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.
The Melvins’ first record was released in 1987; they’ve released many albums since then, but it wasn’t until 1993 that they went to a major label, thanks to their protégé, Kurt Cobain. While some may find The Melvins dull and repetitious, their place in rock history is interesting, even if considered to be just a footnote.
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The band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, the same town that produced Nirvana’s Cobain and Krist Novoselic. For Nirvana and many other Seattle-area bands, The Melvins’ sludge was inspirational.
The younger bands took the Sabbath-styled heaviness of The Melvins, while adding an equally important pop song structure, which the group tended to lack.
httpv://https://youtu.be/g0Lj9LkvBaA
Continuing their ongoing string of lineup experiments, Melvins stalwarts Dale Crover and King Buzzo teamed up with Butthole Surfers’ Paul Leary and J.D. Pinkus on the most recent album Hold It In.
With such a distinct sound, the band’s various personnel changes often feel somewhat superfluous, offering a variation on their usual sound without altering things too far from the kind of sludgy goodness listeners have come to know and love.
The Melvins
Thursday, 24 September 2015 | 20:00 CET
Berghain | Am Wriezener Bahnhof | 10243 Berlin/Friedrichshain
