 | Tracklist:
1. The Return of Dr. Universe
2. Tiger! Tiger!
3. The Sea Wolf
4. Hardworlder
5. The Spoils
6. Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Blues
7.Galactic Nomad
8. Dearg Doom
9. Insomnia
10. Poisoned Treasures
11. Karma-Kazee
12. Whirling Vortex
13. Street Jammer
Release Date: 2007 | |
|
On 2 Lists
|
| Summary: Slough Feg's studious blend of early metal and celtic rock may be their best release to date |
Dropping the cumbersome “The Lord Weird” prefix was more than just a practical measure for Bay Area heavy metal outfit Slough Feg. The release of Atavism in 2005 revealed a symbolic aspect to the move, too; shedding many of their more progressive leanings and shying away (even more) from mainstream power metal sounds, Atavism gave birth to a leaner, more accessible Slough Feg, who could indulge frontman and guitarist Mike Scalzi’s fantasy and science fiction obsession without coming across completely arcane and cultish. At the same time, simplification seemed to come more difficultly than anticipated. Atavism, while occasionally brilliant, lacked the cohesion of earlier albums in terms of both style and quality: while the music continually made reference to the likes of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy, these influences rarely came together into a central identifiable “sound.”
While Hardworlder won’t do much to rein in fans alienated by Atavism’s drift away from fast and bombastic power metal, it is a much more focused and well-rounded effort. In contrast to the schizoid effect of Atavism, Hardworlder has a consistent sound which, while less original than their earlier material, at least gives the impression that the entire album is being performed by a single band. The album’s style clearly harks back to the formative days of heavy metal- Deep Purple, Saxon and UFO all come to mind- as well as early NWOBHM and the pioneering Gaelic rock groups Thin Lizzy and Horslips. The loss of two key band members, far from proving disruptive, seems to have helped solidified the band’s sound: the dual leads which Scalzi and new guitarist Angelo Tringali trade off are as compact and tuneful as anything in the band’s back catalogue, and relentlessly so; drummer Antoine Reuben-Diavola’s small kit and slower, chugging rhythms are a more appropriate fit than previous drummer Greg Haa’s more virtuosic approach; and Scalzi’s smoky baritone is more suited to the style than the Dickinson-like theatrics of earlier albums.
Musically, it appears as if Slough Feg are influenced primarily by Celtic rock rather than the folk styles which informed them. The disc includes a creditable cover of Horslips’ ‘Dearg Doom,’ while the sludgy ‘Karma-Kazee’ and the epic, acoustic guitar-driven ‘The Sea Wolf’ both bear the jigs n’ reels imprint Gaelic rock’s first band. Thin Lizzy’s presence can be felt more strongly in the twin-guitar melodies which punch through just about every track- ‘Tiger! Tiger!’ and ‘Galactic Nomads’ are particularly faithful to the source- and in the basic, primal beats which introduce a natural tension to the songs. Scalzi’s interests appear to be directed more toward folklore than folk music, and again ‘Dearg Doom’ is a useful reference point. ‘Dearg Doom,’ literally ‘Red Doom’ or ‘Red Destroyer,’ was written in reference to the great flame-haired Celtic warrior of myth Cúchulainn whose exploits were documented in the ‘Táin Bó Cuailgne.’ Scalzi has often made reference to the stories in his lyrics, authoring titles such as ‘Brave Connor Mac,’ ‘The Pangs Of Ulster’ and ‘Fergus Mac Róich,’ while the band itself is named after the villain of the comic book series Sláine, which is loosely based on The Táin.
The album’s sole black mark is the murky production. While the lead guitar tracks are uniformly clean and precise, less attention has been paid to the remainder of the mix. A doomy atmosphere detracts from the natural spirit and optimism of the music, sidelining bass (particularly) and drums, and sounding perhaps a little sludgier than it should. Minor complaints aside, Hardworlder may yet lay claim to the best album title in Slough Feg’s discography to date.
|
| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Excellent album and review
Digging: Tegan and Sara - Sainthood
| | |
Wonderful review Spat. I'm a big Slough Feg fan, but unfortunately the cds aren't easy to find.
| | |
For a guy who hasnt heard any Slough Feg (besides the listening party, liked the songs a lot) I didnt take much out of this review about the album at all. Besides you mentioning the changes from their previous album, and of course citing their influences and labelling their sound as "Gaellic/Celtic rock," I found this pretty uninformative.
Digging: Between The Buried And Me - The Great Misdirect
| | |
I think it's more than descriptive enough...the second and third paragraph basically outline everything. Sure there's references to their back catalogue but it's still framed in a way that explains what the back catalogue entailed.
Digging: A Forest of Stars - The Corpse of Rebirth
| | | Album Rating: 4
I shied away from describing specific songs because it would have been a redundant exercise, but reading over it I seem to have included everything I wanted to. What do you think I could have added?
Also added a couple of streams. There's a short, vaguely annoying voice-over on each, but it'll just give you an incentive to buy the full tracks when you're done 
Digging: Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful of Sunshine | | |
It's informative enough. I think everyone's just used to your long-winded reviews so that if you write a short[er] one, they feel like they're missing information.
The streams are okay, particularly The Sea Wolf.
Digging: Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind
| | |
I reread it. Perhaps Im just not too familiar with genres such as folk and celtic rock. I still wouldnt really know what to expect if I picked this up. If you described more how Scalzi's "smoky baritone" is better suited for this kind of music than Dickinson-like pipes, or (for example) how vital the guitars are and what excellent displays of musicianship are found, I guess Id have a better view of what to expect and if Id like it. I mean, Ive only hardly listened to two of the bands you compared them to. Are their dual leads fast? Slow? Do they like to take off into diving solos or do they accompany the vocals? Stuff like that.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I enjoyed the review...I love these guys.
| | |
album rules hard
| | | Album Rating: 3
albums good
I wish they had less overall songs, and slightly longer song structures...but its still great
so much iron maiden influence lol
Digging: Converge - Petitioning The Empty Sky | | |
better than iron maiden tho!
| | | Album Rating: 3
well TLWSF's discography is better than Iron Maiden discography in terms of consistency, is just plain better than Iron Maiden's stuff from 1990 onward...but to say that anything by this band is better than Maiden's s/t, killers, or tnoftb is just plain false.
But i haven't heard all of Slough Feg's stuff yet though.
| | |
|
Stumble
Digg
Twitter
Del.icio.us