--- title: "Sludge Metal" type: "MusicGenre" url: "https://themetalnet.com/genre/sludge-metal" parent: "Doom Metal" bands: 1008 era: "late 1980s" --- # Sludge Metal **Sludge Metal** is a metal sub-genre, formative in the late 1980s. TheMetalNet maps 1,008 bands and 2,416 albums under it. Sludge metal fuses doom metal’s slow, downtuned heaviness with hardcore punk’s aggression and shouted vocals, often with a Southern, blues-rock grit. It emerged after 1990 through Louisiana bands like Eyehategod, Crowbar, and Acid Bath, favoring thick distortion, feedback, and abrupt tempo swings between crawling and fast. The tone is filthy and abrasive, the mood bleak and hostile. It sounds like doom dragged through the swamp. ## Facts | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Genre | Sludge Metal | | Level | Sub-genre | | Parent genre | Doom Metal | | Formative era | late 1980s | | Bands | 1,008 | | Albums | 2,416 | | Formation span | 1967 to 2025 | ## Notable bands (top 60 by prominence) - [Melvins](https://themetalnet.com/band/melvins) (United States, 1983) - [Neurosis](https://themetalnet.com/band/neurosis-a9416fb3) (United States, 1985) - [Nirvana](https://themetalnet.com/band/nirvana) (United States, 1987) - [Cult of Luna](https://themetalnet.com/band/cult-of-luna) (Sweden, 1998) - [Hole](https://themetalnet.com/band/hole) (United States, 1989) - [High on Fire](https://themetalnet.com/band/high-on-fire) (United States, 1998) - [Crowbar](https://themetalnet.com/band/crowbar) (United States, 1988) - [Motorpsycho](https://themetalnet.com/band/motorpsycho) (Norway, 1989) - [Baroness](https://themetalnet.com/band/baroness) (United States, 2003) - [Eyehategod](https://themetalnet.com/band/eyehategod) (United States, 1988) - [Old Man Gloom](https://themetalnet.com/band/old-man-gloom) (United States, 1999) - [Amenra](https://themetalnet.com/band/amenra) (Belgium, 1999) - [Year of No Light](https://themetalnet.com/band/year-of-no-light) (2001) - [Jucifer](https://themetalnet.com/band/jucifer) (United States, 1993) - [Torche](https://themetalnet.com/band/torche) (United States, 2004) - [Kylesa](https://themetalnet.com/band/kylesa) (United States, 2001) - [16](https://themetalnet.com/band/16) (United States, 1992) - [Black Tusk](https://themetalnet.com/band/black-tusk) (United States, 2005) - [Corrupted](https://themetalnet.com/band/corrupted) (Japan, 1994) - [Flipper](https://themetalnet.com/band/flipper) (United States, 1979) - [The Body](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-body) (United States, 1999) - [Thou](https://themetalnet.com/band/thou) (United States, 2005) - [Unearthly Trance](https://themetalnet.com/band/unearthly-trance) (United States, 2000) - [Zeni Geva](https://themetalnet.com/band/zeni-geva) (Japan, 1987) - [Buzzov•en](https://themetalnet.com/band/buzzov-en) (United States, 1989) - [Callisto](https://themetalnet.com/band/callisto) (Finland, 2001) - [Floor](https://themetalnet.com/band/floor) (United States, 1992) - [Rwake](https://themetalnet.com/band/rwake) (United States, 1996) - [Weedeater](https://themetalnet.com/band/weedeater) (United States, 1998) - [Black Cobra](https://themetalnet.com/band/black-cobra) (United States, 2002) - [Dystopia](https://themetalnet.com/band/dystopia) (United States, 1991) - [Fistula](https://themetalnet.com/band/fistula) (1998) - [Khanate](https://themetalnet.com/band/khanate) (United States, 2000) - [Tombs](https://themetalnet.com/band/tombs) (United States, 2007) - [Fleshpress](https://themetalnet.com/band/fleshpress) (Finland, 1998) - [Impure Wilhelmina](https://themetalnet.com/band/impure-wilhelmina) (Switzerland, 1996) - [Solace](https://themetalnet.com/band/solace) (United States, 1996) - [Blindead](https://themetalnet.com/band/blindead) (Poland, 1999) - [Raging Speedhorn](https://themetalnet.com/band/raging-speedhorn) (United Kingdom, 1999) - [A Storm of Light](https://themetalnet.com/band/a-storm-of-light) (United States, 2007) - [Dirge](https://themetalnet.com/band/dirge) (France, 1994) - [Doomriders](https://themetalnet.com/band/doomriders) (United States, 2004) - [Lair of the Minotaur](https://themetalnet.com/band/lair-of-the-minotaur) (United States, 2003) - [Minsk](https://themetalnet.com/band/minsk) (2002) - [Moss](https://themetalnet.com/band/moss) (United Kingdom, 2001) - [Rorcal](https://themetalnet.com/band/rorcal) (Switzerland, 2006) - [*shels](https://themetalnet.com/band/shels) (2003) - [Weekend Nachos](https://themetalnet.com/band/weekend-nachos) (United States, 2004) - [Cable](https://themetalnet.com/band/cable) (United States, 1994) - [Orthodox](https://themetalnet.com/band/orthodox) (Spain, 2004) - [Årabrot](https://themetalnet.com/band/arabrot) (Norway, 2001) - [Hey Colossus](https://themetalnet.com/band/hey-colossus) (2003) - [Switchblade](https://themetalnet.com/band/switchblade) (Sweden, 1997) - [G//Z/R](https://themetalnet.com/band/g-z-r) (United Kingdom, 1995) - [Mammoth Grinder](https://themetalnet.com/band/mammoth-grinder) (2005) - [Zoroaster](https://themetalnet.com/band/zoroaster) (United States, 2003) - [Bossk](https://themetalnet.com/band/bossk) (United Kingdom, 2005) - [Cream Abdul Babar](https://themetalnet.com/band/cream-abdul-babar) (United States, 1994) - [Scott Kelly](https://themetalnet.com/band/scott-kelly) (United States, 1967) - [Hangman’s Chair](https://themetalnet.com/band/hangman-s-chair) (France, 2005) ## Where it is played - [United States](https://themetalnet.com/country/us): 144 bands - [United Kingdom](https://themetalnet.com/country/gb): 35 bands - [Finland](https://themetalnet.com/country/fi): 23 bands - [France](https://themetalnet.com/country/fr): 20 bands - [Germany](https://themetalnet.com/country/de): 18 bands - [Belgium](https://themetalnet.com/country/be): 17 bands - [Sweden](https://themetalnet.com/country/se): 16 bands - [Italy](https://themetalnet.com/country/it): 13 bands ## Bands formed by decade | Decade | Bands formed | | --- | --- | | 1960s | 1 | | 1970s | 3 | | 1980s | 11 | | 1990s | 47 | | 2000s | 141 | | 2010s | 312 | | 2020s | 55 | --- Source: [TheMetalNet https://themetalnet.com/genre/sludge-metal](https://themetalnet.com/genre/sludge-metal). Catalog data from MusicBrainz and Metal Archives. Full site index: https://themetalnet.com/llms.txt