Sludge metal

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Sludge metal
Stylistic origins	Doom metal Hardcore punk Southern rock
Cultural origins	Late 1980s - early 1990s, Louisiana
Typical instruments	Electric guitar - Bass guitar - Drums - Vocals
Mainstream popularity	Underground
Subgenres
Post-metal - Southern sludge - Stoner sludge
Regional scenes
Southern United States (particularly New Orleans)

Sludge metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that fuses doom metal and hardcore punk. Sludge metal is typically aggressive and abrasive; often featuring shouted vocals, heavily distorted instruments and sharply contrasting tempos. While the style was anticipated by the Melvins from Washington, many of its earliest pioneers were from the state of Louisiana.^[1]

Contents 1 Characteristics 2 History 3 List of sludge metal bands by style 3.1 Traditional/Southern sludge metal 3.2 Stoner sludge metal 3.3 Post-metal 3.4 Other fusions with sludge metal 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Characteristics

Sludge metal generally combines the slow tempos, heavy rhythms and dark, pessimistic atmosphere of doom metal with the aggression, shouted vocals and occasional fast tempos of hardcore punk.^[2] As The New York Times put it, "The shorthand term for the kind of rock descending from early Black Sabbath and late Black Flag is sludge, because it's so slow and dense."^[3] Many sludge bands compose slow-paced songs that contain brief hardcore passages^[4] (for example, Eyehategod's "Depress"). However, some bands emphasize fast tempos throughout their music. The string instruments (electric guitar and bass guitar) are downtuned and heavily distorted and are often played with large amounts of feedback^[4][5] to produce an abrasive, sludgy sound. Additionally, guitar solos are often absent. Drumming is often performed in typical doom metal fashion, but drummers may employ hardcore d-beat or double-kick drumming during faster passages. Vocals are usually shouted or screamed,^[4][5][6][7] and lyrics are generally pessimistic in nature.^[8] Suffering, drug abuse,^[9][10][11] politics and anger towards society are common lyrical themes.

Many sludge metal bands from the Southern United States incorporate Southern rock and blues influence,^{[4][5][6][12][13]} although not all sludge bands share this style. So-called "atmospheric" sludge bands adopt a more experimental approach and compose music with an ambient atmosphere, reduced aggression and philosophical lyrics.^[14] Due to the similarities between sludge and stoner metal, there is often a crossover between the two genres,^[15][16] but sludge metal generally avoids stoner metal's positive atmosphere and its usage of psychedelia. Sludge metal also bears some musical and lyrical resemblance to crust punk, due to the usage of political lyrics and thick, 'dirty' guitar sounds.

[edit] History

This section requires expansion.

During the 1980s, a variety of underground bands composed music that would influence sludge metal. Groups such as Flipper, Black Flag, Amebix, Swans and Neurosis, were among the first to mix punk with Black Sabbath style doom. Some bands who emerged from grindcore and industrial metal, such as Godflesh, also practiced a form of industrial sludge.^{[citation needed]}

Perhaps the most significant influence was the Melvins, a band from the state of Washington. Their earliest releases, Six Songs (1986) and Gluey Porch Treatments (1987), are often regarded as the first sludge records. At this time, the band was also an important member of Washington grunge scene.

At the beginning of the 1990s, a number of bands from Louisiana (particularly New Orleans with its metal scene) took these influences and developed the style that would be known as sludge.^[1] Eyehategod (formed in 1988),^[2] Crowbar (formed in 1989^[17] as The Slugs),^[18] and Acid Bath (formed in 1991)^[19] pioneered this movement. In the East Coast, Buzzov*en (formed in 1989),^[20] 13 (formed in 1990),^[21] and Grief (formed in 1991)^{[citation needed]} adopted a slower-paced approach to the emerging genre. Sludge metal subsequently spread throughout the Southern and Eastern United States.

During the late 1990s, many sludge metal bands began to incorporate post-rock elements into their music. This new sound, referred to as "Post-metal", was greatly inspired by the experimental style of Neurosis during the early to mid 1990s, and is performed by prominent bands such as Isis,^[14] Cult of Luna, and Pelican.^[22]

[edit] List of sludge metal bands by style

[edit] Traditional/Southern sludge metal

These bands are the pioneers of the genre or are strongly influenced by those bands. Many are from the Southern United States.

• Acid Bath^[19]
• Black Cobra
• Buzzov*en^[20]
• Cavity
• Corrosion of Conformity^[12]
• Crowbar^[18]
• Down^[23]
• Dystopia^[24]
• Eyehategod^[2]
• Grief
• Iron Monkey^[25]
• Killdozer ^[26]
• Melvins^[27]
• Rwake

[edit] Stoner sludge metal

These bands have mixed typical stoner metal traits with typical sludge metal traits, and may be considered a part of both genres.

• Big Business
• Bongzilla^[28]
• Boris
• Down^[23]
• Electric Wizard^[29]
• High on Fire^[30][31]
• Keelhaul
• Kylesa^[16]
• Taint
• Torche^[32]
• Weedeater^[33]

[edit] Post-metal

• Callisto (True Nature Unfolds and Noir)
• Cult of Luna
• Giant Squid
• Intronaut
• Isis^[14]
• Minsk
• Mouth of the Architect
• Neurosis^[34]
• The Ocean
• Rosetta

[edit] Other fusions with sludge metal

• Baroness (sludge metal, progressive metal, and alternative metal)^[35][36]
• Boris (sludge metal, drone doom, stoner metal, psychedelic rock, and noise rock)
• Buried Inside (atmospheric sludge metal, metalcore, and post-hardcore)
• Corrupted (sludge metal, funeral doom, drone doom, and ambient)
• Cursed (sludge metal, hardcore punk, and crust punk)
• Fudge Tunnel (sludge metal and industrial metal)^[37][38]
• Halo (sludge metal and industrial music)
• Harvey Milk (sludge metal, noise rock, experimental rock, and drone doom)
• Kingdom of Sorrow (sludge metal and metalcore)^[39][40]
• Knut (sludge metal, post-hardcore, and mathcore)
• Lair of the Minotaur (sludge metal and thrash metal)^[41][42]
• Mastodon (sludge metal and progressive metal)^[43]
• Moss (sludge metal and drone doom)
• Old Man Gloom (sludge metal, doom metal, post-metal, and experimental rock)
• Soilent Green (sludge metal and grindcore)^[13][44]
• Superjoint Ritual (sludge metal, thrash metal and hardcore punk)
• Unearthly Trance (sludge metal, doom metal, crust punk, ambient, noise music, death metal, and black metal)
• Withered (sludge metal, death metal, and black metal)

[edit] See also

• Extreme metal

[edit] References

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