Of Spire & Throne - Sanctum in the Light (2015)

   Of Spire & Throne was formed in 2009, and before their first full-length album "Sanctum in the Light" they had 3 EP releases "The Trial of Failure", "Vagary" and "Toll of the Wound" (the first and the third ones having nearly full-length duration - not really surprising in this style).
   Their first two EPs were both excellent, and by being pretty grim and obscure, describing them as death/doom or funeral doom would be probably more accurate. The band's sludgy doom style first appeared on their third EP "Toll of the Wound", where on the side of less rough sound, truly sludgy themes showed up as well. On "Sanctum in the Light" stronger atmosphere was added and the album sounds like an extensive trial of capabilities by the band. Like if they were trying to expose their very depths of self-expression in the most various way possible. Mainly the contrast between the soft, simple melancholic melodies and the noisy, down-pulling heaviness creates these depths by leaving enough time for the listener to merge into both. Expressing such things effectively by the toolbar of musical minimalism is definitely the evidence of skillfulness in this style. At one hand the more sophisticated sound was an advantageous step to let the sludgy sound to prevail, but for the denser atmosphere and the melancholic melodies it was essential. However, it still wouldn't be incorrect to call their music as death/doom or funeral doom, since the features of both styles are still actively responsible for turning the music extremely obscure. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to state that by Of Spire & Throne only masterpieces came out so far, and "Sanctum in the Light" is no exception. Long term potential favorite for the fans of sludge/doom, funeral doom and death/doom. 

Serpentine Path - Emanations (2014)

   Serpentine Path debuted with their self-titled album in 2012, that despite its unified, simple and obscure form, showed mixed influences.

   On the side of death/doom and sludge/doom features there have been features frequently appearing that are more common in stoner/doom, or in the mix of stoner, sludge and doom metal to be more accurate. Serpentine Path did a pretty good job by using these related features and forge them into unified sound. "Emanations" strictly continued this line, and similar to the first album, it was again an excellent heavy, noisy and down-pulling record. Since the band preferred to keep the same slowly rolling heaviness, that could express well endlessly lasting agony without any hope of relief, the album might sound be monotonous after a while, but the great production made it sure that for the lovers of stoner/sludge/doom and death/doom metal it's a potential long term favorite.

Fórn - The Departure of Consciousness (2014)

   Fórn has debuted with a stunning and pretty obscure demo (or EP), that served well as a self-introduction and as an accurate description about what should be expected from the band in the followings. 

   The same line was continued on their first full-length album "The Departure of Consciousness". It could have been expected even at the self-titled demo that Fórn isn't just another ordinary sludge/doom band. The depths that they've reached on their first album are incredible and suddenly they've become one of the best bands of the style. The excellent sound and high quality production had great assistance in reaching that level. The songs usually drifting between slow, melodic down-pulling melancholy and noisy, overwhelming heaviness, creating strong contrast. But probably the most effective parts are when these two features are combined and their showing their effectiveness together. A perfect combination of desperate feelings and the oppressing weight of hopelessness.

   Strongly recommended for the fans of sludge/doom!

Keeper - MMXIV (2014)

   Keeper formed as a sludge/doom in 2014, band and shortly after they released an impressive demo, that gave a taste about their potential.
   Despite the very noisy, aggressive and rough first song, the record in total prefers to express a strongly down-pulling and endlessly sour feeling, that's closer to hopeless melancholy than to noisy heaviness. This line was continued on their late releases as well, though the heavy rawness didn't disappear completely.  Sad that they didn't focus more on raw heaviness in the followings, since the combination of their pretty basic themes and strongly distorted sound proved to be a pretty effective tool, that could have been dropped in any time, even to make their music a bit more intense and diverse. The band had affinity for black metal influences as well, and since sludgy and blackened atmosphere doesn't really fitting together, this blackened touch is kinda restricted like in case of American bands in general. There are blackened themes appearing in some form in at least 3 songs, and the vocal style also could be related to the style, but in this kinda low amount and by this sound these doesn't really count as determining features. The strongly demoralizing and desperate feeling of sludge staying dominant and for those who prefer this direction on exaggerated level, this demo might become a big favorite. 

