Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
California’s epic progressive rock / proto-metal band SLOUGH FEG (also known as The Lord Weird Slough Feg) announces the upcoming release of their first new studio album in five years.
‘New Organon‘ is set to arrive from Cruz Del Sur Music on June 14th in European territories and June 21st in North America. Another first, the record marks the recording debut of drummer Jeff Griffin (who split studio duties with John Dust), joining vocalist and guitarist Mike Scalzi and longtime members Angelo Tringali (guitar) and Adrian Maestas (bass) in the band.
As is usually the tradition with any SLOUGH FEG album, there is a connecting theme running throughout ‘New Organon‘, which was inspired by the 1620 book published by Francis Bacon of the same name. A philosophy professor at a college in California, Scalzi is keen to share insight on the literary work and expand on how it ultimately ties in with the album saying:
“It presents a new version of the scientific method, as originally presented by Aristotle 2,000 years earlier. According to Bacon and others, the science method had remained stagnant for this long period, through the middle ages and renaissance, and needed a refresher. ‘Organon’ refers to a scientific ‘instrument’ or more literally, ‘organ.’ So, it represents a new method for scientific revolution. The songs are all basically about philosophy – from my lecture notes! It starts out talking about primitive tribal society like shamanism as the first philosophers and then proceeds through the pre-Socratics era and then Plato, Aristotle, medieval catholic theology, enlightenment and then existentialist philosophy – mostly in chronological order.”
Tracklist:
01. Headhunter
02. Discourse On Equality
03. The Apology
04. Being And Nothingness
05. New Organon
06. Sword Of Machiavelli
07. Uncanny
08. Coming Of Age In The Milky Way
09. Exegesis/Tragic Hooligan
10. The Cynic
Longtime fans of the band’s earlier output instinctively know there has always been a mostly unintentional intellectual component to SLOUGH FEG, musically, lyrically, and thematically. Outside of that, the caliber of musical contents of any SLOUGH FEG offering is always stirring and exciting.
As for what fans can expect with ‘New Organon‘, Scalzi shares the following:
“Very simply, the songs are more heavy, rough and produced rawer than the last album or two. The themes are not about technology, but about ancient philosophy and science. It’s just more metal, but in a very primitive way – but that’s sort of our specialty anyway.”
At the end of 2018, SLOUGH FEG released the ‘New Organon‘ title track as a single, included here. In related happenings, prior to the release of the album, SLOUGH FEG will embark upon ten live dates (listed below) in eastern North America with label mates SANHEDRIN. The run begins at the end of May and a West Coast trek with both acts is expected sometime around August.
– SLOUGH FEG & SANHEDRIN Tour Dates –
May 31 – Brooklyn, NY, Saint Vitus
Jun. 01 – Montreal, QC, CAN, Bar LeRitz
Jun. 02 – Ottawa, ON, CAN, Mavericks
Jun. 03 – Toronto, ON, CAN, Velvet Underground
Jun. 04 – Pittsburgh, PA, Spirit
Jun. 05 – Detroit, MI, Sanctuary
Jun. 06 – Cleveland, OH, Now That’s Class
Jun. 07 – Philadelphia, PA, Kung Fu Necktie
Jun. 08 – Boston, MA, Middle East
