Tarpit Carnivore

Formed in 2004 by ex-Floor frontman Steve Brooks, Miami, Florida's Torche play a unique blend of poppy metal and sludgy stoner rock. Rounded out by bassist Jonathan Nunez, touring guitarist Howard Johnston, and drummer Rick Smith (ex- Shitstorm), Torche have taken the metal underground by storm since their inception. Although, according to Brooks, they don't consider themselves a metal band, Torche have toured with many bands whose names are instantly recognizable to fans in the metal underground, such as Isis, Baroness, Black Cobra, Harvey Milk, and Boris. The band's second full-length, Meanderthal, was released in April of 2008 and was met with critical acclaim, ranked by Decibel Magazine as #1 on their list of the Top 40 Extreme Albums Of 2008. The band's latest effort, an 8 song EP titled Songs For Singles, was released on September 21, 2010. Although not as heavy or as memorable as Meanderthal, Songs For Singles is still miles ahead of the garbage that many consider to be good music these days. I doubt this EP will earn any Record Of The Year nods, but it should certainly be considered for your Top Ten.

Download: Torche - Demo (2005)

Download: Torche - S/T (2005)

Download: Torche - In Return (2007)

Download: Torche - Meanderthal (2008)

Download: Torche - Healer/Across The Shields EP (2009)

Download: Torche/Boris - Chapter Ahead Being Fake (2009)

Download: Torche - Songs For Singles EP (2010)

Forsaken

     Whoa... It's been a while since I updated this thing. I went from posting at least once a day to not posting anything at all. I guess I've just been busy with school, work, birthdays, anniversaries, football season, etc. It's hard to keep a blog fresh by yourself when you have a life, I suppose. Anyway, to make a long story short (too late!), I'm back now. Did you miss me? Don't lie to me, fuckers, I know you did. Now that we've gotten the pleasantries out of the way, let's get back to business...

     Scion and Adult Swim recently partnered (along with various other record labels) to put together "Metal Swim", a compilation of rare and unreleased tracks by some of the best and brightest bands in the metal underground. Featuring appearances by bands such as Zoroaster, Kylesa, Jesu, Black Tusk, and Torche, "Metal Swim" showcases everything from stoner rock and sludge to headbanging thrash.  In an effort to help these bands gain exposure, Adult Swim and Scion have posted the compilation online for free, and since free music is what we do around here, I figured I would post the link here. Enjoy!

Download: Adult Swim Presents - Metal Swim (2010)

Swallow The Anchor

Formed in 2006, Lafayette, Louisiana's The Devil And The Sea play a particularly bruising brand of rock-tinged doom metal. Rapidly interchanging discordant textures with lurid sludge grooves, The Devil And The Sea craft songs that slowly build into a wall of sound and then explode with bone shattering force. Drawing comparisons to bands like Cavity, Mastodon, and Pelican, The Devil And The Sea take their sound into often unexplored territory, playing basic rhythms without ever coming off as overly repetitious or dull. While they primarily play stoner rock mixed with elements of sludge and doom, this Louisiana trio stays away from the typical "sound like Sabbath" approach that so many bands in their genre adhere to. After signing with Acerbic Noise Development in 2008, the band released their debut full-length, Heart vs. Spine, in 2009. This album finds the band perfecting the art of all that is grimy, slimy, rude, and obscene, and was described by Hellridemusic.com as "a triumph of a record".

Download: The Devil And The Sea - Heart vs. Spine (2009)

War, Wisdom, And Rhyme

Formed in 2003, Savannah, Georgia's Baroness was founded by former members of punk/metal outfit Johnny Welfare And The Paychecks. With a diverse sound that spans everything from prog to sludge, Baroness have developed a sound that appeals to more than just run-of-the-mill metal fans. From 2004-2007, the band recorded and released three EP's, titled First, Second, and A Grey Sigh In A Flower Husk (split with Unpersons). After signing to Relapse records in 2007, Baroness began recording their first full-length, Red Album. Recorded at The Jam Room Studio in Columbia, South Carolina, Red Album finds the band expanding upon their sonic vision, combining colossal riffs and haunting vocals with melodic accents and intelligent guitar work, and was named by Revolver Magazine as 2007's Album Of The Year. Playing almost 250 shows a year, the band have criss-crossed the US three times, the UK and Europe twice, and have played at multiple international music festivals such as SXSW, MacRock, and ZXZW in the Netherlands. Their second full -length, Blue Record, was recorded at The Track Studio in Plano, Texas in early 2009, and was released on Relapse Records in October of the same year. Blue Record debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and was named Decibel Magazine's #1 Record Of 2009.

