So Jon just did a list, and while it was brilliant as always, I felt he missed some stuff that I'm obsessed with and makes me wonder why I ever wasted my time doing things like "giving the third Faceless record a chance" and "purchasing a shower aid so that washing my middle/upper back would be less strenuous" and "pooping". Seriously, not sure if pooping is the best use of my time anymore, given most of the music I listen to is so disturbed and horrific that I can't unclench.
Speaking of clenching, I have some confessions to make regarding the breadth and depth of the listens I have had the chance to have had had had. That is, viz, that there were very little. I remember hearing Morbus Chron earlier this year and thought, "this is fine, I guess; sounds like a bunch of Scandinavians recorded a Death album with Explosions In the Sky-type interludes". Alas, you will not find them on my list, despite their critical acclaim this year; I have not had the time to digest what I'm sure is a genuinely talented group but sounds so far like a slightly less talented Death. I was upset that - with all due respect - Woods of Desolation, whose new album I'm assuming is some kind of new black metal-form of Ambien, was hyped as a Deafheaven of 2014, despite the former's track record of inducing somnolence and torpor. And while I'm aware that Inter Arma released a single song EP that is - since I heard it - demonstrably worthy of attention, I missed it. No excuse in the world. Just let that one sail on by.
But there are a few things that critics got right, and a few things that, regardless of whether someone gives a shit, were the bees' knees (is it "bee's knees" or "bees' knees"? how many bees are we talking here?). For example, this was the first year in which more than half of the metal by which I felt drawn was doom metal, as opposed to death metal. There are a few examples below, which - while not the majority of my top twenty - make up the majority of the albums I was really really really really really really excited about in 2014. (Other genres that did well this year were black metal, grind, and to a lesser extent, technical death metal.) For another example, there was an exciting, last-minute, surprise entry from a two-person avant-metal side project of Castevet's Andrew Hock. ("Literally? You were entered by Hock?" the reader asked aloud.) And I now have - with their 2014 release - a band in my life that competes with Converge for the coveted title of "ZWB's Favorite Band in the Whole Wide World". Let's jump inside and see!
*JJJJJJJJUUUUUUUUUUUUummmmmmmmmmpppppppppp............*
Top 20/2014:
20. Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire (Admitted tied with At the Gates, so relax.)
19. Black Monolith - Passenger (Deafheaven spin-off goes rogue.)
18. Code Orange - I Am King (OK, one hardcore record.)
17. Pyrrhon - The Mother of Virtues (Avant-grind Top 2 of 2014, second place.)
16. Behemoth - The Satanist (A fantastic return to form.)
15. Piss Vortex - Piss Vortex (It's Danish. So, yeah.)
14. Archspire - The Lucid Collective (My first obsession of 2014.)
13. Agalloch - The Sperpent & The Spire (Another gorgeous album - to be listened to as one piece, if possible, with a fine Bordeaux.)
12. Thantifaxath - Sacred White Noise (Winner of the 2014 Award for Funniest Name For a Thing.)
11. Fluisteraars - Dromers (My Lantlos substitute for this year. Addictive and nicely short.)
10. Vermin Womb - Permanence (Ex-Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire. Ew.)
9. Coffinworm - IV.I.VIII (Avant-grind Top 2 of 2014, first place.)
8. Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden (Happily shocking how good these guys keep being.)
7. Artificial Brain - Labyrinth Constellation (what.)
6. Spectral Lore - III (One-man, avant-garde, symphonic black metal. Yup.)
5. Baring Teeth - Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins (I ACTUALLY BOUGHT THIS WITH $$.)
4. Psalm Zero - The Drain (Castevet, only weirder and teleported to the 80s. Truly something new, and deeply brilliant material. Highly taken with this.)
3. Inferi - The Path to Apotheosis ("Dhduhssijsjododoodododoissdsjfh." -Inferi's guitar leads.)
2. Tombs - Savage Gold (Tombs is probably now tied for my favorite band on Earth.)
1. YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend (Unmistakably the best release for this band ever, and a circuitous though fun journey through where doom metal can really go artistically.)
Alright, that's it. You beautiful shit, you.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
Twenty Fourteen Top Twenty
Getting the ball rolling early this year folks. I listened to a whole bunch of new albums this year. I tried to expand my horizons a bit and try some new things. I found some things to be wonderful and some things to be awful. No more bullshit, here goes nothing!
