THE BLIND PHILOSOPHER

 

I'm gonna say it now and get it out of the way, this will be my AOTY. I can't imagine anything else coming out this year that will have the impact on me that this album did. This album is a perfect mixture of death metal, sludge, and atmosphere. It just hits so hard. Back in 2020 I posted a top 50 all time albums list, if this would have been out then it would have been on there. The closest thing i can think of that hits me like this album is the Absent In Body album from a few years ago (which would be on that list also if it had been out). Due to Scott Kelly being exposed as the shitstick he is, we may never get another AIB. If The Blind Philosopher is as close as I ever get to the feeling that AIB left me with, I'm OK with that. They fill that void perfectly.

name yo price

gud - demo

GUD out of Drammen, Norway play heavy sludge with stoner and doom influences. Their demo released March 9, 2026 with five Norwegian-language tracks of slow, crushing riffage. The band describes their sound as "sludge'n roll" - grinding, down-tuned heaviness with groovy stoner vibes. This is over 25 minutes of oppressive, feedback-drenched sludge-doom.

FFO: Noothgrush, Thou, Primitive Man 

Cell Press - Tabula Rasa

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Cell Press out of Montreal, Québec play experimental noise rock with mathcore chaos and sludge weight. Tabula Rasa dropped March 6, 2026 with four tracks of angular, dissonant heaviness. Featuring members from The Great Sabatini, Architect, Bleak, The Chariot, I Hate Sally, Typeface, Obelisk, Biipiigwan, ete... the band delivers nearly 17 minutes of crushing, technical aggression. Mixed by Scott Evans of Kowloon Walled City with guest vocals from Julien Lévesque and Mark McGee on "Orphan-Crushing Machine."

FFO: KEN Mode, Kowloon Walled City, Gaze, Chat Pile

My Condolences

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My Condolences are a Northern Kentucky two-piece (Jordan on Baritone guitar & vocals with Corey on drums) that play sludgy d-beat hardcore with doomed-out screamo heaviness. Their debut The Pressure Builds dropped August 1, 2020 with eight tracks of crushing desparation and metallic aggression. They tear through nearly 21 minutes of slow, grinding punishment. D-beat rhythms meet sludge metal with a smothering weight and bleak atmosphere. This was released through The Ghost is Clear Records on a 45 rpm 12" lathe cut which  is sold out. Live at Healer in Indianapolis 10/07/22, a cassette release, came out August 3, 2023 on Tomb Tree Tapes (also sold out) with five live tracks captured at Healer in Indianapolis. And if you're local, you can check them out on April 18th at DSGN Collective in Cincinnati playing with Lordship for the Sealer record release. Also, My Condolences features members of Flesh Mother, Scenario, Clouded, Burn Victim, Suffocate Faster & Suicide Pact. I'm really looking forward to hearing more stuff from these dudes.

FFO: Eyehategod, Torch Runner, Loma Prieta, Celeste

NUR - Shock Mentality

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NŪR out of Haifa, Israel deliver their 1st full-length Shock Mentality via Sludgelord Records. After years playing sprawling post-metal, the band shifted hard into aggressive sludge/hardcore with blackened edges—angrier, faster, and denser than anything they've done before. Eight tracks rip through media desensitization, political decay, and societal collapse, closing with "The Line Age," the track that originally sparked this heavier direction.

FFO: Portrayal of Guilt, Gaza, KEN Mode

Emanating Peace - S/T EP

Sometimes, just sometimes, good things DO happen here. Emanating Peace is a Cincinnati/Northern KY based sludge/hardcore band that is relatively new with a lot of members that are literally a stone's throw from me. This simultaneously makes me so happy, because I fucking love it, but I'm also a little pissed at myself because I didn't put together a band like this myself. Still time I guess. This Self Titled EP has got pretty much everything I look for in bands these days: Generally mid-tempo to fast hardcore drumming, not a billion fucking blast beats constantly. As a bass player in most of my previous bands, I really appreciate actually being able to hear the thud of the bass here. Guitars are nasty with what sounds like some Boss HM-2 pedals in the mix, and the vocals are super aggressive without being a screaming mess of noise. All of this combines to make a near-perfect, groove-laden, heavy as fuck, angry 6-song, 6-minute release. I only wish there were more tracks, but hopefully more are on the way. I still cant believe these dudes are in my backyard, can't wait to see them live, which I'll be doing soon in March. Check this out for sure.

