The "brootal" BEST OF metal lists of 2011 continue with VINCE NEILSTEINS, KOALA BEAR and SAMMY O'HAGAR and AXL ROSENBERG's of METAL SUCKS best metal releases of 2011.
FROM VINCE NEILSTEIN OF METAL SUCKS:
011 was a year. Metal was released. Some of it was great, some was good, some was mediocre, some was bad. No one reads these intros or each album’s description anyway, right? You just scroll down to see we name #1 then fire off a stangry comment.
I do want to say one thing before you all start trolling: for the time ever this year I used iTunes play counts as a metric for determining the relative order of these choices. I didn’t use it as an absolute metric — so it’s possible that my #1 or #2 got less overall plays than something farther down the list — but when sussing out hard decisions about which of two candidates should be #2 and which should be #3, for example, it was a helpful tool that aided my decision. I listened to #2 more times than #3, so I must’ve enjoyed doing so more. And what are these lists if not really “favorite albums of 2011″? They’re completely subjective anyway; such a thing as objective music ranking is an impossibility and a fallacy.
Almost all of these albums are streaming in their entirety completely for free on Spotify! I’ve compiled a playlist; check it out here and listen along while you read.
So, the list:
15. Ulcerate – The Destroyers of All (Willowtip)
I’m kinda surprised at how much 2011 list love this album has gotten from all corners of the interhole. Yes, this is a good album, but there’s one major criticism I’ve seen bandied about and it’s a big one: all the songs kinda blend together / sound the same. That one song is a doozy, though, and the fact that so many people are praising this record shows that Ulcerate have really struck a nerve with folks and created something very unique. If Ulcerate can expand on what they’ve started to create an album with more dynamics, their next release (coming in 2012 [?] via new label Relapse) could place way higher than #15.
14. Shining – VII: Född Förlorare (Spinefarm)
If ever a death metal album could be beautiful, this is it; Shining (the Swedish version) are a far cry from melodeath or so-called melodoom (Insomnium, Swallow the Sun, etc), but they’ve found a way to make blackened death metal that’s haunting, sad, melancholy and woefully aching yet somehow still absolutely gorgeous. Shining are a perfect example of a fantastic European band that should be receiving all kinds of acclaim in the states — from mainstream metal publications like Revolver to left-of-center indie outposts like Pitchfork, NPR and Stereogum that have been showing metal some love lately — and surely they would be if Shining had a proper record label deal here. Every bit of the small amount of praise this album has received is absolutely glowing, and with good reason. Imagine a much darker, blacker and depressed version of Opeth. Nota bene: this is not the same Shining whose Blackjazz album appeared on my list last year (that band is from Norway).
13. Memfis – Vertigo
If you enjoy The Ocean or Burst, you owe it to yourself to check out Memfis. I loved 2006′s The Wind-Up but Memfis completely fell off my radar afterwards, so I was tickled by Vertigo‘s sudden appearance in November. After a spat with their former label held up the release of Vertigo — the band finished the record all the way back in 2008 — Memfis finally won the rights back this year and decided to self-release it. Without any financial backing and music industry expertise, Vertigo didn’t as much press or attention as it should have, but what a spectacular album this ended up being.
12. Sylosis – Edge of the Earth (Nuclear Blast)
Sylosis deserve a whole lot more stateside attention than they’re getting for their blend of thrash, death, and Machine Head-inspired melodies. 2008′s Conclusion of An Age was a great start, but Edge of the Earth one-upped it in every single way. The songs are heavy, melodic, technical and epic all at once. I’m 100% certain that if this band had been ever-present in the U.S. touring circuit like their stateside metal counterparts they’d be 100x bigger here than they are now.
11. Decapitated – Carnival is Forever (Nuclear Blast)
I don’t think there was much doubt that Decapitated would come back from the tragedy that took two of their band members away from them with an absolute ripper full of groovy thrash face-melters, but it’s always comforting when expectation becomes reality. The band found ample replacements in new vocalist Rafał “Rasta” Piotrowski and drummer wunderkind Kerim “Krimh” Lechner, both of whom assisted in helping Vogg crank out one of the best albums of his career.
10. Believer – Transhuman (Metal Blade)
Yeah, I know, I didn’t see this one coming either. I barely knew anything about Believer before listening to this record, but it impressed me on the very first-listen. Transhuman showcases a very different Believer than the thrash band you once knew; the thrash foundation is still there, but it’s become so progged out with varied time signatures, non-standard song structures and creative melodies that I wouldn’t blame you for thinking this was an entirely different band. Believer really focused on writing great songs this time out, which is what ultimately pushed this album onto my list.
9. East of the Wall - The Apologist (Translation Loss)
East of the Wall are one of the best bands making heavy music today, bar none. They’re also one of the most balanced, equally at home bludgeoning skulls with skronky, off-kilter, post-hardcore-gone-technical riffs or summoning tears to my eyes with tender, expertly crafted atmospherics. Best of all, they’re masters of switching from one to the other seamlessly by constructing songs that should really just be called “adventures,” taking you there, back, there again and back again all the while letting you appreciate the journey, not just the destination.
8. Skeletonwitch – Forever Abomination (Prosthetic)
Skeletonwitch nailed it with Forever Abomination! The riffs are more heabangable, the band sounds tighter, the performances are better, the songwriting is more concise and the hooks more memorable. This is Skeletonwitch’s best album yet, a fine addition to an already great catalogue that will surely elevate Skeletonwitch to the upper echelon of metal bands. I’d be very surprised if they don’t start seeing more mainstream attention by the time the touring cycle for this record ends.
7. Textures – Dualism (Nuclear Blast)
My personal connection to this band notwithstanding (I was a fan long before I worked with them), Textures delivered precisely the album that their long-time fans wanted by continuing to expand the palette of their sound ever wider all while staying completely Textures-y. New vocalist Daniel de Jongh fits right in, and several of the songs on Dualism are instant classics that’ll remain live staples for years to come.