20. Artificial Brain - Labyrinth Constellation. Creepy, doom-y, technical. Moon Funeral
19. Unearth - Watchers Of Rule. Metalcore is back! Lifetime In Ruins
18. At The Gates - At War With Reality. Long-awaited comeback release from melodic death metal legends definitely delivers. Eater Of Gods
17. Omnihility - Deathscapes Of The Subconscious. Relentless, brutal, pummeling technical death metal from another great Unique Leader band. Contemplating The Ineffable
16. Pyrrhon - The Mother Of Virtues. Gritty, disturbing, technical craziness. Balkanized
15. Inter Arma - The Cavern. This 45+ minute-long song is officially an EP but I disagree. Instant classic in the same vein as Colors. The Cavern
14. Disentomb - Misery. Extreme, brutal, technical, all of the best things. Chthonic Gateways
13. Trioscapes - Digital Dream Sequence. Jazz-y, heavy, beautiful. From The Earth To The Moon
12. Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun. Makes me forget that The Hunter ever existed (in a good way). Halloween
11. Job For A Cowboy - Sun Eater. Completely different release from this band. Lots of bass, very progressive songs, and drums were on point with Danny Walker behind the set. Sun Of Nihility
10. Alterbeast - Immortal. Impressive debut chock full of technical goodness. Forget that they were once called Gary Busey Ambler Alert, Alterbeast's sound is very much melodic in the same way as The Black Dahlia Murder, but the song and riff structures offer more technically. Vile Remnants
9. Archspire - The Lucid Collective. Quite possibly the fastest stuff I've ever heard. And oh so very technical. This release can best de described as "on point." Spontaneous Generation
8. Dimesland - Psychogenic Atrophy. Scatter-brained technicality is on display in this great release. The bass is prominent in the mix, the drums are very heavy, the guitars are exact, and the vocals are frantic in a murderous shrill kind of way. Are They Cannibals?
7. Beneath - The Barren Throne. This is my kind of melodic death metal - more brutal than melodic and originating from Iceland. Second release from these guys and they are only getting better. This release is a perfect blend of brutal, melodic, and catchy. Sovereign Carnal Passion
6. Scientist - Scientist. I think I found this band in the deepest corner of the internet. You can't find it anywhere. No previews, nothing. If you want to hear it, you'll have to come to my basement and go through a series of humiliations before the panel considers your auditory awakening. This release is grind-y, jamming, technical, and cleansing.
5. Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails. This is the prettiest death metal album I have ever heard. Beautiful stuff. Much more progressive than their last effort and still just as technical. Levitation
4. Inanimate Existence - A Never Ending Cycle Of Atonement. Tech death masterpiece. Their debut from two years ago had too much material on it. This release was mature, slender, and efficient. All of the best material made the cut and none of the bullshit made it to my ears. Added a touch of experimentation and this band is ready to take off. The Rune Of Destruction
3. Black Crown Initiate - The Wreckage Of Stars. Between Black Crown Initiate and Rivers Of Nihil, I'm starting to wonder what wonderful things are in the water in Reading, PA. For a place that seems like a shithole, it has produced two of my favorite bands. This release is everything, genre-escaping, progressive, technical, dirty, clean, powerful, and subtle. Withering Waves
2. Inferi - The Path To Apotheosis. This album is two things; technical and melodic. This release is not versatile and it doesn't care because it doesn't matter. Both technical death metal and melodic death metal are executed perfectly on this record. This record is relentless for almost 66 minutes. Marching Through The Flames Of Tyranny
1. Baring Teeth - Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins. I was excited for this album immediately after hearing their first record, Atrophy. Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins delivered and exceeded my expectations. Beautifully strange and weird and technical with advanced, intelligent song/riff structures and that characteristic Obscura-era Gorguts sound to top it off. Loved every minute of this album. I can't stop listening. The Great Unwashed
It was a very good year for metal indeed. And I listened to tons of releases so I got some more lists!
