Important Short Lived Metal Bands

This week we are going to be discussing a few metal bands that didn’t exist for very long, but have since had an extraordinary impact on heavy metal music. All of these groups released at most two albums, and are not together today. Many of them are very unlikely to reform again.

Listed below are five of the most important short lived heavy metal bands. Take a look!

1. Hellhammer 

Hellhammer only put out an EP, but the influence of that EP was monumental within black metal. At the time of the EP’s release, it was the most extreme record to ever be put out by a metal band. Some critics hated it, but others loved it. Many bands took influence from it, and with that, the first wave of black metal had begun. The members of Hellhammer regrouped after the band's demise as Celtic Frost, where they achieved greater success. Hellhammer wasn’t around for long, but it completely changed extreme metal forever.

2. Acid Bath

This group is one of my personal favorite metal bands. Acid Bath existed from 1991 to 1997 and put out two albums. These albums are stoner metal classics and have been hugely influential within the scene. Acid Bath played a style of music that combined many different subgenres of heavy metal, but the band’s roots were primarily in stoner metal and sludge metal. The experimental nature that sludge metal has taken on can be partially attributed to Acid Bath’s two records. The band dissolved with the death of bassist Audie Pitre, who contributed a lot to the band’s sound. Since the band’s break-up, vocalist Dax Riggs has taken a bluesy, stoner rock route with Agents of Oblivion, Deadboy and the Elephantmen and his solo work. Guitarist Sammy Duet has had some success with his blackened death metal act, Goatwhore. The musicians who were involved with Acid Bath have a strong cult following, particularly in Louisiana, where the group originated. 

3. Weakling

Weakling put out one album. That’s all it took for the group to leave a permanent mark on black metal. Weakling was around from 1998 to 1999, with its only album coming out in 2000. The group put out a legendary black metal album that practiced a unique style of depressive, progressive black metal. Not many bands have really tried to mimic Weakling, but countless groups have been influenced by them. Wolves in the Throne Room is the closest metalheads will probably ever get to hearing more of Weakling’s style of music. John Gossard, one of the group’s essential members, has since gone on to perform with Asunder and Dispirit, which are two other bands that are certainly worth checking out.

4. SikTh

It might be cheating to include this band. SikTh was around for nine years, but the band only put out two albums. SikTh’s influence has been extraordinary since its dissolution. The band played a unique style of progressive metal. It sounded like no one else at the time, and fans were astounded by the unique music. Since SikTh broke up, many bands have taken influence from the group. Periphery is the most notable of these acts, and as I have mentioned in other posts, Periphery’s influence on the progressive metal and djent communities has been astounding. Periphery would not exist without SikTh, though. Musically speaking, I think SikTh is the superior band and was way ahead of its time. The band’s influence will certainly be strongly felt for a long time to come. SikTh keeps hinting at a reunion, but no plans have been confirmed. Keep your fingers crossed, metalheads.

5. Amesoeurs

So many metal bands that are being formed today are influenced by Amesoeurs. This group only existed from 2004 to 2009, but its impact has already proven to be immense. The group was one of the first to combine black metal and shoegaze, and its only record (which is self-titled) is better than 99% of the bands that came after it. This style of music had already started to be pioneered by Neige from the French metal band, Alcest. He brought his expertise to Amesoeurs, as musicians Sylvian (Peste Noire), Fursy Teyessier (Les Discrets) and Winterhalter (Alcest, Peste Noire) had not been as experienced at the time of the recording of Amesoeurs’ only album. At the time of the record’s release, it got a moderate amount of critical praise, but black metal fans were more than touched by the album’s style. There are now many metal groups modeling themselves after Amesoeurs, though none are nearly as good.

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.