Album Review: Slog – Graves (Morbid and Miserable Records/Transylvanian Recordings)

Dark, brutish, and mystic is the mood that saturates the sound of Slog. Their intentions are cryptic, but their individual reputations give some insight into the mystery. Slog is the latest in a cavalcade of musical projects from a pair of relentless heavy metal fiends: Jared Moran and Nicholas Turner. Each of them has lent mind, body, and soul to the extreme underground across numerous bands and subgenres of metal.

Moran is the terrifying force behind Yzordderrex, Filtheater, 54R, and a host of other acts. Meanwhile, Turner is known for his solo undertaking Nothing Is Real as well as his efforts in Moldering Vibration and Schizochristo. Slog is not the duo’s first joint effort either, having worked together in Acausal Intrusion, Feral Lord, Obsidian Hooves, Burial Curse, and Psionic Madness.

Their combined body of work is daunting, but perhaps not as much as what they now present to us with their latest endeavor.

Graves is the first release from Slog and the album revels in its own tumultuous death-doom despair. Slog uses Graves to build on the death-doom of their forbearers and will unleash it on December 17th, 2021 via Morbid and Miserable Records.

Dark, cold and crushing misery. Slog are all about creating discomfort. Whether it be via atmosphere, savage death metal or the most intense of doom sounds. This is an album that feels ripped from six-feet under and displayed like a caricature of horror for all to see.

Eight tracks of mind-numbing and soul-sucking devastation, Slog take their time with this one. Slowly consuming with a horror-fuelled set of tracks. Where death and doom come slamming into each other and offer no respite from the howls of pain and suffering that emanate from such a collision.

It’s not a brand-new combination of styles, of course not, but few bands are able to transform what should be a mess of noise into something so powerful. As well as something so dark, atmospheric and of course, so damn heavy. The doom is at the forefront of Slog’s sound and they make sure to drag you down as far as possible before powering up into frenzied bursts of death metal. It’s discombobulating and harsh but not as raw as you might expect. Slog have talent and it shines though with an impressively crafted listen.

It’s one of those times where the band name is not apt for the music they play.

Slog – Graves Full Track Listing:

1. Wounded Practitioner
2. Hidden Realities
3. Ceremonial Magicks
4. Corporal
5. Levitating Beyond
6. Gluttonous
7. Voluntary Disintegration
8. Phenomena Esoteric

Links

Bandcamp