6. Revocation – Chaos of Forms (Relapse)
There’s not a whole lot more I can add about Revocation to what’s already been said by my many colleagues who also placed this album on their lists, so I’ll just say this: Revocation continue to dazzle and amaze with Chaos of Forms and they remain one of the best and brightest young bands rising through the metal ranks today. If fans of Existence is Futile or Empire of the Obscene had any doubts going into this album that Revocation may have lost their edge, all those fears should be allayed when the guitar solo of album-opener “Cretin” kicks in at the 2:00 mark; the double guitarmony strikes, and you know it’s ON!
5. Abysmal Dawn – Leveling the Plane of Existence (Relapse)
Abysmal Dawn aren’t reinventing the death metal wheel, but hot damn are they really fucking good at rolling along with it. Abysmal Dawn’s forte is writing excellent songs; instead of using their technical skills as a focal point they use them only to better serve each song as a whole. Have you noticed a theme in my reasons for ranking the albums on this list the way I have? Good songs are really important, and Leveling the Plane of Existence has tons of ‘em that kept me coming back for more all year long.
4. Anthrax – Worship Music (Megaforce)
They did it! They really did. I’m a Bush guy through-and-through, but the songs on Worship Music are so good they can outweigh any perceived cons of any vocalist. Anthrax are making the most relevant new music of any of the Big Four bands. There, I said it! And I have to admit that Belladonna nailed it, too, even if he didn’t participate in the writing of this record.
3. Scale the Summit – The Collective (Prosthetic)
Scale the Summit took what they did with 2009′s Carving Desert Canyons, heeded the criticisms that all the songs sounded too alike, and one-upped it with a marvelously dynamic album. Dynamic is so important for an instrumental band, and The Collective finds Scale the Summit diving deeper into valleys and climbing the highest mountain tops while appreciating everything in between, creating sweeping landscapes with their delicate, masterfully composed guitar orchestrations. Scale the Summit are absolutely one of a kind; they sound like no one else and no one else sounds like them.
2. The Human Abstract – Digital Veil (eOne)
Speaking of “masterfully composed guitar orchestrations,” Digital Veil is essentially one big orchestral piece arranged for heavy metal band instrumentation. Thanks the return of guitarist A.J. Minette and his graduate-level composition education for that. Close your eyes and imagine violins instead of guitars, cellos instead of a bass guitar, an operatic female singer instead of Travis Richter’s bellowed growl… it’s a not a stretch at all, because the composition, the interaction between instruments, the chord motion, it’s all absolutely perfect, and it’s stunningly beautiful.
1. The Atlas Moth - An Ache for the Distance (Profound Lore)
When I casually noted back in July that you should “look for An Ache for the Distance to make a few appearances on notable year-end lists,” I swear I didn’t already know it would be #1 on my own… but here it is. An Ache for the Distance hits the sweet spot between “underground” metal sub-genres like crust, doom and sludge and their melodic brethren on the more mainstream side of metal, and that’s precisely what’s great about it. This album is hooky and catchy yet sacrifices absolutely no brutality or grit in the process. While similar things could be said of certain other albums on this list, none are as singular and striking as An Ache for the Distance. Epic contrapuntal guitarmonies in a doom song? Fucking brilliant! The Atlas Moth have started something great with this album, and I have a feeling they’ve only scratched the surface. If they play their cards right, I bet they could become the next big metal band to break out; watch out Lamb of God, watch out Mastodon… The Atlas Moth are coming.
-VN
Almost all of these albums are streaming in their entirety completely for free on Spotify! Check out my “Best of 2011″ playlist here.
FROM AXL ROSENBERG (METAL SUCKS) TOP METAL RELEASES OF 2011:
Looking over my list once I had completed it, what I came to realize was that Pig Destroyer once again did not release an album this year, those bastards. But the other thing I noticed is that pretty much every album which appears on this list has two things in common: 1) great songwriting, and 2) one twist on genre conventions, however slight, that allows the music to stand out from literally thousands of competing records. I know I’ve emphasized the importance of these elements many times on this site before, but I really just wanna hammer it home. The ongoing democratization of art — i.e., the fact that it’s getting cheaper to make professional-grade albums and self-distribute those albums, and that the gatekeepers’ powers are consequently decreasing — means that now, more than ever, there is a LOT of music out there. A lot of it is awful. A lot of it is pretty great. You need to give people a better reason to remember you than “We’re so competent!” Sorry. It’s not good enough anymore.
Every year that we do these lists, I become increasingly aware that they’re fairly meaningless. I don’t mean that to belittle the accomplishments of the artists who end up on the lists, because they are all worthy of your recognition and support. I really mean it as an apology to all the artists whose accomplishments we can’t recognize because we organize these things with some arbitrary number, and because we use the words “best” and “top” instead just “great.”
But whatever. We’re not writers — we’re just graffiti artists. And who cares what a graffiti artist has to say, right?
15. Owen Hart, Earth Control (Vitriol)
I declared this the first great release of 2011 way back in January, and here we are, nearly a year later, and I have only heard but fourteen albums that are superior. Owen Hart’s influences are always obvious, but whether they’re playing a Slayer riff or a Converge riff or a Napalm Death riff or a Whichever Band riff, they’re always playing the most epic damn Whichever Band riff that Whichever Band never wrote. And most of the songs are short — only three are over three minutes long, and only one of those hits the four minute mark or beyond. So Earth Control ends up being one of those great examples of “Leave ‘em wanting more.” It’s like gorging on gourmet candy for thirty minutes… only the candy has razors and broken glass hidden in it. Still delicious, though! And did I mention that the last song is called “Fuck Morrisey, Fuck The Smiths, Fuck The Cure?” Well, it is. And it has that awesome Eyehategod riff no that no other bands were able to locate this year. So fuck everyone who doesn’t love this album, too.
