SLUGNUT - All The Splendor and Rot CD

SLUGNUT - All The Splendor and Rot CD
label: Self Released
released: 2004
track listing:

1. Livid
2. Blue Wall
3. Smear
4. Red, White, and Who?
5. Placenta Diablo
6. Squirty
7. Aggressive Front
8. Revoked
9. Stranger Image
10. Gut Feeling
11. All the Splendor and Rot
12. Road Rage
13. Cornerbag
14. Lash

COMMENTS:

When the history of North Carolina Music is written by honest people and not the revisionists. There will be a page or two featuring SLUGNUT. To me they are the Unsung Heroes of North Carolina Metal. No they didn't get a chance to open up for METALLICA on tour. But if they did then they would've gave em a reason to see a shrink. No they were not nominated for a Grammy or an award on MTV. They were too busy playing some club and driving fans into a fuckin frenzy. Hey look I'm not trying to make this into a "Could've, Should've, Would've" type commentary. I believe TESTAMENT still owns that one. All I'm trying to say is that SLUGNUT were musical equals to anyone who somehow made a bigger name for themselves from the state of North Carolina. They've just recently called it a day after over a decade of decibel destruction. I was at their last show and it was not a fuckin swansong by no means. In fact it was the fuckin opposite, a celebration of great fuckin Metal, from a band that were like the working class heroes of the Extreme Metal Scene.

This release is their best example of what Extreme Metal was all about. The band themselves would always tag themselves as Thrash. But to me they were too exciting to be pigeon-holed into only one genre. In fact it was in this three piece line-up that SLUGNUT really surpassed mediocre genre limitations. Maybe this is what Thrash was supposed to have evolved into instead of the thing which I refer to always as "crap". It's 2009 and the Thrash Revival is in full swing. Bands today are going back to copying their heroes of the 80s, which I don't have a problem with. But if you listen to this CD you'll hear the sound that didn't go Nu-Metal or Groove Metal that alot of Thrash influenced bands did move onto. SLUGNUT simply took things to a level which made their music infectious and accessible to all types of Extreme Music fans. Every song on this CD contains a twist that's equal to a neck breaking. I definitely have my favorites like "Placenta Diablo", my favorite song of there's of all time, "Smear" which is pure Punk/Hardcore, "Aggressive Front" which has more life threatening twists than being lost in a funhouse on fire and "Revoked" is more Hardcore/Thrash fury to smash your body into another like-minded individual. Ah fuck it, every song on here is a classic.


RECOMMENDATIONS:

2008 marked the end of SLUGNUT as far as a full time band. Bassist Nate has moved to Florida. Guitarist Keith has a new band H.o.w. and runs a successful rock club in Raleigh, NC called Volume 11 Tavern. Drummer Jason plays for a few other bands including KNOWLEDGE IS FOR FOOLS. I was fortunate enough to catch some of their final shows and they didn't burn out in the end. It was quite the opposite in fact. SLUGNUT simply kicked the audience's ass one last time. All The Splendor and Rot is an essential for real fans of NC Metal. But it's also an important release for Thrash fans, Punks or Metalheads, who crave innovation within the genre that's not bogus.


WEBSITES:

http://www.slugnut.com
http://www.myspace.com/slugnut