search
more stories
 

Slough Feg - Animal Spirits

print   email   RSS
 November 8 2010 at 01:55:40 AM



Who bears the mark of the Beast? The Lord Weird Slough Feg’s managed eight full-lengths over its two-decade existence. Built on sci-fi mythos, crypto-zoological aberration—borderline supra-weirdo fascination with apes and cats and worlds known and unknown—all efforts have been good and really mostly great and often utterly brilliant while remaining totally goddamn insular (and therefore extremely unhip) is all anyone needs to coerce a few do-nothings into an evening of chips, beer, and “Lycanthropic Fantasies.”

Extensive line-up changes did little to derail Slough Feg’s core sound, which was/is well retained and even fantastically embellished. Said sound is precious and formidable, naïve and worldly, at once close and vast as any pick of primordial canyon. Lot of the credit lies with vocalist/guitarist and Heavy Metal standard bearer, Mike Scalzi, who’s even taken up The Cause with provocative series of Heavy Metal prolegomena hosted by, of all places, “The Metal Blog” Invisible Oranges.

When Scalzi’s not regaling nameless, faceless many with tales from this side of Authenticity, he’s singing/shredding his ass off. That his performance ranks with the lot of supercharged museum artifacts (mid-period Deep Purple [viz., In Rock and Fireball], Dio-fronted Sabbath, and Di’Anno-fronted Maiden) should be no shocker to anyone with even limited experience with the band. Scalzi’s charisma and emotional investment in the music is part and parcel to what-it-is-to-be Metal.

Purple, Maiden, and Sabbath in earlier and Ozzy-less incarnations knew this. Their vocalists served as filters, separating undesirable element(s) from what was necessary—true, essential substance. Singers did more than sing; they built aesthetic systems; hearers heard songs not only as construction verse/chorus/verse, but also as statements about living Metal—perhaps humanly impossible to “do” (with exceptions few, Lemmy Kilmister, or not even Metal at all, Keith Richards). Mortality and responsibilities aside, most settled hopelessly with pure aspiration: weekend warriors at stage’s front, neck gone jelly, fists forever in air.

No surprise The Animal Spirits, like all Slough Feg’s prior efforts, is an unabashed and passionate embrace of Heavy Metal song-craft in its most base and unadulterated form. Songs could’ve been sung tone-fucking-deaf on clipper decks hundreds of years ago by grog-sucking saltdogs. They could’ve been chirped ‘n’ bleeped on undiscovered moon faces by molluskean beings dreamed into being by Michael Moorcock’s more inchoate work. That they’re not makes them even more curious, crafted by men utterly bereft of irony, empowered by the same whatsis that compels Scalzi to question the value of “extreme Metal” and those that fall hook/line/sinker for an industry thrilled to pimp all-form-no-content recordings for an audience entranced by quirks and gimmicks and impoverished mimicry of work utterly exponentially—and existentially—greater.

Out of the frying pan, into the friar, these tunes come relentlessly, slowing only to goad tankard-in-air sing-a-long, quickening even before hoppy suds dry upon littered floor. Riffs and leads fucking abound. It’s a pickem between what works “best.” It’s all good, too good, recalling a new encyclopedic grasp of WHAT REALLY WORKS with strings and wood and electricity, a sort of mind-altering gloss of Mark Shelton ‘n’ Dave Murray songbooks that doesn’t ape or quote or tongue-‘n’-cheek, but simply honors and upholds, respect as starting point numero uno with an end indefinite and hopefully a lifetime away.

[Stewart Voegtlin]
The Lord Weird Slough Feg
The Animal Spirits
Profound Lore
2010

Related

- Slough Feg - Ape Uprising
- Slough Feg - Hardworlder

Comments (10)

  • 47 comments
    Helm
    7:34 AM on Nov 08, 2010 // reply »
    I love a lot of The Lord Weird Slough Feg records I have but somehow none of them to the degree where I'd proclaim them one of my favourite bands ever. I am not sure why as I think I'm familiar with the reference material and I have a Heavy Metal soul. The closest is 'Twilight of the Idols' for me but that might have to do with my impressionable age at that time and the decade I've had with it since. It's probably unfair to the band that I feel more like returning to that one and building on the experience I've got with it instead of picking up the new one.

