A Year in Review: The Death Metal Sonic 6 of 2015

By: Aaron Pickford

The Sludgelord’s ‘Sonic 6’ for 2015 is compiled based upon page views alone and calibrated into the list below, so check out the Death Metal “Sonic 6” for 2015 (full reviews can be viewed by clicking the artwork and total views since the date of publication are highlight in red). 

6). Necrowretch– “With Serpents Scourge” (405)

It would be fair to say that I loved this record as soon as I heard it- it is immediate, relentless and nasty in its delivery. Necrowretch have come up with a great album here. For death and black metal heads everywhere.

5). Entrails – “Obliteration” (546)

Entrails offer up riffs, style and atmosphere in spades. They also offer up song writing that is excellent and not often equalled in this genre. If you wish Entombed were still around in the form that they were in 1992, or yearn for a Dismember reformation then this album is a must. Hell, if you even once played Slaughter of The Soul and quite liked it then you should check this record out. It's superb.

4). Horrendous – “Anareta” (576)

There’s so much to enjoy and unpack as I listen to this album again and again, because every song offers a new wrinkle to the formula or another compositional element that most bands wouldn’t think to use. It’s so fucking rich and dense. To put a finer point on things, ‘Anareta’ is the sort of album that lifts death metal as a genre up.  It’s everything I could ask of a death metal album in 2015 and there’s virtually nothing in metal as a whole that’s in Horrendous’ league right now

3). Feral– “Where Dead Dreams Dwell” (677)

Maelstrom finisher “Succumb to Terror” is a suitably brutal end to this very strong album. If you are a fan of the Swe-death genre, this record is a must. It's relentlessly beautiful in its own grotesque and noisy way.

2). Obsequiae– “Aria of Vernal Tombs” (766)

Two key stylistic elements—both very different degrees of old—come together to form something new. It may not be made completely from scratch, but the vision required to make something like this happen deserves praise. Not to mention that purely from a songwriting standpoint this is one of the better albums of the year thus far. Even on that basis alone, ignoring its other admirable qualities, ‘Aria of Vernal Tombs’ warrants the strongest of recommendations.

1). Malevolent Creation – “Dead Man’s Path” (910)

‘Corporate Weaponry’ has blasts aplenty, along with some excellent lead work. It certainly ticks all the boxes: memorable title and thus chorus, breakdown section, time changes and a superb production. Fast and furious in the main, this is a fine example of where Malevolent Creation are at in 2015. Simply put, if you like any of the band's previous work, you will love this. If you enjoy death metal that is not too far into tech-territory, then this record is for you. Death metal, for death metal fans.

Reviews featured in this article were written by: Richard Maw, Daniel Jackson 

A Year in Review: The Psychedelic Sonic 6 of 2015

By: Aaron Pickford

The Sludgelord’s ‘Sonic 6’ for 2015 is compiled based upon page views alone and calibrated into the list below, so check out the Psychedelic “Sonic 6” for 2015 (full reviews can be viewed by clicking the artwork and total views since the date of publication are highlight in red). 

6). Snail – “Feral” (597)

As far as tone and mood are concerned, “Feral” is far from untamed. To the touch, these eight cuts are smooth, the production doing what it needs to do to keep this beast domesticated. At the end of the day, though, this beast is hard to ignore, which is the justification for the album’s name.

5). Colour Haze – “To The Highest Gods We Know” (879)

Whether the band is up on stage nonchalantly kicking ass or their records are spinning on a turntable, Colour Haze is one of few bands that has consistently produced music of quality and integrity. “To The Highest Gods We Know” is no different. Though this album may not fully exemplify the band due to its short running time, it is an album that will stand proudly as the latest addition to the Colour Haze discography.

4). Weedpecker – “II” (913)

Weedpecker have created a sonic experience that demands your full attention as this is one of the most powerful Stoner Metal albums you'll hear all year. II is a contender for one of the albums of the year. Brilliant.

3). Sacri Monti – “Sacri Monti” (1091)

Sacri Monti's debut album is one that surprised me in a big way. Yeah it did take around 4 to 5 listens to fully appreciate the whole experience. So expect to take your time with this album. All in all Sacri Monti have created a stunning debut album.

2). My Sleeping Karma– “Moksha” (1421)

What can I say? My SLeeping Karma are one of those rare bands who follows their own path 100% and that's called freedom and liberation. Add excellent instrument skills to this and you have 'Moksha'. Rarely will you find a band or an album this good. We all make our own decisions but I urge you to seek out this band and follow in their foot steps. Your life will be so much better for it!

1). Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – “Night Creeper” (1737)

If the record will be met by their adoring fan base with the same hype and admiration 2011’s insatiable ‘Blood Lust’ was, or be deemed as an adequate successor to the robustness of ‘Mind Control,’ only time will tell. What we do know, however, is that it’s another impressive release from this consistently unique and enrapturing Cambridge quartet.

Reviews featured in this article were written by: Victor Van Ommen, Steve Howe, Hakan Nyman, Philip Weller

Crawl - “Old Wood and Broken Dreams” (Album Review)

By: Chris Bull

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 18/10/2015

Label: Stone Groove Records

Music like this doesn't need to be complex or challenging to be brilliant, its barbecue music for bloodshot eyed slackers, music to blare out the speakers of your pickup truck on your way to buy more beer. The world needs music like this, thank your chosen deity that Crawl are more than happy to oblige.

“Old Wood and Broken Dreams” CD//DD track listing:

1). Crack Tea

2). Don’t Kid Me

3). Pilldust

4). Useless

5). Nigredo

6). 3AM and a Loaded Gun

Crawl is:

Tyler Akers | Lowend Assault
Tommy Butler | Barbaric Blasts
Eric Crowe | Guitar and Vocals 

The Review:

Atlanta, Georgia's Crawl bring us this glorious chunk of Southern swamp metal on 'Old Wood and Broken Dreams' and while it doesn't break new ground (it's not fucking supposed to!), it's sure to drive people to break open a beer and smile gleamingly and nod in approval.

Stone Groove Records have handled the CD release here and have obviously been hard at work ensuring the packaging is immaculately presented to give the listener the whole experience.

'Crack Tea', the first of 2 instrumental tracks here, belches out some quality groovy sludge before 'Don't Kid Me' swaggers through in all its whiskey swilling goodness. Vocalist/guitarist Eric Crowe sounds like a man who smokes fifty filterless Marlboro’s a day in between bottles of Jim Beam as he croaks over some solid riffs on 'Useless' and screams incessantly over the noisy sludge that is '3AM And A Loaded Gun' as well as cranking out some sublime instrumental goodness as he does on 'Pilldust'. A personal highlight is 'Nigredo' where the rhythm section of drummer Tommy Butler and bassist Tyler Akers keep it inhumanly tight while Crowe riffs and bellows for the first half of the track before going all clean and sounding a lot like Scott Kelly on his earlier solo work.

Music like this doesn't need to be complex or challenging to be brilliant, its barbecue music for bloodshot eyed slackers, music to blare out the speakers of your pickup truck on your way to buy more beer. The world needs music like this, thank your chosen deity that Crawl are more than happy to oblige.

“Old Wood and Broken Dreams” is available here

FFO: Alabama Thunderpussy, Bongzilla, Artimus Pyledriver, Eyehategod

Band info: bandcamp | facebook

Sacrocurse - ‘Destroying Chapels’ EP (Review)

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 15/01/2016

Label: Iron Bonehead Productions

The formula Sacrocurse use is well-worn and time-tested, which is also to say familiar and less than innovative, but they also manage to produce a personality within their songs that sets them apart from hundreds of other bands working in a similar sound; this band is absolutely fucking lethal and when I look at my favorite EPs for 2016, I can virtually guarantee you that ‘Destroying Chapels’ will be on that list.

‘Destroying Chapels’ LP//DD track listing:

1. Total Devastation

2. Sacrocurse Temple

3. Destroying Chapels

4. Total Destruction (Bathory Cover)

Sacrocurse is:

ZK | Guitar, Vocals

SW | Bass

LZ | Drums

The Review:

Truth be told, Sacrocurse’s 2014 debut album ‘Unholier Masters’ slipped under my radar, something I now regret immensely, because this band is absolutely fucking lethal. ‘Destroying Chapels’ is everything I want out of an orthodox death metal album. It sounds devastating, there’s a fair amount of atmosphere, and riffs you think about long after you’ve last heard them. The formula Sacrocurse use is well-worn and time-tested, which is also to say familiar and less than innovative, but they also manage to produce a personality within their songs that sets them apart from hundreds of other bands working in a similar sound.

‘Destroying Chapels’ is criminally short, falling shy of the fifteen minute mark, but its brief duration is absolutely brimming with top notch bestial death metal. When I say it’s familiar, anybody who is well-acquainted with Canadian legends Blasphemy and similar bands should have a decent idea of what to expect here, though they’re by no means a clone band. Sacrocurse mix things up quite a bit more, at least in terms of the mood the music conveys, with the title track being the best example. The title track, at under three minutes, covers a lot of ground, with the opening thirty seconds being focused on building ominous atmosphere over driving drums, before exploding into blasting and chaos, before returning back to the previous, more controlled tempo.

