Hey, man, is that one-man Slovenian sludge-grind?
Well, turn it up…
Until recently, my exposure to Slovenia’s Slund has been limited to their (his) half of a 2018 split with the ever-reliable Agathocles, whose unstoppable volume of releases has become something of a collector’s obsession for me of late. Now I’m realizing that I should’ve perhaps balanced that split better and further explored Slund sooner. But hey, better late than never, right?
Coming out of the gate with what sounds like a hip-hop dancing / workout video sample, this latest EP Slundanoid hits the ground grinding with the forty-second “Fall To Your Knees,” and then it promptly shifts to the other half of their (his) formula with the blast-to-a-trudge tempo drop of “Power Walk,” the ending of which further grinds away in a Swans-y repetition. Sonically, Slundanoid is perfectly unpolished — it’s not raw and roughshod like so many grind releases, closer to the stout and thick sound of a Nasum release, and sporting a positively punishing bass and guitar tone, as though Igor uses industrial cabling for strings. By the time “Independent” rocks itself to a close, feedback squeals punctuating its now-expected tempo shifts, Slundanoid has ebbed and flowed, pummeled and punched, and thoroughly wormed itself far into the brain.
Fast or slow, crushing or cruising, Slundanoid flips easily between each half of Slund’s style for all of its too-brief twelve-minute running time. It’s a simple one-two punch, that tension and release, but it’s an effective one, and if you don’t dig it, well… just punch yourself in front of the mirror, like the man suggests.
All of Slund’s releases are Name Your Price on Bandcamp, so cruise on over, throw him a few shekels if you can, and whatever you do, get yourself ground, my friends.
And seriously, how fun is that album art?