The Sludge Metal Thread
Crowbar - Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form (2001)
I am currently endeavouring to fill some glaring gaps in my Fallen knowledge and Crowbar are one such omission. I have heard several tracks whilst compiling playlists for the Fallen, but album-wise I have only listened to their latest offering, 2022's Zero and Below, in it's entirety. Whenever I have encountered the band I have enjoyed their breed of sludge metal very much, so I figured it was high time I came to grips with arguably their best received album, Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form.
Well, by kicking off with an absolute beauty of a slab of sludgy awesomeness in opener, The Lasting Dose, they gave themselves a hard act to follow and an uphill struggle to maintain such a high level of quality for the entire three-quarters of an hour runtime. This track is a perfect balance between crushing heaviness and a pathos-infused, melancholy air, which is a tricky balancing act to carry off successfully, but they pull it off to devastating effect here, to the point where it reminds me a little of Patrick Walker's Warning - yes it's that good! So, after such an impressive opener you could he forgiven in thinking that the rest of the album may struggle to maintain the quality and while it is true that, at least for me, the other ten tracks fall a little short in comparison, this is still an impressive album.
My biggest issue with sludge is often in the vocal department and a lot of bands walk a bit of a tightrope, often tipping over into unlistenability for me, but Kirk Windstein has a gruffness to his delivery that ensures he never becomes "shouty", which is the point at which a band will lose me. The riffs are titanic and the production on the guitars is devastating, giving them a planet-crushing weight that suits those sludge-laden riffs perfectly, especially on the slower material. The riffing itself as well as being ridiculously heavy, is also tinged with that edge of melancholic introspection that is the real heart of top-drawer doom metal. Tony Costanza's drumming is simple and effective and, along with Jeff Okoneski's rumbling bass is the rock-solid foundation from which Windstein and Sammy Duet can launch those withering riff-barrages. The lyrics are perfectly legible despite the instrumental heft and with such memorable riffs, this is the kind of album you can suddenly find yourself singing along to.
There is a variation in tempo of the tracks to a certain extent but, personally, I find that it is the slower stuff that is most devastating, particularly Lasting Dose and Repulsive in Its Splendid Beauty. This is not only an album I will be returning to, but it is also one I will be seeking a physical copy of, such has it impressed me.
4.5/5
"Sonic Excess In Its Purest Form" has been my favourite Crowbar record for eons now. In fact, I'd suggest that it's their only genuinely essential release overall.
Winter - "Into Darkness" (1990)
New York’s Winter represent one of the Holy Grail bands in the underground metal scene in that they seemed to come out of nowhere with an imposing sound that would prove to be as influential as it was confronting before disappearing in a puff of smoke as suddenly as they appeared, never to be heard of again. I was lucky enough to discover them way back in the early 1990’s when I borrowed a cassette version of their sole full-length “Into Darkness” from a younger mate (who in hindsight had no real business owning such a release) & found it to sound like nothing I’d ever heard before. It was slower & darker than anything Winter's doom & death metal competition had ever dreamt of creating but it also possessed a much more suffocatingly oppressive atmosphere which really appealed to me although I wasn’t quite sure as to why just yet. One thing I was sure of though was that the genre tags that "Into Darkness" was being labelled with didn't seem to me to be entirely accurate as it simply didn’t sound like any of the other early doom/death releases I’d heard up until that point. As a result, I held it up on somewhat of a pedestal for its sheer originality & ambition & could clearly see the influence it had on the early funeral doom scene in particular. I haven’t returned to Winter’s debut album for many years now but have been really looking forward to it as I've long suspected that this might end up being a very high scorer based on my past experiences with it.
“Into Darkness” doesn’t waste any time in building its much-celebrated atmosphere with opening track “Oppression Freedom/Oppression (Reprise)” slowly dragging the listener down deep into Winter’s dungeon of the dreary. It’s a classic opener in all honesty & is probably the only genuine doom/death track on the album if you wanna get technical about it. The only other track that offers much in the way of that death metal feel (think Autopsy) is the closing title track but even then it’s kinda 50/50. The wonderful three-minute “Power & Might” that sits right in the middle of the tracklisting represents one of the earliest examples of the funeral doom metal sound & is possibly even one of the best too but the rest of the album is made up of an abrasive brand of doom metal that, when combined with bassist John Alman’s growled vocals, seems to sit far more comfortably under a sludge metal tag than anything death metal related. There’s really not much death metal instrumentation included on “Into Darkness” in all honesty & the links to Celtic Frost (see “Servant of the Warsmen” in particular), crust punk gods Amebix & sludge metal acts like Crowbar seem like far more appropriate points of reference to me. Are the vocals death growls? I’d suggest they play in the space between sludge metal & death metal but when combined with this super down-tuned & filthy guitar tone they seem to possess a crusty hardcore edge more regularly than they do that grisly Chris Reifert-ish death metal tone. That’s right ladies & gentlemen. I’m suggesting that “Into Darkness” isn’t actually a doom/death record. It’s predominantly a sludge metal one for mine.