Honorable Mentions
21. Misery Index - The Killing Gods
22. Septycal Gorge - Scourge Of The Formless Breed
23. Abhorrent Castigation - Throne Of Existential Abandonment
24. Cannibal Corpse - A Skeletal Domain
25. Revocation - Deathless
26. Abysmal Dawn - Obsolescence
27. Beyond Creation - Earthborn Evolution
28. Allegaeon - Elements Of The Infinite
29. The Kennedy Veil - Trinity Of Falsehood
30. Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
31. Animals As Leaders - The Joy Of Motion
32. Killer Be Killed - Killer Be Killed
33. Minus The Bear - Lost Loves
34. Cloudkicker - Little Histories
35. Hannes Grossmann - The Radial Covenant
36. Svffer - Lies We Live
37. Conquering Dystopia - Conquering Dystopia
38. Wretched - Cannibal
39. Suicide Silence - You Can't Stop Me
40. Devil You Know - The Beauty Of Destruction
Disappointments
-1. Bloodbath - Grand Morbid Funeral
-2. Decapitated - Blood Mantra
-3. Human Infection - Curvatures In Time
-4. Origin - Omnipresent
-5. Soreption - Engineering The Void
-6. Rings Of Saturn - Lugal Ki En
-7. Slipknot - 5: The Grey Chapter
-8. Gorgasm - Destined To Violate
-9. Opeth - Pale Communion
-10. Carnifex - Die Without Hope
Looking forward to some good shit in 2015 like new Psycroptic!
20. Artificial Brain - Labyrinth Constellation. Creepy, doom-y, technical. Moon Funeral
19. Unearth - Watchers Of Rule. Metalcore is back! Lifetime In Ruins
18. At The Gates - At War With Reality. Long-awaited comeback release from melodic death metal legends definitely delivers. Eater Of Gods
17. Omnihility - Deathscapes Of The Subconscious. Relentless, brutal, pummeling technical death metal from another great Unique Leader band. Contemplating The Ineffable
16. Pyrrhon - The Mother Of Virtues. Gritty, disturbing, technical craziness. Balkanized
15. Inter Arma - The Cavern. This 45+ minute-long song is officially an EP but I disagree. Instant classic in the same vein as Colors. The Cavern
14. Disentomb - Misery. Extreme, brutal, technical, all of the best things. Chthonic Gateways
13. Trioscapes - Digital Dream Sequence. Jazz-y, heavy, beautiful. From The Earth To The Moon
12. Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun. Makes me forget that The Hunter ever existed (in a good way). Halloween
11. Job For A Cowboy - Sun Eater. Completely different release from this band. Lots of bass, very progressive songs, and drums were on point with Danny Walker behind the set. Sun Of Nihility
10. Alterbeast - Immortal. Impressive debut chock full of technical goodness. Forget that they were once called Gary Busey Ambler Alert, Alterbeast's sound is very much melodic in the same way as The Black Dahlia Murder, but the song and riff structures offer more technically. Vile Remnants
9. Archspire - The Lucid Collective. Quite possibly the fastest stuff I've ever heard. And oh so very technical. This release can best de described as "on point." Spontaneous Generation
8. Dimesland - Psychogenic Atrophy. Scatter-brained technicality is on display in this great release. The bass is prominent in the mix, the drums are very heavy, the guitars are exact, and the vocals are frantic in a murderous shrill kind of way. Are They Cannibals?
7. Beneath - The Barren Throne. This is my kind of melodic death metal - more brutal than melodic and originating from Iceland. Second release from these guys and they are only getting better. This release is a perfect blend of brutal, melodic, and catchy. Sovereign Carnal Passion
6. Scientist - Scientist. I think I found this band in the deepest corner of the internet. You can't find it anywhere. No previews, nothing. If you want to hear it, you'll have to come to my basement and go through a series of humiliations before the panel considers your auditory awakening. This release is grind-y, jamming, technical, and cleansing.
5. Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails. This is the prettiest death metal album I have ever heard. Beautiful stuff. Much more progressive than their last effort and still just as technical. Levitation
4. Inanimate Existence - A Never Ending Cycle Of Atonement. Tech death masterpiece. Their debut from two years ago had too much material on it. This release was mature, slender, and efficient. All of the best material made the cut and none of the bullshit made it to my ears. Added a touch of experimentation and this band is ready to take off. The Rune Of Destruction
3. Black Crown Initiate - The Wreckage Of Stars. Between Black Crown Initiate and Rivers Of Nihil, I'm starting to wonder what wonderful things are in the water in Reading, PA. For a place that seems like a shithole, it has produced two of my favorite bands. This release is everything, genre-escaping, progressive, technical, dirty, clean, powerful, and subtle. Withering Waves
2. Inferi - The Path To Apotheosis. This album is two things; technical and melodic. This release is not versatile and it doesn't care because it doesn't matter. Both technical death metal and melodic death metal are executed perfectly on this record. This record is relentless for almost 66 minutes. Marching Through The Flames Of Tyranny
1. Baring Teeth - Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins. I was excited for this album immediately after hearing their first record, Atrophy. Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins delivered and exceeded my expectations. Beautifully strange and weird and technical with advanced, intelligent song/riff structures and that characteristic Obscura-era Gorguts sound to top it off. Loved every minute of this album. I can't stop listening. The Great Unwashed
It was a very good year for metal indeed. And I listened to tons of releases so I got some more lists!
