Killing Joke

Abishai is the lo-fi noise-rock vehicle of Torrance, California multi-instrumentalist Abishai Smith (aliases DJ Bathtub, Eden, Mizpah), who splatters feedback, drum machines, and kazoo across deliberately unpolished sludge, no wave, and noisecore excursions. The 43-track 'Raw and Legendary!!!' (2017) is a maximalist, comedic blowout of punk-metal bits, while the wider catalog under various aliases swings into death industrial, drone, power electronics, and ambient territory — DIY extremity closer to a bedroom noise scene than conventional metal songcraft.

The Malpractice is the Copenhagen project of Danish songwriter Johannes Gammelby (also of I Am Bones and Beta Satan), blending grunge and aggressive rock with pop hooks and noisy synthesizers into what the band calls 'amphetamine reptile punk, sludge and grand, barking hymns' carrying violent, depressive existentialist narratives. The 2010 debut Tectonics (Crunchy Frog Records) drew players from Tiger Tunes, Marybell Katastrophy and Beta Satan and was named a top-ten Danish album of the year by GAFFA. The live lineup adds vocalist Marie Koldkjær Højlund, whose solo work ties the band into Copenhagen's Escho circle.

Chat Pile are an American noise-rock/sludge-metal band from Oklahoma City, formed in 2019, whose members perform under pseudonyms Raygun Busch, Luther Manhole, Stin and Cap'n Ron. Their self-produced 2022 debut God's Country, released on The Flenser, became a surprise breakout, pairing bleak, regionally specific lyrics with abrasive riffing indebted to Big Black. The band followed it with Cool World in 2024.

Human Impact are a New York noise-rock supergroup formed in 2019, welding Chris Spencer's Unsane fury to Jim Coleman's Cop Shoot Cop-derived industrial electronics. The debut lineup added the Swans rhythm section of Chris Pravdica and Phil Puleo; their self-titled debut appeared on Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings in 2020, followed by Gone Dark (2024). By 2024 the rhythm section had turned over to ex-Daughters drummer Jon Syverson and ex-Made Out of Babies bassist Eric Cooper.

Made Out of Babies were a Brooklyn noise-rock/sludge quartet active 2004-2012, fronted by the extraordinary Julie Christmas, whose lurching between whisper and shriek gave the band its volatile character. They released Trophy (2005) and The Ruiner (2008), with the Steve Albini-recorded Coward (2006) widely rated their high point; early records came out on Neurosis's Neurot Recordings. The lineup drew from the wider New York heavy underground, with guitarist Brendan Tobin (Red Sparowes), bassist Eric Cooper, and Christmas also fronting Battle of Mice.

Formed in Montesano, Washington in 1983 around the constant core of Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover, Melvins fused punk with a heavy Black Sabbath influence and in doing so godfathered sludge metal, leaving fingerprints on everything from grunge to doom and stoner rock. Relentlessly prolific shapeshifters, they have cycled through bassists and configurations — including the Kevin Rutmanis era and the double-bass-driven Melvins Lite with Trevor Dunn — while releasing a torrent of albums on Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings since 1999. Their gravitational pull is such that Japan's Boris took their name from the title of a Melvins song, and collaborators have ranged from Fantômas and Jello Biafra to Lustmord and Napalm Death.

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Cult of Luna is a Swedish post-metal band formed in 1998 in Umeå, emerging from members of the local hardcore group Eclipse. Widely regarded as a leading force in post-metal alongside Neurosis and Isis, their songs are long, slow and crushing, layering heavy distorted passages with orchestral interludes and post-rock-esque forays. Their discography includes Salvation (2004), Somewhere Along the Highway (2006), and the Metropolis-inspired Vertikal (2013). In 2016 they released the space-themed collaborative album Mariner, recorded with American vocalist Julie Christmas.

Head of David were a Birmingham-area experimental/industrial-metal band formed in 1986 and signed to Blast First, whose abrasive noise-rock was once described as being about as harsh as music can get 'without descending into pure noise.' Their releases include Dustbowl (1988) and Seed State (1991). Justin Broadrick drummed for the group from 1987 to 1989, a stint between his early stretch in Napalm Death and the founding of Godflesh.

Corrections House is an American industrial-sludge supergroup formed in 2012, bringing together Scott Kelly of Neurosis, Mike IX Williams of Eyehategod, Sanford Parker, and Bruce Lamont of Yakuza. The group methodically creates and destroys through dark, apocalyptic soundscapes built from riffs, saxophone, electronic loops, and Williams' corroded vocals. They released their debut album Last City Zero (2013) and its follow-up Know How to Carry a Whip (2015) on Neurot Recordings.

Old Man Gloom is an experimental sludge/post-metal supergroup formed in 1999 in Santa Fe, New Mexico by Aaron Turner (Isis) and drummer Santos Montano, later expanding with musicians from the Boston hardcore and metalcore scene. Their music juxtaposes crushing sludge and hardcore with noise, drone, and ambient soundscapes. Bassist/vocalist Caleb Scofield died in a car accident in March 2018; Stephen Brodsky, his Cave In bandmate, subsequently joined the band. Their albums have appeared on labels including Hydra Head Records (and its Tortuga imprint), founded by Aaron Turner, as well as Profound Lore.