Sludge Metal
Baroness Add New 2022 North American Leg to Tour Featuring Fan-Voted Setlists
Baroness have added a new five-week leg to their intimate “Your Baroness” tour, with the new dates kicking off in January The tour is unique in that Baroness are letting fans decide the setlist for each show. Any and all material from the band’s catalog is on the table, making the outing particularly enticing for the hardcore Baroness fan. The new itinerary kicks off January 14th in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and runs through February 19th in Boston. Tickets are on-sale Friday (December 17th) at 10 a.m. local time and can be purchased via Ticketmaster, with pre-sales beginning as early as Wednesday (December 15th) in select cities. Advertisement Related Video Previously, the band was forced to postpone some dates on the initial fall 2021 leg of the trek: Salt Lake City, Denver, Lawrence and S...
Cult of Luna Detail New Album, Unveil Lead Single “Cold Burn”: Stream
Cult of Luna have detailed their new album, The Long Road North, arriving February 11th via Metal Blade. The Swedish band also shared the video for the lead single “Cold Burn.” The new album follows Cult of Luna’s 2021 EP The Raging River, which continued the band’s prolific streak of post-metal offerings. “Cold Burn” sees the band unleashing more torrential atmospheric sludge — tones dense and immersive enough to keep us warm for the winter months to come. “It’s a big and cinematic sounding album,” said Cult of Luna singer-guitarist Johannes Persson in the press announcement. “I think one of the reasons why we have been able to be so productive the last couple of years is that we have been consistently writing from the heart. We have let our instincts guide us, and I think it’s getting cl...
Red Fang Eulogized by Matt Pike, YOB, and More in Video for “Rabbits in Hives”: Stream
Red Fang are back with more comedy gold, this time staging their own funeral for the hilarious video for “Rabbit in Hives.” Just in time for Halloween, the four members of Red Fang find themselves deceased. At the open-casket memorial, a host of the band’s fellow heavy rock luminaries are in attendance to pay their respects: a shirtless Matt Pike of High on Fire, members of YOB, Lord Dying, and more. “I was surprised by the death of Red Fang,” eulogizes the band’s now jobless tour manager. “I guess a life of marginal fame and fortune takes a toll.” Advertisement Related Video One by one the guests take their turns at the podium, which devolves in a tongue-in-cheek roast of Red Fang. When it’s Pike’s turn, he unfolds a piece of paper to read a poem he “wrote”: “Carry on my wayward sons, the...
In Photos: Psycho Las Vegas 2021 Brings Doom, Sludge, and Metal Merriment to Sin City
After canceling last year’s event due to the pandemic, and a plethora of last-minute lineup changes due to travel restrictions, Psycho Las Vegas seemingly pulled an ace from their sleeve. The festival returned this past weekend for a reworked and revamped 2021 edition that still rivaled any of their previous years. The festivities kicked off on Thursday (August 19th) with the annual Psycho Swim party, despite the cancellation of The Skull (sadly, singer Eric Wagner just passed away from COVID pneumonia). Old Man Gloom, Bongzilla, and Blackwater Holylight had all those who arrived to the festival early in the pool, beers in hand. The festival got off to its official start on Friday, with Twin Temple on the main stage at 1 p.m. COVID protocols were in place throughout the resort, and everyon...
King Woman Share Video for New Song “Psychic Wound”: Stream
King Woman have shared the music video for new song “Psychic Wound”, taken from their upcoming sophomore album, Celestial Blues, out July 30th. The new single the second album cut we’ve heard from singer Kris Esfandiari and company, following “Morning Star”. The songs have seen the atmospheric doom act shift toward even more expansive sonic territories. Ethereal vocals are backed by sludgy post-metal soundscapes, and the striking video emphasizes the macabre forewarning depicted in the lyrics. “‘Psychic Wound’ is about paying the price for eating forbidden fruit,” Esfandiari explained in a press release. “When desire turns into obsession, it can keep you longer than you intended to stay and nearly destroy your sanity.” Related Video King Woman will support the release of Celestial Blues wi...
High on Fire’s Matt Pike Announces Head on a Pike Illustrated Lyrics Book
High on Fire frontman Matt Pike has announced a new illustrated lyrics book, Head on a Pike: The Illustrated Lyrics of Matt Pike. It arrives in bookstores November 9th. The tome collects lyrics and poetry spanning Pike’s years as a member of Sleep and as the principal songwriter in High on Fire. “When I started singing, it changed the way I had to write music,” Pike told the Chicago Tribune’s Steve Knopper via the book’s press release. “I started realizing I was a natural at it. I was always a good creative writer, but words started coming to me immediately — when I get one line, fast, I start getting (full songs) down…lots of them will be metaphoric. I get really complicated when I start writing — my brain goes two different ways.” Related Video Accompanying Pike’s words are brand ne...
