Listas dos melhores álbuns de 2010 segundo a imprensa, músicos, etc: Tópico Oficial

[Jorgetime]

Já se começam a perceber (não só aqui, como até nas votações aqui do MU) que há 4/5 álbuns que aparecem com muita frequência.
Fico é surpreendido com o destaque dado ao Diamond Eyes.

Kverlertak vão acabar por dar o passo. . .

O Diamond Eyes é, para quem gosta de Deftones, ou não, o melhor desde o White Poney, e quiça, até mesmo melhor que o tal. . .

Vá, comparações não. Mas é sem dúvida um album excelente, basta olhar para as reviews que há por aí (da Loud ou até mesmo da Blitz por exemplo).
O Option Paralysis também tá a ter muito destaque.

[onedayless]

DAVE MUSTEIN’S TOP FIFTEEN METAL ALBUMS OF 2010

1. Ihsahn, After (Candlelight)

What an album. It combines many of my favorite musical elements: unusual and epic orchestrations (sax solos), catchy melodies and riffs, fast-paced, brutal guitar work, and awesome vocals. You know this a phenomenal album because I don’t even like Emperor, but this is far and away my favorite release of 2010. I could listen to “Frozen Lakes on Mars” or “On the Shores” again and again and again.

2. The Ocean, Anthropocentric (Metal Blade)

Fortunately, this more than made up for the disappointment of Heliocentric. I don’t know if it compares to the greatness of Precambrian or Fluxion, but it’s up there, even with less symphonic orchestrations. The vocals fit in much better than on Heliocentric, and the riffs and songs are just better written. Excellent.

3. Gru, Cosmogenesis (self-released)

I can’t believe we haven’t written about him here on MetalSucks. He’s djenty, he’s technical, his music is catchy and never boring, and it’s awesome. Everyone listen to Gru. Despite the generic proggy album title, his music is wonderful and delightfully happy. Maybe that’s not the right word, but it sure isn’t a brutal downer – just a glorious revelation of music.

4. As I Lay Dying, The Powerless Rise (Metal Blade)

Is it metalcore? Yes. Does it sound a lot like previous AILD stuff? Yes! Is it actually refreshing to hear something that’s not endless breakdowns in drop e, with melodies and choruses? Fuck yes. The Powerless Rise is fun, entertaining, and heavy as fuck.

5. Cephalic Carnage, Misled by Certainty (Relapse)

I reviewed this when it came out, and my opinion hasn’t changed. Technical, heavy, unorthodox, and just damn awesome.

6. Pendulum, Immersion (WMG)

This is probably a WTF moment for most of you. If you’ve heard of Pendulum, you know that they’re not remotely metal. Except that actually, they kind of are. While most of the time they play techno, they also did a dual song with In Flames titled “Self vs. Self” which is actually good. And overall, it’s a fun album. “Crush” has some awesome guitar work, and the drops in “Set Me on Fire” are pretty rad.

7. This or the Apocalypse, Haunt What’s Left (Good Fight)

Yes, there are multiple metalcore albums on my top fifteen list. But this one is different. This Or the Apocalypse are just a unique specimen in the metalcore world, as some of you may have noticed when we wrote about them earlier this year. Check out “Subverse” for my personal favorite song from this album.

(Yeaaahhh )

8. Ichor, Benthic Horizon (Bastardized)

Strange how nobody has heard of these Germans. But their brutal death metal is a standout from the majority of releases I’ve heard this year; it’s pretty similar to Fleshgod Apocalypse both in terms of style and quality. In addition to being ferociously technical, it has fantastic hooks. Unfortunately, the production isn’t that great, but hopefully they’ll manage to get a bit more promotion and release a really well-made album.

9. Son of Aurelius, The Farthest Reaches (Good Fight)

It does seem like MetalSucks sucks (haha) Son of Aurelius’s collective penis. But there’s a reason — their music is a breath of fresh air in this sea of fragrant shit. I haven’t heard melodies and brutality combined this tastefully since, well, ever. I probably like this so much since it’s a combination of Animosity and metalcore, one of my favorite bands and a genre I always liked.

10. Shining, Blackjazz (Indie)

Why isn’t this higher? I’m not sure. For some reason, a couple of the pieces just didn’t grab me the way I wanted them to. Two copies each of “The Madness and the Damage Done” and “Exit Sun” didn’t help boost them upwards. Nevertheless, it’s a solid and innovative release whose presence on this list isn’t very disputable.

11. Fleshwrought, Dementia/Dyslexia (Metal Blade)

A death metal collaboration from two of my favorite artists has to go on to my top fifteen list. This was a standout in the death metal genre.

12. Hate, Erebos (Listenable)

Another death metal band who I feel have been severely under-covered this year. They’re not just generic Behemoth-style blackened death. Songs like “Trinity Moons” and “Quintessence of Hunger Suffering” display their experimental nature, making them stand out from the horde of brutal death releases this year.

13. Triptykon, Eparistera Daimones (Century Media)

Of course. This one is lower down because it took me a little bit longer to get into. It’s a little too drawn-out, in my opinion. But it’s still a fantastic release.

14. Cloudkicker, Beacons (self-released)

To say that Ben Sharp is a talented guy would be an understatement. He melds melody and metal, technicality and taste seemlessly. His music, like that of Insomnium, is something you can always throw on and be satisfied with.

15. Ion Dissonance, Cursed (Century Media)

I actually just added this last minute, having not really listened to it much until… uh, now. But it’s really, really good. I usually don’t like mathcore but this isn’t frenetic dissonant mathcore — it’s death-metal-mathcore that blends killer grooves and beats with the dissonance.

I didn’t feel that it was right to put an EP up with a full release, seeing as it would compare a few songs to an entire album’s worth of length. But I found a few EPs this year truly exceptional:

Cloudkicker, [[[]]] (self-released) — I liked this EP at least as much as, if not more than, Beacons. But I wanted to get Cloudkicker onto my top fifteen, since his work is so amazing. Download both, but I feel that his songwriting skill really shines on the EP, as he mixes the styles of artists ranging from Jesu to Animals as Leaders effortlessly.

Fleshgod Apocalypse, Mafia (Willowtip) — This undoubtedly would have been on my top fifteen had it been a full length. Brutal, beautiful, technical, operatic — this is how tech death should be played. Bravo!

Katatonia, The Longest Year — Ok, this wasn’t that good. This is just an excuse for me to essentially throw Night is the New Day onto my list for this year since I didn’t have a list last year.

TesseracT, Concealing Fate (Century Media) — As with Fleshgod, had it been a full-length, it would have been in my top fift. Djent that doesn’t get boring and breakdown laden. One of my personal favorites.

Honorable Mentions:

Sigh, Scenes From Hell (The End) — Yet another case of “January albums get shunned,” which I remember happening last year with Cattle Decapitation’s The Harvest Floor. This is a good album, but doesn’t approach the tremendous success of Imaginary Sonicscape or Hangman’s Hymn for me.

Kalmah, 12 Gauge (Spinefarm) – It’s Kalmah doing what they do best: making awesome melodic death metal. I didn’t feel that this one broke the mold enough to make it onto the final list, but it was very good.

Deathspell Omega, Paracletus (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)– I thought this one was a bit overrated by its fans, but was good nonetheless. A solid release.

The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Danza III: The Series of Unfortunate Events (Black Market Activities) — Not really my thing, but they get an honorable mention for their live show. WOW. I have never seen so many kids going so nuts. Even with ONE 8-string guitar (which was malfunctioning) and only three other members (at this show, the bass had lost a string), they put on a far better live show than most of the other bands.

Disappointments:

The Ocean, Heliocentric (Metal Blade) — Precambrian is my favorite album of all time. So I guess I expected too much from The Ocean. Heliocentric was a severe disappointment to me, because it just didn’t have the same amount of musical innovation and activity as Precambrian. In short, it bored me. I couldn’t find new things again and again with every listen. It wasn’t the clean vocals, I swear! Well… it was kind of like how I viewed Traced in Air. The clean vocals themselves didn’t piss me off in their execution, but the fact that there were so many simply to have that many did.

Cynic, Re-Traced (Candlelight) — Speaking of Cynic… I didn’t like Traced in Air. I thought it was a boring rehash of Focus, an attempt to get in with the prog movement of now, and a painful reminder of how good Cynic used to be. I didn’t have high hopes for Re-Traced, and Cynic fulfilled my expectations exactly: Re-Traced is an even more stripped down and boring version of Traced in Air, which I thought was a stripped down version of Focus. One of my least favorite of 2010.

Periphery, Periphery (Sumerian) – I’ve listened to Bulb’s solo work since maybe 2007, so I was pumped to finally hear a production version of Periphery. Man, was I wrong. The mix is ok, I guess, but it doesn’t sound nearly as tight as it used to — now it’s too djenty, if anything. But the real killer is the vocals. I LIKED PERIPHERY AS INSTRUMENTAL BAND. The vocals themselves aren’t bad; it’s the fact that there are vocals present on the album at all that bothers me.

[onedayless]

AXL ROSENBERG’S TOP FIFTEEN METAL ALBUMS OF 2010 (from MetalSucks)

So last year I predicted that whatever Pig Destroyer put out would be the best album of 2010, and then Pig Destroyer decided I should go fuck myself and didn’t release anything this year. Thanks, fellas. So selfish.

Oh, well. It was still a really good year for metal — in fact, I keep hearing people bitch about what a weak year it was, and I wanna spit in their mouths. I struggled pretty intensely with this list, and I could have added another fifteen albums easy. If 2010 seemed lackluster, I think it was only because coming after 2009, when it seemed like there was a goddamn motherfucking masterpiece released every other week, this year was bound to seem a little meh — it’s like last year was Jane Doe and this year was You Fail Me. Not as good, but still in no way something about which to complain. (And by the way, if I’m the sunniest dude in the room, then that room needs some hardcore psychoanalysis, pronto.)

So there are bands and albums that I raved about this year that didn’t make the final cut, and all I can say is, they were given very serious consideration, and these lists are pretty meaningless anyway — they’re just a snapshot of one person’s opinion during a particular time in a particular place. And my opinion during this particular time from this particular place is…


15. Mar de Grises, Streams Inwards (Season of Mist)

The Insomnium Award for Score to an Epic Movie that Doesn’t Actually Exists goes to these Chilean melodic doomsters, who, in all honesty, I had never even heard of before Vince played me this album back in September. But it’s been a staple of my rotation ever since. Not since Daylight Dies has a band made me feel so fucking depressed and yet so invigorated at the same time. You might think metal’s answer to Braveheart would be, like, Eluveitie or something, but it’s really this — it’s simple but expertly manipulative, and it seems romantic because even though it’s basically an action movie about a dude killing lots and lots of people, he’s killing them in the name of a woman (excuse me, “freedom”). I don’t really know what Mar de Grises are so upset about (WHY ARE YOU SO SAD, MAR DE GRISES?!?), but I hope they never cheer up.

14. Sevendust, Cold Day Memory (7 Bros./Asylum)

Are my hair metal roots showing? Regular readers will already be aware that I have a sweet tooth for pop metal; this is the only album I heard all year that scratched that particular itch (even with Avenged Sevenfold giving it their all to top their 2007 album, Use Your Illusion III). We’ve already made a big stink about how important it was to get Clint Lowery back in the fold, but holy shit, did Clint come back with a bang. Yeah yeah yeah, a lot of it sounds like classic 7D, but classic Sevendust never had guitar solos — let along guitar solos as righteous as the one on “Nowhere” — or a Gothenburgian riff as superior as the one that kicks off “Better Place.” What separates Sevendust from the seemingly endless parade of truly heinous bands that publicists, label reps, and readers alike send us every day is that none of those bands can write a song even half as catchy as the ones on this album. Cold Day Memory is more infectious than a night in Morgan Rose’s bed.

13. The Dillinger Escape Plan, Option Paralysis (Party Smasher/Season of Mist)

Some bands stay the same forever and ever and ever (Slayer), some bands devolve into something really awful (Metallica), and some bands evolve into something really beautiful — like DEP have. I’m really baffled by DEP fans who profess no love for Option Paralysis — it’s so angry and so sad and so epic, and there is so nothing wrong with some healthy doses of Faith No More and Nine Inch Nails (What, you feel like there aren’t enough Calculating clones in the world right now?), and if it takes a few listens to get used to, well, I think that’s just because so has every album The Dillinger Escape Plan have ever released. Puciato is fast becoming one of my favorite lyricists — his words aren’t as multilayered as a Guy Kozowyk or a J.R. Hayes, maybe, but his interpretations of the human character are just as on-point.

12. Cloudkicker, Beacons (self-released)

I’ve really only been aware of this bad boy for a short time, and so mired in the making fun of Slipknot and pontificating upon the assistance of car companies in the creation of metal have I been that I never even found time to write about it; but I fucking love, love, love this record, and something tells me that, given more time with it, it would have appeared even higher up on this list. Right now I feel kinda like it starts more strongly than it ends (“We’re going in. We’re going down.” has to be one of the best riffs of the year — I could seriously listen to that song on repeat for an hour), but I reserve the right to change that opinion in the coming months. And there was really no more inspiring story in 2010 than that of djent — basically a bunch of dudes who realized that, hey, we now exist in a time when you don’t need anyone’s permission to create and distribute great art on a mass scale. I can’t believe Ben Sharp does this as “a hobby.” Someone please give him a hundred million dollars so that he can just do this all the time as he sees fit.

11. East of the Wall, Ressentiment (Translation Loss)

I gotta be honest, I kinda didn’t “get” East of the Wall ’til I saw ‘em live — and they are truly SPECTACULAR live. Now I can’t get enough of ‘em. Ressentiment is like really complicated surgery performed with the jagged edge of a piece of broken glass; the band’s precision is all in the name of sounding very un-precise. Sometimes I like to get high, play them loud enough to scare the neighbors, and envision a world in which they unite beardos and tech heads. Ressentiment is a truly, truly unique piece of work, and if you’re not now following East of the Wall’s movements with incredible interest, you’re a fool — no one should be surprised if they end up being one of the most important bands of their generation.

10. Agalloch, Marrow of the Spirit (Profound Lore)

This is another one that I suspect would be even higher on the list if I’d had more time with it — I never feel like I can really wrap my head around an Agalloch record after just a few listens. But, then, that’s what makes them so damn rewarding. Marrow of the Spirit is a seamless hodgepodge of vast and sometimes seemingly at-odds influences (think of the contrast between the cold compositional guitars and the more emotional, melodious guitars early on in “Into the Painted Grey”), which might be why it feels so handmade, personal, and somehow casual even as it’s insanely ambitious (think of the dude who keeps getting promoted not because he kisses the boss’ ass, but because he’s just that damn good). I mean, look at that cover art — it’s dreary, but it’s still really beautiful, ’cause it’s just nature being, y’know, natural. And at a first glance, it’s not clear if it’s a photo or a painting. That’s what Marrow of the Spirit is, dude — just artists expressing themselves honestly, erasing the line between artifice and naturalism.

9. Intronaut, Valley of Smoke (Century Media)

Kip pretty much nailed it right on the head when he named this the best album of the year to get stoned to, but it’s pretty good sober, too. Everyone I know loves Intronaut, and everyone I know still had the same reaction to this record, which was something along of the lines of “WOW, this is way above and beyond what I was expecting.” Does anyone really doubt that every drummer in metal should be worshipping at Danny Walker’s feet? How fucking creative is that dude? He couldn’t play cliché if he tried. The harmonized vocals blow my mind every time I listen to this, and the music is basically the best kind of prog — there are plenty of sharp turns to keep you on your toes, but those turns always seem to grow naturally out of the music, so they never feel forced or show-offy. I haven’t gotten to see these dudes live since they toured with Cynic this past summer, but I’m dying to hear them play more of this new material in a concert setting. Absolutely killer record.

(Yeahhhh)

8. Wormrot, Abuse (Earache)

So I guess the cool kids all downloaded this when the band self-released it in 2009, but I, like so many, didn’t get wind of it ’til Earache picked up for distribution. In any case, I now owe Digby Pearson a bottle of champagne and a “I will keep Vince off your back for one week” coupon. There were other awesome grind albums this year which easily could have made this list (Defeatist’s Sixth Extinction comes to mind), but nothing felt quite as furious as Abuse. Rasyid’s guitar tone feels totally unique to grind — his stuff sounds way warmer than that of most of his contemporaries — which might explain why the music feels so full, despite the absence of a bassist. And the riffs have just the right mixture of groove and slit-your-throatiness to make them truly memorable as songs, not just short bursts of bile. The album may have been responsible for the deaths of more MetalSucks Mansion Monkeys than any other this year. I can’t wait to hear what these dudes do next. Not hurting: I was fortunate enough to see them live twice this year, roughly a month apart each time, and while they definitely slayed the first time, they absolutely SLAYED the second time.