Honorable Mentions
21. Misery Index - The Killing Gods
22. Septycal Gorge - Scourge Of The Formless Breed
23. Abhorrent Castigation - Throne Of Existential Abandonment
24. Cannibal Corpse - A Skeletal Domain
25. Revocation - Deathless
26. Abysmal Dawn - Obsolescence
27. Beyond Creation - Earthborn Evolution
28. Allegaeon - Elements Of The Infinite
29. The Kennedy Veil - Trinity Of Falsehood
30. Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
31. Animals As Leaders - The Joy Of Motion
32. Killer Be Killed - Killer Be Killed
33. Minus The Bear - Lost Loves
34. Cloudkicker - Little Histories
35. Hannes Grossmann - The Radial Covenant
36. Svffer - Lies We Live
37. Conquering Dystopia - Conquering Dystopia
38. Wretched - Cannibal
39. Suicide Silence - You Can't Stop Me
40. Devil You Know - The Beauty Of Destruction
Disappointments
-1. Bloodbath - Grand Morbid Funeral
-2. Decapitated - Blood Mantra
-3. Human Infection - Curvatures In Time
-4. Origin - Omnipresent
-5. Soreption - Engineering The Void
-6. Rings Of Saturn - Lugal Ki En
-7. Slipknot - 5: The Grey Chapter
-8. Gorgasm - Destined To Violate
-9. Opeth - Pale Communion
-10. Carnifex - Die Without Hope
Looking forward to some good shit in 2015 like new Psycroptic!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Friday The 2013th
Well January 2014 is almost over so I guess now is as good a time as any to bend your ear about what I think were the best albums released in 2013. I must confess that I started this list at the beginning of December 2013 but then found out I had a bunch of cramming to do after I didn't recognize much of what was on the best of 2013 lists from the major metal blogs and magazines. In stead of rushing it, I decided to take my time with a few of the late comers to my list. Excuses, etc. 2013 was a fun year for extreme heavy music. There were some new albums from bands that defined their own sub genres like Deeds Of Flesh, Gorguts, and Carcass. There were some rookies releasing their first albums like Rivers Of Nihil, Anciients, and Dysmorphic. And there were bands that found the prime of their career by diving deeply into their established sound like Defeated Sanity, Intronaut, and Skeletonwitch.
2012 was my personal awakening for grind core. The grind swept me off my feet then proceeded to loosen my asshole and force large objects therein. It was lovely. 2013 did not have any specific awakening for me. I did however check out many new bands. Almost half of the albums on my list were from bands that I was not listening to before the start of 2013. Well enough bullshit, here is the list. Enjoy.
25. Carcass - Surgical Steel. Carcass was before my time so I never bothered, but this is some pretty badass melodic death metal.
24. Wormed - Exodromos. An album almost 10 years in the making from Spain, viva la muerte.
23. Misery Signals - Absent Light. I never really gave this band a chance until I found out the current Pig Destroyer drummer, Adam Jarvis, started out with Misery Signals. Good stuff.
22. Mumakill - Flies Will Starve. It sounds like the noises one would make while being anally ravaged by a mammoth tusk.
21. Portal - Vexovoid. This is what I like to call bed time music if you enjoy nightmares.
20. Stomach Earth - Stomach Earth. This is the first release from the one man doom band of Mike 'Gunface' McKenzie of The Red Chord fame. Slow jam of the year.
19. Revocation - Revocation. This album sounds like Revocation but it is definitely a little bit different for them.
18. Devourment - Conceived In Sewage. This album sounds as disgusting as its title would lead you to believe and I like it.
