 | | Although rooted heavy metal and the punk/hardcore aesthetic, Isis' music relies just as heavily on ambience, atmosphere, and tone as it does complexity and aggression. |
 | | At the time of their first effort, 2004's Time & Withering, Dayton, OH's Mouth of the Architect featured Jason Watkins (vocals, keyboards, samples), Gregory Lahm (guitar, vocals), Dave Mann (drums), Alex Vernon (guitar, vocals), and Derik Sommer (bass), and followed in the footsteps of Neurosis, Isis, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor in exploring heavy metal's more progressive, trance-inducing reaches. |
 | | Formed in Oakland, California in late 1985, Neurosis developed a style blending industrial, heavy metal, and alternative rock with often spiritually focused lyrics. |
 | | First conceived in 2004, Los Angeles, CA's Intronaut started out as a friendly but loose side project concocted between Anubis Rising vocalist/guitarist Sacha Dunable and then Uphill Battle drummer Danny Walker (also ex-Exhumed). |
 | | The post-rock/experimental trio Russian Circles feature Mike Sullivan (guitar), Colin DeKuiper (bass), and Dave Turncrantz (drums). |
 | | Formed from the remnants of a hardcore band named Eclipse, in the far-northern Swedish town of Umeå (also home to avant-hardcore masters Refused, and metal extremists Meshuggah and Naglfar), Cult of Luna have perfected an elaborate, extremely dark, progressive style of metalcore largely derived from the pioneering work of America's Neurosis. |
 | | The secretive instrumental art metal outfit Pelican was formed in Chicago by guitarists Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Lebec, as well as bassist Larry Herweg and his sibling drummer, Bryan. |
 | | Red Sparowes play a form of intensified, experimental post-rock with a notable use of pedal steel guitar. |
 | | Earth's drone-heavy experimentation is largely the result of its one lasting member, guitarist Dylan Carlson. |
 | | Jesu is another musical project spearheaded by Birmingham-based musician and producer Justin Broadrick -- a fixture of England's extreme music scene since his membership in the earliest recording lineup of Napalm Death in the mid-'80s. |
 | | Perhaps the ultimate stoner rock band, Northern California trio Sleep had a career that wafted in and out of focus from within their self-mandated cloud of marijuana smoke. |
 | | Kylesa is, fundamentally, a metal group, but the Savannah, Georgia-based outfit is otherwise difficult to categorize: elements of hardcore punk, psychedelic stoner rock, technical speed metal, and good old-fashioned Black Sabbath sludge appear in their music. |
 | | After the breakup of Floor in 2004, Torche vocalist/guitarist Steve Brooks decided to carry on the thundering tradition of his former band, recruiting guitarist Juan Montoya (also formerly of Floor), drummer Rick Smith, and bassist Jonathan Nuñez. |
 | | Japanese cult favorite sludge/doom rock trio Boris take their name from a song on grunge godfathers the Melvins' Bullhead album. |
 | | Though Sweden's Burst originally formed as early as 1993 and released a few underground releases in the next few years (1996's Shadowcaster EP, 1998's Two Faced LP), it wasn't until 1999 that vocalist Linus Jägerskog, guitarists Jonas Rydberg and Robert Reinholdz, bassist Jesper Liveröd (ex-Nasum), and drummer Patrik Hultin perfected the explorative, metallic musical direction they were to become known for. |
 | | Although they borrow their moniker from the capital city of the country of Belarus, Minsk actually hail from Peoria, IL, of all places, where the bandmembers began working on demos circa 2002, inspired by a cross section of ancient doom and futuristic post-metal that was growing quite popular at the time thanks to the emergence of groups like Isis, Cult of Luna, and Rwake. |
 | | Baroness play an eclectic brand of heavy metal, embracing the ferocity and sharp technique of new-millennium metal but with melodic accents and intelligent guitar work that suggest the influence of indie rock and post-punk bands. |
