I wanted to start off this new phase of Deaf Sparrow Zine with a band that adheres to no rules and I couldn’t think of a better example that the UK’s Sloath. Riot Season released their debut a few months ago and it is astonishingly heavy and painfully slow and natural. Yes, it is natural. Did I mention it is heavy? Although I was the first jump and scream the tag ‘doom’, the lads were quick and reiterative in clarifying that what they do is not fucking DOOM. On the other end were everyone but the vocalist. Read on and spread the word.

DS - I really dig the sound of the band. Pretty distinctive. I was wondering, how do you find like-minded people that end up crafting music as unorthodox as that of Sloath?

T.H - We've all been playing in different bands for years, we all knew each other from sharing bills. Luke and Leon had the idea years ago to do something louder and heavier, and it sounded like fun to the rest of us. To begin with we used to get very drunk and play one riff for ages.

DS - If someone asks me about what style does Sloath play, I would probably say doom, however that is not enough. How would you describe the sound of the band? Do you consider that your songs are mostly doom, or would you say they are more experimental or more of something else?

T.H – Personally, I would say Sloath is a heavy rock band, I mean I can hear why people say it's doom, especially the older stuff that's on the record... but I wouldn't describe the sound of the band that way, nor do I believe that anybody in the band has aspirations to play doom.

LM- I would call Sloath a stoner rock band - which is a shame as I hate that term and there are only two stoners in the band. None of us are into the Gothic image or ethos of Doom: crows, misty forests, hooded robes... I mean I really enjoy listening to Sunno))) and the rest of them... But we aren't goths.

T.H - I might be a little bit of a goth.

DS - The UK is fertile ground for doom metal. First of all, without mentioning Black Sabbath and/or Electric Wizard, could you please mention who you consider to be the best UK exponents of doom?

LM- Again, there are plenty of loud heavy rock bands from the UK that I could recommend but none you could label as "Doom". None that I know of, anyway. I'm sure they are out there somewhere though. UK bands I would recommend: Gum Takes Tooth, The Country Teasers (who put a great record out on Holy Mountain last year) The Notorious Hi Fi Killers, I'm Being Good, Lords, Bilge Pump, Joeyfat, Todd and Shit & Shine... My #1 British band were a group of pleasers called Ack Ack Ack but they aren't around anymore, sadly. None of those guys are anywhere near Doom though.

LW- There are some doom bands around but we haven't ever played with any of them, couldn't really comment on the doom scene I'm afraid.

DS - At times I feel like the density of Sloath has taken something from the sound of Godflesh. The difference being that your sound is far more organic. Am I right or am I totally wrong? Talking specifically about your influences, who would you cite as major in the development of the Sloath sound? Which bands from outside your country would you cite as influential?

T.H – Initially, I guess we would have drawn inspiration from a lot of American bands (Earth, Bardo Pond)... since we've now established that we can all play together I imagine everybody's many and various influences come out in what they do. Personally I'd cite Nathan Bell from Lungfish as a big influence on my bass playing. I'm sure Luke will cite ZZ Top and Kai would mention some sort of far out psychedelic business like Les Ralizes or something.

LM- I have never heard Godflesh and I don't really listen to much metal at all really. Everyone in the band seems to agree on Harvey Milk though... When nobody is about I tend to listen to a lot of really childish noise music- things like Whitehouse or Consumer Electronics and all that Power Electronics nonsense. That is kind of like a dirty joke though. The more recent Country Teasers/The Rebel stuff seems to get repeated playings at the moment as well - Ben Wallers turns a good phrase - I guess I like anti-social music that doesn't take itself too seriously. Or maybe It's me - maybe I don't take music very seriously... On the other hand I love Stars Of The Lid - did you hear that time-stretched Justin Bieber piece by Shamantis recently? That was great. Check it here. I seem to have a taste for JA Bashment/Dancehall as well for reasons unknown.

LW- I think when we first started we were listening to a lot of drone stuff, we used to make a lot of drone at the beginning too.

DS - For how long was Sloath together before you recorded this debut? The reason I ask this, is that I can’t imagine anyone forming a band and having such an abstract sound in mind. It just seems like it was developed over time?

T.H - The record was done two years ago, we'd been playing for about a year by then. The sound on the record is what the band sounds like when you record it way up in the red, it's not really that scientific, it's just how we like it. There was a goal to begin with - to play loud, heavy and, initially, slow.

LM- It seems to be more satisfying to play than to listen to for me. I guess I was looking for an excuse to turn the amps up as far as possible and not have to worry about things like structure. The goal was simple: "Lets have a laugh".

LW- In the beginning we just tried to play a riff until it seemed like it was time to stop. I think over time it did start to evolve.

DS - One very peculiar aspect about Sloath is the vocals. You can hear them clearly but I have no clue if there are lyrics or just screams. Please talk a little bit about this?

T.H - Kai might not be around to answer this, so in his absence I'll have a go. Yes, there are lyrics, and they are in English, but for the most part even the rest of us don't know what they are, so I couldn't tell you what they deal with. For what it's worth, I'm really into what Kai does, for me it makes sense of the rest of the music. I like that it's kind of impressionistic (for want of a better word) rather than explicit.

DS - Please talk a little bit about the recording? Where was it recorded, how long did it take? Who produced it?

T.H - The record was done at Brighton Electric, with an engineer called Alex Nunn. We produced it ourselves. It was recorded over two days, pretty much live (there's a couple of overdubs). The song on the second side took ages because Leon's amp kept shaking to pieces. During breaks from playing, we made up several very silly a capella numbers on the studio roof. We mixed it over a couple of evenings, again with Alex, I think it took several months to get round to it... it's probably fairly close to what was intended at the time.

DS - Your album has been released by the excellent Riot Season records. How does this come about?

T.H - I for one am delighted to be in the company of Sightings, Todd, Mainliner.

LM- I had been buying Riot Season stuff for a while so I sent Andy the record and he liked it. At the time, I thought that the Sloath record seemed maybe a bit too traditional for Riot Season and was pleasantly surprised when Andy offered to put it out. I was dead chuffed in fact. I'm a fan of pretty much everything on Riot Season.

DS - One thing I loved about the album was the artwork. What does the landscape represent? Do you think there is a relationship between the artwork and the music?

LM- Luke Guitar Stage Right did it. Luke?

LW- I draw a lot of landscapes, this one seemed quite appropriate for the sound of the record, so yeah, I would say there is a relationship. It doesn't necessarily represent anything though. I have a website that will exist one day- www.lukejwoodgate.co.uk

DS - What records are you listening to now?

T.H - The Hunches Exit Dreams, Women Public Strain, Bill Orcutt A New Way To Pay Old Debts.

LM- Sword Heaven Entrance, Black Pus- Black Pus IV, Sun Ra Nuclear War, Sissy Spacek- Gore Jet and whatever my flatmate and colleagues play all day- mainly music of a dance floor nature.

DS - What are the next plans for the band?

T.H - Finish our second album, play some gigs.

LM- What he said- I want to move into some slightly different musical territories. I'm not talking reggae or anything though.

DS -Any last words…

T.H - Please, do what you gotta do to me, but don't hurt the girl.

LM -Father, could you help out an old altar boy?

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Photos by Chris Summerlin