Sludge metal – Page 30 – Wonderbox Metal

Below the Sun – Envoy (Review)

Below the Sun are a Sludge band from Russia and this is their début album.

This is Atmospheric Sludge Metal that’s as heavy as a rhino and as daunting as a pack of predators. Their sound also includes elements of Funeral Doom, Post-Metal and even a bit of a Black Metal feeling in places; anything to heighten the atmosphere and draw the listener further in to their dark domain.

Absolutely colossal vocals stab out of the swirling darkness like natural disasters striking the unwitting and the unwary. They’re loud, inhuman and utterly compelling. They’re also used sparingly, and for the vast majority of the 59 minute playing time the instruments are the firm focus of attention. This works well, as the vocals are so terrifying that any more exposure to them might have the listener running for the hills in fear.

Below the Sun excel at Post-Metal build-and-release mechanics and wrap this up with a Sludgy ambience and general aura of pessimistic negativity that really is quite powerfully done.

The guitars batter, pamper, bruise and heal. At the end of the album you feel like you’ve been through the wringer both physically and emotionally, but you’re more than willing to do it again. This is an album that can only improve with age and repeated spins. Initially you can tell it’s obviously very good indeed, but on subsequent listens it really reveals its delights.

Music like this is never going to be a disappointment. The emotional investment of a band like this is always worth it and there’s so much here to discover and respond to. Envoy is an apt name, as it feels like you’re entering an unknown landscape, the first to explore these strange, exotic climes. You’re not alone though, as Below the Sun are your guides, shining a black light into all of the scary places and somehow making them feel even more harrowing, yet enticing at the same time.

If you’re a fan of Doom, Sludge, Post-Metal or just emotive and engaging music in general then Envoy is an album to journey to far off places to.

Very highly recommended.

Primitive Man – Home is Where the Hatred is (Review)

Primitive Man are from the US and play Doom/Sludge. This is their latest EP.

Ahhh the latest Primitive Man release. I always enjoy their work. A band that personify heavy, nasty music perfectly.

And what do they bring us this time? Here we have music that was left out of all of the happy playlists when you were young. This is a style of music that people only get into when they’re older, jaded and consumed by hatred. Primitive Man feed on this.

The first song Loathe starts off with a churning maelstrom of tense riffs and chaotic drumming, only to slow down to a crawl once the pitch-black growling vocals come in. Crikey the singer has a good voice.

The rest of the songs keep up the high quality-control levels. Dirty Sludge Metal cascades out of the speakers in an onslaught of hatred, bile and disgust.

This EP is a 31 minute Sludge workout that takes in pummelling Doom, filthy Crust/Grind, Blackened guitars and riffs the size of tsunamis to create the aural equivalent of a torturously slow heart attack. Home is Where the Hatred is is Sludge heaven, if there is such a thing.

It’s hard not to love this band. I mean, assuming you like evil Sludge Metal of course. And if you do, Primitive Man are an absolute must.

Gristnam – Even Less (Review)

Gristnam are from the US and play Grindcore/Sludge.

This is underground, aggressive Grind that takes elements of extreme Hardcore’s hateful violence and Sludge’s nasty groove to produce eleven tracks of Grind’n’Roll that is good for what ails ya.

Deep vocals populate the songs with a throaty aggression that fits the music well. The singer has a charismatic bark that has an appropriately Southern twinge to it, adding personality to the bile.

The production is fuzzy and heavy, allowing the band to be their filthy, nasty selves without detracting from the intensity of the music.

The songs have the Southern groove of Eyehategod, the confident swagger of Brutal Truth and the pure-blooded confidence of the Southern Metal scene. Indeed anyone familiar with the hotbed of earthy Metal talent that is Louisiana will recognise the tell-tale signs of this scene in Gristnam’s sound. Yet remarkably, like all of the output from this area, Gristnam have their own personality stamped into these tracks and Even Less is definitely its own beast.

These songs will leave you breathless and I imagine would transform a live show into a heaving mass of sweaty bodies and bloody carnage. The aggressive groove and dangerous assault of Gristnam is positively designed for the live environment.

Even Less has won me over effortlessly. What’s not to like here? Fans of underground, heavy, nasty music will no doubt lap this up, as they well should.

Check them out.

Lord Dying – Poisoned Altars (Review)

This is the second album from US Sludge Metallers Lord Dying.

This is all about worshipping the riff and following the path of everything heavy.

Oh, and the album cover is just perfect.

Lord Dying shout and bellow their way through these 8 tracks with belligerence and a confidence born of too much alcohol and a natural ability. They know they’re better then most so why shouldn’t they show what they’re capable of?

If you’re a fan of Crowbar, High On Fire, Red Fang, Mastodon, The Obsessed, Orange Goblin, etc. then you’ll no doubt find a lot to enjoy here.

Essentially mixing High On Fire and Crowbar, Lord Dying provide a lot of meat throughout this 37 minute album. It’s not purely a riff-fest either as the band do concentrate on songs more than just stitching different guitar parts together.

The singer has a throaty snarl that has character and recalls a younger, angrier Crowbar singer. He also has a knack for catchy rhythms and vocal patterns that mark the brain like jagged grooves.

The attitude exuded from these tracks is as palpable as the riffs themselves. This is a visceral band that you feel you can almost touch, although I can’t help but imagine them being quite toxic if you did.

Very, very nice. Feel the poison flow through your veins and revel in it.

Unhold – Towering (Review)

Unhold are a Sludge Metal band from Switzerland and this is their fourth album.

Unhold play Sludge Metal with a good grasp of Space Rock, Doom, Post-Metal and Progressive Metal.

The band boast multiple talented singers and each of them brings something to the table, be that Neurosis-style rough vocals, effortless cleans or powerful female vocals.

This is a diverse selection of tracks that feature shades of light and dark, build and release mechanics, dynamic pacing, rich texture and atmosphere by the bucketload. You can just taste the quality dripping off this album like fat.

A warm sound translates into tracks that feel very organic and natural. These songs sound alive and vibrant.

I love albums that feel like a complete listening experience; where each song seems to have its place and has its own identity. Towering is such an album.

Whether it’s gritty Sludge, colossal Doom, Southern-baked meandering or epic Progressive workouts, Unhold play their songs with style, conviction and depth.

There’s a lot of variety here that’s a pleasure to explore. The band have both the discipline and experience to craft songs that have a large amount of depth and longevity. The tracks are composed in ways that seem effortless and unforced. Ideas from all manner of subgenres and styles are incorporated into their repertoire and it seems that every aspect of musical expression they dabble with comes out a winner.

Unhold have produced an exemplar of Sludge Metal that’s going to be hard to top. Be sure to check them out.

Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2014

As 2014 closes it’s time to take stock of the year and revive the annual End of Year tradition once more. So, are you ready for another best of 2014 list? Of course you are…

As always, the order below is potentially fluid due to the subjective nature of music, etc.

A lot of good music was released in 2014. Before we delve into the main event, (this year it’s a top 25 list), I want to acknowledge a few runner ups. The following bands all produced some great sounding releases in 2014 but ultimately didn’t reach into the 25 best ones. So here they are, in no particular order –

Corpsessed, Suffering Hour, Pyrrhon, Infestus, Silence the Father, Morbidity, Azooma, Narrow House, Crucifyre, Solace of Requiem, Epitaph, Annihilated, Enthroned, Lord Mantis.

What a great bunch of albums! There are loads more that I could mention of course, but those are the cream of the crop that spring to mind at the moment. I know I’m bound to be accidentally overlooking some though – it’s inevitable.

Okay then, starting at the bottom and working our way up – I give you the Wonderbox Metal-approved Best of 2014 list…

Fallujah start us off at number 25 with their unique take on Death Metal with their very impressive album The Flesh Prevails. Boasting Progressive/Technical Atmospheric Death Metal songs that positively drip with emotion and feeling, Fallujah unleashed a monster on the Death Metal world. After living with this album for a while now it really is a very enjoyable listen, and any band trying to do something a bit different from the norm – and doing it extremely well – should be supported.

