Slave Traitor: Press

Considering this recording comes with the Stonerrock.com logo I was expecting something much less corrosive. Yeah, I see the sonic link between the art of this ugly doom beast and that of say, any other pot smoker with a guitar and a Kyuss record. But Seattle’s Slave Traitor have a very violent and ugly side that falls closer to classic heavy metal. Certainly, the dynamics here are those of a no-oil machine. As a matter of fact, Slave Traitor sound rusty as shit, like a bunch of friends content with Hellhammer-level technique.

Which is not to say that this is bad. Far from it, Black Narcissus rocks properly, with constant mid tempos that are as blunt as a kick in the head or a stab in the eye and a relentless spirit that trudges on despite any resistance you might hold. Here, the riffs are mean and giant. The vocals are vicious legible mad grunts. The drums are a stoic beat.

The pace of Black Narcissus is sure. The songs sound like battle hymns in a very un-Manowar-way. Take opening track “Watching the Sky”, the riffage is heavy metal 101 and the lyrics are the genre in all its glory, check this out; ‘over the hills, over the seas, bring them to me, how did they smell, were they not scared, tell it to me, did they not beg, and get on their knees, grovel for me…’. Now, that’s awesome.

The roughness and crudity of Slave Traitor’s sound reminds me of the sadly overlooked From Empire to Ashes EP by Iowa’s The Horde. Except The Horde include a far wider range of dynamics within their metal. Hell, Slave Traitor don’t even play guitar solos. So the similarities may just have to do with the rawness of sound. I dig that rustic quality, that back to basics approach. It’s something that perfectly matches this band’s lack of pretension and total blunt metal.

Slave Traitor: Black Narcissus CD - Worm Fodder Recordings (2006)

A Doomier High On Fire? - 82%

From the opening track “Watching The Sky” until the last track “Once Is Still A Crime”, Slave Traitor crafted something that was wonderfully dark, devious, with a hint of mystery and a bit of a Nordic/Viking vibe for good measure, and moreover an interesting piece of music.

As the title indicates, Slave Traitor has many obvious similarities of High on Fire, as they share the same doom metal quality with a stoner metal vibe, and similarly rough vocals. Slave Traitor moves along at a fairly slow pace, but includes some very thrashy elements, mainly found in the drum parts.

The best song on “Black Narcissus” is easily the opener “Watching the Sky”. However, that doesn’t mean that after the first song the album falters. No song is a let down, however there is just some sort of spark in “Watching the Sky” that sets it apart, hell, maybe because it is the first song that it feels fresh!

Overall, Slave Traitor’s EP “Black Narcissus” is something, that while sounds like another band has many elements all its own, and stands on its own merits. Any fan of Sleep or High on Fire would, more than likely, greatly enjoy this album.

Slave Traitor: Black Narcissus CD - Worm Fodder Recordings (2006)

I guess the easiest way to describe this band is to tag them with the sludge metal label. Their thick rhythms, distorted riffs, fat grooves, growling/throaty vocals, and heavy as shit drumming is a trademark of the genre, so I guess that's what they are. It's very hard not to be drawn onto bands like Dukes of Nothing, Celtic Frost, 16, Amebix, High On Fire, Weedeater, Sourvein and more when listening to this.

Yep, this is well done pulverizing heavy-as-shit riffage mixed with a sick dose of puzzled sounding lyrics. The sludge riffing on “Watching The Sky” and “Once Is Still A Crime” is reminiscent of Crowbar-style groove. The riffs are big, the guitars tuned way low, and the vocals are of a tortured motherboar. Pounding rhythms by Steve Hass adding in the vocal explorations undertaken by Marc Burno (bass), Eric Kempton (guitars) and Jake Willanger (guitars), who all are going for the jugular and with good aim. The only downside would be a lack of variety within the album's five tracks. Nothing fast-tempo here. But with shit this brutal, who needs it?

Only 5 tracks on this CD but it makes its presence felt.

Slave Traitor: Black Narcissus CD - Worm Fodder Recordings (2006)

First of all, what a beautiful cover! The front is drawing of a small boat on a rough sea. Standing within is a woman, woefully distraught. Her craft is surrounded by chop and gulls. The back cover is a warped vision of ancient sailing vessels (Viking-like) navigating a treacherous, rock-laden seascape. As I understand it, the drawings were done by William Morris in 1820.

