This was by far the best year for sludge music I've seen in awhile. Never heard so many solid releases in the genre from so many different places!!! I think sludge might be developing into something with a worldwide scene of its own, rather than merely being considered a "subset" of doom metal, with a strong presence in NOLA and a handful of bands in other places. Even my home state of Ohio (and the city of Cincinnati, where I live) has exploded with good sludge bands in recent years. In Cincinnati, for a long time, we used to only have BENEATH OBLIVION . But GAPING MAW and FLESH MOTHER emerged a few years ago and both have grown in their sound considerably... (this is the default image for a video of part of their set at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, NY in 2017 - it was shot by Max Volume Silence ) FLESH MOTHER released an incredible two-song EP two years ago and last year, put out an impressive full-length that was mastered by ...