After a long career either working independently or with such trusty indie labels as Cruz Del Sur, The Lord Weird Slough Feg has signed a contract to join the mighty Metal Blade. This agreement will undoubtedly include forthcoming material, but, like the label’s pickup of sister band Hammers of Misfortune, includes a wise reissue of classic albums. In this case, Metal Blade is releasing the Feg’s classic trio of Twilight of the Idols, Down Among the Deadmen, and Traveller (blame the role playing game for that spelling, not the band), either on their own or as a three disc box set.
Following are a few thoughts on this glorious occasion, which hopefully will convince all remaining heathens to accept the weird as their lord.
1. Adoption of minor league hockey teams notwithstanding, Metal Blade has been on a roll lately. From their quality regular roster (Amon Amarth, King Diamond, etc.) and Rise Above bands (Astra, The Gates of Slumber, Angel Witch) to picking up iconic acts such as Pentagram and the aforementioned Hammers of Misfortune, Slagel and co. are doing a lot right for metal of all styles and ages right now. Sure, they’re still supporting schlock like As I Lay Dying, but we can forgive them that misstep if the revenue helps them to keep putting out Hail of Bullets albums. The long-fucking-overdue majorish label acquisition of The Lord Weird Slough Feg is the latest of these moves, and undoubtedly one of the smartest.
2. Twilight of the Idols, Down Among the Deadmen, and Traveller are a trio of trad metal glory of the highest order, able to compete with the giants of the game from the 80s and beyond. Mike Scalzi’s folk- and sci-fi-inspired work was at its absolute height here, weaving a NWOBHM sense of machine gun riffcraft with a Celtic sense of melody and the man’s unmistakable charisma at the mic. Merely saying that there isn’t a second of wasted space doesn’t do these albums justice, because they are absolutely bursting at the seams with classics. Can’t list them all, but we can start with…
…keep it going by playing…
…not to mention…
3. “I’m a space pirate, you know my name.”
4. The Metal Blade signing of the mighty Feg likely means the end of those wonderfully bright, metallic blue envelopes (sorry, didn’t have a pic) that signaled the arrival of a Slough Feg album by way of post. Very few deliveries from the Newman-ites could offer as much cheer as one with a return address starting with “The Lord Weird Slough Feg,”, and because of Twilight of the Idols there was little confusion of how this name was to be pronounced. (I’ve heard “Sloff Feg” too many times when wearing my Traveller shirt at shows. INCORRECT!) Blue envelopes: gone. Proper pronunciation: rewarded!
5. Honestly, you won’t find a better package of traditional, melodic, boogiefied metal for this low of a cost, anywhere. Period. (The set is under 30 smackaroonies on Amazon.) Scoop it up, discover why that dedicated Slough Feg fan you know never shuts up. This is not meant to put down the rest of the catalog, there’s some monumental shit there too. But this stuff… CAN’T. BE. MISSED. May those who don’t give into such a good deal be damned to suffer the same level of hair loss that Mike Scalzi has in the time since the original releases of these albums.
6. BUT… for those of us who already own these classics, there is zero reason to reinvest, as Metal Blade has included no bonuses. No live tracks, bonuses, or unreleased material. And while I’m on the bitchtrain:
Reissue the debut on CD already.
