Sludge (music)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sludge

Development phase: late 1980s
Place of origin: Louisiana
Stylistic precursors
Hardcore punk · Doom Metal
Pioneers
Crowbar · EyeHateGod · The Melvins
Instruments typical of the genre
Electric guitar · electric bass · drums
Stylistic successor
Drone Doom
Subcategories
Southern Sludge · Stoner Sludge
Important local scenes
New Orleans · Georgia
Important musical influence
Stoner rock · Southern rock · Industrial

Sludge ( English for mud , mud ), also called Sludge Metal or Sludgecore , is a music sub-genre that is mainly borrowed from Hardcore Punk , Stoner Rock and Doom Metal .

Musical classification

Sludge, which is made up of various borrowings from Hardcore, Doom and Stoner Rock, originated in the New Orleans area in the late 1980s , which is why the style is also known as the NOLA sound . The abbreviation NOLA used in the region stands for New Orleans, Louisiana.

In bands of this genre , in addition to the main influences mentioned, elements from blues and noise can also be heard. Mike IX Williams of EyeHateGod describes the music in his text accompanying the re-release of the album Take as Needed For Pain as Southern Hardcore Blues. He explains that the band always saw themselves as blues soaked in alcohol and other drugs. Overall, the music is rather sluggish and tough, with particular emphasis on the guitar riffs. The vocals mainly consist of hardcore-like screaming and nagging , but growls typical of Death Metal can also occur.

The genre is also divided into two categories. While the stoner sludge has a higher proportion of blues and stoner rock elements and incorporates significantly more harmony into the pieces, the southern sludge uses more parts of doom and noise. In addition, film samples and sound experiments are often used in the sludge, primarily in the southern sludge.

history

Kirk Windstein of Crowbar and Down . At a live performance with the Sludge Supergroup Down 2009.

The Melvins are generally considered to be the first sludge band . The Washington- based band's debut EP "6 Songs" (1986) already featured all of the aforementioned elements of the genre. Phil Anselmo from Down referred particularly to the first Melvins album Gluey Porch Treatments , which EyeHateGod also took into the studio in 1990 to give the sound engineers an idea of ​​the desired result.

“Back in those days, everything in the underground was fast, fast, fast. It was the rule of the day. But when the Melvins came out with their first record, Gluey Porch Treatments , it really broke the mold, especially in New Orleans. People began to appreciate playing slower. "

“If you look back on that time today, everything in the underground was fast, fast, fast. It was the law of the hour. But when The Melvins released their first album, Gluey Porch Treatments , they broke the scene, especially in New Orleans. People began to appreciate slow play. "

- Anselmo, Phil in Bennett, J .: Pillars of Eternity

The Melvins, like the similarly acting Neurosis, seem too versatile to be considered the first pure sludge band lately. For The Melvins, which themselves became one of the most important influencing factors, as well as for later bands in the genre, the early works of Black Sabbath and the late works of Black Flag were considered to be essential influencing factors for the newly generated sound.

Several years after this landmark release, several bands from New Orleans, Louisiana picked up and developed the style. EyeHateGod , whose debut “ In the Name of Suffering ” from 1990 is considered the first pure Sludge Core or Southern Sludge album, is essential for the development of an independent style and its growing popularity . In contrast, there is the first Stoner Sludge album " Obedience Thru Suffering ", which was released in 1991 by the band Crowbar .

The music, which is clumsy and tough due to the slow play, was often associated with the swamp surrounding New Orleans , from which the term sludge emerged as a generic term. The differences between the interpreters of both subcategories are ignored in favor of similarities and cross-influences. Without being tied to the categories Stoner or Southern, many of the musicians also work or worked in more than one of the well-known bands. There is also a large number of collaborations between different bands of the entire genre. This established the genre name sludge for the entire spectrum of the so-called NOLA sound.

content

In terms of content, the texts range from socially critical and political topics to fantastic and personal content. Also, the drug is a popular topic of some Sludge bands. Unlike Stoner Rock , the mood in Sludge is more characterized by pessimism , misanthropy and nihilism .

Advancement and influence

The band Kylesa 2011 live at the Roskilde Festival

In the early 1990s, bands associated with the sludge genre began, in particular The Melvins . and Neurosis , elements from alternative and post rock bring their sound to them. This style gained independence after the Isis album Oceanic , released in 2002 at the latest, and became known first as Atmospheric Sludge and later as Post-Metal with artists such as Isis, Cult of Luna and Neurosis .

Around the turn of the millennium, bands from the state of Georgia such as Mastodon , Baroness and Kylesa , whose style clearly benefited from sludge, began to combine sludge with progressive rock and other musical styles. Often the performers who can no longer be limited to the NOLA scene are assigned to the sludge despite their far-reaching influences from stoner rock , hard rock , progressive rock and progressive metal .

Well-known bands

Southern or traditional sludge
Stoner Sludge
Other representatives

Individual evidence

  1. a b FAQ. doom-metal.com, archived from the original on March 25, 2010 ; Retrieved December 12, 2015 .
  2. crowbarmusic. Crowbarmusic.com, archived from the original on December 22, 2010 ; Retrieved December 12, 2015 .
  3. ^ Mike IX: Take as Needed for Pain. Liner Notes.
  4. Review of Crowbar on Metal-Observer.de
  5. Review of EyeHateGod on Metal-Observer.de
  6. Review of Electric Wizard on allmusic.com
  7. Review of EyeHateGod on allmusic.com
  8. ^ Bennett, J .: Pillars of Eternity. In Mudiran, Albert: Prescious Metal. Cambridge 2009 p.268. ISBN 978-0-306-81806-6
  9. Interview with Neurosis
  10. Michael Joyce: Sludge Superstars: Seattle rock veterans the Melvins come to Reggies. Chicago Weekly, archived from the original on November 22, 2010 ; Retrieved December 12, 2015 .
  11. New York Times note on The Melvins
  12. Review of EyeHateGod on SSMT.com ( Memento from January 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  13. Review of Crowbar on ic.blog.com
  14. Metal-Reviews.com about Swamp Metal
  15. Blog on the genre
  16. Bongzilla - Amerijuanican, EyeHateGod - Dopesick etc.
  17. [1]
  18. Neurosis biography on laut.de
  19. ^ Isis biography on allmusic.com
  20. Article on nytimes.com
  21. Mastodon
  22. Baroness
  23. Kylesa
  24. Plauk, Dennis: The new metal. Visions # 205 April 2010 page 20ff.