Funk-metal’s mostly been left in the dust, shoved aside while nu-metal, its younger cousin in baggy jeans and chains, reigned supreme. But while nu-metal’s swung back in recent years, few have aspired to make metal properly funky again. Until now. German metal quintet SLOPE are in a lane pretty much by themselves, but their second full-length doesn’t feel at any point like it’s been exhumed. It’s slick and modern as anything, though not without flaws. Particularly in its opening tracks, Freak Dreams is buckets of big, dumb fun. Opener Talk Big shimmies in with a rather impressive twang to its riffs (with a splash of slap bass thrown in, because funk), while It’s Tickin’ swaggers and stomps its way into a crunchy chorus (with one line serving a cheeky nod...