Teeth of the Divine Staff Picks for 2016
Well, here we are at the start of a fresh new year. And while New Years is usually a time for bright-eyed, wishful optimism and wistful reminiscence, the global political and social climates have the world at unease. Yet despite a near blastbeat-pace of bummers and deaths, 2016 gave us another year of stellar extreme music.
Teethofthedivine soldiered on in 2016 as well, with some new faces on the team (though our distaste for digital promos hasn’t changed a bit). We also experienced a growth spurt on social media, so if you’re not following us yet, why the hell not? ‘Cause while other sites seem content to feed you with celebrity blogs, lists of ‘top 10 albums from 1993 which which had llamas on the cover’ or so-called humor pieces, TOTD just did what we do best: reviews, reviews, and reviews. One review every week day for the whole year. That’s 300+ reviews, folks.
We hope to add more interviews, features, and contests in 2017, and we do it all for you guys – our loyal readers, sharers, likers, and listeners. So keep on keeping it real in 2017, as it might be the last year the earth continues to spin. We’ll do our part to make sure metal stays as relevant in 2017 as it has been in the decades before.
So with much ado, here are the hand-picked releases that the TOTD staff enjoyed in 2016. Given the thousands of releases that assaulted our collective senses last year, hopefully we’ll introduce you to a few new favorites. And as always, stay tuned for our Fillings and Cavities feature, where we’ll shovel even more death, destruction, blackened weirdness, and melodic wonders into your willing ears.
FRANK RINI
Truly a wonderful and brutal year in extreme metal. Great releases and some killer tours. I thank everyone out there who likes my writing style as well as supporting Teeth of the Divine and Erik’s cause of spreading extreme music to the masses. All my reviews are in order of what I feel were the strongest releases for 2016. This is the first time in, I don’t know how many years, I chose a thrash metal album as #1, as opposed to death metal. I took out the honorable mentions section I’ve done in the past, since I felt it was pointless & added some other cool categories. Check out not just my list, but everyone else’s on here. You will find new and exciting music to love and to support the scene too. Please bring the scene together and not tear it down, by being a shit-talker. If you have not heard any of the albums on my list or others, I urge you to plug a tune into YouTube. If you like it, BUY the album and then like the band’s FB page. Looking ahead to 2017 we will see the release of some killer albums from: Afterbirth (with my guest vocal appearance), Suffocation, Lantern, Exodus, Undergang, Voivod, Carcass, Kreator, Rude, Wound, Iron Reagan, Belphegor, Bile, Gorephilia, and hopefully the long overdue Ghostly White, from Deceased as well as many others. Potentially, another new one from my former band, Internal Bleeding, and I have been informed I will be guesting on again-so stoked! Have a Happy and Healthy New Year Metalheads. \m/
- Anthrax–For All Kings (Nuclear Blast)
- Wormed–Krighsu (Season of Mist)
- Vektor–Terminal Redux (Earache Records)
- Revel in Flesh–Emissary of All Plagues (Cyclone Empire)
- Embalmer–Emanations from the Crypt (Hells Headbangers)
- Dehumanized–Beyond the Mind (Comatose Music)
- Dawn of Demise–The Suffering (Unique Leader)
- Anaal Nathrakh–The Whole of the Law (Metal Blade Records)
- Fallujah-Dreamless (Nuclear Blast)
- Blood Incantation–Starspawn (Dark Descent Records)
- Defeated Sanity–Disposal of the Dead/Dharmata (Willowtip Records)
- Mithridatic–Miserable Miracle (Kaotoxin Records)
- Humiliation–Honourable Discharge (Brutal Art Records)
- Brujeria– Pocho Aztlan (Nuclear Blast)
- Nervosa–Agony (Napalm Records)
- Megadeth–Dystopia (Tradecraft)
- Cognitive–Deformity (Unique Leader)
- Soulburn–Earthless Pagan Spirit (Century Media Records)
- Meshuggah–The Violent Sleep of Reason (Nuclear Blast)
- Metallica–Hardwired…To Self-Destruct (Blackened Recordings)
- Rotten Sound–Abuse to Suffer (Season of Mist)
- Condition Critical-Extermination Plan (Burned By God Records)
- Phobocosm-Bringer of Drought (Dark Descent Records)
- Demonbreed-Where Gods Come to Die (Testimony Records)
- Wormrot–Voices (Earache Records)
- Zealotry-The Last Witness (Lavadome Productions)
- Interment–Scent of the Buried (Dark Descent Records)
- Katalepsy–Gravenous Hour (Unique Leader)
- Ulcerate–Shrines of Paralysis (Relapse Records)
- Fleshgod Apocalypse–King (Nuclear Blast)
BEST COMEBACK ALBUM: Despised Icon–Beast (Nuclear Blast)
BEST EP: Grave Miasma-Endless Pilgrimage (Sepulchral Voice Records)
BEST REISSUE: Hexx- Under the Spell-Boxset (Metal Blade Records)
SLEEPER HIT ALBUM: Ruinous- Graves of Ceaseless Death (Dark Descent Records)
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT FOR 2016: Asphyx-Incoming Death (Century Media Records)
BEST ALBUM COVER: Omnihility- Dominion of Misery (Unique Leader)
SONG OF THE YEAR: Vektor-”Charging the Void”
BEST DOOM/DEATH ALBUM: Minotaur Head–S/T
BEST CONCERT: MAN THERE WERE SOME GREAT TOURS THIS YEAR!! I’ll have to go with MDF, although the turnout sucked: Reunion Performances of Demolition Hammer and Atrophy, did it for me. Helping Graham Landers, from Deepsend Records, for the weekend, was outstanding and a great time hanging with a great friend as we ate, people watched, watched bands, caught up with bands and friends and sold merch.
BEST RECORD LABEL: Dark Descent Records. DDR has pulled off the trifecta! This is the third year in a row, for me. Nuclear Blast Records came really close, with all their albums in my years end best of. They both dominated my list with their outstanding releases. Unique Leader were also in the competition too. For Distro purposes, Dark Descent Records is still #1, in my book and crushes the distro competition and that also assisted them in being my #1 label again. 2 of their year-end releases with Ruinous and, although not mentioned, Krypts were super strong. They had other strong releases this year, but some other items worth mentioning. Dark Descent Records did some awesome Blood Incantation merch as well as distributing the 3 perfect Nuclear Death reissues, and shipping orders fast, once again earns Matt Calvert’s outstanding label, Dark Descent Records, the elite label title for 2016.
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Jordan, I was literally just listening to that Perturbator record. so good.
on Jan 3rd, 2017 at 19:51Dead Register! Might be my fave album of 2016.
on Jan 5th, 2017 at 02:41Hail Humiliation!!!
on Jan 5th, 2017 at 03:15The Metallica doesn’t have a decent melody or vocal delivery anywhere. It sounds like Hetfield shouting atonally over some mediocre thrash and Hamster sprayed Wah-Wah nonsense. Weak.
on Jan 6th, 2017 at 16:56Yeah that Dead Register disc made my list too.
on Jan 7th, 2017 at 12:35http://www.abismoblogzine.com/2017/01/lo-mejor-del-2016-sebas.html
on Jan 25th, 2017 at 11:19