Sleazebag & Peine Kapital Premiere Menacing New Sludge Metal Split — Listen Here!

European sludge metal projects Sleazebag and Peine Kapital — who are from Germany and France, respectively — have united for a menacing new split record, which is a Jan. 29 release from the U.K.’s trusty Sludgelord Records. Among other commonalities, Sleazebag and Peine Kapital both confront political issues with their themes.

Get a first listen to the heavy-hitting record in full below!

Sleazebag performs massive, pummeling sludge metal, with often familiarly restrained tempos and a truly monumental weight in the sound.

From a comparatively faster opening into menacingly slow instrumentation elsewhere on the project’s hard-hitting opening track “III,” Sleazebag keeps the experience dynamic and attention-grabbing. The music feels like the sound of some inescapable gravitational force dragging passersby into the depths of a thick swamp, and the music continues well past the point of metaphorical submersion, forcefully depicting a sea of teeming menace. Humid distortion drenches the sound, flowing alongside confrontational, ache-riddled riffing.

On Sleazebag’s latter track, “IV,” the project leans a bit more into an overtly propulsive vibe, presenting immersive, seeping sludge with an in-your-face sonic shock. The riffing itself feels very strong, and Sleazebag’s tracks feel crafted to present this looming power front-and-center, with hazy distortion and pummeling drum hits filling out the sonic terrain.

Peine Kapital‘s contribution, the roughly 11-minute long “L’ivoire/ L’ébène/ La foudre,” lands with an inwardly resounding thud.

The band’s instrumentals seem to roar with hellish fire underlying their presentation, as if capturing some kind of journey into a desolated netherworld. The group sticks to a similarly slower tempo, which allows the grinding dynamics of their impressively powerful work to shine. The repetitious riffs across this track feel somehow alive, like reflecting an experience where every element of one’s surroundings suddenly becomes inexplicably terrifying. With a wildly broad sound, Peine Kapital seem to explore the horror of a void of uncertainty — the all-consuming unease feels central. Although the song feels huge, it’s decidedly not particularly cosmic or fleeting. Instead, thanks to the grit and metaphorical filth that permeate the music, the experience feels personal and unsettling.

Listen to the split below! (If there’s an issue with displaying the music, please refresh the page and/ or wait a moment.)

Click on the embedded music — or head to this link –– to find pre-orders.