail drummer Jeremy Hyman, Tare has plenty to bounce off of here.
  19. New Musical Express (NME)
    Apr 7, 2014
    70
    This is one house of horrors that’s worth the ride.
  20. The Observer (UK)
    Apr 7, 2014
    60
    The heights reached by the band members' day jobs are never scaled.
  21. The 405
    Apr 7, 2014
    75
    Overall Enter the Slasher House is perhaps too subtle to sit amongst the likes of the Cramps, Goblin and Zombie Zombie playing John Carpenter, on your future Halloween playlist.
  22. AllMusic
    Apr 4, 2014
    70
    It's overflowing with excitement, optimism, and overwhelming beauty that distract you just enough to disregard the sounds of rustling footsteps behind you growing closer.
  23. The Independent (UK)
    Apr 4, 2014
    80
    Both musically and lyrically, the project cleaves to that kind of silly-spooky, funfair innocence, in a way that lends the album a freakish, cartoon unity denied to some of Tare’s previous projects.
  24. Drowned In Sound
    Apr 4, 2014
    60
    Enter The Slasher House sounds like a direct sequel to his swampy solo album, and wrongly marginalises the influences of his collaborators.
  25. DIY Magazine
    Apr 4, 2014
    80
    This delight of an album might bend and warp reality, but it’s also a rare gem because underneath all of its trickery it still projects back a reflection of something completely grounded.
  26. The Guardian
    Apr 4, 2014
    60
    At times, Enter the Slasher House feels like a carbon copy of Animal Collective, replete with effects-soaked hazy vocals mashed against high-tempo art-pop.
  27. NOW Magazine
    Apr 3, 2014
    80
    Even as the songs delve deeper into the funhouse, there’s almost always an earworm leading you out of the fog.
  28. Clash Music
    Apr 2, 2014
    70
    Enjoyable, but some’ll always believe in it more than others.
  29. musicOMH.com
    Apr 2, 2014
    60
    A largely entertaining but occasionally baffling listen, Enter The Slasher House sadly falls just short of Animal Collective’s best work and Panda Bear’s stunning solo projects.
  30. The Line of Best Fit
    Apr 2, 2014
    80
    Enter The Slasher House is stylish, daring and captivating; spooky, but not scary.
  31. Uncut
    Apr 2, 2014
    70
    Slasher House is not so different to the last Animal Collective album, 2012's bristly Centipede Hz. [May 2014, p.69]
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 21 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. a_straats
    Jul 27, 2016
    9
    This is a great album by a super band. Including Avey Tare, Angel Deradoorian and Jeremy Hyman. Little fang is a fantastic single. Although itThis is a great album by a super band. Including Avey Tare, Angel Deradoorian and Jeremy Hyman. Little fang is a fantastic single. Although it seems like the best moments on this album are when the aren't so drowned out with effects and same goes for the vocals. Sometimes the effects are just too much. I would like to see another album that is more polished with less effects and Deradoorian doing some vocals. more of a 8.7.… Full Review »
  2. atmosphericrex
    Aug 14, 2015
    7
    It feels like walking through a haunted house, it's very fun, somewhat scary (in a sort of blanket with eyeholes cut out sort of way) and sortIt feels like walking through a haunted house, it's very fun, somewhat scary (in a sort of blanket with eyeholes cut out sort of way) and sort of cramped at times. Sometimes you'll get to a really jazzy, cool part like "Little Fang" and be like "woah this is awesome", and sometimes you'll get to a part where one of the actors will touch you for a little longer than is socially acceptable and you'll be like back off.… Full Review »
  3. Scooter4849
    Apr 23, 2014
    5
    This album is very similar to the previous Animal Collective album, Centipede Hz and is incredibly overdone i think. Could've really benefitedThis album is very similar to the previous Animal Collective album, Centipede Hz and is incredibly overdone i think. Could've really benefited from a more conventional approach. The real stand out tracks on the album are Little Fang and Strange Colores which benefits from this approach. Though the rest of the album has some good melodies, it is just destroyed by the overuse of effects.… Full Review »
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