01. Laughter
02. Class A Cherry
03. Come Apart
04. Collider
05. Matador
06. Limassol
07. Heavy Duty
08. Thinking About It
09. In Ways
10. Nothing Left
11. Falling Down

Brighton quartet Slung launch into their debut album with real gusto, blending and overlapping rock and metal genres effortlessly on In Ways, in ways that feel like they must come from a far more established group.

Self-categorized as ‘somewhere between Mastodon and Mazzy Star’, Slung only formed 2 years ago, but have managed to figure out a niche for themselves that feels familiar to a few different sounds, but sufficiently distinct from all of them. On the metal side, there are elements of stoner and sludge metal in certain tracks across In Ways, which find themselves working alongside alternative, classic and hard rock. There are heavier and more confrontational songs here, but others that are instead slick or even languid, and rarely is there a missed beat in the process.

The opening to the album explores that heavier side of Slung’s range, “Laughter” launching off with big drums, an emphatic yell from vocalist Katie Oldham, and thick fuzzy riffs in the ballpark of Kylesa. Oldham shows much of her wide range across the track, opting for a subdued, breathy approach in the verse before belting out the chorus; I must admit I’m not particularly keen on this song’s chorus, but it’s more a style issue than a performance one. That’s also an isolated issue, as I’m fully on board with other heavy tracks; the bruising chorus of “Matador” hits with plenty of heft, while the unhurried “Collider” swims in the fuzz of its desert rock chorus.

“Laughter” and “Matador” bring plenty of heaviness, but overall In Ways lurks on the fringes of metal rather than lunging right into the style. Songs on the rock/metal threshold include the grungy “Limassol”, trudging along with a sense of longing in Oldham’s vocals, while the distortion on the guitar adds grit without sacrificing the warmth of the song’s psychedelia. There’s also the stoner-meets-alt rock of “Thinking About It”, alongside “Heavy Duty”, which is for the first half of its runtime a tender, twanging ballad with plenty of clean and slide guitar before turning the volume up for a big dramatic finale, and dirty hard rocker “Class A Cherry”, a brooding cut with space, swagger, a gnarly chorus full of attitude, and a tasty desert rock bridge.

Then at last are the songs that go right into soft rock, in which Slung engage their inner Fleetwood Mac. “Come Apart” sounds like a prototype for “Heavy Duty”, trundling along with subtle but delicious twang to the guitarwork, but it is the closing pair of songs that are perhaps the gentlest, and also the most emotional, dealing with the fallout of an ended long-term relationship. There’s an aching sorrow to the stripped-down rock of “Nothing Left”, and a wistfulness to the slide guitar-laden closing ballad “Falling Down”, ending the record on a downcast, but not defeated, note.

From the bite of its opening to the tenderness of its conclusion, In Ways is unpredictable and varied, yet cohesive and firmly resonant. Its heavy moments have weight behind them, its slick rock is infectious and effortlessly cool, and its quiet parts are heartfelt and make a strong connection; Slung have found a winning formula pretty much right from the off.