 | | Originally formed in New Mexico by guitarist/vocalist Aaron Turner (Isis) and drummer Santos Montano, the Massachusetts-based group Old Man Gloom has since expanded into a sort of supergroup among the Boston hardcore/metalcore scene. |
 | | Atlanta-based sludge/stoner/alternative metal outfit Mastodon formed in 1999 around the talents of guitarist Bill Kelliher, drummer Bränn Dailor, bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, and guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds. |
 | | The cosmic post-rock band Mogwai were formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1996 by guitarist/vocalist Stuart Braithwaite, guitarist Dominic Aitchison, and drummer Martin Bulloch, longtime friends with the goal of creating "serious guitar music. |
 | | Guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike, bass player George Rice, and drummer Des Kensel formed High on Fire in 1999, following the collapse of Pike's previous band, doom metal titans Sleep. |
 | | Not to be confused with the Canadian heavy metal band from the late '80s, named simply Sword, the Sword are a retro-metal four-piece hailing from -- of all places -- the singer/songwriter oasis of Austin, Texas. |
 | | With a reputation for a scathingly intense live performance and a quickly sold-out CD-R demo, How Strange, Innocence, which was later reissued in 2005, Explosions in the Sky was touted early on in their career as the next phenomenon in moody and dynamic instrumental indie rock à la Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor! The quartet of Texas kids, made up of Mark Smith and Munaf Rayani on guitars, Michael James on bass, and Christopher Hrasky on drums, was signed for its first release on Temporary Residence Limited after half a listen to their demo, which was submitted by the American Analog Set with a brief note saying "This totally f*cking destroys. |
 | | Often referred to as the "heaviest band in the universe," England's Electric Wizard have consistently redefined the preconceived thresholds of a detuned guitar chord with their peerless doom metal achievements -- this despite an often interpersonally troubled, if musically triumphant, career. |
 | | A rhythm section that says "Guitarists? We don't need no steenkin' guitarists!," Big Business is a two-piece band that does the sludgy, low-end stoner metal thing as well as any more fully populated act. |
 | | Zozobra is a peculiarly New Mexican ritual that has been the climax of the Fiestas de Santa Fe every autumn since the mid-1920s: a deliberately creepy looking wooden effigy some three stories tall, embedded with fireworks, sparklers, and noisemakers is surrounded by pieces of paper on which locals have written their most bothersome inner secrets and pains to be destroyed by the purifying fire. |
 | | The self-described "power ambient" duo Sunn 0))) (pronounced "Sun") were formed in the mid-'90s by guitarists Stephen O'Malley (Khanate, Burning Witch) and Greg Anderson (Goatsnake, Thorr's Hammer). |
 | | Seattle, WA's Botch is at the forefront of a near revolution in sound in heavy music. A virulent strain of progressive, underground, and sometimes violent heavy metal-infused guitar histrionics steeped deeply in hardcore punk scene aesthetics and the much touted D. |
 | | Weedeater was born the mid-'90s, in Wilmington, NC, originally taking shape as a side project of vocalist/bassist "Dixie" Dave Collins, who was otherwise engaged with sludge metal cult favorites Buzzov*en at the time. |
 | | Not to be confused with the same-named alt-rock outfit from Michigan, Philadelphia's Rosetta carve at the same epic trance metal trough dug by bands such as Neurosis, Isis, and Cult of Luna before them. |
 | | The sparingly named Om reunites the oft-heralded Sleep rhythm section of Al Cisneros (bass, vocals) and Chris Haikus (drums); but this time, rather than producing monolithic stoner/doom metal, the duo is focused on a softer, if no less hypnotic brand of drone rock, partly infused with monastic and Tibetan chanting. |
 | | The Melvins were the first post-punk band to revel in the slow, sludgy sounds of Black Sabbath. Their music is oppressively slow and heavy, only without any of the silly mystical lyrics or the indulgent guitar solos; it's just one massive, oozing pile of dark slime. |