14. Fuck the Facts, Die Miserable (Relapse)
Fuck the Facts just get better and better with every release, and Die Miserable is definitely their career high thus far. What I really enjoy about Die Miserable – besides just being, y’know, a totally awesome expression of I-am-going-to-eat-your-family-alive-while-you-watch level rage — are the moments when they do something which sounds really lame on paper, but in reality is painfully cool. Like towards the end of “Lifeless,” when they suddenly kick the listener’s ass with a bunch of totally awesome bass drops that put most slam and deathcore bands to shame. Or that section on “Census Bank” where they almost sound like a European power metal band, only if European power metal bands got laid every once in a while. I’m still used to thinking of Fuck the Facts as a grind band, and that’s really not true anymore — I mean, “Alone” is one of the best death metal songs of the year, and the title track is like white-noise-laden funeral doom. Awesome awesome awesome.
13. Taake, Noregs Vaapen (Candlelight)
A lot of people, myself included, have really zeroed in on the banjo solo in the song “Myr,” and I totally get it. (Like I said, I am one of those people.) The banjo solo is incredible, and a prime example of that whole “same-but-different-is-awesome” concept. But it’s not like Oceano is one banjo solo away from being a good band. So let’s look at the bigger picture: we all Noregs Vaapen because it is made from a chain of great black metal riffs, each one catchier than the last. Noregs Vaapen is quite a bit longer than Owen Hart’s Earth Control, but the principle is the same: “No parents! ICE CREAM FOR DINNER!!!” Each section of each song is so catchy, in fact, that its conclusion is always a little bittersweet, because you never want it to end, but you know what’s coming next is gonna be fantastic, too. So the first time I heard this album, I listened to it three or four times on repeat. It’s that kind of addictive. In fact, my guess is, if I had heard it earlier in the year and had more time to sit with it, it probably would have been higher on this list. So, so very excellent.
12. Goes Cube, In Tides and Drifts (The End)
If Taake are masters of catchy riffery, than Goes Cube are masters of structure — or, maybe more accurately, musical plot twists. Take album opener “Safety Coffin,” for example. The song starts, there’s this pretty sweet metallicized hardgrind riff, you’re into it, you’re into it, you’re into it, and then, at the :47 mark BAM! Shit winds down, like the spokes on a wheel when they stop spinning, guitarist/vocalist David Obuchowski shouts something really, really pissed-off sounding about people being on their knees and disease and all that good stuff, and the song becomes something else, and I wanna punch a stranger in the fact, hard. And they do something like that on almost every song — take it some place the listener didn’t see coming, but that is superior to the already-wonderful thing they were playing, which allows the song to climb to new heights of “OH HELL YES.” Sometimes, like on “Year of the Human” and “The Homes Of,” they even do it more than once. And it gives me goosebumps every time.
11. Textures, Dualism (Nuclear Blast)
I’ve heard people referring to Textures as a djent band a lot lately, and while I definitely get that, it still seems kinda weird to me. In any case, lumping them in with that pack for the sake of easy description, allow me to assert that if Meshuggah are the new At the Gates, then Textures are the new Darkest Hour: a band that pre-dated the trend by several years, and who are so good that they simultaneously justify and nullify the existence of that trend. And, again, those whole “being able to write a memorable song” and “incorporate some new elements” things are key — I haven’t listened to this album a gajillion times just because I couldn’t find my copy of Destroy Erase Improve, and that’s really a whole different beast for a different kind of craving, anyway. Bonus points for Daniël de Jongh being able to sing each and every note perfectly in a live setting, too, thereby making the autotuned hordes all look like the schmucks that they are.
10. Rwake, Rest (Relapse)
The other day, a friend was all like, “I need to spend some more time with Rest,” and I was all like, “You can’t just have it playing in the background. You need to get blazed, sit down, and listen to it.” And then, after a second, I added: “Preferably in the dark.” And if you haven’t tried it, I’d recommend you listen to Rwake that way, too. It’s not just that the band has made yet another masterpiece of sludgified doom — in fact, the production on Rest sounds an awful lot brighter and cleaner than that of previous Rwake releases (See how there’s some sun shining over the dead tree on the cover? That seems downright optimistic by Rwake standards!), which I’m sure bothers the close-minded. But what really makes Rest so great — and what justifies the somewhat-different production style — are the all textures on the album. Listening to Rest might be the aural equivalent of reading a really good novel. It’s not for the impatient, or those prone to ignore details. ‘Cause the details are what make it so memorable. A beast of a record.
9. Meek is Murder, Algorithms (Not Friends with the Band Records)
In what seems like very little time, Mike Keller has established himself as a songwriter with a style that is both highly unique and easily recognizable; the cinematic equivalent would be a director whose movies are identifiable from a single frame of film. This fact was already apparent on MiM’s first release, Mosquito Eater, but now Keller has the aid of genuine collaborators — namely, drummer Frank Godla, bassist Sam Brodsky, and producer Kurt Ballou — to help him realize and enhance his vision, and the results are mind-blowing. Punkish experimental grind that evolves into epic, elegiac rock, every second of which is delectable… I gotta be honest, I really wanted to get involved with this album just so I could hear it as early as possible. I was not disappointed.
8. Chimaira, The Age of Hell (eOne)
Hunter & Arnold’s (Davis & Arnold’s?) place as one of the premiere songwriting teams of the NWOAHM should be secure by now, but just to be safe, they decided to kick everyone’s asses with this album anyway. Chimaira continue to do what they do best, which is evolve: The Age of Hell has Infectious slow grooves like “Powerless” and “Trigger Finger,” Reasonable ragers like the title track and “Born into Blood,” and the prerequisite-for-Chimaira new element, too — Hunter’s use of haunting, echoey, Staley-esque clean vocals, and some riffs that are, frankly, more hard rock than metal, in the best possible way (“Beyond the Grave,” “Time is Running Out”). And, of course, it’s Chimaira, so there’s really no hope of ever not getting it stuck in your head… earlier today, D.X. Ferris made reference to the song “Scapegoat,” and just reading the title trapped the damn chorus in my brain. It’s not yet clear if The Age of Hell is going to be Chimaira’s swan song or just a farewell to Arnold and co-guitarist Matt DeVries, but whomever the going away party ends up being for, it’s clear that they’ve tapped out the bar and demolished the ballroom, that’s for sure. A very high note on which to end an era indeed.
