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16 – Curves That Kick

16 are a Sludge Metal group that have been kicking out their own unique flavor of Sludge since the inception of the genre, playing in the not-really-recognized-as-a-subgenre of Sludgecore, basically Sludge Metal that sticks close to what it formed from. Heavy, downtuned, slow-ass Black Sabbath and Doom Metal infused Hardcore Punk. Formed in 1991 and still rolling strong today, with only a brief, few year break in the mid-noughties. 16 are a group that, IMHO, should be talked about more and in the same breath as other early sludge metallers like Eyehategod, Crowbar, Grief etc. I have suspicions this is down to their own brew of influences and sounds, 16 really don’t sound like any other Sludge band. To start 16 play at a much faster tempo than most, keeping a pace similarly to Buzzoven. They also have a healthy dose of noise rock, alt rock/metal, post hardcore, and even a tad of an early Metalcore sound I dare say, in addition to the typical hardcore influence sludge metal has. Another potential hurdle for your average metalhead is the fx ladened vocals, which are nearly drowned out in static and occasionally reverb. Lyrically 16 often stick close to typical Sludge Metal inspirations, drugs, depression, violence, and general misanthropy, but they aren’t afraid to delve into some weirdness. Check the song Amish for some Jack Kerouac beat poetry.

The mailman comes
When I'm home
Acrobat
Undertow
The wooden door
Broken bone
Common growth
Telephone

Or Joe The Cat, unsurprisingly about a cat (Melvins inspired?).

This debut album from 16 is everything you would want from Sludgecore. It’s all got a clearer production than most other Sludge acts of the time, but it doesn’t diminish the crackhead energy 16 have. Unwaveringly aggressive, super heavy and chunky riffs all over the place, with intermittent flourishes and breaks of guitar scrawl. The PH influence makes for some interesting song dynamics, there’s much more activity between guitar, bass, and drums, more stop and go, than typical of this style. Special mention to the bass, which is that super funky, fat, and floppy bass that was everywhere in the early 90s.

Hailing from the deep south of Atlanta, Georgia, and appropriately were signed to Southern Lord, Dead In The Dirt’s sole full length, The Blind Hole, is a crushing, catastrophic slab of grinding Powerviolence. DITD deal in fairly typical PV lyrically and sonically speaking, but don’t even think for a second this is meant as insult. Frequent and Extreme start and stop tempo shifts, even within the confines of 60 second or less songs, often punctuated and preceded by squalls of feedback. Downtuned growling, grinding guitars thunder away to merciless but tight Hardcore drumming and blast beating. Occasionally settling into a more metal inspired mid-tempo or thrash groove, and some songs drop entirely into disgusting filthy Sludge Metal (Will Is The War and Halo Crown). As could be guessed from the album title, nay, band name, the lyrics all tend towards the introspective and unwaveringly nihilistic, often with political or social subtext. These are handled by dual vocalists, Bo Orr, also on Bass, and Blake Connally, also on Guitar. Dual vocalists means we are treated to differing delivery styles, one a Death Metal growl, and the other a Hardcore Punk styled full on shriek. Production wise it’s all very clear and clean, none of the dirt and grime, nor aggression and rawness is lost.

A beautiful, maniacal not quite 24 minute assault.