SLUG Contributor Limelight
November 21, 2007
Contributor Limelight: Conor Dow
Conor Dow joined up with the SLUG crew in June, 2007, becoming our third writer to cover the mighty genre of metal. In October he wrote a killer feature about Wolves In the Throne Room and enjoys covering all things black metal. His hobbies include playing Portal, hiking and petting stray cats. He is a lover of felines and even carries a photo of his deceased kitty, Tigger, in his wallet (R.I.P. Tigger). Conor also runs his own website, probablysmug.com, which includes more metal reviews and metal interviews than you can shake a stick at.
Articles by contributor
Local Review: Prize Country – Lottery of Recognition
Prize Country Lottery of Recognition Exigent Records Street: 02.27 Prize Country = Unsane + Zeke + some Refused Formed in May of 2006, Prize Country has a way with being catchy without being infectious, fun without being a guilty pleasure and rockin’ without being masturbatory. No matter how many times I listen to this, I
Local Reviews: Old Timer
Somewhere along the foothills resides a small family company who has been forging tombstones, among other things, for more than 100 years. This happens to be the spot Old Timer utilized to record this little gem because they do not give a fuck about studio quality polish or pristine production. … read more
Local Reviews: WoO
This was a wonderful little surprise.Intrigued, not knowing at all what to expect, with zero press release and mysterious album artwork, I immediately put this in my car CD player. The result was approximately 45 minutes of minimalistic and soothing soundscapes that are comparable to what the revered Eluvium would sound like if he was marooned on a derelict space station. … read more
Local Reviews: SubRosa
When I first heard about SubRosa, I noticed their influences were made up of bands that I would drive, or have driven, hundreds of miles to see. Naturally, I was intrigued. Not only is the band a unique entity among the local scene, but they’re not exactly comparable to bands globally. With an all female lineup, these ladies deliver gloom and disdain in an extremely appealing package. … read more
Local Reviews: Sheeprizer
I will always have a deep admiration for multi-instrument musicians. Sheeprizer is a pretty standard hard rock setup by a man known as Butt Socrates, consisting of basic distorted guitars, drums and no vocals. Therein is my problem. … read more
Local Reviews: Invaders
It’s not very often I’ll get a tasty treat of chunky doom from our local bands, but holy shit, Invaders has nailed it. This humble little EP pounds three songs of heaviness into your pink, supple little ear drums without regard for whether or not you like them. As DIY as the release appears, the production is extremely high quality without much feeling of intrusive digital polish, which can often sacrifice that sweet atmospheric buzz you feel in the back of your throat. … read more
Local Reviews: Eagle Twin / Night Terror
The split album has always been a good way to discover new music that associates with projects you may already enjoy. This highly limited release is no exception, and contains one track from Salt Lake’s Eagle Twin and Night Terror. Eagle Twin’s contribution is, as always, driven heavily by excellent drumming and a great deal of dirty feedback, while Night Terror submits a strong-but-short piece of horrifying noise. … read more
Local Reviews: Townie
Townie’s CD release show in July said a lot about who they are, because the show also doubled as a benefit for Utah’s Local First organization, supporting local and independently owned businesses. Townie started humbly and has managed to remain so to this day with music that is, quite simply, rock and roll with few frills or flash, but in the best way possible. … read more
Local Reviews: The Waters Deep Here
“Ambitious as fuck” are the first few words that came to mind when I listened to this for the first time. Sunden is three tracks ranging between 12 and almost 28 minutes in length, bookended by intro and outro tracks, and separated by short but effective interludes. … read more
Local Reviews: Cherubin
Being a local, I still have to admit that Utah’s metal scene leaves a lot to be desired. That said, I’m not entirely jaded, and this album did manage to catch me off guard. Whatever fucked up inspirations Cherubin have resulted in a particularly gloomy, dismal and completely satisfying experience. … read more
Local Reviews: Written in Fire
I’ve never felt any personal opposition to the recent thrash revival some of us metal fans have been noticing. Written in Fire are not purely a thrash band, but the influences are heavy in every way and I find myself enjoying them quite a bit. … read more
Wolves in the Throne Room: Madrigal of the Wolf
With raw production, blazing guitars, shrieking vocals and blasting drums, black metal has always purported an extreme display of individualism, making every effort to reject all things politically correct and socially acceptable. Like everything however, human beings have turned those sparks of individualistic expression into hackneyed, formulaic practices, which have become little more than parodies
Strange Books and Found Sounds: Red Light Bookstore
As Sugarhouse slowly devolves into corporate strip malls, ultimately pushing the small business owners out, many patrons of the area are already looking for an alternative free market. On March 1, 2007, Red Light Books was established in a small and uniquely artistic area near the heart of downtown Salt Lake City. While you might
Review: Morning Constitutions
Morning Constitutions Larry the Cable Guy Warner Brothers Street: 04.03 Daniel Whitney, or as America knows him, “Larry the Cable Guy,” is a marketing genius. Work with me here. When he first started taking his comedy to the stage, he learned that the square, irreverent white-guy routine was not only covered, but done much better
Pelican Show Review
Pelican has become quite prolific since their humble beginnings, partly thanks to signing with Hydra Head Records, and their associations with ISIS. It’s funny to me that Pelican started as a side-project to another band, Tusk, however it makes sense that the Pelican project would have a bit more success. … read more
