A New Orleans institution founded in 1988, Eyehategod unleashes sludge metal drenched in torturous screams, shrieking feedback, and hardcore riffs slowed to an agonizing crawl. If its sophomore album, 1993’s Take As Needed for Pain, is menacing in its unadulterated rage, then its third album, 1996’s Dopesick, is sheer noise terror. Lurking in the group's sonic violence, however, are deep connections to NOLA’s musical heritage. Singer Mike Williams is haunted by the same demons—poverty, addiction, mental anguish—with which blues artists have grappled since the 19th century; and guitarist Jimmy Bower (whose credits also include Crowbar, Down, and Superjoint) possesses a swampy sense of groove unique to musicians from Louisiana. Over time, Eyehategod has added a thick coating of doom-informed fuzz to its albums (see 2021's A History of Nomadic Behavior) while continuing to chronicle the extremes of psychic turmoil.