The Animal Spirits (Slough Feg album)
Encyclopedia
The Animal Spirits is the eighth studio album released by the American heavy metal
band Slough Feg. It is the first album by Slough Feg to be released by label Profound Lore Records. A vinyl pressing of the album was released on February 21, 2011 by Cruz del Sur Music. The album was remastered for vinyl release by Justin Weis to play at high resolution (24 bit/96 kHz .wav).
While no named tour was organized to promote the album's release, Slough Feg organized several shows in 2011 along the west coast and in the Midwest. Several European festival dates are also schedule to take place during the summer of 2011.
In an interview with Adam Kohrman of The Metal Crypt, Scalzi revealed that some of his ideas for lyrics come from his experience as a professor of philosophy. Specifically addressing the lyrics to the song "95 Thesis," Scalzi said, "It's all just Martin Luther, and putting the different things together that you've read about what he did [for a lecture], and lyrics come [from that process]. . . . So then because you're going through that process of reconfiguring it, making it into a form that people can understand more clearly and all that. Naturally, that's the same process you go through in songwriting."
The Animal Spirits is the first Slough Feg album to exclusively feature art done by lead singer and guitarist Mike Scalzi. The rough-looking, stylized priest that appears on the cover is a departure from the more intricate, fantasy- and sci-fi-inspired artwork featured on previous releases. In a November 2010 interview, Scalzi commented on the choice of not getting a professional artist, saying, "[T]hat’s how the music looks to me. The scratchy pen and ink, that’s how it looks to me. That’s how Slough Feg music always looks to me. We’ve always had artwork that’s too modernized, too slick. It never should have been like that, it should’ve been more scratchy, because those are the images that inspired what our music was to become."
-like rawness" and that the "epic themes that marked their earlier work are close to gone."
Philip Whitehouse of OneMetal scored the album four out of five in his review, saying, "If you’re exhausted with Pro-Tools-spawned, clinically ‘extreme’ deathcore
and point-missing thrash
revivalists, or you’re just looking for a sheer unadulterated blast of 70s-style trad metal energy, The Animal Spirits is certainly the album for you." On a critical note, Whitehouse mentions that not all of the tracks on the album stand out, specifically citing "Ask the Casket" and "Heavyworlder" as creating a "mid-album slump." PopMatters gave the album seven out of ten stars, stating that for Slough Feg, "It’s not their goal to reinvent the wheel, rather they’re simply happy riding it ragged, no matter how predictable the music becomes." Despite this lack of invention, the review writer Adrien Bergrand calls the band "a metal version of comfort food," saying that "they consistently bring instant gratification to fans of old-fashioned heavy metal."
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Slough Feg. It is the first album by Slough Feg to be released by label Profound Lore Records. A vinyl pressing of the album was released on February 21, 2011 by Cruz del Sur Music. The album was remastered for vinyl release by Justin Weis to play at high resolution (24 bit/96 kHz .wav).
Promotion
Leading up to the album's release, Mike Scalzi debuted a series of articles on popular metal blog Invisible Oranges. These pieces, entitled "Bullpen Bulletins" featured Scalzi philosophizing about the current state of the metal scene, particularly about the elements that he felt are causing stagnation of musical creativity. While some readers saws these postings as too critical of the genre, Scalzi reiterated that by voicing his opinions he was trying to stir up debate and engage in discussion with fans of differing viewpoints. Regarding the seemingly harsh nature of some of his comments, Scalzi affirmed, "In fact, I am definitely a MUSICAL SNOB!! How can one not be in today’s musical climate?!" In total, Scalzi contributed four "Bullpen Bulletins," including two after The Animal Spirits was released. While Scalzi comments tangentially about certain aspects of the album, such as Bob Wright's inclusion as a guest vocalist, the subject matter of the articles are decidedly not focused on the album itself. These articles also received a moderate amount of praise from the heavy metal journalistic community. On his NPR-based blog, heavy metal journalist Lars Gotrich defended the frankness of Scalzi's writing, saying, "It's a damning clarion call for quality control, and while Scalzi may come off as a curmudgeonly metal purist, he's really just a bleeding heart."While no named tour was organized to promote the album's release, Slough Feg organized several shows in 2011 along the west coast and in the Midwest. Several European festival dates are also schedule to take place during the summer of 2011.
