Melvins / ISIS - Split

Melvins are an American band formed in Montesano, Washington in 1982. In the early days of their career their dark, heavy, oppressively slow sound made them innovators of genres like sludge, grunge and doom metal. Melvins’ music is influenced by Flipper, Black Flag’s My War-era hardcore punk and Black Sabbath-style heavy metal, but their idiosyncratic approach, bizarre sense of humor, and experimentation make neat categorization difficult. Singer/guitarist Buzz Osborne (aka “King Buzzo”) and drummer Dale Crover are constant members while several bass guitarists have cycled through the group. Melvins usually performed as a trio until 2006 when two members of Big Business became permanent members of the band.

The band was named after a grocery clerk at the Thriftway in Montesano, Washington where Osborne was employed. Melvin was the most-hated fellow employee and the band felt it to be an appropriate name. Like SF noisenik predecessors Flipper, their love of slow tempos and sludgy sound were a strong influence on grunge music, especially Nirvana and many other bands from Seattle. Their protegés, however, tended to use more conventional musical structures with this sound.

(Read all here)

Isis was a Los Angeles, California-based band, founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1997. They borrowed from and helped to evolve a sound pioneered by the likes of Neurosis and Godflesh, creating heavy music consisting primarily of lengthy songs that focus on repetition and evolution of structure and texture. As such, a great range of musical labels are used to describe their sound, including sludge metal and post-metal.

The band’s most recent album Wavering Radiant, was released on May 5, 2009.

Several sessions of experimentation in Boston, Massachusetts led friends Aaron Turner (guitar/vocals; also the owner of Hydra Head Records and its subsidiary, HH Noise Industries), Jeff Caxide (bass guitar), Chris Mereschuk (electronics/vocals) and Aaron Harris (drums) to form Isis in late 1997. As Turner states, “Isis formed as a result of the dissatisfaction with past bands of the founding members. None of us were happy with what we were doing musically at the time, two of us lived together, we had similar tastes and similar record collections.”[2] Isis released a demo and their first EP, Mosquito Control, in 1998, with this line-up. After an East Coast tour in the summer of 1998 where they were joined by Randy Larsen of Cable on guitar, Mereschuk left the band. Jay Randall (now of Agoraphobic Nosebleed) soon replaced him, working on Red Sea (1999). However, his stay would not last; this ultimately led to the addition of Bryant Clifford Meyer of The Gersch as well as former Cast Iron Hike guitarist Michael Gallagher in 1999.

(Read all here)

This is it. ISIS disbanded this year, just some weeks ago. On this split with the mighty Melvins we have the last track ever that has been recorded by ISIS. It's released now on this record. Bow down the last time for ISIS. Enjoy folks!

[ Melvins | ISIS | Hydra Head | 2010 | Sludge | CBR@320 ]

Tracklist

01. Melvins - Pig house (alt. version) (5:17)
02. Melvins - I'll finish you off (alt. version) (5:05)
03. ISIS - Way through woven branches (6:23)
04. ISIS - The pliable foe (7:53)

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24:38

Mediafire

Harvestman / Minsk / US Christmas - Hawkwind Triad

With all of the amazing underground psychedelic/space rock bands to emerge in the last five years, a proper Hawkwind tribute album is about as overdue as a mainstream “indie” ban on Ivy League educated fag-pop albums. Hey, look at that, I think I just coined a new genre! Call me Simon Reynolds because I’m going to overuse the shit out of that phrase until its Wikipedia page (*snap* get on it, nerds!) credits me with its creation. A few years ago we got that awesome 7″ series with White Hills, Mugstar, Acid Mother’s Temple, Mudhoney, Kinski and Bardo Pond covering tracks for the Trensmat label, but that was a limited edition three-piece set you had to buy separately. Although I’ve never heard of these bands Harvestman and Minsk, I will gladly endure them for a slice of US Christmas. That band is up there with White Hills, Mugstar, Titan and Earthless as the creamiest of the Hawkwind torchbearers.

Fittingly, it is US Christmas that gets the new Hawkwind Triad album rolling with a stunning cover of “Master Of The Universe.” The overdriven guitar riffs are dead-on, sounding identical to those of the of space rock luminaries which inspired this project. Harvestman’s singer sounds a tad bit out of his league with his gravelly delivery. Musically it works, their take on “D Rider” sounds almost minimalist compared to Hawkwind’s original composition. Minsk definitely brings enough psychedelic effects and aggressive rhythms to impress. But it’s US Christmas that steals the show here. Listen to “Orgone Accumulator” and tell me the band couldn’t easily pull off an entire album of Hawkwind covers by themselves.

I’d say the tracks by US Christmas are the least re-imagined efforts on the album, but all three bands realize the importance of approaching a classic sound from a modern perspective. Minsk use their background as a self-described “psychedelic metal” act to add heaviness and a bit more complexity to what was considered at the time to be very progressive music. The best Harvestman contribution, “The Watcher” could just as easily be a cut on a fucked-up swamp blues compilation as it could a newly recorded Hawkwind cover. Maybe it’s related to my not being a huge Neurosis fan, but I found myself enjoying Harvestman the least of the triad. Sorry, Steve Von Till. I still adore Culper Ring!

It can be frustrating at times to describe the sounds of bands of this ilk without invoking the Hawkwind reference. Oftentimes I feel like I’m not giving bands enough credit if I say they’re reminiscent of one of the earliest space/psych bands on the planet. As an obsessive music fan and sometimes music writer I never want to sell a band short by simply comparing one group’s sound to those original trailblazers. I want to get the idea of a sound across to potential new listeners in a creative and unique way. Still, it helps to know that all of these bands are not ashamed of who most-inspired them. That Harvestman, Minsk and US Christmas (plus those Trensmat-recorded bands before them) are more than willing to pridefully record an album of Hawkwind material encapsulates the best possible course of action for bands that might draw easy comparisons: Show you adoration for those who came before you while putting forth something completely your own. My personal thanks to all three of these bands for offering up a fantastic record.

