All-new Cardiff band SHLUG released their EP Split the Grin on May 15.
SHLUG describe themselves as “the unmusical bone saws of mechanical dissonances and distortions with a dubious and violent soundscape prepared to make your eardrums shatter and bleed”. Opening track Forever Weeps Baby Boy Blue plays as evidence of that, with a sludge metal messiness. Although it seems to turn into punk with Grated Thumbs.
To say it borders sludge (which is obvious from past reviews is not for me in the slightest) I quite enjoyed hearing it. The repetition of “your approval, my cathedral” in Grated Thumbs is catchy.
Lower Anchored Cloud has quite a melody breakdown towards the end, that I really enjoyed and found myself bobbing along to. I thought January Ink was going to spin back around to sludge, but continued to impress me with the melodies.
There’s an industrial DIY sound to Split the Grin, with high distortion and lyrics that are yelled. It portrays anger, and it’s hard to put a single genre to it. It’s new, and I’m surprisingly happy to hear it.
It’s a nice, short EP too, which made it quite easy to listen to. I’m interested to see if an album would make me feel any different. Regardless, it appears that SHLUG have ignored genre boundaries and just written what they feel, and what they want to hear, which is commendable.
Split the Grin is out now, have a listen and see what you think!