17. Inter Arma - Sky Burial. Black, droning, dark, blast beats, yes please.
16. Nightkin - Nox Aeterna. This band has some guys who played with The Black Dahlia Murder and Mike McKenzie on vocals. A very different take on the blend of black metal and melodic death metal.
15. Fit For An Autopsy - Hellbound. This band does everything, but the breakdowns on this album are elegant.
14. Guttural Secrete - Nourishing The Spoil. So many squely's. Brutal, brutal death metal.
13. Unbirth - Deracinated Celestial Oligarchy. Modern technical death metal. This stuff is tight.
12. Euphoric Defilement - Ascending To The Worms. This is the first release from this new brutal death metal band. In the elk of Inherit Disease and Putridity.
11. The Black Dahlia Murder - Everblack. This was not what I was expecting as the follow up to Ritual, but this album kicks ass.
10. Gigan - Multi-Dimensional Fractal-Sorcery And Super Science. Definitely my favorite album title of 2013. These guys are doing some really fucking weird, awesome things.
9. Dysmorphic - A Notion Of Causality. This is the first release from this band on Unique Leader. I can't help but hear some Obscura and Spawn Of Possession in what they're doing. I'm very excited for their next album.
8. Anciients - Heart Of Oak. Another first release. Full disclosure, I only checked out this album because of how great the cover art is. I'm glad I did because this is what Mastodon should have become.
7. Ulcerate - Vermis. There really aren't any other bands doing what this band is doing. I loose myself in this album trying to figure out what is going on and then it smacks me over the head with something brutal and beautiful.
6. Skeletonwitch - Serpents Unleashed. This is my favorite album from the 'witch since Beyond The Permafrost. There's something blissfully satanic about the sound they've found.
5. Intronaut - Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones). Intronaut continue to evolve with every album and this was definitely the butterfly stage. Progressive but somehow catchy.
4. Gorguts - Colored Sands. Finally Luc Lemay found some people just as weird as him to play with again. This album is intense. Every song is like some sort of classical movement.
3. Deeds Of Flesh - Portals To Canaan. One of the bands I consider to be among the founding fathers of modern technical death metal returned with a punishing release that blew me away.
2. Defeated Sanity - Passages Into Deformity. The musicianship on this album is other-worldly. On top of the base layer of the music being brutal, all three entities operate separately creating a brutal aurora.
1. Rivers Of Nihil - The Conscious Seed Of Light. This is by far my favorite release since Incurso from Spawn Of Possession in 2012. It has everything I want to hear. This is only Rivers Of Nihil's first full length album. They have two earlier EP's which are fantastic but I'm really excited for what this band does in the future.
References
Carcass - Unfit For Human Consumption http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KKYJD09qCk
Wormed - Nucleon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e74WLXdG54o
Misery Signals - Reborn (An Execution) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqoeGuP0678
Mumakil - Death From Below http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzy-wb86Fxg
Portal - Curtain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vyw_FGIhAE
Stomach Earth - Prolong The Death Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eitNNvCiBc
Revocation - The Gift You Gave http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRFHsReWLSw
Devourment - Conceived In Sewage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HfNdTKj_tI
Inter Arma -The Long Road Home http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RarLHOzJiLg
Nightkin - Air So Foul http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-CLvqH2xnA
Fit For An Autopsy - Do You See Him http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBTDGbigifw
Guttural Secrete - Deadened Prior To Coitus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZCb8X5T_E0
Unbirth - Sterile Planets http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzhNK2KDxpU
Euphoric Defilement - Abolishing The Divine Structure http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU3mKE8ftFM
The Black Dahlia Murder - In Hell Is Where She Waits For Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgbChRLC9CQ
Gigan - Electro-Stimulated Hallucinatory Response http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=94182
Dysmorphic - Underlying Reality http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=robBjuGkAPQ
Anciients - Giants http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZtfts0dQEI
Ulcerate - Clutching Revulsion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mGE9DH68xI
Skeletonwitch - I Am Of Death (Hell Has Arrived) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPPPGMGNg8I
Intronaut - Milk Leg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmK1XUI9VQc
Gorguts - Forgotten Arrows http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk7nb-idmdI
Deeds Of Flesh - Amidst The Ruins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfqNG8QYsBw
Defeated Sanity - Naraka http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt4KTdD7Joc
Rivers Of Nihil - Rain Eater http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Eya-2JfoU
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