Doomed to be stoned in a sludge swamp

Culted

Moving time for me is fast approaching. To lighten my load, I’m giving away 25 sludge/stoner/doom metal CD’s. These subgenres have become independent scenes, but they overlap in sound enough for me to lump them together. “Slow and heavy” is all the “scene” one needs, no? These CD’s consist of demos, promos, and finished releases from the past year. For a chance to win, email invisibleoranges at gmail dot com by midnight EST, Tuesday, August 25 with the subject header “Doomed to be stoned in a sludge swamp” and your full name and address. I will pick a winner randomly.

Culted – Social Control

My slow and heavy jam this month is Culted‘s Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep. It’s indeed deep and beautiful and demands repeated listening. Some parts evoke Godflesh but without the mechanization. The vocalist is Daniel Jansson, whose dark ambient project Deadwood is worth hearing. Evidently, this Swede has never met (or even talked to) his Canadian bandmates. Given the success of their collaboration, some “Well done, mate” phone calls are in order.

Fans of “slow and heavy” should check out All That Is Heavy, a distro devoted to the stuff. Until the end of August, it is running a sale with $5 and $10 discounts — see here. Also, recommendations of things slow and heavy are always welcome. I’m particularly interested in doom. A lot of stoner and sludge stuff (especially Eyehategod clones) crosses my desk, but not enough proper doooooom.