The Best Band in Colorado is The Sleer
Back in August we asked you to help us find the best unsigned bands in America. After listening to hundreds of submissions, we’ve finally narrowed down our pick for the most Rocky Mountain-est state in this grand nation. Today, we proudly present our pick for the best unsigned band in Colorado: The Sleer.
Take a big breath of that fresh mountain air. Let the frosty mist fill your lungs as you survey the lofty mountain heights, ancient aspen groves, and clear blue skies. Take a dip in the plentiful pools carved out by waterfalls that relentlessly drive through the mountain passes or hike up the tallest sand dunes in North America as you hunt for shooting stars. Ah, Colorado, my home state, the crown jewel of natural beauty in this great nation. You’d think with all this natural grandeur that the Centennial State would be a fertile breeding ground for folky black metal. However, our Rocky Mountain champion happens to be a monster of an entirely different nature, a tentacled, oily beast seemingly dredged up from the abyssal depths of some great lake. The Sleer have risen from the murky bottom of some unseen mountain reservoir with an ancient, boundless hunger for souls.
Towing the line between cavernous death metal and water-logged doom, The Sleer avoid all the nettlesome trappings and pretenses that usually hinder bands of their ilk from making memorable music. The riffs are as crushing as a landslide of granite, the drums are as constant and battering as the tides, and the vocals emanate with the ancient fury of nature scorned. In only four long tracks, this band proclaims its dominance of the natural world and slowly lumbers into the inner reaches of your consciousness, leaving a swath of destruction in its wake. But it isn’t just the foundations of the subgenre that this band nails; their music is embellished with soulful leads, moody clean verses, creepy atmospheres, and more head-banging moments than they have any right to use. The Sleer are a true monster of Biblical proportions, and it would be a crime against nature to ignore their self-titled release.
Check them out on Facebook and stream The Sleer over at Bandcamp.
Don’t believe me that The Sleer are the best thing since John Elway to come out of Denver? Hear what some of the other judges have to say:
Tyree of House Grind: “There is a layer of blackened filth that blankets a crushing melancholy on this full length that turns the listener’s blood heavy and black. The Sleer play a very gritty bluesy style of sludge mixed with a devastating, doomy, and despairing style of funeral doom. Filth and despair is the only thing that is real with The Sleer, so lifelovers be gone.”
Masterlord SteelDragon: “Feelings are for wimps, and The Sleer will gladly crush them into tiny bits for you with slow-burning, soul-burning Doom. It might take some time (around 40 minutes), and the process itself will be emotionally painful, but you’ll come out on the other end a cold, dead-eyed shell of a man. This is crushingly dark stuff.”
Joe Thrashnkill: “I didn’t mean to listen to The Sleer because their songs are really long. But I did. And I am glad. They are good.”
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Crypticus (Denver, CO): Crypticus bring the old-school death metal violence and pummel you with some nasty Lovecraftian vibes. Succumb to the horrors over at Bandcamp.
Vimana (Denver, CO): Vimana bring the slaughter with technical precision and grinding fury. The Collapse EP will beat you about the head and neck, and you will like it. Jam it at Bandcamp.
The Toilet ov Hell is on an absurd quest to find the best unsigned band in each state of this glorious union. The purpose? To shine some the spotlight on bands that deserve more exposure. Also, we’re going to determine once and for all the greatest state in the nation. Each state winner is decided by a collection of 25 judges. After we’ve announced the winner of each state, we’re gonna throw them all in a winner-take-all bracket and leave the votes up to you. Who will be the best unsigned band in the United States? Which state is superior? We can’t wait to find out.
Previous winners:
Alabama — Phylum
Alaska — Terraform
Arizona – Take Over And Destroy
Arkansas – Torii
California – Destroy Judas
