Do you like the sound of multiple music genres fighting it out to the death whilst being serenaded at the same time? Welcome to the twisted mind of Shlug.
Shlug have described themselves as ‘an uncompromising amount of noise fighting to be heard’, and you can’t describe their music any other way. Whilst their roots remain firmly in the noise rock category, Eat God In The Death House has kept their core beliefs close to their chest while expanding their repertoire. The opening, and EP title song, is the best case to explain Shlug. For two minutes vocalist/guitarist Ellis Acton-Dyer speaks barely above a whisper in an almost spoken word section with clashing sounds growing ever impatient to be let out of containment
As soon as those two minutes are up, the chaos truly begins. Francis James drums explode as Acton-Dyer’s vocals cut through the buzzsaw mix in pure terror. Ethan Poole’s bass tone is thunderously deafening. The entire Ep doesn’t pull any punches. It’s noise rock heaven, Acton-Dyer’s guitar tone in particular savages through ‘Saltscare’ to an almost incomprehensible point. And that almost spoken word section from the title track? They’re splattered across almost every song. Some may think it would be Shlug padding for time to stretch the EP out as long as they can. In fact, it’s the only respite they offer you.
‘I Watch My Skin Grow Back’ is the shortest song on the EP clocking in at only a minute but it packs the hardest punch in those sixty seconds. A thick rich bass tone, vocals that are faster than the guitars and drums that take a beating. It’s over in a flash but memorable without a fault. As you come to the end of the EP, ‘The Guillotine That Follows’ is the song they send you off to. A nine-minute epic that starts off as a slow jaunt, but grabs you by the throat and beats your eardrums into submission.
As the EP fades away into silence, you’re left sat there, dazed and confused by the bodily harm launched upon you. It’s clear that Shlug are here to stay and not just a one and done kind of band. If this is what they can produce in six tracks for an EP, just think what they’re holding in for a debut album. Some may call them unmusical, but they’re far from it. They’re just not afraid to express themselves in such provocative performances.