Left 4 Dead Video Game Preview
The line for Left 4 Dead was rather long, but worth it for the few attempts I had. While I only got to play as a Survivor, I continually wanted to go back for more, as it had been a long time since I experienced any new frantic gaming like Left 4 Dead has to
As I Lay Dying Show Review
The last time I attended a show out at the Saltair Pavilion was about 10 years ago, and my goodness has it changed. Out with the “nearly abandoned warehouse” atmosphere, this old building has really shaped up to be pretty nice venue. Everybody touch up your sleeve tattoos and put on the tough guy scowl, a heavy metal show is coming to town! … read more
Cage @ The Urban Lounge
Despite my unfamiliarity with much of his material, Cage has always intrigued me due to his traumatic life experiences, D.I.Y. attitude and generally anti-hip hop approach to things. When I saw he was coming to town, I knew it was a show I didn’t want to miss. … read more
Giant Squid @ Burt’s Tiki Lounge
Music that is heavily riff-based and creates an atmosphere of oceanic depth weaved with elusive, yet interesting lyrics is a genre that is not exactly tapped out. After having the pleasure of seeing Giant Squid open up for Agalloch up in Portland, Oregon in 2006, I sure as hell wasn’t going to miss seeing them play their new material here in Salt Lake City. … read more
The Australian Pink Floyd Show @ USANA
I don’t claim to love Pink Floyd more than any other guy but if I’ve had a few drinks, Pink Floyd is one of the subjects I can often talk about until those around me are tired of hearing it. … read more
Review: Heavy Petting
Heavy Petting Obie Benz and Joshua Waletzky New Video Group Street: 05.29 A documentary based around the culture of sexuality in the 50s and 60s? Sign me up! With conversations on these topics from the likes of Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, viewing this felt like sitting around telling somewhat shocking stories with your
Review: Gothic Vampires From Hell
Gothic Vampires From Hell Fred Austin and Rob Walker Cleopatra Street: 05.15 Getting new material to review is sometimes like waiting to be kicked in the penis. You realize it has large potential for pain, but you also know you have to get through it one way or another. When this movie was placed into
Review: America’s Mexican
America’s Mexican George Lopez HBO Home Video Street: 07.03 WHITE PEOPLE TALK LIKE THIS, LATINO PEOPLE TALK LIKE THIS. Now that I have that out of the way, I can say that George Lopez was able to get most of that material out of the way within the first 15 minutes of this DVD. There’s
Localized: I am the Ocean & Her Candane – December...
Localized is always five bucks, and happens on the second Friday of the month at the Urban Lounge, a private club for members. This month’s showstopper falls on December 14th. … read more
Localized: Loom, Bird Eater and The Grimmway – May 2008
SLUG’s Localized will always be five bucks no matter what and occurs on the second Friday of every month. … read more
Skinning The Lambs
Since the early 1980s, black metal has held its middle finger pointed toward the sky. … read more
Creation and Crucifixion: INVDRS in the Studio
Since INVDRS formed, it’s been a short but eventful path from just jamming out ideas and blowing fuse boxes at local bars, to these final weeks of recording their first full length, Electric Church. From the material I heard during my visit, I could only later describe it to a friend as if “someone had just dropped a filthy coffin full of stones onto my chest.”
… read more
OM: Vespers and Vigils
Ascend. A light skyward to the field rise claimant to freedom.
One key element that separates OM from the wide majority of their peers is the obvious spirituality in the lyrics, and subsequently the music as a whole. Every part of the sound is devotional and surrendered as prayer. … read more
Dave Payne
When he’s not busy being a father of twins, fixing up his house, performing with several bands, or up late playing arcade games in his basement, Dave Payne is at the helm of his very own recording studio known as Spaceship Arcade Studio. … read more
National CD Reviews – October 2009
Reviews of national music, including new releases from The Black Dahlia Murder, Converge, The Entrance Band, Exene Cervenka, Health, Karl Blau, Liturgy, Mew, Pissed Jeans, Thrice, The Twilight Sad and many more. … read more
Product Reviews – December 2009
This month we review products from Boardpusher, Brinno, Zagg, Sleepictures, Lafe’s and Electro Joe. Whether you like skateboards, belts, earbuds or deodorant, there’s something for everyone. … read more
Todd Barry: Amused to Death
Todd Barry has been on stage for just over 20 years, mocking life’s ridiculousness with his recognizable cadence of mellow, tranquil delivery. His comedy, which he describes as “super flashy with many ‘bells and whistles’ to keep you focused” is not for everyone. He doesn’t yell his punch lines at the top of his lungs, or work up a sweat stomping around on stage waving his arms. Instead, he takes on a role similar to the guy you may have heard sitting in the back of class making sarcastic comments about everything he sees and hears. … read more
Know Thyself: Rosetta then and now
There’s an incredible sense of earnestness and excitement in the music Rosetta creates. Music listeners are drawn to their style of heavy, melodic music, which holds a dense cosmic atmosphere that is undeniably alluring. The impact they’ve had on their listeners isn’t just exclusive to metal fans however—as time progresses, their audience steadily increases. … read more
Articles by contributor
Creation and Crucifixion: INVDRS in the Studio
Since INVDRS formed, it’s been a short but eventful path from just jamming out ideas and blowing fuse boxes at local bars, to these final weeks of recording their first full length, Electric Church. From the material I heard during my visit, I could only later describe it to a friend as if “someone had just dropped a filthy coffin full of stones onto my chest.”
… read more