7. Skeletonwitch, Forever Abomination (Prosthetic)
It’s been no secret these past few years that Skeletonwitch are an incredible live band — but Forever Abomination is their first studio effort to truly convey all that power and energy. The band didn’t change their patented blackened death metal flavor so much as they just did everything kind of the same but better: better songs, better production… hell, even the album art is just that much cooler. It’s hard to think of many other modern bands doing traditionalist metal with this much verve; Forever Abomination sounds capital-”E” Evil, as though, if you were to play it backwards, it might actually summon a skeletonwitch. Of course, she’d probably just wanna get you fucked up and watch horror movies. But still.
6. Decapitated, Carnival is Forever (Nuclear Blast)
The risk of a comeback album, of course, is that the band might fail to live up to expectations; so the fact that Decapitated’s competition of “comeback record of this young century so far” pretty much consists of Alice in Chains and Cynic is no small feat. The phrase “back with a vengeance” doesn’t do Carnival justice. I have no idea what his actual intentions were, but if you told me that Vogg literally sat down and listened to all the most popular death metal albums that have come out since 2008 and then set out to blow everyone else out the water, I’d believe you. Vicious and unmericiful, Carnival is Forever is heavier and techier than pretty much all the tech-death bands the kids so seem to favor these days, but never at the cost of song craft. In other words, Decapitated schooled everyone’s collective ass.
5. Revocation, Chaos of Forms (Relapse)
When we named Dave Davidson modern metal’s best guitar player this past June, I wrote that Davidson’s “style is a true amalgamation of everything and everyone that has come before… Davidson is modern metal guitar.” Well, likewise, Chaos of Forms is modern metal. It sounds too fresh to just be lumped into the re-thrash pile, but it’s influences are very clear; it’s tr00 enough not alienate the cool kids, but populist enough to inspire a whole new generation of guitar players. They should be uniters, not dividers — the Wyld Stallyns to a scene fractured by too many trends shoved down our throats at too-rapid a pace — and if you told me that in five years Revocation will be their generation’s Pantera, I’d believe you. Yeah, there were a few albums I enjoyed ever-so-slightly more this year, but I don’t think Revocation’s place in metal history is clear just yet; we’re going to have to keep watching them with a very, very watchful eye.
4. East of the Wall, The Apologist (Translation Loss)
Sometimes people ask me to describe East of the Wall’s sound, and I’ve never really come up with an answer that I find personally satisifying; jazzy-proggy-techy-but-not-navel-gazily-sludgey-yet-sharp-hardcorish-rawk? That sounds ridiculous, right? And The Apologist isn’t really helping me find the right words. I just know I love every second of The Apologist, even more than I loved every second of last year’s Ressentiment, and that, like Revocation, I think East of the Wall are steadily marching forward into the annals of metal history, and could end up being a really, really important band. And, oh yeah, seriously has to be one of the best live bands out there right now. There is nothing not-righteous about East of the Wall, and there is nothing not-righteous about The Apologist.
3. The Black Dahlia Murder, Ritual (Metal Blade)
Like Skeletonwitch, The Black Dahlia Murder haven’t changed their game so much as they’ve just mastered it — in BDM’s case, to the point where the game is pretty well demolished. I mean, holy shit you guys, how good are these songs? How memorable are these riffs? Why aren’t more drummers as creative with their parts as Shannon Lucas? Why can’t more albums sound this good? Why couldn’t Metal Blade have sent this to me literally a week earlier, so I could have pushed for Ryan Knight to be on the Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists list? His style is so fluid it almost sounds like he’s playing water, fer Chrissakes, and there really isn’t another guy in metal who sounds quite like him. Ritual is just so much damn FUN, there’s really never a bad time to throw it on — it works equally well whether I’m cranky or slightly-less-cranky. (Those are the only two moods I ever experience… if you’re the kind of person who is actually happy — yucky! – I imagine it will work during those times, too.)
2. Hate Eternal, Phoenix Amongst the Ashes (Metal Blade)
And then I was like, “Morbid who…? Never heard of ‘em.” I worried when Phoenix Amongst the Ashes was released that no other death metal album this year would be able to top it, and as it turned out, no other death metal album could (even if at least one got close… see above). If there was any reason to doubt that Hate Eternal deserve a spot in DM Hall of Fame alongside Rutan’s former band, than Phoenix went to that doubt’s town, killed its men, raped its women, burned it to the ground, and then ate the ashes and shit them on the road as it travelled to the next town. It’s hard for me to find enough kind words to say about Erik Rutan, who is obviously some kind of frickin’ wizard who can do anything, be it write, play, produce, or turn discord and anarchy into something at once beautiful and legitimately horrifying. But Phoenix should also be remembered as the album on which Jade Simonetto – who, we should never forget, is basically a kid that Rutan plucked from MySpace — really came into his own and established his place as one of metal’s most formidable drummers. Phoenix is as vitriolic, vicious, and crushing as anything Rutan has ever made before.
1. The Human Abstract, Digital Veil (eOne)
Bar: raised. There is, in simplest terms, no single album I listened to more this year than Digital Veil. Proving that bookish intellectualism and pure, unadulterated joy don’t have to be mutually exclusive, the compositions on Digital Veil are so intricate that they remain fascinating even after spinning this record again and again and again and again and again…; and yet, those intricate compositions are all in the name of making something supremely hookey. Digital Veil is an album I kept playing for non-metalhead friends who “just don’t get it, man.” I’d scream at them: “See! Holy shit! IT’S BASICALLY CLASSICAL MUSIC WITH SCREAMING AND DOUBLE BASS DRUMS!!!” I don’t think A.J. Minette and company had anything less than perfection in mind when they set out to make Digital Veil… and they may have achieved that goal. In fact, I gotta stop typing this right now… I wanna go listen to this thing again. Later.
AXL ROSENBERG’S TOP 15 METAL ALBUMS OF 2011 PLAYLIST ON SPOTIFY
KOALA BEAR WINGERSCHMIDT TOP METAL RELEASES OF 2011: (METAL SUCKS):
Just when it seems like life can’t get any crazier, inevitably it does and another layer of the shell gets peeled away to reveal a whole new set of criteria for perspective. This year clean became the new heavy and introspective vulnerability came back in style (but did it ever really leave though?). So many great albums came out — old masters taking new forms, young turks carving new terrain, plenty of new sounds coming out of nowhere….frankly it’s been near-impossible to fashion this list in a distinguishable order. But I wasn’t about to give up, no way José!
