With a musical legacy that includes everyone from Face Value to Ringworm to 9 Shocks Terror, Cleveland's hardcore punk cred could never be questioned.
One of the city's best bands of the moment is SLUG. "When we released the demo in February 2021, we thought, 'if anything, our friends will probably like it,'" says vocalist Andrew Albrecht. "The reception of the demo blew us away. None of us anticipated people from distant countries messaging us to go play for them or people getting tattoos with the album art or lyrics."
SLUG followed their demo with Continuing Growth, a ripping EP that cemented their reputation for bringing forth a no-nonsense approach to hardcore packed with speed and stomping mosh parts that waste no time to get to their point. Shows and fest appearances followed, along with a promo drop in 2023.
Later this week, SLUG will be releasing their debut album, a 10-track beast called Ohio that should end up on Best of lists come December. Fans of No Tolerance and The Rival Mob should especially take note of this one.
Not known for my patience, I'm psyched to give No Echo readers a quick preview of Ohio via a premiere of "Introspection," a cut from the forthcoming LP featuring guest vocals from none other than Dwid Hellion of the almighty Integrity. "SLUG are a great up and coming hardcore band that invited me to record a guest vocal feature on their new album. I hope that you will enjoy their song," the Integrity legend told me via email.
"This song was originally released a few years ago as part of the summer songs 2021 promo," says Andrew. “When I originally wrote this song, I always heard the second verse being sung by Dwid and thought it would be so cool if I could somehow get someone that has played a huge part in developing my love of hardcore to sing on this track.
"Last year, when we were getting ready to record the album, we had the opportunity to play with Integrity at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland. During load in, I had the opportunity to tell Dwid about how playing with Integrity was a bucket list item for me, and asked him if he’d be open to singing on a SLUG song. I was so damn stoked when he agreed.”
Ohio will be released on February 16th via Delayed Gratification Records. Pre-orders are available now (two vinyl variants, a cassette, a shirt) can be found here.
Hit the SLUG Linktree to find all of their social media pages and relevant links.
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2024 Hardcore Releases Playlist
