Like it or not, supergroups are an inevitable part of the music landscape. There’s always a new one in the works, in no small part because they reliably attract media attention even before they’ve done anything. More often than not, though, supergroups turn out to be letdowns compared to the amount of hype they generate. […]
Tag: sludge
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Oakland’s Kowloon Walled City return after six years with a noise-rock masterpiece
Oakland’s Kowloon Walled City formed in 2007 as an intense postmetal outfit who tipped their hat to fellow Oaklanders Neurosis, who’d helped pioneer the fusion of hardcore and sludge. During the 14 years since, the band have slowly pulled back on the aggression and fury, settling into creeping, deliberately paced noise rock. Kowloon Walled City’s […]
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Madison stoner giants Bongzilla blaze through the Badger State on Weedsconsin
It’s hard to believe it’s been 16 years since Madison stoner giants Bongzilla dropped a studio album—surely at least a few people rocking out to their brand-new Weedsconsin LP were in diapers back then. The band, formed as a four-piece in 1995, had a lengthy run as one of the midwest’s finest purveyors of slow, […]
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The Body kick off 2021 with the their heaviest, noisiest, and bleakest record yet
Categorizing the doomsday sonic bludgeon wielded by Providence duo the Body over their two-decade reign of terror isn’t an easy task. Guitarist and screamer Chip King and drummer Lee Buford slice and dice doom, sludge, noise, and avant-metal into a monolithic, nails-on-chalkboard wall of sound. Buford’s hip-hop-mangled thumping and pounding and King’s six-feet-under caterwaul could […]
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Metal trio Primitive Man connect the dark side of humanity with individual struggle on Immersion
In one of Chicago’s most tumultuous 24-hour periods in recent memory, the city withstood a night of momentous civil unrest followed by a day of unsettlingly violent storms. By coincidence, I spent much of the duration listening to an oddly suitable soundtrack: Immersion, the latest full-length by Denver metal trio Primitive Man. Plenty of bands […]
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Celestial sludge-metal supergroup Old Man Gloom return after tragedy with two new full-lengths
Metalcore supergroup Old Man Gloom have often fallen silent for years at a stretch, but for two decades now they’ve occasionally emerged from the depths with an offering of their signature celestial sludge. This summer they’re delivering new material as a pair of albums, an approach they’ve used twice before (with Seminar II and Seminar […]
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Lord Dying’s Mysterium Tremendum is a beautiful meditation on tragedy
This Portland-based progressive sludge-metal band returned from a lull last year with two new members, bassist-vocalist Alyssa Maucere (formerly of Eight Bells) and drummer Kevin Swartz (of Bottom and Forgotten Gods), and their third full-length, Mysterium Tremendum (eOne). It’s beautiful, but it’s a concept album about death—which makes it either the best thing or the […]
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Saint Louis sludge lords Fister pick up the pace on No Spirit Within
Ten years in business, these Saint Louis-based sludge machines attempt the delicate task of balancing a what-you-see-is-what-you-get approach with the ability to surprise. Their 2011 full-length debut, Bronsonic, is a gnarly, bowel-troweling slab of noise that shows their utter commitment to punishing heaviness, though they do offer a sly wink with song titles such as […]
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Melvins-flavored Milwaukee band Volunteer tear up the Burlington tonight
Milwaukee’s Volunteer share the bill with locals Arriver at tonight’s heavy-metal blowout.
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12 O’Clock Track: Who needs the new Black Flag when you can have “My War?”
Everyone’s talking about their first record in 30 years, but I just want to hear a cut from 1984.
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God Probably Isn’t Too Fond of Them Either
Eyehategod’s Mike IX Williams on two decades of broken glass, naked fans, addictive drugs, and blowing off the “evil steam.”