Drone metal is quite possibly the most niche genre there is. Most tracks exceed 10 minutes in length, contain nothing more than a few riffs and some feedback, and generally don't have too much of a discernible beat. I would describe it as "psychedelic metal". This is pretty much what early Pink Floyd would have sounded like had they been a metal band.
It was originally created by the band Earth in the early '90s with their groundbreaking album,
Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version. Since then, several bands have taken Earth's original formula and messed with it to create their own unique sound. The two most prominent bands to do this have been Sunn O))) (named after Earth's favorite brand of amplifier) and BORIS.
Sunn O))) (pronounced as "sun") was formed by Stephen O'Malley, an extremely prolific musician in the doom metal scene, playing in many other bands including Burning Witch, Khanate, and Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine (named after the second track on Earth's debut). O'Malley also founded the metal record label Southern Lord. Sunn O)))'s signature includes some elements of the dark ambient genre. They have become quite possibly the most well-known drone band there is.
BORIS is a Japanese band formed in 1992. Their music has spanned several genres, including stoner rock, ambient, drone metal, and experimental rock. Their early sound was influenced by Earth and the Melvins, among other bands. Since their debut album,
Absolutego (which consists of one hour-long song), which was released in 1996, they have collaborated with many artists and released several studio albums, with their most recent album incorporating mainly stoner rock and ambient traits.
Now that you have some background on this compilation, here is the tracklisting:
1.) Earth - "Seven Angels"
2.) Sunn O))) - "HELL-O)))-WEEN"
3.) BORIS - "Dronevil 2"
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