Serpent Omega - Serpent Omega (2013)

   Somehow it's always interesting if mythological or folklore related topics could be heard from stoner/doom bands, though it's not really far from their pretty common spiritual or esoteric concepts. It's enough to think about Yob for instance. And also it's not quite new, if we think about Conan. Maybe the reason that could make the whole thing kinda surprising each time is how well stoner/doom features could fit for a concept that is more usual to encounter in folk metal. 

   Fortunately Serpent Omega completely lacks any folk metal music influences musically, therefore it has depths and it's possible to take the whole thing more seriously. By the advantageous features of stoner/doom, the band's narrative could hit heavy and hard if it's needed, or if a song desires to have ancient or misty feeling, it could get psychedelic assistance. If it's about mood range, the songs could be uplifting but still heavy, or obscure, and even extremely down pulling, comparable to more extreme subgenres. Powerful female vocal style is assisting to the music, that is mostly shouting, occasionally could reach clear singing, but only for short periods. Most possibly the female vocal is the the main reason why it's not possible to step over the concept like in most other cases, simply cause it's the most suitable narrative for the selected topic. Also the concept in this form could show way more diverse range than in its usual musical environment. There are no folk songs grabbed out from their traditional children or village grandma choir versions, no reindeers dancing around campfires, and basically no dance or danceable parts to find in any form at all. If this is the price to pay to give myths enough wide range, it's definitely worth it. In total Serpent Omega combined a more traditional form of metal (a bit sludgy stoner/doom) with a concept that counts as a  modern tendency to have in metal, but from another perspective outside metal, this concept could be the definition of the term "traditional".  Already on their debut, Serpent Omega definitely found the best way to express their message, but their style was still in some kind of experimenting or uncompleted state. Despite there are plenty of very enjoyable moments on the album, some songs collapsing into monotonous tiredness. It's a stunning debut though, recommended for the fans of stoner/doom. 

Hipoxia - Hipoxia (2012)

   As it was mentioned before, from the late '00s there was a tendency in the main scene, that focused on the qualities and effectiveness of noisy sound. The most evident aspect of this was the appearence of drone metal. The rise of the subgenre was kind of short lived because it didn't need much more effort than experimenting with distortion pedals in a rehearsal room, but it's influence was wider, especially at sludge, doom and stoner related bands. Hipoxia was one of those bands who got inspired by that tendency, and discovered the opportunity of drone sound involed into sludge/doom. 

   Probably Conan became the most known band who prefers this style combination, and even though Hipoxia's music lacked the more chilling or levitating stoner rock themes (it's kinda subjective how chilling those themes are with this sound), Conan might be a good example to compare them to. The analogy lies in simplicity, in those basic themes that are slow, effective and extremely heavy the same time. Hipoxia successfully mastered this style and with the assistence of drone sound they increased the down pulling, demoralizing feeling of sludge. Even though sludge was never known as a "happy genre" it was possible to turn things even worse step by step. First by combining it with doom metal, and after by giving a darker tone by merging into the further possibilities of even noisier sound. This latest stage was pretty actual and had style renewing role in the early '10s and Hipoxia counts as one of the earliest forerunners of this direction. Their debut counts as one of the first style determining albums of something newly developed in the depths of underground metal. 

Horn of the Rhino - Grengus (2012)

   If we think about the modern and most popular form of sludge metal (bands like Mastodon, Baroness or Kylesa) the most remarkable thing might be that the newer bands went so far in mixing sludge with other syles and in parallel with progression, that there's barely any sludge features left to find. 
   But things were quite different in case of Horn of the Rhino, even though their music was also quite mixed up to be enough diverse, and they always tried to change something on each album. Their debut under this name was more influenced by doom, and there's no lack of lslow themes, extended song lenghts and clear singing on "Grengus" either, but this album had a quite intense and aggressive approach in general. This kinda reversed the measures compared to "Weight of Coronation", and on "Grengus" the sludgy influences became more dominant. Also their intensity is often more comparable to thrash speed, so things aren't so simple as it might be expected from an ordinary sludge/doom band. But in this diverse style mixture lied the excellence of the band, more accurately in the differences how they've committed all of that compared to other coetaneous style-related bands. Their music didn't lose the basic rough feeling of sludge, and on "Grengus" they've even passed it through by turning wilder, and meanwhile they were able to introduce a new, genuine aspect.

