6 NEW BANDS: THE SLUDGELORD'S "666 PACK REVIEW" (THE 6(66) OF 2018)

By: Nikos Mixas

If you’ve been paying attention, the 666 PACK REVIEW is an abbreviated review column mostly focused on very new bands or bands that have submitted demo material to THE SLUDGELORD.  The basic premise is that 6 bands are critiqued using only 6 words and on a scale from 1 to 6(66).  What you see below is the best of the year 2018 for the 666 PACK REVIEW.  There were only 6 bands that received the highest of ratings so please go give them some love by revisiting their music and their web pages.  We at the THE SLUDGELORD hope great things come to them.  Congrats and hails to those bands that made the list!  

1). Estuary Blacks, “Estuary Blacks” (Swansea, Wales) (March)

Pelican meets Elder meets amber ale.   

2). Morpholith, “Void Emissions” (Reykjavík, Iceland) (April)

Really digging the vocals. Hails Iceland!

3). Magik Black, “Magik Black” (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia) (June)

Dumb name but shaddup and listen!

4). Ritual Earth, “Demo” (Philadelphia, U.S.A.) (September)

Shoe in for Psycho Las Vegas.

5). LMDA “Darkest Days and Rituals” (Strasbourg, France) (October)

Powerviolence, soundtrack to destroy things to. 

6). Vandampire, “You will be the bones” (London, United Kingdom) (November)

This is THE SLUDGELORD, you lost?

6 NEW BANDS: THE SLUDGELORD "666 PACK REVIEW" (September 2018)

By: Nikos Mixas

Art by: Joshua M. Wilkinson

It’s the September edition of THE SLUDGELORD “666 PACK REVIEW”!  This is the time of year that some of you are rearranging your band shirt collection by swapping out sleeveless shirts with hoodies and raglans.  In addition, tours are cropping up all over the place and if you’re in a band and strive to score gigs, record albums, and hopefully tour one day, THE SLUDGELORD can help you hone those chops by reviewing your demo!  If you’re new to this, each and every month we handpick 6 review submissions and critique them by only using 6 words, then we rate them on a scale from 1 to 666!  Check out our fall flavored rating scale below: 

1 – I bet your band got lost in a corn maze and couldn’t figure how to get out?

2 – Gourds might be cool to look at, but that’s about it.  Your band is a gourd.      

3 – This is average, just like anything from Soufly these days.      

4 – I liken this to the excitement you get knowing that October, even more so, Halloween is right around the corner!      

5 – You know how pumpkin spice lattes are lame?  Well, pumpkin spice beers kick ass and so does your band. 

666 – THE SLUDGELORD awards you with the highest compliment it can give…. a 666 rating!!! 

Caveat:  Even though the 666 PACK REVIEW is meant to offer humorous critique, there are no safe spaces here and your gripes will only make you sound like a bellyacher.  THE SLUDGELORD is a picky listener…and doesn’t care what you think of his opinions….

1). Ritual Earth, “Demo” (Philadelphia, U.S.A.)    Rating: 666!

“Shoe in for Psycho Las Vegas.”

2). Hellavator, “Ruin” (Norway)   Rating: 4

“There’s a Candlemass element to it.”

3). Blank, “S/T” (Köln, Germany)   Rating: 4

“If Celeste played hardcore…in Germany.”

4). Vile Entity, “Vile Entity” (Tuscany, Italy)   Rating: 2

“There’s only one Bell Witch, OK???”

5). Udreka, “Gniew, trud i nocna zmora” (Gdynia, Poland)   Rating: 5

“Great stuff, but it needs vocals.”  

6). Victus, “Sacrifice” (Portsmouth, U.K.)   Rating: 3

“Orange Goblinish, but the vocals stink.”  

Band info: Ritual Earth || Hellavator || Blank || Udreka|| Victus