FFO: Cursed, Nails, Cult Leader, Sect, The Swarm

YOUTUBE & GRAB THE PHYSICAL CD AT GOLD DUST RECORDS

DEATH CULT - Self Titled

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Death Cult is a hardcore and sludge metal band from Limoges, France. The band formed in 2015 and the members have previous history in the French underground scene, specifically in the band Purgatory. The group recently released their debut full-length record, a self-titled album. This follows their previous work, the Eternal Treblinka EP and the single "The Void." The new release features a heavy, slow-tempo sound with themes focused on social and environmental collapse.

FFO:  Primitive Man, Celeste, Cowards

Armus - Mirror Image

 

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Armus from Portland, Maine just put out Mirror Image and it’s heavy as hell. They’ve always had that slow and kind of hypnotic creepy doom vibe, and this record keeps it going by mixing in elements of sludge and death metal. This new one clocks in at just under half an hour, but every track feels massive.

FFO: Electric Wizard, Conan, Primitive Man, Coffins

VAARA - Transition

 

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Here's some heavy, sludge-y, math-y, VERY Swedish post-metal doomcore with a very cool, very Midsommar-esque cover. Tell me you all have seen Midsommar.

End Times Vision - A Career In High-Potency Capsules

There is basically nothing out there on the web about End Times Vision, other than their Instagram page and the fact that they are a noise rock/sludge metal band from Athens, GA. At times this debut full-length on Lead Mouth Records veers a little too close to stoner rock for my tastes (not a big fan), but it's sheer presence won me over. This band has a huge, noisy, sludge-punk sound, especially for a 3-piece, and what they honestly sound most like, to me, is Shallow North Dakota. So, I'm already a fan. Hope you enjoy too. 

Rue - to subsist in ruin..

 

FROM: Lowell, Massachusetts

GENRE: Neocrust, Sludge, D-Beat

RELEASED: May 1, 2025

Ozium - E.P.

 

FROM: Lafayette, Indiana

GENRE: Doom, Sludge, Stoner

RELEASED: April 20, 2025

Secret Cutter - ///

 

Secret Cutter is one of my all time favorite bands, and their last album, Quantum Eraser from 2018 is one of my favorite albums. So I was beyond thrilled to see they just put out a brand new record last month, and it is fucking great. Non-stop, pummeling, industrial-sounding, catchy, groovy grind. I don't know of another band that sounds like this. Check them out if you aren't familiar. This one isn't free either but it's streaming at all the usualy locations of course. 

FROM: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

GENRE: Grind, Sludge, Powerviolence

RELEASED: March 20, 2025

I.E.D. - Demo

FROM: Ontario, CanadaGENRE: Powerviolence, SludgeRELEASED: April 4, 2025

Coffin Womb - Dead Or Dead Weight

 

FROM: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

GENRE: Hardcore, Sludge, Grind

RELEASED: March 28, 2025

FAW - Unpath

FROM: Liège, BelgiumGENRE: Doomgaze, Sludge, MetalRELEASED: March 16, 2025

Soul Tomb - Drowning

 

FROM: Sweden

GENRE: Doom Metal, Sludge

RELEASED: January 14, 2025

A.V.L - Demo

FROM: Edinburgh, UK
GENRE: Crust Punk, Hardcore Punk, Sludge
RELEASED: January 21, 2024
DOWNLOAD: Name Your Price at Bandcamp [below]

 

CUSS

probably should have been released in 1992. i miss the 90s

name yo price

 

Rue - Despondence E​.​P. (2023)

HARDCORE PUNK / D-BEAT / DOOM / NEOCRUST / SLUDGE