(Taken from here)

[ Neurot Recordings | 2010 | Ambient / Psych / Sludge / Stoner | VBR ]

Tracklist

01 U.S. Christmas - Master of the Universe (05:49)
02 Harvestman - D Rider (06:38)
03 Minsk - 7X7 (07:55)
04 Harvestman - Down Through the Night (03:42)
05 Minsk - Assault and Battery/The Golden Void (12:06)
06 U.S. Christmas - Psychedelic Warlords (06:20)
07 Minsk - Children of the Sun (04:36)
08 U.S. Christmas - Orgone Accumulator (06:51)
09 Harvestman - The Watcher (04:42)
10 U.S. Christmas - You Shouldn't Do That (11:24)
11 Harvestman - Magnu (08:43)

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01:18:51

Mediafire

Across Tundras - Western Sky Ride

It's a relatively rare occurrence in the metal and hardcore world to hear a band that sounds genuinely unique. Brutal death metal gets traced back to Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel. Sludge and doom sounds like Eyehategod and Neurosis. And of course, melodic death triggers an instant At the Gates reference. That's not to say that all forms of heavy music lack innovation and originality; it's just that the relatively tight genre constraints of metal and hardcore often leave little breathing room for these ideas to prosper.

And that's where Denver's Across Tundras fits into the picture. These guys take a strong Neurosis foundation and mix it with Black Sabbath and folk influences to create an interesting mix of what has been appropriately touted as "countrified doom." Sparse instrumentation based around twangy, slightly psychedelic guitar work is combined with prominent low end and meandering vocals, resulting in nine sprawling soundscapes that could only be collected under a title like Western Sky Ride. Across Tundras may not be redefining an entire genre, but their western twist on doom metal will certainly grab the attention of a wide range of listeners.

With Western Sky Ride running nearly 70 minutes in length, Across Tundras has plenty of time in each track to show off their love of everything from Neurosis to Neil Young. The disc's opener, "Carrion Crow," plays around with plodding vintage rock riffs before its midsection locks in a period of metallic riffing accompanied by whistling. "Follow Me to the San Luis" and "Two Black Clouds" both keep the disc firmly rooted in folk influence, with the former displaying subdued female vocal accompaniment and the latter offering substantial guitar twang over noisy ambience and drum rhythms. "Song of the Sullen Plains" displays some of the disc's most abrasive moments, provided by thick guitar riffs and a few stronger vocal lines.

Across Tundras simply does a remarkable job cohesively blending such a wide range of influences on Western Sky Ride. However, the disc's vocal performance leaves a bit to be desired, displaying that the band has not completely fine-tuned their clever combination of genres. Much of Western Sky Ride's singing feels like an afterthought, and since most of the tracks are rich in instrumentation and the vocals are so low in the mix, it appears that the band would also agree. And in order to preserve the folky, vintage feel to Across Tundras' brand of psychedelic, doomy rock, the vocals should, in fact, be buried in the mix. Despite this, it's hard not to notice that much of the singing is all over the place, ranging from apathetic droning to background shouting, ultimately giving the record a bit of an unsure feel at times. Across Tundras' singing is an acquired taste of sorts, but given its place in the mix and the album's instrumental feel, it shouldn't prove to be that great of a barrier to appreciating this interesting take on the doom genre.

Bottom Line: When Across Tundras advertised that they were mixing Neurosis, Black Sabbath and Neil Young, they weren't joking. Western Sky Ride offers sprawling compositions that combine vintage rock, folk, and doom metal and the result is a release that stands out from the pack in terms of ingenuity and originality. If the band gets a stronger vocal performance on their next record, they could be unstoppable.

(Taken from here...)

My most loved album from Across Tundras. Read the review and get the tunes, you won't regret it! Enjoy!

 [ Myspace | Saw Her Ghost Records | 2008 | Sludge | CBR @ 320 ]

Tracklist

01. Carrion Crow (08:38)
02. Thunderclap Stomp (07:55)
03. Low the Daystar Hangs (08:56)
04. Badlands Blues (08:12)
05. Follow Me to the San Luis (03:49)
06. Song of the Sullen Plains (08:20)
07. Run With the Wolves (06:21)
08. Two Black Clouds (08:22)
09. Gallows Pole (08:12)

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68:50

Mediafire

Amenra - Discography

Amenra is a progressive / sludge / post-metal band formed 2003 in Kortrijk, West-Flanders, Belgium.

Amenra delivers dark, heavy and sludgy post-hardcore in the vein of Cult of Luna, Isis and Neurosis. Intense, noisy and gloomy almost spheric at times. Rich and textured riffs. Thunderous low tones. High impact percussion and cutthroat vocals splattered with a healthy dose of religious iconography. Coalesce into a beautiful pitch black collection of staggering proportion.

(from Last.fm)

Amenra - Mass I: Prayer I - VI

(Anvil of Fury / 2003 / Sludge / 192kbp/s)

Tracklist
01. Change Is Always (4:23)
02. Dance Of The Dead (5:50)
03. Discrimen (2:05)
04. Hibernate (4:00)
05. Silent Pause (5:32)
06. Ode To A Broken Doll (4:56)

Mediafire

Amenra - Prayers 9 + 10

(Grave Escape Records / 2004 / Sludge / 192kbp/s)

Tracklist
01. Prayer 10: From Birth To Grave (5:56)
02. Prayer 09: Ritual (8:02)

Mediafire

Amenra - Mass II: Sermons

(n/a / 2005 / Sludge / 128kbp/s)

Tracklist
01. Prayer 8: From Brith To Grave (5:42)
02. Prayer 9: Offerande (3:56)
03. Prayer 10: Ritual (10:32)

Mediafire

Amenra - Mass III

(Fivestar Records / 2005 / Sludge / 192kbp/s)

