Birushanah - Akai Yami

Artist: Birushanah
Album: Akai Yami
Genre: Doom Metal
Year: 2007
Origin: Japan

Birushanah is a sludge/doom metal band that gets the 'experimental' label for the strong influences from traditional Japanese music. The three long tracks on this, their only full-length release, are great. The bass player is a former member of Corrupted, so expect a similar feel.

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Hyatari - They Will Surface

Artist: Hyatari
Album: They Will Surface
Genre: Drone / Doom / Sludge
Year: 2008
Origin: USA

Hyatari is a drone / doom metal band from West Virginia. The drone reputation comes mostly from the first album I think, since this one, their second, is sludgy doom and slow, melancholic rock that is far too melodic to be considered drone. The music is totally instrumental, but still emotional.

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Morne - Untold Wait

Artist: Morne
Album: Untold Wait
Genre: Sludge / Crust
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

Morne is another crust band that plays atmospheric, sludgy music that is very reminiscent of Fall of Efrafa. The band-members hail from a notable crust-punk background, from bands such as Disrupt and Filth of Mankind, but they obviously have been influenced by post-metal just as much. This is a style that I think is really starting to take off, and I can't say I'm sorry.

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Encircling Sea - demo

Artist: Encircling Sea
Album: demo
Genre: Sludge/Doom Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: Australia

This demo album consists of a single 48 minute track. It's a good 12 minutes into the song before the heaviness hits, which makes it rush through one's headphones all the more furiously. The song includes long ambient passages, and finishes up with a descent into black metal riffing. I haven't been able to listen to the whole thing in one sitting yet (maybe it should've been 2 tracks?), but it's great atmospheric, cerebral music.

Thanks to Encircling Sea for sending me this album! I like to promote underground artists on this blog, particularly those that want to be part of the music-sharing community. Of course I still only post music that I really like!

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Fall of Efrafa - Owsla

Artist: Fall of Efrafa
Album: Owsla
Genre: Neocrust
Year: 2006
Origin: UK

Fall of Efrafa are a sludge/crust/post-metal band from Brighton. Apparently they are a concept-band about the mythology in the novel “Watership Down” By Richard Adams (which I haven't read). Anyway, the songs on this, their debut album, are epic and crushing in all the right ways, starting out with a simple and dark cello intro and building their marching army of sound as they head to the crash against rocks that is the self-titled final track. I also have the second album, and I guess the third is out now so I would love to hear it; I wonder, will they disband after the trilogy, or just let the 'concept-band' idea fade away.

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Burst - Prey On Life

Artist: Burst
Album: Prey On Life
Genre: Progressive Metalcore
Year: 2003
Origin: Sweden

To me Burst sounds somewhat like Mastodon with different vocals and better song-writing. It's got metalcore elements and sludge elements, but mainly it's just awesome progressive metal. I really like every song on this album.

band site

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Boris - Akuma No Uta

Artist: Boris
Album: Akuma No Uta
Genre: Drone/Stoner Rock/Psychedelic Rock/Doom (says metal-archives)
Year: 2003
Origin: Japan

Boris goes from crushingly heavy, full-on droning walls of distortion to upbeat garage-punk (still crushingly heavy) to beautifully psychedelic guitar melodies, all in the same album. I saw Boris live about a year ago, and it was definitely the loudest show I've heard and also one of the most mentally-encompassing. This music can bring me into a trance and then start me banging my head and sometimes even singing along. This might be music for headphones, just don't turn it up too loud or the bass might stop your heart.

band site (it's got a very interesting layout. check it out!)

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YOB - The Illusion of Motion

Artist: YOB
Album: The Illusion of Motion
Genre: Doom Metal / Sludge
Origin: USA
Year: 2004

Though I think The Unreal Never Lived is YOB's finest album, this is another wonderful release from the Oregon based doom metal / sludge band. YOB sadly broke up in 2006, but the guitarist/singer started a new band named Middian (unless the bullshit lawsuit by Midian forces a name change), which is supposedly much more rock oriented. The music on this album is crushingly heavy and is made up of 4 very long songs, but it doesn't really ever get bogged down in mundaneness or repetition, the flaw of many similarly styled bands. The growls and the clean-ish vocals complement each-other nicely.

UPDATE: yAy! YOB is back! party time!

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