Don't remind me Huge disappointment. This Crypt Sermon artwork was made by their vocalist!

LOL, God Shroud, I should message them telling them I'd like to review their new album as well!

Found a live video of Crypt Sermon on YT last night and it definitely spoke to me. Gonna keep an eye out for the lp and may have to snag the demo from DDR.

I checked out a few songs from their new album on youtube. It seems the guitarist is just interested in constantly hitting the downtuned strings with wet noodles and the vocalist sounds like he's depressed because of a fish bone got stuck in his throat. Not a single variation to be found in songwriting.

Hi, what do you guys think is a good place to start with sludge metal? (albums, bands, etc)

First and foremost, Melvins. Arguably the sole pioneers.





Then we come to the NOLA scene and the two most essential bands who define the entire sludge style.
Crowbar:




Eyehategod:




Also from Louisiana, Acid Bath who were quite unique and off-kilter from the traditional sludge sound.



Some of the Alice in Chains songs are also quite Acid Bath-like. I'm quite sure they appreciate each other.





Fudge Tunnel. Godflesh derived industrial/sludge.




Listen to these first then I'll recommend newer bands.

That looks magnificent!

Say lads, what are some of the good doom/stoner/sludge albums to come out this year? I haven't listened to a lot of new releases this year.

Two doom linked albums I dig so far are Forn's debut and Earth's latest effort.

The most controversial doom band within the MA forum of course. "Ballpearer".



Foundations of Burden is a bit unconventional than the more traditional doom oriented sound of its predecessor. I personally loved it and here's my review for more insight.

Cross Vault's debut Spectres of Revocable Loss.



Incredible debut. Introspective, atmospheric yet full of quality riffs and songwriting. This particular song is already a stone-cold classic in my book. Got the t-shirt last week which features a wonderful back print of the lyrics of "Void of Old, Void to Come" with the 'entropic wine' art! I'll write a review shortly.

Blood Farmers - Headless Eyes



My review.

Coltsblood - Into the Unfathomable Abyss



Formed by ex-Conan member John McNulty. While Conan's new album is a snoozefest this record shines through and through. Filthy sludge with slight blackened tinges and dissonant atmospheric passages.

Crowbar, Eyehategod and YOB's albums are solid as usual. Mournful Congregation's EP is quite magnificent as well. New Horn of the Rhino is a hit or miss for me. I haven't checked out the new Witch Mountain and Orange Goblin yet neither the new Electric Wizard.

To those of you who would like to hear some intense female-fronted traditional doom without all the retro psychedelic shit, I suggest you look into Demon Lung. Some dark sounding stuff. It reminds me more of early-Left Hand Solution than anything else.

Lol, linking Alice in Chains for someone looking to get into sludge.

Thanks for the detailed post I'm really digging Cross Vault. Very pensive stuff and it appeals to me. That song was a winner!

I'm already aware of new albums by Pallbearer, YOB and Blood Farmers. I'll give Coltsblood a listen a little later today.

And ROFL on not linking Neurosis!

Great quality footage of an entire Nepenthes set, a Japanese doom metal act fronted by ex-Church of Misery vocalist Negishi. He's being his usual awesome self here. I hope a full-length drops soon. You'll need this if you love Church of Misery.

Yea, I feel Alice are definitely more sludge than 'grunge' which I don't even consider as a subgenre anyway. Hah! Even the sludge metal page on wikipedia lists AiC as sludge with numerous sources. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sludge_met ... udge_metal

I'm not quite fond of wikipedia as I've said many times before but maybe this time I partially agree with that. Chuck that anyway even the similar artists tab in the AiC page here on MA lists a number of sludge bands most notably Acid Bath with 37 similarity score and Crowbar with 11. Yea, so trust me I'm not the only fool who considers AiC sludge or doom. Also, I'm acquainted to a lot of people who are listening to doom and its variants for a long time and they don't fail to notice the similarities in AiC's sound. I pity those who can't notice it.