Tracklist
01. The Pain. It Is Shapeless. We Are Your Shapeless Pain (10:17)
02. Némelèndèlle. Twuhste En Tljihste (7:27)
03. Die Strafe. Am Kreuz. Ich Schreibe Eine Bibel In Blut (7:11)
04. Le Fils Des Faux. Il Fallait Que Je Parte. Pour Que Tu Viennes (7:28)

Mediafire

Amenra - Mass IIII

(Hypertension Records / 2008 / Sludge / 195 kbp/s)

Tracklist
01. Silver Needle / Golden Nail (8:24)
02. Le Gardien Des Rêves (4:26)
03. De Dodenakker (10:01)
04. Terziele (2:46)
05. Razoreater (6:49)
06. Aorte Nous Sommes Du Même Sang (9:01)
07. Thurifer Et Clamor Ad Te Veniat (6:43)

Mediafire


Splits

Amenra / Hitch - Split

(Vlas Vegas Records / 2007 / Sludge / VBR2 186 kbp/s)

Tracklist
01. Amenra - Razoreater (5:42)
02. Hitch - Slavonski Brod ( 3:56)

Mediafire

Amenra / Gameness / Amen Ra / Gantz / Vuur - 4 Way Split

(Heart Of Fire Records / 2004 / Sludge / 320 kbp/s)

Tracklist
01. Gameness – Ressucites et remeurs (5:59)
02. Gameness – Immobile destinée (3:42)
03. Amenra – A Promise to Make (4:16)
04. Amenra – Offerande (This Is the Body of Christ) (4:00)
05. Gantz – Hors conditions (La mélodie du chaos) (7:05)
06. Gantz – Porté par le vide (5:09)
07. Vuur – State One (1:58)
08. Vuur – Dying Breed (3:07)
09. Vuur – Bitter (1:56)

Mediafire

Kingdom - Hemeltraan

These two underground masters of the head trip combine forces for this lethal long-playing untitled track of subterranean mind games. This collaboration goes through purposefully blurred cycles of calm and anxiety that flow like a well-paced narrative. The beginning of the track is misleading because its drifting guitars, droning electronics, and occasional chimes and rumbles have a near-mystical quality. In fact, as nice as it is, I was initially afraid that an entire album of such a mood might lose its power by the time it finished. Turns out that this was merely a false sense of security because the music suddenly takes a nasty turn after about 13 minutes. What had been calming is now discordant, the tension and volume increasing in equal measure. From there it keeps evolving subtly, coming to a harrowing peak with churning feedback amid crackling distortion. Thankfully, it mellows with a much-needed respite of cleans tones and gentle bursts of bass. This ending isn't quite soothing, but it is still effective at counteracting the gnarled tangles that preceded it. The ever-unfolding nuances of this recording are fascinating whether calm and relaxed or swollen to bewildering heights.

I've been waiting for this record and yeah, it's one of my most favorite records this year. Great mix of sludge, ambient and doom. Get it and love it!

[ Myspace | Conspiracy Records | 2010 | Sludge | VBR ]

Tracklist

1. Bruma 05:19
2. Cendre 04:07
3. Gemis 04:44
4. Wiech .: 03:26
5. Throne 05:38
6. Altema 08:28
7. Ruina.Where Men Go to Die 04:00
8. A Quiet 07:53
9. Rivers Rage 05:12
10. Elude .: 06:58

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55:44

Mediafire

Ultralord - We hate you and hope you die

With Fistula members Corey Bing and Bahb Branca at the wheel of this ridiculously negatory, gutter trawling sludgecore outfit, it’s not too much of a surprise that Ultralord brandishes a similiar sound as the speedier, more crossover-thrash style songs by Fistula. “We Hate You And Hope You Die”, the band’s only album so far, is one hell of a gnarly thrashcore assault that has a nasty habit of dropping massive slow motion sludge metal riffs in the middle of most of the songs, and just like with Fistula, these guys are masters at creating some of the heaviest riffs you’ve ever heard. It’s like they tap into everything great about Age Of Quarrel and the way that Eyehategod can vomit endless feedback out of their amplifiers for eons. Ultralord also includes Scott Stearns on guitar, and if you’ve been following the Ohio/Shifty Records sludge scene at all, you’ll probably recognize him as the artist behind a lot of the album covers on Shifty; his hyperdetailed sketch style of illustration has singlehandedly elevated the teenage hesher ritual of scrawling demons and thrash metal logos on notebooks into a higher art form. We’ve been digging his stuff for awhile, and it’s cool to hear him in action here as one of the band’s two guitarists; the wicked solos are ripped out like Greg Ginn gone speedmetal and they get downright psychedelic at times, especially when they start shredding over one of Ultralord’s grinding sludge dirges.

(Taken from Last.fm)

It's hot outside these days and what is more chilling then a good, southern style sludge album? Ultralord is a sideproject done by two guys from Fistula. Enjoy!

[ This Dark Reign Recordings | 2006 | Sludge | CBR@192 ]

Tracklist

01. Wizard Pimp (04:57)

02. Pussy Witch (06:58)

03. Black Maggot (04:37)

04. Blood Sinner (05:32)

05. Negative D (04:26)

06. Don't fear the Reefer (06:44)

07. Roach Detector (02:49)

08. Dirty Living (05:47)

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41:53

Mediafire

Omega Massif - Kalt

Omega Massif is an instrumental post-metal band from Würzburg, Germany and were formed in 2005 by Andreas Schmittfull (guitar), Michael Melchers (guitar), Boris Bilic (bass) and Christof Rath (drums). They recorded their demo “Kalt” in 2005 and began playing shows with bands like Knut, Taint and Tephra among others.

In 2007, Omega Massif released their first full-length album “Geisterstadt” (which means “Ghost Town” in German). The album weaves a tale of ancient abandoned silver mines, treks through deep mountain tunnels, and forsaken boom towns illustrated through Omega Massif’s massive instrumental post-metal. The vocaless nature of the music turns the focus on pure atmosphere, and Omega Massif deliver, layering the pulverizing repetitive metalchug with a sense of gloom and longing that becomes near-suffocating at times, but there are also lots of gorgeous ethereal melodies throughout.