Conan - Monnos (2012)

 By their first full lenght album Conan's sound took a final form, and the band showed a great example again how effective musical minimalism could be.
   Even though they always coming up with the simple combination of basic themes and strongly distorted sound, it's astonishing every time, how wealthy concept could be created by this kind of mysterious approach. By not telling much in the lyrics, just giving a hint to the listener, and performing that by 2 easily distinguishable shouting vocal styles, embedded into strong echoing effect. This might offer a far wider  scale of experience, than what could be expected from the band's "minimal effort"; simply by the hints that are given, cause this is an effective way to light up the listener's imagination. And of course meanwhile noisy, heavy riffs intending to wipe off the floor with the listeners head. Compared to "Horseback Battle Hammer" the drone influences are gone, and that had fortunate effect if it's about heaviness. Since in drone metal only the level of distortion and it's atmosphere is in focus, the rest of the possible musical features are forced into the background to fill a secondary role. But by leaving it behind,  the primitive impression of their music grew stronger, and strengthening the vocals also proved to be quite advantageous. "Monnos" might provide an even more exciting escort to that maybe mythical, maybe mythological world that was introduced on the debut EP. A world, that was lost so long ago, that it seems it might have never even existed.  

Monkeypriest - The Psalm (2011)

   Monkeypriest was a short lived, but completely stunning band that gave a new shade to the less popular style of sludge/doom. Already their name selection was promising by referring to  the already sludge legend Iron Monkey.
   As it was mentioned before sludge metal in it's raw original form became a very rare thing to find, and most bands who decide to play in this style, usually ending up in the progressive Mastodon influenced direction, that loses most or nearly all sludge features; or they involving stoner or doom metal elements. The second (more fortunate) case was Monkeypriest. Sludge/doom not only keeps most of the sludge features, but also creates a way heavier and even more demoralizing main view. Monkeypriest operated with simple, but effective themes that could be enjoyable for the fans of both styles. Even though it's sound definitely reflects the main underground trends of it's age, by the themes "The Psalm" have some vintage '80s-early '90s  effect too, that reminds to bands like Celtic Frost, early Cathedral or Candlemass. The band probably had quite diverse range of influences, and all was framed into the rumbling, unifying sound of sludge/doom. Despite their focus on simplicity and musical minimalism, these could be sensed during listening, therefore the album is well composed by letting various hints, but never losing from it's unitedness.

Herem - II (2011)

  Herem continued from where they left the line on their debut. Their brillantly composed mix of stoner/sludge/doom didn't change (and also didn't need to change) much on their returning album. 
   However in this style a small change is also able to open wider perspectives than how it could be expected. Compared to "Pulsa diNura" the band focused on the atmosphere and on the melancholic approach, and the more intense groovy themes have nearly gone. By this step the stoner influences had smaller role than before, and their music drifted closer to sludge/doom. The atmospheric effects were assisted by softer melodies and occasional background singing. In the long run these features resulted a stronger down pulling effect, especially as they usually paired with noisy sludgy contrast. From this point another kind of contrast could be discovered: the aesthetic introduction of melancholy on the side of the obscure heaviness. Two different aspects of the same thing, but during the extended song lenghts always the second comes up as the main direction. Great leading themes guiding the listener through the heaviness from one easing slow down to the other, so even though the album has definitely strong depressing touch, it's not too hard to go into. 