7. Salome, Terminal (Profound Lore)

What fucking planet is Salome from? That’s the question I ask myself every time I listen to Terminal. This album is SO HEAVY and SO INTENSE, and not at all mired in the same-old-same-old that seems to bog down so many other doom releases these days. Seriously, I can’t tell most of these doom bands apart, but Salome stand out from the pack. It’s like there’s this half-snake half-elephant thing out in the desert, and it’s been possessed by Satan, and then some schmuck tried to capture it and bring to the city to be in the circus, and then it got loose and now humanity is an endangered species. That’s what Terminal sounds like. If I didn’t have it on good authority that the folks in Salome are all actually really nice people, I’d be genuinely frightened of this band.

6. Triptykon, Eparistera Daimones (Century Media)

“DDDDDDDDIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!!“ Okay, so first of all, “A Thousand Lies” is the anthem of the year, period. Second of all, fuck Martin Eric Ain. I know that’s harsh, but if he couldn’t hang and we get Triptykon ’cause of his foolishness, well, seriously, fuck him. Every single note of this album is filthy, crushing, and evil — in fact, a lot of it is actually pretty simple, but that simplicity is all in the service of just making, like, the heaviest fucking thing ever. And in a weaker year, it definitely would have cracked the top five. I’ve spent so much time raving about this over the course of 2010 that I almost don’t know what else to say. Did I mention fuck Martin Eric Ain? I did? Okay, good. Celtic Frost is dead. Long live Triptykon.

5. Dawnbringer, Nucleus (Profound Lore)

Look, I really dug High on Fire’s Snakes for the Divine, too, but it couldn’t hold a candle to Dawnbringer’s Nucleus, no way, no how. Every single note of this album is just totally bad-assed. There’s no fat or self-indulgence on this record; it’s just a smooth running, perfect ROCK machine. It’ll make you wanna drink, smoke, fuck, fight, headbang, and grow a funny Hulk Hogan mustache all at once. Anyone who says that rock is dead hasn’t heard Nucleus; I hear they’re now using it on Hinder fans who need to be de-brainwashed.

4. Enslaved, Axioma Ethica Odini (Nuclear Blast)

Enslaved is one of those rare bands I never worry about — they deliver each and every time, without fail. And Axioma Ethica Odini might seriously be my favorite of their offerings yet. The first time I heard this album, I was a little high and I was walking down by the river on a warm summer day, and, yeah, I don’t mind telling you, I actually teared up a little. There was just something about the music and the vocals and the lyrics that hit me all once in just such a way… Enslaved music is just so hypnotic and beautiful, y’know? And Axioma Ethica Odini only gets better with every listen. I don’t even feel like I have to tell you any of this. You already knew all this, right? Right. Good.

3. Nachtmystium, Addicts: Black Meddle, Pt. 2 (Century Media)

The more traditionalist stuff on this album, like “High on Hate,” is actually the stuff I like the least. No no no, it’s when Nachtmystium go out of their way to piss off the tr00 kvltists that they really win big. Was there any other song this year that was more visceral than “Every Last Drop,” possibly metal’s single most moving portrayal of drug abuse since Layne Staley-era Alice in Chains? Anyone hear a lot of other metal that sounded appropriately vitriolic while inducing the uncontrollable need to dance, the way “Nightfall” and “No Funeral” and “Blood Trance Fusion” all do? And how fucking awesome a song is “Then Fires?” Never mind that the guitar melodies and trippy synths are just achingly gorgeous; never mind Blake Judd’s lyrics are twice as inspirational as anything Jamey Jasta has ever penned; but that song features what has to be the best guitar solo of the year. It’s incredibly simple, the polar opposite of shred, but so deeply felt it makes my heart hurt to listen to it. Like we always say, a great guitar solo should tell a story, and that one tells the most engaging story of the year. What a great fucking album.

2. Dååth, Dååth (Century Media)

Dark, dirty, dense, misanthropic, and just plain fucking weird in the best possible way, this is not an album that one can comprehend or in any way digest after just one listen — which explains why I spent so much time listening to it. This is the best drum performance Kevin Talley has given in years, Sean Z. has now taken his throne as one of metal’s most uncompromisingly brutal vocalists, and Levi and Werstler’s time with, well, Levi/Werstler (whose Avalanche of Worms doesn’t appear on this list only because I seem to now be fortunate enough to have this soapbox, and I’m using what little sway I have to try and spread the love a little) seems to have opened them up to a whole new world of songwriting — namely, one in which they do whatever the fuck they want, because they know that whatever they come up, it’s gonna end up being awesome. Few albums this year demand a good pair of headphones the way Dååth does. Remember what I was saying about bands trying to do things just a little bit differently, instead of just rehashing the shit their influences already did? Well, Dååth alread proved on last year’s The Concealers that they’re masters of all the tropes that made us love metal in the first place; now they’re taking those tropes and turning them on their ear. “Double Tap Suicide” and “The Decider” are compact epics, “Destruction/Restoration” is my favorite act of audio terrorism of the year, and “Munfactured Insomnia” has more grooves than a detention room table. Dååth is a challenging record, to be sure — but it’s beyond worth the effort. Now someone should go spray paint “WERSTLER IS GOD” on a wall somewhere.

1. Kvelertak, Kvelertak (Indie)

Okay, so this record is in no way, shape, or form revolutionary — but it is damn near perfect, and that counts for something. It’s pretty rare to describe a metal album as “joyous,” especially when the vocalist has a Lindbergian growl the way Kvelertak’s Erlend Hjelvik does. But I can’t think of any other way to describe this record. It’s just so fun much to listen to, the music makes feel so fucking good and makes me so fucking HAPPY. If Converge made me wanna hug people instead of kill them, they’d be Kvelertak. This was my party soundtrack for 2010; if you and I hung out together this year, I can pretty much guarantee you this is what I was listening to five minutes before we went to go rage. I have friends who don’t even like metal and can’t stand screaming in music who think this album kicks ass — it transcends the boundaries of metal, ultimately revealing itself to be just a great rock n’ roll record, period. Bonus: the lyrics are in Norwegian, so I don’t even have to pretend to care what Hjelvik is screaming. ”HEY FOSSEGRIM I JUST GOT HIT BY A CAR!/ DO YOU THOUGHT THAT SHARE THE DEALLLLLLL?!?!” Yeah, that’s probably not right.

Best album of 2011: Still whatever Pig Destroyer puts out.

-AR

[onedayless]

VINCE NEILSTEIN’S TOP 15 METAL ALBUMS OF 2010 (from MetalSucks)


No one reads these intro paragraphs, right?

You just skip to the list to look at our choices, definitely don’t read the descriptions we’ve written for each choice, and most of you just scroll down to see what’s been named #1.

Well, wait until you see what my #1 pick for 2010 is. Cries of “false metal” reverberating from around the country will be heard at the gates of the MetalSucks Mansion for days. Bring it on, fuckers.


15. Periphery – s/t (Sumerian)

Like lots of other folks, I was less than thrilled when Periphery ditched Chris Barretto for Spencer Sotelo. Sotelo is a good singer, to be sure, but there’s just that little emo tinge to his voice when he gets into his upper register. Either way, a vocalist does not a metal band make, especially with Periphery, a band created by a kid in his bedroom that helped spawn an entire generation of bands and now a second generation of copycats. Misha Mansoor is as talented as anyone in metal today, and heaps of credit are due for what will certainly be recognized by future generations as one of the crucial djent releases of all-time.

14. Sevendust – Cold Day Memory (Warner Bros.)

Poo-poo me all you want, but Sevendust have always been a cut above most of their nu-metal peers (Doc Coyle and Robb Flynn agree with me too!). That was all thanks to Clint Lowery, a gifted songwriter and arranger. Much was made of Lowery’s return to the band last year after a three album absence, and for good reason; from the opening notes of “Splinter,” the album’s first track, it’s obvious just how much of a difference the presence of one dude makes for this band. It’s night and day. The arrangements are tighter, the songs are better (and more varied), the vocal harmonies are beyond sick and we even get a bunch of guitar solos courtesy of Lowery. Definitely the best Sevendust record since Animosity or Seasons.

13. Mutiny Within - s/t (Roadrunner)

Mutiny Within’s brand of Euro-power-Bodom-meets-American-metalcore is about 5 years too late to catapult them into the big time, but that doesn’t diminish the quality of the record they wrote. Some of the songs on this record are so fucking good it hurts; there’s no doubt in my mind that had this record come out in 2004 or 2005 instead of 2010 songs like “Images,” “Falling Forever” and “Undone” would’ve been massive hits instead of, say, “When Darkness Falls” or “The End of Heartache.” It’ll be interesting to see where these guys go with their next release, if they decide to continue despite all the lineup problems that have plagued them, or even if Roadrunner will give them another record.

12. Iron Thrones - The Wretched Sun (Scion)

Iron Thrones proved that indeed No Label is Needed to put out an awesome album following their Scion battle-of-the-bands-on-the-Internet style contest victory. Of course, Scion funded the whole thing and basically acted as a record label, making the title of the contest moot, but the fact remains that The Wretched Sun is a fantastic album. Highlighted by artsy Opethian highs and low and Iron Thrones’ own sense of proggy composition, The Wretched Sun is a fine work of art that stands as one of the year’s most compelling releases. Can’t wait to hear what these guys come out with next. And for fuck’s sake, will some label sign this band already??

11. Ludicra – The Tenant (Profound Lore)

A lot’s been made of the lyrical content of The Tenant; I trust my esteemed colleague Sir Rosenbloom and Invisible Oranges’ Alee Karim that the story The Tenant tells is indeed arresting, but I haven’t gotten there myself and probably never will, as quite frankly I don’t ever listen to lyrics in metal. But Ludicra have both sides of the performance spectrum covered, and it’s their delicate, ornate but no less energetic arrangements that really grabbed me. Ludicra have a unique approach to putting notes together that’s distinctly Ludicra; the patterns that John Cobbett and Christy Cather write and play are mesmerizing, their cliche-free black metal roots showing in all the right places.

10. Keep of Kalessin – Reptilian (Nuclear Blast)

I’d hesitate to call Keep of Kalessin “symphonic” black metal because that label seems to have negative connotations these days. Instead, let’s call them orchestral black metal. Their songs are arranged with a skill and poise rarely found in black metal — one that calls classical music to mind in ways beyond the superficiality of the fact that yes, there are keyboards mimicking symphonies — and with Reptilian they’ve only gotten even better than they were on 2008′s very good Kolossus. And since these Norwegians delight in knowing how to play their instruments and knowing how to craft an epic song there are plenty of progressive elements too. If you’re usually not a fan of black metal because of its lo-fi aesthetic and lack of complexity, give this record a shot.

9. Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier (EMI / UMe)

The second half of this album — Side B, if you will — is alone worth the price of admission. I’ve listened to the scintillating passage from “Isle of Avalon” through “When the Wild Wind Blows” countless times, and though the proverbial Side A is good too , the 2010 version of Iron Maiden is all about the longform epics. The melodies are as strong as anything the band’s done in the re-Bruce era; I’d say The Final Frontier is easily Maiden’s best record since Brave New World. Unlike so many of their peers, Maiden still have it. They retain every right to be putting out new material after more than 30 years as a band, and to the chagrin of many “greatest hits” bandwagon hoppers, retain the right to play the new stuff live too.

8. Shining – Blackjazz (The End)

One of the more “outside of the box” records I’ve heard in a long while, Blackjazz‘s name is actually a bit misleading. Industriojazz might be more fitting, as these Norwegians wrap a searing, sharp industrial backbone with a jazzy outer shell. It’s definitely a path that hasn’t been explored before, and Shining blaze the trail with flying colors. Not for listeners who are looking for something simple and easy to digest.

7. Holy Grail – Crisis in Utopia (Prosthetic)

From the moment this album starts you know it’s gonna be a fucking ripper. Twin-lead guitar madness, constant double bass pounding, soaring vocals! For the love of God, yes, it’s on! These White Wizzard cast-offs reigned supreme in the Great Trad Metal Battle of 2010 by releasing a much more consistent album than their ex-bandmate (although the High Speed GTO EP is a different story); the energy never lets up. These guys bring it to the max. Exactly what a trad metal album in 2010 should be; enough old-school references to pay homage to the band’s influences, but firmly rooted in the present too.

6. Intronaut – Valley of Smoke (Century Media)

This one caught me by surprise. Not because I didn’t think Sacha and the Introdudes weren’t superbly talented, but because I wasn’t feeling their prior album Prehistoricisms as much as their earlier material. But holy cow, did they deliver with Valley of Smoke. The arrangements are more varied, the textures more subtle, the playing more out there and the production and mixing are just the right amount of crisp and clear to highlight all of these qualities perfectly. Intronaut really hit the right balance of chops and songs on this one, too.

5. Mantric – The Descent (Prosthetic)

Everything I had to say about Mantric I pretty much already said here, but in a nutshell Mantric are one of those rare bands who are truly unique in their musicality. That they’re proggy and weird helps too. The Descent is a challenging listen that’ll reveal literal and metaphorical layer upon layer upon layer with each repeated listen.

4. The Acacia Strain – Wormwood (Prosthetic)

I’m no Acacia Strain expert; in fact, before Wormwood I’d barely paid attention to them. But in talking to other folks whose taste in metal I trust — and from digging back into the band’s catalogue and doing a little research of my own — it seems like they really stepped up their game on Wormwood. The grooves are so. fucking. deep. and the guitars so crushingly heavy. If anyone ever asks me for an example of breakdowns done right instead of as a gimmicky songwriting crutch I’d point them in the direction of Wormwood. This album absolutely crushes, smokes, destroys, slams, and insert superlative heres.

3. East of the Wall – Ressentiment (Translation Loss)

Our own Satan Rosenbloom put it perfectly in a review of Ressentiment he wrote for Deci-schmuck magazine: “Put simply, East of the Wall have written a minor prog-metal masterpiece without being assholes about it.” Ressentiment is proggy, heavy and artsy in all the right measures, but lots of bands I listen to have those qualities. What makes this record stand out is the uniqueness of the players and the sounds they bring to the table; put another way, their East of the Wall-ness. Truly one of a kind.

2. Ihsahn – After (Candlelight)

Our own Dave Mustein, who ranked this record as his #1 of the year, already said all the things about it that I would’ve: “unusual and epic orchestrations (sax solos), catchy melodies and riffs, fast-paced, brutal guitar work, and awesome vocals. You know this is a phenomenal album because I don’t even like Emperor… ” Agreed on all counts, good sir. I’d like to place extra emphasis on the “catchy melodies” part because that’s what kept me coming back to this album time and time again all year long; it’s rare that you find musical orchestrations and arrangements with such character and flavor without losing emphasis on the songs, but Ihsahn has done just that.



1. Ratt – Infestation (Roadrunner / Loud & Proud)

What can I say? Infestation is easily my most listened-to album of 2010, and what’s a favorite album if not the one you listened to the most? Infestation is the album that every band supposedly past their prime wants to make but never can; somehow these hair metal progenitors summoned the energy that made their early albums good and captured it in one perfectly constructed masterpiece of an album. Warren DeMartini and Stephen Pearcy, with the addition of the very talented newcomer/journeyman Carlos Cavazo, have written bonafide modern day rock anthems; “Eat Me Up Alive” and “Best of Me” can easily hang with the band’s greatest hits and are some of their strongest songs ever. Give producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette some credit too; guy did a knockout production job and the tones sound phenomenal. No one expected this record to even be worth a listen; instead, according to my iTunes library play count, it ended up being worth more than 30.

Happy Ratturday, motherfuckers!

-VN

Honorable Mention:

Nachtmsytium – Addicts: Black Meddle Part II (Century Media): I feel bad not including this album because it really is good, even if it didn’t grab me the same way Assassins: Black Meddle Part I did two years ago. But Nachtmystium deserve a hearty golf clap for not only writing another good album, but daring to take musical chances that stoked the ire of many in the metal community. A job well done indeed.

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LION KING WINGERSCHMIDT’S TOP TEN (AND THEN SOME) OF TWO THOUSAND TEN (from MetalSucks)

It’s your creepy Uncle Wingerschmidt, back once again to make you feel uncomfortable in all the right ways… What a year huh? We laughed, we cried, we ate, we drank, we fucked, we rocked, we rolled, we smoked, we toked… Life got real and adventurous once again and at the end of the day we’re all simultaneously better and worse off whether we realize it or not. I can only imagine what 2011 has in store…

I have repeatedly voiced my opinion to Axl that this whole “Top 15″ shiz is pure poppycock — don’t the merits of a “best-of-the-year” list largely derive from the whiddling down of it? Thus this lion has compiled a TOP TEN canon for 2010 (along with five honorable mentions for team spirit’s sake, the album of the year to get stoned to, and my fave non-metal record of the year).

