Sundowner - Cesspool (Album Review)

Release Date: October 16th 2026. Record Label: Disdain Records. Format: DD/Vinyl

Cesspool - Tracklist

1.The Deep 05:21

2.Golden Skinned Gods 03:45

3.Grave Wax 03:50

4.Intoxication Blues 03:23

5.Bleach Sniffer 05:02

6.7 Shades Of Shit 04:08

7.Complete And Utter Ruin 01:58

8.Unwilling Subjects 04:54

9.Water Torture 02:56

10.Pond Scum 05:36

Review

Aussie Sludge/Stoner Metallers Sundowner bring another twisted style of filth and debauchery into their music with their third album Cesspool. Taking that legendary NOLA sound and applying areas of Blues Metal, Fuzz Metal and Amplified Feedback where the band still add that classic Australian grimy HEAVY METAL attitude into the mix . This allows Sundowner once again to create a heavily poisoned and filth ridden style of Sludge/Stoner Metal that’s quite violent to hear the best of times especially when the grooves are amplified to fucking hell. 

Taking influences from the likes of EYEHATEGOD, DOWN, IRON MONKEY and CHURCH OF MISERY it’s the nihilistic lyrics and depressing WEEDIAN afterthoughts that Sundowner have applied to this record makes them a great band in their own right. The use of extreme and difficult vocals gives Cesspool another great reason to consider Sundowner one of Australia’s heaviest Sludge/Stoner Metal bands as they leave no stone unturned in delivering some of the filthiest and violent grooves to emerge from DOWN UNDER.

However, Sundowner never forgot to play some outstanding instrumental sounds that are filled with superb LOW & SLOW and AMPLIFIED DISTORTION passages that are violently melodic throughout the album. The level of filth, grime and distorted textures sometimes align themselves to a CRUST PUNK way of life with some great EXTREME METAL sounds developing when you least expect this.

Cesspool is perfectly named with Sundowner never offering or playing clean uplifting instrumental moments. As the band fully revel in the pain and tortuous sounds they create and expertly play on the entire album. The mixture of down-tuned elements and fast-paced grooves all appear at the right time that allows Sundowner to inflict maximum damage to the actual speakers whoever listens to the album.

Standout tracks to punish yourself with include: The Deep, Gold Skinned Gods, Intoxication Blues, Bleach Sniffer, 7 Shades Of Shit, Unwilling Suspects and Pond Scum. As these tracks are consistently the most violent, heavy and aggressive songs on the whole album but you can still rock the fuck out to.

Cesspool is an epic assault on the senses with Sundowner never apologizing for their massive style of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal that destroys everything in their way.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Viral Propaganda PR for the promo.

Cesspool is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl via Disdain Records.

Links

https://sundownersludge.bandcamp.com
https://instagram.com/sundownersludge
https://facebook.com/sundownersludge

Sundowner - Australian Sludge-Metal Outfit Announce New Album Cesspool Release "Intoxication Blues" Visualizer Video

Adelaide sludge merchants Sundowner are back, and things haven’t gotten any prettier.

Three years after Lysergic Ritual dragged listeners through a feedback-soaked wasteland of nihilism and decay, the Australian quartet have announced their third full-length, Cesspool, due out October 15 via Melbourne’s Disdain Records.

The band are offering the first taste of the album with “Intoxication Blues”, a filthy, swaggering slab of NOLA-inspired sludge accompanied by a brand-new visualizer.

Built around poisoned blues riffs, suffocating grooves, walls of feedback and a thick layer of distortion, “Intoxication Blues” provides an appropriately nasty introduction to an album designed to soundtrack a world going up in flames.

Cesspool sees Sundowner take the caustic, slow-burning sludge that has defined them since their 2021 debut Guns, Knives and Tyre Irons and push it into even more punishing territory across ten new tracks.

The band explain: ‘"Cesspool’ continues on with our brand of sludge, further melding influences from the classic ’90s pioneers of the genre through our own lens out of Adelaide, South Australia.”

For Sundowner, that lineage has always been clear. The poisoned blues of Eyehategod, the ugliness of Iron Monkey and Buzzov-en, and the smoke-filled grooves of Weedeater remain embedded in their DNA. But Cesspool isn’t interested in simply recreating the past. Instead, those influences are fed through Sundowner’s own distinctly Australian strain of hostility.

The album also sees Sundowner reunite with the production team behind Lysergic Ritual. After handling virtually everything themselves during the band’s early years, Sundowner brought Jason Fuller of Goatsound Studios into the fold to mix their second album, with Dav Byrne of Iridium Audio handling mastering.

“We went with the same production team as our last album, but pushed everything further for a more punishing and abrasive sound.” Says the band.

Across its ten tracks, Cesspool doubles down on everything Sundowner do best: filthy blues, crushing grooves, abrasive riffs and pure sludge-soaked hostility. It’s heavier, nastier and more punishing, without straying from the band’s uncompromising roots.

Cesspool will be released October 15, 2026 via Disdain Records, pre-orders for the vinyl release are now available at this location. Digital copies are available here.

Sundowner Links:

https://sundownersludge.bandcamp.com
https://instagram.com/sundownersludge
https://facebook.com/sundownersludge

Disdain Records Links:

https://www.disdain-records.com
https://www.facebook.com/Disdainrecords
https://www.instagram.com/disdainrecords666

Thanks to Viral Propaganda PR for all of the details.

Sundowner - Lysergic Ritual (Album Review)

Release Date: April 20th 024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Lysergic Ritual: Tracklisting

1.Degenerate Subculture 05:55

2.Lysergic Ritual 04:40

3.Substance Abuse 04:03

4.13 Foot High 04:19

5.Mobile Kill Room 05:36

6.Defilement 02:10

7.The High Priestess 04:43

8.Paranoia Sect 07:15

Review

Aussie Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metallers Sundowner return with their new album Lysergic Ritual which takes another nihilistic look at the world with down-tuned grooves and punishing vocals to match. The album sees the band continue their violent journey into the darker depths of the Sludge/Stoner Metal world with influences ranging from EYEHATEGOD, CONAN, Electric Wizard and WEEDATER usually reside.

The music is full of low & slow and dirge ridden gloomy sounds that match the harsh vocals which blends perfectly well with grimy feedback sounds emanating from the speakers. Though, that’s not say that Sundowner aren’t afraid to play a faster paced style of Sludge/Stoner Metal that builds up to some fantastic riff-centric grooves but still with a sense of aggressive and violent behaviour behind them on tracks such as the excellent title track Lysergic Ritual. 

There’s a killer NOLA influence heard within the album and you would be forgiven if you thought these guys were from that area of the world and not from DOWN UNDER. The record maybe full of violent growls but at least you can fully understand them which still makes the record a pissed off album to listen to especially with the great lyrics that accompanies the brutal and amplifier feedback instrumental moments that impress at every turn especially on tracks such as Degenerate Subculture, Substance Abuse, 13 Foot High, The High Priestess and Paranoia Sect. 

Lysergic Ritual does have an ugly WEEDIAN influence to it all which manifests through everything that Sundowner performs on the album. Though, the album does have a fine balance of Hardcore, Blues Rock and Swamp Metal sections that allows the record to be quite different and downright original whilst also having a familiar sound and essence to it all. This is one of the albums main strengths that it blends Sundowner’s original ideas with the bands many musical influences into a superbly entertaining experience that is packed full of brilliantly filthy and seedy grooves throughout.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Viral Propaganda PR for the promo.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram