Slough Feg

Classic metal to the core, the latest album from Slough Feg abounds in harmonised guitar lines and long drawn-out leads. Capped off with a little rough-edged but melodic storytelling, the whole thing is fuelled by a heavy dose of raw power. Hitting play on this, the band’s fifth record, is somewhat like walking through a time warp, an idea supported by the title, Atavism. In addition to Slough Feg’s musical reversion to past forms, Atavism’s basic narrative premise focuses on the struggles of a primitive man dropped into the modern world, producing song titles like "Man out of Time.” That idea lends the album a tragic note now and then, underlined by a couple of Celtic-influenced acoustic bits, yet the predominant atmosphere is vigorous and untamed. But then the album just stops, offering one of the least satisfying conclusions I’ve heard in a while.