Slower – the sludgy Slayer cover band (kind of) now featuring Bob Balch (Fu Manchu) on guitar, Amy Tung Barrysmith (Year Of The Cobra) on bass and vocals and Esben Willems (Monolord) – is back with a new album that has some originals!
Slower will release Rage And Ruin on November 1, and is now streaming their first original song "Hellfire". The album comprises two Slayer covers ("Chemical Warfare" and "Haunting The Chapel") and four original creations, all dark, crushing and haunting doom crowned by Amy Tung-Barrysmith's alluring vocals.
"When we started this album, the original intention was to cover Slayer's EP Haunting The Chapel in its entirety," said Balch. "We started with 'Chemical Warfare' then went on to 'Haunting The Chapel', but once we got to 'Captor Of Sin' we realized that tune didn't want to be slowed down at all.
"So we started writing our own songs and I'm glad we did. The result is Rage And Ruin. Two sides with Slayer songs in the middle, bookended by Slower originals. We are super proud of this record and can't wait for you to hear it!."
Amy Tung Barrysmith adds: "When we started writing originals, I wanted to try to keep to the same themes that Slayer wrote about. There are a lot of songs about war in Slayer's songs and when I heard the 'Hellfire' riff, the first image that came to mind was just this bright red fire raining down from the heavens. With all of the upheaval in the world today, it seemed like a fitting topic.
"What makes this song slightly unique, though, is that I came up with the title, 'Hellfire', first from that initial image I had in my head. Writing the lyrics after that was easy."
Pre-orders are available for Rage And Ruin here (and here in Europe).
