The Northern Slaty Antshrike is about 14 cm long. In Peru, PeruAves records separate populations in the Chinchipe, Marañón and part of the Huallaga valleys.
Males are gray with a black crown and white-tipped wing coverts that form bars. Females have olive-brown upperparts and a rufous crown; their underparts are gray or have a pale central belly, depending on subspecies.
It forages in deciduous forest and scrub.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.