The strongest moments on “Into Darkness” are where Winter fully indulge in their slower, doomier side (see “Goden”, “Power & Might” & my personal favourite “Eternal Frost”) & you’ll rarely find as doom-laden a record in that respect. Drummer Joe Goncalves does an outstanding job with his minimal contribution which always maintains a metronomical tightness despite playing in spaces that are rarely touched on as far as tempo goes. Joe seems to know exactly what these tracks require & provides no more & no less that that. Guitarist Stephen Flam (also of fellow New York doom/death outfit Serpentine Path) has achieved a ridiculously heavy guitar tone too but I’d have to suggest that the album would have benefited from his riffs being higher in the mix, despite that oversight contributing to the unique atmosphere that “Into Darkness” pervades. On the occasions when Winter head in a chuggier, mid-tempo direction we see them more openly sharing their crust punk/Celtic Frost roots (see “Servants of the Warsmen” & the start & end of “Destiny” & the title track) & these sections don’t offer the same level of appeal for this doom-obsessed ol’ extreme metalhead.
“Into Darkness” is the epitome of cold, barbarous oppression & perhaps shares this trait as readily with doom/death bands like Australia’s diSEMBOWELMENT or America’s Cianide as it does with its sludge metal contemporaries but that shouldn’t prevent us from labelling the record under its most appropriate genre tag (which is sludge in my opinion). There’s little question that it’s one of the best examples of doom-focused metal music you’re likely to find though which has subsequently forced me to find room in Top 100 Metal Releases of All Time list to cater for it as a result.
4.5/5
So until the two albums I asked to be put on MA are here, I'm going to be working on another top 100, one outside of my clan. I decided on sludge, so I'm currently re-evaluating some sludge albums to help cement my current stance on certain sludge albums. This might rewrite the whole way I look at it. But the same Rexorcist here knows what he likes...
Anybody got any good suggestions for very diverse and varied sludge albums, like When the Kite String Pops or Hell III? I know sludge can be about length, but hey, one of my favorites from my sludge binges was When the Kite String Pops, and after finding it online I kept the 100 rating and even raised its list position.
I would recommend Pig Destroyer's "Natasha" E.P. as a very diverse take on sludge metal.
I don't know if you're also talking about atmospheric sludge, Rex, but I'll just start with several standard sludge metal recommendations for you (a couple of them aren't super sludgy, but they're key to the diverse variation):
Cult of Luna - Cult of Luna (2001)
Gaza - He Is Never Coming Back (2009)
Godflesh - Hymns (2001)
Isis - The Mosquito Control EP (1998) (this month's Fallen feature release!)
Knut - Challenger (2002)
Today is the Day - Today is the Day (1996)
Will Haven - WHVN (1999)
Crowbar - "Obedience Thru Suffering" (1991)
I didn’t get into New Orleans sludge metal establishment Crowbar until much later than some as it wouldn’t be until my return to metal in 2009 that I’d first give one of their albums a crack. I’d very quickly find myself traversing their entire eight-album discography in quick succession from there though & tended to find that I liked Crowbar a lot from a purely stylistic & conceptual point of view but that their albums often suffered a little from poor production which saw them never quite managing to reach their full potential. 2001’s “Sonic Excess In Its Purest Form” would be the first record to break away from that curse in my opinion & it would become my go-to Crowbar release over the many years since. The band’s 1991 debut full-length “Obedience Thru Suffering” offered me the least appeal from memory, even though I still remember quite enjoying it. I haven’t returned to it in something like 14 years now though so it’s definitely about time I reassessed that position.
Despite what my vague recollections may have been telling me, the production job on “Obedience Thru Suffering” is actually quite acceptable & shouldn’t be a problem for too many listeners. The quality of the music is way better than I was expecting too, even if it is a touch samey. To offset that characteristic though, the consistency of the song-writing is very strong with no weak tracks included. The album probably just lacks a few more genuine highlight tracks with “My Agony” being the only one that I feel reaches tier one status.
It's pretty common to see “Obedience Thru Suffering” tagged as both sludge metal & doom metal but, despite the album undeniably being chock full of enormous doom riffs, I’m not sure the doom tag is really necessary because sludge metal is essentially a biproduct of doom to begin with. There’s a detectable hardcore flavour to most of this material (particularly in the depressive & gravel-throated vocals of front man Kirk Windstein) that keeps the album centred in sludge territory for mine but doom fans will still be able to relate to it pretty comfortably too. I might be being presumptuous here but I’d be very surprised if Celtic Frost weren’t an influence on Crowbar as the riffs take a similarly simple yet crushingly heavy format a lot of the time which can’t be a bad thing now, can it?