Regarding Neurosis, yea. I haven't got the whole day to list bands. I just gave him the jump-start guide he asked for and I think that's enough. Eventually he'll get to know all the other bands like we all do.

The other bands? Does an album named Souls At Zero ring a bell? As in one of the earliest examples of what sludge is?

And no, sorry but AIC aren't sludge. The similar artists also lists band like King's X or Soundgarden, are those sludge as well following your reasoning? You seem to forget that having similarities is different from being the same. For instance Demigod has similarities to Bolt Thrower, evident I might stress, and yet the bands sound nothing alike. Weird how the world turns ins't it?!

So what? Am I gonna get sentenced to death for not mentioning Neurosis? I'm not a robot for fuck's sake! I was doing a project while recommending him so yea, I was kind of distracted. I apologize if I've hurt your sentiments by not mentioning Neurosis. They are definitely one of the significant acts but also to me they are quite avant-garde/experimental. Maybe even more experimental than the Melvins. Rather than staying within the conservative confinements with Souls at Zero they opened the floodgates of more atmospheric side of things and influenced countless acts such as Isis, Mindrot (who formed as more of a mid-paced death metal band but got influenced by Neurosis and changed the style to a more sludgy atmospheric doom/death style. Also they have shared stage with Neurosis on a couple of occasions.) Minsk, Unearthly Trance or even your fellow countrymen Process of Guilt.



Opinions man. It's subjective. Asphyx and Runemagick have similarities. Does that mean they sound as same as every single AC/DC record? No. But they are both under the mid-paced death metal radar with Runemagick becoming more doom as their career progressed. Alice in Chains are not as slow as 'traditional doom' yet their instrumentation oozes Sabbathian tempos with moderate improvisations over melodies. I find enough sludge/doom punch in Cantrell's riffing. So the instrumentation is sludgy/doomy enough for me. But the vocals? Not at all hardcore punk influenced abrasive and shouted. Layne Staley used to do a trademark snarl sometimes but 90% of their vocals are harmonized clean vocals. But Primordial, Urfaust and Negative Plane also utilize clean vocals and yet their instrumentation is fairly black metal. Innit?

Yeah, I get where you're going, no need to bust a cap on me.

I actually think you had it pretty much covered with the original post, since you mentioned three out of what I consider the five most important and influential sludge bands. I would've added Grief as well as Neurosis to EHG, Crowbar and Acid Bath. Those five were pretty much the bands that laid out the basis and furthered the development of the style. Sure, no one is saying that the Melvins weren't a necessary influence, but on that note so were Swans right? What I'm trying to say is that there are bands that influenced the scene and others that were the scene. Those five to me are pretty much mandatory, so again, you got most of it right. And Neurosis' influence on the post-metal scene was far later than SAZ. I'd say that Times Of Grace was actually the album that did that, and that one came much later on.

As for AIC, well, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Like in the above paragraph being an influence or bearing an influence is different from actually being something. That's why I think the similar artists tab is sometimes confusing to people who are unaware of a band, since it depends on each person's interpretation. I can hear a riff on an entire album that reminds me of X band, but is that enough to have me up vote said band? I think there's a lot of leniency on the use being given to the similar artists tab, and that more often than not hinders its accuracy.

And again to disagree with you, politely though, genres aren't subjective since they're based on ground rules. Sure, they can be blurred here and there, but those are more often exceptions that rulings. It's a matter of prevalent aspects really. It's the same as those people saying that black metal can't have Christian lyrics. Why, when the musical basis is still black metal? In the same respect, will every band that uses a slow bluesy chord be compared to Black Sabbath? Do you get where I'm going with this?! We have to be objective at some point down the road and say this goes left and this goes right.

