Witch Cult - Witch Cult

Burnt Flags by Witch Cult

Witch Cult (facebook) is a Powerviolence band, leaning more toward metallic Grind and Hardcore Metal. Which apparent influences are heard in both extremes of the tempos that they play, meaning both when the pace gets extremely slow, is when they pull the sludgy Hardcore card, as well as when it’s extremely fast, by way of almost classic Grindcore. This self titled release would be a welcome addition to a collection of modern Grind, as well as to the modern Entombed or Holy Terror style Hardcore bands.
Last fm tags as powerviolence, doom, sludge, grindcore, slow

click the image above to go to their record label's online store and buy their stuff directly from it!

Seven Sisters Of Sleep/Children Of God split

Seven Sisters of Sleep - Almighty Black Talons from Eddie on Vimeo.

Bled Dry from adrian castillo on Vimeo.

An interesting duo to form a split record, Seven Sisters Of Sleep (facebook) and Children Of God both show amazing styles of sludgy down-tempo hardcore music. As dark as much as it is both raw and hard, either bands is quite the match for the other and they compliment one another’s style when both contributing to a single record. Combining droning power-chords and post-rockish tremolo-picking, this music is the emotional equivalent to getting your tooth pulled, strapped to the chair, while you are witnessing your dog getting run over. Seriously, fuck dentists for ‘just doing their job’. GOD!
Last fm tags as hardcore, punk, riot, powerviolence, slowcore, hardcore, sludge, metallic hardcore, doom metal, real metalcore

click the image above to be redirected to a store of the label that carries SSOS and COG records

Young And In The Way – V. Eternal Depression

The Great Blue Norther by Young And In The Way

This is a band who, on previous releases, reminded a lot of the blackened crust subdivision, with only hints of hardcore music. On this release, Young And In The Way (website) seem to have shed any links to any form of punk music to play an all out blackened metal style of auditory onslaught. From the uptempo crispy but still melodic tremolo-picking guitars to the suicidal atmospheric style of ambience, they pull out all the stops and give a genuine signature touch to all of the above. The growling vocals are straight up nasty and the varying tempos in between songs pulls you back and forth like a bungee-cord.
Last fm tags as crust, hardcore, blackened crust, black metal,sludge

click the image above to buy this record directly from their record label!

Mediocracy – ASOMA

Age Of War by Mediocracy

This is a melodic thrashing metal band with hardcore influences, so basically metalcore, that came out of crust, from what I’ve been told. The songtitles,and the lyrics seem to support this statement(at least ethic-wise). This is Mediocracy (facebook) from Bucharest. Extremely catchy melodies at constantly t(h)rashing fast rythms, unhindered by the always generic breakdowns and whining clean vocals that bands in this genre desperately cling to. This leaves you wishing this was the norm for the metalcore genre in stead of what it once was and, even worse, has become.
Last fm tags as crust, hardcore, sludge, neocrust, dark hardcore

Griever - Inferior

Black Vinyl Clouds by Griever

Ex-Lewd Acts band Griever (bandcamp) consists of hoarse yet emotional vocals supporting stirring dark hardcore mixed with melodic punk rock guitars. Altough it’s an entirely different band, their style would compliment that of bands like Burning Love, End Of A Year, Fucked Up or even Off With Their Heads and early The Bronx or Hot Water Music, in the same gritty punk rock class, with a very distinct style of their own. hardcore sensibilities in raw as hell punk rock music that both crush as hard as any ‘extreme’ band and move as passionately as any mellow emotional music.
Last fm tags as hardcore, sludge, punk rock,hardcore punk

click the image above to order merch directly from them!

Suffocate For Fuck Sake – Blazing Fires And Helicopters On The Frontpage

Blue Lights And Sunshine by Suffocate For Fucks Sake

It might be a close call, but Suffocate For Fuck Sake (myspace) seems like the most ambient atmospheric music with shouting vocals that’s ever graced these ears. This is something far beyond post rock with tormented screeching/screaming (like Devil Sold His Soul)and occasional mellow indie (like EF) singing. In fact, this release probably even has more spoken word samples, in some scandinavian gibberish, but that works for what it is, than actual singing by their vocalist. It works. All of it. The tempo or ambience don’t build up exponentially, but rather brick by brick, making the climax unbearably moving and the overall sound unrelentlessly holding its grip on the listener’s attention, with absolute awe and heart-rending passion.
This all coming from someone who long gave up on the ‘twinkly ambient post-whatever’. I adore this. All of this. I heard people think it’s boring, but I think that’s what happend when you listen but don’t pay close enough attention to nuances and such. Somebody get me this sort of band to do the vocals for.
turns out the full name to this album is "Blazing fires and helicopters on the frontpage of the newspaper. There´s a war going on and I´m marching in heavy boots"

Last fm  post-rock, post-metal, post-hardcore,screamo, sludge 

click the bandpic, above, to order their record directly from their label!

