Band:	The SLoT
Album:	200 кВт
Style:	Alternative metal, Nu metal
Release date:	November 2018

01. 200 кВт
02. Кукушка
03. ЗОЖ
04. Я выберу солнце
05. Естественный отбор
06. Сколько денег
07. На марс!
08. Не все равно
09. #ЯЩЕТАЮ
10. Система
11. Ильич (Son Of A Bitch)
12. Вселенная

I think I'm going to cave to our recent trend (for now) and omit a rating for this review; it always gets me in trouble when I review The SLoT anyway. Ain't gonna stop me from putting this in my top five of 2018... but now you losers have to read.

Not since Slot1 and 2 Wars has The SLoT shown such an interest in its nonmetal side through an entire album, particularly the hip-hop elements that have defined a major part of the band's personality as nu metal practitioners, and the distinctly late-'90s/early-2000s brand of harsh, metallic rap embraced on those early albums has been reborn as a fresher style drawing from contemporary charts. Tunes like "Я выберу солнце" and "На Марс!" fling themselves into spacey electro-pop with lots of reverb, synths, and free-floating melodies that barely touch the aggressive metal grounding. The closer, "Вселенная," commits all the more to the ultramodern aesthetic with a dreamy mix that I, as a metal reviewer, am powerless to describe. "Кукушка" adds to the rap metal lexicon in an unexpected fashion that I would trust no other band to handle with such delicacy.

Swaggering coolness dominates through future-tech sounds that in The SLoT's music are typically relegated to flourishes and accentuations, sometimes utilized for more substantial accompaniment, but never to such a degree; even when the electronics were prominent, they were rarely as focused and concentrated as they are now. This is the band's most definite departure from its metal base. 200 кВт drills into a heavy, exacting groove with the intensity of brain-pounding EDM rhythms; the synthetic sounds take over as the primary vehicle for riffs and melodies, leaving the guitar and bass largely in a support role. We hear chilly keys on "На Марс!", boisterous club beats on "Сколько денег" and "#ЯЩЕТАЮ," and a lovely, wubbly break at the end of "Естественный отбор" to take us away from the otherwise eerie Korn sound. Everywhere you turn, there is some unusual squeal or siren or sample or synth adding layer after layer to each melody.

200 кВт remains, however, a determinedly metal album, and a heavy one - just as much descended from "Мочит как хочет!" as from "Сила притяжения," with a rocky stomp and steady guitar groove that counteracts the poppier aspects. Those pulsating beats meld with dingy, dissonant breakdowns and aggressive, powerfully sung lead vocals, and however far a song may wander during the verse, it always comes back home for a whopping chorus before too long. Therein lies The SLoT's greatest strength: the songwriting. No matter how aggressive or distorted or synthesized the delivery, no matter the evolution the band's aural environment undergoes, The SLoT's unflappable songwriting prowess sustains each album from start to finish. A rap verse, a metal breakdown, and a dubstep drop can all meet in a pop chorus for a unification of each style's strengths. A great vocal line can conquer all. Listening to "Кукушка" for the first time, I experienced a 60-second journey from "what in the absolute hell am I listening to" to "ah, I see, it's my favorite song of 2018."

200 кВт is a bold experiment for The SLoT, even considering that this band has made a career out of blending genres and absorbing new sounds. The styles present here will no doubt alienate some (maybe many) listeners, but this is a group of musicians who can always be counted on for quality performances and quality songs - and they've really stuck the execution here, as far as I'm concerned, so I can't wait to see where they progress from here.