On the evidence here, it's hard to understand how “Obedience Thru Suffering” isn’t talked about in the same breath as Crowbar’s next six or seven albums to be honest. It’s been many years since I revisited those records so perhaps I’ve simply underrated some of them but I tend to think it’s more a case of this one being underappreciated. I’m guessing it’s a retrospective opinion based on fans of Crowbar’s later material finding the album to be a little different to what they were expecting as the band would only get heavier & more oppressive from here. That doesn’t mean that “Obedience Thru Suffering” should be overlooked though & I strongly urge you to add it to your essential Crowbar list, particularly if you’re into sludge metal artists like Acid Bath, Eyehategod or Melvins.
4/5
Fudge Tunnel - "Hate Songs in E Minor" (1991)
Loved my time revisiting this very strong alternative sludge metal debut album from my youth this week. My old review is still as relevant as it ever was too:
"This full-length debut from UK sludgers Fudge Tunnel is driven by a chunky riff-based sound that sits somewhere between early-Godflesh & Nirvana's "Bleach" album. Alex Newport (who later went on to form Nailbomb with Max Cavalera of Sepultura fame) drives his guitar sound to the dirtiest, fuzziest levels imaginable & there is a real groove to the huge riffs. When the tempo slows down a bit the intensity is sometimes at it's highest level due to the sheer weight of noise coming out of those amplifiers. "Spanish Fly" is particularly massive & is the album highlight. I can only imagine what these tracks would've sounded like in a live environment. The two cover versions that end this release are a little bit disposable & unnecessary in my opinion but they both feature the same sort of powerful riffs as the originals so I can deal with them. "Hate Songs In E Minor" shouldn't be over-analysed. It should be enjoyed for it's simplicity & fun just as my brother & I did as teenagers back in the early 1990s. Some kids never grow up."
4/5
Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean - Obsession Destruction (2023)
Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean are an anonymous, four-piece sludge metal crew from Massachusetts. Their name is apt as a metaphor for the crushing weight of their material, bearing the listener down as surely as those many, many metric tonnes of pressure exerted at the ocean's floor. That monicker is, of course, taken from a Thou song and that is hardly surprising as they sound remarkably like their obvious influence, yet they are proficient enough, both songwriting and performance-wise to stand on their own two feet and stand clear of the shadow of the Baton Rouge sludge masters.
The band have a devastatingly thick, distorted guitar tone that is very much based on Thou's signature sound, but as I absolutely love Thou's guitar tone, then that is just fine by me. The vocals are painful, ragged howls with their origins in both hardcore and black metal, that shred the ears with their shrieking roar and tear at the soul with their heartfelt desperation. It has to be admitted that this is quite simple metal, there are no fancy tricks, technical gymnastics or attempts to surprise the listener, but that is all to the good as far as I am concerned, because this is metal for those who want to engage with the music on an emotional and visceral level rather than an intellectual one. This is as visceral a sound as any high-intensity death metal or febrile black metal, it's just that this is bludgeoningly heavy rather than rapier sharp and will result in crushed limbs rather than savage flesh wounds and ultimately it is music so heavy it feels like it has some physical effect on reality itself.
Though I say that this is fairly simple in structure, that doesn't mean that it is monolithically dull or unimpressive. There is enough variation in tempo and tone to keep the mind engaged, often turning to a post-metal style of atmospheric tension building and release that gives the listener a well-deserved payoff by track's end. Ultimately, it must be admitted, if you have no love for Thou and their extended sludge metal outings, then Obsession Destruction will probably leave you cold, but for those of us who view this style of throbbing, crushing sludge as manna from heaven and who enjoy being swamped and overwhelmed by the listening experience, then this is 66 minutes of pure gold.
4.5/5
Dirge - Dirge (2023)
Dirge are an Indian sludge metal five-piece, formed by members of hardcore punk band Death By Fungi in 2014. After almost ten years, this self-titled effort is only their second release, but they must have been busy honing their craft over the last decade, because this is a very accomplished slab of atmospheric sludge metal that certainly flicks all the right switches, at least as far as I am concerned.
Playing up to the sludge metal tag, this has thick, smoke-wreathed, stonerized riffs that serve as one half of their dual attack, in combination with Tabish Khidir's taut, throat-shredding roar, this is an example of the cudgel and the blade wielded with impressive adroitness and clinical skill upon the listeners aural sensibilities. Don't let me give the impression that this is relentlessly aggressive however, no there is more to Dirge in the songwriting department than that. They are equally adept when luring the listener into a misleading sense of calmness with gentler, soothing sections before unleashing their pent-up anger once more, such as during Malignant where the hypocritical politicians and businessmen of the world stumble into their lyrical sights and feel the full weight of Dirge's spleen being vented upon them (not as it bothers the bastards much I don't suppose, but you can't knock the band for trying).
