You’ve spent hours chasing that specific high. You know the one—it’s that weird, heavy, psychedelic buzz that only happens when Kim Thayil’s dropped-tuned guitar meets Chris Cornell’s four-octave howl. Honestly, finding bands similar to Soundgarden is a bit of a nightmare. Most groups from that era were either trying to be Nirvana or basically just bad Pearl Jam clones. Soundgarden was different. They were the "musician's grunge band," obsessed with odd time signatures like $7/4$ and sludgy, Black Sabbath-inspired riffs that felt more like a physical weight than a melody.
Finding a replacement is impossible. But if you're looking for music that captures that same dark, cerebral, and crushing energy, you have to look beyond the "Big Four" labels.
The Most Obvious (But Necessary) Heavy Hitters
If you haven't lived under a rock for thirty years, you know Alice in Chains. But the connection goes deeper than just being from Seattle. While Soundgarden was busy being "The Zeppelin of the North," Alice in Chains was the only other band in that scene that truly understood the value of a slow, agonizing riff. Jerry Cantrell has admitted multiple times that Kim Thayil was the one who actually introduced him to drop-tuned riffing. You can hear that "Louder Than Love" influence all over Dirt.
Then there’s Audioslave. It’s the easiest transition because, well, Cornell. But if you’re a die-hard fan of the Badmotorfinger era, Audioslave might feel a little too "radio-ready" for you. It lacks that avant-garde weirdness. For the real grit, you have to look at Temple of the Dog. It’s basically Soundgarden meets Pearl Jam, but it captures a specific moment in 1990 before the world exploded. "Reach Down" is arguably the closest thing to a Soundgarden epic outside of their own discography.
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The Stoner Rock and Sludge Connection
A lot of people forget that Soundgarden was essentially a stoner metal band that happened to get famous during the grunge boom. If you love the fuzzy, detuned sound of Superunknown or "4th of July," you need to dive into the Palm Desert scene.
Kyuss is the big one here. Josh Homme’s early band didn’t have a singer with Cornell’s range (who does?), but they had the heaviness. Their album Welcome to Sky Valley is a masterclass in the kind of "desert sludge" that mirrors Soundgarden’s mid-90s output. It’s hypnotic, slightly psychedelic, and feels like it was recorded in a sweat-soaked garage.
Modern Bands Keeping the Vibe Alive
- Elder: These guys are incredible. They started as a doom band but evolved into this progressive, psychedelic beast. If you like the long-form, complex structures of "Searching With My Good Eye Closed," listen to their album Lore.
- Mastodon: Specifically their album The Hunter or Once More 'Round the Sun. They share that "metal but not quite metal" DNA. They use weird harmonies and technical drumming that would make Matt Cameron proud.
- King Buffalo: For those who prefer the moody, atmospheric side of Soundgarden. They lean heavily into the "space rock" side of things.
The Secret "Hidden" History: Truly
If you want to get really technical, check out Truly. This is a deep cut. It features Soundgarden’s original bassist Hiro Yamamoto and Mark Pickerel from Screaming Trees. They never got the massive fame of their peers, but their 1995 album Fast Stories from Kid Coma is a psychedelic masterpiece. It captures that specific "Seattle-at-night" atmosphere—dark, slightly paranoid, and incredibly lush. They are actually planning a 30th-anniversary tour in 2026, which is a big deal for anyone who cares about the original Seattle architecture.
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Why Nobody Sounds Exactly Like Them
The problem with finding bands similar to Soundgarden is the vocal "gap." Chris Cornell didn't just sing; he was a force of nature. Most "similar" bands fall into the trap of sounding like a 70s throwback band or a generic metal act. Soundgarden was weirdly intellectual. They’d play a song in $5/4$ time like "My Wave" and still make it a hit.
Big Wreck is often mentioned because their frontman, Ian Thornley, has a voice that is startlingly close to Cornell's. While they lean more toward the "hard rock" side and less toward the "weird sludge" side, Thornley’s vocal acrobatics on tracks like "The Pleasure and the Greed" are probably the closest thing you’ll get to that Superunknown vocal energy.
What to Listen to Next
Stop looking for a clone and start looking for the "spirit" of the band. You’ll find it in different places:
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- For the heavy riffs: Look into Deliverance by Corrosion of Conformity. It’s southern-fried, but the weight of the production is very much in line with Badmotorfinger.
- For the weirdness: Try Failure. Their album Fantastic Planet is a 90s alternative masterpiece that uses spacey textures and odd structures in a way that feels like a cousin to Soundgarden’s later work.
- For the vocals: Check out Jeff Buckley. It sounds like a curveball, but Buckley and Cornell were actually friends and huge fans of each other's voices. Buckley’s "Eternal Life" has a raw, aggressive energy that shows where the two vocalists overlapped.
Basically, if you want to find more music like this, you have to embrace the "heavy-psychedelic" tag. Soundgarden wasn't just a grunge band; they were a bridge between the 70s arena gods and the 90s underground.
Go listen to the album Dead Roots Stirring by Elder. It's the best place to start if you've already burned through the entire Soundgarden catalog for the tenth time this year. Seriously, do it. It captures that exact sense of "heavy but beautiful" that made Soundgarden the best band to ever come out of the Pacific Northwest.