Walk Through Fire - Furthest from Heaven (2011)

    Walk Through Fire formed as an experimenting band who preferred to mix sludge/doom with post metal during noisy, endlessly extended methods, that are more reminding to rehearsal jamming than to precisely composed songwriting.
   On their second album the post metal features had a more fixed melodic role, and the heaviness of sludgy doom was mainly in focus. The songs need a lot of patience to unfold through long, monotonous and strained processes, but according to the main concept of the album it's completely relevant, and also reflects well the helpless drifting in the depths of depression by being unable to act reasonably. "Furthest from Heaven" is like a combination of a strongly demoralizing point of view and the heavy outburst of sour anger. The two creates a great contrast, but also completing each other well. There's an endlessly desperate feeling that leads through the album. It shows the complete lack of any hope to find a way back from certain doom, and paves the road there through intense misery and rage. While listening there might be a frequently returning feeling, that something's missing from the album, until an ambient-like very depressing track, that meant to be the intro of the album's final act. Both are heavily effective by their intended ways, the intro by demoralizing, and the last song by introducing the unbearable agony. "Furthest from Heaven" could serve with memorable experience for the fans of depressing sludge/doom metal. 

Horn of The Rhino - Weight of Coronation (2010)

  Rhino continued their eclectic musical activity after a name change as Horn of The Rhino. Even though this might also suspect a new start, since the band's music seemed to turn more unified, but in general this tendency was just another twist that was previously usual at them too, but this time on a bigger scale.

   Still "Weight of Coronation" is a way calmer album, and on the side of the involved various different style influences (sludge, doom, stoner, even progressive metal) the combination of stoner/doom became dominant. Interestingly because of the wide style range there could be a long line of names to be menioned if it's about exact band influences; and it might be difficult to not make it up too subjective, since all bands together mind sound like a great paradox. But this antinomic soil definitely includes all the basics that the band was building up their music from. Their previous aggressive sludgy approach drifted closer to a more melancholic, heavier and kind of psychedelic tone. The intensiveness that was one of their main features as Rhino, didin't disappear completely, only it's role reduced. Occasionally it returns still, but less effectively. If sludge/doom metal basics getting similarly mixed, progression-related influences, the music turns inevitably softer, partly because too noisy sound and intense speed performed by savage hammering doesn't let other features to prevail, or only very restricted. Sludge and progressive metal are not really compatibe with each other, no matter how many are experimenting with that: one on the 2 styles have to give up a lot from it's effectiveness. So drifting closer to stoner rock seems like a quite reasonable step. Also the extended song lenghts and the heaviness-based main tone doesn't make these various different influences easily identified. Both having a unifying effect, that are working together quite effectively. By this tendency the band introduced a more mainstream aspect of themselves, but that's still not the easiest album to go into, thanks to their mix of complexity and heaviness. 

Conan - Horseback Battle Hammer (2010)

   The uprising of drone metal had a wider influence to the main scene, that was sensable from the late '00s. Many new bands were inspired by this rummbling noise centered new wave of musical minimalism. But because real distinguising features (or any real features) are difficult to make in something that's basically closer to a rehearsal room sound check than to music, most bands who didn't want to stuck in the shadow of Sunn O))), just involved the drone sound into other styles.
   Conan did the same, by their sludgy stoner doom influenced music, that already had past in the UK. At nearly every British metal band references to the local metal scene are inevitable, because they always serving as essential building materials. In case of Conan these could be Electric Wizard, Cathedral, and Black Sabbath. Those picks might sound both reasonable and promising according to a sludge/stoner/doom band, but these are just the basics. To this came the distorted drone influence, that matches the noisiest experiments of Electric Wizard, and also created an atmosphere, that they creatively developed further into a misty mythical direction. The band's main concept is based on long forgotten ancient times, mythologic creatures and battles, but without pushing a story or an epos into the listener's face. They're focusing on a primitive and raw essential feeling, that sounds ominous and very heavy the same time. It's an unusual aspect of psychedelic sound, achieved though extreme distortion. A different atmosphere than what was introduced by similar bands before. It recalls doomed ancient times and transmits the echoing message of participants of long forgotten events. No matter how poor and repetitive Conan's musical toolbar was, it proved to be strongly expressive, and by their minimalism they were able to open new dimensions. 