At number 24 we have Insense with De:Evolution. Theirs is a highly developed take on Modern Metal that’s full of atmosphere, feeling and top quality songwriting. Insense have a great singer and music to match; full of melody, hooks and enough heaviness to sink a battleship. They also have a suitably massive sound that allows them the space to do what they do best. Insense are the real deal.

Tongues are at number 23 with Thelésis Ignis. Actually an EP rather than an album, it’s so damn good it still warrants inclusion in this list. They play otherwordly Black Metal that immediately grabs your attention and forces you to recognise that a new and important player has just burst into the Black Metal arena. All fans of soul-eating Black Metal should seek this out and pay tribute.

At number 22 sit Columns with their devastating début album Please Explode. This is groovy and passionate Grindcore that’s dynamic and purposeful. There are no wasted moments on this album and Columns are poised to become forerunners of the genre if this collection of tracks is anything to go by. As the only Grind band to sneak into my list this year, (despite some notable releases), Columns have everything to play for in the future.

The mighty Threshold are at number 21 with For the Journey. Threshold are always a pleasure to listen to and this latest album of theirs, (their tenth), is no exception. This is an album of masterly crafted songs full of Progressive Metal treasures and catchy melodies. Threshold have released an album that does them justice as the veterans and leaders that they are.

At 20th place we have Salvaticus with Hidden Manna. A little-known Black Metal band from the US, this album made a huge impact with me as it really drew me into its dark embrace and is an album very easy to get lost in. A raw brand of Black Metal that’s almost on the cusp of bordering on Post-Black Metal but doesn’t quite fully transition due to the inherent Blackness and purity of intent of the music. An exceptional release.

At number 19 is The Great Old Ones with Tekeli-li. This is a real journey of an album that spans Black Metal with a good spread of Post-Metal thrown in. Depth, longevity and class are synonymous with The Great Old Ones and Tekeli-li is a great example of why. In an album of dark moods and emotional resonance there is enough here to satisfy any Extreme Metal fan.

Fisthammer dominate position 18 with the infallible Infallible. Cheap puns aside, this is a truly remarkable album, full of exceptional songs and crushing delivery. Melding a Brutal Death Metal core with a varied and wider Metal approach, Infallible is an album that combines a lot of different influences. Death Metal may be at the beating heart of Fisthammer but there’s a lot of enhancements here too. Pulverising.

At 17 is the enigmatic Dust Sculptures with Far Above the Pines. A Post-Black Metal album that seemingly came out of nowhere, fully realised and ambitious in scope. Taking a Black Metal base and building into it elements of Shoegaze, Progressive Rock and latter-day Anathema; Far Above the Pines is a very impressive release. If you enjoy expansive music that is both intimate and revealing then this is a release you must track down.

In at number 16 is the legendary Cannibal Corpse with A Skeletal Domain. Who can argue with the Death Metal masters? Whenever they release an album you know at the very least it’s going to be good. A Skeletal Domain though was a very, very good release. With such choice cuts as High Velocity Impact Spatter, Kill or Become and Vector of Cruelty A Skeletal Domain has featured heavily on my playlist this year.

A change of pace at number 15; here we have Lethe with When Dreams Become Nightmares. An intriguing project featuring members of Eluveitie and Manes, Lethe play dark and multi-textured experimental music that combines catchiness and intellect to produce a very accomplished and sophisticated dark Rock album. With a wide range of moods and emotions to explore, When Dreams Become Nightmares is an album that keeps on giving.

The Wolves of Avalon take the 14th spot with Boudicca’s Last Stand. An ambitious and impressive release, this is a heavily orchestrated album that features wonderfully diverse instrumentation and female accompaniment. Iceni Queen Unfurl’d In a Tempest of Crows is definitely one of my favourite songs of the year and the whole album is rich in delights and highlights. It’s an hour of interesting, captivating and unique Metal.

Riddle of Steel by Sons of Crom takes the 13th position. An album of epic Viking-influenced Heavy/Black/Folk Metal that’s awash with so many gorgeous melodies and harmonies it’s a veritable embarrassment of riches. This is a shockingly grandiose album that is very easy on the ear and doesn’t just hold up to repeated listens it positively demands them. Epic Viking-Metal rarely sounds as good as this.

