“Once again, it’s that awesome moment when you’re given a band whose name isn’t exactly search engine-friendly. Joining the ranks of Voices, Satan, Hell, and Tomb of Finland, we have… Un. Not the easiest name to google for a band.” When naming sessions go awry.
“When I hear ‘sludge,’ I have a very specific sound in mind. I want wretched vocals, whiskey-soaked guitar riffs, and lyrics about living at the absolute nadir of human existence. I want it to live up to its name, flooding the sonic landscape with riffs that sound like they were written in an abandoned warehouse during an opium binge. Thus, I was a bit disappointed when first researching Ontario’s Adrenechrome and finding that the ‘sludge’ tag often used to describe them is, alas, very loosely applied.” What’s wrong with happy-go-lucky sludge?
“Last year’s big surprise for me was Palingenesis, a beautiful neo-folk album that beat out some really good death metal for my year-end list’s #9 spot and led to me purchasing the very last vinyl copy Nebelung had on them (suck it). At first glance, progressive sludge/doom outfit Moloken might not seem anything like that troupe of cello-wielding Germans, but All is Left to See turns out to be full of surprises.” Here at AMG, we like musical surprises that don’t involve White Wizzard.
“I have a penchant for picking bands based on their names alone lately. For the most part, doing so has yielded some pretty damn good results. So when the Grymm Grab Bag™ belched forth The Camel, The Lion, The Child, the debut full-length from Seattle’s He Whose Ox Is Gored, you can say that I was a bit nervous. Long band name? Check. Nietzsche-inspired album title? Check. The sound labeled as “progressive doom”? Check.” Progressive doom is progressive… and doomy.
“Italian power trio Ufomammut, now with eight (or nine if you count collabs) studio releases under their belt, return to form once again playing their signature alloy of psychedelic space doom, sludge, and stoner…. Actually, we don’t really need a formal and formulaic intro when we’ve got an album of this magnitude at hand.” Big things are in the offing. Big, big things.
“Doom. Doom is done right when the word is no longer a mere genre, but an onomatopoeic descriptor of what you are hearing. Suffice to say, Finland’s Oceanwake understands this.” Prepare to meet your new doom flavor of the week. Mmmm doom.
“Grindcore is a genre best-suited to the EP. The intense aggression and abrasive style can very rarely be sustained for a full length of 40-50 minutes, after which most would rip off their weary ears and embark on a quest of homicidal desecration – but as a tasty morsel it can be a powerful tool.” Like Edward 40 Hands always says, sometimes you just need a big bottle of Occult 45.
“Do you like post-metal? Do you like sludge? What about Rosetta? Soundclips of men with Scottish accents? Finally, do you have 72 minutes to kill? If, dear reader, you answered yes to three out of those five questions, then you would be obliged to take my hand as I journey through Izah’s gargantuan debut Sistere.” Ach, it’s like Scotchtoberfest around hea!
“Genre labels are such a double-edged sword, aren’t they? You mention nu-metal or metalcore around here, and there’s a good chance that the band you are describing will become anchored before they are allowed to soar.” Genre labels proved a hot topic not too long ago here on AMG. Will Taken By The Sun further fan the flames?
“Loud, heavy, dense, raging, lacking any sort of subtlety or nuance – rarely has a band been so aptly named as Primitive Man. Self-releasing their debut to critical acclaim both here and across the metalogosphere, they followed it up with a series of splits before being snapped up by Relapse for their latest outburst of hatred. Their approach has remained pretty consistent across these releases: crank everything up until it feeds back, then hammer out the most repulsive blackened sludge they can conjure.” Better call your local Department of Sludge Control.
