SLOUGH FEG – The Animal Spirits

“The Animal Spirits” is an album that continues in the classic SLOUGH FEG tradition, once again proving that SLOUGH FEG are not only the most notorious cult heavy metal band within the underground but one of America’s most important traditional heavy metal bands in the last 15 years. “The Animal Spirits” is SLOUGH FEG’s eight studio full-length release amongst a career that spans 20 years. It is another fantastic gem that will not only go nicely alongside such SLOUGH FEG classics as “Traveller”, “Down Among The Deadmen” and “Twilight Of The Idols” but will, in general, fit adequately amongst SLOUGH FEG’s entire illustrious metal repertoire (one in which no American metal band in the underground can even touch) as another chapter to remind the heavy metal scene (and its consuming fans) what true genuine metal should be all about.

As for the significance of the album title “The Animal Spirits”, vocalist/guitarist and overall metal iconoclast Mike Scalzi delves further: “The title sounds like it could mean plenty of things, but really refers to an Aristotelian theory of perception that was somehow taken seriously until the mid to later 1700's (?!) Why this was I don't know, but it involves these bizarre fluid called ‘animal spirits’ traveling through a person's veins carrying information of what they have perceived, storing it in the heart, and then releasing it again when that thing is remembered. It really a primitive precursor to the idea of neurons firing in a chain, containing ideas. So that's what people will find if they do a little research about the title.”

Going further into the themes of the album, Scalzi elaborates: “The content of the record is (subject wise) is not too far from usual SLOUGH FEG material. The first two songs are about Medieval Catholic theology. Then it switches to basic horror themes, a couple of songs about some insane person who thinks he's a vampire, and then a werewolf (inspired by the Gothic soap-opera ‘Dark Shadows’) then there's one of our weird ‘what if Dicky Betts of the Allman Brothers had joined Iron Maiden in 1980’ instrumentals. Then a few more songs about frustration, misery and madness, and a final fast, driving rock/metal number called ‘Tactical Air-War’, which will be sung by Bob Wright of Brocas Helm!”

And speaking of the mighty Mike Scalzi, he has just begun his Bullpen Bulletins column on respected metal site Invisible Oranges. You can read his first entry HERE and check out the storm of comments he has caused.

Tracklisting for “The Animal Spirits” goes as follows:

1. Trick the Vicar
2. The 95 Thesis
3. Materia Prima
4. Free Market Barbarian
5. Lycanthropic Fantasies
6. Ask the Casket
7. Heavyworlder
8. The Tell-Tale Heart
9. Kon-Tiki
10. Second Coming
11. Tactical Air-War