Slimelord - Moss Contamination

Labels: Dry Cough Records/Seed Of Doom/Sewer Rot Records

Formats: Vinyl/CD/Tape/Digital

Release Date: 03 Sep 2021

Tracklist:

1. Noitanimatnoc Ssom Gnittor

2. Day Of The Triffids

3. Puddle Dweller

4. Epithelial Contaminant (Amphibious Dirge)

5. Loretta's Bane

The death/doom of Slimelord's first release The Delta Death Sirens was pretty captivating. I reviewed the album around the same time that I ordered the LP from Dry Cough Records. As soon as I knew orders were live for the follow-up Moss Contamination, I jumped on it straight away. Knowing that Slimelord were from Leeds, which is still thriving with extreme metal bands, it was a no brainer. Tape and cd copies had already been released by Dry Cough, Seed Of Doom and Sewer Rot Records, but due to pressing plant delays the vinyl didn't see the light of day until earlier this year. It was worth the wait though.

I’ll start by saying that Moss Contamination is a very different beast to that of The Delta Death Sirens. Album opener ‘Noitanimatnoc Ssom Gnittor’, which reads as ‘Rotting Moss Contamination’ is an intro of ghoulish ambience and deep deathly vocals. When I first played this record on my turntable I wasn’t sure if it was even on the right speed. It took a couple of moments for me to realise what was going on and then it all made sense. Slimelord have gone farther down the creeping death metal route on ‘Day Of The Triffids’, which takes their doom-filled death metal in a more obscure direction.

When I’ve thought of death metal bands from Leeds in recent years, I’ve always gravitated towards Cryptic Shift, but I definitely love the more old-school death/doom, dank sound that Slimelord has made their own. ‘Puddle Dweller’ sums up that death/doom sound to perfection, with grippingly slow tempos and soaring leads plunging you in to all kinds of atmosphere. I will say that listening to this record on my turntable at gone-midnight not long after first receiving it was fantastic, but then revisiting it via digital (and physical) means over and over again since has bolstered my appreciation of it much further.

Penultimate song ‘Epithelial Contaminant (Amphibious Dirge)’ is a somewhat gentle yet haunting instrumental piece, which leads you into ‘Loretta’s Bane’. It’s a song that thrashes harder, albeit without losing any of Slimelord’s murkiness. The Americans may think they have the monopoly on old-school death metal worship at the moment, but the UK’s own history and indeed it’s present is exhibited in this creation. Slimelord are hopefully here to stay for a while and the thought of that is very pleasing. 

For Fans Of: Solothus, Mortiferum, Mortuous and Incantation (IMO)

Stream and purchase Moss Contamination digitally from Slimelord below:-

You can buy physical copies from them too here - https://horriblebog.bigcartel.com

Slimelord - https://www.facebook.com/horriblebog

Physical copies are also still available from the labels below:-

Dry Cough Records - https://www.drycoughrecords.com/products

Seed Of Doom - https://seedofdoom.storenvy.com

Sewer Rot Records - https://sewerrotrecords1.bandcamp.com/merch

Dry Cough Records - https://www.facebook.com/DryCoughRecords

Seed Of Doom - https://www.facebook.com/SeedOfDoom

Sewer Rot Records - https://www.facebook.com/sewerrotrecords