Dr. Slaggleberry

The Slagg Factory EP

Written by: PP on 22/12/2009 21:15:43

Dr. Slaggleberry aren't just a mouthful to pronounce, but this UK trio's music is quite the sonic challenge itself. Blending together math metal, jazz, avant-garde and a strong curiosity for experimenting well outside of the box, "The Slagg Factory EP" is likely to appeal to people who appreciate bands like Meshuggah, Ephel Duath, and Dysrhythmia, preferably all three thrown into a blender just to see what comes out. The EP contains no bothersome vocals disturbing the listeners intake of aural stimulation, which will inevitably be a turn off to some, but others will welcome the freedom of exploring every corner of the instruments in peace.

"Feed Me A Stray Cat" (great title, by the way) starts the EP with some highly technical, down-tuned stuff that instantly brings to mind the likes of Heirs and Dysrhythmia. The group has no bassist, leaving the two guitars dueling against each other. The rhythm guitar, if it's even possible to distinguish between the two that play an equal part in the mix, is down tuned and distorted to the point that its tone reminds me of that used by Slipknot in places, though particularly on "Grades Of Filth" where I'm inclined to say this is what Slipknot would sound like if they played math metal and didn't have those crazy drummers & vocals. The lead guitar is the one that brings the ultra experimentalist, even jazzy feel to the music. While the rhythm guitar is left frightening the listener with that low-end stuff, this one spends its time higher up exploring the cleaner tones and all sorts of jazzy structures, sneaking in a horror chord or two every now and then. Behind all this you have a drummer capable of delivering polyrhythms suitable for this degree of experimentalism.

Four of the five songs follow the above formula, but then you've got "4 5", my personal highlight, where the guitars instead opt for a somewhat faint tone, creating an aquatic ambiance using light math-rock. That's then preserved for the majority of the song before the heavy instrumentation returns to crush the listener and remind him that in its essence, "The Slagg Factory" is a math metal album, not something Incubus played during their early years. If the overall purpose of the record is to confuse and rattle the listener, then mission accomplished. But approaching my 8th listen, I find myself asking: what's the point?

Download: 4 5
For the fans of: Dysrhythmia, Meshuggah, Ephel Duath, Heirs
Listen: Myspace

Release date 12.10.2009
Crash Records

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