The Post-Metal Thread

First Post August 19, 2020 08:30 PM

Cult Of Luna - "Somewhere Along The Highway" (2006)

The fourth album from these Swedish post-metallers didn't hit me quite as hard when I first encountered it over a decade ago now. Perhaps I'm mellowing in my old age but this revisit has seen me thoroughly captivated by the gorgeous dynamics & the textural atmosphere that Cult Of Luna can create when they're at their best. For fans of Isis, Neurosis & The Ocean.

4.5/5

September 10, 2020 09:37 PM

Neurosis - "The Eye Of Every Storm" (2004)

Neurosis eighth album (or ninth if you include their 2003 collaboration with Jarboe) saw them delivering their most stripped back, emotionally charged & atmospheric release to the time. Subsequently, you'll find that "The Eye Of Every Storm" requires a little more commitment from the listener before its qualities start to shine through but, once they do, I can assure you that this is yet another mind-blowing record from one of my all-time favourite artists. The depth & substance on display here is nothing short of phenomenal, despite the fact that the band tinker with self-indulgence at times. It's also another prime example of why we don't need the atmospheric sludge metal tag because this record is a hell of a lot closer to post-metal than it is to sludge. Essential listening for fans of Isis, Cult Of Luna & Minsk.

4.5/5

May 28, 2022 11:42 PM

I have a couple of questions for everyone. I've never felt completely comfortable with us using the subgenre title "Atmospheric Sludge Metal" for a number of reasons:

1. It's only really used on the one site i.e. RYM.

2. The sound is clearly a combination of post-rock & sludge metal & for other subgenres such as black metal, punk & hardcore that have a very similar situation we've simply adopted the "post-x" tag which seems more fitting.

3. The sound of the majority of the bands grouped under the tag is generally more Post-Metal than it is Sludge Metal so I can't see why we don't utilize the "post-" prefix as it seems appropriate.


So my questions are:

1. Would you rather call the subgenre "Post-Sludge Metal" in our database? Or perhaps you have another idea we could consider?

2. Would you rather simply do away with the subgenre altogether & put all of these releases under the Post-Metal tag given that there are so few Post-Metal releases that fall outside of the Sludge realm? Then any releases that possess enough legitimate Sludge to warrant it can have a dual tag of Post-Metal & Sludge Metal. Essentially it'd be the same way we do things with Progressive Metal for example.


Feel free to share your open opinions on this as I'm very open to everyone's ideas here.

May 29, 2022 12:07 AM
I'm definitely up for calling the subgenre "Post-Sludge Metal", and I think it should be just a post-metal subgenre, so any "Post-Sludge Metal" releases would be removed from The Fallen except if they're also "Sludge Metal (Conventional)".
May 29, 2022 12:23 AM

Technically Atmospheric Sludge Metal is only a part of the one clan (i.e. The Infinite). Subgenres can only be a part of one clan in our database. We manually add each Atmospheric Sludge Metal release to The Fallen as well when creating the release in the database so that it resides in both clans.

May 29, 2022 12:42 AM


I'm definitely up for calling the subgenre "Post-Sludge Metal", and I think it should be just a post-metal subgenre, so any "Post-Sludge Metal" releases would be removed from The Fallen except if they're also "Sludge Metal (Conventional)".
Quoted Shadowdoom9 (Andi)

Andi, let's explore that theory a little bit further. In your opinion, is Post-Sludge Metal a complete one-off that should be treated differently to the rest of the main genres? How would you suggest we handle post-black metal releases for example? Or post-death metal releases? Would you create another post-x subgenre for those? Please be aware that there's no wrong answer here.

May 29, 2022 02:34 AM

Once again, post-sludge has the slow tempo and harsh vocals of regular sludge, but otherwise, it puts its focus on the intense atmosphere, lengthy structures, and crescendo themes of post-metal, all that more superior to the sludgy aspects. With a lot more in common with post-metal, that's why I think it should be treated as more of an Infinite subgenre than The Fallen. For post-black metal, it's more related to blackgaze bands like Alcest and Deafheaven than atmospheric black metal, with the latter subgenre more synth-oriented than the dreamy ambience of post-metal. You wouldn't call bands like Summoning and Burzum "post-metal", now would you? For post-death metal, there are only 4 releases here that mix post-metal and death metal, so that wouldn't qualify as a real subgenre.

Another post-x subgenre, huh? How about post-hardcore! Just kidding. Haha

May 29, 2022 04:21 AM

I'm not sure you completely understood my question Andi as I wasn't really asking about whether post-black metal or post-death metal are legitimate subgenres or how you'd define them. (For the record though, there are plenty of post-black metal releases out there that aren't associated with blackgaze.) I was really asking if Post-Sludge Metal is the only post-x subgenre that's deserving of it's own category in your opinion &, if so, why. From what you've written I'm gathering that you probably do think it's the only one that's significant enough but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. (I'm not saying you're wrong on that by the way.)

