The Finnish Doom scene has always
been one of my all time favoritewith bands like Reverend
Bizarre, Spiritus Mortis or Fall
of the Idols. Slug Lord with their debut
EP are newcomers in the scene, but the quality is not quite there
yet. While leaning towards a Doom/Stoner influence, I don't think
they have a lot of potential as they don't really deviate from the
well traced path. But do they have what it's needed to become one of
Tampere's future household names ? Yes and no...
Their sound has an obvious emphasis
on fuzzy and simple riffs, reminding me of Electric Wizard in some
places. One of the slowest song is ironically called 'Speeding', an 8
minutes dirge with a solid atmospheric solo. The songs are ranging
from 5 to 8 minutes for a total length of 42 minutes, it's considered
an EP by the band, but it has the duration of a full album. The riffs
are generic, it's not bad, but their self titled ep doesn't place
them in the higher echelons of Doom. They're a Slug Knight at best,
definitely not a Lord. The songs lacks something special and the
decent production is not to blame here, everything is well recorded
and there's the right amount of atmosphere and feedback, but I think
the guitars could be heavier and the bass more present and fuzzy. The
drumming is decent though, but like the rest, it's not very
inventive. Maybe some keyboard would have been welcome, I'm not (the
one) usually begging for originality, but some is needed here...The
only original feature can be found in the vocal department, it's
truly the album's shiniest characteristic.
Indeed, Johanna Rutto's vocals are
my favorite part of this album, too bad she's not in ,of the band
anymore. I hope they'll be able to find a new solid vocalist because
I'm not exactly sure they would make a good instrumental band as
they're not even great with vocals. Rutto's vocals are interesting, I
could compare her to a more abrasive Alia O'brien from Blood
Ceremony's, albeit with no flutes in her hands as there's no folk elements in the music mixed with Agnete of Prog metallers Madder Mortem. She can be catchy, like in
'Gastropoda' with its pleasant chorus, sometimes more mystical and it
feels heavier. She has a good and pleasant range, nothing feels
forced. It doesn't change their dark music though, it only adds
another layer of occultness. I mean, : simply look at the
Lovecraftian album cover art, full of deadly tentacles !
Nonetheless, the album, despite its rather typical length, feels
redundant and overlong. The ideas stopped being fresh after the
second song, there's not a lot of variation and it's not honestly
quite boring.
Still,
the album was kind of enjoyable, particularly because of Johanna's
vocals. It's not something I'll seek out again though.
Despite my lack of praise Slug Lord,
if you like Doom/Stoner, you'll like them, but they're Acid
King's cupbearer. If you enjoy this specific sort of wine,
go ahead and check them out but don't expect anything groundbreaking.