Doom / Stoner / Sludge Rock
familyStarted 1970Peak 1991-2010Last big hit still active
The slow, heavy, downtuned wing of rock: Iommi-derived minor-key riffs dragged to half speed, fuzz-saturated guitars, bass you feel in the sternum, and a low-end fog of distortion. Tempos crawl, volume worships, and the mood swings from funereal dread to bong-haze groove to swamp-soaked filth. Riff is religion.
History
Born from Black Sabbath's leaden blues in 1970, the family split into branches: doom's gothic despair, stoner's psychedelic groove out of California's deserts, and sludge's hardcore-fueled filth from Louisiana. A 1990s underground revival (Man's Ruin, Rise Above, Hellhound) codified it; festivals like Roadburn and Desertfest now sustain a global scene cross-listing into metal and psych.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_metal
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopethrone
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_Too_Late
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Machine_(song)