Initially an all-star tribute to Slayer, Slower released their eponymous debut record, which also featured Laura Pleasants of Kylesa, Scott Reeder of Fireball Ministry and Peder Bergstrand of Lowrider, in the winter of 2024 to great applause from media all over the world. 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 long-awaited sophomore record, Rage and Ruin. The record is comprised of two Slayer covers, “Chemical Warfare” and “Haunting The Chapel”, as well as four original creations, all dark, crushing and haunting doom crowned by Amy Tung-Barrysmith’s alluring vocals. You can listen to the record’s first single, “Hellfire”, below this article.
About the new record, 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.”
Rage and Ruin will be released on November 1st via Heavy Psych Sounds. Pre-orders are now available here.
