Progressive Sludge

Heiress – Distant Fires Review

Heiress – Distant Fires Review

By Carcharodon on December 3, 2021 in Reviews, Post-Hardcore, Sludge, 32 comments

“”Heiress, wonder where they came up with that name,” snickered a member of staff called … um … Pronos, as I alerted all the writers who care Cherd to incoming melodic sludge. Now look, I get what Pronos  was getting at but there was a time when Baroness were not a meme nor a byword for some of the worst production in metal alt rock. When split A Grey Sigh in a Flower Husk dropped in 2007, followed later the same year by Red Album, Baroness were offering something genuinely different and interesting, and there is a reason they have come to be such A Big Deal. Of course, they have now become a parody of themselves but that doesn’t mean other, less well-known acts need go down the same path.” Let them eat sludge.

Somnuri – Nefarious Wave Review

Somnuri – Nefarious Wave Review

By Cherd on June 5, 2021 in Reviews, Sludge, 16 comments

“In 2017, NYC sludge band Somnuri released their eponymous debut to relatively little fanfare. No one around these parts seemed to catch it, but thanks to a personal connection to the band, I did. Somnuri was a solid mix of early Mastodon progressive sludge with Yob-ish doom tendencies. It was better than a self released debut has any right to be, with songs like “Kaizen,” “Inhabitant” and “Through the Dead” landing on several of my personal playlists. With the band on my radar, I’ve been hoping to see a follow up surface in our promo pit for some time. Lo and behold, Nefarious Wave comes to us courtesy of their new label Blues Funeral four long years after their debut. With such a gap between records, one would hope for, if not expect, a fair amount of evolution and refinement.” NYC tides bring strange gifts.

Void of Sleep – Metaphora Review

Void of Sleep – Metaphora Review

By Saunders on March 26, 2020 in 2020, Aural Music, Doom Metal, Italian Metal, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Sludge, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, Progressive Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Metal, 13 comments

“Italy’s Void of Sleep caught me by surprise with their excellent 2013 debut Tales Between Reality and Madness. Boasting a suave mix of sludge, stoner, doom and prog influences, Tales was a mighty first statement and addictive, refreshing album that firmly landed Void of Sleep in my sights as an exciting band on the rise. Sophomore album New World Order dropped in 2015 and found the band beefing up the prog and refining their sound. Though a solid album in its own right, it lacked some of the raw energy and penetrating hooks of the debut. Some five years later, Void of Sleep awaken from their slumber with third album, Metaphora, a highly anticipated release from my viewpoint.” Cuddling the void.

Potmos Hetoimos – Vox Medusae Review

Potmos Hetoimos – Vox Medusae Review

By Roquentin on September 12, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Avante Garde, Experimental Metal, Hardcore, Not Music, Post-metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Sludge, Experimental Metal, Hardcore, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, Sludge Metal, 103 comments

“The typical pitfall of pseudo-experimental metal bands is their tendency towards buffoonish self-aggrandizement and the accompanying insistence on pompous philosophical themes. Often drawing inspiration from edgy, coincidentally anti-humanistic philosophies and providing a “thinking man’s take” on black metal, they immerse themselves in childish interpretations of nihilism and neoreactionary doctrines. The similarly arty and bombastically theatrical Potmos Hetoimos, the long-standing one-man progressive sludge project of Baltimorean Matt Matheson, is an antipode of such acts.” Humanistic is as humanism does.