Download: Baroness - First (2004)

Download: Baroness - Second (2005)

Download: Baroness - A Grey Sigh In A Flower Husk (2007)

Download: Baroness - Red Album (2007)

Download: Baroness - Blue Record (2009)

Waiting For The Moon To Speak

Described as everything from sludge to math metal, Cleveland, Ohio's Keelhaul have been pushing the boundaries of genre classification since 1997. Comprised of guitarist and vocalist Chris Smith (Integrity, Terminal Lovers, False Hope), bassist and vocalist Aaron Dallison (Escalation Anger, Ringworm, Abdullah, State Of Conviction), guitarist Dana Embrose (Suicide King, False Hope), and drummer Will Scharf (Craw), Keelhaul have carved a niche for themselves among fans of bands such as Mastodon, Isis, and Knut. Asked to describe their sound, members of the band have been known to respond with answers like, "Annoying" and "Post hardcore progressive acid rock". After a self imposed hiatus from 2004-2008, the band entered the studio to record their latest effort, "Keelhaul's Triumphant Return To Obscurity", which was released on Hydra Head records in 2009.

Download: Keelhaul - S/T (1998)

Download: Keelhaul - Keelhaul II (2001)

Download: Keelhaul - Subject To Change Without Notice (2003)

Download: Keelhaul - Keelhaul's Triumphant Return To Obscurity (2009)

Tower Of The Elephant

Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Akimbo was founded in 1995 when bass player and vocalist Jon Weisnewski and drummer Nat Damm met in their high school gym class. Sharing a love for DC hardcore and punk, the two quickly became fast friends. Since playing their first show on Halloween night in 1998, Akimbo have had no less than 11 guitarists, finally settling on Aaron Walters in 2006. After opening for Melvins and punk icon Jello Biafra in 2005, the band was approached by Biafra and signed to his label, Alternative Tentacles, to release 2006's "Forging Steel And Laying Stone". Also released on Alternative Tentacles was the band's first album with Walters on guitar, 2007's "Navigating The Bronze". In late 2007, Akimbo played a show opening for Converge and Neurosis, and was asked by Neurosis frontman Steve Von Till to join his label, Neurot Recordings. In October of 2008 the band released their most critically acclaimed album to date, "Jersey Shores", a concept album inspired by a series of mysterious shark attacks that occurred on the beaches of New Jersey in 1916.  Showing a substantial deviation from the style of their earlier recordings, "Jersey Shores" offers spiraling, melodic lines intertwined with crushing, drop-tuned chugging, the end result of which is a post-hardcore masterpiece. With a discography that channels everything from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath to Converge and Melvins, Akimbo are a band quickly on the rise in the metal underground, and a great addition to any music fan's collection.

Download: Akimbo - An Army Of Evil Robots Programmed for Human Destruction (1999)

Download: Akimbo - Harshing Your Mellow (2001)

Download: Akimbo - Elephantine (2003)

Download: Akimbo - City Of The Stars (2004)

Download: Akimbo - Forging Steel And Laying Stone (2006)

Download: Akimbo - Navigating The Bronze (2008)

Download: Akimbo - Jersey Shores (2008)

*Note* All of the downloadable copies of Jersey Shores seem to have vanished. I can't find a good link to it anywhere. I'll keep looking for one, but in the meantime I would suggest buying it from iTunes.

A Passing Thought To The Contrary

Formed in late 2005 by bassist Matt Woods, guitarist Adam Wentworth, and drummer Alex Garcia - Rivera, Boston's Bloodhorse have carved a niche for themselves among fans of bands such as Sleep, Candlemass, and Kyuss. After one self-released EP and two years of playing shows, the band signed with Philadelphia based label Translation Loss Records to release their self - titled EP in 2007. Standout tracks include "Son Of Man", "I'm Burned", and "The Goat". In May 2009, the band released their first full-length,  Horizoner, also on Translation Loss Records. The sounds of Horizoner continue to reverberate from the speakers with a power that is not easily matched, and (in my humble opinion) Horizoner remains one of the best and most underrated albums of 2009. Standout tracks include "The Old Man", "In Horror", and "A Passing Thought To The Contrary."

Download: Bloodhorse - EP (2007)

Download: Bloodhorse - Horizoner (2009)