Has it been 6 years since today's
guests released their critically acclaimed debut album – Regress.
Which has became a firm favourite of the UK Sludge/Stoner Metal
scene. Now in 2016 they're about to release their incredible 2nd
album – Rise Of The Dawncrusher.
The album is heavy as the name
suggests and has the potential to be classed as one of the best
records of the year. It's seriously that great but it's an album that
the band had an almighty struggle to record which they explain in
this interview.
It's my pleasure to be interviewing
SLABDRAGGER....
Hi
guys. How are things with you today. Thanks for doing this interview.
Yusuf:
No worries, thanks.
Sam:
All good, thank you for interviewing us!
So
why did you choose the name SLABDRAGGER for your band. Any specific
meaning as I always wanted to know this.
Y:
Sam came up with the name sometime before the band was formed. He was
recording a band and the vocalist did this heavy growl that sounded
like concrete being dragged along the ground. He then named that
vocal, calling it a 'Slabdragger'. Then when we formed later on, we
decided to use it because it sounded so ridiculous.
How
did the band get together. Did you all know each other before forming
the band.
Y:
We did know each other before from local bands and general circles of
friends. We all played in other bands and gigged together previously.
Sam wrote and recorded a demo for what became Splice The Mainbrace on
Regress. He played it to me and our original drummer Matt and asked
us if we wanted to form a sludge/doom band. We agreed and the rest is
history.
How
would you describe your music. Apart from it being pure fucking
heavy.
Y:
Pure cunting heavy?
S:
Progressive doom sludge fusion metal with elements of hardcore punk
and a slight death metal tinge. And stuff. Or something.
Your
new album – Rise of The Dawncrusher – is fucking incredible.
Beyond heavy but very melodic at the same time. It's finally being
released after years of being mentioned. Can you tell people why the
delay with the release of the record.
Y:
Thanks a lot. We started writing the first song of the record in
2012. To cut a very long story short here is a list of events that
happened: drummer left, new drummer joined and wrote album with us,
we attempt to record, computer breaks, we hire new equipment and
record album, new drummer leaves, new(nham) drummer joins, we record
overdubs and play shows, Sam's lung collapses, Sam gets better, we
finish recording, we mix it, we go insane mixing it, we get it
mastered, we have artwork problems delaying it by 5 months, we submit
album to Holy Roar.
This
whole experience lasted 3 and a 1/2 years.
S:
I think Yusuf nailed it with that timeline.
I
bet your beyond excited waiting for the world to hear this record.
What can people expect from the album.
Y:
A heavy, riff filled, doom laden space adventure.
S:
A twisting and brutal, melodically crushing epic of astrosludge
metal-rock
Was
Rise Of The Dawncrusher a hard album to write and record for as it's
a very complex sounding album especially on tracks such as Shrine of
Debauchery and Implosion Rites.
Y:
We took our time writing it, that's for sure. We never rush our
writing and we just let it come out naturally. We've always got so
many ideas at any given time, it's just about putting them together
in a way that makes us excited about it.
S:
Hard to write, not really, Yusuf and I take some almost generic riff
and form and twist them until we both look at each other with a
grimace. Then we know its ready so we lay it down and expand upon
that until a song feels complete, adding twists and turns where we
see fit. The lyrics were all written after the music was fully
complete and sequenced, written in chronological order like a book;
The first song is the start of the story, the last song is the end.
Hard to record, for me at least, yes, a bit. I even had to coat the
ends of my fingers in superglue in order to nail a riff properly
without blisters bursting all over my fretboard. I was also worried
my vocals wouldn't be up to par after surgery but it worked out well
and I think I did some of the best sounding vocal takes I have ever
done.
It's
been 6 years since your debut album Regress was released. Where it's
not considered a classic within the UK Sludge/Stoner Metal scene.
Have you noticed this yourselves people labeling the album as such.
Y:
I've heard people say it's one of their favourite albums which is
extremely flattering. I never thought I'd ever hear anyone say that.
It was our first album and for a first album it was received way more
positively than I could have imagined, which I am very grateful for.
S:
Yeah it's kinda of weird but entirely cool as fuck that so many
people love it, it's definitely a beautiful thing
Looking
back would you change anything about Regress.
Y:
I don't think I would change anything to be honest. Like with any
record you make, you could work on it forever and still not be
satisfied. One of the hardest parts about making a record is knowing
when to put it to bed and put it out to the world. I see Regress as
the beginning of this band and I'm glad it came out how it did.
S:
I had about 50 mental breakdowns recording and mixing that thing. I'm
not even going to say anything here. Haha
Your
new album is very different to Regress with you guys focusing on more
progressive riffs and melodies.
