Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 10:35 AM by Nikos Nakos
Space pirates beware! Venerable San Francisco metal institution THE LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG is now in the studio with longtime producer/engineer Justin Weis to track the EP sequel to their legendary 2003 album, “Traveller”. The EP is set for an early 2025 via Cruz Del Sur Music.
The effort will mark the first recording with new drummer Austen Krater. Furthermore, as founding member, vocalist and guitarist Mike Scalzi explains, the follow-up to “Traveller” will come in the nice, tidy, compact format of an EP.
“I wanted to do an EP that was around 20 minutes of music rather than a full-length album,” he says. “I have struggled with coming up with fresh-sounding music for years. After ten albums, a lot of metal riffs really fall into a rut and I never want to do dull, filler songs to complete albums. So, I just sort of ‘cut off the flab.’ After all, most records have about five good songs (if that) on them, and then a bunch of time-consuming filler—you know, long guitar solos and boring atmospheric doom parts. Spare me. I’ll cut off the flab and give people just the juicy stuff. Hopefully, this EP delivers that: Lean and mean heavy metal without all the fluff.”
Scalzi promises that the EP will continue the ‘Traveller’ story with the same characters and struggles, not to mention themes involving asteroids and vegetable spores. (“Even though it’s absurd to imagine vegetation growing on an asteroid.”)
“For some strange reason, the original ‘Traveller’ game adventures often contain ecological and plant-life themes,” notes Scalzi. “It’s interesting and not traditionally the focus of sci-fi. I love it. So, we had spores on the last one. This time, we have Ephemeral Glades from the ‘Mission On Mithril Traveller’ adventure from 1980. I used this setting because I love the idea of ephemeral plant life on an ice planet that only blooms when the temperature goes above freezing. It’s a great place for a hybrid dog man to hide, but I don’t want to give away too much…”
As for the musical direction, the new songs are “weirder” than the original “Traveller”, although Scalzi notes the first song is a “total rocker.” The band left a lot of ideas on the cutting room floor, but through the process of elimination, they emerged with five songs. “We were happy with ‘New Organon’,” says Scalzi. “It took ages to write the songs because we ditched so many mediocre ideas along the way. We did the same with this one. I was coming up with riffs throughout the pandemic, but very few will make it onto the record—only the ones that continue to excite us, which isn’t that many, which is another reason why it’s an EP.”
Five years have passed since the aforementioned “New Organon”. Since then, THE LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG (who are rounded out by longtime bassist Adrian Maestas and second guitarist Angelo Tringali) experienced the usual highs and lows of the pandemic. The band also launched its podcast that helped keep fans engaged. When the pandemic subsided and the world opened up, Krater fell into their laps.
“He’s revitalized things musically,” enthuses Scalzi. “He’s pretty young and writes a lot of guitar parts, some of which are incorporated into new ‘Traveller’ songs. We’ve been to Europe with him three times now, and various shows and festivals in the United States. We’re excited.”
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