Shall we?



10) MANTRIC - The Descent

This band is difficult to classify, and admittedly that’s one of the things I enjoy most about them. Yes, the sound is mainly progressive metal, but there are several hardcore-ish outbursts and the conflicted, damaged vibe of a lot of the vocals are a welcome departure from so many bands’ pristine, pitch-perfect clean singing. Although there are plenty of beautifully sung parts as well — this album keeps you guessing throughout, another major strength. Norway’s Mantric seems unafraid to capitalize on musing moments that rightfully deserve to be slightly rough-around-the-edges and thus make the sound more real, but don’t let that distract you from how damn tight they can be as well. The first of hopefully many releases from an extremely intriguing band.



9) NORMA JEAN – Meridional

Way back when, I found myself quite taken with a couple of old Norma Jean albums – Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child and O God, The Aftermath. But something dreadful happened after those records — the band got terrible for a minute! Thankfully those craysee Christians bounced back this year with a strong return to form. Meridional offers a diverse blend of chaotic hardcore, chugging prog metal riffs, and throaty emo melodic sections to create a fiery blend of bubblegum brutality. This Jew approves.

8) KARNIVOOL – Sound Awake

These heartfelt Aussies put on a great live show, and whilst revisiting the songs in recorded form it’s hard not to get swept up in the layered, atmospheric, melodious earnestness of the music. There are chugging odd-time moments that certainly warrant a “progressive” tag, but it’s the candor and passion of the vocals that set the mood and really keep each song grounded. Similarly to the way that the strong melodic voice up front works for fellow contemporary emotional prog-rockers Dredg, Karnivool have found a strong recipe for connecting with a widespread crossover audience, and if their next offering continues on an upward trajectory they could be poised to break out hugely in the near future.

7) DEFTONES – Diamond Eyes

I have never been a big Deftones fan, mostly due to lack of familiarity, but when I got a chance to see them live a couple months ago I markedly decided that I actively disliked an abundance of what the band does. HAVING SAID THAT, I had so enjoyed the couple tracks I had heard from this year’s release that in my end-of-the-year catch-up frenzy/cram session I felt like I had to give it a spin from start to finish. And immediately I was hooked – dark, moody chord progressions backed by a crispy rhythm section and unexpected vocal melodies floating above that aren’t afraid to get artfully atonal….this album is a stark, precious gem amongst the ruffage of 2010.

6) SONS OF AURELIUS - self-titled

Throughout 2010, it didn’t get tighter than Santa Cruz, California’s Sons of Aurelius. Well….so to speak. Ahem. This group just busted out and their debut offering is truly mind-blowing. Tech-death with heart and fire and plenty of zippy-doo shreddy-poos to boot. And the songs purposefully go somewhere! I was hooked from the very first alternating bars of 7 & 9-patterned progression. Slightly video-game-ish at times but never overbearingly so. The key word here is toit, and if tech-death is your game, this aural sensation will not disappoint, son!

5) IHSAHN – After

Maybe it’s unfair to lump Norway’s Ihsahn into the amorphous category of fusion-metal simply because the meditative wailing/shredding of a saxomophone is doused sporadically throughout. But you can’t just refer to this music as any particular subsection of straight-up metal….much more is going on here, sonically, conceptually, and downright creatively. This album creates a distinct mood like none other this year.

4) & 3) THE OCEAN – Heliocentric / Anthropocentric

Any year that The Ocean has a release (or more specifically TWO releases the last two times around for them) could accurately be called the year of the ocean in my book. The sheer magnitude of this collective’s ambition both musically and lyrically is quite a force to be reckoned with, and although none of their albums consistently wow me straight through from start to finish, their many magnificent songs (and the scope of which in particular) cannot be denied.

Heliocentric comes on strong out of the gates with one of the year’s best songs, and then takes a sharp turn into cheesyville with a couple sappy numbers, only to triumphantly return to the strength (and brutality) and finish big with a double doozy. The unevenness of this album had many of us questioning whether it was worth the wait, but I have found upon several spins that the collection of songs herein is undoubtedly among the best of the year, if only misordered a bit. And frankly a few misplaced maudlin yet engaging numbers do not offer enough of a reason to hate on a release with such strength throughout. There’s only one song that I think really screws up the pacing of this record; unfortunately it comes early on. Thankfully the subsequent tunes redeem it tenfold.

I have found Anthropocentric a bit more difficult to put my finger in. The “heavy” companion to the earlier-released, deliberately-paced (and downright heavy as well if we’re being candid here) Heliocentric, Anthropocentric contains some of the most kickass and unstoppable tunes The Ocean has ever made. But the album as a whole feels misdirected. A few of the tunes are kind of boring in places, and even a lot of the winning material can get a bit ADD. However, it is The Ocean we’re talking about here — you’re guaranteed a fascinating, uncompromising ride through a repeatedly unexpected musical odyssey NO MATTER WHAT. These are among the heaviest, forward-thinking riffs of 2010. Even though lions don’t typically swim, I am proud to proclaim I am a committed warrior of The Ocean.



2) THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN – Option Paralysis

Despite my affinity for boundary-pushing music-nerdtacular groups, admittedly I, like many others, have long been overly perplexed by the music of The Dillinger Escape Plan. Spastic math-core only begins to describe how maddening, technical, cerebral, and visceral this band’s style is. Punishing as all hell, and in the most confusing of ways. Abrasive and unrelenting. Time changes that would flabbergast Chronos himself. The couple times I’ve seen them live I’ve been at a loss for words (a rare occurrence for this guy), pretty much like “what the fuck just happened?” But I think I’m finally starting to pick up what the DEP boys are putting down. And it may have taken this album, which infuses a fair amount of melodic, clean singing throughout and which I believe to be quite a bit more palatable than the band’s previous releases, to show me the light and make me a believer.

1) EAST OF THE WALL – Ressentiment

From the first note until the very last, there is not a single element of this album that doesn’t seem to fit perfectly. Ever the consistently giving, stimulating, and challenging musical journey, Ressentiment continues to surprise and enlighten with every spin. If the world is a just place, East of the Wall will be opening for Cynic and BTBAM and Mastodon within the next couple years. These young turks from smelly NJ are fascinating artists who deserve everything good that’s coming for them. Also, a swift kick in their collective nuts.


2010 ALBUM OF THE YEAR TO GET STONED TO: INTRONAUT – Valley of Smoke

Since they busted out, Intronaut has been on a mission of thunderous progressive odd-time riffage, and have managed to undertake such a currently common task on in a truly original and autonomous way. I may not unconditionally love every release this band has created, but I can certainly say that each recording, song, even chord progression feels very linked to this band’s style alone….a massive feat in our oft-overrun community. Some of their albums legitimately changed my life, some left me wanting more, but as with the path of any true artist there are ups and downs, near-success and near-failures, and of course the sought-after holy grail of hitting it right on the mark. Valley of Smoke achieves everything Intronaut’s best previous releases did, and so much more. One can hear the evolution in songwriting as well as style (technique they had down pat from the get-go), and opening up the band’s sound to robust singing has added another welcome dimension to an already-mature bag of tricks. What’s that, Sacha? This album is not about the ganj? In any case, I rather do enjoy getting stoned to it, and somehow I suspect you’d approve.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

SHIPPING NEWS – One Less Heartless to Fear

I have seriously hearted this band for quite some time now. No, I was not on the original bandwagon when they first hit the scene in the 90s, but once I became aware of their presence (along with mastermind Jeff Mueller’s amazing other previous bands, Rodan and June of 44), I was hooked. Angular heavy indie rock with progressive leanings and a stark vocal sensibility that creates a haunting sound you can’t help but trust. Like a dark security blanket that eerily keeps you warm at night. A creepy uncle, if you will. But Shipping News offer so much more than just mood; fluid, intricate guitarwork, starkly monotone vocals, and complex songwriting kept simple has always been at the forefront of the band’s career, and this album is no different. The music feels like it’s from a lost era, back before the next generation of posturing indie rockers decided to try to be cool. Silly kids — don’t you know you just have to BE cool? There is no try. Take a listen, and keep it simple.



ENSLAVED – Axioma Ethica Odini

I’m no fan of black metal, typically opting to go grey instead. But there’s something about Enslaved that really resonates with me. Maybe it’s the expansive, atmospheric quality of this group’s sound, or the subtly unique choices in almost every song, or the general vibe or whatever, but there is a certain special je ne sais quoi about these dirty rat bastards that really hits me where the sun don’t shine. An indefinable evolution of an grim sub-genre that makes me want to call Enslaved “post-black metal”. Any takers? My nomination for post-apocalyptic album of the year.

SHINING – Blackjazz

Did we really get two Norwegian fusion-metal albums this year?!? Part industrial keyboard shrillfest, part free jazz freakout, part thick riffage fiesta…..totally insane. I find a lot of this album to be quite grating and taxing to listen to, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this release is carving new territory for genre crossover.

KVELERTAK – self-titled

I’m still not sold on this album as a whole, but a few of the songs are so good that it seems hard not to mention. There’s something about some of these gems that grooves so classic rock-hard it’s difficult to avoid their kinetic energy. But I also have to point out that the less-exciting tunes (ironically the ones with some of the heaviest parts) feel sorta bonehead-ish, with too many of the chord progressions sounding way too derivative. Derrrr……make a more consistent album next time and I will be fully on board.

DAWNBRINGER – Pendulum

This epic progressive power thrash record comes on strong like a locomotive of debaucherous yet refined good times….the steam falls a little flat in the middle due to repetition, but in the band’s defense what they are repeating is decidedly kickass. Triumphant twin guitar leads that remind of the summer you spent in the Shire fighting dragons and banging hobbit chicks, a lead singer who skates the line between gruff and heroic, and a rhythm section that simply will not quit, even after thirty-nine beers each. These elements and more make for a winning recipe. Plus, any album that rocks for a solid two minutes and forty-five seconds before the vocals casually kick in as if nothing happened is A-ok in my book.

FAVE NON-METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR:

SUFJAN STEVENS – The Age of Adz

How big is my man-crush on Sufjan Stevens? It’s huuuuge. Ever since the perfectly gorgeous Seven Swans, this guy has continually and deservedly evolved into the indie world’s critical darling and fan favorite. And he’s certainly had the music to back up the hype, over and over again. This time around, everything changes once more and Stevens’ sound is given the electronic treatment: whirrs and whistles, sequenced cracks and pops, and fragmented thumpy dance beats join the acoustic guitars, trombones, lush vocal harmonies…..it sounds like someone just got his first computer yaayyyy!! This is far from my favorite of his albums — honestly a lot of the electronic additions, although certainly interesting and welcome and appreciated, tend to distract from the power of his sublime melodies. I’m just sayin’. But like I mentioned above about The Ocean, with an artist of this caliber you are essentially guaranteed a worthwhile listening experience.

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ANSO DF’S TOP FIFTEEN METAL ALBUMS OF 2010 (from MetalSucks)

15. Forbidden, Omega Wave (Nuclear Blast)

From one angle, it appears that the reactivation of long-dormant and underachieving thrash acts like Forbidden is a welcome trickle-down from Big Four hoopla. But after a few riveted listens to Omega Wave, one has to fight the sensation that this time around, the big guys are hogging the spotlight with unconvincing live sets and creatively bankrupt albums (If an album can even be mustered, huh, Anthrax?). Yet again, this situation might provide the sizable shoulder-chip that leads to artful, well-built outings like Omega Wave. So, yeah, just keep on suckin’, Metallica!

The jam that will hook you: “Swine”


14. Ratt, Infestation (Roadrunner)

All summer, sources both suspect and respectable were hammering me with the idea that tracks from Ratt’s Infestation would fit neatly onto their mega-selling 1986 debut Out Of The Cellar. Nice try, but Ratt 2K jams are way too considered and vanilla to find camouflage amid the raunch rock of Cellar. (Fuck, maybe I’m the only one paying rapt attention to post-‘80s Ratt records? Embarrassing.) Still, Infestation proves that a toothless Ratt can squeak by on charm — even through a saggy middle marked by songs so frustratingly vague, riffless, and monosyllabic that they fail to meet even beer commercial standards of edginess. But Infestation is elsewhere rich in summery, high-volume arena jams propelled by top-flight guitarist Warren DeMartini and new old guy Carlos Cavazo. But in the post-Feel The Steel world, there’s no real excuse for conservative production and dialed-back sleaze. Somebody get these guys some drugs!

The jam that will hook you: “Take Me Home”

13. Crashdiet, Generation Wild (Universal Music Sweden)

Van Halen’s first two post-David Lee Roth albums traumatized me, but I learned an indelible lesson: When a singular act undergoes drastic changes to style and/or personnel, the best thing for the listener is to think of the before and after as totally unrelated bands. See, once you employ this selective denial to liberate 5150 and OU812 from the expectations of the Earth-scorching Van Halen of “I’m the One” and “In a Simple Rhyme,” it’s reasonably easy to enjoy these two of history’s nicest pop records and, in time, also appreciate a new frontman who’d sooner sell you a resort vacation than face-bang your sister. Sweden’s somewhat star-crossed Crashdiet doesn’t require quite so much mental shell-gaming, but over three albums with as many singers, the neo-glam rockers seem doomed to busted momentum and a continuously shifting identity. It’s a sucky situation, especially when you consider that Crashdiet had found the fucking perfect five-tool singer in Dave Lepard, but lost him to suicide following their thunderous (and presciently titled) debut, Rest in Sleaze. And while fans like me go insane wondering what evolutionary heights of awesomeness would’ve been reached by a third Lepard-fronted Crashdiet record (I imagine something like Pissed to the power of Pyromania), for now, we hail singer Simon Cruz’s Crashdiet Mark III and the massively entertaining but hook-impaired Generation Wild. And then we recommence the process of hoping that four years from now, we’ll be discussing this band’s Pissomania.

The jam that will hook you: “Chemical”

12. Arsis, Starve For The Devil (Nuclear Blast)

I considered telling Arsis mainman James Malone that Starve For The Devil shattered the record for longest continuous tenure in my shower radio this year. (Previous title-holder: Blue Murder.) ‘Cuz maybe he’d find it distasteful to imagine the product of his hard work — a pulverizing recovery album, no less — reduced to a soundtrack for sudsy writhing, morning-after moaning, and buttcrack excavation. Or maybe he’d be cool with it. There’s one way to find out: Make him a video.

The jam that will hook you: “Beyond Forlorn”

11. Monster Magnet, Mastermind (Napalm)

One of the most telling moments of the MetalSucks interview with Mastermind mastermind Dave Wyndorf was his statement that it had “been a while since [he] did an overly-aggressive record.” And while it makes creative sense for his Monster Magnet to have ventured into power-pop and snappy radio rock (as on Mastermind’s immediate predecessors), the outsized proportions of Wyndorf — underrated singer, deft lyricist, giga-gifted songwriter — fairly demands the epic. I mean, shit, King Kong is at his best when stomping cars and punting bystanders, even though it’s occasionally novel to watch him attempt a Broadway monologue. And likewise, Mastermind sees a healthy but often heart-broken Wyndorf (again, interview here) wrenching free of his shackles, overturning his pedestal, and sparking a 12-track conflagration in America’s rock-parched streets. Let it burn.

The jam that will hook you: “The Titan Who Cried Like A Baby”

10. Enforcer, Diamonds (Heavy Artillery)

I’m kinda lost up my own ass lately so my opinion might be ill-informed, but to me, opponents of the neo-thrash movement usually center their crosshairs on the wrong target. Their frustration should be with the industry’s decision-makers who so unceasingly pillage the past to fuel contemporary commerce (See: The Big Four, that wanker Rod Stewart). And though I too am angry that this reliance on the familiar retards growth of the art form (Dude, will we never be rid of REO Speedwagon?), I insist that it’s unfair for young bands like Enforcer and Holy Grail to serve as fall guys. It’s not like these little bands are riding nostalgia to relative wealth and fame (cough that’s metalcore), and I especially resent that implication from fans of Metallica, who launched their career as authors of the 100% unoriginal but awesome Kill ‘Em All and then served as accomplices to the premature death of the genre. I mean, really! Okay, sorry for yelling. I know it’s not your fault. Deep breath. What were we even talking about? Oh yeah, fucking Enforcer rules!

