Sludge – Page 59 – Wonderbox Metal

Rue des Cascades – Odes to Love, Flames to Paris (Review)

This is the début album from this Swiss post-hardcore/sludge band.

There are only two tracks on this release, but lasting 39 minutes in total there’s more than enough content to keep people happy. Although, as we’ll see, happiness might not be the best term used in conjunction with the music on here.

So what do we have here, then? Rue des Cascades play music that combines ambient/post-rock quietness with louder post-hardcore/sludge sections. This is quite atypically done, though, and isn’t a case of simply juxtaposing clean/distorted or Continue reading “Rue des Cascades – Odes to Love, Flames to Paris (Review)”

Cough – Still They Pray (Review)

This is the third album from Cough, a doom metal band from the US.

Cough. It’s a funny name for a band. Still, I’ve heard worse, a lot worse.

If you’re a fan of bands like Yob, Electric Wizard, Sleep, Candlemass and the like, then you’ll probably already know that Cough create the kind of repetitive, hypnotic doomscapes that you’re gonna love. Continue reading “Cough – Still They Pray (Review)”

Interview with Raging Speedhorn

After being away for far too long, the UK’s mighty Raging Speedhorn are finally back in action with the equally mighty Lost Ritual. John Loughlin, (one half of the ban’s vocal duo), brought me up to speed with everything going on in the Speedhorn camp…

Introduce us to Raging Speedhorn!

Raging Speedhorn are 6 guys playing music they love and having fun doing it. We sometimes enjoy a beer or 2 while doing this, we played shows and released albums between 1998 and 2008, had a 6 year break then started to play shows again in 2014, we’ve now recorded a new album and are ready get back out there and do it all again.

What are your influences?

We all listen to a lot of different music so it’s kinda hard to pin point influences but you can hear a lot of them in our music if you listen for it. Continue reading “Interview with Raging Speedhorn”

Nails – You Will Never Be One of Us (Review)

This is the third album from this US grindcore band.

Nails are an intense band. On You Will Never Be One of Us they take a grindcore base and add elements of hardcore and sludge metal into the mix, flawlessly creating a 22 minute album that wipes the floor with most of the competition.

The band’s dense, thick sound is almost physical, and played Continue reading “Nails – You Will Never Be One of Us (Review)”

Wren – Host (Review)

Wren are a post-metal/sludge band from the UK. This is their latest EP.

We know Wren from their very enjoyable split with Irk, and I was eager to catch up with their latest release to see how the band are progressing.

The answer seems to be that they are progressing very well, thank you.

These tracks continue to Continue reading “Wren – Host (Review)”

Druids – Cycles of Mobeum (Review)

Druids are a doom/sludge metal band from the US and this is their latest album.

Druids take elements of modern bands like Mastodon and Behold! The Monolith and infuse them with an earlier style of doom and blues, as produced by bands like Earth and Black Sabbath.

There’s a quality level of musicianship on Cycles of Mobeum, and this Continue reading “Druids – Cycles of Mobeum (Review)”

Raging Speedhorn – Lost Ritual (Review)

Raging Speedhorn are a sludge metal band from the UK. This is their fifth album.

After their ultimately very enjoyable, but quite different, fourth album Before the Sea Was Built, the band called it a day. After a self-resurrection, the mighty Raging Speedhorn have now returned with their latest release.

Questions abound – what will it sound like? What kind of style have they embraced? Well, the only thing to be done is to press play and find out… Continue reading “Raging Speedhorn – Lost Ritual (Review)”

Black Royal – The Summoning Pt. 2 (Review)

This is the second EP from Finnish Death/Sludge Metal band Black Royal.

Black Royal have an interesting style, effectively combining primitive 90s Death Metal with a Sludge/Stoner influence. It’s definitely the path less-travelled and makes for a very enjoyable journey.

The vocals consist of rough, Stoner-esque, semi-cleans, mixed in with deeper growls that have more of a Death Metal slant. Continue reading “Black Royal – The Summoning Pt. 2 (Review)”

Glorior Belli – Sundown (The Flock That Welcomes) (Review)

This is the sixth album from French Black Metal band, (currently a solo project it seems), Glorior Belli.

Previous album Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls was an uncommon blend of Black Metal, Sludge and southern US Metal riffing. Sundown (The Flock That Welcomes) continues this combination of Black Metal and Sludgy Blues Rock, although now the emphasis is much more on the Black Metal side of the equation.

Featuring sharp and cutting riffs alongside serrated vocals, a lot of the music on this album is dangerously bladed, seemingly out to cause harm with its fast guitars and blackened melodies. Continue reading “Glorior Belli – Sundown (The Flock That Welcomes) (Review)”

Fister/Teeth – Split (Review)

Fister and Teeth are both bands from the US, and they’ve teamed up for this split release.

Fister start us off with one track – We All Die Tonight. Although they’ve never graced this site before, Fister’s brand of Sludgy Doom is most enjoyable, and this song is no different.

Continue reading “Fister/Teeth – Split (Review)”