Elder - Elder (2008)

Country: USA
Genre: Sludge/Doom


This album is quite possibly some of the grooviest, and most solid sludge/doom that has ever entered my ear canals.
Lyric excerpt:

earth behind me
universe in front
so grab your matches man
and take a hit of the cosmic blunt

I think I just blew a megaup"load".

Whitehorse - Whitehorse

Detune Burning Witch another whole step, slow the tempo down another 20-40bpm, and add layer upon layer of blackened droning noise. The density of this album (2 discs, one with two live songs, the other with three studio tracks) is unlike almost anything I've ever heard. Nearly constant throbbing sub-bass, guitars alternating trebly black metal ice-picks and oozing sludgy undertow, topped off with vocals that can only be described as crippled and decrepit. And just when you think you've got the whole package figured out, they get all melancholic and pretty on the live tracks. I hate trying to describe shit, so I'm just going to stop there. Suffice to say that this is well worth a listen for any fans of crushing doom ala Burning Witch, Graves at Sea, Ocean, etc.

disc 1

disc 2

Zenocide - Zenocide (2009)

Genre - Sludge Metal
Annihilatingly Awesome!

Hmmmm

Karp - Self Titled LP

Genre : Noise Rock \ Post Hardcore \ Heavy Metal \ Hardcore Punk \ Sludge Metal

Year : 1997

Do you like the Melvins ? Do you worship Black Sabbath ? The in your face attitude of punk ? Follower of High On Fire ? And yet love your metal to be fun and enjoyable ? Them come, grab a chair, sit down and let's have a little chat.

This band, Karp (short for Kill All Redneck Pricks) is one of those indie, never heard of bands that is in fact a sonic sludge assault of sonic brutality , whose only aim was being serious of not being serious. They are nerds, geeks and wear it on their sleeve proudly (the album prior to this was called 'Suplex'). Above all they want to have fun (the lyrics of the 3rd track are AHHHHHHH I'M FUCKING WITH YA HEAD, I'M FUCKING WITH YA HEAD, I'M FUCKING WITH YA HEAD"), and it it is this characteristic of their music that makes them infectious. With the name of the album being "Self Titled LP", the band merged and innovated all of their eclectic influences and spawned this really enjoyable release, which in the core of the all the fun and frolic and nerdiness is actually a really good slab of well constructed metal. It ironic enough to be hip, dedicated enough to be brilliant.



The old Melvins' formula [if a riff is good enough to repeat once, it's good enough to repeat one hundred times] is adhered to, albeit in a punkish form, which in KARP's hands works pure wonders. With the record's economical thirty minute length, everything is condensed, tight and vividly succinct, and all the better for it. Eight sandpaper-raw, bulldozer-heavy and raucous tracks smash, bash, crash and burn through your right ear, and exite through your other one, but it is the impact on the pink squishy mush between those ears that is worth mentioning, leaving a permanent mark. Each piece is centered around one main riff or a riff sequence, which is then tinkered and played around with throughout the track's duration. And boy, do these fellas know their way around their riffs! They turn and twist, change tempos, build up tension, squeezing just about all they can from these chords in the time allotted, while descending into the gluey, sludgy pits of hell and then rising above to gallop through a vast, wide-open faraway.

What a friggin' ride! Get on it!

Sun of Nothing-...In the Weak and the Wounded(2007)

Genre:-Experimental Blackened Sludge

Country:-Greece

Flashback:-
  Weeks and weeks of searching for Sun of Nothing's debut album,"...And Voices,Words,Faces,Complete The Dream",proved to be futile,as I was just not able to find a link.
Finally one day I got a link at metalarea and checked the debut.Fucking impressive and remarkably unique.So I decided to check out their critically acclaimed masterpiece,''...In the Weak and the Wounded''.

SO.

HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT!!

What we have here is a behemoth of an album.Skull crushing Sludge metal meets the aggressiveness of Black Metal.Right from sections of dark ambient to black metal shrieks to death metal growls to goddamn sludge...fuck this album has it all.Everything's perfect here.Starting with the BASS!It's so damn prominent with orgasmic and catchy as fuck basslines.The basslines form a solid backbone of many of the songs on this album.The vocals vary throughout the album.At times death metallish and other times switching from the necro vocals of grindcore to tortured raspy black metal shrieks.Sometimes they are clean and actually sung.The riffing is awesome and heavy as fuck.Imagine your head being pounded with a maul continuously.Distorted and well structured riffs that never lose their intensity.The tempo of the album is vary varied.The drumming is also very good and doesn't sound sloppy at all.Production-wise the album is also perfect.A very powerful and overwhelming atmosphere.What we have here is a top notch experimental sludge album.Kinda grabs you by the balls and fucks you repeatedly.

