Faith

Straight outta Finland comes another incredible slab of vinyl from some nameless four-piece playing the most desperate doomcore sludge. Regardless of what that says about my internet searches (or basic musical tastes in general), Usko has been on my playlist radar for the last couple years after their solid debut Kuusi LP which was admittedly a tad more dronish (think Loinen... Stumm... yeah you get it) than this 2013 single which mainlines the meth, turns up the gain and elevates the tempo to a resounding 4/4 with excellent results. Some powerviolence influences in there as well - it's an enjoyable 10-minute fix.

Golden Hill

Lovecraft Worship

Solid 4-track E.P. (demo?) from an elusive RVA five-piece that I can barely find anything about. Fronted by attractive, well-tattooed female lead singer K.Z., I am unsure if the above I Am Providence was recorded by the time she joined the band in 2010, as the vocals sound significantly less screamo than their later albums. Actually, it makes me wonder if this E.P. is even by the same band as there's no mention of I Am Providence on any of the various bios I've found around the internet. Regardless, this is good ol' southern sludge with a definite Soilent Green influence. Heavy-handed with Lovecraftian references, my favorite track is the trippy, riff-heavy "Glossolallia." I was happy to discover the band is still chugging away and recently released a two-song cover E.P. - drop some duckets for a local DIY band here. Enjoy.

Stenchcore

Glamourpuss

The first release from the prolific Athens, GA duo Jucifer. Recorded in the rundown home of band members Amber Valentine and Edgar Livengood in 1994 and locally distributed via cassette (exact quantities unknown), the recording eventually made its way to Grindcore Karaoke Records and got mastered by AxCx/AgN vet Scott Hull (if anyone wants the first-person recount it's available here). While their newer stuff suffers from overproduction (especially their forgettable foray with Relapse Records), Nadir is the absolute essence of the doom sludge genre. Exactly what I want from a band. Sounding like a lo-fi 4-track bastard mix of Otesanek and whatever Eyehategod clone you're listening to, the five dronish doom tracks reek of alcohol and dirt with vocals straight from the mutant Agent Orange baby in Combat Shock. Just the drums alone make me want to smash shit. Awesome stuff, this is what bands like Soilent Green aspire to. Enjoy.

Love And Squalor

Crushing Split

Jesus, why don't they make split CDs like these anymore? First you have an absolutely blasting assault from prolific Tokyo sludgelords Coffins. These guys have been at it since 2000 - simple downtuned heavy-as-fuck death metal... the audio equivalent of someone punching you in the face with a molten sledgehammer. "Acid Orgy" is a cover of Las Vegas blasphemers Goatlord and sounds a little hokey at times but fuck it - it is so distorted and loud you will be absolutely reeling in sludge glory. Regarding Otesanek, I cannot say enough about this defunct and sadly elusive Philly-based drone/doom/bleak-as-fuck shit band. The most miserable dirge ever recorded (putting such compadres as Khanate, Moss and Nadja to shame) - production-wise this is easily their strongest song (all wretched 20 minutes of it). Don't be fooled, they probably were actually vomiting as they recorded this one... The cover art was created by artist Steve Mullay shortly before taking his own life, and is offered in tribute to him. Enjoy.

To Hew Children

Razor blade included...

I don't if this technically qualifies me as weird but there have been like 3 or 4 albums I've bought in my lifetime that came with a razor blade. This 7" is one of those exalted (offhand, others include GG Allin's Illegitimate Kids cassette and one of the Abruptum albums) and is probably my favorite. As usual, this was one of the "alternatives" in a Relapse Records order that fucking blew away the token grindcore tripe I had intended to order (sorry Dead Infection). While "Sleep" is a good but not great Dystopia track; "Lifeless" and especially "Fucked Upstairs" are easily my favorite Grief songs. I like Grief but their albums tend to get a bit looooong at times (yeah, yeah I know it's doom metal...) but these songs are amazing. I played the downtuned power chords to "Fucked Upstairs" half of my senior year in college so I could bang gothy art school sluts by pretending it was my own miserable song. I guess the joke is on you bitches! Except for that HPV. Enjoy.