 | | With songs regularly averaging upward of ten minutes (and sometimes as much as 20 and beyond), Portland, OR's YOB are clearly not a commercial heavy metal band, but rather fuse elements of doom, sludge, space, and progressive rock into interesting combinations so as to belie their bloated girth. |
 | | New Orleans metal band Crowbar was originally comprised of vocalist/guitarist Kirk Windstein, guitarist Matt Thomas, bassist Todd Strange, and drummer Craig Numenmacher. |
 | | Originally known as the Ocean Collective, before shortening their name to simply the Ocean, this forward-thinking ensemble from Berlin, Germany, was founded in early 2000 by guitarist Robin Staps, who soon surrounded himself with fellow guitarist Andreas Hillebrand, bassist Jonathan Heine, drummer Torge Liessmann, percussionist Gerd Kornmann, and a variety of individually specialized vocalists, including Nico Webers, Sean Ingram, Nate Newton, Thomas Hallbom, and Carsten Albrecht. |
 | | Heavy metal rockers that compose Orange Goblin are Martyn Millard (bass), Ben Ward (vocals), Joe Hoari (guitar), Pete O'Mally (guitar), and Chris Turner (drums), and together these fine bandmates compose the harsh doom rock sounds similar to the likes of Mammoth Volume, Clawfinger, and Kyuss. |
 | | Japanese experimental group Mono came together in 2000, choosing to forgo vocals and concentrate instead on atmospheric, classical-inspired rock music. |
 | | Rising from the ashes of stoner/doom legends Obsessed during the small genre's most fertile post-Kyuss period, Goatsnake helped define Southern California's low-and-slow metal scene during the late '90s. |
 | | The misanthropic sludge metal outfit Eyehategod was formed in New Orleans in 1988, and became an important part of a Southern sludgecore scene that included bands like Crowbar and Down, all of whom were heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, Black Flag, and the Melvins. |
 | | Hailing from Palm Desert, CA, Kyuss (pronounced "kai-uss") has become something like a heavy metal equivalent to the Velvet Underground. |
 | | Madison, WI's Bongzilla specialize in uncommonly heavy and doomy sludge-core dedicated to their one and only love: weed. |
 | | Montreal's Priestess build upon the fury of AC/DC and Black Sabbath for their own new-millennium headbanger blend of '70s Camaro rock. |
 | | The instrumental, multimedia Montreal group Godspeed You! Black Emperor creates extended, repetition-oriented chamber rock. |
 | | Blending elements of grindcore, death metal, black metal, hardcore, and bluesy, groove-oriented Southern rock, Lousiana quintet Soilent Green has grown into one of the most distinctive bands in the U. |
 | | Canadian doom metal outfit Bison B.C. (the "B.C." was added as a precautionary measure to avoid any potential legal problems with bands that were inspired to name themselves after the same beast) grew out of the fertile ground of popular Vancouver "skate-thrash" band S. |
 | | Southern California's Fu Manchu began crafting heavy, psychedelic-tinged rock in 1990 with their debut single, "Kept Between Trees. |
 | | Taking their name from the original Japanese pronunciation of Godzilla, French heavy metal quartet Gojira have risen from utmost obscurity during the first half of their career to widespread global recognition in the second, including regular mention amongst the genre's leading new millennium upstarts. |
 | | An anomaly among the college/indie rock-centered Athens, GA, scene from which they emerged, cult favorite Harvey Milk was responsible for some of the slowest, heaviest, and most uncompromising rock music created in the latter half of the '90s. |
 | | New York City's Unsane assisted in pioneering a more aggressive, less studied version of noise rock, one that blended the scum/art industrial sturm und drang of Foetus, the Swans, Einsturzende Neubauten, and Sonic Youth with the decidedly more straightforward hardcore idiom favored by acts like Sick of It All. |
 | | New Jersey's Burnt by the Sun was formed in November 1999 by ex-Human Remains drummer David Witte and guitarist John Adubato. |