Bongripper - Satan Worshipping Doom (2010)

   Bongripper was known as an instrumental stoner/sludge/doom band with quite extended song lenghts. Basically their music was built on the contrast of noisy sludgy riffings and more relaxing psychedelic atmosphere, but they've also experimented only with noise.
   Their fifth album "Satan Worshipping Doom" was more unified than the previous ones and showed a developed musical approach both in themes and song structures. The harsh and heavy sludgy themes became dominant and even if they frequently slowing down, their music still sounds more intense than before. The psychedelic themes and atmosphere had completing role instead of being like long breaks, and complied better to the main themes. Previously these softening switches were responsible for the feeling if like the songs were endless, because of the common 10-20 minutes songs lenghts they've lasted for a while, and kind of lost the context with the previous heavy themes. Therefore the whole album sounded like depleting it's possibibilities fast and got tired. "Satan Worshipping Doom" is also divided to 4 over 10 minutes long songs (not surprisingly) and with time it's also turning slower and noisier, but the unified concept and the heavy sound keeps the album together. The obscure, aggressive background concept and musical approach was never far from the band and it was frequently returning from time to time, but it was never so comprehensive like in this case. This album might be also not the easiest to go into because of it's repetitiveness that might sound too monotonous, but the ominous themes are great and able to escort the listener into the very depths of doom.

Shadow of the Torturer - Marching into Chaos (2009)

   Fortunately there's no lack of high quality sludge/doom materials since the late '00s. There are basically 2 reasons why is that. At the beginning of the decade sludge metal had some sort of renaissanse period by bands who played the style more complex and progressive than before (like Mastodon for instance), and even though this direction turned further from what sludge was actually about, their increased popularity had it's influence. The second reason was that noisy sound and minimal themes was brought into focus in the underground scene (it was also responsible for drone metal) and that was like a perfect opportunity for a counteraction for bands who preferred the more tradional form of the genre.
   "Marcing into Chaos" was a stunning debut of Shadow of the Turturer, that introduced well the darkened depths of this old but still somehow recent sounding style. Basically classic, but quite noisy doom themes are pulling down the listener into a dirty, muddy pit of depressing hopelessness. The influence of old Cathedral is waving back frequently while listening the album. The difference is that while Cathedral sounded simply desperately depressed, Shadow of the Torturer introduced the same from a way more obscure aspect. Not the method of inner or practical suffering is the point - it's just like a necessary inspirational resource, but the certain approach of death itself. Rotting away in that dirty, muddy pit in solitute. Perfection. According to the sound and vocal style, the band also sympathized with death/doom, so their music is on the borderlines of 3 genres the same time. Still, the album is quite unified, because these styles are compatible for combining them with each other. Recommended for the fans of sludge/doom and death/doom.

Rhino - Dead Throne Monarch (2008)

   Rhino showed up as genuine band that sounded like to represent the two main directions of the actual modern metal scene the same time: the simple, raw approach that's effective by it's wildness, and the complex style mixes. That might sound as a paradox, but completely correct about their music, since it was definitely not unifacial.
   These two directions might be difficult to manage in one project, and it's kind of impossible to to create this way something unified, except if a band is directly exaggerated on many levels. At Rhino even the style detemination is problematic, since they preferred to show two different aspects: an aggressive sludgy and thrashy approach and a slower doom and progressive metal influenced way. These mostly showing up separately, but to switch for short time from one to another is also not rare.  If it wasn't enough, the album also holds some occasional surprises by instrument selection: an acustic ballad took place there too and if the listener pays attention, saxophone could be also discovered. The main view is quie diverse, but the noisy sludgy sound bonds the chaos into a whole. Their music might be not the easiest to go into after first listening, and both the raw sound and the complexity are responsible for that, plus coordinating them together in mind, but it's definitely worth for more tries. The album represents high quality production and the band counts extraordinary in the main metal scene.
 