I did label this as atmospheric sludge, but I mean that more as a description than in relation to the actual genre. Dirge don't exactly adhere strictly to the post-metal convention of build-build-release, but rather use gentler sections as a counterpoint to the general agressiveness of most of the runtime and thus render their conventional sludge metal more atmospheric as a result. I certainly wouldn't lump them in with Cult of Luna or Neurosis, but a better comparison for me is Germany's Hexer. The production absolutely nails the requisite sound, imparting a huge amount of weight to proceedings that an album like this stands or falls upon. I don't know too many Indian metal acts I must admit, but of those I am familiar with, Dirge top the tree.
Super-solid 4/5
My updated top ten list after indulging in this month's The Fallen feature release this week:
01. Pig Destroyer – “Natasha” E.P. (2008)
02. Isis – “The Mosquito Control” E.P. (1998)
03. Gaza – “No Absolutes In Human Suffering” (2012)
04. Monarch! – “Omens” (2012)
05. Fange – “Pantocrator” (2021)
06. Mastodon – “Leviathan” (2004)
07. Great Falls - "Objects Without Pain" (2023)
08. Black Cobra – “Invernal” (2011)
09. Ufomammut – “Eve” (2010)
10. High On Fire – “De vermis mysteriis” (2012)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/133
Kowloon Walled City - "Container Ships" (2012)
Since I stumbled across their 2021 release, Piecework (an album which was my top pick for that year), I have been slowly working my way through the back catalogue of Kowloon Walled City. I soon settled on 2012's Container Ships as my next regular play, finding the angular and brittle nature of the sound that I enjoyed so much on that latter release in full flight on this release from nearly a decade earlier. The pacing of songs at this point in their careers is not as consistently slow as it was on Piecework but the bleakness is still very obvious at this stage in their songwriting. The bouncing sludge of 50s Dad as track two on here, soon injects a shot of uptempo and disorganised chaos to proceedings. The futile edge to Scott Evan's vocals is perfectly at odds with this faster pace, emphasising the awkwardness and discomfort of the character in the song.
With the bass churning away throughout Container Ships, this soon becomes a very dense sounding album. Changes of pace end with resonance to them that permeates the space around the listener. This adds further tension to what is already an emotionally taut record. The sense of loom and menace that is built over the course of the intro to the title track cannot be denied. It is a perfect soundtrack to exploring the graveyard of ships that is depicted on the cover of the album itself. Whilst undeniably burdened with a megaton sludge weight, it is the contrasting post-metal sections to tracks that really emphasises the brilliance of Container Ships. The charge of the sludge metal never gets to explode to its full potential - which I would normally class as an inhibiting factor, but it works brilliantly here. I liken it to bombs being exploded underwater. You see the water being cast far and wide, hearing the sound of the explosion itself also, yet the violece of the act seems somehow surpressed as it is hidden from view. The majority of the tracks on Container Ships are sludge bombs submerged in, or floating on the top of post-metal seas.
This is not to say that this album lacks agression. Instead the more fierce elements to the record feel more personal. Indeed they seem to hit harder by the simple acknowledgement that anger does not necessarily mean outbursts of violence. The expression of frsutration, futility and fear itself comes through on this album. Whilst the post-metal elements offer this expression they by no means temper the sense of hopelessness that the tracks exude, even on the faster-paced tracks. This is why I find most of what I have heard to date from Kowloon Walled City resonantes with me so easily. There is variation on a theme with KWC that by no means represents a compromised position.
4.5/5
Melvins - "Bullhead" (1991)
I don't think I ever really came across Washington sludge metallers Melvins back in the late 1980's & early 1990's. I certainly heard their name once Nirvana blew up in 1991 but didn't think they were any of my business given that they seemed to be associated with the grunge scene more than they did to the metal one. I don't think I'd actually ever hear them until around 2012 when I checked out their new "Scion A/V Presents: The Bulls & the Bees" E.P. & I didn't like it much to tell you the truth. My next encounter with them would come shortly afterwards through 2010's split E.P. with Massachusetts post metallers Isis, mainly because I'd gotten heavily into Isis but I found myself enjoying the Isis tracks but not the Melvins ones. So Melvins didn't actually start to show me what they really had to offer until I checked out their very solid 1992 fourth album "Lysol" which was mainly due to its association with the drone metal genre as its somewhat of a passion of mine. I found that record to be really appealing & have returned to it quite often since. This triggered a trip to its 1993 follow-up album "Houdini" which I quite liked too. But little did I know that the real meat on the Melvins bones was still in front of me with this week's investigation of their 1991 third album "Bullhead" being nothing short of game-changing.
