Sludge Metal

This week on “Into the Pit: A Metal Blog” we are going to talk about the dirtiest, slimiest, most disgustingly dense subgenre of heavy metal music known simply as sludge metal. Sludge metal is essentially the complex mixture of doom metal, hardcore punk and stoner rock. The subgenre often also incorporates musical properties found in grunge and Southern rock as well.

Musically speaking, sludge metal is typically characterized by its very slow tempos. However, there are often brief, fast-paced moments that are occasionally reminiscent of hardcore punk music. Similarly, the vocals of sludge metal frequently consist of hardcore shouting. Vocal styles may vary, as many bands incorporate screaming, deep growls and other experimental styles into the music. 

The main focus of sludge metal music is the string instrumentation. Sludge metal is a subgenre that is designed to sound as “filthy” as possible. Guitars and basses are usually downtuned, heavily distorted and make strong use of feedback. This creates very dense guitar tones that are slow and threatening at the same time. 

Many bands that are considered to be a part of the sludge metal subgenre also tend to receive other labels as well. There is a lot of crossover particularly between sludge metal, stoner metal, doom metal, post metal and crust punk. This creates a very experimental nature to the subgenre, and many bands pride themselves on using the sludge metal standards in order to create a unique hybrid of styles. 

Before sludge metal was officially pioneered by The Melvins, many bands such as Black Sabbath, Black Flag, Trouble, Swans and Saint Vitus had dabbled with the sludge metal style, but no band had fully implemented it. The Melvins were a band based out of Washington, and their first two releases, the Six Songs EP and Gluey Porch Treatments, released in 1986 and 1987 respectively, are often considered to be the very first legitimate sludge metal records. The Melvins are led by Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover, and have since put out many other legendary records. They were also a major contributor to the development of grunge music. 

Around the time of the release of Gluey Porch Treatments, Neurosis also released their debut album, Pain of Mind. This album was a crust punk record, but it contained elements that would later be found in sludge metal. Neurosis would soon become early practitioners of sludge metal during the early 1990s, and eventually their sound began to incorporate doom metal and post metal influences. 

Sludge metal really took off during the early 1990s. The majority of the emerging sludge metal bands came from New Orleans. These bands included Eyehategod, Crowbar and Acid Bath, all of whom have very large and devoted followings. 

Eyehategod is a band primarily run by lead vocalist Mike Williams and guitarist Jimmy Bower. Bower also plays in the sludge metal supergroup Down with many other monumental musicians from the New Orleans sludge metal scene, including Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo. Eyehategod’s most notable album is Dopesick, and is considered to be a classic in the subgenre.

Crowbar is led by vocalist and guitarist Kirk Windstein, who is also a member of Down. Windstein serves as Crowbar’s only constant member. Crowbar has had a very consistent album release history, and has just recently put out its newest album titled Sever the Wicked Hand, which has received a large amount of critical praise. 

Acid Bath was a band that combined a large amount of styles including sludge metal, stoner metal, doom metal, death metal, black metal and blues rock. Acid Bath most notably consisted of vocalist Dax Riggs and guitarist Sammy Duet. Riggs has experienced a bit of post-Acid Bath success with his band Deadboy and the Elephantmen, as well as guitarist Sammy Duet, who is the main songwriter in the popular blackened death metal band Goatwhore. Acid Bath only released two albums before disbanding, but those two records have given the band a sizable cult following.

Since the 1990s, sludge metal has experienced a rise in popularity, most notably due to the popular metal band Mastodon. Mastodon is the first band to really commercialize the style of music through their three most recent albums, Blood Mountain, Crack the Skye and The Hunter. Along with Mastodon, modern sludge metal bands such as Kylesa, Baroness and Black Tusk have helped to stimulate the style of music. Sludge metal’s growing popularity is sure to continue within the upcoming decade, though it still remains a very prolific subgenre of heavy metal music.