Thou - The Archer And The Owle EP

 listen to Voices in the Wilderness by Thou, as a preview to this record

BWOOOOAAAAAHHHHH))))
Thou (site) play some uh-masing mix between drone, doom and sludge, with a melodic kind of groove that is  so catchy, it will guarantee to get heads a-boppin, but won’t get boring when stretched on for almost 10min. On this record, they included some covers from Pygmy Lush’s briljant sophomore record, to the point where the members from that band, themselves, would never recognise it.  The voice is down right gritty and create another layer of noise to this, otherwise minimalistic, raucous sound. This band has been my revelation for music coming out of the hardcore scene, for 2011. Although they have been active a lot longer. at least I got in to it in time to catch them live on tour.

Last fm tags as sludge, doom metal, drone, doom, sludge metal

too many records on too many labels, to track them all down. found most via the link in the image above

Engineer - Crooked Voices

 listen to The Idiot's Theme by Engineer

This is the 7th release by (ex-The Minor Times band) Engineer (facebook). down-tempo hardcore with an amazing sludgy groove and their signature raw -even somewhat emotional- vocals, that both easily fit under a Post-Hardcore label. which I found interresting, since the label sludge is so often misplaced on downtempo Post-Hardcore bands, not that anyone should take such labels seriously, but this is a band that blends the trve with untr00 with the best from both worlds. nevermind. this is dark yet catchy stuff, with influences from all sorts of slow and extreme music, which always beats tapping from a single narrow source. as these guys proove.

Last fm tags as sludge, hardcore, mathcore, metalcore, metal 

click the image above to order merch from their label

This Gift Is A Curse - This Gift Is A Curse

 listen to The Big Sleep by This Gift Is A Curse

BWWWOOOO))))AAAAAHHHHHH
Last fm tags as sludge, post-metal, swedish, artcore,experimental

click the image above to order this record from their record label

Celeste - Pessimiste(s) (remastered 2010)

 listen to Diluons nos souvenirs d'enfance by Celeste

Celeste (Facebook page) is an eclectic band that rose from the ashes of french Screamo masters Mihai Edrisch. they play a coherent mix of diverse influences, from screamo to post-metal to downtempo black metal and a broad-minded range of hardcore music. they have released 4 albums which always had the most incredible artwork, and recently remastered and then repressed the first of those releases. when you place their records alongside eachother, their individual sounds are also very coherent. maybe not enough variation for some, but I'd prefer a straight forward decent band over a band that juggles between beneath average and above average songs any day.
on another note, I would like to mention that this band is probably the coolest band I've ever seen live. they have this gimmick, in which they make the room pitch black, use a stroboscope, an overabundance of smoke from a fog machine and a faint miner light attached to their foreheads. when you add that up you get the eeriest and most alien visual display.  it's the raddest thing ever, especially in combination with this pitch black music.
Last fm tags as screamo, sludge, post-hardcore, black metal, french

click the image above to order records or merch directly from the band!

for this certain release, check the site of denovali records

Light Bearer - Lapsus

 listen to Lapsus by Light Bearer

After the few promo songs by this band, I present to you Light Bearer (bandpage) their first record, released simultaneously with an EP or one sided (the other side with a silk screen picture) 12" named Beyond The Infinite, The Assembly Of God. which will most likely end up here as well. lately, this band has been outspoken about not wanting to be associated with the vocalist's past music project all too much. which is understandable. The elements and influences on this record come from such a broad spectrum of all down-tempo and/or atmospheric music, it is exhilarating to hear this band succeed to keep it in a single consistent mass. this is not the extent of a single influence xeroxed and hyped, nor is it a copy/paste clash of many incompatible spin-offs. this sound holds its own as the groundwork to something entirely unseen. while I can not agree to every single input to this sound, I embrace it in its entirety and long for as many people as possible to at least do just that.

Last fm tags as: post-metal, experimental, post-rock, hardcore, sludge

click the image above to support this band's record label by purchasing this band's merch or records. 

pretty please, with sugar on top.

Light Bearer - Beyond The Infinite, Primum Movens, Lucifer's Monody

 listen to Primum Movens by Light Bearer

Light Bearer (Myspace), is a band from the UK with members from Fall Of Efrafa and Dungeons and is my first down-tempo music post.

awaiting this band's first release, I present to you a compilation of 3 of its songs.

like Fall Of Efrafa, this band is loosely based around a concept. this time around Lucifer, and his fall from heaven (I can't help but think of Deathspell Omega). I think it's safe to say you can compare Light Bearer to FoE's latest release, only with a lot more soundscapes and atmosphere, classical instruments and twinkly post-rock structures that build up to Alex CF's signature roar, accompanied by more profound guitar arrangements than his former band's post hardcore and epic crust style. this is like a logical sequel to that band, who I found to grow into a beter band with every step they took toward it's last album. 

Light Bearer's first release will be a 6-song double LP and may be even more to my likings than these people's previous musical projects, judging from what I've only heard so far.

Last fm tags as post-metal, experimental, post-rock, hardcore, sludge

get merch or pre-orders of future Light Bearer records, by clicking the image above.