The only real issue I have with ‘Destroying Chapels’ is that the recording quality for their cover of “Total Destruction” from Bathory’s all-time classic “The Return” is somewhat weaker than the rest of the EP, losing some of the heft from the production on the original songs. Still, looking at the cover as an isolated song, the band does a really nice job of taking the song and finding a way to make it work within their established sound, even if the thinner sound of it is the first thing you’re likely to pick up on.

Even accounting for the inconsistency in production from the first three songs and the Bathory cover, Sacrocurse have left a lasting impact with ‘Destroying Chapels’. If you have an interest in this style at all, I’d consider this release an absolute necessity when it comes out in January. The performances are too strong and the songwriting is so dead on, that it simply will not be denied. When I look at my favorite EPs for 2016, I can virtually guarantee you that ‘Destroying Chapels’ will be on that list.

‘Destroying Chapels’ is available digitally here and on LP here in January.

Band info: Facebook

A Year in Review: The DIY Sonic 6 2015

By: Aaron Pickford

Everyone gravitates to a favourite genre and each has its own merit, therefore over the last week I thought it would be a good idea to highlight, “six of the best” releases of 2015 within our most popular genres.  But today for something a little different, we’re going to be focusing on bands who went out on their own and did things DIY, releasing their records independently.  So as we reflect upon an awesome year of music in 2015, we present the DIY “Sonic 6” for 2015.  

The Sludgelord’s ‘Sonic 6’ for 2015 is compiled based upon page views alone and calibrated into the list below, we will be presenting further lists during the lead up to Christmas, but for today roll up, kick back and Hail the riff!  (full reviews can be viewed by clicking the artwork and total views since the date of publication are highlight in red). 

6). Abrams – “Lust.Love.Loss” (358)

‘Blending spiky guitar lines reminiscent of These Arms Are Snakes, plenty of weird Cave In style effects, angular post-hardcore aggression and no-nonsense stoner riffing, Abrams have created a compelling and addictive listen here.’

5). Scientist – “10100||00101” (363)

Storming opener “The Singularity” distils the key elements of this record into five and a half minutes. Chittering harmonics give way to the sledgehammer impact of furious, frantic riffing moving into anthemic sludge and finishing with an epic post-metal flourish. Imagine the best bits of American Heritage, Clutch and ISIS delivered with the seismic impact of Mastodon’s “Remission”.  “1010II0101” is a pioneering piece of research at the cutting edge of riff technology that demands your attention.

4). Behold! The Monolith – “Architects of the Void” (375)

‘A collage of different styles and different ways of thinking how to manipulate heavy music in the best possible way, it spins off all over the place while you watch, centre stage, as the most brilliant mess of sounds and visions whirl around you like a metallic tornado.’

3). War Iron – “Precession of the Equinoxes” (527)

If you search for depravity strung out like a junkie, ‘Precession of the Equinoxes’ is waiting, door open, a fresh needle filled with a black substance in hand. Its one of the most solid albums from the blackened doom sector in quite some time, and if you're looking for something cranked to eleven, I think you'll find that this music is a bit slow for numbers. Crank the speakers, sit back, get loose, and let yourself be taken by the blackest riffs this side of hell.

2). Dreadnaught – “Bridging Realms” (546)

‘The cinematic scope of Dreadnought’s music sounds like it should take a small orchestra to perform it.’

1). Trials – “This Ruined World” (583)

This is superlative modern metal which mixes elements of thrash, death, traditional metal and comes up with something technical, progressive and accessible.

 

Reviews featured in this article were written by: Hunter Young, Charlie Butler, Richard Maw, Philip Weller

Extreme Noise Terror - "Extreme Noise Terror" (Album Review)

By: Dan Caycedo

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 05/11/2015

Label: Willowtip Records

Perhaps calling them a political band isn’t 100% accurate, but get on this one pronto, it’s worth a few dozen spins and a few dozen bricks in the face of police brutality.  The guitars and bass shred throughout with brutal vocals that are both guttural and explosive. The production side of things on this release is way better than most of their previous efforts and even though the guitars and drums are at like 1000 bpm, there is still plenty of clarity to distinguish what the hell is going on during this 13 song assault.