So let’s get crackin.
You – love – IT.
And it loves you :)
THE LUCKY THIRTEEN
Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues
“Specular Reflection”, the first song on this 3-track half-hour EP, is the most epic prog metal tune of the year and worth the price of admission alone. From the orchestral opening through a plethora of peaks and valleys, this one fucking slays. There was a period earlier this year when I used to go to the gym and listen to that track over and over again. So much strength and so much…..prog. Bonkers. The other two songs are definitely good but uneven compared to the opening gem. Looking forward to the follow-up full-length in this two-part series.
Ulcerate - The Destroyers of All
This drummer is clearly on drugs. Sounds like some kind of mixture of steroids and crack cocaine. And I would religiously ingest whatever concoction he’s brewed up in his kiwi cauldron if I could play drums like that. Far and away the most shining technical achievement of the year, The Destroyers of All yields a nonstop display of tech-forward gutteral death metal that relentlessly captivates with every dazzling twist and turn. There is always a method to this madness, and without fail this New Zealand band will rock your face off.
Touché Amoré – Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me
Further proof that good things come in small packages. This album clocks in just under 21 minutes total and only one of the thirteen songs is over two minutes. But each of these powerful pellets packs a pervasive punch. Touché Amoré have this raucous spirit that seems to say “if you want to battle us, be prepared to drink a lot and all walk away with black eyes, bloody lips, and broken noses.” This band is delightfully The Hold Steady of melodic punk and hardcore. And behind every jam is a tone of positivity, conjuring images of frosty beer mugs spilling over during furious toasts & cheerses and your best friend screaming in your face with a smile and that wicked glint in his eye.
Revocation - Chaos of Forms
MetalSucks’ own “#1 Modern Metal Guitarist” Dave Davidson has riffs and solos for decades. This guy’s musical storytelling prowess is through the roof. Vince swears he has a big dick too. But while such guitar theatrics have perhaps overshadowed the stop-on-a-dime rhythm section in the past, on Chaos drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne truly shines, barreling through insane double-kick patterns and blast beats and whatever the fuck it is that you need. Whatchoo need baby? I’ve been out of town the last few times Revocation has played NYC, here’s hoping I’m around for the next one.
Opeth – Heritage
This album was unexpected but makes perfect sense. Previously Opeth has always created engulfing progressive music for anyone willing to take the ride, but on Heritage Mikael & his groovy posse of sassy Swedes set a real mood in a way they’ve never done before. The biggest change, of course, is no heavy vocals, but regardless this is a dense work filled with tasty grooves and lush melodic passages throughout. To be frank, this one is much less a m3Tal album than a dark version of an early 70s classic prog excursion a la Deep Purple, meaning that in addition to heaps of finely cut guitar lines, Heritage is resplendent with wailing organ swells and boppy organic jams that know how to funk and when to keep it chill, a step in the right direction at this juncture for such a masterful but sometimes overambitious band.
Animals as Leaders – Weightless
Tosin Abasi and company have really refined their sound on this stellar sophomore release, and I for one love love love the sequenced drums and electronics that are interspersed throughout this dazzling collection of songs. I may have been in the minority in thinking that while always jaw-droppingly impressive with regards to technique, AAL’s first album was a bit too wanky to be legendary. But the inclusion of drummer Navene Koperweis and second 8-string guitarist (!) Javier Reyes in the songwriting process has yielded something more than just a shreddathon uber-progfest — this time around the hooks and melodies seem more focused, and the band now has the confidence and wherewithal to settle into simpler fare at times, hypnotic grooves that methodically arrest the listener into submission. Naturally there’s plenty of fancy fingerwork throughout, but Tosin really digs into some of those solos with a more seasoned attack, and it shines every time. Electronic layers/interludes only add to the magic. More please!
East of the Wall – The Apologist
Once again this group has fashioned a dense, rich album filled with elegant songs of the utmost caliber. Under the helm of engineer/mixmaster Andrew Schneider EOTW sounds more vibrant than ever, and the clear production continually supports the lavish soundscapes which unfold in all sorts of surprising and mature songwriting directions, sonically, melodically, rhythmically, emotionally, and sensually. The guitars purr and sing, the buttery bass tones slip and slide delicately in and out of your earholes, and the drums continually find thrilling ways to interact with every nuance. If Bill Bruford played metal it would sound like this! Too bad these Jersey bastardos are such raging a-holes, cuz their music kills…
Tiger Flowers – s/t
This is one of the most original and arresting releases of the year. I was grabbed the first time I heard it but several listens in still feel like I have a long way to go before I really comprehend its full majesty. The magnitude of this band’s collective force and artistry is almost unfathomable. Yes, it’s challenging, but once you truly see the light it is tenfold rewarding. Tiger Flowers’ madcap live antics never fail to decimate every room and create a circus sideshow of raucous hilarity (largely due to unrestrained Andy Kaufman-esque between-song banter), but on this recording the group is nothing but serious, and they deliver brutality and introspection wrapped in a truly artful and honest raw package. Speaking of which, get ready for Jesse’s dick at their next show.