"Bullhead" is only a relatively short record at just 35 minutes in duration but that's more than enough time when the quality is kept at such a consistently high level throughout. It sees the trio totally indulging themselves in amplifier worship with the spectacular production job allowing the listener to curl up in the drum riser or speaker box of a live performance & truly "feel" the reverberations of the music. It's about the clever use of rhythmic interplay between the musicians & the often weird yet perpetually gnarly vocals of front man Buzz (Crystal Fairy/Fantômas/Venomous Concept) which are both unusual & endearing at the same time. The commitment to keep unplanned guitar noise & other slight imperfections in the recording in the interest of building character was a masterstroke too while Crystal Fairy, Shrinebuilder & Porn (The Men Of) drummer Dale Crover's confidence in his own ability to explore new territory yet still hit the right beat at the right moment is staggering. Melvins simply sound like the elite version of what a dangerous live rock band should aspire to be here & it's left me devastated in a very similar way to the finest work from a band like Japan's Boris who I can only imagine were heavily influenced by "Bullhead" based on my experiences here.
The tracklisting kicks off in superb fashion with the epic nine-minute doom metal opener "Boris" (hhmmm... further indication of the potential influence I mentioned perhaps?) which is my favourite track on the album before turning towards a sludgier sound for the remaining seven tracks. The songs that close out either side of the record ("It's Shoved" & "Cow") clearly showcase the influence that Melvins had on the grunge scene that had just blown up on a global scale at the time as both tracks would arguably sit pretty comfortably on a grunge release. In fact, there are several passages across the tracklisting when I get similar chills to those that I'd experience during the doomier moments of your more crushingly heavy Soundgarden songs. Other highlights include the miraculous "Your Blessened" which is a perfect example of Buzz's ability to summon up some of the heaviest Sabbathian guitar riffs known to man & deliver them in the coolest fashion possible, as well as "Ligature" & "Zodiac" which aren't far behind in that regard. The grungier songs aren't quite as effective but the tracklisting never dips below a very solid level & is buoyed by the skyscraping highlight tracks that fill more than half of the run time.
I think it's fair to say that "Bullhead" has hit me as hard as a raging bull & I see it as one of the finest sludge metal releases I've ever heard. In fact, it's made such a big impact on me that I've had to find a place in my Top Ten Metal Releases of All Time list too which is really saying something after all these decades of metal indulgence. If you crave the days when rock music was edgy & dangerous then this record is most certainly for you. You can expect to have to give it a few listens to truly sink in but the rewards are nothing short of spectacular, particularly for those with a penchant for Boris, Acid Bath & Crowbar.
4.5/5
Here's my updated Top Ten Sludge Metal Releases of All Time list with High On Fire's "De vermis mysteriis" dropping out to make way for "Bullhead":
01. Pig Destroyer – “Natasha” E.P. (2008)
02. Isis – “The Mosquito Control” E.P. (1998)
03. Gaza – “No Absolutes In Human Suffering” (2012)
04. Monarch! – “Omens” (2012)
05. Fange – “Pantocrator” (2021)
06. Mastodon – “Leviathan” (2004)
07. Great Falls - "Objects Without Pain" (2023)
08. Melvins - "Bullhead" (1991)
09. Black Cobra – “Invernal” (2011)
10. Ufomammut – “Eve” (2010)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/133
Crowbar - "Crowbar" (1993)
I've been quite a fan of New Orleans' sludge metallers Crowbar's 1990's releases since first investigating them around fifteen years ago now. None of them thoroughly blew me away but all five of the band's early full-lengths kept me more than interested, often just lacking a little bit more in the production department to reach their full potential. I recently revisited Crowbar's 1991 debut album "Obedience Thru Suffering" & found that I'd been underrating it all these years though which left me wondering whether I might have done something similar with the rest of those records too, particularly as I'm a much bigger fan of sludge metal than I was at the time of first hearing them. And that's brought me here, to my first revisit to Crowbar's 1993 self-titled sophomore album since that early discovery session.
"Crowbar" is another seriously heavy record from this mob & you'll rarely find a more oppressive release either to be honest. The guitars are heavily down-tuned but they haven't left much light at the end of the tunnel as they lack much in the way of brightness. This allows the grunted vocals of guitarist Kirk Windstein (Down/Kingdom of Sorrow) stand out very clearly in the mix & they aren't exactly gonna cheer you up either, particularly with song titles like "Existence Is Punishment" & "I Have Failed" being par for the course. The riffs fall into the classic Crowbar blueprint, all being very simple yet unanimously crushing. There's no place for flashy guitar solos here as Crowbar harness the hardcore punk blueprint of song construction, keeping things short but impactful. The hardcore edge that the band was so evident on "Obedience Thru Suffering" is still very clearly in effect here which keeps things firmly in the sludge metal camp rather than drifting off into doom territory, particularly in some of the more energetic riff work & in Kirk's vocal delivery which sounds like it's agonizing for him to spit his words out.
