THE LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG – Traveller Supplement 1: The Ephemeral Glades

“The Spinward Marches lie on the edge of Imperial space, and area that borders rival interstellar governments that directly oppose any further expansion. Far from the major centres of power the local rulers have more practical power than the Emperor himself. It is here that bands of daring individuals can take advantage of the hostile factions in order to carve out a fortune for themselves. The Spinward Marches offer untold adventure for those willing to seek it out.” – Spinward Marches, Mongoose Publishing

This Is Why

It does not get more nerdy than with Traveller Supplement 1: The Ephemeral Glades. In 1977, a roleplaying-game called Traveller was first published, set a thousand years into the future, and although never really a best selling property, garnered support and fans all over the world and several incarnations later it is still, or better, again around. It seems band mainman Mike Scalzi played the game back in the day because twenty-two years ago the band released and album called Traveller that tells the story of the rogue Baltech Budapest and the mad professor Ricket and weaves a grand tale of an attempted human genocide and genetic hybridization and ends in a fragile balance that saved humanity – for now.

The album is widely regarded as one of their finest which the band is surely aware of, so the return to their unique setting is a great chance, but also quite a risk. Many sequels have only achieved a tainting of the original instead of a revival of the original fame. Operation: Mindcrime anyone? But the band does not not shy away from this, in best Baltech-style they take the task head on!

This Is How

The Lord Weird Slough Feg tries to continue exactly where they left of. That starts with the easy part, the story, which picks up where they originally parted ways with their fictional characters, but the band also used the same studio, Trakworkx in San Francisco, the same microphones as two decades ago and, of course, the same engineer, Justin Weiss. The result is immensely satisfying, they managed to fit Traveller Supplement 1: The Ephemeral Glades like a piece of a puzzle seamlessly onto the end of Traveller. If one puts the albums on back to back the experience is almost perfect!

This Is What

Musically the new record is typical The Lord Weird Slough Feg. There are leads that remind of Thin Lizzy and some Iron Maiden, too, there are the same breaky, weirdly rhythmic patterns that make up the interesting style of Scalzi and his bandmates, the epic music and story that does not need long tracks to feel grande, and above all the uniquely characteristic voice of Scalzi himself. Fans will be drawn in immediately and it will feel like home with the first chorus about two minutes into Traveller Supplement 1: The Ephemeral Glades. The only difference seems to be a reduced bombast and the newly won ability to cut away the fat and reduce their songs to the core. We have seven songs, including one short instrumental, but only twenty-three minutes total! En EP, indeed, but one that feels satisfying like a full album because of the compositorial craftsmanship at work.

This Is Exactly What

The album kicks off with the longest track, “Knife World”, in which guitarists Mike Scalzi and Angelo Tringali trade off riffs as an intro and start the song only after one and a half minutes, but then with verve and one of the great choruses that dominated Traveller and again raise the Supplement to the same height. After a brief interlude with the instrumental “The Black Circle” the band follows with a barrage of short, but still epic songs with great riffing and Mike’s talent for melody and memorably choruses. A favorite of those? Impossible to pick, one day it is the double lead-laden “Magnetic Fluctuation”, one day the dramatic bard-tells-his-tale-like “Mission On Mithril” or the classic metal of the title track, and more often than not the cool and calm “Ice Shelf Stomp”. The final piece, “Vargr Reprise”, ends the album on a high note and hints at yet another possible continuation. It is Supplement number 1 after all, right? The story seems far from over.

This Is Simply Great

The Lord Weord Slough Feg has not been that focused and to the point since, well, probably Atavism, and have earned the right to return to their grandiose story, creating another career high in the process. Unfortunately it is only an EP and the fan longing for more may have to wait some time for the band to continue, but in the mean time this is a highlight of the yet young metal year 2025.

Album Tracklist

1. Knife World
2. The Black Circle
3. Mission on Mithril
4. The Ephemeral Glades
5. Magnetic Fluctuations
6. Ice Shelf Stomp
7. Vargr Reprise

Band Lineup

Mike Scalzi – guitars, vocals
Angelo Tringali – guitars
Adrian Meastas – bass
Austen Krater – drums