User:Truffletrousers/sandbox

Slab is a progressive metal, hardcore/punk crossover band based in Birmingham, UK. Formed in the summer of 2005 from the ashes of indie-industrial outfit Blown and thrash metallers Cile, the trio set to work on creating music knowing no compromise. Andy 'Kimbo' Kimberley and his cousin 'Big' Jim Fletcher already knew Jake Cowing through the underground Birmingham music scene and had been eager to work together musically for more than a year before Slab's seed was sown. Initial rehearsals at Hockley Street Studios proved promising with Cowing's metal riffs being countered by Fletcher's chorus-rich bass and Kimberley's punk-tinged drumming. The voice was in a league of its own.

The first song to emerge from the Slab camp was Vines: an urgent sounding guitar intro soon interlaced with shifting bass chords and a tribal beat before blasting into what would become Slab's trademark aural onslaught. The three-piece loved it and if no one else did, then so what? When five songs had been nailed down, Slab felt they were ready to invite a small audience to their rehearsals. Upon exiting a showcase of these songs their good friend and pre-production guru John Roper was heard to mutter: "Off in the distance you can hear Pelican throwing their guitars to the floor."

2006 saw the release of Conspiracy, a three-track demo recorded by John Roper. The drums were laid down at Hockley Street and bass, vocals and guitars were recorded at John's flat in Bearwood. The CD was hand stamped on the disc and sleeve and given free to any takers at Slab gigs. Slab shows were mainly support slots as song writing was proving steady but slow and a set was usually six songs long.

2007 saw the final addition to Slab's first album Betray the Past... Infect the Future. Extinction Forums was to be the sprawling musical journey at the end of the album, venting the group's disgust at humanity watching the death of nature pass by. This subject of untamed nature versus man is a running theme through a lot of concepts behind Slab's music.

Fellow Birmingham band Sanchez had completed a recording at Hellfire Studios in Wednesbury and on their recommendation Slab put themselves in the capable hands of Ajeet Gill. The debut album was given promising reviews from the music press and in the following year was added to Meltdown Records catalogue of metal band releases. Design-wise the band employed the talents of Jim Fletcher's work colleague Purdeep Singh, a graphic designer and not a metal head. Slab wanted to present themselves in a manner not easily pigeon-holed (just like their music), steering away from the metal scene norm of illegible band logos and horror imagery.

2008 and 2009 saw Slab gigging UK-wide promoting Betray..., plus a couple of shows in Malta after being invited over by Maltese metallers Loathe. Writing was coming thick and fast for the next album. The first song to be written being The Bite, based around a monstrous and distorted bass riff that Fletcher had penned. Physeteric Faith Disaster was the last song to be written for the second recording with Ajeet at his Hellfire II studio located in Digbeth, Birmingham. February 2010 saw Slab walk literally metres from their lock up at Hellfire II to the basement recording studio where Ajeet lived and worked like a music-loving hermit.

The concept for Megafaunal Genocide was based around Cowing's fascination and awe of the now extinct Tazmanian Tiger or Thylacine and a 3D rendered image of its skull created by Purdeep Singh featured heavily in the artwork. The album's sound saw Slab treading an even more abrasive route; Kimberley and Fletcher even expressing their difficulty in listening to the album in one whole sitting. The DIY release was met with encouraging reviews including an 8 out of 10 rating from Metal Hammer magazine and 4.5 out of 6 from Zero Tolerance.