Death metal band The Sluagh’s latest album, Enivid Creatures raises the bar to lofty heights within the blossoming underground Irish music scene, and new single ‘I bhFolach’ is a brand-new instrumental bonus track just released.
For those who can’t speak Gaelic, sluagh means army or Host, and I bhFolach is hidden, but vocalist Sean explained more about the new single: To be honest, an instrumental single was a brazen move. We delivered something that wouldn’t be a typical encapsulation of our sound.
“On the track ‘I bhFolach’, we stripped back the vocals, orchestra and choirs on the song, leaving only the three guitars, bass and drums to escort the listener through the track. We did it to exercise dynamic and demonstrate instrumental drive. But the execution of the single as a whole didn’t lack the usual diversity of form that we usually operate on, Notions of Power is as different to the song ‘I bhFolach’, as the single is to the album. In short, we wanted to do something different.”
The band wear eye-catching and eery masks that were were the creation of the highly-respected Bowsie Workshop, with some pieces inspired by the work of special effects genius, Bruce D. Mitchell (Planet Terror, Pacific Rim, Alien Vs Predator – Requiem), and on the use of masks, the singer commented:
“The decision for The Sluagh to wear masks was really a decision to extend the artwork into another medium, and to elaborate further on the efforts we make for creativity. I think what each mask represents differs from person to person in the band. For me, The Sluagh, in its legend, was represented by a flock of birds, so I went with a bird-like design to tie in with the band’s title.”
As of 2022, The Sluagh has released two studio albums as part of one album cycle, titled Enivid Creatures. Significant experimentation began at the onset of writing both albums, drawing inspiration from both classical composers, while also strongly influenced by technical and progressive metal bands.
“The overall concept of the six-piece musically, is to be instrumentally driven and not to have one instrument, individual or element dictate the sound,” stated the band.
‘I bhFolach’ is available here, Enivid Creatures here, and you can check out The Sluagh at Band Camp – You can also check out the single’s music video here at RAMzine.
