This is SLOWER, the supergroup with members of Fu Manchu, Kylesa, Kyuss, Monolord, Lowrider and Year Of The Cobra.- six major players from the stoner and doom metal league reinventing five classics from the thrash metal masters with a gloomy and heavier-than-thou approach combining riff mastery and crushing grooves in equal measures, crowned by the magnetic ethereal vocals of Laura Pleasants and Amy Barrysmith. "An aural beating of a whole different kind" as described per Metal Injection. Dive deep into it, you won't regret it.
SLOWER "Slower"
Out January 26th on Heavy Psych Sounds
Bob Balch (guitars) Fu Manchu
Amy Barrysmith (vocals) Year of the Cobra
Laura Pleasants (vocals) Kylesa
Peder Bergstrand (bass) Lowrider
Scott Reeder (bass) Kyuss
Esben Willems (drums) Monolord
TRACKLIST:
1. War Ensemble (E. Willems, P. Bergstrand, A. Barrysmith, B. Balch)
2. The Antichrist (E. Willems, P. Bergstrand, A. Barrysmith, B. Balch)
3. Blood Red (E. Willems, P. Bergstrand, A. Barrysmith, B. Balch)
4. Dead Skin Mask (E. Willems, P. Bergstrand, A. Barrysmith, B. Balch)
5. South of Heaven (E. Willems, S. Reeder, L. Pleasants, B. Balch)
Cover artwork by Peder Bergstrand
About the project, Fu Manchu guitarist Bob Balch says: "The idea for the Slower project started around four years ago. I was teaching a student how to play "South Of Heaven" by Slayer but she was a beginner so we slowed it down. I thought that sounded cool so I tuned down to B standard and tried it. I added some drums and thought "someone in the doom community should do this and name it Slower". A few years later I befriended Steven "Thee Slayer Hippy" Hanford, best known for his work as the drummer in the influential Oregon punk band Poison Idea. He was backstage at a Fu Manchu show. Oddly enough I was wearing a Poison Idea shirt and he told me that my shirt sucks. I asked who he was and why he was in our backstage. He told me and I felt stupid. We started drinking whiskey and talking about music. We stayed in touch over the next year or so and during Covid I told him about my Slower idea. He asked me to send him tracks. I waited too long because the day I sent the tracks he passed away. Totally tragic. I'm glad I got to know him even for a few years. He was a monster musician with a giant heart. He will be greatly missed.
I shelved the project for a while after that. One day Esben from Monolord posted about musical collaborations. I love Monolord so I thought what the hell. I sent him some tracks and he killed it on drums. So I sent more. Then more. Shortly after that, we started reaching out to other musicians to get them involved. That's how we ended up with this lineup. Everyone that contributed completely knocked it out of the park and I can't thank them enough. This project has been a long time coming and I'm beyond stoked on how it turned out. Without all of the players involved, Steven Hanford and my baritone Reverend guitar it wouldn't have happened. Thanks to everyone involved and I hope you dig it! I'm a giant Slayer fan so it's been a treat to dig into these classic songs. Hopefully, we can do another record in the near future. Look out for shows because they will happen!"
Monolord drummer Esben Willems comments: "When Bob first approached me with the idea and I heard his scratch guitars, my first thought was "This is genius". Those iconic tracks we all know by heart suddenly unveiled an unexpected dimension. I'm really proud of how this turned out."
Lowrider bassist Peder Bergstrand adds: "This might be blasphemous considering the circumstances, but when Bob reached out and asked if I'd want to play bass on sludged-out Slayer covers, I had to admit some of these tracks were brand new to me. That made the experience even more special though, hearing and playing on the Slower version first, and then comparing to the original. Bob has really transformed these songs into something totally their own, and on a personal level I feel the rest of the band's insane performances pushed me to my most inspired playing to date. So incredibly stoked for people to hear this album."
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