The jam that will hook you: “Walk With Me”

9. Overkill, Ironbound (Nuclear Blast)

There’s this neat 1967 book called Hitchcock/Truffaut in which the latter, a budding French New Wave director, exhaustively interviews the former, a titan of cinema in the midst of an overdue period of artistic acclaim. Once I inevitably con a multi-book deal out of Ian Christe, my first submission will be Overkill/Anso DF, in which the latter, an irretrievably vulgar and self-important metal columnist, devotes several hundred pages to Q&Aing the living shit out of the New York thrash outfit that has strung together a Hitchcock-sized library of awesome-to-insanely awesome records in defiance of age, trends, and fluctuating commercial interest (even within the ostensibly reverent metal scene). Okay, that last sentence was too long, but anyway I’m not the first to suggest that it’s almost to their detriment that Overkill so consistently amazes; dudes I know insist that if a conspiracy was hatched to disguise the masterful Ironbound as the work of an upcoming thrash act — a practical impossibility in light of singer Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth’s singular shriek and black, biting wordplay — the result would be greater fan enthusiasm and noisier media coverage. But back in reality, where this virtual Pepsi challenge is a fanciful dream, familiarity breeds contempt; shit man, even superfans might find their Overkill quota surpassed after fifteen goddamn albums. But, as I’ll state in the Overkill/Anso DF epilogue, someday their tired peers’ marketing muscle will atrophy, clever visual presentation will lose its context, and first-wave fans will start to die off; then I bet popular acclaim will catch up with Overkill and Hall of Fame-caliber records like Ironbound. Meet me back here in three decades to discuss! Is May 5, 2041 good for everyone?

The jam that will hook you: “Give A Little”

8. Triptykon, Eparistera Daimones (Century Media)

I spent the first few spins of Electronica Dalmatians giggling at both Tom Gabriel Fischer’s neo-Muppet villain roar and his choice to name his post-Celtic Frost band after the sleepy stuff in Thanksgiving turkey. Then I spent the next 700 spins rocking my goddamn motherfucking ass off.

The jam that will hook you: “A Thousand Lies”

7. Nachtmystium, Addicts: Black Meddle, Part II (Century Media)

No half-assed rock doc is complete without a clip of some fame-humping nobody claiming to have witnessed a band’s “it” moment, i.e., their departure from youthful potential into irrevocable awesomeness. And I hereby call dibs on that segment should Nachtmystium explode into widespread acclaim, as their current trajectory might suggest. I’ll blab animatedly about my brief but planet-tilting backstage chat in 2008 with frontman Blake Judd, during which I congratulated him on a killer set and his vision for Assassins: Black Meddle, Part I. Our hang was over in a minute, but somehow I left the conversation firmly optimistic that Judd, then flush with victory, was gearing up for another genre-busting odyssey. Flash forward to January 2010 and Addicts: I was so right! But now hmmm I can see that that anecdote needs more zing. Oh, I’ll just make like memoirist Dave Mustaine and throw in some unprovable claims of veiled homosexuality and guitar solo coaching. Bam!

The jam that will hook you: “Addicts”

6. Watain, Lawless Darkness (Season of Mist)

I enjoyed day trips into croaky shoegaze suites and babbling-brook black metal, but my long vacation time goes to raging Watain, authors of the serious-as-a-heart-attack classic Lawless Darkness. And though I’m too chickenshit to interview in awe of head ‘tainer Erik Danielsson, I can tell from mournful mega-epic “Waters of Ain” that he’s just as fearful and confused as the rest of us. Except that he expresses his dispossession with baths in rancid blood and pledges to universal evil. See? Just a regular dude!

The jam that will hook you: “Waters of Ain”

5. Soilwork, The Panic Broadcast (Nuclear Blast)

I confess that after Soilwork’s ho-hum 2007 album Sworn To A Great Divide, my excitement began to drift toward then-ex-guitarist Peter Wichers’ production work and singer Bjorn “Speed” Strid’s announced solo album. But alas, the former would hardly satisfy someone who plans to be cremated with a copy of Stabbing The Drama; the latter has yet to exist, though I have no shortage of patience for a project that aspires to reference Alice Cooper, Kiss, early Aerosmith, Boston, and Steely Dan. Then enter The Panic Broadcast, the return of Wichers and Soilwork’s temporarily misplaced awesomeness (interview here). Don’t tell anyone this, but the album reminds me of an interview I read with that dunderhead singer of Avenged Sevenfold, who marveled that while a listener might not subscribe to a band’s stylistic philosophy — in this case, screamy verses over single-note guitar riffs, then melodic choruses over ringing chords; crispy, needly distortion; evasive bass frequencies — a truly inspired band enables a fair listener to stop caring what it is, and just care about how excellently it’s done. Just like how I hate cole slaw, except for the wild cole slaw at that hamburger place in Manhattan Beach. Yep, that is so Soilwork!

The jam that will hook you with a freakishly amazing keyboard-guitar solo passage: “Epitome”

4. Deftones, Diamond Eyes (Reprise)

It’s funny to think that two albums ago, Deftones music was flabby and slow-moving. ‘Cuz on the other side of 2006’s year-best Saturday Night Wrist, the band sounds lean, direct, and hard-hitting on Diamond Eyes. So a wiseguy might point out that the Deftones (interviews here and here) sound mirrors the physical condition of frontman Chino Moreno yuk yuk yuk. But seriously folks, that suggestion is way implausible and odd, not unlike the strange feeling that at least two Diamond Eyes jams were written for Incubus or something. A wiseguy might also posit that these songs’ inclusion on the record points to a refusal to backseat their poppier tendencies, though the real issue is that one of those stylistic black sheep is of insufficient quality to function as more than a distraction, like a road trip pit stop where no fuel or food are purchased. The good news is that we wiseguys can conquer that usually productive Deftones stubbornness by playing a little Fantasy Producer: Just rotate “Sextape” (a song about Favre?) to a B-side somewhere and promote to the eighth slot their bonus track cover of The Cardigans’ “Do You Believe.” Et voilà: Continuity, momentum, flavor, perfection. Now, seriously, where’s fucking Eros?!

The jam that will hook you: “Royal”

3. The Crown, Doomsday King (Century Media)

It’s proof of The Crown’s paradoxical nature their merely B+ reunion album Doomsday King is still amazinger than all but a few 2010 records. This is the same band that broke up before properly touring for their masterpiece (Possessed 13) and once hired renowned At the Gates screamer Tomas Lindberg only to experience a near-total halt to career momentum. Even weirder, while the metal public consistently fails to herald and nurture these virtually peerless death metallers — damning the band to status as the genre’s XTC or Dandy Warhols — it’s The Crown’s own songwriting core that might be most guilty of underestimating the awesomeness of, uh, The Crown. For one, Doomsday King began its life as a work of Dobermann, the post-Crown project that eventually became The Crown minus longtime vocalist Johan Lindstrand. This fact ,and the album’s near-total lack of daring, suggest an early hesitance to openly trade in the Crownisms that mark their best efforts: the eminently screamable choruses and single-note guitar themes; the bottomless well of winning riffs and dynamic shifts in tempo; the ratcheting and releasing of tension and full grayscale atmospherics; the solos!!! Not to mention album-wide themes of Legosian horror and Corman-esque pulp that serve as all-important anchors to perspective: The listener never got the sad sense that the men of The Crown are participants in their own drama, just its authors. Almost none of that is present in this Crown For Dummies collection, which has more in common with pre-maturity outings like The Burning and Eternal Death than their classics, i.e., more than great for headbanging, but less than heart-stopping. And the whole Doomsday experience pushes into outright discomfort, thanks to well-intentioned but unjustly frothing reviewers who bestow retroactive acclaim on The Crown and Doomsday King in a manner that’s reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s Oscar win for the occasionally fun but mostly absurd crime drama The Departed. Likewise, The Crown (interview here) may have found a capable surrogate for their De Niro (Lindstrand) in DiCaprio (bespectacled new guy Jonas Stålhammar), but judging from masterful album closer “He Who Rises In Might – From Darkness To Light” — Doomsday King’s one unarguable Crown epic — their next outing won’t be indecisive and rote like Shutter Island. More like Paradox City.

The jam that will hook you: “Age of Iron”

2. Atheist, Jupiter (Season of Mist)

Either the year in metal 2010 was defined by the schooling of young know-nothings by veteran metallists or, alternatively, I’ve failed to identify/admit that a midlife crisis has made me indifferent to all but old and old-sounding bands. It really could be either. Possibly both. Huh. Look, we could sit here and microscope this thing to death, but instead let’s just commit to record that I’m an ageless hunk with unimpeachable style and that this year taught us that in music, experience brings invaluable confidence and resourcefulness. Oh, let us also decree that bands like Kelly Shaefer’s Atheist (interview here and here) should never ever ever again be allowed to lapse into a long period of inactivity. Although Shaefer did explain that it was partly his experiences with hard-rockin’ Neurotica that provided Jupiter‘s melodic edge, without which it might’ve played like a tribute to Atheist’s first masterpiece, Unquestionable Presence. Nay, Jupiter has balls of its own from which to swing. Huge, throbbing balls.

The jam that will hook you: “When The Beast”

1. Iron Maiden, The Final Frontier (EMI/UME)

Now that the three-guitared, jumbo jet-propelled, documentary star Iron Maiden is officially larger than life, it would seem that a collection of new material might be a welcome but semi-necessary afterthought. And for some fans, there was another worry related to the diminishing returns of Dance of Death and A Matter Of Life And Death. (In retrospect, I guess the lesson is that Bruce-era Maiden will tip listeners to a record’s mediocrity by using D-words in its title.) And finally, it’s debatable whether producer Kevin Shirley’s free-hand standards capture Maiden energy as often as sub-awesome performances by high-mileage musicians, understandable though it may be to avoid wearing anybody out in the name of laser-precision. But, whew!, those suspicions were obliterated by The Final Frontier. It’s the album most devoted to musicality since Somewhere In Time. It’s the album with the riffs, solos, and cohesion to justify Steve Harris’ uncontrollable fetish for long songs. It’s the album that explodes the claustrophobically narrow comfort zone of post-Brave New World efforts. It’s a motherfucking classic Maiden album, with jams one after another and packed with hummable guitar themes and cool, engaged vocal performances. But now I have a new suspicion — that guitarist Adrian Smith is responsible for the record’s many twists and turns (and probably those killer slide guitar parts on”The Man Who Would Be King”). ‘Cuz, hey, Smith looks motivated and energetic outside of Maiden — November saw announcements of his project with the Sikth guys and a songwriting gig for Michael Hutchence’s replacement in INXS — and, again, considering Final‘s passing resemblance to the Smith-heavy Somewhere In Time, it’s no leap to credit him with Final‘s sophistication, timelessness, and plain old attentive musicianship. I hope I’m right, also, ‘cuz the existence of a powerful Smith faction implies good collaborative health within Maiden, a must since Harris’ bare-minimum songwriting doesn’t cut it at album length and, fuck dude, the rest of Maiden isn’t his goddamn backing band. I know that’s a lot of extrapolation — and probably a bit of projection — so, yeah, sorry if I’m way off. But just in case I’m right, let’s go ahead and tip our hats to Adrian Smith, top five all-time guitarist. I said tiiip theeemmmm!

[onedayless]

SCRAPING GENIUS OFF THE YEAR: GARY SUAREZ’S TOP FIFTEEN HARDCORE ALBUMS OF 2010* (from MetalSucks)

2010 has been one hell of a year for yours truly. I got the opportunity to interview several of my musical heroes, including Jello Biafra, Buzz Osbourne, and Mike Patton. In my capacity as MetalSucks’ Official Hardcore Correspondent, I brought the fucking mosh this year and kept you abreast of the goings-on, happenings, and arglebargle of the scene, discovering so many great young bands along the way. And so, I’m pleased to present this latest installment of SCRAPING GENIUS OFF THE YEAR with my Top 15 Hardcore Albums of 2010*…

15. Ronnie Wood, I Feel Like Playing (Eagle)

The other – and better — album Slash released this year, I Feel Like Playing unites the Guns N Roses lead axeman with the man who incredibly and successfully replaced Mick Taylor. The tabloids have had a field day with Wood over the past few years and, his future with the Rolling Stones temporarily somewhat uncertain, Wood invited a motley crue of rockers — from Flea to ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons — into the studio. What resulted is this diverse yet solid collection of swaggering rock tunes, reaffirming that his solo discography is the most consistently enjoyable of any of the Stones. Free from expectation, Slash unleashes his inner bluesman on cuts like “Forever”, paying homage to Wood and his undeniable influence on hard rock.

14. Grinderman, 2 (Mute / Anti-)

If you told me 10 years ago when I was skillfully macking on pancake-makeup abusing goth girls at clubs like Man Ray and Batcave that Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds would one day be responsible for making sleaze blues like this, I’d have laughed in your Bauhaus lovin’ face. Well, it appears there’s egg on mine, as the quartet’s second album continues in the vein of 2007′s oft-brilliant self-titled compendium of middle-aged peccadilloes. Stained raincoats and midlife meanderings spew from Cave’s meanacing lips as he and the rest of the demented band conjure a Teutonic MC5 from their dank nether regions. Indeed, there’s a wolf in the room, and it wants what’s between your milky thighs.

13. Monster Magnet, Mastermind (Napalm)

The latest from these fantastical space lord motherfuckers closes out the Ed Mundell era with a wallop of hard-driving rock and a dollop of heavy psych. For a group whose sound hasn’t deviated all that much in the last eighteen years, Monster Magnet do it so much better than most of the various stoner rock usurpers and upstarts that have cropped up this century. Buttressed by Mundell’s soon-to-be-missed leads, Dave Wyndorf’s unmistakable and versatile voice carries the record through dirges and headbangers. Representing the latter category, the charged and catchy “Bored With Sorcery” returns the band to the glory of Dopes To Infinity with its best non-single in well over a decade.

12. Mount Carmel, s/t (Siltbreeze)

If you happened to catch The Sword’s recent U.S. tour, you might have caught an opening set from these relative unknowns. Yet where the Texas-based stoner stars worship at the altar of Iommi, this Columbus, OH based act seem to look in Clapton’s direction for inspiration. Indeed, Cream’s psyched-out fuzz-blues machine gets a good tire kicking on this self-titled debut. Yet this is Cream fronted by Robert Plant, which makes for a mash-up of far out proportions. Furthermore, the initial riff of album opener “Livin Like I Wanna” touches up Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” with a bluesier flair, reminding those who covet the progenitors of heavy metal that the band wasn’t that far off from their psychedelic contemporaries. So fucking good.

11. Hank IV, III (Siltbreeze)

Assuredly not in any way related to Hank Williams — senior, junior, or third — Hank IV are a spunky, noisy, San Franciscan bunch that would make Mudhoney proud. New jacks couldn’t make rock music this sincerely grizzled, and evidently these guys have put in the hours in this and other musical endeavors over the years. Shellac’s Bob Weston produced this storming 8 song, 25 minute LP, which makes the Volcano Suns comparisons all the easier to make for lazy journos such as myself. A punk pedigree shines through cuts like “2X Quit” and the instantly memorable single “Garbage Star.” It bugs the shit out of me that I only just found out about these guys last week.

10. Red Giant, Dysfunctional Majesty (Small Stone)

Remember before when I wrote that “Monster Magnet do it so much better than most of the various stoner rock usurpers and upstarts that have cropped up this century”? (Even Riotgod, a band made up of Monster Magnet’s rhythm section and Mundell’s presumptive replacement Garrett Sweeny, failed to make this prestigious list.) Anyway, swap out Wyndorf’s vocals for something akin to Metallica’s James Hetfield, and you’ve pretty much got the unpretentious rock-and-roll of Red Giant. Now featuring former Pro-Pain drummer Eric Matthews, the Cleveland band returns with their first release in six years, and it’s a boozy doozy, at times imbued with a bit of Clutch swagger and relentless in its devotion to the almighty riff.

9. Neil Young, Le Noise (Reprise)

After a dodgy assortment of electric car paeans and rock operas, with a couple lip-smacking twangy records to satiate his obstinate AARP member base, the long running singer-songwriter takes a worthy risk in this century’s second decade with world-famous producer Daniel Lanois at the helm. Stripped of a backing band and thrown into the deep end of countryman Lanois’ sonic pool, Young rebounds with eight electric/acoustic tracks of aggro outsider chillwave. His craft and wizened ruminations on love–the album’s most common theme–put all these twenty-something twee-sters back in their place. Le Noise has a wistful and, at times, melancholy wholeheartedness that makes it difficult to poke too much fun at his personality quirks and prior musical missteps, though God only knows what sort of dreck he’ll subject us to between now and 2020.

8. White Drugs, Gold Magic (Amphetamine Reptile)

Welcome back, Amphetamine Reptile Records. The label that brought us Helmet, Cows, and Today Is The Day has discovered an absolute whopper of noise rockitude in White Drugs. Manic, feverish, and spastically angular, Gold Magic is a serious shitfit set to wax (no CD version available). Why label head Tom Hazelmeyer sought fit to make a paltry 300 copies of this delectably nasty record boggles my fucking mind. Uptempo zingers like “Gold Power” honor the AmRep tradition and carry it forward. Also, the disembodied head on the cover seems so pained that it looks like he’s taking a shit through a phantom asshole.