(Taken from Last.fm)

Omega Massif - Kalt

(Self-Released / 2005 / Instrumental Sludge/Post-Rock / 192kbp/s)

Tracklist

01. Unter Null 8:05
02. Murgang 14:50

03. Eiswüste 9:28
04. Schacht 13:00

Mediafire

Omega Massif - Geisterstadt

Omega Massif is an instrumental post-metal band from Würzburg, Germany and were formed in 2005 by Andreas Schmittfull (guitar), Michael Melchers (guitar), Boris Bilic (bass) and Christof Rath (drums). They recorded their demo “Kalt” in 2005 and began playing shows with bands like Knut, Taint and Tephra among others.

In 2007, Omega Massif released their first full-length album “Geisterstadt” (which means “Ghost Town” in German). The album weaves a tale of ancient abandoned silver mines, treks through deep mountain tunnels, and forsaken boom towns illustrated through Omega Massif’s massive instrumental post-metal. The vocaless nature of the music turns the focus on pure atmosphere, and Omega Massif deliver, layering the pulverizing repetitive metalchug with a sense of gloom and longing that becomes near-suffocating at times, but there are also lots of gorgeous ethereal melodies throughout.

(Taken from Last.fm)

You all know it, you all love it (i hope so!) Here it is, Geisterstadt from Omega Massif to those who don't have it.

Omega Massif - Geisterstadt

(Radar Swarm / 2007 / Instrumental Sludge/Post-Rock / 320kbp/s)

Tracklist

01. In der Mine 8:39
02. Geisterstadt 2:26
03. Nebelwand 10:10
04. Unter Null 8:00
05. Arcanum 9:09
06. Exodus 5:37

Mediafire

Torche - Meanderthal

Torche is a band from Miami, Florida, United States, they play a distinctive style of stoner/ sludge metal. The band categorizes their music as ‘’stoner pop’‘.

The group was formed in 2004 by Steve Brooks (ex-Floor), Juan Montoya (ex-Floor, ex-Cavity, ex-Ed Matus’ Struggle), Jonathan Nuñez and Rick Smith (who also played in the grindcore bands Shitstorm and Tyranny of Shaw, and the screamo band Tunes for Bears to Dance To). According to MTracks.com: “Their music has a unique, hard-hitting sound that provokes a wide range of emotions, and they have a large fan base throughout the world. ” They have toured with Mogwai, Isis, Pelican, Black Cobra, Baroness, Jesu, The Sword, Stinking Lizaveta, Harvey Milk and Boris. Steve Brooks, however, has said that they don’t consider themselves a metal band. In describing the band’s sound, Smith said in an interview: “To me it’s mostly a combination of everything we listen to collectively as a band. We take what we like from what we grew up on and use it as creatively as we can. I think the meshing of different sounds comes naturally just because we all have different musical backgrounds yet have a ton of common interests.” In terms of touring, Brooks said Torche is getting more of a young crowd.

On April 8, 2008, the band released their second full-length, entitled Meanderthal. It was produced by Kurt Ballou (Converge, Genghis Tron). It was met with critical acclaim, including that from Decibel Magazine who ranked Meanderthal #1 on their list of the Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2008 as well as an 8.2/10 by Pitchfork Media. In an interview, Brooks said the band themselves came up with the album’s concept in terms of artwork and packaging.

(more on Last.fm)

The so-called "Foo Fighters" of Sludge! Check them out if you don't know them.

Torche - Meanderthal

(Hydrahead Records / 2008 / Sludge/Stoner Pop / 192 kbp/s)

Tracklist

01. Triumph of Venus 1.44
02. Grenades 2.53
03. Piranha 1.32
04. Sandstorm 2.19
05. Speed of the Nail 1.41
06. Healer 2.07
07. Across the Shields 3.03
08. Sundown 3.17
09. Little Champion .34
10. Without A Sound 2.06
11. Fat Waves 4.32
12. Amnesian 6.25
13. Meanderthal 4.00

Mediafire

UFO Gestapo - UFO Gestapo / Vatepenor

Man,
I feel spoiled right about now. A matter of months after I reviewed and
was mercilessly savaged by France’s UFO Gestapo and their EP debut, I’m
getting run through the meatgrinder by their second release of sloppy,
grime smattered sludge/crust.



Opting strictly for the vinyl format, Vatependr! lays waste
to mangled crust tempos, lazily drifts through lo-fi psychedelic
texturing, stomps upon the corpses of sludge’s most notorious
troublemakers and occasionally sends infected riffs to rest in an Iommi
infirmary! Even KKK’s vocals are sporting a brand new coat of anguish;
sounding akin to Jon Cox (Seven Foot Spleen, Hanging Rotten) with his
balls stuck in a vice grip. The whole affair is rendered heavier than a
ten ton tub of lard, despite the obvious lack of bass. Don’t really
matter as KKK and Sinapati tune their axes so low, it fills out any
possible empty spaces that could appear sans low-end. Finally, the now
infamous UFO microkorg and the brazen acid trip guitar soloing give
their landfill lumber an unusually, experimental edge. All cut
brilliantly to tape by UFO ally Anders Billion and his self-created
recording compound the Wasting Machine!



Take one gander at the title track and you’ll see that this isn’t your
ordinary set of riff churners. Getting us started on the same note as
the EP with an instrumental, a feeling of Among the Missing covering a
Lucio Fulci soundtrack comes to mind. Hope decayed doom/crust emits its
alien signal from some God forsaken abyss. The stew-y, twin guitar
riffage packs the gooey thickness of a three year neglected septic tank
build-up; leaving drummer Johnny UFO to wade through the stench of
dirty, d-beat pummeling. He brings those unhinged punk chops to the
forefront of the band’s snakelike riffs, as the ominous hum of alien,
microkorg noise catapults this instrumental piece into the realm of a
dingy, doom-oriented, horror film score. If slice n’ dice filmmaking
incorporated UFO Gestapo instrumental pieces into their backgrounds,
audiences would have a whole new reason to jump out of their seats.
Seriously, these dudes should contribute one of their vocal deprived
cuts to some indie filmmakers; guaranteed they’d get a lot of mileage
out of the strategy. Freaky doesn’t even describe this shit;
nightmarish is more like it.



