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.

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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 ››

1.Kyuss - Kyuss

2.Kyuss - Blues For The Red Sun

3.Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf

4.Spiritual Beggars - Ad Astra

5.Soundgarden - Superunknown

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This is a list of the doom albums I have listened to.

The list starts with a handful of what I'd call my favorite doom albums. The first few of those count among my favorite of all time, with Paranoid, Watching From A Distance, and Черно at present holding a perfect 10. This list does have a cutoff point, stretching from those 10s through some high 9s and all the way down to middling 6s. If I rated it below a 6, it does not appear on this list, and that's because I disliked the album.

Given how much music I listen to and how many lists I have going concurrently, I don't update this as I go; I let albums accumulate for a while and then do periodic overhauls, so the list won't change for months at a time.

Last updated October 17, 2021.

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Warning - Watching From A Distance

3.Kypck - Черно

4.Woods Of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light

5.Heaven And Hell - The Devil You Know

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There are the albums that have impressed me. Alphabetical orders. Hope you enjoy this list.

1.Acatalepsy - Acatalepsy (EP)

2.Across Tundras - Dark Songs Of The Prairie

3.Aelter - Dusk Dawn/Follow You Beloved

4.A Forest Of Stars - The Corpse Of Rebirth

5.Ain Sof Aur - Atra Serpens

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1.Warning - Watching From A Distance

2.Aquilus - Griseus

3.King Diamond - Abigail

4.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

5.Candlemass - Nightfall

      View entire list ››

Just a few recomendations to start your funeral / gothic doom collections

1.Funeral - Tragedies

2.Draconian - Where Lovers Mourn

3.Katatonia - Brave Murder Day

4.Katatonia - For Funerals To Come

5.Lacrimosa - Inferno

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1.Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses

2.Within Temptation - The Silent Force

3.Haggard - And Thou Shalt Trust... The Seer

4.Anathema - Serenades

5.My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans

      View entire list ››

A lot of bands have great debut albums. Obviously this list is just a fraction of all the great debut albums out there, but it's a start. I'll keep expanding this list continuously, so all suggestions are welcome (granted they are featured on MS). All the albums here are ranked according to genre and then alphabetically. If a certain album belongs to the (in your opinion) wrong genre, then definitely let me know.

1.

2.Aarni - Bathos

3.Arcturus - Aspera Hiems Symfonia

4.Diablo Swing Orchestra - The Butcher's Ballroom

5.Sadness - Ames De Marbre

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1.Sepultura - Arise

2.Paradise Lost - Gothic

3.Metallica - Metallica

4.Slayer - Decade Of Aggression

5.Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious

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1.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Katatonia - Discouraged Ones

4.My Dying Bride - The Angel And The Dark River

5.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

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1.Carcass - Heartwork

2.Entombed - Clandestine

3.Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption

4.Pestilence - Testimony Of The Ancients

5.Gorefest - False

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1.Mindrot - Dawning

2.October Tide - Rain Without End

3.Morgion - Solinari

4.Cathedral - Forest Of Equilibrium

5.Mournful Congregation - The June Frost

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Here's to the pioneers, the catalysts.

1.Death - Human

2.Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption

3.Suffocation - Effigy Of The Forgotten

4.Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious

5.Deicide - Deicide

      View entire list ››

Overall year rating:
3,5/5

1.Death - Human

2.Sepultura - Arise

3.Cathedral - Forest Of Equilibrium

4.Coroner - Mental Vortex

5.Bathory - Twilight Of The Gods

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