Editing Sludge metal (section)

==Characteristics==
[[File:Buzz Osborne The Melvins Live @ Slim's 03.jpg|thumb|The [[Melvins]] were one of the earliest and most influential sludge metal bands]]Alex Deller of ''[[Metal Hammer]]'' describes sludge metal as a "[[mutant]] cousin to both [[Doom metal|doom]] and [[stoner metal]]", incorporating the "misery of the former and the prodigious narcotic consumption of the latter while spewing [[nihilism]], [[self loathing]] and frenzied [[punk rock]] aggression into the vomitous mix." He also described the style as "arguably the biggest, ugliest [[Mongrel|mutt]]" of the extreme metal subgenres.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dellerpublished |first=Alex |date=2021-04-07 |title=How to get into… Eyehategod |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/eyehategod-essential-albums-guide |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Louder |language=en}}</ref>

The key characteristics of sludge metal are a slow [[tempo]] combined with [[Guitar tunings#Dropped tunings|down-tuned]], heavily [[Distortion (music)|distorted]] guitars.<ref name="King2018" /> However, some bands do make use of tempo changes into faster sections. The key element that differentiates sludge from other doom metal derived styles is its influence from hardcore punk, particularly the genre's use of high aggression and [[screaming (music)|screamed]] vocals, though the genre can include sung vocals.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Matt |title=1980s heavy metal explosion: a guide to sub-genres |date=April 29, 2010 |url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/1980s-heavy-metal-explosion-a-guide-to-sub-genres-249338 |access-date=24 September 2023}}</ref> Many sludge bands also make use of elements of [[industrial music]],<ref>{{cite magazine|date=August 2009|title=Sludge Special|magazine=[[Terrorizer (magazine)|Terrorizer]]|issue=187|pages=45|issn=1350-6978 |quote="Punk and metal may have gotten together to create sludge, but they were an infertile couple. Someone else had to provide the turkey baster that would lead to the resulting offspring of the clash of seemingly disparate genres, one that even if it shouldn't be labeled can still be seen as a distinct, unique musical entity. 'Honestly in the beginning it was like, old Swans, SPK. That's where we got the feedback and shit and the noise,' explains EyeHateGod drummer Joey LaCaze on said baster. 'The industrial side, the sampling, like the first album and all the Manson shit we did on Take As Needed for Pain,' continues Mike IX Williams, 'that was like Throbbing Gristle influence you know.'"}}</ref> [[southern rock]]<ref name="Sharpe2005B" /> and [[blues]].<ref name="Quietus, 2014" /> ''[[Bandcamp Daily]]'' writer Noah Berlatsky described the genre as "visceral and ugly".<ref name="Berlatsky, 2017" /> 

Sludge metal's lyrics explore real-world themes, while often also making light of the darkness of these topics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anselmi |first1=J.J. |title=Doomed to Fail |date=2020 |publisher=Rare Bird |page=145 |quote=Because sludge is slow metal often written by people who grew up playing punk, there's a sneering irony you won't find in doom. Instead of depicting that most epic battle between good and evil, or reaching for spiritual truth, sludge is typically more grounded, delving into life's negativity while laughing at its absurdity.}}</ref> [[Drug addiction]] is a common theme, while discussion of poverty and pollution are also prevalent.<ref name="Quietus, 2014">{{cite web |title=On March The Saints: The Evolution Of New Orleans Metal |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/15616-nola-metal-eyehategod-down-crowbar |website=[[The Quietus]] |date=June 27, 2014 |access-date=24 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Travers |first1=Paul |title=Crowbar's Kirk Windstein: "Your friends have been calling and freaking out, you've been on some cartoon called Beavis And Butt-Head" |url=https://www.kerrang.com/crowbars-kirk-windstein-your-friends-have-been-calling-and-freaking-out-youve-been-on-some-cartoon-called-beavis-and-butt-head |website=[[Kerrang!]] |date=May 21, 2020 |access-date=24 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Anselmi |first1=J.J. |title=Doomed to Fail |date=2020 |publisher=Rare Bird |page=172 |quote=Even when the punk influence is more buried than it is in Melvins or Eyehategod's music, sludge bands often focus on social ills like economic disparity, humanity's incessant drive to poison the earth, and widespread addiction. They typically provide snapshots without solutions: "Look at this shithole, here's music to match it."}}</ref>

Sludge bands who lean more towards hardcore are sometimes called sludgecore by music historians including Garry Sharpe-Young and David Pearson.<ref name=Sharpe2005/><ref name=Pearson2020>{{cite book|title=Rebel Music in the Triumphant Empire: Punk Rock in the 1990s United States|last1=Pearson|first1=David|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2020|chapter=Ch3-The Dystopian Sublime of Extreme Hardcore Punk|pages=121|isbn=978-0197534885|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=CooIEAAAQBAJ|page=121}}}}</ref> New Orleans is the birthplace of the sludgecore movement,<ref name=Bukszpan91>{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal|last1=Bukszpan|first1=Daniel|publisher=Sterling, New York|year=2012|isbn=978-1402792304|page=91|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=WiQKuAAACAAJ|page=}}}}</ref> with Eyehategod being this style's frontrunner.<ref name=Sharpe2005/> More recently, sludgecore bands like [[the Abominable Iron Sloth]], [[Admiral Angry]] and [[Black Sheep Wall]] have emerged.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heilman |first=Max |date=2021-03-03 |title=Album Review: BLACK SHEEP WALL Songs for the Enamel Queen |url=https://metalinjection.net/reviews/black-sheep-wall-emsongs-for-the-enamel-queen-em |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Metal Injection |language=en-US}}</ref>