Slugdge’s New Gastronomicon Raises Sweet Salty Hell

UK blackened-death duo Slugdge have had a bit of a, uh, sluggish start to their career thus far. I loved Born of Slime – the filthy vocal interchanges, rhythmic fuckery, and gritty vibe made the 2013 record good enough to slither into my top 5 – but it seems to have oozed under the rug for the most part. Until now. Last Friday, barely a year after the release of Born of Slime, the band self-released Gastronomicon, a second full-length that preserves and builds on all the glorious hallmarks of its predecessor. It’s got the same viscous excretions of sludgy groove, and those comically essential puns (try “Salters Of Madness” or the especially witty “Slimewave Zero”), but it’s also more daring, more technical, and more captivating. It’s even free, too. Genre-bending heaviness like this doesn’t come around all the time; someone get this band on a label already!