SLAB! are an industrial music/alternative rock band initially active between the mid-1980s and early 1990s. They reformed in 2009. History The band's first release was the "Mars on Ice" 12-inch single in 1986 on Dave Kitson's Ink Records (an offshoot of his Red Flame label). This received airplay from John Peel who invited them to record a session for his BBC Radio 1 show the same year. Peel had given the band their first ever national press by devoting his whole column in the “Observer” to SLAB! having witnessed their first ever London gig. It was from this gig that the band got signed to Ink Records. The band released their second single "Parallax Avenue" in early 1987 which saw them in the lower reaches of the UK Independent Chart, and in May that year their debut mini-LP Music From The Iron Lung was issued, reaching number 21 on the Independent Albums chart. "Smoke Rings" gave them their highest charting single, reaching number 31 on the indie chart in July 1987, and towards the end of the year the band's first long-playing album, Descension was issued. “Descension” was a major change in sound and style; its huge riffs and heaviness saw the band moving into new sonic territory. It was this album with its heavily detuned fuzz bass riffs that has influenced, among others, later bands such as Godflesh, artists including Justin Broadrick, Kevin Martin and God, Nicholas Bullen and Mick Harris from Scorn. Artists as diverse as Stephen O’Malley and Steven Wilson have both proclaimed their admiration for “Descension”. When the album was released it received outstanding reviews from Dave Haslam in “New Musical Express” and from both “Sounds” and “Melody Maker”. The fourth single “People Pie” was released shortly after “Descension”. “Ikon Video” from Manchester, who had been shooting live videos of the group for the past two years, released a promo video of the single which was shown on BBC2 “Snub TV”. A third John Peel session was recorded in February 1988 This session saw the band experimenting with further free playing. Kevin Martin included a track from the session on the compilation album “Jazz Satellites”. After more line up changes throughout 1988 the band recorded its second full album “Sanity Allergy” following the arrival of Scott Kiehl and Lou Cicotelli from America. This was a much denuded sound and far more conventional than “Descension” (the songwriting