I can't recommend this album enough to any fan of metal.

From the band's mouth,

"Somewhere between the esoteric phantasmagoria of The Melvins & the majestic open spaces induced by Hydrahead sound (Pelican, Mare, Isis) & sheer black metal (from Enslaved to Xasthur…), lies the southern hellboy known as Sun Of Nothing."

Part 1(95 mb)

Part 2(7 mb)

Links are Mediafire.

P.S:-For those who care,their debut is equally awesome although the 'power electronics' factor is much more pronounced there.

Fleshpress - Pillars (2007)

Genre : Sludge Metal \ Dark Ambient

Minimalism is the watchword of this release, as demonstrated right from the start. Opener “I am your Sacrifice” begins with rumbling, creepy, atmospheric noise and a very slow, loose and abstract figure on guitar which focuses on discord rather than melody. It reminds me strongly of the techniques used by bands such as Khanate, and should be of interest to fans of this style. This is sustained for some three or four minutes before the song proper explodes into form.
This opening section, with its cloying and oppressive atmosphere is returned to in spirit with the title track, which is not based on the same sound, but rather the same atmosphere. This time around, the main sound is more sustained and consistent, but with many half-heard noises buried in it: odd pattering noises, something akin to dropping water, and rumbling bass-created groaning noises that nearly sound like distorted whale song. It’s a chilling, but also sonically very interesting layer over which the focus of the piece is layered—a rather repetitive acoustic figure which is again based around discords. Overall it’s a very bleak soundscape which will draw in fans of dark ambient and perhaps some of the more droning forms of doom, since the “background” noise is actually far more absorbing than the guitar line!
Perhaps the strongest example of this kind of thing, however, is the final track, “Ave Nihil”. This is a pretty minimal dark ambient piece. It’s clearly influenced by several black/ambient works, but the flanging effect on the guitars reminds of Electric Wizard’s “Weird Tales”. It’s multi-layered and thus never boring, which is a blessing as it lasts almost ten minutes, making it the second-shortest piece on this album! I’d like to see Fleshpress develop this aspect of their sound, as it’s something that they’ve never really explored in depth before, but that they seem to be very skilled at. The strange percussion and strange tape manipulation noises near the end, in particular, make this a very strong piece.

Yah, It's No Longer Rapidshare

Vault Dweller - Messenger of Doom (2009)

Alright, I think it's due time to take a break between posts fawning over my rad local scene.
So here's a sweet album by a great band from Oregon, showing you all one of many many reasons I need to move there.

Recorded in '07, "Messenger of Doom" is a furious Eyehategod-meets-Dystopia riffgasmic onslaught of crusty stoner sludge. If you feel nothing compelled you to headbang furiously to the constant brilliant guitarwork and apocalyptic grooves herein, you, sir or madame, haven't a soul to be compelled.

Look for an limited CD release via Deathsmile this November.

Until then, GET IT HERE!
Either way, do it NOW, as this will likely be one of the BEST Sludge releases of '09.

Black Sheep Wall - I am God Songs (2008)

Genre - Sludge
Review: I Am God Songs is steadily becoming one of my favorite records of 2008. This record took a few listens to click, but it when did... oh my god! greatness.
Now, I'll look at the production.
The guitars have an extremely thick layer. I don't even know how they get this sound. It sounds extremely unique, but raw, but refined at the same time. absolutely crushing.
the bass is there, and to mention that, the guitar(s) are EXTREMELY down-tuned. sounds even lower than an A-tuning...but they really do pull it off.
the drums serve their purpose. good mid-tempo drums. nothing too special but good nonetheless. the vocals are rather impressive too. very tortured hardcore screams.
This is an essential sludge album. A breath of fresh air, to say the very least.
The lyrics focus on nihilism (how fitting with the first track entitled "Nihility"), hate and all that good stuff.
My one problem with it is that three of the tracks are essentially nothing. not a big deal though. they don't detract from the record at all.

-Contributed by - Mastod0nman
Get Your MP3
Flac If you are interested

Full Blown A.I.D.S. - s/t [2008]

According to Wikipedia: "The band is mostly known for making songs an octave lower than most bands."

That is actually a surprisingly good description. Full Blown A.I.D.S. is a musical project by none other than Seth Putnam of Anal Cunt fame. Vaginal Jesus this isn't, this is finally a serious project by the man everyone loves to hate. This album was supposedly recorded between 2003-2004 and released on Limited Appeal Records, but I don't really know. Why he waited so long to let this see the light of day while releasing lackluster AxCx albums I have no idea.

