The Best Sludge Metal Album - Metal Storm Awards 2023
The violent truth here is delivered very directly;
A Violent Truth spans a mere 27 minutes, but that’s all the time
Allfather need to smash skulls with their
High On Fire-inspired brand of sludge. Elements of thrash, punk, and extreme metal work their ways into these songs, which are rowdy at their fastest and crushing at their doomiest; from blackened blasts to limb-flailing breakdowns,
Allfather are irresistible on
A Violent Truth.
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Would you rather your sludge be more intricate and progressive or would you rather the vocals be as dramatic as possible? If you can't decide between the two, with
Die Like Gentlemen you don't have to! Returning to their core ballsy prog sludge sound after the acoustic detour of their previous
Stories album, Oregon's
Die Like Gentlemen deliver an imposing work with
Hard Truths: lyrically impressive, gloomy and somber in its tone, with songwriting both patient in its buildups and massive when it packs its punches, and with a vocal performance that sounds like an epic doom band trying to be theatrical and dramatic in the same way avant-garde black metal bands are, from roars to croons to shouts.
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Crippled Black Phoenix are longstanding favorites here: a monument to excess, with revolving line-ups and frequent, dense releases of proggy post-prog post-rock occasionally disguised as metal.
Johnny The Boy carves out a trio of CBP members to exacerbate those metal tangents, ballooning a moody, grungy
Katatonia-style alternative rock into sludge-ridden dirges packed with drawn-out black metal and an effective balance of atmosphere and punch. The sound of
You is just like the raven on the cover: black, severe, fast when it wants to be, and out to crush your puny human endeavors.
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The band behind the hottest EP of 2021 has now dropped the nastiest debut album of 2023.
Melancholia make quite a racket for 2 people, summoning a guitar tone that is distinctly their own in how sickening and malevolent it is. Said tone is used to craft abrasive, malevolent sludge, which spans filthy groove, bleak doominess, and remorseless blasting extremity. The duo take absolutely no prisoners on this album, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
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Morne announced themselves as a name to be reckoned with in the worlds of sludge and post-metal with their 2018 album
To The Night Unknown, and after five years, they’ve come back to reaffirm their strength. The band have opted for exclusively longer songs on
Engraved With Pain, which allow them to explore their prog, doom, and tribal inclinations to great effect; whether it be a brooding percussive march or a surprisingly tender guitar solo, there’s surprises to be encountered across this album. At its core, however, it is bleak, ominous, and dense in all the ways you would hope a sludge doom record to be.
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Sludge metal can push into some really extreme musical territories, often marrying with extreme metal to create some of the most harrowing soundscapes known to man.
Predatory Void do boast some intriguing lineup connections, but what's reflected most in the actual sound blends is their corrosive take on the atmospheric sludge sounds of
Amenra and
Oathbreaker, blending it with extreme metal like black and death metal in a way that feels less gargantuan (though at times it definitely does feel like that) but more directly pummeling. Few shrieks sound as sharp and corrosive as what vocalist Lina is doing here, keeping together the dense vitriol that is
Seven Keys To The Discomfort Of Being.
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One thing is for sure, fans of progressive sludge can expect a good time listening to
Pressure. Hailing from swampy Louisiana, USA, this pair of musicians known as
Radiant Knife delivers progressive sludge that relies on a combination of rumbling, chunky riffs interspersed with intricate, progressive guitar work and complex, entertaining percussion. With juicy, thunderous riffs, nuanced guitar-noodling,
Baroness-style barking vocals, and futuristic-sounding keyboards,
Radiant Knife always find a way to stay heavy and entertaining throughout the entire record thanks to the absolutely top-tier performances by both musicians.
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Rorcal have been exploring the depths of their sonic depravity for approaching 20 years, and on
Silence, they have arguably nailed the equilibrium between their sludge, hardcore, and black metal sounds, with hints of their doom/post-metal past also returning this time around. Add in industrial and ambient tinges, and the end result is a record that can be absolutely vicious with its blackened hardcore onslaughts, pounding with its brutal, at-times dissonant sludge, and suffocating with its more understated yet equally oppressive atmospheres.
Silence is the culmination of
Rorcal’s musical evolution to date, and serves as one of the shining examples of the increasingly popular black/sludge/hardcore violent sonic fusion.
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Not just one of the best sludge metal albums of the year, but also one of the most emotive albums of the year. Marrying the poignant topic of a loved one descending into degenerative mental disease with life-affirming sludge riffs,
A Feast On Sorrow is just that, pure sonic gluttony on which you can more than get your fill. More than just an album,
A Feast On Sorrow is a musical experience that will leave you all the richer having come out of the other side.
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Attention,
Bolt Thrower fans!
Warcrab is here to present a death/doom/sludge style that's meant to pummel any and all head-bangers to mush! Between the catchy lead riffs and wild, fast-paced rage,
The Howling Silence provides its fair share of chest-pumping groove. Throw in some spicy guitar solos, ominous bass guitar-work, and devilish, blackened rasps, and you've got yourself an engaging formula to entice any extreme metal fan. All in all,
Warcrab strike a perfect balance of crushingly heaviness, groovy guitar-work, and somber yet menacing atmosphere.
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