Stylistic Elements
According to lead singer and guitarist Mike Scalzi, the album's title refers to an Aristotelian theory of perception that postulated a fluid called "animal spirits" that flowed through the veins of human beings, carrying information of perception in order to be stored in the heart. Unlike many of Slough Feg's albums that are united under a single concept or theme, the songs on The Animal Spirits cover many different subject with their lyrical content, such as "Medieval Catholic theology," "horror themes," and "frustration, misery and madness."In an interview with Adam Kohrman of The Metal Crypt, Scalzi revealed that some of his ideas for lyrics come from his experience as a professor of philosophy. Specifically addressing the lyrics to the song "95 Thesis," Scalzi said, "It's all just Martin Luther, and putting the different things together that you've read about what he did [for a lecture], and lyrics come [from that process]. . . . So then because you're going through that process of reconfiguring it, making it into a form that people can understand more clearly and all that. Naturally, that's the same process you go through in songwriting."
The Animal Spirits is the first Slough Feg album to exclusively feature art done by lead singer and guitarist Mike Scalzi. The rough-looking, stylized priest that appears on the cover is a departure from the more intricate, fantasy- and sci-fi-inspired artwork featured on previous releases. In a November 2010 interview, Scalzi commented on the choice of not getting a professional artist, saying, "[T]hat’s how the music looks to me. The scratchy pen and ink, that’s how it looks to me. That’s how Slough Feg music always looks to me. We’ve always had artwork that’s too modernized, too slick. It never should have been like that, it should’ve been more scratchy, because those are the images that inspired what our music was to become."
Track listing
- "Trick the Vicar" (1:54)
- "The 95 Thesis" (3:12)
- "Materia Prima" (3:32)
- "Free Market Barbarian" (2:40)
- "Lycanthropic Fantasies" (4:48)
- "Ask the Casket" (4:24)
- "Heavyworlder" (3:11)
- "The Tell-Tale Heart (Alan Parson Project cover)" (3:54)
- "Kon-Tiki" (4:06)
- "Second Coming" (4:38)
- "Tactical Air War" (2:19)
Personnel
- Mike Scalzi - guitars/vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, all lyrics except for "Tell-Tale Heart," artwork, production - Angelo Tringali - guitars
- Adrian Maestas - bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Harry Cantwell - drums
- Bob Wright (of Brocas HelmBrocas HelmBrocas Helm is a heavy metal band from San Francisco, California, founded in 1982. They split up at XIV Keep It True Festival on April 30, 2011.-History:...
) - vocals on "Tactical Air War" - Justin Weis - production
- Alan Parson, Eric Woolfson - lyrics on "Tell-Tale Heart"
Reception
The Animal Spirits has received mostly positive reviews. Larry Griffin of The Metal Crypt gave the album five out of five, praising it for "something very natural and organic about the sound of The Animal Spirits, with its jangling guitars and earthy bass tone and scratchy drums." Griffin also gave a glowing appraisal of Scalzi's vocals, saying in summation, "Frankly, he's never sounded better." Adam Kohrman, another reviewer from The Metal Crypt, gave The Animal Spirits a slightly lower, but still favorable, score of four and one-quarter out of five. Kohrman highlighted a stylistic shift from earlier albums by pointing out that this release "is more of a gritty record made with sheer emotion mixed with punkPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
-like rawness" and that the "epic themes that marked their earlier work are close to gone."
Philip Whitehouse of OneMetal scored the album four out of five in his review, saying, "If you’re exhausted with Pro-Tools-spawned, clinically ‘extreme’ deathcore
Deathcore
Deathcore is an extreme metal music genre that combines elements of death metal with elements of metalcore or hardcore punk, or both. It is defined by an "excessive" use of death metal riffs, blast beats and use of hardcore punk breakdowns...
and point-missing thrash
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
revivalists, or you’re just looking for a sheer unadulterated blast of 70s-style trad metal energy, The Animal Spirits is certainly the album for you." On a critical note, Whitehouse mentions that not all of the tracks on the album stand out, specifically citing "Ask the Casket" and "Heavyworlder" as creating a "mid-album slump." PopMatters gave the album seven out of ten stars, stating that for Slough Feg, "It’s not their goal to reinvent the wheel, rather they’re simply happy riding it ragged, no matter how predictable the music becomes." Despite this lack of invention, the review writer Adrien Bergrand calls the band "a metal version of comfort food," saying that "they consistently bring instant gratification to fans of old-fashioned heavy metal."