compact disc crypt

DOWN - NOLA (1995)

nola sludge metal

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'NOLA' is my favourite album of all time, no questions asked. brainchild of already massive dedicated names in metal, including pantera, crowbar, eyehategod and corrosion of conformity, the album is a whiskey-drenched, pot-smoking love letter to new orleans, to the mindset of each member of down, to dimebag darrell, to fucking weed, whatever. i love this album, i love this band, down forever and ever. lightning in a record.

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VENOM - BLACK METAL (1982)

english first wave black metal

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"LAY DOWN YOUR SOUL TO THE GODS ROCK AND ROLL!"

i'm not huge on black metal, but venom (as well as other bands that lean more into speed!) undeniably kick ass. 'black metal' has this iconic raw and unpolished sound that often gets described as "like a gig in a cellar" - cronos often says that they were mostly just going for "the heaviest sound they could get", and by god did they achieve it, especially for the time of release.

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SLEEP - SLEEP'S HOLY MOUNTAIN (1992)

california stoner doom metal

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probably the seminal stoner-doom album - look onto the rays of the new stoner sun rising! the first time i had consciously listened to anything off holy mountain was in the 'gummo' (1997) soundtrack, and seeing solomon and tummler cycle through their shitty town to music as sleazy as 'dragonaut' felt like the peak of artistry to me. i adore matt pike as a guitarist and i truly think 'holy mountain' might be a perfect album.

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PIG DESTROYER - PROWLER IN THE YARD (2001)

virginia grindcore

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"NO, NO, NO. THIS IS BEAUTIFUL. THIS IS ART."

'prowler in the yard' is a beautifully written splatterpunk story, one of obsession and romance, one full of blood and entrails. i think more grindcore should be written with doomed love in mind, especially when they have songwriting skills that match up to pig destroyer.

what initially drew me to this album and pig destroyer as a whole was the artwork, this disturbed man cutting off parts of himself and rearranging them, anything his beloved wants, he will do. it's reminiscent of 'saw' (2004) visually, dingy and dreadful. genuinely beautiful to me.

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CARCASS - HEARTWORK (1993)

british melodic death metal

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i strongly believe that, if we were meant to give aliens a singular album to listen to as an introduction to metal, 'heartwork' is the obvious answer. carcass are musical geniuses, and their ability to combine the rawness of their grindcore roots with an extremely technical approach to death metal is spectacular. also really fond of h.r. giger's artwork for this album - the subject's spine-arms are HAUNTING, this album is fucking beautiful in every single aspect.

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CROWBAR - TIME HEALS NOTHING (1995)

nola sludge metal

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crowbar are my favourite band, and "time heals nothing" is, in my opinion, their best work. the band refined their sound at this point, masterfully combining the dreadful nature of sludge metal with elements of hardcore, alongside gut-wrenching songwriting. the album explores grief and loss through vulnerable lyrics, which combined with the suffocating atmosphere, takes us into the deepest, darkest corners of kirk windstein's mind. i'm always going to be grateful for crowbar's music - this band sincerely changed my life, and this album played no small part in that.

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ACID BATH - PAEGAN TERRORISM TACTICS (1996)

louisiana sludge metal

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acid bath's second and (much to my dismay) final album, and the one that made me fall in love with sludge metal. plenty full of ballads as well as violent, heavy tracks, "paegan terrorism tactics" showcases acid bath's talents in a way i find much more organized and refined than their debut "when the kite string pops". i am so grateful to be seeing acid bath's debut headline show in the uk this summer - catch me throwing up and crying if they play venus blue 👍

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OBITUARY - SLOWLY WE ROT (1989)

floridian old school death metal

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EEEEEUUGHHHHHHHHHH.

debut album of death metal powerhouse obituary, 'slowly we rot' is a brutal experience from start to finish. each and every track fucking rips. i'm not well versed in the technical side of shit enough to do a true autopsy of the riffs here, however will say i think the standout feature of 'slowly we rot', as well as obituary's entire discography, is john tardy's vocal ability. nearly 40 years down the line and, by god, can that man scream, just as he did recording this gem of an album. would absolutely rot to this one.

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