Slough Feg

Ape Uprising

Cruz Del Sur Music 2009

(The Lord Weird) Slough Feg is an American institution.  On this their 7th full length album they once again create an album that lurks on the fringes of Doom and Rock without every dwelling too long in either genre yet pulling out the shiniest trinkets from both.  The album opens with The Hunchback of Notre Doom, a slow and deliberate ode to self-anguish and inevitable doom.  The track consumes riffs like a sleepy behemoth while Mike Scalzi's gravelly vocals hearken to a mood of misery.  On the opposite end of the spectrum is the rocking Overborne which is possessed of the spirits of the freewheeling 70s with the compositions meaty riffs and jam session guitar solos.  The title track is a the true highlight of the album with its take on the Underdog theme music and a bone-crushing, animalistic chorus.  The composition then breaks into about 7 minutes of dueling guitar harmonies and NWOBHM string-work that lead us into the sunset.  Only there is still most of an album's worth of music left to go.  Shakedown At The Six is more of a 70's driving rock anthem along the lines of Deep Purple's Highway Star.   Up next is the folky White Cousin with its acoustic guitars and trembling vocals.  Nearly Celtic melodies are buried but distinguishable in the boisterous choral guitar passages.  Later on Ape Outro lives and breathes galloping riffs with melodic hooks peaking in at the end of each passage.  Ape Uprising is a successful take on 70's spirit played on a dusty NWOBHM guitar and filtered through modern sensibilities.  The album is dynamic, energetic, and rocks out hard!  With Slough Feg no other Caesar shall reign!