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| Sludge metal | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins: | Doom metal Hardcore punk Southern rock Stoner metal |
| Cultural origins: | Late-1980s, United States |
| Typical instruments: | Electric guitar - Bass guitar - Drum kit - Vocals |
| Mainstream popularity: | Small, but growing due to mainstream popularity of sludge influenced bands such as The Sword and Witch. |
| Subgenres | |
| Atmospheric sludge metal - Southern sludgecore - Stoner sludge metal | |
| Regional scenes | |
| United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Japan, Portugal | |
Sludge metal is a form of heavy metal music that is generally regarded as a fusion of doom metal and hardcore punk often incorporating stoner metal[1] and southern rock influences.
Contents |
Characteristics
Sludge metal combines the low-tempos, heavy rhythms and dark atmosphere of doom metal with the shouted vocal delivery and high-tempos of hardcore punk. This fusion of a "slow" musical genre with a "fast" musical genre produces songs with contrasting tempos. The string instruments (electric guitar and bass guitar) are heavily distorted and often use a high level of audio feedback to produce a sludgy sound. Often, guitar solos are not present, although this is not always the case. Drumming bears similarities to the style of drumming present in hardcore punk, although the beats may be slowed considerably. The tempo usually falls somewhere between 50 and 80 beats per minute (bpm). Vocals are usually shouted as in hardcore, and lyrics are generally blue-collar in nature; reflecting on society, generally in a depressive, cynical or downtrodden manner. Many sludge metal bands from the Southern United States incorporate southern rock influences and imagery, although it should be noted that not all sludge metal bands share this style. Due to the similarities with stoner metal, there is often a crossover between the two genres, 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 (for example Dystopia).
Subgenres
Sludge metal has several loosely defined subgenres. Traditional sludge metal is the "purest" form of the genre, typified by bands such as Crowbar[2]. Southern Sludgecore is typified by strong blues and southern rock influences, extreme levels of distortion, extremely slow tempos, and generally hateful and controversial lyrics concerning misogyny or drug addiction. Eyehategod is generally regarded as the founder of this genre[3]. Aside from Louisiana, the biggest sludge metal scene is in North Carolina. North Carolina bands usually have a stronger punk influence, which includes bands such as Corrosion of Conformity, Antiseen and Buzzov*en. It is important to note that not all sludge metal is slow. The term Sludge/Doom is usually applied to sludge metal bands that emphasise low-tempos. Atmospheric sludge metal aims to produce an ambient atmosphere with reduced aggression, more philosophical lyrics and an experimental style. Neurosis, Isis and Cult of Luna are considered the forerunners and the most important bands in this subgenre. Atmospheric sludge bands draws influences from bands such as Earth, Neurosis and Godflesh instead of the earliest sludge metal bands. Mogwai in particular are a strong influence, especially on Isis, Cult of Luna, Pelican and Callisto. Mogwai's influence is particularly demonstrated by the use of single-note delayed guitar riffs which are achieved using a delay pedal. In an interview, Pelican mentioned that the heaviness of their music is no longer their main priority. Their sound is now being referred to as post-metal or "postcore" by many fans. Sludge metal is often fused with other genres, such as stoner metal (Electric Wizard), black metal (Unearthly Trance), death metal (Coffins), industrial music (Fudge Tunnel) or grindcore (Soilent Green).
History
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This short section requires expansion. |
Sludge metal is generally regarded to have been invented by Washington band the Melvins[4][5], and some cite the second side of Black Flag's My War (1984) as influential. However, the genre was popularized chiefly by a number of New Orleans bands, a scene and sound popularly referred to as "NOLA". From there it travelled to many other areas in the Southern United States.
Sludge metal bands by style
Traditional sludge metal
- Acid Bath
- Black Cobra
- Buzzov*en
- Cavity
- Crowbar
- Down
- Dystopia
- Eyehategod
- Grief
- Iron Monkey
- Noothgrush
- Rwake
Southern Sludgecore
- Acid Bath (Louisiana)
- Alabama Thunderpussy (Virginia)
- Artimus Pyledriver (Georgia)
- Buzzov*en (North Carolina)
- Cavity (Florida)
- Corrosion of Conformity (North Carolina)
- Crowbar (Louisiana)
- Down (Louisiana)
- Eyehategod (Louisiana)
- Weedeater (North Carolina)
Stoner sludge metal
- Alabama Thunderpussy
- Bongzilla
- Boris
- Cavity
- Corrosion of Conformity (later)
- Down
- Eyehategod
- Electric Wizard
- Kylesa
- Kyuss
- Ufomammut
- The Sword
Atmospheric sludge metal
- Callisto (True Nature Unfolds and Noir)
- Cult of Luna
- Giant Squid
- Intronaut
- ISIS
- Lent0
- Minsk
- Mouth of the Architect
- Neurosis
- Pelican (earlier)
- Rosetta
- The Ocean
Other sludge metal styles
- 3D House of Beef (characteristically slower sludge metal and doom metal)
- Baroness
- Boris (sludge metal, drone doom, stoner metal)
- Congenital Hell (sludge metal, doom metal, grindcore)
- Corrupted (sludge metal, funeral doom, drone doom, ambient music)
- Fudge Tunnel (sludge metal and industrial music)
- Gojira (sludge metal, death metal, thrash metal, progressive metal)
- Halo (sludge metal and industrial music)
- Lair of the Minotaur (sludge metal and thrash metal)
- Mastodon (sludge metal, groove metal, progressive metal)
- Melvins (proto-sludge metal, grunge music)
- Moss (sludge metal and doom metal)
- Soilent Green (sludge metal and deathgrind)
See also
References
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| Alternative metal · Avant-garde metal · Black metal · Christian metal · Classic metal · Crust Punk · Dark metal · Death metal · Doom metal · Extreme metal · Folk metal · Funk metal · Glam metal · Gothic metal · Grindcore · Groove metal · Industrial metal · Metalcore · Neo-classical metal · Nu metal · Post-metal · Power metal · Progressive metal · Rap metal · Sludge metal · Speed metal · Stoner metal · Symphonic metal · Thrash metal · Viking metal | |
| Regional scenes | New Wave of British Heavy Metal · Norwegian black metal · Scandinavian death metal · Bay Area thrash metal · Brazilian thrash metal · Teutonic thrash metal |
| Other topics | Fashion · Subgenres · Bands · Festivals · Umlaut |
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| Christian hardcore - Crossover thrash - Crust punk - D-beat - Digital hardcore - Funkcore - Grindcore - Hatecore - Melodic hardcore - Metalcore - Oi! - Post-hardcore - Powerviolence - Queercore - Rapcore - Ska-core - Skate punk - Sludge metal - Taqwacore - Thrashcore - UK 82 - Youth crew | |
| Regional Scenes | Australia - Brazil - Canada - Italy - Greece - Japan - Scandinavia - South Wales - Umeå - Yugoslavia United States: Boston - California - Chicago - Detroit - Minneapolis - New Jersey - New York - Phoenix - DC |
| Other topics | DIY ethic - Hardcore bands - Hardcore dancing - Hardline - Punk ideologies - Second wave punk musicians - Straight edge |
| Extreme metal |
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| Genres |
| Black metal - Death metal - Doom metal - Thrash metal |
| Sub-genres |
| Brutal death metal - Drone doom - Funeral doom - Melodic black metal - Melodic death metal - Progressive death metal - Sludge metal - Symphonic death metal/Symphonic black metal - Technical death metal - Viking metal |
| Fusion genres |
| Black/Doom - Blackened death metal - Crossover thrash - Death/Doom - Deathcore - Deathgrind - Grindcore |
