Adam Palm

I’ve been trying to come up with some meaningful observations about the overall state of metal in 2015, but I got nothin’. The metal “scene” has become too vast and fragmented for me to keep up with it all and still maintain some semblance of a life. So instead, here’s my meaningless, narrow view, for what it’s worth.

Music-wise, 2015 was mostly about solitary enjoyment of full-lengths as it was pretty lacking in all other aspects. Last year, my stereo was dominated by a surprising amount of great demos and EPs. This year, I can only muster a top 5 for EPs and I didn’t buy a single demo. And, where have all of the good tours gone? There were only two within driving distance that I cared to see, and of course I missed them both. At least these negatives allowed me to spend more time appreciating each release more thoroughly, which is something I’ve been trying to shift toward lately instead of rapidly mowing through new releases. Here are the ones that I spent the most time with in 2015.

Top 20 Full-lengths

20. Obsequiae – Aria of Vernal Tombs (20 Buck Spin)
Black metal was never meant to be this warm and melodic, but these Minnesotans make it work with Medieval flair.

19. Mgla – Exercises in Futility (Northern Heritage Records/No Solace)
My list would probably be deemed invalid without this. Kidding aside, these nihilistic Poles really do deserve the ridiculous amount of hype and praise they received for this album.

18. Abyssal – Antikatastaseis (Profound Lore Records)
Just when you thought you had your fill of post rock sensibilities in metal, these mysterious Brits come along and injected them into cavernous death metal. You won’t hear me complaining, though.

17. Katavasia – Sacrilegious Testament (Floga Records)
The Greek black metal sound of early Rotting Christ and Varathron seems to be enjoying a slight resurgence lately, and this is some of the very best of any era.

16. Khors – Night Falls onto the Fronts of Ours (Candlelight Records)
It seems that when most people think of Ukrainian black metal, Drudkh is the first band that comes to mind. But for me, it’s Khors, and this powerfully emotive album proves why they’re not just one of the best in their country, but also the world.

15. Serpent Noir – Erotomysticism (Daemon Worship Productions)
Exotic, doomy black metal in the spirit of albums like Clouds, Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas, and Wolfheart. If you overlooked this like most others seem to have done, I don’t recommend wasting any more time without it.

14. Cruciamentum – Charnel Passages (Profound Lore Records)
In this late era of rehash metal, no-frills old-school death metal usually fails to excite me, but the riffs and atmosphere on this album make it a huge exception.

13. My Dying Bride – Feel the Misery (Peaceville Records)
The return of Calvin Robertshaw has reinvigorated this gothic death/doom institution and brought the magic of their classics, Turn Loose the Swans, The Angel and the Dark River, and Like Gods of the Sun, to modern day.

12. Contrarian – Polemic (Willowtip Records)
The influence of Death’s progressive era has never been used in such masterful, meaningful, and forward-thinking ways.

11. Ghoulgotha – The Deathmass Cloak (Dark Descent Records)
This January release seems to have gotten overshadowed by more high-profile releases throughout the year. But in my collection, their unique brand of off-kilter doomy death metal remains a standout.

10. Kêres – Battle Secrets (Kuunpalvelus)
Much like fellow Finnish black metal act, Cosmic Church, they aren’t doing anything particularly unique, but they possess an indefinable quality that makes them special. This is due in no small part to their genuine atmosphere that spans both the sinister and the melancholy.

9. Paradise Lost – The Plague Within (Century Media Records)
These UK masters of gloom have been building to this for the past decade. And, now that they’ve finally returned to the genre that they helped create, it’s both satisfying and surprising as this includes some of the heaviest, darkest, and most diverse material of their entire career.

8. Leviathan – Scar Sighted (Profound Lore Records)
Despite his more positive and domestic life nowadays, Wrest apparently still has demons to exorcise, and he has done so here in his most diverse and unsettling fashion yet.

7. Adversarial – Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism (Dark Descent Records)
An auditory descent into madness by way of exceptionally twisted Canadian black/death metal.

6. VI – De Praestigiis Angelorum (Agonia Records)
This product of Antaeus and Aosoth members actually exceeded my high expectations with its vicious, inventive assault of deft French black metal.

5. Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers (Willowtip Records)
“Epic” and “brutal” are undoubtedly two of the most overused adjectives in metal, but these talented Brits have managed to redefine the standard for both.

