Now’s as good a time as any for Slower to make the jump to original material. The project led by — wait for it — guitarist Bob Balch, also of Fu Manchu and, under the Heavy Psych Sounds banner, Big Scenic Nowhere, Sun and Sail Club and Yawning Balch, made a striking self-titled debut (review here) earlier this year, and perhaps it turned out to be better than was anticipated, because they’re very quickly on track to become a real band, what with a tour coming and an impending second LP Rage and Ruin with the solidified lineup of Balch, vocalist/bassist Amy Tung Barrysmith (also piano) from Year of the Cobra and drummer Esben Willems (also Monolord, solo stuff, mastering your album, and so on). The Slayer-covers concept was cool — I certainly dug that record more than I expected to — and continues in the new LP with takes on “Haunting the Chapel” and “Chemical Warfare,” but opening cut “Hellfire” has me more looking forward to hearing what they’ve got in store for their own tunes and how they build off the original intention of the band.

Guess we’ll find out when the record lands Nov. 1, roughly concurrent to the start of Slower‘s first shows as part of a European tour. The PR wire brought album details mere moments ago:

Doom metal project SLOWER (w/ Monolord, Fu Manchu, Year of the Cobra) shares debut single off new album “Rage and Ruin” on Heavy Psych Sounds.

Doom metal project SLOWER (with members of Fu Manchu, Year Of The Cobra and Monolord) present their new single “Hellfire”, an original track taken from their upcoming sophomore album “Rage and Ruin” to be released this November 1st on Heavy Psych Sounds.

Initially an all-star tribute to Slayer, SLOWER released their debut album “Slower” (also featuring Laura Pleasants of Kylesa, Scott Reeder of Fireball Ministry and Peder Bergstrand of Lowrider) in the winter of 2024.

Hot on the heels of this success, the now trio of Bob Balch (Fu Manchu) on guitar, Amy Tung Barrysmith (Year of the Cobra) on bass and vocals and Esben Willems (Monolord) on drums is ready to release their awaited sophomore album “Rage and Ruin” on Heavy Psych Sounds. 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.

💀💀💀 Stream Slower’s brand new single “Hellfire” 💀💀💀

About the new album, Bob Balch says: “When we started this album, the original intention was to cover Slayer’s EP “Haunting The Chapel” in its entirety. 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.”

SLOWER “Rage and Ruin”
Out November 1st on Heavy Psych Sounds
International preorder: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/

TRACKLIST:
1. Hellfire
2. Chemical Warfare (Slayer cover)
3. Gates Of Hell
4. Sins Of The Dead
5. Haunting The Chapel (Slayer cover)
6. Rage And Ruin

11.08.24 – Gothenburg (SE) – Musikens Hus
11.09/24 – Copenhagen (DK) – BETA
11.10.24 – Berlin (DE) – Cassiopeia
11.11.24 – Dresden (DE) – Chemiefabrik
11.12.24 – Vienna (AT) – Arena
11.13.24 – Munich (DE) – Feierwerk
11.14.24 – Essen (DE) – Turock
11.15.24 – Haarlem (NL) – Patronaat
11.16.24 – Paris (FR) – Backstage
11.17.24 – Hamburg (DE) – Headcrash

SLOWER live lineup:
Esben Willems (drums) MONOLORD
Amy Barrysmith (vocals) YEAR OF THE COBRA
Bob Balch (guitars) FU MANCHU

https://www.instagram.com/slower_666/

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https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/

Slower, “Hellfire”

Tags: California, Heavy Psych Sounds, Los Angeles, Rage and Ruin, Slower, Slower Rage and Ruin

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