So, now the mood has been set. The Gestapo are all about building
tension and heightening suspense before the screaming starts, making it
all the more harrowing when “Abyssopelagic Zone” hurls its bile
spitting sludge straight at your face. It’s a midnight fright fest of
unrivaled magnitude, rendering EHG virtually tame by comparison. Toxic,
slo-mo crust staggers through a landfill of forgotten riffs that have
been weathered by years of buzzing flies and pounding rain. KKK and
Sinapti mine Iommi’s magnificent simplicity, but distance themselves
from anything directly Sabbath related. The riffs are thundering and
doom-smoked for damn certain but the walls of distortion wreak of dank,
moldy basements the world over. If Dystopia were of a much, much slower
doom descent, you’ll have an idea of what to expect with the Gestapo.
KKK’s phlegm-y shrieks are about as evil as it gets for this kind of
music. Record the sound of a bag of kittens getting run over by a semi,
then increase the pitch in the studio and that’s what this motherfucker
sounds like. There’s disease and pain in his delivery unlike anything
I’ve heard in quite sometime. Flying us home on crippled wings, the
Gestapo juggernaut piles on a syrupy ooze of snail riffs and horrendous
sound effects, creating a uniformly creep-out ending.



At this point, it’s time to flip sides. You may be experiencing
symptoms of alien infestation, thus far. A well deserved trip to the
medicine cabinet might be the only break you’re up for. Grabbing a
mixed assortment of pill bottles, you empty the contents into your gut
and take a refreshing slug of your favorite hooch. Disoriented, but
slightly numb you should be ready to approach the second half of this
audio air raid. “Assault 2” is the successor of the almighty “Mercy’s
Hole” from their introductory EP. Succinct, in your fucking mug
doom/punk fills your head with dark, anti-matter particles; erasing
happy memories with an unholy level of unadulterated volume. The
grooving swagger of the riffs lacerates like a finely dulled knife
repeatedly trying to draw blood from flesh; creating just enough of a
hook to keep heads nodding in approval, but keeping far removed from
anything with a traditional boogie. In the end, the result is anything
but a clean cut, instead morphing into a festering wound seeping with
rust shavings and curdled blood! Those who even vaguely remember Seven
Foot Spleen’s Enter Therapy and its “punk on downers blues” will totally have their appetites satiated with this broken down trudge of a track.

(Read all here)

I discovered this french madmen through the last year and had a real blast with their two first records. Waiting for new stuff to come I thought I'm going to introude you to one of the craziest and best sludge bands that we have around Europe for the moment. Enjoy!

UFO Gestapo - UFO Gestapo

[ Calculon Records / 2008 / Sludge / CBR@320 ]

Tracklist

01. Landing Above (03:56)

02. UFO Gestapo (06:29)

03. Fear Weed (05:12)

04. Mercy's Hole (01:50)

05. Peace Crap (03:46)

06. Commander Mindfuck (08:31)

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29:46

UFO Gestapo - Vatepenor

[ Streaks Records / 2008 / Sludge / CBR@320 ]

Tracklist

01. Vatepenor (05:01)

02. Abyssopelagic Zone (09:27)

03. Assault (Phase II) (01:38)

04. USO (05:49)

05. Scavanger of Death (06:15)

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28:13

Monarch - Mer Morte

Hailing from the picturesque Northern Basque Country of France, MONARCH! unleash a slow motion avalanche of impossibly glacial, blackened sludge and hypnotic feedback, each song a series of epic tarpit riffage stretched out eternally over lumbering drums and the cavernous rumble of speaker cabinets. Over these yawning expanses of black void appears the demonic, throat-shredding shrieks and ghostly singing of Emilie, whose petite appearance belies one of the harshest throats in the underground Doom spectrum. Beyond heavy. MONARCH!’s mega-crawling ambient doom/drone/sludge follows in the grand tradition of fellow tarpit adventurers Melvins, Corrupted, Noothgrush, and Black Sabbath, and accompany their music with an iconoclastic design style that decorates their material with deceptively cute imagery drawing from the collective influence of Sanrio, Japanese animation, European graffiti, weirdo hardcore, and skateboard culture.

(Taken from Last.fm)

Friday. Time to get some music for the long weekend. Monarch should ring a bell for the most of you, if you haven't heard from them get this two song ep full of doom, sludge and drone. Enjoy!

[ Throne Records / 2008 / Doom/Sludge / VBR ]

Tracklist

01. Mer (16:06)

02. Morte (17:24)

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33:30

Blutch - Fra Diavolo

Hey there, we are BLUTCH from Mons, Belgium. We released two demo-CDs on our own before we had two full-length albums out on Delboy records, called Enjoy Your Flight (2001) & Fra Diavolo (2003). The critics loved it, so it seems. Read all about it! The audience (the ones who didn’t know us), most of the times, didn’t know what came over them. Some were even scared shitless. Some ran away, with their hands over their ears. Ha! They said we were too heavy, too slow, too loud, too unconventional… Whatever! In our book, all those descriptions lead to good music. It was hard, but we made a steady fanbase. Mostly beyond the Belgian borders, of course. We try to tour as much as possible. We did tours with Black Cobra (USA), Knut (CH), Acid King (USA), Penthouse (UK), American Heritage (USA), Gone Bald (NL) and Sleepers (F) amongst others. Played with Queens of the Stone Age (USA), Melvins (USA), The Residents, The Young Gods (CH), Napalm Death (USA), The Dickies (USA), doa (USA), Nebula (USA), Bongzilla (USA) , Hitch (B), Millionaire (B), Amenra (B) and many like-minded musicians. We even opened up for the Sisters of Mercy. I mean, they asked us, so we did it and left 2000 scared Mercy fans shitting themselves! Oh, the smell!
So, we just released our brand new album Materia, again on Delboy and At A Loss Recordings for the USA. We’re on tour again! Love us! ha ha ha…

(Taken from Last.fm)

Sludge from Belgium mixed with down-tempo doom. If you don't know this three piece get ready to check them out. For all fans of bands like Loinen, Black Cobra or Amenra. But maybe a little bit weirder. Enjoy!

