Melvins - Gluey Porch Treatments (1987)^{Release ID: 1027}

A milestone release, as there have been a couple very sludgy albums prior to this one (namely the B side of My War, Black Dust and Gore’s catalogue) but this is probably the first fully formed Sludge Metal album. It’s a disgustingly heavy, ploddingly aggressive mess, the kind that would have easily freaked people out back in the 80’s. Melvins basically take the aggression and anger of Hardcore Punk and slow it way down, adding in a bit of experimental elements and metallic sheen and go at it. For such slow music, a ton of tracks are incredibly short (there’s that punk influence) and despite there being 18 of them, the whole thing is very consistent.

The kind of album where you either love it all the way through, or it doesn’t do anything for you. I appreciate what they were doing here, but early Sludge Metal just doesn’t have enough going on for me. Without memorable riffs, Sludge tends to rely on atmosphere and delivery, but neither had been developed in the genre at this point, so the release falls flat on my ears.