Welcome everybody to a little lesson on the history of Sludge & Stoner Metal. I'm Guib and today I have the immense pleasure to serve as your humble teacher.

Please take a seat and travel with me through time as we explore the very best of those two, often blurred, genres. The goal here is simple, I want to get you familiarized with the styles. I want you to understand where they come from through albums on a timeline and while we're at it get a sweet selection of great releases that you might not know and that, hopefully, will get you hooked to explore even more!

But this is a classroom and in my classroom there are a few rules. We want to keep this clean, clear and prevent having a 500+ albums mess. So here are the rules we'll follow throughout this lesson.

- - - - - The Rules - - - - -

1. We will settle for a maximum of 4 albums per year and they will be listed from oldest to newest. Makes it simple to navigate. Those releases will represent what I consider to be hallmarks of the genres for that year. Essentials if you want, yes? Of course, I'll sprinkle a bit of my personality here and there so you will find some unorthodox choices and some less known albums from time to time. It would be boring otherwise... and also why not?

2. We will begin the journey with Melvins' "Gluey Porch Treatments" released in 1987. Why? Because it is arguably the first album to be widely considered as Sludge.

3. The list will mostly feature studio albums. So no Demos & bare minimum when it comes to EPs if any at all. Thank you.

4. I am not going to include releases by Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Hawkwind, etc... I fully understand and recognize the influence older bands had on Stoner Rock, but this is not the list for them.

5. Lastly, not really a rule but more of a note. Considering that we're talking about Sludge & Stoner, it is inevitable that Doom, Post, Progressive, Grunge & Hardcore acts will be featured in this list. Those genres simply go together naturally and are often mixed so do not be alarmed!

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That is it, I hope you will all discover something to enjoy through my little history lesson. Also, do not hesitate to comment below if you agree or disagree with some of my picks. After all, this is a classroom and debate is invited as it can be fun and educative. As long everything's done respectfully, of course.

Enjoy & Have Fun... Class dismissed!

NOTE: I will now add my picks for best album of the year using this format (best of xxxx) in the chosen album's description.

- Guib -

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Guib's best Sludge/Stoner Album Picks

Best Of 2023:
Urne - A Feast On Sorrow

Best Of 2024 So Far:
O Zorn! - Vermillion Haze

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Last Update: April 16th, 2024

1.Melvins - Gluey Porch Treatments

2.Soundgarden - Ultramega OK

3.Oxbow - Fuckfest

4.Melvins - Ozma

5.Soundgarden - Louder Than Love

      View entire list ››

My top 50 of 2013. Rated 8 and above.

The year we said hello again to Carcass and farewell to Jeff Hanneman

Album count: 150
Average rating: 6.97

1.Summoning - Old Mornings Dawn

2.Carcass - Surgical Steel

3.Leprous - Coal

4.Oranssi Pazuzu - Valonielu

5.Arx Atrata - Oblivion

      View entire list ››

Only the 9s or 10s / 10 are here. Roughly ordered in time.

1.Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit

2.Kingcrow - Phlegethon

3.Crippled Black Phoenix - I, Vigilante

4.Igorrr - Nostril

5.Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones

      View entire list ››

Listen to metal for more than the half of my life, here is the list of my favorites albums of all time.

1.Alcest - Les Voyages De L'âme

2.Alcest - Kodama

3.Alcest - Spiritual Instinct

4.Alestorm - Sunset On The Golden Age

5.Alestorm - No Grave But The Sea

      View entire list ››

1.The Ocean - Pelagial

2.Harakiri For The Sky - III: Trauma

3.Neurosis - The Eye Of Every Storm

4.Isis - Panopticon

5.Ghost Brigade - IV - One With The Storm

      View entire list ››

1.Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)

2.Riverside - Shrine Of New Generation Slaves

3.Caladan Brood - Echoes Of Battle

4.Omnium Gatherum - Beyond

5.Haken - The Mountain

      View entire list ››

Thought I ought to have at least one little list here, so in a rare display of lack of creativity, here's a bunch of 9s and 10s that will likely never get old, though I might. "666" is obviously only a theoretical upper limit.

1.Tiamat - A Deeper Kind Of Slumber

2.King Crimson - Red

3.Cult Of Luna - Vertikal

4.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

5.Die Apokalyptischen Reiter - All You Need Is Love

      View entire list ››

Top for my favorite band !

