Not too sure if any of you guys would have heard of this band from England.
They existed from around 1984/85 until about 1990/91.
Probably their seminal work was the first of their 2 albums ‘Descension’.
This is probably one of the heaviest albums I have ever heard; the density of the sound is underpinned by a genre-defining bass sound, jazzy/funky beats set heavy grooves, guitars stab in and out of the soundscape, sometimes sweeping, always ominous, horns/samples jab in and out urgently, vocals impassioned, melodic, haunting…yet there is subltety here also. There is a real jazzy, free feel to much of the music, heavily influenced by their exposure to bands like Bill Laswell’s Last Exit.
I guarantee you will hear this and think ‘Where the fuck has THIS been all my life??!!’
I saw Slab! first in '87, 2 years after I’d seen Swans decimate an audience in London touring ‘Holy Money’/‘Greed’…these guys made Swans use of volume sound like playground games…utterly frightening and beautifully mixed.
I can’t believe ‘Descension’ is 21 years old…it blasts most music being released STILL!
Someone, somewhere said this would be the music Reznor made if he didn’t have a major deal!!!
Their sound definitely influenced bands like Godflesh, Scorn, Sweet Tooth etc etc
Only way I can get this to people is by burning/sending copies.
Do yourself a favour…get in touch. Or explain how else you can get it from me!
emusic users will be happy to know its available there.
i had 4 credits remaining so I got the first 4 songs and indeed enjoyed them very much.
there is an obvious Godflesh/JKB (most notably, GOD, I’d say) influence, but they do have their own sound nevertheless.
Kudos for the recommendation.
EDIT: emusic mistakenly labeled it as 1999. The JKB influence obviously goes the other way then!
EDIT: emusic mistakenly labeled it as 1999. The JKB influence obviously goes the other way then![/reply]
Good to see you found it…you hopefully will heard ‘Dolores’, original track 4. Stunning.
Yeah, the JKB link goes further…the original drummer left and was replaced by Scott Kiehl; he played drums for a while, then bass on the second Slab! album. Scott played in Sweet Tooth with JKB and Dave Cochrane (of Head of David) and also played in God.
I’ve sorta lost touch with Scott. Scott was one of the most laid back dudes I ever met…but sure could beat the shit out of his drums in fine fashion.
I think Justin would happily recognise the influence Slab! has had on some of his music…we used to listen to it lots, loud and very stoned!!!
Yeah, heard Dolores, loved it, although out of the 4, I think I enjoyed “Undriven Snow” the most. It has a bit of a Head Of David feel to it, at least in the vocals. Either way, this definitely sounds like great music from a time that resulted in a lot of great records with a related sound (Cop Shoot Cop, Loop, Fudge Tunnel, Skullflower etc.)
Ill get the remaining songs when my emusic counter resets.
I bought this (Descension) paired w/ Flux (James Plotkin) in a 2 cd set, a while back it was really cheap too. Like a 2-fer-1 deal. It’s still available.