10 Underrated Metal Albums Of The 1990s

Though grunge is known in some circles as the destroyer of metal music, there were many bands in that scene whose sound owed a lot to the metal of old. While bands like Pearl Jam were taking classic rock and turning it into solid gold, the Melvins were taking the sludge of Black Sabbath and making it even heavier.

The Melvins were one of the pivotal acts of the grunge era, but they were never quite able to garner as much as attention as their more pop centric peers. The right people were listening though, with Kurt Cobain himself encouraging labels to sign them and even producing a bit of Houdini. Aside from something like Dirt from Alice in Chains, this album is the closest sonic equivalent to being dragged through two feet of solid mud, with thick riffs interspersed with pummeling vocals from Buzz Osborne.

With its art rock slant and dense grooves, Buzz Osborne's description of the band as "the Captain Beefheart of Heavy Metal" rings true across every track. Thanks to this album, metal was able to take its sound in a much heavier direction, from stoner rock to all out doom metal. Grunge may have had a few pop superstars, but the real heaviness was lying just below the surface.