Much like the debut, "Crowbar" is a pretty consistent record when you look at it holistically. It doesn't contain any obvious duds & there are a couple of genuine highlights included too in the wonderful cover version of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter" (which works ridiculously well in a sludge metal format) & the devastatingly heavy "Existence Is Punishment". The album does start a little slowly though with the first three tracks being some of the least impressive & things don't really start to heat up until the middle of the album. The back end is particularly solid though & I find myself being drawn to the band's slower, doomier material more than I do their brief dalliances with a more up-tempo feel such as the very popular "All I Had (I Gave)".
"Crowbar" is another very solid record from the band & yet again I find myself feeling like I've underrated it in the past, perhaps not quite being able to relate to its suffocating production job as much as I do now that I've had a lot more exposure to the sludge metal sound. Like most people, I do think "Crowbar" is a better record than "Obedience Thru Suffering" but the difference in quality isn't as stark as some would have you believe. I think "Crowbar" just has more highlights which gives it a slight edge but neither album do too much wrong & both come highly recommended for all the battle-hardened sludgers out there.
For fans of Acid Bath, Eyehategod & Kingdom of Sorrow.
4/5
Eyehategod - "Take As Needed For Pain" (1993)
It's been just over two years since I finally decided to take the plunge with New Orleans sludge metal phenomenon Eyehategod through their very solid 1996 third album "Dopesick". I found that I really enjoyed their drug-fueled, desolation-inducing brand of sludge at the time & wondered why it'd taken me so long to get them given their stature in the scene, even if some of the more groovy stoner inspired moments weren't particularly to my taste. I subsequently added Eyehategod's other supposed classic in 1993's "Take as Needed for Pain" to my to-do list but it's probably more of a reflection of just how greedy I am for quality metal to find that it's taken me this long for that investigation to actually come to fruition. I'm glad it has though as the effort was certainly paid off.
After reading my review of "Dopesick", I've almost decided that there's no need to review "Take as Needed for Pain" given just how similarly I feel about it. In fact, that review perfectly describes what I've been thinking of writing for this one so I'd suggest that "Dopesick" was very much "Take as Needed for Pain Part II". There's nothing particularly fresh or new about Eyehategod's second full-length either though. It's simply a highly effective sneak-peak into the mind of a down & out drug addict, living in redneck America with a level of pent-up anger that would seem ready to explode into violence at any moment. What we have here is some crushingly heavy sludge metal riffs of pure doom, taking the occasional groovy stoner metal direction to break up the misery, & with a super-pissed & vicious front man who does his very best to make sure that your attention doesn't deviate from the horrifying human car crash he's describing in great detail.
As expected, I'm nowhere near as big a fan of the stoner parts as I am the remainder of the album but I can accept that this element is a part of Eyehategod's identity & move on to the more attractive (yet equally repulsive) darker shit, even if my scoring has been capped a little as I don't think I could consider my more elite ratings for a record like this one where none of the twelve tracks reach classic status for me. There are a couple of moments across the fifty minute run time where the album temporarily loses my interest too with the more stoner-inspired "Sister Fucker (Part I)" not being to my taste & closing tape music interlude "Laugh It Off" being pretty much a waste of space. It's hard to pick out the highlight tracks from this lot as the stronger moments tend to have a lot in common with each other but, if pushed, I'd probably mention songs like opener "Blank" (my personal favourite), "Shop Lift" & the bravely-titled "White Nigger". There's a clear correlation between the increase in stoner & my scoring dropping off a touch though which I could have told you would be a problem.
It's really very hard to pick a winner between Eyehategod's two most widely celebrated album "Take as Needed for Pain" & "Dopesick" as there's nothing between them as far as I can see. Perhaps the fact that I've now spent a fair bit of time with "Dopesick" is seeing me just leaning towards it by the slightest of margins but if you enjoy one then you'll no doubt really dig the other too. Is this the pinnacle of the sludge movement? Nah... I don't think so personally but I'll be damned if it's not a worthwhile exercise in general discomfort & depravity though. As will all good sludge metal, the world that Eyehategod depict isn't a pleasant one but there's a twisted part of my brain that craves this sort of misery. Perhaps my wife is right & I've simply taken too many drugs in my life. Personally, I'd suggest that I haven't taken enough of the good ones but that's just me. Regardless, all druggy sludge metal devotees will likely want to ensure that they acquaint themselves with "Take as Needed for Pain" as it's a high-quality & undeniably important release for the genre.
