With 30+ years in the sludge metal game -(16)- have absolutely nothing left to prove. They stand with only one other band worthy of being called a progenitor of the genre and that’s Eyehategod. Yea, yea, whatever, fight me—there’s no denying the truth within that statement. But being a progenitor, the bedrock of the genre doesn’t mean simply sitting on your laurels album after album and not venturing into new territories or toying with established tropes to enhance your sound. -(16)- have never been a band to remain stationary despite their standing, and on their tenth slab of vicious sludge and metal Guides For The Misguided, the band find themselves not only laying the bedrock but lighting the way, showing all pretenders just how it’s done.

In our ranks, it’s no secret that brother Chris and myself are huge fans of -(16)- so we decided to tackle this in tandem rather than having a 9C death-match to decide a sole author. I can see your grins and NO… Anyway, I’ll kick this tandem axle thing off… So yeah, -(16)- has been a thing for me since, well, the beginning, Curves That Kick. Their ‘sludge supremacy’ was cemented for me on 2009’s Bridges To Burn where they not only turned in the performance of their lives but ventured into other, no less heavy, territories; rock, blues, and fuzzed out doom. But, even with this experimentation the band still had me standing in awe of their ability to drown me in the kind of sludge that takes Ajax and sandpaper to clean off and, if you know anything about sludge metal, that’s where the best sludge metal is built. Since then not a second of any album has been wasted with each one compounding on and besting previous efforts.

And here we stand with Guides For The Misguided which is arguably their most ‘out there’ album of the entire discography and again arguably the best since Bridges To Burn. “After All” and “Hat On A Bed” kick things off with a quickened pulse. Both are classic -(16)- heavy but both have sweeping ‘rock’ hooks that set deep and early. “Blood Atonement Blues” is just that, it’s a slow and methodical plod that sounds like what living on skid row would feel like and looks like riding through any downtrodden area. “Fortress of Hate” and “Fire and Brimstone Inc” have these incredibly catchy riffs that would be just as at home on a COC track as they would a great rock radio track, if rock radio was even a thing anymore. And my GOD the clean singing throughout this thing. There’s not a single track that stands out with it as it’s all over the place but DAMN! The way Bobby Ferry belts out his clean parts really elevates this album to an entire other level. Obviously his gruff parts are what make it a penultimate -(16)- album but man, I had no idea he had those pipes in him.

My true standout track here and the one that screams what this band is all about this deep in their career is “Kick Out The Chair” with its viscerally sharp riffs, massive tones, and boat sinking sludge wrapped in a very sneaky 80s metal blanket. Listen, don’t argue with me…just go listen to it and I mean REALLY listen to it and you’ll hear it too. Among many other reasons, this type of thing is why these guys have been a long standing favorite and I just cannot understand why they are still so underrated and under appreciated. And we haven’t even touched on the two incredible covers included here. Chris may have something to say on those but they’re here and done the only way -(16)- can do them. And with that I think I’ve went on for too long so I’ll let Chris take over but GOOD LORD what an album! At 30+ years of existence for the band I am taking each album they offer and savoring it like I’ll never get another. BUT, I hope they’ll be doing this for a long time coming because as good as they’ve been, I truly feel like they are just now smashing their own ceiling and the sky won’t even be able to contain them. — Josh

Man, what do I even add to Josh’s glowing praise? My history with the band isn’t nearly as long: I was aware of them with 2012’s Deep Cuts From Dark Clouds, but they didn’t fully reach my periphery until 2016’s Lifespan Of A Moth. Being the token “needs melody” guy, I was instantly taken with how the band tempered their sludgy death rattle with thrash and embraced a melodic attack that never sacrificed any of the dank, swampy low-end. Listen to the attack on “The Absolute Center Of A Pitch Black Heart” and you’ll understand exactly what I mean. Those moments of clarity came further to the forefront on 2020’s Dream Squasher (reviewed here), making both of our respective end of year lists. 2022’s Into Dust (reviewed here) was a darker, deep churning listen for me, expanding on the new elements, most notably in the sax infused “Born On A Barstool.”

It’s that song that more than anything points the way sonically to what I’m hearing on Guides for the Misguided. The soft, padded opening to “After All” lulls you into a false sense of comfort (never complacency – that’s a word you can NEVER use with -(16)-) before the chugging attack of guitarists Alex Shuster and Bobby Ferry, who continues to spew some of the best vocals this genre has ever had. Production-wise the album sounds like an absolute beast, with particular emphasis on Dion Thurman’s drums: they sound galactic in size. When they get down and dirty on tracks like “Proudly Damned” and “Resurrection Day” the band literally shakes my bowels loose (sorry not sorry). And although I wanted to not talk about any songs Josh already did, I have to give an extra bonus shout out to “Fortress of Hate.” The lock-step of the guitars, the way Ferry’s vocals wind their way into your brain…my first connection was to prime-era Rollins Band, but as the song goes on I realized not even the titan Henry could have given the lyrics the particular snarl that Ferry does. hands down my favorite track on the album.

And how about those covers? “Give Thanks and Praises” comes from Bad Brains’ 2007 MCA-produced album Build a Nation, and though it may be sacrilege to say, I think -(16)- do it better? When they move into the fast guitar part it sounds exactly what I wanted the new Bad Brains album to sound like, but didn’t get. Utter annihilation in under 3 minutes. As for the bonus track of Superchunk’s “The Tower” I’ll admit I wasn’t familiar with the original, so my first impression came from -(16)-‘s version, and it’s a great propulsive rocker, Ferry stretching his vocal abilities and the whole band laying into a thick, syrupy groove. Now having heard the original, I love the energy it has on its own, but there’s no denying the lethal injection -(16)- bring to it. – Chris

Is it too early to call Guides For The Misguided AOTY material? With every album -(16)- continues to surprise, sticking close to their roots but letting those roots branch and grow into avenues that make up a whole other tree under the earth, taking influences from everywhere and folding them into their unique identity. It’s only the beginning of February but I think the bar’s been set for what other bands need to achieve to even be considered in the running next to these guys. Plus, now I’ve been inoculated into Superchunk fandom so excuse me while I alternate spins of this album with No Pocky For Kitty…

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Guides For The Misguided is available now on Relapse Records. For more information on -(16)-, visit their Facebook page.