Written by:	Aristarchos
Published:	March 08, 2013

In California in the early 80's hardcore punk was at its peak. One of the biggest bands in the scene was Black Flag, who released their classic debut Damaged in 1981, one of the most influential albums for the hardcore genre. The expectations were towering among the hardcore fans when they released their follow-up three years later. However, My War, as the follower would be titled, turned out to be a big disappointment for most hardcorers. It was much slower than its predecessor, and much more influenced by metal, especially by Black Sabbath.

In Seattle a band called the Melvins was formed in 1983. Unlike many others at that time, the Melvins really liked Black Flag's 1984 album and based their sound around it.

For most people (at least outside this community) the Melvins is most famous as a predecessor for grunge, most of the big grunge bands mentions them as an influence. But now grunge is not within the frame for doom metal, so I won't talk more about that scene. Instead I will talk about all the other genres the Melvins has influenced. Almost all of the bands that will be discussed in this article has mentioned the Melvins as a big influence.

In 1986, the Melvins released their debut EP Six Songs, and the following year their debut album Gluey Porch Treatments. These recordings are often seen as the start of the sludge metal genre. Sludge is a genre that combines doom metal and hardcore punk, how contradictory it may sound. Sludge metal was in the beginning often referred to as doomcore, but since that term became common to describe a form of techno, sludge metal (or sludge doom metal) became the dominant term of this form of metal/hardcore. Apart from Black Flag, slower noise rock bands like Flipper and Swans were also big influences for the Melvins' sound.

I will return to the Melvins' evolution later in this article, but now I will turn on to another hugely influential band.

British Godflesh was formed in 1988 by former Napalm Death-guitarist Justin Broadrick. They debuted in 1988 with the EP Godflesh and in 1989 with the album Streetcleaner, both truly ground-breaking releases. Godflesh weren't exactly sludge metal (although sometimes labeled as that), instead they are one of the first bands in the industrial metal genre (and the most extreme of the early industrial metal bands), but the impact they had on the genres discussed below was enormous; only Black Flag and the Melvins could be said to be more influential on the bands discussed in this article.

Some people deny the Melvins' labeling as sludge, and claim that the first bands that really could be called sludge metal are Eyehategod and Crowbar, both from New Orleans, USA (like many other sludge bands; if I don't write which country a band is from, they are probably Americans).

Eyehategod was formed in 1988. They released two demos in 1989 resp. 1990 and album debuted in 1992 with In The Name Of Suffering. In The Name Of Suffering is more primitive, raw and closer to hardcore than their later material, but on their second album Take As Needed For Pain they got a much cleaner sound. They have released two more studio albums since.

Crowbar was formed in 1989, and debuted in 1991, with their album Obedience Thru Suffering. The band is still active and has released nine studio albums. They have mentioned hardcore/crossover thrash band Carnivore (with Peter Steele, who later would form the band Type O Negative) as one of their main influences.

Other early sludge metal bands include Acid Bath (formed in 1991, debuted 1994), Buzzov?en (formed in 1989, debuted with an EP in 1991, a full length in 1993), 16 (formed in 1991, debuted with an EP in 1992, a full length in 1993), Grief (USA) (formed in 1991, debuted with an EP in 1992, a full length in 1993) and Fudge Tunnel (formed in 1989, debuted in 1991). Iron Monkey (formed in 1994, debuted in 1996) and the Japanese Corrupted (formed in 1994, debuted in 1997) followed.

(To be honest, most of these bands mentioned above are bands I haven't listened to so I cannot give any good description of these bands' sound. There may be important parts that I have left out.)

The most famous band that is often called sludge (or at least apart from Melvins) is probably Down (a super group consisting of Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo among others; they are sometimes referred to as southern metal, if you want to accept that as a genre). They were formed in 1991 and have released three albums. The first one, NOLA, was released in 1995.

A very influential band in the sludge field is Neurosis. They were formed in 1985 as a hardcore punk band. After two hardcore albums, they released their album Souls At Zero in 1992. This album starts their evolution to an atmospheric sludge metal sound, something they would continue on with their influential releases Enemy Of The Sun (1993) and Through Silver In Blood (1996), an evolution that would lead to the post metal genre, a metal genre with influences from post rock.

There are discussions whether post metal really deserves the status as a genre on its own, and also what bands really deserves to be counted into that. Godflesh was a hugely influential band for that genre and Neurosis too (both bands had elements of the genre), but some people claim that the first true post metal band was Isis. Isis was formed in 1997, and debuted in 2000 with Celestial. Their second album Oceanic, released in 2002, is what many people consider to be the first true post metal album.

Swedish Cult Of Luna was another very influential band for the post metal genre. They were formed in 1998 and debuted in 2001 with Cult Of Luna, which also is their heaviest and most doomy album. Tool has sometimes also been referred to as post-metal, although most people deny them that status. At least they had a big influence on the genre. Tool has mentioned Melvins as one of their biggest influences, but they don't have much in common with doom, rather they are referred to only as alternative metal, or sometimes as progressive metal. Helmet was also a big influence for post metal, and is also sometimes labeled as post metal, but more often as alternative metal or post-hardcore.

Later bands that have been labeled as post metal include Pelican, Rosetta, Callisto and Jesu (Godflesh's Justin Broadrick's new band; sometimes also labelled as drone metal).

