sludge metal

Album Review: Pyrithe — “Monuments to Impermanence”

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‘Sludge metal’ is perhaps the most underexplained genre descriptor that metal has going for it. Ask five different people what they think sludge metal is and I’m willing to bet real world money you’d get about five different answers. Yet this lack of orthodoxy is also perhaps the microgenre’s biggest strength: calling something sludge metal, particularly the more modern kinds of metal that get labeled as such, is usually a sign you’re going to get something unexpected within your listening experience. Pyrithe‘s Monuments to Impermanence is a prime example of the kinds of weird and exciting places that sludge can lead someone.

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Absent In Body’s CHVE and Mathieu on new album “Plague God,” skateboarding, Belgium, and much more! 

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Absent In Body are the absolute epitome of a supergroup with membership spanning Amenra, Neurosis, and Sepultura. Just the thought of these souls coming together for a project brings to mind some of the heaviest, most emotional and spiritualistic filled music on the planet. And that’s exactly what they’ve cooked up on debut Plague God. It’s not unlike anything this group has done before yet it’s entirely its own thing with an industrial tinge that‘s pointed with sludge and doom and seismic levels of suffocating atmosphere. Buke sat down with Colin H. Van Eeckhout and Mathieu J. Vandekerckhove to discuss the new album, how it came to be, what brought the band together, and the multitude of ideas behind it all. They also discuss how it felt for these two artists to branch out a bit musically in the Absent In Body mindset, skateboarding and the joys, and pain, of the sport, the Belgian metal scene and how they both were first exposed to metal, their friendship with Scott Kelly and Igor Cavalera, working with Relapse Records, the decision to have Amenra’s last album in their native tongue, and so much more.

This is an epic conversation with two legendary artists, so grab your beverage of choice and settle in for another edition of the Nine Circles Audio Thing.

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Crowbar’s Kirk Windstein on new album “Zero and Below,” the NOLA music scene, KISS, and much more!

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Crowbar – image courtesy of Justin Reich

Crowbar is a band that has long been in legendary status. They’ve blazed a path in sludge metal since 1990 and have roots as far back as 1979. They’ve influenced about as many bands as people they’ve played in front of throughout the world and through all this, and on album number twelve, they are still as heavy and vital as ever. Zero and Below is a beast of an album that is as much of the band’s legacy as powdered sugar is to beignets or butter to crawfish. But, it’s also an album that continues the trajectory of one of the most beloved bands in the history of metal. Sludge would be an entirely different animal if not for Crowbar and their savage riffs coupled with Kirk’s gravelly vocals, and Zero and Below is yet another triumph in a long line of them. Buke sat down with Kirk Windstein (aka RIFF LORD) and discussed the new album and how it feels to be on album number twelve, the NOLA music scene and how all its musicians create the most original and unique sounds as well as how it feels like one big family, a bit of Crowbar history and how Kirk got started on the guitar, a lifelong fandom of KISS and his favorite member, Kirk’s love of animals, absolutely zero retirement plans in the works, and a whole host of other topics.

This is a killer conversation, so grab your beverage of choice and settle in for a wicked edition of the Nine Circles Audio Thing.

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Album Review:  Monolord — “Your Time to Shine”

Angela Block1 Comment
Monolord - Your Time To Shine

Masters of riffs and doomy goodness, Monolord have emerged from the smoke after two years with their latest full-length release Your Time to Shine.  This is most certainly a Monolord album, however, there is some fine-tuning and added finesse making it a unique addition to the band’s discography.  It may even be the best album by the Swedish trio to date.  This dynamic album has everything fans love about Monolord—amazing riffs, sludge distortion, hypnotic doom metal vocals—with added dramatics and wrapped in a crisp production.  Your Time to Shine was created with “liters of coffee, cinnamon buns, and good bad jokes” which can be felt in these five tracks.  Who knew that was the perfect formula for creating stellar doom metal?

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Embracing the Descent: September 5 – 11, 2021

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EMBRACING TEMP LOGO

Been awhile since we did one of these. Extra day off, extra time, all that jazz. Whatever. You know how this rolls, we pick a fresh batch of albums that struck a chord and you go binge on them. Simple, right? We don’t need to tell you but will anyway; 2021 has given us some gems and will continue to do so and for that we all need to thank the dark lord that bands are even still making music after the shit everyone has been through and still going through. New favorites are coming out every week with no end in sight. This week we’ve got five that struck like lightning; two of them are from last week, but demand your prompt attention. Head inside to see what’s in store and don’t forget to check out the full listing from Monday’s Initial Descent.

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