At number 12 we have Apostle of Solitude with Of Woe and Wounds; crunchy Doom Metal with a flavour half-way between old and new. This is an album that connected with me instantly and has the kind of direct appeal of a band who are hitting their stride. Strong songwriting, massive grooves and catchy harmonies mean this is an album I’ll regularly revisit. The songs on this album have a longevity about them that most bands would kill for. Great stuff.

In 11th position is the mythical Eyehategod with their self-titled album, the first in 14 years. I love Eyehategod and this album being in my end of year list is a no brainer really. The band that essentially invented Sludge have done it again with an album filled with negative anthems and a flawless delivery of everything I love about them. Why they aren’t higher up this list is beyond me. What was I thinking?

Usnea are in 10th position with Random Cosmic Violence. Usnea are pretty much the best Blackened Doom band there is, and ever since 2013’s amazing self-titled début I’ve been wanting more. After a brief tease with their split with Ruins, they unleashed their new album and I was a very happy camper indeed. For a band that’s swathed in darkness it’s an important plus that they still write actual songs, just long, heavy, grim ones.

At number 9 is Hyperion by Dirge. This is an album that I fell in love with from the cover alone, and I was extremely pleased that the music matched expectations. Hyperion is crushingly heavy Doom with elements of Post-Metal, Sludge and an Electonic/Industrial flavour. A wide vocal variety and expertly compsoed tracks elevate Hyperion to the ranks of the very best the genre has to offer.

In 8th position are Enabler with La Fin Absolue Monde. Well, what can you say about an album that’s the aural equivalent of an adrenaline shot? This is aggressive Hardcore that specialises in dynamic, emotive songs that are just master crafted examples of the angry arts. Putting lesser bands to shame, Enabler have created a top quality album that screams out to be heard again and again. Leaders, definitely not followers.

At 7th is All Seeing Eyes with Trinity Road. An almost obscenely long release at 1 hour, 48 minutes in length; this duration is only matched by the equally-obscenely talented musicians and their formidable songwriting skills. The album never gets tiring or boring; this is Power Metal at its best and most engaging. As I stated in the review – this is a stunning album and I absolutely love it. What more can I say?

Sorxe are at number 6 with Surrounded by Shadows. Sorxe play textured Doom/Sludge with layered vocals and two bassists. It’s heavy and it’s pretty, both at the same time. With diverse and well-written songs, Surrounded by Shadows is a masterpiece of light and shade. An album this good is just pure listening gold and everyone should get to experience Sorxe as they were intended to – loud.

Wolvhammer are in position 5 with Clawing Into Black Sun. A colossal album and the highest-placed Black Metal release this year. Clawing Into Black Sun has it all, from the groovy catchiness of tracks like Slaves to the Grime to the dark majesty of A Light That Doesn’t Yield. This is a phenomenal album that places songs at the centre of the darkness and no other band has managed to touch them this year for sheer blackness of heart.

At number 4 is Lae with Break the Clasp. This was an unexpected hit with me as I hadn’t heard of them before and wasn’t expecting much but they just blew me away with their hauntingly beautiful sound. Featuring the vocal talents of Steve Austin from Today is the Day; this is an album of heartbreaking depth and personal revelation. The songs managed to connect with me intimately with real passion and feeling. A stunning album.

In the 3rd position is Temple of Void with Of Terror and the Supernatural. Doom Metal and Old-School Death Metal collide to create one of the year’s best releases. This album boasts exceptional songs; crawling Death Metal-laced Doom has never sounded so good. This is an album that gives the listener that rarest of things – real substance and content combined with an excited adrenaline rush at hearing something that’s ultimately just pure-blood Metal.

At number 2 is Execration with Morbid Dimensions. This is non-typical Death Metal that takes elements of other genres, (Doom, Progressive Metal, Black Metal), and makes it their own. Morbid Dimensions is such a ridiculously strong release it’s just silly. The sheer quality of the songs here…these are the rightful heirs to the throne of Death in my mind. This very nearly made it into the coveted number 1 position, as this album is just that damn good.

