Slaughter frontman Mark Slaughter recently spoke with Robert Cavuoto for My Global Mind, discussing his new solo album Halfway There. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Robert Cavuoto: Do you have a favorite track on the CD?

Mark Slaughter: "Surprisingly I don’t as I jump around all time on that. I have songs call 'Conspiracy' and 'Reckless' which are really heavy; 'Halfway There' and 'Forevermore' are very Slaughter-like. The last track on the record is 'Not Here' the lyrics start off '…I watched you take your last breath tonight' that pretty heavy. You can see where I was at. Dana Strum said the CD was a little dark. I don’t think it was dark just where I am in life. It’s what we are dealing with and what we see. 'Up All Night' is what happens on the weekends but this is the truth on what else happens.

Robert Cavuoto: Was there ever a song in your career that you were confident would be a hit but didn’t take off.

Mark Slaughter: "'Days Gone By' should have been a bigger hit but the record company executives basically said, 'We're Done!' The album cycle started with 'Wild Life' as the token rock track which was how they broke music back then. 'Real Love' was a track they thought could get radio play. We thought 'Days Gone By' was the hit and people would really get behind it but it never got the chance. I thought it was the best song on the album. Not too long after that, the label was gone. EMI ended up just a couple of accountants paying royalties."

Read the complete interview here.

“Devoted”, the second track from Halfway There, is available for streaming below.

Halfway There will be released worldwide in May via EMP Label Group, the US based label of Megadeth bassist David Ellefson. The follow up to 2015’s independently released Reflections In A Rear View Mirror, is a stunning return to form for Slaughter, channeling the familiar hard rock sensibility of classic-era Slaughter releases like Stick It To Ya and The Wild Life on “Hey You” and emotionally-charged title track “Halfway There”, with a mature, progressive, metal bent, evidenced on cuts like “Devoted”, “Conspiracy”, and “Reckless”.

Produced and co-mixed by Slaughter with John Cranfield (AFI, Andy Grammer), with art by famed horror/album artist “Mister” Sam Shearon (Rob Zombie, Iron Maiden, KISS, Clive Barker) Halfway There is slated to be released May 26th in North America by EMP Label Group/Amped, and EMP/SPV in Europe, and May 10th in Japan via EMP Label Group/Universal. Pre-order now at this location.

Mark will tour Japan in May with Slaughter, supporting Ratt, in conjunction with the Japanese release of the LP, with shows in Nagoya, Osaka, and a performance at the Tokyo Metal Summit, May 14th with Ratt, Sebastian Bach, E’nuff Z’nuff, and more.

Not only is Halfway There a blistering showcase of Slaughter’s seemingly never-ending vocal abilities, but a glowing testament to his perpetually underserved prowess as a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, handling all production, engineering, songwriting, arrangements, guitar, and the bulk of the album’s instrumentation himself.

Slaughter says, “My first solo record (Reflections In A Rear View Mirror) was kinda getting back on the horse, so to speak. I mean doing everything and recording... I’m taking on a lot more tasks as an engineer/producer/ writer on all this… because I’m doing everything. Ultimately at the end of the day, anybody who is a Slaughter fan, will certainly understand that I am a large part of the Slaughter sound and vibe, so obviously if you like that, it’s in there. It’s just that I take a lot more liberties on the solo side that I probably wouldn’t do when it’s a group effort.”

He adds, “The record is basically.. I spend a lot of time writing songs and things just grow out of me.. Ill be woken up in the middle of the night from nowhere and the song’s just in my head and I just exorcize the demons and there you have it. I guess what it is is, an artist makes art. And I’ve really come to the fact that since we haven’t made a Slaughter record in so long, it’s one of those things that I still have to make the art. That’s what I do. That’s what I love to do, and that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

EMP A&R director Thom Hazaert chimes in, “It’s been such an incredible honor to put this record together with Mark, who truly, in my humble opinion, is one of the greatest Hard Rock singers and songwriters of our generation, and, what a lot of people don’t realize, just a phenomenal player as well. We spent almost a year going back and forth about the idea of putting the record out together, obviously Mark and David (Ellefson) have a great longstanding friendship, so it really was an amazing fit.

From the first time I heard the working demos of these songs, I knew Mark was working on something very, very special. Growing up (and still) a huge Slaughter fan, I think these songs are going to not only resonate with the people who already love Mark and what he does, but carve a niche far beyond.“

Ellefson adds, “I have been friends with Mark for over 30 years, since he was in Vinnie Vincent Invasion, and there’s a lot of shared history. So when we started talking about the idea of putting this record out, yes, it was a great and natural fit. Mark is such a tremendous talent and songwriter, and the scope of that is truly evident on Halfway There. We’re extremely proud, and excited, to have been able to partner with him on it, and can’t wait for the World to hear it.”

Tracklisting:

“Hey You”
“Devoted”
“Supernatural”
“Halfway There”
“Forevermore”
“Conspiracy”
“Reckless”
“Disposable”
“Turn It”
“Not Here”

"Devoted":

“Hey You”: