Hexer's "Cosmic Doom Ritual" is post-sludge metal

After coming fully to grips with “Cosmic Doom Ritual” recently, I’ve come to the realisation that Hexer have fooled many people because the use of the word “doom” in the album title has led most online resources to claim the album as doom metal. In reality though, the tone is much more abrasive & the vocals are a lot harsher & more aggressive than you would usually expect from doom which sees the release aligning itself pretty clearly with sludge metal. The use of slowly building post-rock song structures & stripped-back atmospherics is far in excess of what you will find on a conventional sludge release though with the band taking a more textured approach & steering away from the standard riff-fest. For these reasons, I see “Cosmic Doom Ritual” as a post-sludge metal release with references to stoner metal in the psychedelics so I'd like to see this release added to The Infinite under the Atmospheric Sludge Metal subgenre of Post-Metal.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement. If it's successful, I'll then seek to have the Sludge Metal genre removed from the release too.

This nomination has left me once again pondering over the Atmospheric Sludge Metal (or Post-Sludge Metal as I like to call it) subgenre in the Metal Academy database. "Cosmic Doom Ritual" seems to me to be both so clearly aligned with the atmospheric sludge metal style but also so appropriately grouped under The Fallen at the same time (as well as The Infinite of course). It leaves me wondering whether all of our debate about which clan post-sludge releases should rightfully sit under was wasted time & that we may actually be better off doing away with the subgenre altogether & simply tagging things as Sludge Metal, Post-Metal or a combination of the two. It'd certainly solve the problem of which clan should rightfully have ownership of the subgenre. And why should sludge metal be the only genre to receive a full-time post-subgenre when others like black metal don't? Thoughts on this guys?

I've given Cosmic Doom Ritual some listening and a review. The album is certainly post-sludge, but with its doomy atmosphere, it leans much closer to The Fallen than bands like Neurosis and Isis. It made me realize that post-sludge might have some Fallen potential alongside its strength in The Infinite. It wouldn't seem right for this album to have The Infinite as its sole clan, so it's quite a tough call. Also it might be possible for there to be a post-black metal subgenre. A few other albums I've reviewed, each from one of these bands; Agalloch, Alcest, Deafheaven, and Oranssi Pazuzu, make a seamless blend of post-metal and black metal with its immense ambience and broad experimentation. Of course, Alcest and Deafheaven have the more appropriate subgenre label of blackgaze. I'm not sure though, I'm never really a black metal connoisseur. Any thoughts all?

I'm not suggesting that we create another difficult multi-clan hybrid subgenre in post-black metal Andi. That would only make the problem worse. I'm actually suggesting that we move in the opposite direction by removing the atmospheric sludge metal subgenre from the database. The Metal Academy database is setup in a way that every subgenre has to be attached to a single genre. This creates a couple of logistical headaches with a subgenre like post-sludge which commands a place in two different clans by its very definition. Deathgrind also suffers from this to a lesser extent as both genres are a part of the same clan but you still can't add the deathgrind subgenre to a release unless it has the grindcore genre. It won't work with the death metal one which annoys me.  This is part of the reason why we've never added subgenres like progressive death metal or blackened thrash. Those releases are simply a part of two separate genres which reside in two separate clans. I actually think that's the simplest way to handle things & I wonder whether that's what we should do with post-sludge too so that releases that are sludgy enough to be a part of The Fallen can have the Sludge Metal genre attached & those that are more closely affiliated with post-metal can go with just a single clan. 

I am fully behind doing away with the atmospheric, post-, or whatever we wish to term it, sludge genre as I have never been a fan of the term. Sludge metal and post-metal should adequately cover most examples (in varying proportions, depending who you're listening to). Hexer sit more at rhe sludgy end and for them to be removed from The Fallen would be a bureaucratic travesty in my opinion as Cosmic Doom Ritual so obviously sits there rather than in the Infinite.

The less the sub-genre/tagging options the better.  I am all for the "this in the wrong clan/this is missing an obvious clan inclusion" argument (Nocturnal Graves feature this month for example), however creating boxes within boxes is too much.  Atmospheric sludge metal my arse!