Grand Forks' Slagduster releases new album after 7 years
By Boundary Sentinel
Slagduster, a local Grand Forks band, is releasing their newest album titled “Deadweight” on May 5th, viaa Waterlow Audio Records.
According to their record label, they have been working on this album since their debut album “Nature. Humanity. Machine.” was released in 2010.
Lead vocalist Shane Sherman (Grand Forks) said the band was named after “a slang term local to our area for a piece of machinery that was used in the mines over a hundred years ago.”
He goes on to say, “We are the only four musicians in our small town driven to form a progressive metal band.”
The record label says the album has a “progressive, groovy, creative, unique and heavy sound.”
Slagduster is inspired by Goijira, Sikth, Meshuggah, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Between the Buried and Me.
“Naturally our sound has come a long way since our debut release in 2010. The music is more complex, and much more developed, still heavy, but even more groove based.,” Sherman says of “Deadweight. “Listeners can expect to be challenged by focusing on the compositions, or lost in the musical landscape.”
Like the ancient machine they are named after, Slagduster works hard to draw art from base material, Shane describes their writing process as: “Meticulous. Lengthy. Not always pleasant, but we’ve learned to keep productive through compromise. We all appreciate the results of our hard work….All nine of these tracks have been very slowly and carefully crafted. No songs were scrapped, but all were completely revamped continuously for years. We put way more effort into collaborative songwriting, which has significantly advanced our original sound. Each track contains a variety of things, ranging from rippin’ riffs and tremolo melodies to soft transitional parts and psychedelic interludes on top of constant heaviness and groove.”
These songs are transformed in Slagduster’s live show, which Sherman describes as “high energy, bordering on ridiculous, with offensive banter and annoying antics from an attention hungry frontman. Well executed yet fun and light-hearted performances perfected over years of touring.”
‘Deadweight’ is due out on May 5, 2017 and will be available on Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon, Spotfiy and all major online retailers.