For fans of Acid Bath, Iron Monkey & Crowbar.
4/5
Toadliquor - "Feel My Hate - The Power Is the Weight - R.I.P. Cain" (1993)
I'd not heard much about Californian five-piece Toadliquor before now. They've kind of existed on their own underground plane for the last few decades, always steering well clear of the mass popularity contest that is the commercial metal scene in the United States. Hell, they've always flatly refused to release their most popular record (i.e. this one) on CD, instead choosing to offer it up on vinyl only which should tell you a little bit about the band themselves who have largely remained fairly anonymous with none of the five members being associated with other acts. But people seem to have picked up on Toadliquor fairly organically over the years & we now see their 1993 debut album "Feel My Hate - The Power Is the Weight - R.I.P. Cain" being held up as a minor classic in some parts of the more well-informed metal demographic. As you all well & truly know by now, I need to know why in these cases so this week I've decided to explore Toadliquor for the very first time to see what the hell all the buzz is about. I'm glad I did too because it's a very rewarding record indeed.
"Feel My Hate - The Power Is the Weight - R.I.P. Cain" is a 42-minute album that includes seven songs with all of them being well & truly worth your time. It's an unapologetically sludge metal record too it has to be said. Other websites like Metal Archives & RateYourMusic will always award releases like this one a dual tag with doom metal but, in reality, there's really no need to if you have any idea as to what the sludge genre is all about it because it inherently implies the inclusion of doom tempos & riffs. As with a lot of good doom metal though, there's no necessity for Toadliquor to reinvent any wheels as far as their sound goes because good doom riffs are timeless & Toadliquor are too in many respects because this album could just as easily have been released today as 31 years ago. There are loads of bands that sound like this but very few deliver their product with this level of conviction. It's interesting that some RYMers are tending to reach for drone metal secondaries for this release though. Just where they're finding those associations is beyond me as I simply don't see it.
I wouldn't say that Toadliquor's sound is quite as dark, drug-fueled & desolate as an Eyehategod whose highly regarded sophomore album I reviewed only yesterday but I would suggest that it's slightly more consistent in its overall heaviness & I tend to favour it over "Take as Needed for Pain" for that reason, particularly given that it doesn't revert to groovier stoner metal riffs like Eyehategod have a tendency to do. The most significant & divisive element of their sound though is quite clearly the vocals of front man Rex whose delivery comes in the form of a tortured howl more than a masculine hardcore grunt or psychotic scream. I have to say that I do struggle with him a little bit at times & I can't deny that his inclusion has limited just how high my rating has the potential to go because I can't deny that Toadliquor would have been much better served with a more traditional sludge metal vocalist. Perhaps they wouldn't have been able to separate themselves from the huge swarming mass of American sludge bands if they had of gone that way though as Rex is certainly the main talking point when discussing the album. I just wish he didn't sound as phoned-in as he does at times because the effort doesn't always seem to be there.
The tracklisting is brilliantly consistent with the instrumentalists all having a fantastic understanding of the sludge metal medium & of dynamics in general. It's really very hard to pick out highlights as every song has excellent instrumentation with Rex's contribution tending to hold me back from being able to claim many of them as genuine classics. I do think that the crushingly immense heaviness of "Fratricide: A Requiem" manages to overcome those limitations & I can see it going on to become a genre favourite for me in the future. Outside of that, I'd probably suggest that the two tracks that precede it in "Gnaw" & & "Charred" make for an excellent trio that represent somewhat of a sweet spot for the album overall. The rest of the record isn't much different though & if you like one Toadliquor song then you'll no doubt dig everything they bludgeon you with here. Be warned though, this record isn't for the faint-hearted or the casual sludge listener. It's a wall-to-wall sludge-a-thon.
"Feel My Hate - The Power Is the Weight - R.I.P. Cain" was a very easy one to come up with a rating for really. I clearly couldn't afford it an elite score as Rex's vocals simply don't leave that as an available option but, at the same time, the instrumentation is so well written & executed that it was never going to score less than four stars either. I feel that I can easily see a) why Toadliquor as so highly regarded in underground circles & b) why they've never managed to break out of those circles for more mainstream appeal. They're very much a sludge band for sludge fanatics only &, thankfully, I just happen to be one of those so this has been a very worthwhile experience that I'd recommend to others who fall into that category.
For fans of Meth Drinker, Nightstick & Grief.
4/5
Dystopia - The Aftermath EP (1999)
The Aftermath exists in two formats, the original 19-minute four-track vinyl EP and the CD / streaming version with nine bonus tracks that runs for almost 45 minutes. The latter version contains the four tracks the band contributed to a 1995 split with Oakland crust punk band Skaven, the three tracks from their own 1997 Backstabber 7" EP, their track, "Diary of a Battered Child", from a split single with L.A. psychedelic crew, Suffering Luna and a one-minute track called "Cosmetic Plague", which is from a 1996 VA comp ironically called Whispers!. This review is for the extended version.
