Sludge – Page 65 – Wonderbox Metal

Hogslayer – Defacer (Review)

Hogslayer are a Sludge band from the UK. This is their second album.

This is hateful, heavy Sludge Metal that sometimes it seems only the UK can do so well. Yes, you have the entire American/NOLA Sludge thing which started everything with Eyehategod, etc. but the UK has its own distinctive underground full of festering filth and misery that grows only in this specific environment. Hogslayer were born to such surroundings.

This is crushingly heavy. I mean really, really heavy. Like, ultra-heavy or something. You get the idea.

The feral, underground darkness that bred Hogslayer didn’t just select for the nastiest traits either. The band understand, in their own warped way, the need for riffs to be catchy, vocals to have character and songs to be memorable. Of course, you have to understand that this is all from a Sludge Metal/Doom perspective, as no-one will accuse Hogslayer of threatening the radio-friendly unit-shifters any time soon.

Oh, but there’s something about this kind of relentlessly heavy, riff-oriented Sludge. When the band lock into a heavy groove and repeat it just the right amount of times…it really hits the spot.

The vocals, as mentioned previously, are charismatic and buried within the distortion just enough to work with the music without dominating it but aren’t too low in the mix so that they’re lost in the colossal bass/guitar riffs, as can sometimes be the case with some Sludge bands.

Hogslayer will be a firm favourite of mine moving forward. Their brand of gritty, well-done Sludge is just what the Metal Doctor ordered.

Defacer is a feast of distortion, feedback and negativity. Eat up.

Shrine of the Serpent – Shrine of the Serpent (Review)

This is the début release by US Doom band Shrine of the Serpent.

Heavy, slow, filthy, nasty. These and other words like this. Shrine of the Serpent are a like a crawling, slithering, Leviathan-like monster, relentlessly advancing over the bones of its enemies.

Dirty great Sludge riffs are physically restrained and forced to do the bidding of Doom’s unholy work.

The stench of the occult is strong and this is a release not to be approached lightly. In fact, there’s nothing light about Shrine of the Serpent at all.

This evil brand of Doom Sludge also takes aspects of Death Metal and Black Metal into its dark, foetid embrace and bends them to its will.

The songs are top quality exemplars of Doom’s overwhelming ability to suck additional styles into its orbit like a black hole, forging them into its core identity and resulting in something different each time. Here, it’s the darkest of Doom.

A mandatory listen.

Mindflair – Scourge of Mankind (Review)

Mindflair are from Germany and this is their second album. They play Grindcore.

Furious blasting Grindcore with heavy, tar-like slower bits interspersed; Mindflair make this extremely easy to like.

It’s a well recorded 25 minutes with everything sounding clear and heavy.

The riffs are infectious and actually quite catchy for a Grind band. The songs themselves may be short but they’re long enough and contain enough content to make a good impression.

This album is extremely listenable. Their assault has a Punk-aesthetic mixed with a southern Sludge-tang that gives them an easily digested flavour.

The tracks are memorable and have a good mix of blast beats and groove. The playing is tight and Scourge of Mankind ticks all of the boxes for a superlative Grindcore release.

The vocals alternate between static-like screams and blunt shouting. Harsh and unforgiving, just like we like.

Somewhat of a cross between old Napalm Death, FromTheAshes and Soilent Green’s acidic Sludge/Grind, this is quite the treat and I really can’t say enough good things about it.

Oh but this is a good one. Fans of extremity everywhere – you need this.

Irk/Wren – Split (Review)

This split is made up of two bands from the UK. Irk play Noise Rock and Wren play Post-Metal/Sludge.

Irk are first with four tracks totalling 13 minutes.

This is angular, Mathcore-style Noise Rock. The bass has a good, heavy presence and drives the music forwards. It maintains a constant, prime position throughout the recording.

The vocals are impassioned and kind of fall halfway between shouting and some form of demented pseudo-singing. It’s an acquired taste yet works well juxtaposed against the solidly-constructed, almost mechanistic music.

The band have the feel of a DIY punk band only with edgy grooves and a detached riffing style.

They remind me of a cross between Hawkeyes and Association Area with a bit of Sultans of Ping FC mixed in. It’s a good, jagged ride they take the listener on and it’s certainly a memorable one. I think the vocal style won’t be for everyone but if it works for you then there’s a lot to enjoy here.

After this it’s now down to Wren to play us out. They offer up 3 tracks totalling 16 minutes.

Theirs is a murkier, slower sound than Irk. Wren take the Post-Metal/Sludge template laid down by Neurosis/Isis/Cult of Luna and make their own mark on it with impassioned playing and heavy riffs.

Walls of heavy guitars mix with transcendent Post-Metal melodies and a Sludgy core. There’s a high level of emotional content to a band like this and it’s all powered along by the relentless heaviness of the guitars.

Shouted vocals make an appearance on the second song and seem to merge with the guitars, providing pointed highlights to the aural onslaught of the six-stringers.

These are very enjoyable songs and if you’re a fan of the heavy Post-Metal style then Wren deliver in spades.

This split is a little unusual when compared to a lot that get released as the bands involved are quite different from each other. It’s a recommended listen for sure though, featuring two bands that show a lot of promise for the future.

Favourite Track: An Approach by Wren. The best is saved for last. Driving, heavy riffs, emotive violence and reflective chaos. Class.

Crawl – Old Wood and Broken Dreams (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.

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.

Brothers of the Sonic Cloth – Brothers of the Sonic Cloth (Review)

Brothers of the Sonic Cloth are a Stoner Doom band from the US and this is their début album.

Brothers of the Sonic Cloth are heavy and rocking, which is the Stoner influence; they’re also slow and mournful, which is where the Doom element comes in; however they also have a nasty side that manifests in the Sludge part of their sound.

The vocals are nicely varied, with everything from harsh shouting to crawling drawls. All styles are performed perfectly in line with the emotive music and the variety sounds natural rather than forced.

Like the vocals, there’s a lot on offer musically. The band aren’t one dimensional at all and the songs here truly do incorporate Stoner, Doom and Sludge into a cohesive package that covers a lot of ground during the 45 minutes playing time. The band are all seasoned veterans so I should expect no less really.

I’ve connected with this album on a deeper level than I thought I would. It’s an album that is diverse and feels like it takes you on a journey, which is a feeling I love in my music. More than that though, it’s the sound they’ve created; it’s heavy enough to be crushing but nuanced enough to retain character and personality.

Well, this album has been a surprise and a treat. Get ready to worship.

Sigihl – Trauermärsche (And a Tango Upon the World’s Grave) (Review)

This is the début album from Polish Black/Doom/Sludge Metal band Sigihl.

Sigihl play their Black Metal with added elements of Sludge, Doom and Drone.

This is special, in a disgustingly infectious way. There’s no guitar, but there is a saxophone. Sigihl make Black Metal art by their own rules. It’s intriguing, depraved and utterly compelling.

Calling it Black Metal though is a bit misleading, as although Black Metal is an integral component of their writing, equally important is the Doom/Sludge influence.

The bass-heavy distortion is combined with a saxophone sound that seems dredged up from the most sinister and worrying parts of a Silent Hill game. It’s unusual and instantly appealing. Sigihl have really worked out how to get the most from emotive filthiness.

The wailing vocals are buried by the bass and provide an unhinged counterpoint to the plaintive saxophone melodies.

The repetitive dirge/Drone-like nature of the music is infectious and draws you in, eager to experience the joyful misery that this cavalcade of woe is pedalling.

Sigihl have created a listening experience that’s almost tangible enough to touch.

A very individual release, destined to be tragically overlooked by many Metal fans. Don’t let this be the case with you.