Depending on what you're looking for, I'd say -

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone era - Taco Riffs, "fuck yeah" heavy.
Khanate - circa Things Viral - Deconstructive, slow it down heavy.
Corrupted - circa Paso Inferior - What I think of when I think of heavy.

The Melvins have done all of the above well, but none as individualy well as what's up there.

Really, High on Fire are something good, but - and we're tossing around descriptions that are pretty subjective and sophomoric - they're more rock than heavy.

I mean, are you really going to argue against the statement "Corrupted are the heaviest band in the world."? No, no you're not.

= Justin

Austerity Program.




Second only to HookerDragger.

Poison Idea...I mean, jeez...Pig Champion alone probably outweighed all of the Fat Boys and Misfats put together

SUNN O)))

THE WIZARD
THEY KANE HARDER
LEGALIZE DOPE AND MURDER


"I HOPE YOUR FUCKING WORLD
FUCKING BURNS AWAY
AND I'D KILL YOU ALL
IF I HAD MY WAY!"


No motherfucking contest.

I'm not going to pour over my whole collection but the first band that sprang to mind is His Hero Is Gone; "Monuments to Thieves" in particular. All the familiar adjectives apply: pounding, driving, pained blah blah blah blah. They get special points for being so heavy while only having 1-2 minute songs rather than falling back on 8 minute jack off sessions creeping along at 40 beats per minute.

I am the sort of person to think of heavy as a swagger, or attitude more than down tuning, playing slow, etc but His Hero Is Gone is more the typical version of heavy.

Also not yet brought up is the FALSE HEAVY. This is a band that needs to be beefed up in the studio and you feel totally cheated when seeing them live.

Rimbaud III wrote:White Mice.

Added points for being a three piece featuring only one guitar.

And I opted not to see them, fuckety fuck fuck.

beard rock wrote:I'm not going to pour over my whole collection but the first band that sprang to mind is His Hero Is Gone; "Monuments to Thieves" in particular. All the familiar adjectives apply: pounding, driving, pained blah blah blah blah. They get special points for being so heavy while only having 1-2 minute songs rather than falling back on 8 minute jack off sessions creeping along at 40 beats per minute.

I am the sort of person to think of heavy as a swagger, or attitude more than down tuning, playing slow, etc but His Hero Is Gone is more the typical version of heavy.

Also not yet brought up is the FALSE HEAVY. This is a band that needs to be beefed up in the studio and you feel totally cheated when seeing them live.

I second this

I can listen to any band that plays slow, thunderous riffs accompanied by growling vocals and still not hear heaviness as defined by bands like the Melvins, Harvey Milk, or Sleep. Sure Sunn 0))) has a few of the ingredients but not necessarily the song structure. Same with most of Slayer. Boris may have some massive guitar sounds but the vocals don't always work. I still enjoy these bands but, in the end, I always end up listening to Gluey Porch Treatments for what amounts to the defining moment in heaviness for me as a music fan. The individual elements (guitar, drums, bass, vocals and song structure) all add up to something that does what heaviness implies: music that sounds like it's about to collapse under its own weight but never quite does so.

ok, here is the tally thus far:

electric wizard = 5
high on fire = 2
sleep=2
melvins = 2
swans = 2

and the following bands have 1 vote each:
sepultura
obituary
zoroaster
nazareth
logical nonsense
harvey milk
corrupted
godflesh
blue cheer
whitehouse
slint
Zeni Geva
oxbow
misfats
Drive Like Jehu.
Warhorse
Michael Gira
Yelp Of Swords
Fushitsusha
white mice
weedeater
john cale
assuck
Zeni Geva
spinal tap
Les Rallizes Denudes
Austerity Program.
sunn o)))
Poison Idea
His Hero Is Gone
shorty


by the way...

honeyisfunny wrote:
Completely correct. My vote should be changed to HOF for sure. Heavy in the best sense too, as in relentless.

... your vote was changed, from zoroaster (who had 2 votes, now have 1) to high on fire (who had 1 vote, now have 2)