You could be fully prepared to hear a dreary and dark doom album. Instead you are bombarded by power metal fury. I can't help but think of war hammer to skull/broadsword slashing metal, with a semi-rawness to the production. All three frontmen sing, giving a diverse mood to the vocals. Eric (guitar) offers good ole deep, death metal growls; Jake (guitar) peals out crackling cries of desperation, and takes lead on "Once is Still a Crime"; Marc (bass and majority of the vocals) gives a sedate and straight forward approach which seems to set a listener up for an audio bludgeoning from Eric. The vocals call, respond, and interweave in a way that seems to conduct the ebb and flow of the songs.

The CD is 5 thrashing tracks of modest length (4-5 minutes) for a total running time of nearly 23 minutes. Listening to this album seems to transport me back in time to a garage in the late 80s.

Fans of traditional metal and garage bands should check this out.

Slave Traitor: Black Narcissus CD - Worm Fodder Recordings (2006)

While Seattle's Slave Traitor boasts of three vocalists (bassist Marc Burno and guitarists Eric Kempton and Jake Willanger), all three sound like Lord Humungus from The Road Warrior. Given that the band has a post-apocalyptic metal/doom/grind style, it's a good fit. Black Narcissus, their five-song debut, is full of the type of riffs that would make your average High on Fire/Weedeater/Gates of Slumber fan squeal with unearthly delight. The production's a bit flat, but it doesn't stop the band from getting its point across. And that point is pretty simple – get in line or get crushed. Punishing stuff for sure.

Slave Traitor: Black Narcissus CD - Worm Fodder Recordings (2006)

I always like it when doom bands incorporate some straight-up metal into their sound; it always makes for a unique listening experience. Slave Traitor are a great example of this although they really don't do this style like say High on Fire or Mastodon, bands who definitely have doom in them to this day but they have taken that sound in a far more metallic direction.

The first track "Watching the Sky" almost reminds me of Crowbar playing a Slayer cover at half-speed. The song itself is a punishing beast with hammering beats, militant rhythms and riffing that is almost thrash metal slowed down. They manage to maintain a striking sense of groove and weight for the songs duration with vocals that range between gruff shouting with a bit of melody seeping through the thick delivery every now and then which things even more interesting. Hell yeah, I'm all over this kind of sound, I always love it when metal slows down to the doom crawl but somehow isn't either straight-out metal by the normal definition or easily classifiable doom. I'm really reminded of Crowbar here, not in a rip-off way but just in the way that Crowbar took metal and slowed it down and while their sound was always doomy, they always had a bit more of a metal vibe to their sound.

"Kiss the Divine" is a bit different than the first track bringing in a far more basic doom structure that completely kicks ass with even a nice rocked out little guitar part coming through right off the bat before crushing drums, almost growled vocals and two-ton riffs become the songs focal point.

"Whore Colony" also starts off with a decidedly metal stomp before descending into massive, slower riffs that bring the doom back full circle. I'm really digging the vocals all over this record their tone fits the heaviness of the music perfectly. They have some definite melodic grit going at times, hoarse shouts and growls that are just left-field of death metal.

The record closes out with the absolutely vicious "Once is Still a Crime" that has some really angry shouting vocals coming to the forefront that sound a little bit different than everything else on the record (I think ¾ of the guys contribute a bit of vocals) and another slowed down thrashing groove before they let loose some subtle, melodic guitar licks and an epic closing that features a very controlled pace and my favorite line of lyrics on the record.

This is a damn solid album throughout, it's not billed as on official EP but there are only 5 songs here but all of them have enough variance and decently lengthy running times giving you plenty to come back to. If you dig it slow and heavy with some good change-ups and bruising riffs then definitely pick this one up. They've got a unique sound I think that doesn't really sound like exactly anyone out there. They kind of remind me of Crowbar and Godeatgod; slow, battering stuff that has some cool changes and variations in tempo and an emphasis on hard-edged riffs.

Good stuff.