Southern Metal

Southern metal is the heavy metal of the American South, fusing the downtuned weight of sludge and groove metal with the blues phrasing, boogie swing and lyrical world of southern rock. Its centre is New Orleans, where *Down*, *Crowbar* and *Eyehategod* built a scene in the late 1980s and 1990s, with North Carolina's *Corrosion of Conformity* and *Zakk Wylde*'s *Pride & Glory* and *Black Label Society* as parallel pillars. Riffs bend and swagger where thrash would sprint, vocals drawl and shout, and the subject matter runs to addiction, grievance, mortality and regional pride.