4. Macabre Omen – Gods of War – At War (Ván Records)
This Hellenic black metal unit’s long-awaited sophomore effort perfectly captures the glory of their nation’s past and the melancholy of that glory’s loss.

3. Barren Earth – On Lonely Towers (Century Media Records)
I never would’ve guessed that the third album from this Finnish progressive death/doom supergroup could be such a vast improvement over its predecessors, especially considering that those albums were nothing to sneeze at. I also wouldn’t think that a mashup of mid-era Opeth and early Amorphis could be improved upon, but they actually did it here.

2. Voices – London (Candlelight Records)
If you’re reading this from across the pond, you’re probably about to decry this as a 2014 release, but I’ll have you know that this wasn’t released in my home continent until late January of 2015. This ambitious piece of metallic art somehow manages to come across as inexplicably unique yet completely cohesive and natural. Displays of such talent and creativity are rare, especially this late in the metal game.

1. Pyramids – A Northern Meadow (Profound Lore Records)
Simultaneously chaotic and serene… challenging and memorable… menacing and inviting… This album of contradictions was like nothing else in 2015, or any year prior for that matter. It’s certainly not an album for everyone, but its industrial black metal textures over a shoegaze landscape resonated with me more than any other album this year.

Honorable Mentions

Crypt Sermon – Out of the Garden (Dark Descent Records)
Death Karma – The History of Death & Burial Rituals Part I (Iron Bonehead Productions)
Disloyal – Godless (Ghastly Music)
Enslaved – In Times (Nuclear Blast Records)
Horrendous – Anareta (Dark Descent Records)
Nile – What Should Not Be Unearthed (Nuclear Blast Records)
Onirik – Casket Dream Veneration (Iron Bonehead Productions)
Shape of Despair – Monotony Fields (Season of Mist)
Sulphur Aeon – Diluvial Ascension – Gateway to the Antisphere (Imperium Productions/Ván Records)
Vanum – Realm of Sacrifice (Profound Lore Records)

Top 5 EPs

5. Doomentor – The Second Ceremony (Iron Bonehead Productions)
Two tracks of Trouble-inspired death/doom full of massive riffs and evil atmospheres.

4. Chaos Moon – Amissum (self-released)
This unannounced EP of shimmering blackness was one of the nicest surprises of the year.

3. Exgenesis – Aphotic Veil (Rain Without End Records)
I had been expecting Jari Lindholm’s Enshine project to bring back the heaviness and misery of his former band, Slumber, but it turns out that it took teaming up with Alejandro Lotero on this EP to make that happen.

2. Grimoire – L’aorasie des spectres rêveurs (Eisenwald Tonschmiede)
Fiel of Forteresse, Csejthe, and Ephemer gives his main bands a run for their money with this superb EP of atmospheric black metal.

1. Cosmic Church – Vigilia (Kuunpalvelus)
If this had been a full-length (it almost could be with its runtime of 33 minutes), this Finnish act would’ve topped my list once again. Ylistys was my album of the year in 2013 and this EP maintains the bar set by that masterwork of stirring black metal.

Potent Notables

Biggest disappointment: Lychgate – An Antidote for the Glass Pill (Blood Music)
After the church organ novelty wears off, all you’re left with is a meaningless, emotionless jumble of sounds devoid of the rage and desperation of the debut.

Best album for the gym: Nile – What Should Not Be Unearthed (Nuclear Blast Records)
This made me feel like I could lift the pyramids.

Greatest comeback: Queensrÿche – Condition Hüman (Century Media Records)
I wanted to give this to Paradise Lost for their return to the death/doom genre this year, but when you consider how much worse these Seattleites had become, and for how long they stayed that way, this modern take on their Operation: Mindcrime/Empire sound becomes the clear winner.

Best song: Paradise Lost – “Beneath Broken Earth”
The slowest, most depressing song of their career filled me with more joy than any other this year.

Best cover art: Contrarian – Polemic (Willowtip Records)
How can you top Marco Hasmann’s masterful depiction of an orbital battle with a giant space marlin? (That’s a rhetorical question. You can’t.)

Top label: Profound Lore Records
From the traditional to the avant garde, this Canadian label consistently released some of the very best metal in 2015.