Tag: sludge
-
Kadavar – Rough Times
After the demise of Graveyard, it could be argued that Kadavar are now the leading purveyors of Euro psych—at least on the continent. Their fourth album, and third for Nuclear Blast, would do little to disprove this theory, as the Berlin trio brings some solid tuneage for a good 45 minutes. Rough Times opens with…
-
Mayhem & Dragged Into Sunlight (2017 tour diary)
Heavy metal’s grandfathers Black Sabbath set the genre’s tone of darkness with their music, visual aesthetic and energy, and it seems that the acorns haven’t fall from the tree at all. Their fellow countrymen—as varied as Cathedral, Paradise Lost and Cradle of Filth—have followed suit and branched off while remaining true to that ominous core.…
-
Spirit Adrift – Curse of Conception
Not to be confused with German band Spirit Descent, Spirit Adrift is a side project from the Phoenix sludge and death metal scenes, with members also doing time in outfits like Goya, TOAD and Gatecreeper. Their first album, Chained to Oblivion, was a solo effort, with one guy playing all the instruments—but they’ve since expanded…
-
With the Dead – Love from With the Dead
Although With the Dead have gone from being one part Cathedral, two parts Electric Wizard to two parts Cathedral, one part Electric Wizard with the addition of Leo Smee and subtraction or Mark Greening, this doomy supergroup’s legacy is still very much intact. This latest Lee Dorrian project is his self-stated antithesis to hipster doom,…
-
Unsane – Sterilize
It’s been a good five years since we last had a new Unsane album, and while much has changed in the world since 2012, the NYC noise vets are as reliably dreary as ever. Dig the simple, one-word album title, with bolded font over a blood-spattered backdrop, and the 10 tracks within, only one of…
-
Ufomammut – 8
What’s in a number? The eighth album from Ufomammut contains eight tracks clocking in just shy of 48 minutes. (OK, so it’s actually closer to 47). At this point, you probably know what you’re going to get from this Italian trio—a whole buncha heavy, experimental sludge—and in that regard, The Ocho delivers. We begin with…
-
Anciients, Dead Quiet and Muffler Crunch @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto, 18 August 2017
If you aren’t familiar with Anciients, you should be. The British Columbia-based band recently took a swing through southern Ontario as part of their Voice of the Void Canadian tour with Dead Quiet. Hellbound welcomed them to Hamilton for their performance at This Ain’t Hollywood – a night of top-notch live metal also featuring local openers…
-
Usnea – Portals Into Futility
Portland post-doomsters Usnea are getting all literary on us with their second album, with a suggested reading list that includes Dune, The Handmaid’s Tale and Demon Haunted World. You’d certainly be able to polish off a few chapters in the time it takes to listen to Portals Into Futility, a five-track, 55-minute effort. The album…
-
No Funeral / Livid split
From the frozen tundras of Minnesota comes a spiritual successor to that Noothgrush/Corrupted split from 20 years back (which was recently reissued by 20 Buck Spin). Though I’ve never heard of either act before, both No Funeral and Livid both play sludge metal the bad ol’ fashioned way, stretching just three songs over 37 minutes…
-
Noothgrush/Corrupted split (reissue)
Listen up all you Sludgy-Come-Latelys, cuz this is the real-deal, right here. Originally released in ’97, this split between Oakland OGs Noothgrush and everybody’s favourite bunch of Japanese hispanohablantes, Corrupted, has been remastered and reissued by 20 Buck Spin. Noothgrush starts us off with the caustic hate doom of “Hatred for the Species.” We get…