sludge
Black Cobra - Chronomega
In the summer of 1993, I saw Miami, FL’s legendary Cavity. Having never heard anything like Cavity, I was floored by their sound and performance. (The singer pulled off his pants and hung upside down from the rafters with dangling cock and balls, shocking the suburban teenage audience). A decade and a half later, Cavity […]
Raise the Red Lantern - Self-Titled
by Casey Boland “Sludge” evokes certain sounds and images: dudes with beards hammering out power-chord metal at a snail’s pace. Raise the Red Lantern‘s musicians indeed have facial hair; they certainly know their way around a meaty, Blue Cheer-worthy riff. While so many bands currently tread water in this genre, Raise the Red Lantern transcend […]
Shrinebuilder - Self-Titled
by Casey Boland Let’s face it: hype affects our initial opinions. Positive or negative, we bring assumptions and preconceived notions to the stereo, or more accurately for the times, the computer. Such is certainly the case with Shrinebuilder. When four musical titans group together, expectations will soar. Solar Benediction (excerpt) In Shrinebuilder’s case, the sum […]
Javelina - Beasts Among Sheep
Photo by Scott KinkadeReview by Casey Boland On its face, there is nothing remarkable about Javelina. You have four dudes hammering out drop-tuned Sabbath-inspired metal. One would be hard-pressed to read reviews that did not niche the band as “sludge,” “stoner,” and “thrash.” Javelina’s debut was more ferocious than most bands operating in the weed-slowed […]
Dopethrone - Demonsmoke
by Chris Rowella I might lose street cred by saying this, but who cares: I’m done seeking out the most extreme, experimental, metal/noise/ambient/prog/core/whatever floating around. At this point in my life, I know exactly what I like, and that’s what I stick to. With the resurgence of old-school death metal and bands coming clean about […]
Consuming Impulse: Sleep, Eyehategod burgers
Sleep burgerPhotos and text by Carmelo Española Let’s face it: Thanksgiving is a very un-metal holiday. There is nothing hesher-friendly about gathering at the table with relatives you can’t stand just to fight over that wishbone. Thankfully, the lovely folks at Kuma’s Corner made up their own turkey treat in the Sleep burger, which was […]
