The price of being different. Bands like Slough Feg (previously known as The Lord Weird Slough Feg) know this price very well. Floating over a genre full of cliché these Americans have paved, and still doing so, their own road managing to attract few but fanatic fans from all over the world. Bands like this one will never probably going to sell their asses or score a big record deal, but they will go down to history as pure musicians following their hearts.
Slough Feg is a San Francisco based group, founded by Mike Scalzi (vocals & guitar) and Greg Haa (drums) back in 1990. Though their first label has described them as a mixture of Manowar and Manilla Road they totally disagree with this! Their sound is really obscure, basically pure heavy metal with an epic approach. Atavism is their fifth full-length album and the first one through Cruz Del Sur (their new label).
The album continues pretty much from where the previous Traveler (2002) stopped. The dynamics in the band are pretty much the same. Pounding epic themes with galloping rhythm section and the usual love them or hate them vocals of Mike Scalzi. His voice adds a theatrical tone in the band's music. If I am not mistaken (can't say that I recall Traveler like I heard it yesterday) in this album the band shows a more optimistic side of their music. Again there are several short instrumental tracks between songs. Atavism might stand for returning to previous form (check your dictionary) but the material in this new album is definitely a step ahead for the band. I know that some of the die hard fans of Slough Feg may feel less comfortable with the new material of the band since it follows a more easy to approach direction. However, heaven forbid, the band still amazes with the uniqueness of its sound.
If you are one of those fans who desperately searching for bands with personal sound then you probably already know Slough Feg. I just hope there are many of us left out there.