Memfis – Vertigo
This unearthed gem is a bit of a deceptive entry on a best-of-2011 list, since it was recorded and mixed back in 2008 and finally released this year after a lengthy battle with the band’s former record label…..but regardless, this thorough, powerful album deserves umpteen praises, no matter the specifics of the release situation. After many spins I’m still trying to put my finger on Memfis’ sound (a good thing), but one thing is for certain: this is a deliberate, carefully constructed musical experience that bobs and weaves through a variety of moods and sounds. One can clearly hear traces of King Crimson, Opeth, Mastodon, Burst (one of those guys makes a guest appearance as well), but there’s also plenty of breakneck speed runs and black metal strumming sections that makes it hard to classify as one thing. Which we like! I’m so curious what this band has been working on for the last few years……you love sharing, Memfis :)
Helm’s Alee – Weatherhead
Perhaps the most artful and diverse album of the year, this one summons the spirit of Ink & Dagger and The Refused to create a spectacular journey of musical storytelling. The acoustic chamber-like sections and simple single electric guitar with harmonized vocal parts perfectly contrast with the fire and fury of the myriad sharply aggressive moments. The obvious comparison for some of the uptempo jaunts would certainly be Torche, but allusions aside this record is fiercely original. So many of these riffs and chord progressions go in deliriously unexpected places that culminate in powerful harmonic crescendos and ultimately, unique resolutions. Breathy/yelpy female vocals working in tandem with throaty male screaming (and singing) is a welcome aspect as well. Definitely a start-to-finish-er. Although I could do without the wigger beatz at the very end.
Czar - Vertical Mass Grave
The manner in which this group blends atmospheric guitar work with pummeling heavy riff pocket grooves and tribal tom acrobatics is fucking devastating. And the production is flawless, superbly engineered, mixed and mastered for maximum thunder. Not to mention the strong undercurrent of earnest melody in between every syncopated progression. The ability to merge complex passages with straightforward runs rarely comes naturally or easy for most, but these guys have it in spades. Every time things get bananas, soon enough they settle into a hooky section that anchors the music in accessibility. And the drummer’s penchant for holding solid quarter notes on his crash induces headbanging every time. This album came right in the nick of time, and I can’t wait to see Czar live.
Textures – Dualism
There is an absence of pretension on this new offering from our fave Netherlandians, no simple task for such an epic progressive band. But Dualism only brings the best that Textures has to show, with extremely heartfelt playing and vocals from beginning to end. The compositions are stellar, filled with fantastic polyrhythmic explosions and striking that perfect balance of brutality & emotion every time. New vocalist Daniel de Jongh is a welcome addition and sings and screams his fucking face off. Us MetalSuckers finally got to see these guys live this Fall, and to be expected they blew us all away. Textures for life!
Mastodon - The Hunter
After all the smoke cleared regarding the ‘don’s “predictable new sound” it turns out most folk (aside from Vince Neilstein) can’t help but appreciate this stripped-down song-first record, and rightfully so. Trading in the uber progginess of Crack the Skye allowed for twice as many shorter (and tighter from a composition point of view) songs and a return to an earlier form. But this time the power of Remission and Leviathan, returning in furious flashes, is oft juxtaposed with a triumphant major-key melodic sense that creates a deeper harmonic sound and mood. This album is undeniably balls-out aggressive in so many places, but there’s a haunting subtext to a great deal of the songs as well. I could listen to the inspiring and soulful hooks of “Stargasm” and “Octopus Has No Friends” about a zillion times in a row and still want to hear them again. Not to mention some of the other scorchers, whoa boy! Anyone who defensively rips on the “clean” vocals is either not really listening or has a special fear of harmony and melody. And by special I mean retarded.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR TO GET STONED TO
Yob – Atma
This fanciful legion of doom is back with a vengance, and thankfully those crazy yobsters mean business in the best possible way. Atma feels like dragging a porcupine through murky quicksand in a thick swap in the dead of night, and happening upon a couple of toothless hillbillies boning in a tent. I get stoned just putting this thing on, but with actual ganj it’s a no-brainer. As in, what do you always need your brain for anyway??
BEST NON-METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
White Denim – D
This Southern-fried melange of indie rock, groovy prog, delicate folk, classic rock, bluesy jamband elements and much more creates an amazing blend that is infectious the whole way through. Vocalist/guitarist James Petralli plays and sings with all of his heart, and creates some of the most beautiful hooks of the year. Lush guitar work helps create a bed for the wonderful vocals, and White Denim’s rhythm section soars through ludicrous changes with the greatest of ease, syncopating so many of the bouncy numbers to a deliciously controlled frenzy. Perhaps most impressive is that every member is always playing to the song and contributing to the collective unit, so each composition feels perfectly layered and balanced. And experiencing this band live is like going to the world’s happiest church/synagogue/sex ranch and losing yourself in the gorgeous chaos… This Jew for Jeebus loves this band!
SAMMY O' HAGAR (METAL SUCKS) BEST OF 2011:
I’ll just come out and say it: what a shit year, huh? Natural disasters galore (up in my little corner of New England, we had a tornado, earthquake, and late-October Nor’easter that left everyone without power for a week, all in the span of a few months) following a brutal summer that included a “heat dome”; continued economic misery compounded with heretofore unseen governmental ineptitude due to partisan gridlock/higher-than-normal choad ratio in elected office; the death of The Last Great American Entrepreneur, Steve Jobs or the canonization of child labor enthusiast/capitalist sociopath Steve Jobs, depending on your perspective; new blockbuster Nickelback and Evanescence albums; and the continued existence of Dancing With the Stars, Fox News/MSNBC, Kardashian-related programming where none of them are naked, and of course, the Twilight franchise, which has made the GDP of a small country where emotionally vapid teenagers don‘t fuck each other. If you didn’t wake up a few mornings hurling your alarm at the fresh sunlight sneaking into your room, you had it lucky and were most likely in the minority.
Or perhaps I’m being dramatic. Or it’s certain I’m being dramatic. But even metal, at least on the surface, had less than a banner year. Morbid Angel violently shit the bed with their new album, as did Metallica. Limp Bizkit returned and Korn not only continued to exist but, with Skrillex’s assistance, provided dubstep with a pretty sweet shark-jumping moment. Even Jeff Hanneman got a FLESH-EATING VIRUS from a SPIDER BITE, which was bad enough without mainstream media outlets condescendingly pointing out how “metal” that was. But there were bright spots, as there always are. Hell, Autopsy, Exhumed, and Brutal Truth all put out excellent, peerless albums despite the noticeable handicap of being in the soccer dad demographic now. Perhaps we — and by “we,” I mean “I” — focus too much on the negative. But while theoretically the night is darkest before dawn, perhaps there will never be another dawn, and we have an eternity of endless night with a moon as black as sack cloth and boiling seas and lambs opening seventh seals and so on awaiting us. Here’s this year’s soundtrack to that possibility.
