Category: Sludge

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Wright Valley Trio Share Expansive and Bruising “Leben ist Schmerz”

Deriving their name from one of the most barren and foreboding locations on Earth, a huge, dry valley in Antartica, the Wiesbaden, Germany-based doom metal outfit The Wright Valley Trio — Dominque Fricker (vocals, guitar), Robert Krause (bass, synths)_ and Matthias Rodig (drums) — was founded back in 2013, but can actually trace their origins to working together in different projects over the years.

In their decade-plus history, the trio have released two albums, 2023’s Bitter Alter, a collaborative effort with Blackstaff; and 2021’s Der Wag, as well as three EPs 2017’s Shackleton, 2018’s Submarine Funeral and 2022’s Metal Doom. And through these releases, the German doom trio have developed a sound that seamlessly meshes elements of doom, sludge and post-black metal, anchored around extremely long songs that range from cultivated boredom to heavy riffs and massive walls of sound.

The German trio’s recently released album Leben ist Schmerz is a two-song album that the band explains tells the story of a life with bipolar disorder, exploring the extremes of that condition — and the struggles it brings. Clocking in at a little under 27.30, the album’s first single, album title track “Leben ist Schmerz” is an expansive, slow-burning and downright bruising bit of sludgy doom that captures the album’s central concept with a seemingly lived-in accuracy.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Brooklyn’s DAD Shares Furious and Sludgy “Snake Handshake”

Brooklyn-based outfit DAD — James Watson (vocals), Jon Murphy (guitar), David Flick (bass) and Jeremy Duvall (drums) — specialize in a doom-drenched, sludge metal sound and lyrical approach that draws from an eclectic array of acts that include Slayer, The Jesus Lizard and Big Black among others.

“Snake Handshake,” the Brooklyn-based outfit’s second release this year through Fear Icon Records sees the band’s sound shifting from full-tilt face melt rippers to a furious and sludgier wall of sound paired with thunderously pummeling drumming and Watson’s Henry Rollins-like howls. At its core, the song expresses the sort of righteous and expected distrust of handshake-driven business deals, rooted in the shadiness of corporate types — in all industries. But interestingly, the song’s narrator invites doubts into his own integrity. Perhaps it’s all just bullshit, huh?

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Long Beach’s O ZORN! Releases a Sludgy, Mosh Pit Friendly Ripper

O ZORN! is a Long Beach, CA-based post-sludge trio led by Bill Kielty (vocals, guitar) and currently featuring Danny Walker (drums) and Billy Mud (guitar). Comprised of grizzled vets of Long Beach’s underground scene, the band formed in 2010. And since their formation, the trio have developed a reputation for a sound and songwriting approach that draws from and meshes elements of doom metal, sludge, hardcore and psych rock into a roaring and pummeling sound centered around enormous riffs and fiercely focused angst. 

The Long Beach-based post sludge act’s sophomore album Your Killer is slated for a March 6, 2020 release through Hard Drugs Records and the album, which was recorded at theFoo Fighters’ 606 Studio finds the band crafting the most boldly ambitious, focused and diverse material of their catalog to date. “Casket,” Your Killer’s first single is centered around enormous, power chord-driven riffs, relentless and thunderous drumming, mosh pit friendly hooks and Kielty’s anguished howls. And while bearing a resemblance to Screaming Life/Fopp EP and Badmotorfinger-era Soundgarden, Melvinsand others, the song as the band explains “depicts a story of a Marine that survives the Vietnam War against all odds, only to come home and his watch his wife battle cancer. In an ever changing World, now with fewer wars than ever before, the story of ‘Casket’ is a dark reminder that the ‘Rolling Death Machine’ of war is still a haunting memory for those on the battlefield and those at home fighting their own personal hell.” 

The recently released video employs an extremely DIY approach — footage of the band performing the song, shot on two iPhones and a GoPro, with a couple of strobe lights and a fog machine.