Moloken: Not Your Papa’s Sludge

“Progressive sludge” is a genre identifier that always makes me take note when I see it in press copy. I like regular old sludge as much as the next guy, but we’ve been there, doing that, for twenty some-odd years now. Where’s the next evolution? Tack something on, improve the formula, change it up. Progressify it. There are some bands doing this, sure, but none seem to have cracked through to the big time just yet. Maybe I’m alone in my desire to fix something that everyone else thinks ain’t broke.

Swedish band Moloken take a swing at the ever-moving progressive sludge piñata, filling it up with generous helpings of post-metal and post-hardcore too. The result is a mélange of metal that leaves you feeling twisted, dirty, beaten down and decimated. “I Dig Deeper” premiered last week at Cvlt Nation, whose Sean Reveron observes, “Sometimes it’s not about what you hear up front, but what you hear in between the riffs that makes you dig a band,” which couldn’t be more true in this case. Nothing the band members are playing here is THAT overtly brutal, but taken together it all gives you a certain feeling of despair. It’s absolutely narsty, as sludge should be, but it’s definitely not your papa’s sludge.

All is Left to See comes out on October 23rd. Check out Moloken’s 2011 album Rural on their Bandcamp.