sludge

Photo by BrxanText by Cosmo Lee Mat Arluck, guitarist for Sweet Cobra, recently passed away from cancer. He had battled the disease for several years (full story here, tribute site here). People’s memories of him have been overwhelmingly positive. Those include mine. I saw Sweet Cobra this year one cold night in Chicago. They engulfed […]

by Cosmo Lee Gaza‘s new album illustrates the potential gulf between live and recorded music. Live, Gaza have a fearsome reputation. Their legendary set at Dude Fest this year involved people stage-diving into a moshpit onstage. I’m not sure what that has to do with music, but it’s useful for myth-making. Windowless House For me, […]

Al Cisneros, Dale Crover, Scott KellyPhotos by Alysa Pakkidis I don’t see River Phoenix. Or Kobe Bryant, or Paris Hilton, or any of the women from The Hills. Ace Frehley played here recently, and Slash made a surprise cameo. I missed all that. Tonight the Viper Room is a regular club. I wait in line […]

Pictured: Let the Night Roar In metal, fast is glamorous, while slow is often overlooked. I get sent a lot of great slow stuff, so I’m starting this column to feature some of it. Doom, sludge, stoner, and post-metal are all fair game. Get off the lead foot, and get on those lead boots. Let […]

How’s this for a dream band: Neurosis + PJ Harvey + Godflesh. France’s Overmars have made this happen without marquee names. Yet they put to shame most of what passes for doom and sludge now. They channel Swans through Godflesh: first gear all the way. But whereas prime Godflesh was purely crushing, Overmars flatten you, […]

Until this month, Death Metal Invasion was just another illegal download blog, with traffic far in excess of that of this site. Then it admirably switched to featuring only legal, band/label-approved downloads. Its readers revolted. People up in arms over not being able to download illegally — when the rest of the Internet is available […]

San Francisco’s Flood are pleasingly elemental. By elemental, I mean problem solving at the most basic level. Three guys get together in a room with drums, guitars, amps, and a mic. What next? They are there because of common interests. The style of playing is known to some extent. But unless they already have songs, […]

Photos by JOE M500 Insect Warfare have reunited for a two-week UK/Ireland tour that begins today. (See dates here.) Evidently the venues are tiny rooms that cannot possibly fit the hundreds of people — some traveling from the Continent — planning to attend. I wish I were one of them. Armored VirusEnslaved by Machinery To […]

Hurricane Eyehategod hits the US East Coast a month from today. The New Orleans mainliners will do up Baltimore, New York City, and Cambridge, MA. (See dates below.) These shows have ridiculous lineups. Goatwhore and Strong Intention will open all three shows. Pig Destroyer will also play the Baltimore and New York dates. (The latter […]

Here are two new resources for sludge/stoner/doom metal. The first is Hellride Radio, operated by the Hellride distro. It offers streaming goodness 24/7, with a new playlist each week. Man, that Pagan Altar track is sweet. Must learn more! The second is Swamp Comp Vol. 1, by the download blog Sludge Swamp. (See track list […]