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To be honest, “Ape Uprising” is a bit of a head-scratcher at times. Album opener, “The Hunchback of Notre Doom” still has me baffled. While the idea of Slough Feg doing a full on doom song is a good one, this track never fully develops, leaving it to linger someplace in between an extended album intro and a very basic doom metal song. While not really bad, it just doesn’t quite work or maybe I don’t quite get it. Thankfully, “Ape Uprising” picks up on the next track, “Overborne;” a solid but ultimately average song in the classic Slough Feg style. This leads into the meat of the album, where we see Slough Feg on top of their game for the next three songs. The 10-minute title track is top notch and deserves to become a staple of the bands live set. Following this are “Simian Manifesto” and “Shakedown at the Six;” both are memorable and well written, standing toe to toe with anything that the band have done. After this brief stretch of brilliance, “Ape Uprising” wraps up with three average (for Slough Feg) songs, going out with considerably less of a bang than I had hoped for after the album’s strong mid-section.
“Ape Uprising” is a good album by a great band and while I'm not entirely disappointed, I have come to expect a little bit more from these guys. Regardless, this is the best traditional heavy metal album that I have heard this year and it should not be ignored. Slough Feg should be more widely know, and the fact that an album of this caliber could disappoint me speaks more to the quality of the band’s back catalog than any real problem with “Ape Uprising.”
Rating: 86
Reviewed By: Garett F.