Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres. Both the music and the lyrics are intended to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom. The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, who formed a prototype for doom metal. During the first half of the 1980s, a number of bands such as Witchfinder General and Pagan Altar from England, American bands Pentagram, Saint Vitus, the Obsessed, Trouble, and Cirith Ungol, and Swedish band Candlemass defined doom metal as a distinct genre. Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Trouble and Candlemass have been referred to as "the Big Four of Doom Metal".
Crust punk is a subgenre of punk rock influenced by the English punk scene as well as extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early 1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on political and social ills. The term "crust" was coined by Hellbastard on their 1986 Ripper Crust demo.
Sludge metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, tuned down guitars and nihilistic lyrics discussing poverty, drug addiction and pollution.
Neurosis is an American post-metal band from Oakland, California. It was formed in 1985 by guitarist Scott Kelly, bassist Dave Edwardson, and drummer Jason Roeder, initially as a crust punk band. Chad Salter joined as a second guitarist and appeared on the band's 1987 debut Pain of Mind and then Steve Von Till replaced him in 1989. The following year, the lineup further expanded to include a keyboardist and a visual artist. Beginning with their third album Souls at Zero (1992), Neurosis transformed their hardcore sound by incorporating diverse influences including doom metal and industrial music, becoming a major force in the emergence of the post-metal and sludge metal genres.
Discharge are an English hardcore punk band formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The band is known for influencing several sub-genres of extreme music and their songs have been covered by some of the biggest names in heavy metal and other genres. The musical sub-genre of D-beat is named after Discharge and the band's distinctive drumbeat.
Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It initially specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to include artists from black metal, hardcore punk and crust punk bands.
Disrupt was an American crust punk band from Lynn, Massachusetts, that was active from 1987 to 1993.
Acid Bath was an American sludge metal band from Houma, Louisiana, that was active from 1991 to 1997. They combined a doom metal foundation with elements of hardcore punk, death metal, gothic rock, blues, and Southern rock to create their unique sound. The band broke up following the death of bassist Audie Pitre in a January 1997 traffic collision.
Burning Witch was an American doom/sludge metal band from Seattle, Washington, active between 1995 and 1998. Aside from EPs and split releases, the band released a compilation album called Crippled Lucifer, which had songs of their early EPs.
Boris is a Japanese band that draws variously from styles such as sludge metal, drone, noise, psychedelia, and minimalism. Formed in 1992 in Tokyo, the band is composed of drummer Atsuo, guitarist/bassist Takeshi, and guitarist/keyboardist Wata. All three members contribute vocals. Boris has released more than 20 studio albums on various labels around the world, as well as a variety of live albums, compilations, EPs, singles, and collaborative albums. They have collaborated with acts such as Sunn O))), Merzbow, Keiji Haino, and guitarist Michio Kurihara.
Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture through experimental composition. In a way similar to the predecessor genres post-rock and post-hardcore, post-metal offsets the darkness and intensity of extreme metal with an emphasis on atmosphere, emotion, and even "revelation", developing an expansive but introspective sound variously imbued with elements of ambient, noise, psychedelic, progressive, and classical music, and often shoegaze and art rock. Songs are typically long, with loose and layered structures that discard the verse–chorus form in favor of crescendos and repeating themes. The sound centres on guitars and drums, while any vocals are often but not always screamed or growled and resemble an additional instrument.
Greg Anderson is an American musician, a co-founder of Southern Lord Records.
WarHorse is a doom metal band that formed in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, in 1996, and released their debut album, As Heaven Turns to Ash on Southern Lord Records in 2001. They officially disbanded in 2005 after releasing the single "I Am Dying".
Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep.
Downfall of Gaia are a German extreme metal band formed in 2008 by Dominik Goncalves dos Reis and Anton Lisovoj. Their current lineup is completed by drummer Michael Kadnar and guitarist Peter Wolff. Transforming their initial crust punk sound through the incorporation of black metal, doom metal, and post-rock influences, they have released five studio albums. The last four albums came out on Metal Blade Records.
Beatdown hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk with prominent elements of heavy metal. Beatdown hardcore features aggressive vocals, gang vocals, heavy guitar riffs and breakdowns and lyrics discussing unity, brotherhood, volatile interpersonal relationships and machismo. The genre has its origins in late 1980s New York hardcore bands such as Breakdown, Killing Time and Madball, and was pioneered in the mid-1990s by bands like Bulldoze, Terror Zone and Neglect. The definition of the genre has expanded over time to incorporate artists increasingly indebted to metal, notably Xibalba, Sunami and Knocked Loose.
Graves at Sea are an American sludge/doom metal band that was originally formed in 2002 by Nick Phit, Nathan Misterek, Roger Williams and Steve Klatz.
CVLT Nation is an international online magazine established by Sean Reveron and Meghan MacRae in 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Founded primarily as an independent clothing brand inspired by crust punk and extreme metal, its articles and music projects have gained considerable recognition. CVLT Nation is now based in Vancouver, Canada.
Jesus Piece is an American metalcore band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 2015. The band signed to Southern Lord Records in 2018 with the release of their debut Only Self. They have since toured with acts such as Code Orange, Knocked Loose, and Ghostemane. Their second studio album, ...So Unknown, was released in 2023.