AiC are definitely not a sludge band since they don't have hardcore punk elements and yeah, genres can be kind of subjective sometimes but including them as sludge is a fucking huge stretch. Of course, they're not a trad doom band, I think everyone agrees on that, I don't know why you're using this argument. They mix a shitload of influences but sludge is not one of 'em, I guess they could be included as a "proto sludge" band since they inspired bands like Acid Bath but they also inspired the stoner scene. Similarties can be seen with bands that aren't playing the same genres.

p.s. 1: citing Wikipedia.

p.s. 2: Oh I don't consider Negative Plane's vocals to be clean, maybe you're confusing them with Edward's other band Occultation lol.

p.s. 3: I'm glad this thread is being active.

Again I think you guys are being hypothetical. I never said that Alice in Chains are a sludge band in the recs but they definitely share the traits.



Alice in Chains are unique. They have elements of doom/sludge/stoner, hard rock, speed metal (Facelift only. "We Die Young", "Put You Down"), blues, country and folk.



I've said about their vocal style above since it's not at all hardcore punk inspired. Then again I'm not the only fool who can hear sludge dynamics in AiC's sound.



^ I guess that guy is quite well-informed, not to mention that I enjoy his reviews.



Yea, like I said previously in a thread probably during The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here discussion if you have remembered that I like and dislike wikipedia for contradictory reasons. I think 60% of wikipedia editors and admins are intelligent and the rest are stupid. Like listing 'progressive metal' as a subgenre of Muse. I piss on that. But yea, there are other things that I agree with and I find helpful.



Yeah, well, no. I'm talking about the surf rocking black metal (heh!) band NEGATIVE PLANE. I haven't heard anything by Ed Miller's doom side-project apart from the female vocalist's guest appearance on Beastmilk track "Strange Attractors". Anyway, to me Miller's vocals are relatively cleaner than what black metal vocals have become since Venom and Celtic Frost. His vocals are more like a controlled rasp rather than typical black metal scream. Circle of Ouroborus is another example of clean post-punk style vocals with black metal+experimental instrumentation.

Eh, no. Swans and Flipper influenced the Melvins but they weren't exactly sludge. It's almost unanimously agreed that Melvins churned out sludge and drone single handedly. Ask the members of Eyehategod, Crowbar or Earth and Sunn O))) if you don't trust me.

On the contrary, I think Swans are much more influential to second generation noise/avant-garde bands like:

Skullflower



Killdozer. They kinda border on sludge though like a more rock version of the Melvins.



Oxbow. A more fucked up version of Soundgarden. They're on the archives though as their first two albums are very metallic. Later albums are more and more experimental. They will release a new album probably late this year or early 2015. As a big fan I'm very much excited.

Well, yeah, that's exactly the point I was trying to convey. Influencing something doesn't mean you're a part of it, and no Swans were never even a metal band let alone a sludge band. I don't think I've even heard hardcore anywhere in their sound. But curiously enough, without Swans there would be no Neurosis, and that is indeed one of the most important sludge bands.

That's basically what I've been saying all along, that having similarities here and there or bearing some minor traits of something or having influenced something doesn't make a band "that".

Hey, I'm the guy that asked for the recs. Strangely enough, I actually had heard an album by Melvins before, I have it on Itunes and I enjoy it. I wasn't even aware they were sludge metal tbh. Also, I was familiar with Acid Bath's first album, which I've never given the chance to sink in, but I will try now. The other bands I haven't heard yet (Except for AIC, big fan!), I will check them out, and I thank you guys for your time, and keep the passion you have for the genre.

Anyone asks me for sludge recs I always mention Iron Monkey. Seems like they are pretty overlooked here

Iron Monkey are ok but Morrow's vocals are not quite my cup of tea as it veers too close to metalcore territory.

Metalcore?!?!

^Yes, his vocals are like if Randy Blythe listened to Peste Noire and channeled it with his own vocals for his sludge side-project. I'd say Alan Dubin of Khanate successfully pulled off the style John Morrow actually wanted to approach.

You're trolling. You must be.

Trust me. I'm not. To me his vocals just flat out suck. Sorry. They're good for nothing neither I find them hardcore punk inspired. Rather borderline screamo. It's not surprising since he was into a lot of metalcore bands. Note: I didn't say anything about Iron Monkey's instrumentation. It's absolutely stoner/sludge. The overall sound is similar to EHG albeit groovier. But the vocals didn't seem to complement it.

