Montesano

This small town just north of Aberdeen was home to the Melvins, whose pioneering sludge-metal sound and DIY ethos directly influenced the entire grunge movement. Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover's experiments with downtuned, Black Sabbath-influenced heaviness after witnessing Black Flag's 1984 transformation created a template that Kurt Cobain and other Aberdeen/Montesano area musicians absorbed through local shows and tape trading. The Melvins' departure for Washington and then California helped spread this Pacific Northwest sound beyond its rural origins.

Scenes

Artists from Montesano

• The Melvins

  Buzz Osborne's band played the slowest, heaviest riffs to come out of the Pacific Northwest, and nearly every grunge band that mattered later can trace something back to them.