Finally we come to the number 1 slot, and this is taken by Inter Arma with the absolutely amazing The Cavern. What can you say about this? It’s just a perfect slab of colossal Doom/Sludge/Post-Metal. At three quarters of an hour in length this single, phenomenal track does pretty much everything you could want it to. I cannot stop listening to this and show no signs of getting bored with it in the future, either. Releases like this are the reason that I still love heavy music so much. The Cavern is definitely my pick of 2014 and it’s going to be a long time before something tops it I feel. Just brilliant.

And there you have it! It’s been a great year for quality Metal, and here’s to 2015!

Happy New Year!

In the Company of Serpents – Merging in Light (Review)

In the Company of Serpents are from the US and this is their latest EP. They play Doom/Sludge.

Just three tracks and over 21 minutes of heavy, heavy music; In the Company of Serpents play tar-black Doom with an emphasis on riffs and a crushing delivery.

The vocals sound anguished and tormented, like some damned soul released from Hell just long enough to tell everyone how bad it is. Rough and mournful.

The fuzzy guitars propel the tracks forward and the band know a good riff when they hear one. The colossal weight of the guitars drowns everything else out; the rest sound like a mere afterthought.

The songs sound like demented Black Sabbath tracks that have been left to fester and then, when they’re at their most ripe, covered in a layer of Sludge so thick that only the guitars are recognisable.

In the Company of Serpents are always an enjoyable band whenever I encounter them and this EP is no different. Like a car crash of Black Sabbath, High on Fire, Generation of Vipers and filthy Sludge Metal in general; they deliver the goods, although they may be a bit reeking and despoiled by the time they get to you.

Recommended.

Fortress – Unto the Nothing (Review)

Fortress are from the US and play Doom Metal. This is their début album.

This is Doom Metal with plenty of heaviness and bite.

Slow, colossal riffs ring out from the speakers, slowly trying to drag you into oblivion. I do like a band that knows how to play at a glacial pace.

The growled vocals sound like a howling daemon rising from the pit to swallow you whole, whilst the marginally less-deep vocals remind of the singer of Cathedral with a rougher voice mixed with the singer of The Meads of Asphodel.

This is Doom with an undercurrent of Sludge running through the waste pipes. There’s a wildness to Fortress that doesn’t need taming; it’s part of their innate appeal.

Feedback-laden, dirty and unkempt; Fortress remind of Grief, only with longer songs, mixed with a band like Conan.

Chunky, heavy riffs power the songs and some of the guitar parts have a Stoner Metal vibe to them. Everything is played at a snail’s pace though, so both Stoner and Sludge influences ultimately get poured into the same drain that’s filled to the brim with DOOOOM!

For quality Doom that’s crushingly heavy and a vibe of total despair and loss, look no further than Fortess.

Favourite Track: Either Lies & Fears; Slow. Heavy. Miserable. Compelling; or The Nothing, with subtle, ethereal female cleans in the background. Haunting.

Algoma – Reclaimed by the Forest (Review)

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.

The Dead – Deathsteps to Oblivion (Review)

The Dead are an Australian Death/Sludge Metal band and this is their third album.

The Dead are not your typical Death Metal band. This is Death Metal with an added Sludge Metal aspect. This means the songs are longer than normal, (the shortest here is 6:06), very heavy and full of mountainous Sludge riffs that could crush the life from the unwary.

The unholy marriage of Death Metal and Sludge is so complete that it’s truly hard to know how to categorise them – are they Death Metal with a lot of Sludge, or are they Sludge Metal with a lot of Death? It doesn’t really matter of course as ultimately they’re their own beast and one that has created a joyfully miserable album of filthy heaviness.

Glacial riffs and heavy guitars pour out of the speakers whilst pitch-black growls tear through all defences, deep enough to make your ribcage wobble.

It’s not all death and destruction though. The Sludge aspect of their sound means that they get to explore other musical climates that not many normal Death Metal bands get to explore. Here we’re talking about lighter moments, where the band get to ease off the distortion and add more subtlety into proceedings.

This is slow, ponderous music yet strangely carries great nuance with it. These are complex songs in the sense that emotionally they carry great weight in addition to the heaviosity of the more obvious aspects of their sound.

This is a terrifyingly unique blend of Death and Sludge Metal that should be on any Heavy music fan’s to-get list.