[ Delboy Records / 2003 / Sludge / VBR ]

Tracklist

01. Introitus (02:01)

02. Chromatic Thoughts (05:29)

03. Broken Breath (02:03)

04. Bound (04:28)

05. Light ass an Eliphant (01:30)

06. Orchid (13:11)

07. Into the Pinball (01:05)

08. Pedrigee (09:03)

09. A few Seconds (00:36)

10. Requiem (10:11)

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49:42

Church of Misery - Live at Roadburn Festival 2009

Church Of Misery (チャーチ・オブ・ミザリ) is a japanese doom metal band with a specific extra-groovy sound that is often described as “stoner doom” but the band tends to snub this term saying ”We hate trend. We hate corporate attitude. We hate the word ‘stoner’. Death to false stoners!! Let there be DOOM!!” (citation from the Master of Brutality album cover artwork notes).
Band was formed in 1996 in Tokyo by bassist Tatsu Mikami (ex-Salem) and guitarist Tomohiro Nishimura, line-up was completed with singer Nobukazu Chow and drummer Hideki Shimizu. Band’s raw and groovy style of doom metal rooted in 70s heavy rock with psychedelic feel and their notable lyrics mostly based on the famous serial killers’ characters soon founded out the way into the hearts of the underground metal fans all over the world even though the band didn’t played anywhere outside Japan until 2005. Band recorded first album entitled “Volume 1” at their live performance in Tokyo in 1996 for the Doom Records planning to release it in 1997 but the record company cancelled it fooling people who pre-ordered this album, and then released it as a rare unofficial bootleg. Next 1998 year three songs by Church Of Misery appeared on “Doomsday Recitation” compilation, soon this was followed by “Born Too Late” - the split record with canadian band sHEAVY which included Saint Vitus’ War Is Our Destiny song cover version. Band participated in the Doomsday Recitation tour and their live performance at Nanba Rockets Osaka venue on 13th of March was filmed, two songs from this footage appeared on a split video-tape with japanese doom metal band Millarca. Same year the Bad Acid Records released band’s “Taste The Pain” EP which included Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida song cover version along with their own material. In 1999 Church Of Misery released the split record with british sludge doom legends Iron Monkey via the cult Man’s Ruin label, also this year two new songs were released on 10 inch EP “Murder Company” by the Man label. During this period band is working actively recording a bunch of cover versions of the bands’ like Death SS, Trouble and Black Widow songs for tribute compilations.
Southern Lord Records signed the band in 2001 and released their first official full-length album
“Master of Brutality” that was featuring new vocalist Yoshiaki Negishi and drummer Junji Narita in February of the same year. Traditionally this release includes cover version of 70s rock legends’ Blue Öyster Cult song “Cities on Flame” and the rest of the songs is devoted to mass murderers. Year later Kult Of Nihilow label released “Boston Strangler” EP both on 12 inch vinyl and mini-CD with quite different tracklists (vinyl version is lacking Candy Man (Dean Corll), CD-only bonus track). The Game Two label collected some of archive Church Of Misery songs and put them on a split album shared with british psychedelic/stoner doom band Acrimony in 2003. On 9th of June, 2004, band’s second full-length The Second Coming saw the light of day being released via DiwPhalanx Records. This time “One Way… Or Another” song by Cactus was covered by the band, and the rest of material narrates about five new serial killers. This record also featured band’s two new members: vocalist Hideki Fukasawa, also on synthesizers and guitarist Takenori Hoshi. Month later, on 28th of July, Leaf Hound Records released double CD entitled simply “Early Works Compilation” consisting of pre-“Master of Brutality” songs with the addition of previously unreleased “Retal (Howard Unruh)” track. In late 2005 Church Of Misery first toured Europe supporting the European version of “The Second Coming” from Salvation Records.

(Read all at Last.fm)

A goodie for you guys while it's sunday. We had the 2008 bootleg on here and this is the release put out on Roadburn Records. If you haven't had the chance to see the folks live get an idea what this fantastic live band can deliver when it comes up to it. Enjoy!

[ Roadburn Records / 2010 / Psych-Doom/Sludge / CBR@320 ]

Tracklist

1. El Padrino (08:35)
2. I, Motherfucker (05:05)
3. Shotgun Boogie (04:36 )
4. Red Ripper Blues (09:59)
5. Taste The Pain (06:21)
6. Candy Man (07:09)
7. Killifornia (07:59)
8. For Mad Man Only (10:31)

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60:19

Melvins - The Bride Screamed Murder

Melvins are an American band formed in Montesano, Washington in 1982. In the early days of their career their dark, heavy, oppressively slow sound made them innovators of genres like sludge, grunge and doom metal. Melvins’ music is influenced by Flipper, Black Flag’s My War-era hardcore punk and Black Sabbath-style heavy metal, but their idiosyncratic approach, bizarre sense of humor, and experimentation make neat categorization difficult. Singer/guitarist Buzz Osborne (aka “King Buzzo”) and drummer Dale Crover are constant members while several bass guitarists have cycled through the group. Melvins usually performed as a trio until 2006 when two members of Big Business became permanent members of the band.

The band was named after a grocery clerk at the Thriftway in Montesano, Washington where Osborne was employed. Melvin was the most-hated fellow employee and the band felt it to be an appropriate name. Like SF noisenik predecessors Flipper, their love of slow tempos and sludgy sound were a strong influence on grunge music, especially Nirvana and many other bands from Seattle. Their protegés, however, tended to use more conventional musical structures with this sound.