1.Cult Of Luna - Vertikal

2.Cult Of Luna - Mariner [Collaboration]

3.Cult Of Luna - Somewhere Along The Highway

4.Cult Of Luna - A Dawn To Fear

5.Cult Of Luna - The Raging River

      View entire list ››

Input:
10 years
20 decade lists
749 bands
973 albums

Output:
200 top albums from 2010-2019


FAQ

How are the points calculated?
Simple math.

Ranked top lists:
1st place = 150 pts.
2nd place = 149 pts.
...
100th place = 51 pts.
...
150th place = 1 pt.

Alphabetically sorted lists:
Each place = 100 pts.

Why just a Top 200?
Because 200 list entries are more than enough.

Is it by pure coincidence that the first four positions are occupied by bands with the initial letter "E"?
Yes.

Will your list be updated on a regular basis?
No.

Why is my favorite power metal abum not featured?
I don't know. Let's ask the list owners:

AgentOrange94 - Top 10 Albums Of The 10's
andreosokin - Top 25 Albums Of 2010s
ChapuLviz - Top 100 Grind List (2010-2019)
Chobo_jokeR - JokeR's Top Hunnid From 2010 - 2019
Desha - Me(tal) In The 2010s
Draugen - Top 100 of the 2010s
embracing - My Completely Subjective Top 10 Of The 2010-2019 Decade
Enemy of Reality (RIP) - 100 Album Guide To The Decade 2010-19
FullyOttoMatic - 50 Favorite Metal (And Metal-Adjacent) Albums Of The 2010's
Iron Men - A Decade Of Aggression
Kuroboshi - Top 100 Albums Of 2010-2019
Maco - 2010-2019 Top 100
musclassia - 150 Albums To Become An Adult To: 2010-2019
mz - Best Of 2010-2020 By Mz
Neachy - Neachy's Select: Top 100 Albums Of The 10s
nikarg - Old Nick's Top-101 Of The '10s
nonZero - My Top 50 Albums of the 2010s (deleted)
RaduP - You Know It's Technically 2011-2020, Right?
VIG (RIP) - VIG's Top 100 Of The 2010s
Zap - I Too Listened To Some Metal In The 2010's

1.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

2.Esoteric - Paragon Of Dissonance

3.Emptiness - Nothing But The Whole

4.Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence

5.Tribulation - The Formulas Of Death

      View entire list ››

Another 2010-2019 list! I guess a lot of people will hate on me for #2, but I love that album. Enjoy!

1.Møl - Jord

2.The Haunted - Unseen

3.The Moth Gatherer - A Bright Celestial Light

4.Vola - Applause Of A Distant Crowd

5.Liberteer - Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees

      View entire list ››

I began this decade in my final year of high school, in the early phases of my metal journey (Mastodon, Machine Head, Dream Theater, Pantera and Avenged Sevenfold were still recent discoveries). One Masters degree and one PhD later, I'm now a tax-paying Londonian, and have ploughed through what must be comfortably over 2000 new releases during the previous ten years. To commemorate the end of a turbulent decade, I've put together a list of the albums that have stuck with me throughout this decade - I wouldn't consider this to be a 'best albums' list, as there have been some truly ingenious works released in more avant-garde territories, but ultimately these are the albums that have ended up dominating my listening habits, or otherwise making a sufficient impression to make this list.

1.Sylosis - Monolith

2.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

3.Amorphis - Under The Red Cloud

4.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

5.Cult Of Luna - Vertikal

      View entire list ››

Top 100 albums of 2010-2019

1.40 Watt Sun - Wider Than The Sky

2.Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper

3.Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence

4.Elysian Blaze - Blood Geometry

5.Emptiness - Nothing But The Whole

      View entire list ››

1.In Vain - Ænigma

2.SubRosa - More Constant Than The Gods

3.Cult Of Luna - Vertikal

4.Mael Mórdha - Damned When Dead

5.Obscure Sphinx - Void Mother

      View entire list ››

1.Deafheaven - Sunbather

2.Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal

3.Gorguts - Colored Sands

4.Ghost - Infestissumam

5.The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer

      View entire list ››

An attempt to walk through almost 40 years of metal records, trying to pick one (and only one) record each year. The record that should be listened to at least once in life.
Some years are difficult because there are too many classics and in many situations the record that made it in the list is not my favorite by the band, but the one who had weaker competitors (and some of my favorite bands are not in the list too, for the same reason).

1.AC/DC - Back In Black

2.Motörhead - No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith

3.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

4.Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind

5.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

      View entire list ››