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Heavy Metal Thunder Southern Metal

Genres Heavy Metal Doom Metal Sludge Metal Southern Metal

Southern Metal

Metal with the American South in it — blues, whiskey, swamp and swagger, riding on Pantera-sized grooves.

Active years
1993 – present
Origin
USA (Southern States)
Family
Doom Metal
Bands here
13

Start here

Three records in order of how easy they are to get into — which is not the same as best first.

  1. NOLA Down, 1995 The landmark

    A New Orleans supergroup recorded in a barn in three weeks, and the best thing anyone involved ever did. Sabbath riffs, southern swagger, and Phil Anselmo singing rather than shouting for once.

    Listen to NOLA

  2. Deliverance Corrosion of Conformity, 1994

    A hardcore band who grew their hair and learned Lynyrd Skynyrd. Pepper Keenan's arrival turned COC into this, and "Clean My Wounds" is the genre in four minutes.

    Listen to Deliverance

  3. Sonic Brew Black Label Society, 1998

    Released in Japan in October 1998 and in America the following May with an extra track. Zakk Wylde doing exactly what he wants: pinch harmonics, whisky, and an acoustic ballad you did not see coming.

    Listen to Sonic Brew

What it sounds like

Blues phrasing under a detuned riff. Southern metal takes groove metal's mid-paced swagger and runs it through American roots music: pentatonic licks, slide guitar, harmonica, and vocals that sound like a bar rather than a stage. Tempos are unhurried and the groove is everything. It shares personnel and postcodes with sludge but almost none of its hostility — where that genre is abrasive, this one is warm, whiskey-soaked and often close to celebratory. The best of it sounds like Black Sabbath if they had grown up in Louisiana rather than Birmingham. Tempo rarely rises above a swagger and the solos are bluesy rather than technical, which is why it appeals to people who otherwise stopped at Led Zeppelin.

  • Heaviness 4 out of 5
  • Speed 2 out of 5
  • Aggression 3 out of 5
  • Technicality 2 out of 5
  • Darkness 2 out of 5
  • Melody 3 out of 5

Where the name came from

A geographic descriptor for metal rooted in the blues, country, and rock traditions of the American South. Sometimes interchangeable with 'Southern sludge' for bands like Down and Crowbar who blend New Orleans sludge with Southern rock's swagger.

The bands

Hear these first

  • Down USA
  • Crowbar USA
  • Corrosion of Conformity USA
  • Black Label Society USA
  • Pantera USA

And 8 more

  • Alabama Thunderpussy USA
  • Dixie Witch USA
  • Beaten Back to Pure USA
  • Eyehategod USA
  • Acid Bath USA
  • Superjoint Ritual USA
  • Kingdom of Sorrow USA
  • Artimus Pyledriver USA

Where it happened

Counting this genre and everything descended from it.

If you liked this

Closest in sound outside this family, leaning towards the similar or the gentler rather than straight into the deep end.