(more on Last.fm)

Here it is, the new album of Melvins! Enjoy it!

Myspace

(Ipecac Recordings / 2010 / Sludge/Stoner/Grunge / VBR2 208 kbp/s)

Tracklist

01. The Water Glass (4:16)
02. Evil New War God (4:48)
03. Pig House (5:29)
04. I'll Finish You Off (4:57)
05. Electric Flower (3:27)
06. Hospital Up (5:38)
07. Inhumanity And Death (3:03)
08. My Generation (7:39)
09. P.G. x 3 (6:20)

Mediafire

Rosetta - A Determinism of Morality

Philadelphia quartet Rosetta push the boundaries between metal, progressive rock, post-rock, space rock, and hardcore punk, providing an experimental songwriting technique filled with chaos and atmospherics. A band whose sounds range from Pink Floydian / progressive rock sonic layering to walls of pure static ambience to crushing, sweeping sludgey riffage. Their first album (The Galilean Satellites) was an especially ambitious project: the goal was to record two albums of equal length (one a metal album, the other a noise/ambient/drone album), each of which could stand on its own two feet, but together would create a richer, more rewarding experience. The band recorded the album in quadrophonic sound which lends itself well to the bands unique experiments in noise, sampling, feedback and power. The sheer amount of aural input means every listen becomes a new experience, allowing you to pick up on more and more layers within the sounds.

Their next album (Wake/Lift) was a bit more restrained but for this reason, really allows the band’s cohesion to solidify and prove themselves worthy of the (mainstream of the) artsier metal world.

(Taken from Last.fm)

Here it is, 2010 record release of one of the best sludge bands out there. Enjoy this one!

Myspace

[ Translation Loss / 2010 / Sludge / CBR@320 ]

Tracklist

01. Ayil (04:59)
02. Je N'en Connais Pas la Fin (06:49)
03. Blue Day for Croatoa (06:37)
04. Release (05:36)
05. Revolve (06:43)
06. Renew (06:08)
07. A Determinism of Morality (10:50)

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47:44

Mediafire

Switchblade - Studio Albums

In the cold winter of 1997 turning to 1998, Switchblade slowly took form as a quartet with 2 bassplayers who both screamed their lungs out. A 7" and a few extra songs for a split 7" were recorded with Fireside mastermind Pelle Gunnerfelt (Fireside, Hives, Breach) in the spring of 1998.

In March 1999 Switchblade recorded their groundbreaking and very well received 10". This time with a newly recruited 2:nd bassplayer/singer. The 10" was recorded by Breach mastermind Anders Ekstrom. The 10" turned out very chaotic and fast in tempo. A few months later a few more songs were recorded by Anders Ekstrom and those songs ended up as the split 7" with Cult of Luna and The Jam Session. Then in late 1999 Switchblade took the decision to go on as a three-piece.

During 2000 and 2001, switchblade recorded 2 albums together once again with Breach Anders Ekstrom turning the knobs. Switchblade toured both Sweden (with Cult of Luna) and Europe (twice) in support of the albums.

Then in March 2003, Switchblade recorded their third selftitled full length album. The album was a 6 song, 47 minute sonic journey that ranged from subtle ambient soundscapes to monotonous, dark, instrumental passages to full on stoner flirting, yet epic heaviness. All with just sparse use of vocals. Previously having had some problems in truly capturing their sound and dynamics on tape, Switchblade turned to Carl Wikman at EAR Studios who is known for his big and true to nature sounding recordings. The album turned out to be the most powerful and focused material so far, and showcased a huge leap forward in the never ending evolution of Switchblade�s sound and songwriting. The album received great reveiws both in Europe and in the US, where the album was released by Jake Banon's (CONVERGE) Deathwish/Icarus imprint. A 4 week European tour in support of the album took place in early 2004 and a shorter tour took place in the summer of 2004 based around an apperance at the legendary Ieper Festival in Belgium.

(Read all here)

Switchblade is one of the bands that always puts a smile up my face when I see them playing live or one of their records is spinning on my stereo. Especially the 2006 album was a very huge load of good doom. I thought I share some of that stuff with you. This includes the regular studio albums I've collected, EP's and the Cult of Luna split will follow. If you wonder where the 2009 album is on this post, take a look at our archive. Enjoy!

Homepage

[ Trust No On Recrodings / 1999 / Sludge/Doom / VBR]

Tracklist

01. Killing the last Comedian (01:03)

02. Kosher (02:05)

03. Recovering from a Suicide (01:51)

04. Five Minutes of Fame (01:15)

05. Repeated Failure (03:05)

06. Setting yourself on Fire (00:53)

07. Worst Case Scenario (01:09)

08. Leaving Nemesis (00:22)

09. Chrome Angel (03:31)

10. A Deck of Cards (03:46)

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19:02

Mediafire

[ Trust No One Recordings / 2000 / Sludge/Doom / CBR@192 ]

Tracklist

01. The Stachanov (02:40)

02. Eyedropper (01:18)

03. Static Omission (02:16)

04. Primes below 100 (01:25)

05. Erasing her Shadow (03:55)

06. China Syndrome (01:25)

07. Abstract Totalitarian (02:35)

08. Ten stabs to the Throat (02:49)

09. Slowing down and dying (01:57)

10. Iron Curtain (03:13)

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23:37

Mediafire

[ Flowerviolence Records / 2001 / Doom/Sludge / CBR@192 ]

Tracklist

01. I (05:55)

02. II (03:00)

03. III (05:06)

04 IV (02:11)

05. V (04:45)

06. VI (17:04)

07. VII (01:44)

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(39:57)

Mediafire

[ Trust Noe One Recordings / 2003 / Doom/Sludge / CBR@192 ]

Tracklist

01. 05-36 (05:36)

02. 05-12 (05:12)

03. 08-41 (08:41)

04. 09-31 (09:31)

05. 05-01 (05:01)

06. 12-55 (12:55)

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47:00

Mediafire

[ Trust No One Recordings / 2006 / Doom/ Sludge / VBR ]

Tracklist

01. 26-36 (26:36)

02. 16-44 (16:44)

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43:20

Mediafire

Year Of No Light - Ausserwelt

Yet one more band started after too many Belgian beers under the sun of the ending summer of 2001, Year of No Light slightly but undoubtly started to slide down to gloomier atmospheres as the inherent chaos of Bordeaux’s caves and harshness of winter made their common work.