Red Fang Announce Fall 2021 US Tour
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-06-02T22:37:57+00:00“>June 2, 2021 | 6:37pm ET Portland heavy rockers Red Fang have announced a 2021 U.S. fall tour in support of their forthcoming new album, Arrows, out this Friday (June 4th). Starcrawler, Here Lies Man, and Warish (fronted by Tony Hawk’s son Riley), will open select dates of the tour. The trek kicks off October 15th in Tacoma, Washington, and runs through November 20th, ending with a show in Anchorage, Alaska. The tour will take Red Fang across most of the country, including notable dates at Warsaw in Brooklyn (November 4th); The Metro in Chicago (November 11th); and the Bluebird Theatre in Denver (November 15th). Related Video “It’ll be two years in the waiting,...
Psycho Las Vegas 2021 Lineup: Danzig, Emperor, Down, Cannibal Corpse, GZA, Flaming Lips, and more
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-22T15:30:15+00:00“>May 22, 2021 | 11:30am ET An updated lineup for Psycho Las Vegas 2021 has been revealed, offering significant changes from the one that was announced last year in the wake of the festival’s postponement due the pandemic. Danzig and Emperor are still on board as headliners, but Mercyful Fate have dropped off the bill, with Down moving up into the vacant headlining slot. Back in June 2020, after it was announced that last year’s edition of the fest wouldn’t be taking place, organizers revealed that most of the planned 2020 lineup would return in 2021. However, a number of those acts are no longer on the bill, including Mercyful Fate, Boris, At the Gates, Katatoni...
Red Fang Unveil “Funeral Coach” as Latest Single from Upcoming Album Arrows: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-26T18:29:49+00:00“>April 26, 2021 | 2:29pm ET Red Fang have released the track “Funeral Coach” as the second single from their forthcoming album, Arrows. The song comes in advance of the LP’s June 4th release date. “Funeral Coach” follows the album’s title track, which arrived earlier this month upon the announcement of the new album. The new song delivers Red Fang’s heavy brand of stoner rock, settling into a driving riff around the 35-second mark. As for the song’s intriguing title, singer-bassist Aaron Beam revealed the inspiration in a press release. Related Video “I was driving around and I saw a hearse that said, ‘funeral coach services’ on the back,” said Beam. “So the fir...
Eyehategod’s A History of Nomadic Behavior Delivers a Fresh Batch of Potent Sludge: Review
The Lowdown: Few myths have been beaten into the ground as badly as the adage that rock ‘n’ roll is supposed to represent danger. Within metal specifically, cultivating a dark aura is so par for the course that it’s actually one of the safest routes artists can take. Nevertheless, when the New Orleans sludgecore outfit Eyehategod roared their way to prominence in the ‘90s with albums like In the Name of Suffering and Dopesick, the woefulness that pervaded their music came from a genuine place. Where the majority of their peers tended toward exaggerated expressions of anger, Eyehategod’s forays into addiction, mental illness, and despair didn’t come across as an affectation, but as a raw glimpse into the human condition that cut all the way to the bone. Eyehategod didn’t need to draw from t...
Melvins Celebrate 1983 Lineup on Noisy Riff Fest Working with God: Review
The Lowdown: At this point in their lengthy career, the Melvins are out to entertain themselves as much as their audience. This has included fruitful solo projects from founding members Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover, as well as alternate versions of the band itself such as Melvins Lite and Melvins 1983 — the latter being a modern take on an early Melvins lineup. The “Melvins 1983” lineup is featured on the new album Working with God, with Osborne on vocals and guitar, Crover on bass, and original drummer Mike Dillard back in the fold. The LP is the trio’s second album in this format, and like the first, it sees the Melvins reveling in copious riffage and lowbrow humor. After all, they were teenagers when they formed the band. The Good: Technically, the band’s 1983 lineup includ...
Eyehategod Unleash New Song “Built Beneath the Lies”: Stream
Eyehategod have shared a new single, “Built Beneath the Lies”, from their highly anticipated album, A History of Nomadic Behavior, out March 12th. With each new single, the NOLA vets have offered another catchy slice of grooving sludge metal. “Built Beneath the Lies” is driven by a fuzzy riff and has a more hectic punk approach — the aural backdrop for some seriously filthy vocals from Mike IX Williams. “’Built Beneath the Lies’ is another acidic Eyehategod song playing in the background while the back alleys burn with nervous alcoholic tension and people all over cancel their summer plans to stare at the wall,” Williams said of the track in his typically sardonic manner. Williams’ vocals are placed high in the mix, giving added emphasis to the lyrics. Once again, the words and title ...