Just watch his stage tantrums. They're hilarious. Comparable to a juvenile Phil Anselmo, Randy Blythe or any of those 'jumpdafuckup' guys from Hatebreed and such.

Eldritch Rites new EP was released today and I urge you to check it out. Sounds like it was recorded in a dungeon, but ya know, deal with it. I have to say that the traditional doom scene in Australia is really strong and interesting these days.

Well, you're just being unreasonable.

Wizard, meet doomster999 -- a man of off-target posts of unflagging conviction.

Thank you very much. My opinions are entirely my opinion. I'm not forcing it on anyone neither am I gonna change them to oblige any persistently bickering individual. Now if you're done I'm gonna get myself some Dewar's and listen to some "doom lite ballpearer metchul muzak".



Really? Then let me make it simple for you.

Dude A: Dude, listen to Iron Monkey. Boy, those guys could jam.

Dude B: Iron Monkey members could jam but those vocals mostly ruined it.

Dude A: Are you serious?

Dude B: Yea, man. Those vocals were intentionally obnoxious. Much like a teen, angsty watered down counterpart of Mike Williams who is a natural and don't need to fabricate and exaggerate his vocals.

Dude A: Hmm, maybe you're right. I don't know.

Wasn't sure if this would fit in here or the death/doom/funeral thread, but I'll try here first. I'm looking for stuff similar to "The Dead End" by Abandon.

https://blackstarfoundation.bandcamp.co ... e-dead-end

Anything crushingly slow, depressing and oppressive (I already know the obvious candidates like Khanate, Burning Witch, Switchblade etc.) Bonus points for use of unconventional instruments, like Abandon's implementation of the pump organ.

That was the first time I have listened to Abandon, and I really enjoyed it! Here are some bands that pursue sort of a funeral/sludge direction that I feel that album goes for.

Wreck of the Hesperus


Monarch


Bell Witch


Some other bands worth looking into would be Thou, Malasangre, and Moss. Hope that helps.

Cover art for the upcoming Caskets Open album "To Serve the Collapse." I hope I can procure this album early November when I'm in Finland. Heard the shows I'm attending serve as an unofficial 2-day release party. Hiyooo! A song can be heard here. Pleasing to know they rerecorded "I Don't Mind" for this album. It was always my favorite CO song.

^ Cool. But You Rule was quite good. Some Type O Negative and Celtic Frost influences here and there. Looking forward to it.

From Cross Vault's facebook:


No shit!

Crushing, depressive and oppressive with unconventional instruments brings SubRosa's More Constant Than The Gods to my mind. Might not fit what you're looking for, as it's probably not slow enough though. Most of it is pretty mid-paced as far as doom goes.



But then, that album was IMO the single best doom album of 2013.

So, is anyone besides me expecting the new Anguish album to land next month? Can't say that I've seen much noise being made around it.

Can't say I care much. Will give it a listen when the time comes but unless something has changed it will probably leave me indifferent. I'm okay with Candlemass worship and shitty vocals but for Anguish it hasn't worked out so well yet.

But speaking of Candlemass worship that no one talks about...now playing: Doomocracy - The End Is Written. Or I'd rather call it Solitude Aeturnus worship (incl. some great Rob Lowe-ish vocals) with a dash of early Veni Domine. I keep coming back to this album. A surprisingly focused and refined debut by a bunch of unknowns from Crete. I hope these guys get some real attention instead of suffering a fate similar to Forsaken from Malta. Overlooked talent is a terrible thing.

I'm looking for recommendations on sludge bands that incorporate black metal-styled vocals. Random Band Button roulette introduced me to Trollkraftt and I was hooked, and I'd like to find something similar. There's a handful of groups on the site with some form of "black/sludge" in their genre, but I was hoping someone could recommend some cream of the crop options.