This is the third album from UK sludge metal band Allfather.
A Violent Truth is a 27-minute kick to the head. This is ugly sludge metal played in the way that that it should be played; raw, honest, and brutal. Continue reading “Allfather – A Violent Truth (Review)”
Come to Grief are a sludge band from the US and this is their debut album.
Formed by ex-members of Grief, When the World Dies contains 38 minutes of harsh ugliness for fans of Grief, Fistula, Eyehategod, Yatra, Burning Witch, Iron Monkey, and Thou. Prepare yourself, as Come to Grief take no prisoners. Continue reading “Come to Grief – When the World Dies (Review)”
Sloth Hammer are an experimental sludge/doom band from the UK. This is their second album.
No guitars, two vocalists, two electronicists, (is that a word?), two drummers, and plenty of bass, Sloth Hammer bring the pain on their second album across a colossal and punishing 78 minutes, recorded live and improvised. Continue reading “Sloth Hammer – Superbia Ira Acedia (Review)”
This is a split between two sludge/doom bands – Mares of Diomedes from Ireland and Dreich from Denmark.
Mares of Diomedes start us off with two songs of bastard-heavy metal, lasting 13 minutes.
This is fuzzed-up and harsh, with colossal riffs drenched in distortion being unleashed like they are going out of fashion. With Continue reading “Mares of Diomedes/Dreich – Split (Review)”
This is the debut album by US Sludge band Crawl.
Crawl have come to stink up the place with their dirty brand of Sludge.
This is Southern-tinged Sludge Metal with a healthy swagger and a groove that won’t quit. Heaviness is a given, of course; you can’t play Sludge any other way. Crawl build on this core of heaviness with enough attitude and confidence to knock over the hardiest drunk.
Crawl have a meaty sound that’s bound to satisfy all of your dark cravings. It brings out the best, (worst), in the band and they sound both professional and murky at the same time.
The vocals are as unhinged and venomous as you would expect. Sounding highly acidic, they rip themselves out of the swampy music to violently scar anyone unlucky enough to be caught in their way.
These songs are infectious and instantly appealing if you have a love of all things filthy and downtrodden. The inclusion of some longer tracks gives the band an interesting edge over some similar bands and only adds to their appeal.
Unusually for a band of this ilk, there is a bit of light included here and there. Some songs have a few passages that can almost be described as hopeful. It’s a slight Post-Metal edge to their Sludge that adds another layer to their already impressive sound; the extended intro to Pilldust is a perfect example of this.
This is a firm winner for fans of Eyehategod, Fistula, Servants of the Mist, Corecom, Primitive Man, Dopethrone, etc.
One to get your grubby mitts on for sure.
Algoma are a Sludge/Doom band from Canada and this is their début album.
Algoma play the kind of filthy, grim Sludge akin to the likes of Eyehategod, Fistula, Buzzov.en, etc.
The riffs are heavy and large and have the relentless inevitability of a slow-moving avalanche. Reclaimed by the Forest seems to be powered by these monstrous guitars, as if they have an energy all to themselves; self-generating and powerful enough to make everything else follow suite.
Vocally the singer has a voice that’s somewhere between a shout and a bark.
The band’s sound is murky and dense, as one would expect from a Sludge Metal group, but there’s a healthy amount of Doom to their style meaning they go slower than some similar bands.
At almost 42 minutes in length it doesn’t outstay its welcome and the infectious nature of the Sludgy guitars mean that it’s a good album to zone out to and become encased in the heaviness.
Each song is a smorgasbord of heaviness, crunchy guitars and bile.
It’s time to let the forest take you.
Fistula are from the US and play Sludge Metal. This is their sixth album.
Oh Mother Sludge! You have such sights to show us don’t you? Fistula are firm adherents to the cause and push Mother Sludge’s agenda as if their lives depended on it. And maybe they do, as Mother Sludge is fickle with her favours.
Fistula are a very prolific, (heh), band and it’s always a pleasure to hear Sludge played with passion and feeling like we have here. Sludge is such a rich sub-genre of Metal that it’s easy to make it your own but it’s also easy to fall by the wayside into sloppy Eyehategod worship.
Of course, all Sludge bands by the very nature of the style have some Eyehategod in their sound; as this is the basic template of Sludge what matters is what the band does with it. Do they follow the template strictly or do they make it their own?
Fistula have embraced their fuzz-soaked, feedback-drenched Southern roots but like all great purveyors of the style they have mutated and warped it to their own vicious desires. As such, Vermin Prolificus is an album that bears the weight of history on its hulking shoulders without even noticing it’s even there and the resulting noise-fest is a grim testimony to the love of all things filthy, dirty and downright heavy.
On Vermin Prolificus the band leave no fungus-covered stone unturned in their quest to uncover all of Mother Sludge’s mysteries. Slow, fast, heavy, ever-so-slightly-less-heavy…the band play it all with relish and pull all of it off very well indeed.
The songs have the instant appeal of a rotten landscape and the hidden depths of a foetid swamp. This is music to get buried in.
I love this kind of album especially when delivered by the desperate hands of true believers like Fistula. If you have even a passing interest in the Sludge style then this is a must.
Get down, get dirty and get Fistula.
Wonderbox Metal 