15.5. So Hideous, My Love, To Clasp a Fallen Wish with Broken Fingers (Play the Assassin)
Much like how I feel that Justin Verlander should not have won the American League MVP — in that as a starting pitcher he a) doesn’t play daily like the other position players eligible for the award and b) has the Cy Young Award, one specifically awarded to him for his pitching talents — I believe EPs should not be considered for year-end greatness, seeing as they‘re, at best, quasi-albums. But this year had a number of at the very least interesting ones, from Cynic’s ambitious Carbon-Based Anatomy to the Scion-backed releases from Enslaved and Immolation (which I feel ambivalent about, probably due to how they were financed, which is a whole other essay altogether), so I felt like I should at least single one out. And orchestral blackened post-hardcore band So Hideous, My Love overcomes their painfully screamo name to release an incredibly fascinating four-track EP that handily volleys between beautifully crafted string sections and chaotic, swirling noise. Like Deafheaven’s demo last year, I’m not sure how this would translate into a full length. But as is, To Clasp a Fallen Wish with Broken Fingers ably fuses disjointed ire with gorgeous, lyrical sadness.
15. Craft, Void (Carnal)
Though I decried this album for being overlong in my initial review — and still think it’s that to a certain degree — it also delivers the year’s fiercest and most misanthropic black metal. Scowlingly mid-paced and sounding like Celtic Frost clutching an A-bomb, Void angrily wishes for a coal-black Earth, all life a thing of the past. And with tightly constructed ass-kickers like “Come Resonance of Doom,” “I Want to Commit Murder,” and “Succumb to Sin,” it’s hard to not at least sympathize with their point of view. Though the year’s best black metal featured a lot to wilting under the awfulness of everyday life, Craft catered to those left sour and miffed by it. Most metal bands, corpse-painted or not, would kill for songs as vicious-yet-catchy as the best on Void.
14. 40 Watt Sun, The Inside Room (Cyclone Empire/Metal Blade)
Perhaps I’m the only one, but Jesu’s Ascension left me cold. After hearing that Justin Broadrick may be focusing more on new music from Godflesh, I found myself relieved, in that it may be a good idea to give the Jesu moniker a rest for a little while. Of course, that leaves a huge void in the realm of sad-but-beautiful doom, a void that 40 Watt Sun filled with aplomb. Like Argus’ solid Boldly Stride the Doomed, 40 Watt Sun are a B+ band put over the top by their excellent vocals. In this case, it’s guitarist/vocalist Patrick Walker’s expressive singing wavering over the slow trudge into oblivion, adding a beautifully vivid dimension to The Inside Room. A warm blanket for even the coldest of souls, 40 Watt Sun are as powerful as they are evocative.
13. Brutal Truth, End Time (Relapse)
A band like Brutal Truth wouldn’t come back from nothingness just for the sake of cashing reunion show checks; they’re still as much of a grind powerhouse as they were before they called it a day. And while Evolution Through Revolution, their comeback album from 2009, was a fine slab of forceful, perpetually-stoned grindcore, End Time goes even further off the deep end, offering up fifty-three minutes of blistering chaos with the occasional uneasy calm. While there aren’t many riffs to grab onto, End Time is more about the ride than the details, and few grind bands can take you on the ride Brutal Truth still can. Being professionals and family men in their off hours have somehow made them even more ferocious.
12. Wolves in the Throne Room, Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord)
After 2009’s lateral move in Black Cascade – a decent-yet-underwhelming album — Wolves in the Throne Room continued the evolution they began on Two Hunters with this year’s Celestial Lineage, simultaneously adding more folk asides while retaining their panoramic, Burzum-inspired black metal charm. And the band find new ways to occupy a lot of space, crafting a brilliantly unified journey through black metal’s pastoral past and it’s experimental present and future. More than some farmers for the hipsterati to name-check, Wolves in the Throne Room prove to still be a vital and important piece of the USBM mosaic.
11. Russian Circles, Empros (Sargent House )
Good God, is there any genre more beaten into the ground than post-metal? Maybe, but not by much. Russian Circles remind you why you loved it in the first place with Empros, an album filled with lush, occasionally long songs alternating between inspired cleanliness and sludgy heaviness. Attention to detail is where they nail it: check out the opening to “Mladek” in all its hopeful, triumphant glory, then see it be recast as uneasy optimism near the end of the song. Moments like that are all over Empros, which is what makes it the vivid masterwork it is. It says more in its wordlessness than a mangled lyric sheet ever could.
10. Tombs, Path of Totality (Relapse)
What it lacks in Helmet-meets-Celtic-Frost-meets-Pinback-style anthems it more than makes up for in space and intriguing expansiveness. The band tap all their resources — from burly blackened hardcore to bleak, moody post-punk– to create something sprawling, and make Path of Totality the first true demonstration of their ability. But while it builds upon the promise of their debut, it still retains their endearing personality. Path of Totality is both the culmination of something great as well as the promise of something great to come. Tombs’ trajectory remains on path.
9. Absu, Abzu (Candlelight)
I can’t really put my finger on what didn’t click with me about Absu before, but for whatever reason, Abzu set me straight. Perhaps it’s the perfect balance of depth and blackened thrash. Or maybe it’s “A Song for Ea,” one of the finest moments in metal all year (and would make for a great EP in its own right, really). Or even that Proscriptor McGovern is one of the best drummers in black metal (and he covers lead vocals, to boot), a perfect anchor for the band’s brisk thrash riffing. Or maybe this is punishment for me taking as long as I have to come around to Absu. Yeah, that’s probably it.
8. Krallice, Diotoma (Profound Lore)
So, 100% of Krallice’s albums have wound up on my year-end lists. 100%. And yet, Diotoma is the first of their albums to truly feel like their best. Tweaked in some places and tightened in others, it’s a fine display of Krallice as a multi-headed force of nature. And “Telluric Rings” sounds just as great dozens of plays later as it does the first time you hear it, a dizzying peak after a preceding album of them. For a band that’s already done as much good as they have, Diotoma finds Krallice topping themselves yet again.