Dismal

†┼†┼

In sharp contrast to yesterday's happy-go-lucky post I bring you the latest wretched release from Finland's reigning mutacore legends. Not to be confused with their eponymous albums of 2005 and 2007, Loinen is the band's first non-collaborative full-length release since the suicide of primary vocalist Secundus in 2009. Information on the band is annoyingly scant (other than on this somewhat current page), solo vocalist Primus steps up to the plate with commendable aplomb but just doesn't have the tortured desperation Secundus conveyed with his ear-bleeding vocal assault. Still, the record doesn't disappoint. The opening two tracks are reminiscent of the Loinen of old; slow and pounding sludge that may or not still be played with two bassists (no liner notes on this one) - it's brutal and heavy as fuck. "Jerusalem" can best be described an experimental jam - probably influenced by a recent collaboration (2012's Mutajazz) with improvisational jazz outfit Paanin Kuoro - interesting but ultimately forgettable. "Rubber Jesus" showcases the band's faster, grindier talents while the 10-minute closer "Useless Animal" is the real star of the album. A miserable dirge of angst and despair, it plods along for the first half before exploding in a lo-fi feedback-laden tumult. Reminds me of the shit GG was doing on Suicide Sessions - absolutely raw as fuck and never boring - a true keeper.

Nauttia

Black Hole

Here's a fantastic three-song debut EP (well, I call it an EP but it runs almost 45 minutes) of doom-laden sludge from the south coast of England. Heavy-as-fuck drone riffs under weirdly echoing howls from hell. It calms down a tad for the 22-minute finale "Please Maintain" - an epic of pain and suffering. Highly recommended. For some more info on the band (as well as limited merch), get over to Riot Season Records' page. Enjoy.

Unwholesome 

Wait Not...

My first introduction to legitimate funeral doom, I picked Thergothon's demo tape up from Wild Rags after the arguable catalog description "4 extremely long songs of brutal slow, dragged out depressive doom death metal, heavy as fuck" hooked me. Hailing from Finland (geeee... ya don't say...) and heralded as pioneers of the genre, I won't say I was blown away by the cassette but it's still a listenable 30 minutes, especially if you know you're stuck with no place to go for a while. Enjoy.

Know all. See all.

Shorter Vocal Chord Blues

Ear-piercing, doom-laden sludge from up I-95 in the D.C. suburbs, Salome's final LP is a quality bookend to a half-decade run in extreme music. A lot has been written about their lead singer, the relatively attractive Kat Katz (currently screaming for Agoraphobic Nosebleed) pretty much because, well, she's a relatively attractive blonde singing for Salome. I gotta be honest though, after the initial visual she just doesn't do it for me. The music is fucking awesome, hands down. But the vocals just seem thin and no matter how I try I just can't get around being somewhat irritated by them. Some old school growler/screamer in there (Jacob Bannon from Converge comes to mind) and I think the band would have really been something else. But I digress from my petty (and aberrant considering the band's diehard fanbase) bitching, it's a quality album - every song is a keeper, even the twenty-minute noise/drone opus "An Accident Of History". Enjoy.

Epidemic

Black Mass

Uneven sophomore LP by Boston sludge-meisters Upsidedown Cross. While still a lot better than anything else coming out of the area at the time, when compared to their 1991 eponymous debut it's significantly tougher to listen to. Let's just say more harsh. I don't know if it's overdubbed or not, but the high-pitched lead guitar really grated my nerves at times (of course it wouldn't surprise me if that was the intended point) and the songs are also longer as well which can become tiresome (I think Taang! originally released this gem as a double LP). Anti-lyricist Larry Lifeless rambling his trademark poetry with drunken abandon is the reason you need to have this record, a true audio snapshot of a tortured artist. "Sleazy Mary" is the standout track, a miserable blasphemous rant over an absolutely sick death/sludge/doom cacophony. Probably the last song recorded at the album session when everyone was just drunk, tired, pissed and hated each other's guts. Enjoy.

