Baroness
Straddling the fence between aggressive sludge and technical fireworks, Baroness is carving out their own unique plot in the ever-cramped world of underground metal. If these guys aren’t on your radar yet you need to rectify that little oversight quickly.
Baroness plays 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 suggests the influence of sludge and post-punk bands.
http://www.myspace.com/yourbaroness
Taint
Something of an enigma. Many have striven to place their sound within a handy genre definition, only to find themselves wondering whether a band so dynamic and full of surprises can really be called ‘sludge’, or whether music so antithetical to boredom can justifiably be termed ‘post-hardcore’. Taint’s 2005 full-length debut for Rise Above, ‘The Ruin Of Nova Roma’ was a crafty beast that revelled in contructing such riddles for the listener and, of course, the critic. Pigeonholes are for pigeons, after all. It’s the purpose of great rock groups to not quite fit in.
http://www.myspace.com/taintuk