Y:
We like to try new things and keep the riffs and structures
interesting. It's easy to play the same riff over and over again for
the sake of catharsis. There is nothing wrong with that at all but it
gets to a point you have to start challenging your formula to give
birth to something new. But at the same time, we like to keep our
core sound loud and clear. We got proggy in places as we knew we were
making a concept record with an intricate story line, so wrote it
with these intricacies in mind.
S:
It's a continuation of our original influences, we've just touched on
stuff with a slightly different approach and had more ideas regarding
new sounds we could incorporate without compromising our original
style. More heavy and more weird but still Slabdragger.
Was
recording the album a different experience to Regress. Did you do
anything differently when recording the new album.
Y:
We used more amps, had some new equipment. We used a synth and made
our own weird spacey sound effects on a Korg MS 10. Obviously, we
also had a different drummer. And also I think we approached the
vocals differently and experimented more. There is more 'clean'
singing but without compromising the brutal vocals as well. I tried a
few different voices as I sort of wanted to portray characters. It
was a really fun record to make.
S:
Yeah this time we tracked the guitar, bass and drums live in the same
room without headphones and literally recorded overdubs over that
live foundation, keeping all the previous takes. We used our own amps
for the initial takes but the 5 guitar overdubs were done with
various blends of 3 different Matamp heads and an extra bass track
through a 1970's Orange head. As Yusuf said we also did some synth
layers using Korg stuff, MS10 and Monotron Delay and some synth app
on Yusuf's phone. We had some electronics/noise on 'Regress' but this
time we experimented with adding sweeps and textures over the music
and I even did a synth solo on the last track.
The
album is being released via Holy Roar Records. How did you hook up
with them.
Y:
Alex from Holy Roar released Regress after Sam sent him a demo of
Iron Vulture. He liked it and said if we made a record, he would put
it out on Holy Roar. We made it and he put it out! He agreed to put
out our second record if we wanted to and so continues our
relationship with Holy Roar Records. It's a great label with some
awesome bands.
S:
What Yusuf said. Holy Roar is awesome and Alex has always been great
to us. They put out a few bands I recorded and I knew they took pride
in the packaging of their releases which I think is a very important
aspect of an album. The fact they put out loads of awesome looking
vinyl really grabbed me and made me want to contact them. Luckily
they were pretty much interested straight away and Alex loved it from
the get go. It's great being on a label with such a diverse amount of
artists too.
How
hard is it being a band in today's world. What are the most difficult
aspects in being in a band.
Y:
Finding the right balance of time, money, energy, resources and
motivation is a very big task in this day and age. I feel very lucky
as we don't have to spend money on studio time and rehearsals as that
is all done at Sam's studio, The Cro's Nest. Other bands don't have
this advantage. There's barely any money in it, so if that's what you
are primarily after, you will find it very hard.
S:
Keeping on top of everything I'd say. Sorting out shows and stuff and
making sure everything's running properly can be a bit daunting when
our band does things DIY as fuck and doesn't rely on management,
agents or PR people. Playing in the band is easy. All the shit that
surrounds it is hard but you have to endure that, it's a given. At
the end of the day, Jeremy, we do this because we love it and love
always has its ups and downs but you can't let the downs effect you
because, well, heavy metal.
What
is the song-writing dynamic in the band. Is it a group collective or
down to one individual.
Y:
Sam and I both write the riffs and lyrics, pretty much. Or I'll write
some lyrics and Sam and I will edit them to fit together. It's pretty
much a collective working. Someone comes in with an idea and we all
feel it out to see what works and what doesn't.
S:
We all have input. Any one of us may come up with a whole song but
we all shape and mould them all until we're all happy. Sometimes
Yusuf and I play with weird musical concepts, for instance using a
haiku structure for lyrics like in the verses in 'Iron Vulture' or
playing a pattern based on a randomly chosen number or something. We
can play around so we do.
Will
you be touring this record heavily this year. I know you have an
upcoming tour with OHHMS happening soon. What can people expect from
that tour.
Y:
More of the same from the last tour. Us and OHHMS smashing through
the UK, going batshit crazy.
S:
Half the length but double the concentration. A 3 day tumult.
Before
you go, do you have anything to say to your fans.
Y:
If you keep coming, we'll keep playing. Thanks for the support
S:
Skate and destroy.
Well
guys, thanks for doing this. All the best with the new album as its'
a brilliant album.
Y:
Thank you very much!
S:
Peace!
Words
by Steve Howe and SLABDRAGGER
Thanks to
Alex at Holy Roar Records for arranging this interview. Thanks to
Yusuf and Sam from the band for talking to me. Rise Of The
Dawncrusher will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from February
26th 2016 via Holy Roar Records.