Blasphemy

Japanesludge

Amazing eponymous 2004 EP from these curiously underrated Nipponese doomlords. At one time dot(.) was an active side project for Coffins bandmates Uchino (guitar/vocals) and You (drums); though they permanently left the group almost immediately after this record was rleased. Dot(.) forged on with new members (including an extremely attractive female guitarist) but kept their sparse recorded output limited to splits, compilations and 7-inchers. As far as the status of dot(.) today, their website hasn't been updated in almost a decade but there was an '09 split with SU19B so hopefully the band is still at it. Enjoy.

Period

Suicide Forest

Hailing from the primitive woodland known as Salem, Oregon, münn plays an oppresively slow dirge/drone/sludge/doom stew a la Otesanek and Khanate (not surprisingly most of the band is comprised of members from similar-genred labelmates Ancestørtøøth). Recorded February 27, 2008, the hour-long rehearsal set opens with the epic 45-minute "Selbstmordwald (Part I)" - a seemingly endless journey through pain and suffering which rarely gets boring (and even speeds up for a few seconds here and there). "In Defeat" follows, beginning as a wicked sludgy groove that slowly deconstructs into a slower, feedback/effect-screaming threnody. "Drone" closes the session, a 10-minute wall of amplified noise. Really powerful stuff, as obscure as it is heavy. Sadly, with the suicide of bassist Joris Brinkerhoff in 2009 the band ceased to be. R.I.P.

In Defeat

Low Slow Ragnarök-core

Yep, another heartwarming compilation CDr of abominable lo-fi sludgecore straight from the icy republic of Finland. Opening the aural assault is GranG, a brutal three-piece playing wretchedly distorted sludge with so much overdrive it almost degrades into an inaudible wall of noise. Awesome stuff for purveyors of Loinen, Stumm and their miserable ilk. Phenylketonuria follows with an epic half hour of trippy sludgy funeral doom which has its moments and is much better then most offerings in a genre that I don't really like anyway. The warm hum of blazing amp tubes adds a unique layer on this surreal melodic ode to destroying the world - it's surprisingly hypnotic and almost sounds like something Ween could have done had they gone into darker places with The Pod. Wrapping up F.F.13.1970 (named for the release date of Black Sabbath's debut record) is the aforementioned Loinen and their abject composition "Lapamato" ("Tapeworm"). Imagine summoning the worst memories of your life and condensing them into a agonizingly bleak 16-minute opus and you get an idea of what to expect. Truly one of their best recordings (in the feedback-laden cassette-deck lo-fi style of Muta Core) from a band who constantly amazes me with their unrepentant self-loathing. Speaking of whom, I just discovered a webpage apparently written by one of the band members which showcases their entire discography, lyrics and song history - cool stuff. Enjoy.

Hail The Klaan Of The Anal Witch!

The Cost Of Being Two

Nice blackened sludge doom debut from Murfreesboro, TN. The tracks deviate between 10+ minute dirges of sludge to short seances of weird ambient drone. The longer tunes suffer a bit by sounding a little too much the same (most of the "song" tracks have an identical intro-heavy-bridge-heavy-outro formula) - while nothing too original it is definitely pained and miserable enough to devote a solid listen. And I actually really dig the dissonant instrumental stuff in between songs. The band changed its name to avoid any legal complications and is evidently still at it so give 'em a listen. Enjoy.

Battle Path

Desolation

In the mood for some suicidal, desperate, bleak-ass drone? In the cancerous vein of Otesanek (who I'm sure were inspired by these guys) comes Khanate - the eminent purveyors of absolutely minimalist doomcore. Somewhat of a sludge supergroup comprised of members from Burning Witch (vocalist with whom you'll definitely hear his influence), OLD and Blind Idiot God; Khanate slowed the tempo even more and upped the feedback. Of course - as with all bands of this ilk - there's a point reached where the song just turns into background noise but Khanate keeps it somewhat fresh with a chord change here and there and some pretty psychotic vocal nuances. Keep skinning those cats guys. Try to enjoy.