7. Today is the Day, Pain is a Warning (Black Market Activities)
Sometimes all you need to shake things up is to change almost completely everything about your band. Gone is the muddy production and squirrely omni-grind; say hello to cock-rockin’ Steve Austin. While it’s not a complete about-face from Today is the Day’s usual fare, it finds the band surprisingly reinvigorated and playful, with “Wheelin’” and “The Devil’s Blood” approaching what some may refer to as “fun” (which is not a word one could use to describe the band’s prior inverted hellscapes). Austin’s tortured vocals remain — as does his penchant for top-notch rhythm section s– but for a band as long-running and dependable as Today is the Day, Pain is a Warning is still a welcome surprise.
6. Anaal Nathrakh, Passion (Candlelight)
To say Anaal Nathrakh softened up after their gloriously freezer-burnt debut The Codex Necro isn’t a diss: for the band to top the ferocity of that album, they would have had to put distorted audio of slowly decapitating a blind and deaf homeless person over blastbeats. But clean vocals and the occasion proggy song length aside, Passion comes closest, often recalling the white-knuckled misanthropy of their past. And even with those formerly outlier elements present, the album is front to back viciousness, capped off by a Gnaw Their Tongues-penned track. And really, any album that contains a song called “Drug-Fucking Abomination” deserves at least a shot at being on a year-end list.
5. Hate Eternal, Phoenix Amongst the Ashes (Metal Blade)
After the “YOU GUYS LIKE DRUMS, RIGHT? WELL HERE’S AN ALBUM WHERE THAT’S ALL YOU CAN HEAR!!!” production on Fury & Flames, Hate Eternal returned to form with a well-balanced scorcher in Phoenix Amongst the Ashes, further expounding on the band’s ethos of “when life gives you lemons, you then reduce them to nothingness.” Unrelenting yet memorable, Phoenix focuses on the band’s strengths: AK-47-grade riffs, near-constant forward momentum, and blistering solos. Their trademark sheet of pummeling sound has rarely sounded more immense. Hopefully it won’t take several years of the world shitting on Erik Rutan to get a worthy follow-up.
4. Ulcerate, Destroyers of All (Willowtip)
I don’t like being marketed to. It bothers me on a fundamental level to know that people spend time trying to get me to buy shit based on careful studies of things I may and may not like. That’s why I was so skeptical of Ulcerate’s “Neurosis meets brutal death metal” descriptor, because goddamn, that’s like a hypothetical someone pulled right out of my head. That had to end in an ad for DirecTV or something. But no, Ulcerate are the real deal, mining the immense riffs and string bends from post-metal and the ferocity and drums (provided by human cyclone Jamie Saint Merat) from death metal to form an apocalyptic hybrid, going both for the heart and the throat. By focusing on what each genre was missing — depth in death metal, brutality in post-etc. — they managed to become much, much more than the sum of their parts. Destroyers of All could end with a song about Old Navy and I would have been just as hooked.
3. Revocation, Chaos of Forms (Relapse)
Several times throughout Chaos of Forms, I find myself thinking, “Now THIS is metal.” The impish spirit of heavily-back patched denim jackets, the noodly tendencies of the most Schuldiner-aping guitar nerds, the barrage of death-thrash riffs… I dare you to find something you don’t like on Chaos of Forms. Revocation — certainly not slackers before now by any means — stepped it up on their latest, simultaneously expanding upon and remaining faithful to their MO. The master class solos on “Conjuring the Cataclysm,” the jittery tech caginess of “Fractal Entity,” the oddball orchestration thrown into the end of “The Watchers”… once again, this is metal, with genres just a semantic aside. If anything, one of the best live bands in metal have captured on wax (or plastic or a fraction of a fraction of an inch of your hard drive) the intensity of what they bring to the stage on a fairly-nightly basis. You’d be hard-pressed to find more genuinely enjoyable metal anywhere else this year.
2. Taake, Norgens Vaapen (Candlelight)
After the decentralizing of black metal a decade and a half or so ago, the best of it regularly began to come out of non-Norwegian places. But after the last few years of year’s best releases from the US and France, Norway remind us why they’ve still got this down with Taake’s fantastic Norgens Vaapen. Inverting USBM’s obsession with integrating as many exotic elements as possible (often obscuring much of their roots in the process), Taake stay close to the template, peppering their wonderfully organic black metal with brilliantly-selected seasonings. “Du Ville Ville Vestland” and “Myr” are great songs on their own; with clean, shoegazey arpeggios and banjo, respectively, they’re fucking anthems. Norgens Vaapen answers the question “Is it possible for a genre so thoroughly obsessed with ridiculous orthodoxies to evolve?” with a resounding “I don’t know. Probably.”
1. Decapitated, Carnival is Forever (Nuclear Blast)
In which Decapitated completed their transformation from a great technical death metal band (alright, one of THE great technical death metal bands) to Decapitated. Picking up where Organic Hallucinosis left off, Carnival is Forever is set in the middle ground between odd time signatures, polyrhythms, and big-ass grooves. Of course, the damn-near Oprah-worthy turmoil (Vogg having to rebuild a new band around him after a bus accident took half the previous lineup from him) doesn’t weigh down the album in the slightest, with the band sounding elastic and natural propping up Vogg’s dense riffs. In fact, Decapitated have never sounded this loose, though that points less to the harmoniousness of the new lineup than the persistent spirit of the band. Carnival is Forever is full of life. On the rare occasion melancholia seeps in — on closing track “Silence,” the intro to “A View from a Hole”, and the minute of queasy stillness that opens the title track (though it’s followed by the year’s heaviest riff, if two notes can constitute a riff) — it’s not melodramatic or saccharine. You don’t revive a band like Decapitated to rehash or demean; you pick things up where you left off. Life can empower and life can cripple. But either way, life goes on. Carnival is Forever is a fitting reminder of that.
-SO
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-
Posts
![[Valid RSS]](http://www.blogger.com/valid-rss-rogers.png "Validate my RSS feed")
