''In the Name of Suffering'' is the debut album by American
sludge metal
Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...
band
Eyehategod
Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has re ...
. It was initially released in 1990
through French independent label Intellectual Convulsion and reissued in 1992 by
Century Media
A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
A centennial or ...
.
Background and recording
Eyehategod was formed in 1988
and recorded two demos, ''Garden Dwarf Woman Driver'' and ''Lack of Almost Everything'', released in the years 1989 and 1990, respectively. Originally, the band did not take themselves seriously, and only formed to rebel against what they call "the norm of underground music at the time".
The album was recorded and produced by the band themselves
at Festival Studios in
Kenner, Louisiana
Kenner (historically french: Cannes-Brûlées) is a city in Louisiana, United States. It is the largest city in Jefferson Parish, and is the largest incorporated suburban city of New Orleans. The population was 66,448 at the 2020 census.
History ...
for about $1,000.
Release
The album was originally released by French label Intellectual Convulsion, but only around 1,500–2,000 CD and
vinyl
Vinyl may refer to:
Chemistry
* Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer
* Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation
* Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry
* Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...
copies were pressed before the label had to shut down due to financial difficulties. The group would later be signed onto
Century Media
A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
A centennial or ...
, who re-released the album with new artwork on December 1, 1992. In 2004, Emetic Records repressed the album on vinyl, 1,000 copies total: 300 green marbled, 700 black. In 2006, as a part of Century Media's 20th anniversary, the album was reissued with the original cover art and the entirety of the band's 1990 demo ''Lack of Almost Everything'' as bonus tracks. These same exact demo recordings also appeared on the band's 2001 live album ''
10 Years of Abuse (and Still Broke)''. The year 2008 saw Emetic Records again reissuing the album on vinyl, this time as a
double disc LP set with the first disc being composed of the album itself and the second disc being made up of the same four bonus ''Lack of Almost Everything'' demos from the 2006 CD reissue. This 2008 pressing was limited to 500 black copies. This edition would later be repressed in 2011, again in quantities of 500 black copies
In 2015, the album, along with ''
Take as Needed for Pain
''Take as Needed for Pain'' is the second studio album by American sludge metal band Eyehategod, released on November 22, 1993. It was reissued in 2006 as part of Century Media's 20th Anniversary series of reissues, with six bonus tracks, taken f ...
'', was repressed on vinyl through Century Media. This 2015 pressing was made available on black, white (limited to 100 copies) and gold (limited to 500 copies) colored vinyl. Also released on the same day was a four-disc CD boxset containing the group's first four albums (including ''In the Name of Suffering'').
Reception
Since its initial release, ''In the Name of Suffering'' has received praise for its rough style, and is seen as one of the first, as well as one of the most important,
sludge metal
Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...
albums of the 1990s.
Heavy metal website Hellbound.ca mentioned how ''In the Name of Suffering'', along with its follow-up ''Take as Needed for Pain'', created the framework for "one of the most interesting, yet disturbing, bands around".
In William York's review of the album for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, he states "Later Eyehategod albums have more memorable songs, but ''In the Name of Suffering'' arguably captures the band's compelling ugliness in its most raw state."
Track listing
Release history
Credits
*
Mike IX Williams
Mike IX Williams (born Michael D. Williams) is an American vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of New Orleans-based sludge metal band Eyehategod. He is the former associate editor of heavy metal magazine ''Metal Maniacs'' and ...
— vocals
* Mark Schultz — lead guitar
* Jimmy Bower — rhythm guitar
* Steve Dale — bass
* Joe LaCaze — drums
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:In The Name Of Suffering
Eyehategod albums
1990 debut albums