Rosetta's "The Galilean Satellites" should be removed from The Fallen

I have say that "The Galilean Satellites" is yet another example of just how unnecessary the "atmospheric sludge metal" tag is. As with the vast majority of releases that receive that tag, there's really not much sludge metal on this release other than the vocal delivery. Sludge metal is essentially a brand of doom metal that's infused with hardcore punk & there's nothing hardcore or doom about this release. It's a true post-metal release in every sense of the term in my opinion. In fact, "The Galilean Satellites" sits far more comfortably in The Infinite than it does in The Fallen in my opinion.

I think that this is more of a debate on the validity of the entire atmospheric sludge metal subgenre tag than it is on the tagging of this particular release Andi. I mean by the commonly accepted meaning of the term this release fits in well enough with records of the same tagging but my issue is that there's no real necessity for this subgenre to exist when most of the releases it contains are much closer to post-metal & post-rock than they are to sludge, doom & hardcore. A vocal style shouldn't dictate a primary subgenre in my opinion as there are many other elements that need to be considered.

Regardless, I believe that RYM is the only major site that references atmospheric sludge metal. Ben & I intend on reviewing the whole Metal Academy subgenre tree situation shortly so we might leave this topic to be discussed during that process.

As per RYM: "Sludge metal is a subgenre of Metal that combines the slow, dark instrumentals and atmosphere of Doom Metal with the aggressive, harsh screams and shouts credited to Hardcore Punk." They then go on to claim that Atmospheric Sludge is simply that, but "performed with an emphasis on atmospheric and textured riffs". 

Suffice to say that The Galilean Satellites does not sound like The Melvins, Baroness, High on Fire, or the early Mastodon albums. However, the slower tempos displayed on this record are not that dissimilar to the stylings of Doom metal, and the hectic cacophony of sound from the guitars, bass, percussion, vocals and other instruments is both clean, and also rough, the later of those being synonymous with hardcore punk and later on, thrash metal. So I at least understand where the term "atmospheric sludge metal" comes from.

But I do agree with Daniel in the sense that the term is very ambiguous as to its meaning. At the very least, RYM lists atmospheric sludge metal as a subgenre of post-metal as opposed to sludge/doom. Most releases that receive this tag are always pegged with post-metal anyway; Neurosis, ISIS, Cult of Luna, The Ocean. I think that the term is loosely used to differentiate between different kinds of post-metal, because atmospheric black metal/blackgaze also exist. Post-metal is a tag that can be used to describe anything and like with progressive metal, I find it unbelievable that any album can have a "progressive" genre tag, but not be associated with anything else; progression of what? Take a look at Death Doom metal as well!

While we may agree that "atmospheric sludge metal" is a derivative title that refers almost exclusively to post-metal, I'm not sure its removal from the Fallen clan is warranted. In the same way that Deafheaven's Sunbather or Oranssi Pazuzu's Mestarin Kynsi should not be removed from the North.

To clarify saxy, RYM lists atmospheric sludge metal as a child of both sludge metal & post metal simultaneously.

This release has been added to the Hall of Judgement.