7. The Sword, Warp Riders (Kemado)

Stoner doomsters The Sword, erstwhile darlings of the hipster metal elite, dig deep and discover both their inner ZZ Top and their closet Isaac Asimov for their third album. Swapping out fantasy for the marginally less nerdgasmic realms of science fiction, the band find much-needed inspiration deep in the skies. After the creative doldrums / commercial breakthrough of 2008′s Gods of the Earth, another Age Of Winters rehash would’ve been out of the question. With Matt Bayles (Isis, Mastodon) manning the board, the band makes a sincere play for hard rock hearts and minds without entirely absconding from their obligation to defend Iommi’s dark legacy. We’ll miss you, Trivett Wingo.

6. Bison B.C., Dark Ages (Metal Blade)

Spending a fair share of the past two years touring behind 2008′s outstanding Quiet Earth, the young men of Bison experienced a tremendous amount of attention and praise from stoner metal aficionados. That they’ve produced an album that surpasses their prior one while not departing tremendously from its style is commendable. Simply put, Bison have gotten even better at what they do, with vastly more memorable bits than before. The riffs are as thick and crunchy as ever, and the unit benefits from the tightness achieved during the intervening years. Those of you who are crying that Mastodon only put out an EP’s worth of music this year ought to go back and snag Dark Ages.

5. Wolf People, Steeple (Jagjaguwar)

I feel sorta guilty that I’ve kept this record all to myself the past couple months. But now, I’m proud to share its awesome, breathtaking retro rock/folk/psych/groove with the rest of you. Though easily the softest of my picks this year, it brings you back to a time somewhere in the late sixties and early seventies when hard rock was taking shape. Gorgeous melodies, fantastical themes, and inspired vocals carry this unpretentious, affectionately psychedelic opus. “Tiny Circle” is the best song with a flute I’ve heard all year, and the two-part “Banks Of Sweet Dundee” closer is something that both you and your Dad can agree on. Give him a call and set a date to listen to this together. That’s right, a date with your Dad.

4. Sweet Apple, Love and Desperation (Tee Pee)

Holy crap, did this one grow on me! With the retro-stoner project Witch, guitar guru J. Mascis proved he could work well with others, but man has he outdone himself here. Pairing that aforementioned band’s bassist with two guys from Cobra Verde (a band best known for briefly backing an interation of Robert Pollard’s Guided By Voices), Sweet Apple euthanize Them Crooked Vultures with some downright glorious hard bluesy garage rock. John Petkovic shines as the band’s frontman, laying down memorable vocal hooks galore on soaring Steppenwolf-esque cuts like “Do You Remember” and more subdued 70s-nodding ballads like “It’s Over Now”. Best in class, man.

3. Harvey Milk, A Small Turn Of Human Kindness (Hydra Head)

Those Pitchforkateers and trust fund beardos who found themselves enamored with the palatable sludge-lite of Life…The Best Game In Town are right to consider this new concept record a slap in the face. Indeed, Hydra Head’s least predictable act responded to their critically acclaimed and (comparatively) commercially successful album ever with one of the most miserable song cycles ever recorded. Too demoralizing to be confounding, it explicitly documents a falling down life–already riddled with regrets and failures–at its tragic tail end. Creston Spiers howls like a mortally wounded beast as life puts the screws to his suffering protagonist. We’re not supposed to like it, which is kinda why I love it.

2. Gozu, Locust Season (Small Stone)

Presumably named after the bizarre Japanese flick, this Massachusetts quartet describe their sound as “GAAHL meets Hellhammer meets Clutch” — and who am I to fucking argue with that?! To say that Locust Season, their magnificent debut, rocks is an understatement. For much of 2010, I’ve been pining for some serious hard rock and been given slim pickings from the mainstream as well as the underground. It sickens me what passes for hard rock these days, from mislabeled screamo to odious cloying fare from Stone Sour. Well, friends, I’m pleased to say that our long national nightmare is over, and we are in Gozu’s debt. Locust Season shows a band at peak form, taut and lean and fucking mean. Josh Homme is on notice.

1. Melvins, The Bride Screamed Murder (Ipecac)

The Melvins have outlasted a couple generations of music journalists over a confounding and lengthy career. If their latest album is any indication, they’ll likely do the same with the likes of me. Complex and whimsical, The Bride Screamed Murder is their strongest since Houdini and the finest offering from the Big Business infused lineup. Unlike 200x’s Nude With Boots, a veritable do-over of the vastly superior A Senile Animal, this new record has a mangled mutant mind of its own. And while it doesn’t completely abandon the hard rock sound of its two predecessors, it presents a mastery of the collective’s craft. Much like The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Mainstreet, it boasts no conceivable “hits,” instead taking listeners on an exhilarating excursion that, while bewildering at times, never feels like a prank or a wank.

Dishonorable mentions:
Black Mountain, Wilderness Heart
Black Sleep Of Kali, Our Slow Decay
Endless Boogie, Full House Head
Ghost, Opus Eponymous
Hellyeah, Stampede
Jucifer, Throned In Blood
Lords Of Falconry, s/t
Quest For Fire, Lights From Paradise
Sweet Cobra, Mercy
Titan, Sweet Dreams

*Oh yeah, and the Top 15 Hardcore Albums Of 2010 are:
01. Bitter End, Guilty As Charged
02. Cruel Hand, Lock And Key
03. OFF!, The First Four EPs
04. Nails, Unsilent Death
05. Born Low, Reincarnage
06. Sick Of It All, Based On A True Story
07. Rhinoceros, They Are Coming For Me
08. Ceremony, Rohnert Park
09. The Acacia Strain, Wormwood
10. Skin Like Iron, Descent Into Light
11. Piece By Piece, s/t
12. Killing Time, Three Steps Back
13. Alpha & Omega, Life Swallower
14. Terror, Keepers Of The Faith
15. Madball, Empire

-GS

[onedayless]

SAMMY O’HAGAR’S TOP FIFTEEN METAL ALBUMS OF 2010 (from MetalSucks)

In 2008, my #1 album of the year was Nachtmystium’s Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1, a record of experimental bits still deeply rooted in the band’s particular brand of black metal. I’ll still throw it on every now and again, and it still sounds pretty damn exciting, sax solos and all (take that, Blackjazz!). But when Black Meddle‘s Part 2 came along this year, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Though folks could insist that maybe it was too challenging for me — perhaps even that I’m simple to the point of wearing overalls and a permanent grin — I still insist that something about it felt off. There’s “experimental” where bands try something decidedly different and execute it with resounding confidence, then there are bands that experiment with ideas out of their comfort zone, essentially throwing things at a wall to see what sticks. Black Meddle Part 2 felt like the latter to me. I found myself respecting its risks more than I actually liked their results.

But Addicts: Black Meddle Part 2 may be the centerpiece of metal’s mood in 2010: often challenging and complex, but also rewarding if you just gave it time. And many of my favorite albums this year were ones I didn’t like initially, if not actively disliked at first. But that spark of something brought me back to them, and ultimately, that often made them more rewarding than something I would have excitedly spun a dozen times or so, only to eventually get sick of and forget. Obviously not every album put up a seemingly impenetrable wall on first impression — High on Fire and Darkthrone both released pretty balls-out awesome records, too — but the year seemed to be rich in albums that challenged the notion that metal is chiefly a genre where one shoots first and asks questions later. For Christ’s sake, one of the year’s early triumphs was by an outspoken racist and anti-Semite who did a bid in Norwegian prison for stabbing a guy to death; everywhere, divisiveness seemed to be the governing feeling. But once things fell to one side or the other, there was quite a bit to choose from. My choices would be:


15. Triptykon, Eparistera Daimones (Century Media)

Despite the presence of a pointless goth aside (“My Pain”) and “The Prolonging”‘s patience-testing 20 minute length, Tom G. Warrior’s fitting resurrection after Celtic Frost’s demise had some of the year’s heaviest moments. And although “heavy” and “heaviest” are descriptors that get thrown around a lot, Triptykon’s riffs are lifted from the same primordial ooze from which Sabbath and their OG doom disciples mined theirs. Dramatic and massive, Eparistera Daimones straddled the line between black, thrash, and doom metal like only a guy who had his hand in creating all three could. Heavy to a degree that’s almost silly, the album’s permanent scowl was a perfect soundtrack to any rainy day in 2010, bleak but never fragile or resigned. Have I said heavy? Because it’s fucking heavy. In fact, the feedback-building-up-to-nothing moment about 2/3 of the way through opener “Goetia” may have been the heaviest thing to happen all year.

14. Intronaut, Valley of Smoke (Century Media)

Like Eparistera Daimones, Intronaut’s Valley of Smoke succeeded despite a seemingly fatal flaw: really lousy, fairly unnecessary, incredibly uncreative clean vocals. In fact, I still cringe at them each time I throw the album on. That being said, I’ve thrown Valley of Smoke on as much as I have any other album this year despite it being released more than halfway through it. Clean vocals aside, it’s the band at their most charming: dense, unpredictable heavy riffs countered by brilliant prog and post-metal segues and codas, both in massively uneven portions, leading one to believe that it’s just the band doing what they want to do in lieu of plugging parts into a formula to please a particular party. Nary a time signature with 3, 4, 6, or 8 at the top to be found, Intronaut never sound complex for the sake of being complicated, but instead need unconventional riffs and rhythms to get their point across. A challenging and immensely rewarding listen that almost makes up for that cringeworthy bellowing. Almost.

13. Fleshwrought, Dementia/Dyslexia (Metal Blade)

An Animosity-style riff bouillabaisse with only one of the guys from Animosity and the guy from Job for a fucking Cowboy on vocals? In theory, yeesh, no thank you. In fact, Fleshwrought’s debut was better than it had any right to theoretically be. A nearly non-stop array of tightly wound tech-death riffs violently springing into being (with a few uneasily tense intro tracks and outros for one to catch their breath), Dementia/Dyslexia is brilliantly all over the place, like a friend trying to tell you about a month-long stint in Gitmo after 40 cups of coffee. One would assume this would be a mess, but when every riff is top shelf and resident genius Navene Koperweis dominates every instrument but vocals with an inhuman virtuosity, you want to hear as much as you possibly can over the span of an album. Fleshwrought succeed ably there. Even Jonny Davy’s vocals sound great.

12. Krieg, The Isolationist (Candlelight)

A decade and a half in, Krieg may have made their career album: palatable yet filthy, claustrophobic yet expansive, cold yet personal, The Isolationist is the kind of beast of an album that those who think black metal is more than either fuzzy basement meandering or fruity keyboard jaunts have been pining for. Taking Mayhem and Darkthrone’s punk apathy and filtering it through OG USBM kingpins Weakling’s epic stomp, Krieg made an album full of the sort of horror most of their contemporaries think they’re evoking. Though, admittedly, you could throw frontman Imperial’s chill-inducing shrieks over a Carrie Underwood track and ratchet up its grimness quotient, The Isolationist is way better than that. Perhaps they’re not as capital-T True as they used to be, but they’re all the better for it.

11. Electric Wizard, Black Masses (Rise Above)

Black Masses is a blast from a past that may not have existed, one where kids wore Pentagram shirts instead of Supertramp ones and Anton LaVey succeeded Richard Nixon. Through a cocktail of all the things that made trad metal great– riffs, reverb, horror movies, basic Satanism, and buckets of weed– Electric Wizard sound like they always do: seemingly incoherent, but actually incredibly thorough. The songs are more outright enjoyable than they’ve been since 2000′s classic Dopethrone, and Electric Wizard’s hard-on for analog equipment provide an organic and tactile listen. It’s a hazy journey, but certainly one well-worth making your way through.

10. Castevet, Mounds of Ash (Profound Lore)

One of premier outre-metal label Profound Lore’s finest hours in 2010 (one that also included excellent albums from The Howling Wind, Stargazer, Dawnbringer, and, well, other albums coming up on this list), Castevet are black metal tweaked, inverted, and rebuilt to the point where it barely resembles the original element. But in a time where seemingly half the bands that refer to themselves as “black metal” are doing that, Castevet seem to have a purpose to it aside from “wouldn’t it be cool if we…” With shades of post-hardcore (check out the Poison the Well-like ending to “Red Aura”) and even math rock (parts resemble an alternate universe where a blackened Shellac exists, perhaps called Sheblac), Mounds of Ash is as dense as it is inviting. If Krallice– the band’s NYC counterparts– are reinventing black metal on an expansive, broad canvas, Castevet are cramming as much into as little space as possible. But whereas this should sound like an ADD mishmash, they sound thoroughly unique, focused, and refreshing. Ideally, we’ll be hearing more from them soon.

9. Woe, Quietly, Undramatically (Candlelight)

Of all the bands infusing post-hardcore chords and energy into their black metal this year, Woe took the cake, then added another layer or two to it. Full of BM with a surprisingly anthemic backbone, Quietly, Undramatically provided a great front-to-back record in a genre known for trying the listener’s patience after 63 minutes of buzzing guitars and shrieking. But Woe’s inclusion of gang vocals, propulsive d-beats, and not-just-crossover-thrash-punk-but-other-punk punk rock riffs felt appropriate instead of blasphemous. The tremolo-picking, harsh vocals, and epic song lengths were all there, just from a slightly different angle. But “slightly different” can feel like a revelation in black metal, and thus, Quielty, Undramatically felt quite revelatory.

8. Enslaved, Axioma Ethica Odini (Nuclear Blast)

It’s fitting that Enslaved would follow up their most accessible and immediately pleasing album with their densest since ISA. But even though Axioma Ethica Odini took quite a few listens to truly get one’s head around (it took about five for yours truly), it was worth the effort. Monolithic guitars under good cop/mythical demon cop vocals alongside Enslaved’s permanent hard-on for prog, it had simultaneously everything you’d expect from them as well as exploring avenues they’d never trod down before. It even includes the band at their heaviest (the tech part about 2/3 of the way through “The Beacon”) and at their Opeth-aping best (“Night Sight”). While we’re used to throwing an album on our hard drives and abandoning it if it doesn’t take after a listen or two, Enslaved remind us that they’re a band that demand time and attention, that what sounds like a wall of pretentiously dense guitars is actually their meticulously crafted and brilliantly executed brand of post-black metal. Those who wrote it off may want to give it another shot.

7. Agalloch, Marrow of the Spirit (Profound Lore)

Staring solemnly into the middle distance in the the deep woods is right up there with corpsepaint and medieval weaponry in terms of what makes black metal inherently silly. But for Agalloch, it’s serious business, making their “walking through a snow-covered forest” MO stick. It probably helps that the band’s folky blackened post-metal has finally gelled, yielding a gigantic album that is immensely satisfying on the whole, even with the inclusion of a meandering-yet-fascinating 17 minute-long track (“Black Lake Nidstång”) right in the middle. The band’s vaguely emotional, overwhelmingly epic skills are in full force on Marrow of the Spirit, perhaps the best example so far for the reason for all the critical thrusting in the band’s general direction. This– plus whiskey and hot chocolate, perhaps– will get you through winter 2011.

6. Immolation, Majesty and Decay (Nuclear Blast)

Immolation appear in the same sentence as “underrated” so often that you begin to wonder what the hell is wrong with people. So it’s fitting that while many of the contemporaries that have stuck it out as long as them have declined in embarrassing fashion (Chris Barnes being the token grunting scarecrow for D-grade death metal bands comes to mind…), Immolation top a recent string of still-quite-impressive albums with Majesty and Decay, a record of Failures for Gods proportions. It’s all there: sickly grooves, atmospheric riffs, thunderous drums, and Ross Dolan’s voice inexplicably still intact. Like most great “genre” bands, it’s an Immolation album that’s just more Immolation-y than the others. Even a casual death metal fan can find a lot to like about Majesty and Decay. As an Immolation fan, you were greatly, greatly pleased, though probably not surprised in the least. Putting out excellent Immolation records has been the band’s plan of attack for the last 20+ years.

5. Alcest, Écailles de lune (Prophecy Productions)

Never mind black metal: is it even metal? And if not, since when are banshee-screams and blastbeats used in shoegaze? (Was there an especially brutal Slowdive album I missed?) But begging this question has been the goal of Alcest mastermind Neige since the band’s lo-fi beginnings, looking to harness melancholy beauty via early Darkthrone-worthy necroisms. And like the band’s entire career, Écailles de lune does this masterfully, putting a kind of beauty typically not associated with metal in the forefront. Trve kvltists, tweenagers in deathcore regalia, and cranky longhairs all balked at Alcest’s surprising sweetness, but those sympathetic to it found solace in Neige’s unique vision. In theory, metal shouldn’t make you feel warm. In fact, well, shut up.

