Metal Monday: Dub And Ragga Metal

posted in: Features • Rock

For anyone who knows anything about metal, they’re probably aware there are a plethora of sub genres”  death, thrash, metalcore, stoner, sludge, doom, progressive, folk, pagan, etc. Perhaps two sub genres you’ve not heard of are dub metal and ragga metal. What are they, you ask? Read more to find out!

To understand what dub metal is, you need to first understand the two styles it draws most of its influence from”dub and sludge metal. Dub is often compared to reggae in terms of the beats and sound aesthetic it often uses, as it originated from reggae. Where as reggae can often be more uptempo, dub is most often very slow. The bass and drum parts are considerably thicker and heavier than those typically found in reggae as well. One very distinctive characteristic of dub is that it’s almost always created through using samples of existing reggae songs, not using actual performers. So now that you’ve got the gist of  the sound, how about an audio sample? Check out “Dance of the Vampires” by Scientist:

As for the other influence, sludge metal is also very typically slower and heavy, featuring thick drum, bass, and guitar sounds. Most of the guitar chords are barre chords, and there are very few (if any) fast guitar solos. If you’re looking for great examples of sludge metal, bands like Kylesa or High On Fire are pretty good places to start. Often sludge metal features a big and gritty sound, and is often considered extremely similar to stoner metal bands like Sleep.

Mixed together, what does this sound equate to? A band called Dub Trio has nailed it. They traverse between the heavy and the spacey, perfectly floating between thick chords with pounding drums to light reverb-filled guitar sections accompanied by light work on the cymbals. There are no vocals” only bass, guitar, and drums. How about a taste? Here is Dub Trio’s video for their song “Illegal Dub”

On the opposite side of the fence of Dub Trio is a Welsh band called Skindred” a self-proclaimed “ragga metal” band. “Ragga” is a term used to describe dancehall music that shares a lot of simalrities with reggae (in a different way than dub). In Skindred’s case, the instrumental parts of their albums are very much metal along the lines of some nu-metal and alternative metal bands like Deftones, older Papa Roach, Rage Against the Machine or Drowning Pool,  but still very much their own. The vocals, however, are where the true ragga influence comes” Benji Webbe’s vocal delivery sounds like it’s straight out of the dance hall, with a tinge of metal attitude on it. What does this sound like? Well, here’s another treat for your ears. This time it’s “Rat Race” from Skindred’s Shark Kites and Dog Fights:

So what do you think? Does the reggae/dub and metal mix work? Do you know of any other strange metal subgenres? Let me know in the comments section!