    It's been interesting the Invisible Oranges articles and the replies to them. I see a clear (though not untroubled) lineage from Heavy Metal to the various forms that are now called 'extreme metal' and I'm trying to connect the dots on my blog. I find songcraft, though unorthodox, in a lot that M. Scalzi proclaims to be tuneless. They're few and far in between, extreme metal bands with songs, as few and far in between there were 80's metal bands who had not only songs but a worldview to support them, where an entity is summoned. If there's any impoverishment of metal music over time it is in the realm of spirit and cosmology, not so much in the lack of coherent songwriting in my opinion.

    It was a hopeful thing to see so many people respond to those articles and in articulated ways. It seems the readers need a figure of authority to question them in this way before they're willing to risk an informed reply, however.
  • 386 comments
    VOEGTLIN
    8:17 AM on Nov 08, 2010 // reply »
    I need time before they are "OMG My Fave Band Ever." At this point that honor goes to AC/DC, Manilla Road, Maiden, Rainbow, etc etc etc. But Slough Feg are on the right track; I don't dislike anything they've ever done and all of their records hit me viscerally despite lots of folks wanting to wallow in their technical skill or heady lyricism. Those two things don't necessarily make for good Heavy Metal...

    Scalzi's IO work initiated the norm of "butthurt" and then the "WTF Bro It's Just Music," but then folks worked at his text and tried to understand his point(s) and how they may or may not be applicable to their lives and experience with Heavy Metal.

    I can relate maybe too well to what Scalzi's dishing out, but I know I'm not going to be any happier sitting inside all day and continually queuing up AC/DC's High Voltage.
  • 47 comments
    Helm
    9:14 AM on Nov 08, 2010 // reply »
    Promoting discussion on what Heavy Metal means to the individual is a risky thing and whatever visible artists like M. Scalzi can offer on this front is welcome. Many other prominent metal figures wouldn't do it for fear of interrupting consumption flow.

    Whatever your opinion on Invisible Oranges, I think we'd agree that providing a forum for such a discussion as the one occurring around M. Scalzi's articles is a very welcome thing. It can be taken as a sign that there might be a movement towards more meaningful appreciation and understanding of loud music when something like this happens not on some obscure fanzine but on one of the popular metal music blogs.
  • 5 comments
    ADD
    1:17 PM on Nov 08, 2010 // reply »
    Had the extreme pleasure of seeing/hearing these dudes tear it up in Oakland recently with Christian Mistress, all flaming metal systems go, Scalzi like Frazetta's 'Berserker' incarnate with leather vest and Gibson axe, riding the electric jetblack warhorse of Tringali, Maestas, Cantwell, crushing the hapless and beerless hipster horde. Dude has stage presence for days and the kinda wit n class only those of a certain vintage seem to possess ("When you get to my age food replaces sex, I had mirrors installed in my kitchen." "Can I get a beer up here? A 40, anything?" *nada* "Oh, I forgot this is the hipster generation.") And they played fuckin "Ape Uprising." Animal Spirits is another great album, diggin it even more right off the bat than the last 2.
  • 36 comments
    DePrama
    7:25 PM on Nov 08, 2010 // reply »
    Was surprised this came out so soon after the last. Although it sounds like a redux of the last coupla records, I can't immediately recall another band who can manage this kind of consistency. Best parts here are how the guitar is continually worked into something kind of prog, kind of country through different jams. It's exciting to hear which spaces they can fill after all this time. Mr. Scalzi does his best fightin' for der cause through axes and song - not essays. Not a Metal God power vocalist, but he's got that amazingly clear, trusty, heroic voice that is immediately captivating, yet distinct enough to set him apart from his forebears (Shelton, Wright, Walkyier, Dickinson). As far as their best work, I'm still sticking with Traveller.
  • 386 comments
    VOEGTLIN
    5:41 AM on Nov 09, 2010 // reply »
    Feels a lot more lubed up than AU, not as Vitus doomed at least to me. I welcome it; exhausted with the big ORANGE amps and SGs.

    Traveller is my fave probably 'cause it's the first one I heard --- thanks to Pat D. who saw TLWSF and declared, "I feel like such a pose."

    ADD: Sounds great. Sclazi is a funny dude. A young Steve Martin with a lot of time in the gym. Wish they would come down South.
  • 34 comments
    David
    8:55 AM on Nov 09, 2010 // reply »
    Meh...why is subjectivity risky? Are we all scientists?

    There is no nature vs. nuture. It's all of the above.

    I needs to buy me some slough feg albums.
  • 47 comments
    Helm
    8:27 AM on Nov 12, 2010 // reply »
    subjectivity is risky because it exposes the individual as much as his opinions.
  • 1 comment
    Anonymous
    10:46 PM on Jan 03, 2011 // reply »
    Comparing a band as bland, limp-wristed and dull as Deep Purple to Slough Feg is downright offensive.
  • 386 comments
    VOEGTLIN
    6:01 AM on Jan 04, 2011 // reply »
    If IN ROCK and FIREBALL are limp-writsted and dull to your ears you have no fucking business reading anything on this site. Go away.
 

Leave Feedback


Name


Email
Email will not be displayed. Gravatars? The LeftHandPath.com uses Gravatars which are the pictures that you see next to each comment. If you haven't already, register your email address and picture with Gravatar.com

Website
( Optional )

Feedback

Post your feedback, HTML will not be rendered, only plain text.


Subscribe
Receive emails when others submit comments

 

Leave this field empty

 
TWITTER RSS FEEDS
categories
138 1970s 33 ac/dc ajna ambient amon another bad idea apocalypse art asia ass cheeks atl atlanta is burning away azagthoth baby warrior drama bazillion points beaver beer ben vierling black metal black metal sublet black sabbath blasphemy blood blue cheer bon scott bone sickness bones books booze boredom brooklyn bros bukkake bullet belts canada canadian mexican food cargo carnivore chains chips & beer chips n beer chuck schuldiner cliches codpiece comics conan cooking corpse paint cowbell cross-chatter crust cry babies cycles d&d d.c. danzig david vincent death death metal deceased dei carnifex demo demos denim desecrate devil devilock dffd metal dicks dio dirty south disgruntled dodgy doom dragons dread drinkin drone drugs drunk again dvd ec comics elvis emotions eschatology euronymous's dildo fake fangoria farts feelings fetish film films filth fire florida death metal folk foodster free publicity fulci georgia german germans germans glen benton goats gore grind groupies gygax halloween hard rock hardcore headbanging heat heathen metal heavy heavy metal hell awaits hollywood homeless looking dudes make good music horror horror punk hotlanta ink interview jazz jerseys judas priest kali kenneth anger kill posers king cobra king diamond kiss label profile latin leather lemmy lhp001 lhp002 lhp003 lhp005 lhp006 lhp007 lhp008 lhp009 lhp010 lhp011 lhp012 lhp013 lhp014 lhp015 lhp016 lhp017 lhp018 lhp019 lhp020 lhp021 lhp022 lhp023 lhp024 lhp025 lhp026 lhp027 lhp028 lhp029 lhp030 lhp031 lhp032 lhp033 lhp034 lhp035 lhp036 lhp037 lhp038 lhp039 lhp040 lhp041 lhp042 lhp043 lhp044 lhp046 lhp047 lhp048 lost lucifer lulz magick manilla road marcus garvey mark reale master mephistopheles mercyful fate metal metal chef meth mgd misfits morbus chron motorhead mutilation nature nazi gaga necronomicon new york no shit noise norway not black metal not good nwobhm nyc oakleys obama 08 oh death one from the grave pain penbangers pentagram philthy pony girl power metal power trio primer problematic production pulp punk pussy putrid real men listen to thin lizzy rednecks repka reunion riffs motherfucker riot ritual robert e howard rock rush salad days samhain satan savage sword scorpions seagrave shit show report sin nanna skanks slayer sleaze sleeveless slim pickens sludge sluts soulless space cadet speed speed metal spikes spooky fingers steel stranger in a strange land street metal studs summer summoning swamp sweatpants sweden swords tanya roberts teethofskull texas thirsty and miserable thrash thrash metal tits tldr tna tombstones tour dates tremelo tuesday you tube vanguard vans varg vhs vinyl vomit weird woods year end blah year-end list you tube tuesday youth zines zinka zombies