Review Summary: Slough Feg puts out their most straight ahead, best album yet.
Slough Feg, once known as The Lord Weird Slough Feg, are the most widely known purveyors of a specific branch of the metal tree that refuses to accept that the 80's ever ended. They play defiantly retro music, steeped in the NWOBHM.
Ape Uprising finds the band putting aside some of their earlier folk influences, focusing on making a harder record. The result is the heaviest record the band has put out to date, an eight song collection that wouldn't feel out of place on any classic rock radio station.
"The Hunchback Of Notre Doom" opens the album with a droning power chord, dripping the kind of analog sludge that modern bands can only remember as a figment of their youths. The song is the doomiest piece the band has released, grating through four minutes of lumbering Trouble inspired riffs. If Mike Scalzi's voice was an octave higher, the distinction might be impossible to make. This is a serious twin guitar doom assault, which broadens as the album unfolds, inching the tempo back up, sounding like an updated version of Trouble's 1990 self-titled masterpiece.
If Trouble is the easiest comparison to make, one aspect must stand out above all others; a singular vocalist. Though sounding nothing like Eric Wagner of the legendary doomsters, bearing more resemblance to Manilla Road's Mark "The Shark" Shelton, Scalzi's gravel-enriched tenor is unmistakable in this world of screaming, high-pitched singers struggling to unload their lungs with every syllable. His delivery is comfortable, using the nuances of his ragged voice to give the songs a color beyond the pummeling guitars.
Taking bits and pieces from the aforementioned Trouble, as well as Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, and a host of other classic bands, the twin guitar assault pumps out classic riffs and tasteful solos that never fall into cliche. The title track is a ten minute stomper, complete with a Maiden-styled galloping middle section, and an instrumental back end good enough that the lack of vocals isn't noticeable. This is quite a feat when such a recognizable voice is present.
The songs on Ape Uprising are not perfect. While the guitars weave a tapestry of classic rock, Scalzi is left to deliver mostly forgettable melodies. His voice is unmistakable, but what he is singing is easy to forget. Still, the rest of the band makes up for this shortcoming, turning Ape Uprising into a solid album that will do nothing to diminish Slough Feg's standing in the metal underground.
They may never break through into the mainstream, but Slough Feg is doing their part to prove that quality old-school metal will never die.