Herem - Pulsa diNura (2008)

 
 The appearence of a new stoner band is usually such an event that could be compared to when a drop of water falls into the sea. It's quite hard to fail in this style, groovy, bouncing riffings, decent amount of '70s influences and a gruff voiced frontman (who also can sing) is enough for the stoner soup. And the audience will love it. But these circumstances are kind of disadvantageous in case of the appearence of a genuine band, because they hardly can get wider attention.
   Herem played a bit more complex music, sludge/stoner/doom, and that only wouldn't be enough to change anything, but even though they showed mixed influences, their music was quite antinomic. The sound was enough heavy to fit to the style, and the themes compensed that by their chilling main effect. The '70s feeling is also there somewhere deep, available to puzzle together from the sound, repetitive themes and the lyrical references. Still the main impression is darker than it was usual in stoner/doom, but far not noisy enough for sludge. The lyrical concept also prefers the dark side, but without self-destruction overdose. The influence of bands like Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard or Kyuss is evident, but this is a different perspective somehow. Still the heaviest feature in their music that cannot save them to be marked as a sludge band is the growling female vocal that would also fit into death metal. And that's something that may count too much in sludge/stoner/doom. However, the band successfully created balance by this combination of aggressive vocal style - chilling music - dark impression, and therefore their music was extraordinary. Stongly recommended for the fans of the mentioned styles!

Aldebaran - ...from Forgotten Tombs (2008)

   Aldebaran was formed in 2003 and became known as sludge/doom metal band that sounds more similar to a funeral doom/death metal band.
   It took some time until their late sound evolved, and the beginning part of it's development, their debut single and a split album appearence was re-released on this compilation. The band have started at the very basics, with the raw, noisy and raw punk influenced old school style of sludge metal, that referred back to bands like Buzzov•en and Eyehategod. Shortly after on their first split album they involved doom influences and wrote longer songs, which had a heavier effect already, but didn't lose the basic sludgy themes. Growling-like vocal showed up too on the side of the cawing shouting style. Their lyrical topics are also more death metal related, since they were horror inspired, and that seems to explain the unusual further slow down lately: in their case the music adjusted to the lyrical concept. The main impression is still more like chilling like at stoner/doom bands, since at the doom metal themes they also turned back to the classics. Recommended for the fans of sludgy doom.

Deadbird - Twilight Ritual (2008)

   Deadbird debuted as a sludge/doom band with an album, that was like an audience-friendlier version of sludge with stoner rock influences. Calm and simple melodic interruptions with clear singing turned their music further into a softer direction, and their music had a quite positive feeling compared to other bands of the genre.
   On their returning album "Twilight Ritual" better quality and heavier sound could be noticed, darker tone, and more desperate soft interruptions. All-round more effective than before, and the noisier sound pushed them closer to ordinary sludge, and gave a less bright frame to their message. The stoner influences are still there, and also the impression that tells that their music is more like uplifting than down-pulling, because it doesn't collapse under the pressure of unwanted life issues like sludge does in general by the assistance of intense self-destruction. At Deadbird there's hope and alwas some rise up after the downfalls. The atmoshpere is mainly responsible for that, because it has an emotional load, even if it's not so strong like at bands who enjoy to operate with similar effects. The atmosphere also became the part of the sludgy sound so much, that the two cannot be seperated. As one they've created a balance that reduced each other's intensity. "Twilight Ritual" isn't an ordinary album and could be enjoyable for the fans of the mentioned styles.

Burning Witch - Crippled Lucifer (2008)

   Burning Witch was formed on the ruins of the very promising, but unfortunately short lived project Thorr's Hammer. Burning Witch also didn't last for so long, but all their songs were re-released on a double CD compilation to make life easier for the fans who have lost the line meanwhile.
   Their music might sounded surprising if anyone expected something similar to Thorr's Hammer. The only feature that stayed was the intense doom influence, but even though they were never known about their bright, cheering up sound, with Burning Witch they went forward by creating a so obscure and desperate image, that is so far from the term "audience-friendly" as it's possible. The mix of pain, hatred and suffering is reflecting from their noisy sludge/doom sound, that came from a high level of self-destruction by heavy drug abuse. This of course counts as usual in sludge metal, but their music reached a certain border by the noisy sound and  disharmony, that's not reachable for anyone; and the assistance of the screaming/cawing vocal performance is also quite impressive. The main view is albe to ruin the nerves of the listener and to summon really bad feelings meanwhile. The way how they introduced the depths of self-made suffering may be suitable to use on group therapies to show to junkies how miserable, endlessly sick and unbearable they can become. But for those who may find this kind of instant brain damage enjoyable, "Crippled Lucifer" will not cause any disappointment.