Full Blown A.I.D.S. is the aural equivalent of the worst toilet in Scotland from Trainspotting; this shit is filthy. The guitar tone is one of the worst I've ever heard (in a good way). People familiar with Accept Death should be right at home with this. The guitar on this album is like a prolapsed rectum, the strings are so loose you can practically hear them flopping in the breeze. Putnam's vocals are true to form, and he turns in a good performance if it is a bit monotonous. I've always thought his distinctive screams were wasted in his joke bands. The drumming is adequate, but has a loose organic quality that suits the music. The songs here vary from thrashy uptempo grind, to droning sludge. There is even an AC/DC cover included for good measure.

Check it out if you like stupidly heavy things.

derp?

Dissassemble - Demogrinder (2008)

Disassemble are a sludge tinged grind band out of Baltimore, Maryland. They are new band to the scene, but they definitely show a lot of promise for such young musicians. They've got a split coming out soon with Man Will Destroy Himself.

Not a whole hell of a lot more to say. This is a four track demo, get this and be sure to keep an eye on this band in the future.






MADNESS

Boris - Amplifier Worship (1998)

Oh holy shit did I just add a Boris album?! It seems I did, do I get a hipster point?

This album is so special that on the 2003 southern lord re release, inside the spine of the album was a motherfucking gummy worm....... that's trve for you.

This is essentially a drone album for those who are looking to seek knowledge in the genre and in my opinion one of the albums (though you could argue that feedbacker is a better drone album) that tops the genre along with Sunn's Black One and Earth's Hex.

Combining elements of Boris's Drone at heart attitude and including a mixture of the Southern Esq sludge we have come to expect, Boris are one of those few bands that no matter what style they choose to play they have the uncanny ability of managing to still sound like Boris.

Bringing what is generally expected from a drone album; it's heavy, bass is a significant instrument throughout , it's repetitive yet at the same time it's not what you expect from this genre, vocals play a more significant role, the drum beat is much more recognisable and not a consistent beat and guitar riffs have more variation. As the aptly named first track states this album is 'Huge'.

The thing with this album is if you don't like it doesn't necessarily mean you'll dislike Boris, so check it out.

On a side note, I wonder if anyone has eaten the gummy worm?


Download: Mediafire
Disclaimer: None of the albums I add are uploaded by myself and are intended for promotional purposes only, if you enjoy the album please support artists by buying records.

Nausea - Crime Against Humanity (1991)

Having Oscar Garcia of Terrorizer fame on vocals/guitar, this LA based band has been thought of as some sort of side project. However, give this (their only LP) a spin once, and you'll see that it stands well on it's own two feet.
They're a death/grind band with a slight doom influence. The most accurate description would be saying that it sounds somewhat like Terrorizer/Napalm Death combined with Brutal Truth (check out that absolutely HEAVY, buzzing bass guitar) and a hint of Black Sabbath.
One can figure out their theme quite easily by just looking at the album cover. If politically-charged lyrics make you cringe, just try to ignore them, for the music at hand is surely friggin' sweet.
I could say that the production is a bit uneven and the drum sound somewhat poor, but when has that ever stopped our appreciation of the music? Also, fun fact: some songs off "World Downfall" were actually Nausea songs, taken by Oscar to complete the album *winks at the Viking*

Download

-Radu

Sea of Deprivation - Catharsis In Disharmony (2000)

Genre - Sludge Metal, Hardcore, Crust/Grind
Reviews - This album will possess you by its sheer power.Well to tell you the truth, this is my favourite sludge album ever. While the band buys the riffing style from black sabbath while there is lil bit of Eyehategod worship going on the riffing as well. When you listen to the vocals, you are completely in for a surprise.The vocals range from a high pitched screams and screeches to low growls on some of the tracks. The drummer goes berserk in faster passages of hardcore and crust/grind parts. An absolutely eseential stuff and good luck finding someone who is ready to trade this one.Because this is "MORE UNDERGROUND THAN CRUDE OIL".

Get it Here!

TOMBS

Tombs is a pretty new band (formed in '07)that has been generating some buzz lately, but has yet to get picked up by the hype machine and really blow up.

Pretty grim a crushing, but sludgy and atmospheric at the same time. They vary between modern style sludge atmospherics and heaviness, and full-speed-ahead modern crusty sections, bringing mad guitar textures and layer the whole time. Faster parts bring a heavy black metal influence as well.

Mike Hill (ex Anodyne) brings the Boston noise/metal/hardcore influence, and Andrew Hernandez (ex A.S.R.A.) holds it down with the drums.

I'm going to put up their new album Winter Hours along with a split they did last year with the melodic, Tragedy style crust band Planks.


Tombs/Plank split [2008]

Winter Hours [2009]

Tombs last.fm
Planks last.fm