Go Viral

Biting The Hand That Feeds

Dude, what the fuck is up with Finland? The sludgecore/doom coming out of that country is the most depressing, bitter shit I have ever heard. Fleshpress is probably the most established act but insofar as mere bleakness, Loinen and Usko come to mind - absolutely tortured soundscapes of screams and double bass-guitar blasts to send you to hell. Turku's Stumm is from the same gutter as the latter. Painful, unending riffs with the most miserable gurgling screams to keep it all together. Each of their four ten-minute or so songs could be an album in themselves - simple feedback-laden, misanthropic blasts of misery - awesome shit.

I

Murder Murder Suicide

After years of searching I was happy to finally find Loinen's evasive split CDr with fellow countrymen MurhaMurhaItsemurha. Was it worth the wait? Well, yes and no. Loinen's opener, "God Of Plague" is a raging sixty-second blast of screaming sludgecore - wonderfully lo-fi in extremis. Brilliant shades of their early material. The second track, "Plant" is a strange, quasi-industrial (?) loop-heavy dirge with lots of samples and screams that left me feeling a bit empty. Oh well, making up for it is the hilarous noise/tardcore awaiting on the flip side. MurhaMurhaItsemurha sound like a even more retarded Sockeye and are just as entertaining. Lots of weird screaming, experimentation and nonsense - one track, "Epätietoisuus Eläimistä" (loosely Google translated into "Uncertainty About Animals") is simply the sound of someone eating. Solid stuff. Enjoy.

Shoot Me Too

Meeses

I'm probably not the only one out there who still mourns last year's passing of the incredible Sludge Swamp. A part of me still occasionally stops by their sadly dry Facebook page in hopes it will someday re-emerge as the music juggernaut it once was but with the lack of any regular posts it just seems like an ever-dwindling pipe dream. I can't tell you how many bands (100? 200?) I am now a fan of thanks to the guys (and gal) who ran that shit. Actually, if I could come up with one complaint about the site (and this is being ridiculously petty) it was the incredible amount of volume that was uploaded. Before you even had a chance to finish checking out one band another would appear. And since a lot of it was dedicated to the sludge genre, a lot of these tunes pushed into the 10-minute mark - not quick (or easy) listens to determine whether you were into a band or not. Fortunately the blog held frequent compilation contests, one of my favorite being the Heavy Like The Moose volumes. Doom, drone, prog rock, stoner, sludge, psychedelic, and just bare bones metal, these five compilations will easily cover you for your next 12-hour road trip. Quality varies somewhat but most is pretty good, enjoy and thanks for the memories 'Swamp.

I II III IV V

Currently watching: Weasels Rip My Flesh

Currently listening to: Macabre Dahmer

Preposterous Idiocy

"Wellington was a band for about three and a half years. We spent a whole lot of time together not doing a whole lot and loved almost every minute of it. We recorded a few records, played a whole lot of shows, did a few tours, and met a whole lot of great people..."  - quote from the discography booklet.

Enjoy this ultimate compilation from these sadly (and inexplicably) underrated Arizona sludge lords.

The Toilet Bowl Of Life

Currently watching: Doctor Who The Sun Makers
Currently listening to: Anal Blast Puss Blood Pentagram

Deep, dark Irish dirge...

Dublin's Wreck Of The Hesperus plays some sweet ol' doom/sludge in the cancerous vein of Corrupted mixed with Coffins - pounding, sludgy guitar work, deranged vocals and thunderous drums. 2005's Eulogy For The Sewer Dwellers opens with a souped-up sample from Fulci's Zombi 2 and then hits you in the face like a barbed-wire sucker punch. Thirty minutes later its over. A huge showcase of sick drumming, killer riffs and insanely masochistic vocals. What a ride.

Doomload