Review by Sonny for Gore (NLD) - Hart Gore (1986)

Now here's an interesting release that may raise a question or two, first of which is "what actually constitutes sludge metal?" If sludge metal is defined by it's hardcore-derived vocal style then where does that leave an album like Hart Gore as it is a completely instrumental release. If it's a thick, doomy, stonerised guitar tone instead that distinguishes sludge, then it's two thumbs up over here for the Gore guys. I don't know the answer to the question, but what we have here, I would suggest, is something that sounds suspiciously like early sludge metal, but without any singing. Thick, syrupy riffs abound, reinforced by a powerful drum sound and occasional use of feedback, but where you would expect an album of instrumentals to have a ton of guitar leads, this has very few and really does sound like a sludge album without the vocal track. It is dual-tagged on RYM with noise rock and I can kind of hear that as it does sound quite rock-y in places. Without any meaningful leads it does sort of pale a bit before the end, but it is only just over half an hour long as so doesn't require a huge commitment on the part of the listener. I enjoyed it, I must admit, as it's something a bit different and if the truth be told sometimes the vocals in sludge metal piss me off, so that is never an issue here - and I really loved that drum sound. This pre-dates any of the Melvins EPs or albums, so I guess sludge wasn't even really a thing back then, so if ultimately this isn't a sludge album because of the lack of vocals then I would posit that it must be a stoner rock/metal album. Either way, you should probably check it out because it is an interesting release in the history of sludge metal and it sounds ahead of it's time.