“Extreme Noise Terror” CD//LP track listing:

1. Punk Rock Patrol
2. Dogma, Intolerance, Control
3. No One Is Innocent
4. I Like Coca (Outo “I Like Cola”)
5. Think Outside The Box
6. Chained & Crazed
7. An Endless Cycle Of Misery
8. Sheep In Wolf’s Clothing
9. Cash And Trash
10. Cruel And Unusual Punishment
11. Last Fix Of Fame
12. Cage Paralysis
13. Only In It For The Music Pt. 27 (Black Putrefaction)

The Review:

Extreme Noise Terror is back at it with another ripping grindcore album. They’ve been emasculating ear drums since 1985, U.K. style. On this new release the drums have kept it true with straight forward d-beat fuck you in the face beats. Guitars and bass shred throughout with brutal vocals that are both guttural and explosive. The production side of things on this release is way better than most of their previous efforts as well. Even though the guitars and drums are at like 1000 bpm there is still plenty of clarity to distinguish what the hell is going on in this 13 song assault.

My favorite track by far is “No One is Innocent”. The song starts off with a sick drum fill/intro leading into solid guitar riffs ending the song off with a spot on chorus of “No one is innocent.”  The song, “Last Fix of Fame”, is also a good crusher, which will give you some authority issues if you don’t have them already. It’s set for max chaos and destruction putting a big smile on my face every time I listen to it. Terror like this has no place in radio land and it better off kept underground for all the futureless crust punks.

Song titles like, “I Like Coca (Outo “I Like Cola”)”, “Cage Paralysis” and “Punk Rock Patrol” keeps their seriousness at bay and with penchant for humour, perhaps calling them a political band isn’t 100% accurate, but get on this one pronto, it’s worth a few dozen spins and a few dozen bricks in the face of police brutality.

“Extreme Noise Terror” is available here

FFO: Napalm Death, Discharge, Amebix, Brutal Truth

Band info: facebook

A Year in Review: The Stoner Sonic 6 2015

By:  Aaron Pickford

Everyone gravitates to a favourite genre and each has its own merit, therefore I thought it would be a good idea to highlight, “six of the best” releases of 2015 within our most popular genres.  So today, as we reflect upon an awesome year of music in 2015, we present the Stoner “Sonic 6” for 2015

The Sludgelord’s ‘Sonic 6’ for 2015 is compiled based upon page views alone and calibrated into the list below, we will be presenting further lists during the lead up to Christmas, but for today roll up, kick back and Hail the riff!  Check out the Stoner “Sonic 6” for 2015 (full reviews can be viewed by clicking the artwork and total views since the date of publication are highlight in red). 

6). Godsleep – “Thousand Sons of Sleep” (625)

I think the reason why the record works so well is the musical chemistry which is fantastic. “Thousand Sons of Sleep” is a deep and complex record with a lot to offer. I’m recommending buying this record, the boys in Godsleep are quite good at what they do and this record proves it well.

5). 
The Midnight Ghost Train – “Cold Was The Ground” (685)

When they opened Desert fest last year, they were the band that I compared all other bands to and with the exception of Clutch, the conclusion was always the same; The  Midnight Ghost Train did it better. With this album already in my fixed rotation, 2015 is looking like it’s going to pan out like that one weekend in Berlin. Though music is not a competition, I’m curious to hear who will bring out an album this year that tops “Cold Was the Ground.”

4). Acid King – “Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere” (712)

There are countless stoner and doom metal bands around in the modern era, however when you get a band like Acid King that have been around for over two decades, you have to feel a sense of excitement over a new release. They helped write the book of stoner/doom/fuzz rock emanating from the early nineties, and their new opus is one of absolute greatness. The eight tracks on, ‘Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere’, flow majestically and organically. This is an album that will only mature and sound better each time.

3). Kult of The Wizard – “The White Wizard” (975)

Kult Of The Wizard have delivered a truly wonderful EP for everyone to check out. Lets hope their full length record is good as this as this band have potential to something very special in the years to come.  This is Outstanding.

2). 
The Atomic Bitchwax – “Gravitron” (979)

With ‘Gravitron’ the band has done a great job at solidifying their sound. Though familiar, it’s still fresh and hopefully the beginning of a long chapter for TAB. ‘Gravitron’ is an album on which you can hear the band having a good time and playing from the heart. There’s not a note out of place and even the instrumental cuts are worth their time. Here’s to a job well done for TAB.

1). Belzebong – “Greenferno” (1162)

‘Inhale in Hell’ honestly is just one massive slow chug fest, filling every available space with some ridiculous throbbing string torture with a sweet backing beat. It sounds akin to a giant walking the earth, simply moving things aside without noticing. True evil blues this band has summoned, and you the listener, shall reap their rewards! From that slow, massive chugging into feedback and staccato wah picking, they have no problems slamming you up against the wall and rifling through your pockets for some loose cash.

Reviews featured in this article were written by: Hunter Young, Victor Van Ommen, Steve Howe, Dominic Walsh, Theron Moore