4. Kylesa, Spiral Shadow (Season of Mist)

Kylesa on a year end list? Who’da thunk? Me, that’s fucking who. The Georgian quintet hit their stride with (this writer’s ’09 #2) Static Tensions, and continued to hit the shit out of it with Spiral Shadow, an album utilizing the band’s newfound appreciation for song brevity to maximum effect. Undoubtedly a Kylesa album, it doesn’t sound like the band’s other work, but instead one that seeks to improve upon what they’d already done well. Though it may not have completely succeeded in that, what they produced is a record that states that, as excellent as the band are now, their best days are still forthcoming. This isn’t to say Spiral Shadow is a footnote, though. It’s a collection of sludgy heavyness, Pixies-worthy workmanlike catchiness, and psychedelic tendencies reined in enough to not have the album descend into pointless wanking. It’s a metal album for metalheads who listen to other stuff on occasion.

3. Deftones, Diamond Eyes (Warner Bros. / Reprise)

So, yeah, confession time: I’ve liked Deftones more consistently than probably any other band, dating all the way back to when I was a wee O’Hagar in the halcyon days of the mid-’90s. And, though my bias is evident, there may be no better band to grow up with than them, dudes who went from skateboard-obsessed rap-metallers to Ozzfest-headling nu-metal sympathizers to surprisingly mature gentlemen capable of combining their loves of My Bloody Valentine, Suicidal Tendencies, and Meshuggah in an alarmingly natural-sounding way. And though the band have yet to put out a bad album (though I’ll admit being 14 probably made Adrenaline a lot more charming than I would find it today), this year’s Diamond Eyes is among their best (certainly since White Pony, if not outshining that record altogether). It’s full of big-ass Deftones singles (the title track, “Rocket Skates”), the best ballad of their career (the gorgeous and unfortunately titled “Sextape”), and a sorta-sexy, totally ballsy, groove-heavy number based on a riff they totally lifted from Meshuggah’s “Dancers to a Discordant System” (album centerpiece “You’ve Seen the Butcher”). Though the band have gone through a number of changes that would make you concerned that they’d jump the shark– from hiring a DJ as a full time member to fighting with the guy who produced The Wall to former bassist Chi Cheng’s tragically career-ending car accident– they still manage to greatly impress, to the point where you wonder why you’d ever thought of them as anything less than completely reliable. They’re not a band to which one should be an apologist; calling them nu-metal is so 1999. Diamond Eyes is the band at their best, even if it’s a best some of us are already used to.

2. Deathspell Omega, Paracletus (N.E.D. / Ajna Offensive)

I’ve said my piece on this album fairly recently, so I’ll just add that the fact that I’ve been referring to it as Paracletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel hasn’t diminished how phenomenal it is.

1. Decrepit Birth, Polarity (Nuclear Blast)

It’s hard to make technical death metal pervious beyond melting one’s face off with brutality and instrumental prowess. It’s even harder to combine it with melodic death metal and prog without sounding like a novelty, even if a very pleasing one. But Decrepit Birth did so ably on Polarity, harnessing tech-death’s relentlessness and 14-hour practice session musicianship with actual songs that not only stuck, but affected. It’s an emotional journey as much as it is a heavy one, and the fact that the two work almost constantly in tandem makes Polarity not just an album to admire, but one to invest oneself in. The Pro-Tools era has often buried any sign of humanity under a sheen of alien perfection and pre-packaged anger and extremity, while the rise of emo and metalcore have made the default mode for expressing humanity cheesy choruses equipped with tone-deaf (or worse: Autotuned) bellowing. Decrepit Birth pander to neither side on Polarity, instead opting to translate what they’re trying to say via extremely accessible (well, for metalheads, anyway) yet seriously uncompromising death metal. Albums this purely enjoyable don’t come around often.

-SO

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SATAN ROSENBLOOM’S TOP FIFTEEN METAL ALBUMS OF 2010 (from MetalSucks)

1. Ludicra, The Tenant (Profound Lore)

While I’ve been impressed with every record that Ludrica has released, none of them was so evocative as The Tenant. Maybe it’s because for the first time, the band has forged a black metal that feels rooted in a reality I can understand — there are no forest rituals, mythical realms, or battles between good and evil, just five people’s poetic struggle against the spiritual deadness of city life. Or perhaps it’s because the dry production feels just as bleak as the outlook. Mostly it’s the songs, with their ornate yet perfectly balanced arrangements, a combination of austerity and energy that you don’t hear a lot in this genre.


2. Knut, Wonder (Hydra Head)

This music was made for me. Mind-bogglingly limber and disgustingly heavy at the same time, Swiss quintet Knut defy common sense and gravity and good taste all at once. It just tickles me there. A lot of critics decry Knut’s post-metal leanings (there’s less of the Isis here than on previous albums), but they’re wrong. Knut do everything well, and that means the atmospheric Slintisms of “If We Can’t Fly There, We’ll Take the Boat,” the fucked-up jitterbug thrash of “Damned Extroverts” and the untethered, unfairly heavy mindfuck of “Fast Forward Bastard.” Sixteen years into a very non-prolific career, and nobody sounds like Knut.

3. Intronaut, Valley of Smoke (Century Media)

We all have music in our collection that we could classify as “friend rock,” that overarching genre that transcends the importance of style and quality because you just have to be supportive of your brodudes no matter what. I am proud to qualify Intronaut’s Valley of Smoke as “friend rock,” as I get to brag about how I know one of the few metal bands in the world that has yet to put out something less than stellar. Granted, I would even adore Valley of Smoke if I hated Intronaut’s guts as people. The band has made huge strides in terms of harmony and texture, and Joe Lester and Danny Walker, the best rhythm section in metal, just keep getting better. Sacha Dunable and Dave Timnick’s glorious vocal harmonies (who knew?) slide right in where they could have been really embarrassing. And amazingly, even though Valley of Smoke contains some of Intronaut’s softest, sunniest moments, it does nothing to sand down the monster riffs on “Miasma” and “Sunderance.” Intronaut’s still doing everything right.

4. Celeste, Morte(s) Nee(s) (Denovali Records)

This was the only album that I knew was going to be on my year-end list from the first chord. The overwhelmingness of black metal, the in-your-face rage of screamo, and perpetual crush. I would not be surprised if I found out that Celeste has a hundred people in it. Plus, they offer up everything for free. If you do not download this, die.

5. Lantlos, .neon (Prophecy Productions)

There were a lot of good French albums this year in that loosely defined “post-black” subgenre — Celestia, Les Discrets, and Alcest’s releases come to mind, in addition to Lantlos’s sophomore disc, .neon. It’s no surprise that Avignon’s native son Neige has connections to all four groups, but as wonderful and varied his vocals are on .neon, this is really a victory for guitarist/bassist Herbst. The dude unites the ‘gaziest of guitar textures with melody-drenched black metal beatdowns like they were just two points on the same spectrum of expression (which of course they are). “These NIghts Were Ours” and “Coma” are so stupidly beautiful that I bet even a devoted melody-phile would be able to take it. And I don’t even wanna talk about “Pulse/Surreal.” Play it for your girlfriend or boyfriend and if you don’t get laid, dump him or her.

6. Contaigeon, Death at the Gates of Delirium (Works of Ein)

I was never into the re-thrash movement, but I got way into all the new bands playing old-school death metal this past year, and Contaigeon’s debut for internet-only, free-download-only label Works of Ein was one of my favorites. The songs are good in that scuzzy, atonal Incantation way, but it’s the mortiferous guitar tone and sepulchral vibe that sets this one apart. Just listen to “Those in the Soil” or “The Day the Earth Stood Dead” and tell me that you’re not a little less alive than you were before.

7. Immolation, Majesty & Decay (Nuclear Blast)

When the toxic dust settles, Immolation may be remembered as the most inimitable band in US death metal history. While their buddies in Suffocation, Morbid Angel and Deicide have spawned hordes of copycats, nobody accurately captures indomitable terror quite like Immolation. And Majesty & Decay is their best since Close to a World Below, perhaps ever. Immolation’s signature repetitive crush riffs are in fine form, yielding some absolute classics in “A Token of Malice” and “The Rapture of Ghosts.” Bob Vigna’s signature clawing solos and Steve Shalaty’s signature skittering drum style are better recorded than ever. Ross Dolan’s signature hair is there, too, as is some signature Pär Olofsson cover art. Everything about this album is signature.

8. Sailors With Wax Wings, s/t (Angel Oven)

R. Loren intrigued and befuddled me in his Pyramids incarnation. His Sailors with Wax Wings project is less wobbly WTF?-ness, with plenty of richly-layered purtiness and gorrrrrrrrgeous vocals and guest spots from a bazillion guests. It’s one of those records that’s made up of a million tiny parts but really only reveals itself when the whole is taken in. Kinda like the night sky, eh? As evidenced by our recent interview with him, R. Loren is one intelligent bastard. But he and producer Colin Marston put together a heart-intensive headphone album here.

9. Decrepit Birth, Polarity (Nuclear Blast)

Once a font of straightforward brutality, Decrepit Birth are a different band on Polarity. It shows in how fluidly they balance their keen tech/prog instincts with airtight death metal flagellation. But it’s also about the startling harmonic palette that guitarist/songwriter Matt Sotelo is painting with these days — not since the days of Chuck Schuldiner has a death metal riff writer done so much with guitar harmonization. The one constant is vocalist Bill Robinson, who’s also had his third eye open, and his scorched throat barking about metaphysics. Strange how such an aggressive sound can come across as so non-aggressive, and maintain its total face-ruleage.

10. Weapon, From the Devil’s Tomb (Ajna Offensive)

Go ahead and smoke Watain’s goathead-topped pole all you want. To my ears, Weapon’s second full-length is the better Satanic black metal release of the two, and one of the kickingest albums of the year. From the Devil’s Tomb is straight up momentum the whole way through, and we’re not just talking blastbeats — this shit is suprisingly dynamic, fluid even, for a style that’s known more for relentlessness than listenability. It’s smart, fast, melodic and surprisingly heavy in parts. It’s Weapon, and it fucking rules.

11. High on Fire, Snakes for the Divine (E1 Music)

High on Fire are a band that I dug so much that I took them for granted. Always dependable for a fine album or live gig, they were so obviously good that I never felt the need to listen to them. So the first time I heard Snakes for the Divine, it felt like I was being reintroduced to a childhood female friend I used to pal around with that turned super-hot and smart and funny since I last saw her. The barbarian vibe marauds from song to song, riding atop drummer Des Kensel’s locomotive-engine rumble, helped in no small part by Greg Fidelman’s dirty-but-accurate production. And Snakes for the Divine showcases some of Pike’s most inspired riffing. Witness the opening riff of “Bastard Samurai” and the thrash section of “Ghost Neck” for proof that this band is not to be fucked with, or taken for granted. EVER.

12. Lightning Swords of Death, The Extra-Dimensional Wound (Metal Blade)

I was stoked when Lightning Swords of Death got a record deal, especially with a label that’s never been known for its black metal offerings. It makes sense ot me that Metal Blade would take a chance on these guys — the live show is killer, and this album imbues its natural, almost steampunk-crusty sound with a deadly strain of hookiness. And I don’t mean Cradle of Filth style hooks. I mean more like the clever little logo on the bottom of the tank that you’ll remember after it runs over you.

13. Murder Construct, Murder Construct EP (Relapse)

All y’all heard this album when MetalSucks streamed it in mid-November, right? If not, you fucked up. Leon del Muerte wasted ten years of his life frittering away his time with Exhumed, Impaled, Phobia, Intronaut, and Artificium Sanguis and NOT recording this album. I guess it was worth it — it’s a hell of a lot of fun hearing Danny Walker (Intronaut/Uphill Battle/Jesu) apply his monstrous technique to grind (he does it in Phobia too), and Cattle Decapitation’s Travis Ryan has one of the most formidable barks in all of extreme music. It’s the songs that take center stage here though, and Del Muerte delivers the most intricate, memorable grind I heard all year. But come one man, all you can come up with in a decade is eighteen minutes of music?

14. East of the Wall, Ressentiment (Translation Loss)

I’m not the only MetalSucks writer to profess his love of East of the Wall, and for good reason. If I were writing this list ten years ago, it would be #1 on my list. But I’m no longer in the middle of my King Crimson/Gentle Giant phase, so the advanced guitar/drum counterpoint and time signature fuckery found all over Ressentiment no longer impresses like it did. But that’s okay, because East of the Wall’s prog wows gently, with tasteful singing and a dedication to detailed melodies and compositions that make them as listenable as they are tech-intensive.

15. Pyrrhon, Fever Kingdoms EP (The Path Less Traveled)

Where the fuck did these guys come from???? Their wacked-out death metal stylings remind me of some of my most neglected faves, like Gorguts, Coroner and Disincarnate. Totally boss stuff, and vocalist Doug Moore apparently shares my alma mater. GO QUAKERS!!! The EP sounds like a vintage 90s Morrisound release, too. Of course it was mixed and mastered by Colin Marston (Krallice, Dysrhythmia, Gorguts). Typical. Is there anything that dude can’t do? Anyhoo, can’t wait to hear a full-length from these guys, because I can never get enough of out-of-the-box death metal. More please.

-SR

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LEYLA FORD’S TOP FIFTEEN, ER, TEN METAL ALBUMS OF 2010 (from MetalSucks)


I actually really hate making best of lists. If it’s something stupid or silly like the “Top Five Best Bathrooms” I’ve ever used (in ascending order: Harrods in London, Beyti restaurant in Istanbul, Park Hotel in Japan, any and all bathrooms affiliated with the Oberoi Hotels, and my own back home that I don’t have to share with ANYONE) or “Arnold Schwarzenneger’s Top Seven Roles (again, ascending order: “Conan” in Conan the Barbarian, “Detective John Kimble” in Kindergarten Cop, “John Matrix” in Commando, “Julius Benedict” in Twins, “The Terminator” in The Terminator, “Harry Tasker” in True Lies, and “Prince Hapi the Ottoman Sultan” in Around the World in 80 Days), then I have a blast just thinking them up and recording them for posterity’s sake within the privacy of my own internet blog. But when it’s “serious,” then I get needlessly anxious. It puts all this weird pressure on me to get it right and stresses me out and I don’t like that. Oh, and I procrastinated on this for too long and now I don’t have time to finish it so I have the top ten rather than fifteen albums.

I’ll let the others take care of really analyzing and weighing options in terms of the year’s best. They can pick Daaths and Nachtmystiums until the cows come home, eat the cows, and then argue about the Kylesas and Mastodons until a new herd arrives (I’m also relying on their lists to refresh my memory and make me go, “Ohhh yeaaaah,” because half the things I thought came out this year were from 2009, like Wolf’s Ravenous and Ensiferum’s From Afar. Seriously, where the hell did this year go? Did Gojira’s new album come out last year, too?). My list consists of the albums I had the most fun with. Yeah, there’s probably a vast difference between what’s “best” and what I chose, but I’m writing this, so shut your whore mouth and enjoy. It’s the end of the year, time for merriment not mutiny. Or I don’t care, get as self-righteously outraged as you possibly can. I’ll be out of the country anyway.


10. Ratt, Infestation (Roadrunner)

Nowhere near as good as Reach For the Sky. What? Yeah, that’s my favorite Ratt album. It’s got “Way Cool Jr.,” “I Want A Woman,” and “What’s It Gonna Be,” what else do you want? But considering what the rest of their brethren are doing (Yeah, can’t quite picture, Ratt of Love. Or can I…?), this was a surprisingly good effort from my favorite rodent namesakes. It sounds like classic Ratt; screechy vocals and screechy guitars. “Eat Me Alive” is no “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose,” which is possibly the stupidest duet (it’s with Jon Bon Jovi and, yeah, I love it), but it like clings to my brain. I get quiet moments in my head quite often, which is surprising since I’m such a bright young girl with many an intelligent thing to say, and the new filler music that plays in these moments is this album. It used to be Out of the Cellar. Shoot, that’s back in my head now. Round and round…

9. Accept, Blood of the Nations (Nuclear Blast)

It’s nice to know you don’t need an egotistical midget with the voice of a goblin angel to make music. I’m sure the rest of the band was happy to realize that, too.

8. TesseracT, Concealing Fate EP (Century Media)

This totally counts. Any band I covered this year is pretty much guaranteed on here because, well, why else would I actively seek to cover them? I’m not a big prog fan, but these djentlemen (Hahahaha, I crack me up. Sorry, “djent” such a dumb word.) managed to make music that’s prog-y without being too self-indulgent, which is my biggest problem with the genre. Like, “Ohhh we’re musicians, watch us compose music.” Fuck off. This is experimental and technical, but seeing them live probably helped temper my decision. They have a real presence when they play, and the music was the most enjoyable assault to my ears I’ve had in a while.