As the line-up solidified around the 5 actual members escaped from acts such as Metronome Charisma, Deja Mort and Nexus Sun, the band clarified their intentions and started to build the basis of what would be their first demo recorded in 2004. More and more shows were played with bands such as Isis, Cult of Luna, High on Fire or Unsane.

The rather general critical acclaim of the demo quoting them as being “The Cure playing sludge” combined with live reviews becoming more and more encouraging compelled the band into the writing of new tracks that finally ended up being recorded at Playrec studio under the direction of Serge Morratel in the fall of 2005. The debut “Nord” has been released in 2006.

(Taken from Last.fm)

Damn I've been waiting for this one, how the fuck have I been waiting for this and now it's here, the new Year of No Light! Enjoy it!

Myspace

[ Conspiracy Records / 2010 / Sludge / VBR ]

Tracklist

1. Perséphone I 11:53
2. Perséphone II 09:34
3. Hiérophante 13:13
4. Abbesse 13:08

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47:48

Mediafire

Notice: For everyone that has problems with track number one. It's playing fine in Winamp and Foobar. It plays in Windows Media Player, too after your accepting the error on the mp3 stream. If you want to fix this use the foobar function rebuild mp3 strea. If you don't have foobar or you don't know how to do it but you want the track with the fixed timeline just download it from here as I fixed it for you guys :)

 Track One Fixed

Dark Castle - Spirited Migration

Florida’s sludge two-piece Dark Castle first appeared in 2008 with an elaborately packaged self-released demo (Flight of the Pegasus) that garned a good deal of favorable attention from the metal press and other bands (including Relapse Records’ Minsk).

It is easy to see why this unsigned band turned so many heads, as there are several obvious elements that separate them from their peers. In an extreme rarity in metal genres, most of the guitar and vocal work is handled by a woman, Stevie Floyd.
Also, the band has the distinction of having no bass player (nor bass in any of their recordings), which is strikingly ballsy in a genre that is so intimately associated with low-frequency amplifier worship.

(more on Last.fm)

I saw them live two days ago with Eyehategod, Kylesa and YOB and instantly fell in love with them. The singer and guitarist Stevie Floyd is a fucking hot chick. Check it out if you're into Sludge and Doom!

Myspace

(At A Loss Recordings / 2009 / Sludge/Drone/Doom Metal / 320 kbp/s)

Tracklist
01. Awake In Sleep 6:51
02. Into The Past 5:35
03. Spirited Migration 1:46
04. Growing Slow 4:31
05. Weather The Storm 3:26
06. Flight Beyond 4:14
07. Grasping The Awe 4:12
08. A Depth Returns 6:33

Mediafire

Birushanah & Drain the Sky - Split

Birushanah/毘盧釈那 is an experimental sludge/doom metal band from Osaka, Japan. As well as traditional Japanese music - which is a notable aspect of their sound - the band cites Neurosis, Swans, Zeni Geva, and Corrupted (whom bassist Sougyo previously performed with) as influences.

Drain the Sky formed during September 2005, in Oakland, CA. Memphis and Bay Area hardcore/punk veterans collaborate to create visceral, atmospheric, threatening music that seeks to collapse (musical and other) boundaries.

Sorry guys I cannot give you more information about the two bands right now, but I am a bit in a hurry and just wanted to get this done while it's still freaking hot. Japanese sludge is always something good and so I'm looking forward to give this baby a spin later today. Have fun!

Drain the Sky

Birushanah

[ S.M.D Records / 2010 / Sludge / VBR ]

Tracklist

Birushanah

01. Anagura (18:31)

Drain the Sky

02.Even (03:45)
03.Prelude to the Pendulum Swing Back (06:55)
04.Three Winds Spread the Ashes of Our Memories (04:19)
05.Failure is An Orphan When Victory Has Many Father (03:03)

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36:34

Mediafire

The Abominable Iron Sloth - The Id Will Overcome

This is a doom / sludge band out of California, the United States. Formed in 2004, the band was signed to Goodfellow records and disbanded 2006. Their sound can be likened to a doom version of Will Haven.

Members (as in their debut album):

Justin Godfrey
Cayle Hunter
Jeff Irwin
Mike Martin
Mitch Wheeler

Discography:

- The Abominable Iron Sloth, 2006
- The ID Will Overcome, 2010

The band hit difficulties and announced they had officially disbanded after the lead singer’s loss of financial support while on tour in England, they have however, after help from their fans, decided to release a 2nd album under the original moniker, The Indomitable Iron Sloth, the 2nd album has taken a considerable amount of time to be released. The band signed to Black Market Activities and were expected to release an album before the end of 2008.

They changed their name back to the Abominable Iron Sloth sometime in 2008.

Their 2nd album “The ID Will Overcome” is now scheduled for release through Black Market Activities on April 27th 2010.

(Taken from Last.fm)

Another fresh album. Check this out when you like your sludge a bit doomed out. Enjoy!

Myspace

[ Black Market Activities / 2010 / Sludge / VBR ]

Tracklist

01. I Destroy 2:24
02. A Nation of Ignorants 2:13
03. Slugs in a Salt Circle 1:43
04. Two Black Helicopters 3:33
05. Mongoroid 2:37
06. Nineties Male 3:26
07. The Id Will Overcome 2:15
08. Big Iron Door 1:11
09. Tramp Stamp 1:09
10. Kilimanjaro Dreamin 3:55
11. Heterodox Nonconformists 13:58
12. The Timely Death of Billy M 2:51

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41:15

Mediafire