Dystopia are one pissed-off band, with a whole armoury of axes to grind, be it corporate greed, prejudice, injustice or self-loathing, if you name it then Dystopia have got a beef with it. Of course this makes for some gloriously feral-sounding sludge that leans heavily into the hardcore / crust vibe with ominous, downtuned riffing and some gloriously pounding and relentless drumwork from the superb Dino Sommese who has got to be one of the best punk drummers going.
The first four tracks which constitute the original EP are the best, especially from a metalhead's point-of-view, as these are not only the best-produced tracks, but also the most metal-sounding, with huge, downtuned riffs and thundering drumwork counterpointing the seething, furious vocal delivery for a nineteen-minute onslaught of true sludge metal violence. Dystopia make no concession to the stoner element that often creeps into sludge metal, this is pure, undiluted vitriol and venom and isn't meant to be heard as anything other than an attack on those with who the band have taken issue, so there's no druggy-like instrumental breaks to provide any relief from this aural warfare. This is the sound of a band who really mean it.
The bonus tracks, which were all released earlier than the first four, lean even more into the punk side of sludge metal. They are generally shorter, less well-produced, more simply structured and some of the lyrical content is a bit less sophisticated. Three or four of these bonus tracks feature samples as intros, which is often a feature of protest music, but of which I am not a fan and which bring nothing much to the table here either. I love me some punk, so I found these bonuses to be entertaining enough, but they may not appeal as much to someone not as enamoured of hardcore or crust as myself. There is still a metallic element to all but the final track, but it is less pronouced than that of the original four tracks and they are without a doubt the main draw for most listeners, certainly from Metal Academy anyway.
As such, I look upon this as a high quality EP of true sludge metal, as it was originally conceived, that contains a fair set of bonus tracks that chart the evolution of the band from a hardcore / crust origin to an accomplished crossover metal act.
4/5
Thou - Umbilical (2024)
There must be something skulking in those Louisiana swamps that is poisoning the water, how else can you explain the sheer vitriolic venom of the output of its premier sludge metal acts such as Eyehategod, Acid Bath and the Baton Rouge crew here in question. Thou's version of sludge metal is as confrontational and rebellious as the harcore punk that spawned it's more slothful and threatening offspring. Umbilical, conceptually and autobiographically, examines a life lived outside the accepted societal norms, but which is still constrained by an inner morality and the existential implications of living such a life. So a million miles from the wizards and dragons metalheads are stereotypically painted as being obsessed with then!
The album, I am sure it goes without saying, this being Thou we are talking about, is ludicrously heavy as you would expect. The cranky, oozing riffs are massive, hulking motherfuckers and despite really being too sharp and crunchy to truly be called crushing, they are anyway, with those ponderous drumbeats just adding extra weight and force to the mountain that has taken up residence on your chest. Meanwhile Bryan Funck unleashes hell with vocal tirades that are so savage and visceral that you fear for the longterm health of his vocal chords
This is not an album that is monolithically slow and doom-ridden, though, as the band incorporate influences ranging from death metal, metalcore, grunge and crust punk into the swirling maelstrom of misgivings that threatens to sweep the listener away like a metal tsunami of righteous indignation. "The Promise" and "Panic Stricken, I Flee" both have ridiculously catchy melodies that could have come from Alice In Chains or Soundgarden if they weren't so damn filthy-sounding and the riffs during the one-two mid-album punch of "I Feel Nothing When You Cry" and "Unbidden Guest" are as energetic as those spewed out by any young metalcore crew. The drumming towards the end of the latter is also worth special mention, it being an impressive artillery battery of percussion that sounds like a Celtic tribal warband preparing for battle and lays to rest the lie that doom metal drummers can't really play.
Of course, Thou are still capable of showing us their slower, more hulking side with "Lonely Vigil", "House of Ideas", "I Return as Chained and Bound to You" and the closer "Siege Perilous" lumbering out of the speakers with huge crashing waves of sonorous sonic devastation. This is not a sludge album that is built upon endless layers of atmospherics and build-ups in the quest for the ultimate climactic payoff, but very much refers back to the roots of sludge metal being composed of songs that have something to say, both musically and lyrically, delivered with a bruising and ascerbic irascibility that very much appeals to the contrary and grumpy old bastard in me. This is a seriously heavy record that Thou have delivered, interesting both for it's musical diversity in what can become a repetitious field and also it's lyrical and conceptual musings.
4/5
I didn't really think the compositions themselves matched the heaviness, but it was a perfectly operable sludge album that was always fun and powerful. I gave it an 8.5.