7. Powerglove, Saturday Morning Apocalypse (eOne Music)

AAAAHHAHAHAHAHAH. I could just leave it at that — maniacal laughter — but no, I’ll elaborate. This album has amused me so much. I love cartoons. My ring tone is currently the Batman Beyond theme. Which, by the way, is the most metal of all themes. No really, it’s badass. And I usually end up not answering my phone because I’m listening to it. When some of my favorite themes are blown up to such epic proportions, I can’t help but like it. Now let’s get this straight, I’ve never liked Pokemon. I’ve had friends that did. I’ve had cousins, and a little sister who also did. They’ve all tortured me endlessly with it. That damn show has been in my life for so long, and it still infuriates me. Except now, it’s a lot more fun hearing it blasted in a car with my guy friends all singing it. Yep, all know it by heart too. Though, hearing the X-Men and Transformers theme in all their power metal majesty is something to behold. Ah, Powerglove, you make me so happy. Much like four mutant turtles that really liked pizza used to. Except that year I got Donatello as a gift because purple is “a girl’s color.” I didn’t want the guy who did machines; I wanted the party dude (oleeeeeeeey)!

6. Kvelertak, Kvelertak (Indie)

I love it when you can clearly pinpoint a band’s influences within their music. I love it even more so when they can do it while still retaining their own original voice. This sounds like the Hellacopters and Turbonegro met up, decided they’d had enough of partying, and got serious. But only slightly. It’s got a hard punk edge while still being basically rock’n’roll, even with the vocals, and, well, that’s all the things I like in a nutshell. It was a damn hassle trying to get my hands on it here in the States, though. How hard is it, in this day and age, to make something available for worldwide download? MOST OF US DON’T LIVE IN NORWAY. But I didn’t let that color my opinion. Although I’ve been to their hometown of Stavanger. Had some pretty good goat cheese.

5. Enslaved, Axioma Ethica Odini (Nuclear Blast)

There’s nothing anyone can do to tear me away from my Viking metal. Especially when it’s this good. It’s galloping and pounding and everything good about black metal. Bonus points for no corpse paint. Nah, I kid. Corpse paint has its place, but not with my Enslaved dudes. I love how clean the vocals sound, especially on the tracks they harmonized with the more melodic tones, and though people have been saying they’ve been edging into a more psychedelic sound, I actually didn’t hear it at first. It’s a tribute to how seamlessly they blend new sounds and influences to each record. Plus, they literally go, “Raaawwwr,” on the intro to “Waruun.” Yay. One of the best shows I saw this year as well.

4. Danko Jones, Below the Belt (Bad Taste/Aquarius)

If we can have a Skunk Anansie review on the site, I can pick an album that’s not really metal for my list. Especially this one, because it is amazing. I love Danko Jones, it reminds me of being in 8th grade and really into punk but about a thousand times better than the crap I listened to in middle school. (Except The Vandals. They’re always fun.) It’s fast, it’s fun, and this album is so filled with biting vitriol, it’s a trip to listen to. Seriously, someone really screwed over poor Danko, because there’s some pointed venom in most of the songs. “Had Enough,” is currently my favorite off the album. When I really, really love a song, I will listen to it repeatedly, over and over, until it gets to the point where I’d rather rip my ears off than listen to it again. Then I take a break. Go back to it in a year, and it’s still miraculously awesome. I’m still in the listening stage with this one, and we’re reaching the triple digits in terms of plays. However, I do also recommend “I Think Bad Thoughts.” Sing the chorus, out loud, in public places. You’ll get some excellent looks.

I can rip you off, and steal all your cash
Suckerpunch you in the face, stand back and laugh
Leave you stranded as fast as a heart-attack
All day, I think bad thoughts
I can break your heart at the drop of a hat
Stab you in the back, in two minutes flat
Screw your girl in the back of my Cadillac
I think bad thoughts

And we come to the final three. My trifecta of 2010 sleaze metal. Pshh, what the fuck else would I pick for my personal list?

3. Crashdiet, Generation Wild (Universal/Gain)

I avoided Crashdiet for a good long while because, I mean, how different can one sleaze band be from the rest? I felt they got too much hype. I eat my words now. Hardcore fans of theirs will probably blast me, but personally, I prefer their new singer and this album to Rest in Sleaze. This is akin to liking Michael Graves more than Glen Danzig, but guess what? Graves’ has one of my absolute favorite voices in music, and though I’m a long-time Misfits fan, Famous Monsters is one of their best. So get over it. Generation Wild has exactly one song I skip over ,and that’s because it’s a little too slow and whiny for my hard, fast tastes (“Save Her”), but everything else is like a revelation. I’m a sucker for catchy, vaguely pop, machinegun-fire choruses, but you really can’t do better than “Chemical.”

2. Crazy Lixx, New Religion (Frontiers)

I discovered these boys this past summer, and it’s kind of telling that I’m still listening to the album six months later. They’re more glam/hair than the rest of Sweden’s dirty sleaze population, but it’s like all the good parts of ‘80s metal bands (Yes, there are good parts. It’s metal, it’s a genre, and it’s here to stay. I will fight for it ’til the day I die. And I’m as stubborn as a mule, so I warn you, don’t take me on.) mixed up into twelve songs. Yes, they’re a little cheesy — I mean “R-O-C-K IT’S MY MEDICINE” is hardly brain surgery, but I can’t hold that against a band that uses the word “smut” in their lyrics. I love that word! No, I really do. It’s one of my favorite words. “21 ‘Til I Die” and “She’s Mine” are my top two choices from the record.

1. Hardcore Superstar, Split Your Lip (Nuclear Blast)

Oh God. Every time I hear that Hardcore Superstar have a new album coming out, I basically need a change of clothes. They are, without a doubt, my favorite current band. The weird thing is, I always get that feeling of trepidation — how can they possibly top themselves with every new release? But then they do, and I’m astounded, and have a gloriously loud Hardcore Superstar party by myself until my boyfriend tells me to shut up and go to bed. As of writing this, their new release has been out less than a week. But I love them, it’s my list, and you best believe they’re at the fucking top. Hell, when they just had their promo out on the website (before the new website had even launched) I just kept playing that minute fifteen over and over again. It’s sleaze and thrash and hard and so fucking good. It’s the perfect music to either get in a fight to or get laid to. I could write a thesis on how good they are, but just listen to “Moonshine” and “Guestlist,” then work your way back through their discography. Seriously, they just keep getting better. Their website is now English-friendly, too. Ah, I remember those days of staring perplexedly at my screen as Google Translate mauled whatever it was they were trying to tell me. I managed to get a t-shirt, but for all I know, I sold my family to Sweden in return.

BONUS ROUND!

Best metal book: Dave Mustaine’s book, Are You Ready to Take the Risk? Okay, you know the Family Guy episode where Bryan writes a self-help book in three hours? This is the title he would’ve passed for being too obvious. Mustaine comes off as a complete asshole (WHAAAT? HOW CAN THIS BE?) and is hilariously pretentious when talking about his kung-fu skills. Yep, you heard me. He is a master (of the flying guillotine). Good times.

Worst metal book: Vince Neil’s Tattoos & Tequila: To Hell and Back with One of Rock’s Most Notorious Frontmen. I picked it up at the bookstore, read the first few pages, and stopped. If I’m supposed to be horrified and titillated by Vince dunking his dick into breakfast burritos to cover up the smell of sex, well, maybe he should try a story I haven’t already read about in The Dirt. In fact, why don’t all of you Crue boys (and everyone else) just take some time to re-read your first tome because, truly, that book is excellent. Heroin Diaries was alright, Tommyland was fucking ridiculous (Oh how very droll, having a conversation with your penis. Go away, Anthony Bozza. Every rock book you collaborate on infuriates me. Like Slash’s book, when your editing acumen had him saying “But I’ll get to that later” every other sentence.) and this is, as said, unreadable. I’d be curious to read a Mick Mars, books but it would probably make me suicida,l because his snippets from The Dirt were damn depressing.

Best metal movie: While we’re on the topic of Motley Crue, the best metal movie this year has to be Hot Tub Time Machine. It both celebrates and mercilessly mocks Motley Crue, exactly the way I do. I can’t stand any of the members (except Mick Mars ,because he’s never done anything to raise my ire and I probably would give his autobiography a quick look (pssst need a ghost writer?)), but I just can’t quit them either. The writers of this movie obviously feel the same way. Plus, enough with the black metal documentaries. Isn’t Lords of Chaos up for a movie adaptation, too? It better come up with some truly spectacular way of showing church burnings and band cannibalism or yawn.

-LF

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BOB COCK’S TOP FIFTEEN METAL ALBUMS OF 2010 (from MetalSucks)

1. Gypsyhawk, Patience and Perseverance (Creator-Destructor)

I’ve listened to this band a ridiculous amount of times. Like, “Oh, last song… watch should I put on next? Well, let’s just hit play again!”-style. Amazing musicianship, solid songwriting, and beyond hummable melodies (right after this solo!) make for an amazing debut.


2. Kylesa, Spiral Shadow (Season of Mist)

For some reason some folks bagged on the last Kylesa outing [COUGH Decibel COUGH]. Thankfully, my colleague Sammy O’Hagar dug it almost as much as I did. They did that amazing thing that Torche did with Meanderthal — they incorporated pop into metal with still being metal. But, Sammy… come on, four horns? Should have been five.

3. Blind Guardian, At The Edge Of Time (Nuclear Blast)

Before I start, let me adjust my glasses. Regardless of the dork quotient, Blind Guardian is amazing each and every time, be it live or on record. They’ve had a few hiccups here and there, but the end product is consistently grand without being overly grandiose. At The Edge is no exception — it’s almost flawless.

4. Rimfrost, Veraldar Nagli (Season of Mist)

Think Immortal with more thrash. Cool with you? Cool with me.

5. Enslaved, Axioma Ethica Odini (Nuclear Blast)

A hundred years and 42 albums in, Enslaved still makes amazing records. How they do it, we might never know. Are we glad they do it? Hell yes.

6. Slough Feg, The Animal Spirits (Profound Lore)

For me, this one came out of nowhere and blew my socks off. Great musicianship, top-notch songwriting, slay-riffic solos, and an Alan Parsons cover in the span of 38 minutes of non-stop fun makes this dude a happy guy.

7. The Funeral Pyre, Vultures At Dawn (Prosthetic)

The Funeral Pyre mixed it up this time around with a lot of experimenting, as cliché as that is to say about music. Vultures was definitely a turning point for the band, and let’s hope they follow up with material in the same vein next time around. Knowing them, though, they’ll throw a wrench into the works and mix it up again to mature measurably.

8. Withered, Dualitas (Prosthetic)

9. Yakuza, Of Seismic Consequence (Profound Lore)

Taking a step back off the spastic stuff, Bruce Lamont and company stepped up the game on Yakuza’s fifth record and raised the standard on their Barrett-meets-Coltrane-meets-Slayer formula. Aside from being one of the best albums of the year, it makes this guy want to hear the Lamont solo album that comes out next year that much more.

10. Monster Magnet, Mastermind (Napalm)

Great band, great album (again), and no surf rock like on God Says No! It’s a shame to see Ed Mundell leave after so many years, but Mastermind is a soulful send off. Now please, please, play shows in America again!

11. The Dillinger Escape Plan, Option Paralysis (Season of Mist)

Calculating Infinity inshminity. I enjoy Dillinger more each record. Cry “Mike Patton” all you want, I have no problem with what these cats are doing.

12. Watain, Lawless Darkness (Season of Mist)

Dissection doesn’t exist anymore, sadly, so I’m fine with Watain picking up the reins. Another solid album after Sworn To The Dark. Let’s just hope they speed up the recording process this next time around.

13. W.A.S.P., Babylon (Demolition)

Catchy, heavy, scummy… Sure some of Blackie’s decisions can be called into question, but the W.A.S.P. songwriting can be called to testify — it speaks for itself. And so does Babylon.

14. Cloudkicker, Beacons (self-released)

I was late to the train on this one, but this kid won me over quickly. Vocals? We ain’t got no vocals. We don’t need no vocals!

15. Beneath The Massacre, Marée Noire EP (Prosthetic)

This band is so good that it’s silly. So are their riffs. And vocals. And drumming. If it weren’t for the short length, it’d be way higher up on this list. But it’s good to see they’re keeping with the EPs here and there, like on their Galy debut. New full-length, stat!

Close calls:

All That Remains, For We Are Many (Prosthetic)

Hey, it sounds good on record. Catchy, proficient and devoid of the too-many-soaring-choruses bug that bit Killswitch like three records ago, they’re the band that makes it okay to sing along to metal.

Angra, Aqua (SPV/Steamhammer)

I’ve only gotten a few listens of this one (late season pick up to the proverbial roster), but I’m glad they came back onto my radar after the long four years since Aurora Consurgens.

Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare (Warner Bros.)

I don’t even own a copy of this, but the roomie listens to it so much that I hum along while playing video games or reading downstairs as he’s blasting it. That has to mean they wrote memorable songs.

Black Breath, Heavy Breathing (Southern Lord)

Gritty and grimy it may be. Weird on Southern Lord? Yeah, but that doesn’t mean they can’t write a mean riff.

Christian Mistress. Agony and Opium (20 Buck Spin)

Good ol’ fashioned heavy metal. I mean, it could be longer… but why split hairs?

Early Graves, Goner (Ironclad)

Really solid follow-up to We: The Guillotine that pairs up riffs with rage.

Gamma Ray, To The Metal (earMusic)

Dorky power metal, but these Germans are rarely off-target and are still one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen.

Helloween, 7 Sinners (The End)

See: Gamma Ray.

Holy Grail, Crisis in Utopia (Prosthetic)

It’s good to finally see a full-length from these trad-metallers – and they didn’t disappoint… Fight to ki(iiiiiiiiiiiilllll)ll, indeed!

Istapp, Blekinge (Metal Blade)

Folky black metal that doesn’t consist of eight-minute songs? Catchy, heavy, AND well-done? Sign me up!

Jakub Żytecki, Demos or whatever you want to call them (self-released)

Records I still haven’t heard:

Too many to count. I’m getting too old for this heavy metal stuff. Mumble, mumble, mumble…

-BC

[onedayless]

“GRIM KIM” KELLY’S TOP FIFTEEN METAL ALBUMS OF 2010 (from MetalSucks)


I’m only an occasional contributor to this fine website, but when Vince sounded the call for year-end lists, I couldn’t resist chiming in with my two (extremely opinionated) cents. It’s pretty apparent what kind of tunes I’ve been digging this year – decrepit death metal, orthodox black metal, miserable doom, and the prettier side of grimness. The list that follows is probably a little more weighted towards the obscure and/or extreme than a lot of the other lists I’ve come across so far, but fuck it – those are the kinds of albums that keep extreme metal interesting, dangerous, and, at their best, honest. Those are qualities that, in my not-so-humble opinion, a vast amount of modern metal seems to lack. Give the bands below a shot, and if you like what they’re doing, dig deeper; check out their back catalogues and influences and contemporaries and ideas. If not, go buy the new Veil of Maya or something – no skin off my back either way, though I do hope I open a few eyes with this’n.


1. Ludicra, The Tenant (Profound Lore)

Ludicra are a very, very special band – always have been, and undoubtedly always will. Thanks to this year’s The Tenant, as well as a few high-profile gigs and bouts of touring, it seems as though their profile has been raised tremendously. The urban blight and startling shards of beauty that infuse The Tenant’s seven chapters are as entrancing as they are unsettling, and are rendered even more powerful against a backdrop of progressive-minded black metal, forceful drumming from one Aesop Dekker, and the dual-vocal approach of Laurie Sue Shanaman, who’s range cuts from a furious rasp to sublime singing in the space of a couple chords. Though their back catalogue is rich in merit and creative sparks, The Tenant pinpoints the moment when Ludicra really arrived, ready to take their rightful place amongst USBM’s most respected oddballs.

2. The Wounded Kings, The Shadow Over Atlantis (I Hate)

England’s dark moors, stately strands of oak, and bloodied past have always provided ample inspiration for its more melancholy souls to ply their trade. Blighty gave us My Dying Bride, Anathema, Witchfinder General, and of course, the immortal Black Sabbath, and, in recent times, has seen fit to grace us with a new crop of doomed souls. Chief among them are Dartmoor’s The Wounded Kings, who harness the traditional strengths of the genre – funereal pacing, waiting vocals, an atmosphere drenched in the occult, and the power of the almighty riff – to create something deeply affecting and incredibly addictive. On The Shadow Over Atlantis, The Wounded Kings prove that traditional doom is more alive than ever.

