''New Organon'' is the tenth studio album by American heavy metal band Slough Feg. It was released under their original name "The Lord Weird Slough Feg" on June 14, 2019, by Cruz del Sur Music, their return to that label after being signed to

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distr ...

for their previous album '' Digital Resistance''.

Background and themes

The album title comes from the philosophical work by Francis Bacon, titled ''

Novum Organum The ''Novum Organum'', fully ''Novum Organum, sive Indicia Vera de Interpretatione Naturae'' ("New organon, or true directions concerning the interpretation of nature") or ''Instaurationis Magnae, Pars II'' ("Part II of The Great Instauration ...

'' (translated to "New organon") However, frontman Mike Scalzi said that the title song is about

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

, and it was written before "New Organon" became the album title. "Headhunter" is an early song for the band, written by Scalzi in 1992. A few other songs in the album were, like the title track, inspired by philosophical works; "Discourse on Equality" is based on ''

Discourse on Inequality ''Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men'' (french: Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes), also commonly known as the "Second Discourse", is a 1755 work by philosopher Jean-Jacques Roussea ...

'', and "Coming of Age in the Milky Way" is based on the book written by

Timothy Ferris Timothy Ferris (born August 29, 1944) is an American science writer and the best-selling author of twelve books, including ''The Science of Liberty'' (2010) and ''Coming of Age in the Milky Way'' (1988), for which he was awarded the American ...

. Scalzi stated about the latter: "Uncanny" was sung by the band's bassist Adrian Maestas, one of only a few Slough Feg songs to have someone besides Scalzi contribute vocals.

Reception

Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music from an internationa ...

honored ''New Organon'' as #10 in the top 30 BravePicks of 2019. Chris Ayers of ''

Exclaim ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' praised the album, explaining that "the San Francisco band formerly known as Slough Feg hadn't used their original title, the Lord Weird Slough Feg, since 2003's Traveller album. But bandleader Mike Scalzi takes back his band's formal title (and dispenses with their folksy metal of yore) on the blazing New Organon, a decisive return to their more metallic, take-no-prisoners songwriting. Not that they had strayed far from the power-metal leanings of previous albums — namely 1999's

Twilight of the Idols ''Twilight of the Idols, or, How to Philosophize with a Hammer'' (german: link=no, Götzen-Dämmerung, oder, Wie man mit dem Hammer philosophiert) is a book by Friedrich Nietzsche, written in 1888, and published in 1889. Genesis ''Twilight of th ...

and 2000's

Down Among the Deadmen Slough Feg (also known as The Lord Weird Slough Feg) is an American heavy metal band from Pennsylvania, formed in 1990 and currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Taking their name from the Celtic folklore-influenced comic book Sláin ...

— but New Organon brings together all their finest musicality into one cohesive and effective statement." Carl Fisher of GBHBL wrote a moderately positive track-by-track review for the album. The

Metal Storm Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technology ...

review is rather mixed, stating that while the album is enjoyable, "it does feel underdeveloped at times, and if you didn't get that impression from this review, it is probably because the reviewer always has ridiculous expectations from The Lord Weird Slough Feg."

Track listing

Personnel

Slough Feg * Mike Scalzi – guitars, vocals *Angelo Tringali – guitars *Adrian Maestas – bass, vocals (track 7) *Harry Cantwell – drums Technical personnel *Phil Manley – recording, mixing *Batuka – recording (tracks 6 & 10), photos *Justin Weis – mastering *Annick Giroux – art

References

{{Authority control 2019 albums Slough Feg albums