In 1999, the band Mastodon was formed; they would come to mix sludge metal with prog metal. Mastodon debuted in 2002 with their album Remission and have since released another four albums. Mastodon is perhaps the most critically acclaimed metal bands of the 2000's. All their albums are appraised, but the most praise have been given to the 2004 album Leviathan and to their 2009 album Crack The Skye.

Mastodon was followed by Kylesa, who plays a less complex and more easy-listening form of sludge than Mastodon, and is my personal favourite sludge metal band. The albums Static Tensions (2009) and Spiral Shadow (2010) are recommended.

Now I will move on to another genre hugely influenced by Black Flag and Melvins, namely stoner metal (sometimes referred to as desert metal, stoner doom metal or psychedlic doom metal). Stoner metal is often described as a slower and heavier form of stoner rock, although only some of them has a clear element of doom. Stoner has a long pre-history that even pre-dates the history of heavy metal.

Sir Lord Baltimore is often referred to as "the godfathers of stoner-rock", and they at least bordered heavy metal. Their debut album Kingdom Come was, upon its release in 1970, probably the heaviest album released, along with Black Sabbath's first two albums (and perhaps Led Zeppelin's II). In a review of the album Mike Saunders wrote "...Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book", which is one of the earliest printed use of the term heavy metal that is preserved. I think Kingdom Come is heavy enough to be considered metal, but the song structures don't sound metal.

Some people want to go even further back in time to search for the start of the stoner rock/metal genre. Blue Cheer's 1968 debut Vincebus Eruptum is sometimes referred to as the first stoner rock album. The song "Summertime Blues" from the album is often seen as the first true heavy metal song ever (something I agree with), but that is the only song on the album that I can accept as metal.

The true definition of stoner is diffuse, and a lot of other psychedelic 60's bands are sometimes labelled as stoner rock, but these have at least nothing to do with metal. Black Sabbath was of course a big influence for this genre too, but they have been discussed in my first part of the history of doom. 70's Blue Öyster Cult was also a big influence for the genre.

The first bands to often be labeled as stoner metal are Kyuss and Sleep.

Kyuss was formed in 1987, and debuted in 1991 with Wreth, but it is their second album Blues For The Red Sun that is often referred to as their masterpiece and is often called the first true stoner rock/metal album. Kyuss has mentioned Black Flag's My War album as their biggest influence. Compared to Sleep, Kyuss was lighter and not that doomy, and had as much in common with rock as with metal, and have probably influenced more stoner rock bands than stoner metal bands. They also had some mainstream success, and their frontman Josh Homme would later have even more mainstream success with his later band Queens Of The Stone Age, but they have nothing to do with metal.

Sleep on the other hand was way heavier, and there are no doubts that they could be considered a doom metal band. Sleep was formed in 1990 and debuted in 1991 with Volume One, but it is their third album Sleep's Holy Mountain that is their most classic one.

I have in my first part of The History Of Doom Metal already mentioned that bands that started in a more traditional doom metal vein like Trouble and Cathedral turned into a more stoner metallic vein, so I won't say anything more about them here. Other notable bands in the stoner metal genre are Acid King, Orange Goblin, Sons Of Otis and High On Fire (sometimes also labeled as sludge metal).

Corrosion Of Conformity started in 1982 as a crossover thrash band. In the 1990's they changed their sound to what is often considered stoner metal, although sometimes referred to as southern metal and also sludge metal.

British Electric Wizard is sometimes referred to as sludge metal, but most of the time as a stoner metal band. They were formed in 1993 and debuted in 1995 with their eponymous album, but it is their two followers Come My Fanatics (1997) and Dopethrone (2000) that are often considered their most classic albums. Electric Wizard is sometimes referred to as the heaviest band on Earth, but I guess many bands have been called that.

I promised earlier I would return to Melvins' later evolution, and for a reason. After the release of their debut album in 1987, they would release two more albums in the sludge metal genre, Ozma (1989) and Bullhead (1991). Bullhead, though, saw a little change in style, especially in the opening song "Boris", which is longer than their earlier songs, and is often seen as a predecessor for the drone metal (or drone doom metal) genre; a genre centered around repetitive sounds, lengthy slow heavy songs and often a large amount of feedback. On their next album Lysol from 1992, Melvins would continue this evolution, and perhaps this could be called the first drone metal album. On their next album Houdini, they returned to a more pure sludge sound.

Godflesh is also mentioned as a big influence on the drone metal genre. But there was one band that would take the droning farther than anyone before them: Earth.

Earth took their name from the original name of Black Sabbath. They were formed in 1989 in Seattle and released their first EP, Extra-Capsular Extraction, in 1991. In 1993 they released their debut album Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version . After another two albums they disbanded, but re-formed in 2001 and have since released another four albums. Earth's music is nearly instrumental. After the reunion they changed their sound and included influences from country, jazz and English folk rock.

The most notable bands that would follow Earth are also Seattle-based Sunn O))) (pronounced Sunn, named after the amplifier; formed in 1998, and debuted in 2000) and Japanese Boris (named after the Melvins song earlier mentioned; formed in 1992 and debuted in 1996).

Drone metal is often considered the most difficult form of doom metal to get into, but a good recommendation for starting is The Angelic Process's album Weighing Souls With Sand from 2007.

This was the last part of my series about the history of doom metal. Next I'm going to write an article about the history of prog metal...