Listening to noise-sludge and microtonal Middle-Eastern folk-rave-metal songs, although infinitely entertaining and awesome, definitely can fatigue your ears and brains. So, let’s talk about a more standard metal album for once. But it’s a good one… And an independent slash underground band, so… that fits us pretty well still!Vetha is a French trio playing as a quatuor (the guitarist and drummer recorded the bass on the album) groove metal band. Musically, it draws inspiration certainly from Pantera and the likes, and perhaps some more recent groove metal like some of the harder-hitting Periphery songs, or from bands like … Read more
I once considered myself a fan of stoner rock and metal. And that’s mostly because Mastodon slayed (to each his own opinion, but the latest album was crap). However, when I tried and ventured into the deep haze of the genre, I found out that almost every band in the stoned area was pretty much just that: stoned, and deserved to be just that: stoned. Of course I found a few, but that are good and worthy: 
From Beautiful British-Columbia comes Seer, a vintage-sounding stoner/sludge metal band which makes them, from this point of view, similar to Dawnbringer. Obviously, the two bands have wildly different influences and goals for their music, but still.
Snailking are, truly to their name, the kings of slow, sludgy, heavy, moody, drony doom music. Their sophomore album Storm only confirms that claim, and for those who can appreciate that kind of music, it’s a good one!