When it comes to metal, I mostly associate Florida with the likes of Obituary, Deicide, and Morbid Angel. Something I wasn’t aware of until recently is that apparently there’s also a healthy/burgeoning drone/sludge scene down there. The first indication of the fact was an excellent first Shroud Eater demo that (rightfully) ended up being praised all over the blogosphere.

Now there’s another name to add to the list: Holly Hunt. Formed in 2010, this Miami duo consists of drummer Beatriz and guitarist Gavin, and on this split they pound out one fierce tribute to Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward. I think that Mr. Ward should be proud of this, since the song is very much in the tradition of both his own band and a more modern host of usual suspects from Melvins to Harvey Milk. It’s heavy as hell, its sinister — i.e. it’s everything that doom/drone/sludge should be.

On the other side of the split are UK doomsters Slomatics, whose music (true to their name) moves at a snail’s pace. The vocals seem to strangely float all over the music which makes it highly atmospheric; as if you can picture the whole band playing in a fog. Their side, however, still feels like standard doom/metal fare. The crown, in my opinion, should go to Holly Hunt and their tribute to Sabbath’s skinsman.