the Top 10 Sludge Albums of 2023

 

Let's face it this might be the last top ten list for this genre I get to make as the world could end at any moment these days. These are the bands that best celebrated the coming apocalypse as Sludge should. After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year. 2023. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Sludge albums of 2023.

10- No Spill Blood - "Eye of Night" 

This Irish band's second album finds them taking and very hard-driving form of sludge and marrying it to synth-driven rock. The more analogue synth soundsslowly drips into their atmosphere. A throaty bark is the narrative. This instills the anger of sludge into the proceedings. Their strength is touching on the sonic space atmosphere is embraced and is at the heart of their heaviness rather than just trying to beat this sound into your ears.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/01/no-spill-blood-eye-of-night.html

9- the Moth - "Frost" 

 The new album from this German trio is an interesting blend of fuzzed-out dark sounds. The vocals are layered, and the guitars drive things in a sludge direction. This is their first album for Exile on Mainstream and is a good snapshot of who this band is. There is a punk simplicity, but a rich layering of vocal melodies thanks to the voice of Cecile Ash. She manages to be equally commanding and despondent.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-moth-frost.html

8- Cinema Cinema - " Mjölnir"

This band has Thor Harris from Swans playing with them, along with Sonic Youth's producer on the board. They also have a hammering anger that gets released in a dynamic fashion with punk tendencies.  Brooding sonic shadows shading their musings, in a manner not unlike bands such as Liars or Xiu Xiu, who both took ample inspiration from Swans with  vocals are a charismatic ranting about hard social truths amid there otherwise explosive nature. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/07/cinema-cinema-mjolnir.html

  7-Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean - "Obsession Destruction"

 Compared to their 2020 album "The Vestige"  the vocals have more of a scathing of a scream. The retain the plodding element of doom but this time it flows more like a indie rock or shoegaze in the manner it shimmers toward the bleak abyss of sound they draw from. This album finds the band taking chances outside their mission statement of just being heavy as all hell which they also achieve. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/05/chained-to-bottom-of-ocean-obsession.html

6-Moor-"Heavy Heart" 

This German band adds more melodic colors to the sludge formula with  less howled almost sung vocals, and post-rock atmosphere, that can only further Neurosis comparisons but at the same time allows the band to find themselves amidst this. They are very effective at painting the picture they set out to convey with their instruments and it's a fun listen .

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/11/november-is-doom-moor-heavy-heart.html

 

5-Obelyskkh -" Ultimate Grace of God" 

This German metal band marries the lumbering crunch of sludged-out doom with crusty punk attitude.This album was teased as early as 2019 so it has been at least 4 years in the making now. Some of the angular twists and turns the riffs make show their more dexterity-induced sense of adventure. The production of this album  is very natural in how the sounds are captured. They have a prog-like sense of wonderment when the songs sprawl out. Their fifth album took five years to bring to fruition, so every note is well thought out.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2022/12/obelyskkh-ultimate-grace-of-god.html

4-Ugly-"Autograph"

In the 90s sludge was more crazed and less composed than the sludge of today. It owed more to crust and punk, than it does today, and this band remembers that. There are certainly metallic moments when every thing converges upon a riff to crush you. I like the darker sonic that include the use of samples. The vocals take a little bit to get use to as they are very raw, with barely any effects on them just crazed man screaming into a mic. Krysta Curry from Landmine Marathon also share vocal duties while helping out with synths, samples, and percussion.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/03/ugly-autograph.html

3- Predatory Void - "the Seven Keys to the Discomfort of Being" 

Combining members of Amenra with the vocalist from Russian Black Metal band Cross Bringer, there is something dark and powerful being created here. While Lina's vocal mainly focus on more brutal harshness, she does sing some passages in a more ethereal alto . The heaviness is a like a crashing wave , it hit and then recedes with a throb. These guys are more sludge than any other genre as the sonic heaviness approaches the shadows rather than bathing in them.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/predatory-void-seven-keys-to-discomfort.html

2- Fange- "Privation" 

This French band still connects the dots to hard core, but now have a more industrial influence creeping in. The vocals are still driven by a mean roar. This album finds them getting even darker, so they . It should be said that they come to this sonic intersection without hopping on the Code Orange band wagon. Sometimes the more crushing aspects of the riffing put them in a similar stylistic zip code, but they get there in a very organic fashion, making me suspect they know who they are while doing this. They are actually heavier than Code Orange typically gets with a more metallic intent a more hammering brand of sludge.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/08/fange-privation.html

 

1-the Lion's Daughter -"Bath House" 

There is a great deal going on with this album. The synths are very present in the mix going into the otherwise hammering open song. Throaty vocals are aggressive but howled more than growled. Sung vocals often emote over what is a  more brooding turn for the band. There is an ominous feel to counterbalance the more grandiose feel. I really enjoyed this one it's an improvement over what they did on "Skin Show" This album grew on me, and carries great depth.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-lions-daughter-bath-house.html