The next question I'll ask is if you think that if we adjusted the functionality of the releases page to a) allow you to search on releases that have multiple specified subgenres (like Post-Metal & Sludge Metal) & b) allow to you to choose to search on releases that ONLY have your specified subgenres (so you could select releases that only have Post-Metal & not releases that have both Sludge Metal AND Post-Metal) it would serve the purpose just as well? Would we still need a Post-Sludge Metal subgenre if that was the case?

May 29, 2022 06:52 AM

Post-sludge metal should certainly have its own category in order to be distinguished from post-metal or sludge metal releases, and it's more significant and easier to see which genre it's most likely to stay in than a subgenre label like post-black metal that's torn between two subgenres (atmospheric black metal and blackgaze). Now let's say there are releases like Isis' The Red Sea that have both the Post-Metal and Sludge Metal tags but DON'T say "Atmospheric Post-Sludge Metal", they probably have both genres dominant without necessarily being just a subgenre where one genre stands out more than the other. So the Post-Sludge Metal subgenre would still make sense if you're looking for a style of post-metal where sludge is only secondary, which is basically what Post-Sludge is.

May 29, 2022 07:52 AM

Thanks for clarifying Andi. I appreciate the open feedback.

Has anyone else got any opinions on this topic?

May 29, 2022 09:32 AM

I think what the site calls it is less important than what it does with it. Whether it's named atmospheric sludge or post-sludge I don't much care, but the clan system gives the site a unique issue with the genre as to whether it's a Fallen, Infinite or both subgenre. As the guy responsible for compiling the Fallen playlist each month I don't really feel that atmo/post or whatever-sludge fits the overall Fallen aesthetic that well and is much more post-metal than sludge (usually) and would fit better in the Infinite. Obviously if a release contains a significant amount of genuine sludge metal then a dual clan designation is fine. Since I have been compiling the playlist I have sometimes been frustrated by having to include a lot of atmo-sludge as I feel other, more Fallen-specific genres, have suffered at it's expense (I'm not complaining about the music itself, just it's suitability for the clan I am trying to represent with the playlist) and personally I would be happier to see it reside solely in the Infinite. I think someone who is massively into atmospheric sludge would be more likely to enjoy the progressive and avant-garde music of the Infinite than doom, death doom, funeral doom, trad doom, gothic metal and conventional sludge of the Fallen. After a recent conversation between Daniel and I, I currently don't program the genre into the Fallen playlist so if it isn't getting covered by the Infinite playlist then it is getting no playlist exposure. Obviously if everyone else feels differently I am happy to go along.

May 29, 2022 09:42 AM


he next question I'll ask is if you think that if we adjusted the functionality of the releases page to a) allow you to search on releases that have multiple specified subgenres (like Post-Metal & Sludge Metal) & b) allow to you to choose to search on releases that ONLY have your specified subgenres (so you could select releases that only have Post-Metal & not releases that have both Sludge Metal AND Post-Metal) it would serve the purpose just as well? Would we still need a Post-Sludge Metal subgenre if that was the case?

Quoted Daniel

I do like the prospect of filtering releases that only have all your selected genres/sub-genres. Currently if I search for releases tagged black metal and doom metal I get all black metal and all doom metal releases when what I want is black/doom releases, so this is a great solution for multi-genre releases that don't have their own sub-genre like blackened doom or gothic death doom (both of which should have in my opinion, but that's a discussion for another day I guess).


May 29, 2022 10:20 AM

For whatever it's worth, my feeling is that "post-metal" is its own thing, and that "atmospheric sludge metal" is a largely redundant term, as a specific subgenre anyway.

I tend to view it similarly to post-thrash metal: initially there was a style for which that fit, but over time it developed into its own thing, "groove metal", and while there were still obviously thrash roots throughout the genre, it couldn't really be seen as a simple branch of thrash anymore.

May 29, 2022 12:10 PM

My two cents is that I agree that cutting the ties with The Fallen makes sense both stylistically & logistically but I don't really see much point in keeping Post-Sludge Metal separate from the rest of Post-Metal as 95% of people are referring to the sludge variety when they think of the term "Post-Metal" anyway. In fact, I don't think there's really much of a Post-Metal genre without it in all honesty.

It's worth noting that making any changes in these areas will require some major database rework (even just changing the name to Post-Sludge Metal surprisingly) so at the moment this is all hypothetical. Keep the feedback coming & I'll discuss any changes that the group collaboratively agrees to with Ben.