Slab! - Descension

A treat to liven up your weekend! My rip of the debut Slab! album has been sitting on a drive for a few weeks now. I've now gotten round to track splitting and tidying it up - losslessly of course.

The Slab! sound is immense, noisy, funky and dirty. To quote a blog follower: "the best fusion of brutal funk, industrial and noise aesthetics I have ever come across, like early Swans if they had got the funk."

The band had moved their sound on from the original singles and sessions, now experimenting with multiple layers of noise & distortion carefully constructed to form the basis of what we would recognise as a song, but with twists, meanderings and shock tactics to keep the listener enthralled.

Opener, Tunnel of Love is not a warm and comfortable place, it is frightening, painful and industrial. It builds to a crescendo of noise, you don't know or care what vocalist Stephen Dray is saying, you just know that you have to prepare for the rest of the aural onslaught to come. Undriven Snow tempts you with a catchy chorus until it drives itself into the space between your ears with a volley of dis-tempered feedback.

The stunning Dr. Bombay is a three-part symphony of distorted funk, abstract jazz and dirge metal, though it only clocks in at just under five and a half minutes. There is nothing sweet about Dolores, she kicks you in the teeth with a pounding snare and kick drum, flanged bass, guitar feedback, chorused with brooding horns. By know you should be able to work out how Gutter Busting sounds. Personal favourite Flirt is a cheery little number which should brighten up any dull party. ;-)

So what are you doing this weekend. Nothing ...until you have listened to and appreciated the majesty and magnificence of Descension in it's full lossless glory.

Descension : ripped from a vinyl album released on Ink Records (INK 032) in 1987 to high quality lossless flac audio.

A1. Tunnel Of Love

A2. Undriven Snow

A3. Dr. Bombay

A4. Dolores

A5. The Animals

B1. Gutter Busting

B2. Flirt

B3. Mooseland

B4. Loose Connection Somewhere

B5. Big Sleeper