You might find it strange to see a Soundgarden article on this website. But why is that? For many older metal fans, the term “Grunge” still holds a powerful emotional weight as the music that opened the gates for the benign, solo-less drivel of late-90s post-grunge and nu-metal. But this perception is actually deeply mistaken and unfair, as all the major Seattle bands (even Mudhoney) employed guitar solos and incorporated major metal influences into their sound. Soundgarden also seems like a puzzling choice for an extreme music site, especially for those casual listeners who are only familiar with their more widely-known works (e.g. “Black Hole Sun,” “Spoonman,” “Burden in My Hand”). And while there’s plenty to explore in Soundgarden’s more rock-oriented output, there’s a glorious, explosive quality to their heaviest songs that deserves greater attention. Though they’re known, along with Alice in Chains, as the more “metal-oriented” bands from the grunge movement, they’re even heavier than most metal fans give them credit for (or even themselves, Kim Thayil still bridles at the band being called “metal”). Continue reading →