3. Dispirit, Rehearsal at Oboroten

For several months before this tape surfaced, rumors swirled throughout the underground that John Gossard (Asunder, Weakling, The Gault) had formed a new black metal project. Once Dispirit’s Rehearsal at Oboroten finally saw the light, fans of Gossard’s previous blackened endeavor (the incredibly influential and still-underrated Weakling) pressed “play” with bated breath, hoping hard that this new effort would stand up to his other work. Happily for us, it did – and still does. The half hour of music contained on this rough rehearsal demo takes its listener on a journey through mountains of ice and valleys of the damned – an uber-raw production buries hypnotic riffs and hoarse cries under layers of fuzz and distortion, allowing only the faintest hints of light and atmosphere to bleed through alongside a simple message: “Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here.”

4. Salome, Terminal (Profound Lore)

Salome are a force to be reckoned with. Their 2008 debut and ensuing split with Baton Rouge heavyweights Thou set the stage, a bevy of live dates and festival appearances focused the spotlight, and now, with Terminal, all eyes on finally on Salome for what they are – an immensely talented and utterly uncompromising beast of a band. It has also made even more apparent what they are not – a one-trick pony, a hipster band, or a gimmick. Yes, Salome’s vocalist is female, but it is her femininity that gives her performances such strength – her banshee shrieks and cacodeamon growls balance out her very human fragility, and that of all who watch. Kat is an incredibly talented vocalist, and is joined by her equally talented cohorts – Rob Moore on guitar, and the indomitable Aaron Deal on drums, whose blood-flecked skins underline just how seriously he takes this “extreme doom” business. Heavy as a broken heart and just as malicious, Terminal marries the neck-snapping groove and inescapable riffs of their earlier work with a more experimental bent that introduces faster parts and pure fucking noise. Challenging, but so worth it.

5. Satanic Warmaster, Nachzehrer (Moribund)

Sweden claims its bloody roots, Norway gave rise to its first murderous breaths, but Finland gave black metal its rotten core. Satanic Warmaster’s last full-length, 2005’s Carelian Satanist Madness, is regarded as a modern classic within certain circles, and its eventual follow-up, Nachzehrer, follows in its grimy footsteps. Werwolf is a master of Finnish filth, and this record is a completely logical and wholly satisfying extension of the nasty grooves, raw punk beats, freezing cold atmosphere and barely-contained chaos that made his earlier work so great. Ugly, mean, and grim as fuck.

6. Grave Miasma, Realm of Evoked Doom (Nuclear Winter)

Formerly known as Goat Molestor, this UK death metal horde have been making waves with their ritualistic treatment of entombed Incantation riffs. This is old-school death metal taken very, very seriously – as it should be. The stench of Autopsy, Demigod, and even Slayer emanates from this young quartet, but never overpowers their own devastatingly savage assault. You will be hearing a lot more about this band in the coming year – trust me.

7. Altar of Plagues, Tides (Burning World)

This Irish collective seem incapable of releasing a sub-par recording; last year’s White Tomb LP was nothing short of breath-taking, and judging by Tides’ nearly forty minutes of brilliance, their upcoming full-length will be yet another triumph. “Atlantic Light” and “The Weight of All” showcase the band’s grey-tinged aesthetic over nearly forty minutes of constant evolution. There is no black or white in Altar of Plagues’ world – they are far too aware of their surroundings and themselves to allow for such simplicity. Cathartic, sprawling black metal epics, tinged with the beautiful meandering of post-rock and droning ambience, are narrated by a raw-throated vocalist who seems on the verge of collapse. Emotional, and emotionally draining.

8. Coffinworm, When All Became None (Profound Lore)

Hideous music for angry people. Sludge, tortured doom, snarling black metal knuckle-dragging death metal and a few handfuls of crusted-over punk meld together into one of the nastiest, most misanthropic, more wonderfully ugly albums you’ll ever hear.

9. Sabbath Assembly, Restored to One (Ajna Offensive)

Sabbath Assembly perverts the perverted by taking the hymns held dear to the apocalyptic cult known as The Process Church of the Final Judgment and reworking them in their own modern vision. What results is an intoxicating union of psychedelic rock and gospel that at first appears soothing and almost conventional, but upon further listens and a closer examination of what vocal mistress Jex Thoth is actually singing, will unnerve, unsettle and intrigue. A gorgeously strange release that isn’t exactly metal but manages to send more shivers down your spine than Watain on Easter Sunday.

10. Burzum, Belus (Byelobog)

The wolf’s return was heralded with great anticipation and morbid curiosity, and for good reason – given that the last we’d heard of Varg Vikernes was during his prison-spurred “Casio era,” Burzum fans were a bit nervous, to say the least. Fortunately for those who enjoyed his earlier, landmark releases (no matter what you think of the man’s clearly ridiculous views on well, everything, you can not fuck with Filosofem), Belus delivered exactly what was promised – a return to vintage Burzum. Given that a handful of the album’s tracks had been written back in Burzum’s glory days, it makes sense that they retain some of the old magic; however, the newer songs are just as strong, and together make up a thoroughly worthy addition to Vikernes’ discography. Let’s see if he keeps this up.

11. Agalloch, Marrow of the Spirit (Profound Lore)

Dark, complex, and effortlessly beautiful, Marrow of the Spirit is one of Agalloch’s most dynamic and experimental albums, and may just be their best yet. An intricate, immaculately composed release from America’s greatest metal band.

12. Profanatica, Disgusting Blasphemies Against God

The title says it all – filthy, low-fi, perverse, barbaric black metal spewed from a whore’s cunt and bathed in the blood of the righteous. If you don’t know Profanatica, you don’t know shit.

13. Alcest, Ecailles De Lune (Prophecy)

Gorgeous, ethereal post-rock with the slightest tinge of black metal and otherwordly atmosphere galore. French black metal magnate Neige’s loveliest offering yet, and the strongest of this particular micro-scene of “post-black” metal.

14. Encoffination, Ritual Ascension Beyond Flesh (Ritual Death)

Sepulchral, death-worshipping old-school death done right. Slow as a dying man’s crawl and buried under six feet of musty earth, with hollow, impossibly low vocals, Encoffination’s debut LP is a masterful example of disgusting, hateful, creeping death metal, and is damn near essential for anyone who’s been riding the current wave of Hooded Menace and Decrepitaph-inspired OSDM nastiness.

15. Blasphemophagher, …Chaos, Obscurity, and Desolation… (Nuclear War Now!)

This Italian black/death metal horde are the quintessential Nuclear War Now! band – and I mean that in the best possible way. Raw, Blasphemy-worshipping, bestial war metal that follows through on the murderous rampage they began with 2008’s Nuclear Empire of Apocalypse and launches an even deadlier onslaught. A godless wall of black grinding noise – fucking sick!

Honorable mentions:

Black Tusk, Taste the Sin – Because they’re fun as hell.

The Body, All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood – Because they’re heavy as fuck.

Christian Mistress, Agony & Opium – Because they made traditional metal sound fresh.

Maniac Butcher, Masakr – Because they do old-school black metal right.

Darkthrone, Circle the Wagons – Because fuck you.

-KK

[HFVM]

ALLMUSIC

http://blog.allmusic.com/2010/12/15/all ... of-2010-2/

Harvey Milk – A Small Turn of Human Kindness
Watain – Lawless Darkness
Triptykon – Eparistera Daimones
The Ocean – Heliocentric
Torche – Songs for Singles
High on Fire – Snakes for the Divine
Agalloch – Marrow of the Spirit
Deftones – Diamond Eyes
Electric Wizard – Black Masses
Enslaved – Axiomoa Ethica Odini
Daughters – Daughters
Black Tusk – Taste the Sin
Overkill – Ironbound
Kylesa – Spiral Shadow
Rosetta – A Determinism of Morality
Locrian – The Crystal World
Deathspell Omega – Paracletus
Nachtmystium – Addicts: Black Meddle, Pt. II
Sigh – Scenes from Hell
Ludicra – The Tenant

[paulo figueiredo [RIP 2011/02/27]]

http://stereogum.com/596411/haunting-the-chapels-top-50-albums-of-2010/franchises/haunting-the-chapel/

Os 50 melhores do site Stereogum, secção de metal Haunting the Chapel.

[Zyklon]

Mr. Bryan Funck de THOU:

10.5 Caddywhompus – Remainder + The Callers – Life of Love + Lovey Dovies – s/t + The Gift – Demo
All of these records are great and deserve a mention (or Andy and Mitch will probably kill me). Caddywhompus sounds like members of Braid and Sunny Day Real Estate teaming up and trying to make music that sounds like Lightning Bolt. The LP was released locally on the ultra DIY Community Records label.
I know Sara Lucas and Ryan Seaton from Callers from when they both lived in New Orleans and were playing music together. Callers is the band they put together in Providence (though I think it was just the two of them for a while and now they have a third member). I’ve only heard bits and pieces off the new LP, but it was enough to blow me away. Andy’s been raving about this one.
Lovey Dovies are from New Orleans and their self-released record sounds like the Lemonheads or Gin Blossoms or everything you loved about melancholic 90s alternative. They’ve already toured South America and been around the US a bit, but they haven’t gotten nearly enough attention.
The Gift is the new punk band from Beck from Turboslut and carries on that tradition of punk-/Hole-inspired abrasive hardcore.

10. Celeste – Morte(s) Nee(s)
The newest Celeste record is only so low on the list because I haven’t been able to purchase the actual record on this side of the world and I’ve only been jamming on the mp3s. While retaining the darkness of all the 90s French emo bands I love (Anomie, Jasemine, Fingerprint, etc.), this brings it to a whole new level of heaviness and even incorporates some black metal dynamics. And the cover of this record is easily the best of the year, if not one of the best covers ever. If Andy were crafting this list, I think the record would be a lot higher up, since he listens to this pretty much all the time.

9. Kowloon Walled City – Gambling on the Richter Scale
This band came out of nowhere for me. Just as we were booking dates for last summer’s Thou/Moloch west coast tour, Andy and Chris both starting singing their praises. I started talking to Scott about doing some dates with us. They couldn’t make the west coast dates happen, but I managed to get them to Louisiana for the east coast tour, and they were spot on live. Stylistically, this usually isn’t my thing at all, but somehow they managed to take the heavier side of Torche, the precision of Helmet, the directness of Unsane, the feel of 90s hardore bands like Noothgrush and Jesuit, and create something I love. I’ve often touted Moloch as a stripped down, straightforward version of Eyehategod and Dystopia. In that same sense, Kowloon Walled City is a stripped down, straightforward version of early Neurosis. No frills, no bells and whistles, just punishing, angry music for angry people like me.

8. Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship? – Of Resolution and Resolve
The punkest band in New Orleans releases their second full length on the punkest label Domino Sound. This one is a bit poppier and more uplifting than No Blood No Blooms. There’s less funeral dirge and more sea shanty tribulation, but I still love this release all the same. The records come in chipboard jackets that were each handstamped and have different postage affixed to the cover, so each copy has a unique look. Woodsmoke and the Burial Grounds Kult of Salem nod in approval.

7. Hurray for the Riff Raff – Young Blood Blues
As the west coast California punks have deified Stephen Morrissey, so have the New Orleans punks raised Fiona Apple to god-like stature. And while front woman Alynda Lee is a certainly an amazing vocalist and musician in her own rite, there’s no denying a deep comparison to Fiona Apple (in fact–though this might get me strung up local militants–Alynda’s probably a stronger singer than Fiona). The new Riff Raff album is a little less Bywater and a little more delicate, laid back pop–but there’s no denying the Marigny in those banjo riffs which retain the overall dark folksy southern bluegrass feel.

6. Ghastly City Sleep – Moondrifts
Despite the numerous printing and manufacturing errors that sent Brandon into a fit of wailing and gnashing of teeth that I can sympathize with to the very heights of blood pressure frustration, this record looks beautiful. I loved the simplicity of their first LP, and Brandon’s artwork has always been very striking. This release takes that to a whole new dimension, building on his style in a very clear way. Musically, this one is less Sigur Ros and a bit more Radiohead, a little less melancholy meandering and a little more dreary darkness. I think I prefer the former style a bit more, but even so, the new stuff is incredible. They played a couple of shows in Louisiana recently and in a surprisingly “jack move” traded out their old drummer Pat Broderick for Ryan Parrish (City of Caterpillar / Suppression / Darkest Hour). While Pat is an increible drummer, Ryan is probably one of my all time favorites. So this newest inclusion really had me amped up on the live show.

5. Brother/Ghost – Black Ice
An Austin band comprised of half or more Louisiana natives, Brother/Ghost includes Jesse Key (formerly of Mitch and Josh’s Man Plus Building) and Jasper den Hartigh (of obscure NOLA and Lafayette bands Lanterns and Clawing to China). Their other bands were solid but never quite drew me in completely. But they were longtime friends, so when they came out to Louisiana, we helped get their shows set up and played a comic shop with them in Baton Rouge. In the twenty or so minute set they did, I was totally blown away. Somehow they had taken my favorite elements of Ghastly City Sleep and molded that with the more straightforward, dirginess of later day Circle Takes the Square into something sad, epic, and heavy. It reminds me something of City of Caterpillar if they were more Godspeed/Sigur Ros and a lot less screamo. This is definitely a band to keep on the radar. If someone doesn’t release this EP on vinyl soon, I’m going to have to do it myself.

4. Skagos – Ast
Skagos picks up exactly where Leech left off creating an amalgamation of punk-inspired, magickal, folk-infused black metal–what a few esoteric hermits in the Pacific northwest have deemed “grey metal.” Skagos has pushed the boundaries even further than their Salem predecessors by incorporating elements of shoe-gaze and what some (Wolf from Iskra) might call indie rock. I’m sure a lot of people will level some comparisons to Wolves in the Throne Room or Fauna, though I think their experimentations have taken the music a few steps further. Black metal purists might shudder at some of these musical inclusions, but I find their sincerity and uninhibited development refreshing; and I’m sure their dedication to kultness would even make the Woodsmoke militants crack a shadow of a smile.

3. Fell Voices / Ash Borer – split
These are bands playing black metal exactly as it should be played in the purest sense of the genre: raw, unrelenting, honest. This is as “true” as it gets for me, and I don’t even have to waste time overlooking any satanic religious posturing or overdone pagan revivalism. This is some of the harshest, most epic music I’ve heard in my life. Seeing them live, I was reminded of a time when Wolves and the Throne Room and Threnos were first coming around, playing house shows and basements but still having this amazing grasp on creating the fullest, most realized, perfected sound. If these two bands don’t blow up in a huge way, they’re destined to become legendary after their passing, lamented by some for their obscurity. They are the Catharsis and Zegota of black metal.

2. The Body – All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood
I’ve liked this band for a while, but they’ve destroyed all my preconceptions with their newest record. They are pretty much the most crushing, brutal thing I’ve ever seen or heard in my life. Their live show was louder than Page Ninety Nine, louder than the J Mascis / Mike Watt team-up, louder than dirt cars racing in Ponchatoula. They literally had paint peeling off the ceiling, crmbling into our hair, choking our mouths, blinding our eyes. They made me realize that in their midst, Thou will never be considered a heavy band, that we’re indie rock, pop. And all this from two of the nicest guys! This is what happens when you transplant southerners to an art punk town like Providence: experimentation taken to the nth degree and a retention of genteel personality. Incorporating The Assembly of Light Women’s Choir into the album was a bold, incredible move. I just wish we had thought of something like that first. Now adding Gregorian style chants to the next Thou album is going to sound like we’re just aping their style. But who better to mimic?

1. Pygmy Lush – live bootlegs
Pygmy Lush is hands down the best band around right now. Page Ninety Nine is in my top five hardcore bands of all time, and I’ve never thought the Taylors and Sterling compatriots’ subsequent bands came close to capturing that level of creativity. Now I feel like they might have surpassed it. They haven’t released a new record since 2008′s astounding Mount Hope, but there have been a handful of live bootlegs floating around from their somewhat recent tour with Des Ark and some local shows following that. Their newest songs are absolutely incredible, totally mind-blowing. While retaining a deep sense of originality and obviously channeling the melancholic feeling of northern Virginia, there’s something vaguely familiar that will touch anyone who was a teenager of the 90s, weaning their angst off the most depressing songs of the Seattle grunge movement. Indeed, when I listen to these tracks I get the same tingle, the same unrestrained sadness that I remember getting every Sunday watching reruns of Nirvana Unplugged; I get the same end-it-all depressiion of listening to Alice in Chains’ despairing odes to addiction; I have the same contemplations I would get from Pearl Jam’s most wistful musings. This is the beautifully gloom that Mike and Chris always hinted at in their previous bands, the forlornness that beckons transcendence.