ERIK THOMAS

Favorite Albums of 2009

1. Kalisa – Cybion

2. Augury – Fragmentary Evidence

3. Fall of Efrafa – Inle

4. Insomnium – Across the Dark

5. Between the Buried and Me– The Great Misdirect

6. Wolves in the Throne Room– Black Cascade

7. Ensiferum – From Afar

8. Gorod – Process of a New Decline

9. Fatalist – The Depths of Inhumanity

10. Ulcerate – Everything Is Fire

11. Demonical – Hellsworn

12. Obscura – Cosmogenesis

13. Geist – Galeere

14. Funeral Mist – Maranatha

15. Be’lakor– Stones Reach

16. Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vestusta II

17. Alestorm– Black Sails at Midnight

18. Fleshgod Apocalypse – Oracles

19. Altar of Plagues – White Tomb

20. Nile – Those Whom the Gods Detest

21. Despised Icon – Day of Mourning

22. The Red Shore – Unconsecrated

23. Man Must Die – No Tolerance for Imperfection

24. As You Drown – Reflection

25. Woe of Tyrants– Kingdom of Might

Album That I’m Actually Scared to go Back and Listen to: Teitanblood– Seven Chalices

Best Free album: Cephalectomy –An Epitaph to Tranquility

Best Comebacks: Samael – As Above , Skyfire – Esoteric , Asphyx – Death the Brutal Way

Best Cover Art: Ignominious Incarceration – Of Winter Born

Best Reissues: Nirvana 2002 – Recordings 1989-1991, Giant Squid – The Ichthyologist

Best Compilation : Various Artists – Grind Madness at the BCC: The Earache Peel Sessions.

Best New Discoveries : Sunn O))), Mono, Septic Flesh, Finsterforst.

Best movie of 2009: District 9

Favorite Songs: Alestorm – “Keehauled”, Ensiferum – “From Afar”, Woe of Tyrants “Soli Deo Gloria”, Fatalist – “Homicidal Epitaph”, Amorphis – From the Earth I Rose”, Geist -“En Winter Auf See”, Tyr “Hold Your Heathen Hammer High”, Gorod -“Guilty of Dispersal”, Killswitch Engage – “The Forgotten”, Diablo Swing Orchestra ‘”Lucy Fears the Morning Star”, Crimfall – “The Crown of Treason”, God Dethroned – “Poison Fog”, Blackguard – “This Round’s on Me”, If He Dies, He Dies – “Feels like the Very first time”, Isis – “Threshold of Transformation”, After the Burial – “The Fractal Effect”, 3 Inches of Blood – “Fierce Defender”, Birds of Prey – “Juvie”, Moker – “Manual Strangulation”, My Dying Bride – “Santuario de Sangre”, Enemy Reign – “Abuse”, Impending Doom – “Anything Goes”, Be’Lakor -” Countless Skies”, Insomnium – “Weighed Down With Sorrow”.

Biggest albums that I thought would end up on my list but didn’t  (PC way of saying disappointments): Pantheist – Journey Into lands Unknown, Behemoth – Evangelion, Secrets of the Moon – Privigelivm, Skeletonwitch – Breathing the Fire, Napalm Death – Time Waits for No Slave, Anaal Nathrakh – In the Constellation of the Black Widow, The Black Dahlia Murder – Deflorate, Dethklok – Dethalbum II, Swallow the Sun – New Moon, Suffocation – Blood Oath, Krallice – Dimensional Bleedthrough, Immortal – All Shall Fall, Necrophobic – Death to All, A Plea For Purging – Depravity, Belphegor – Walpurgis Rites – Hexenwahn.

CHRIS DICK

1. Katatonia – Night is the New Day

2. Paradise Lost – Faith Divides Us… Death Unites Us

3. Colosseum – Chapter II: Numquam

4. Converge – Axe to Fall

5. Baroness – Blue Record

6. Obscura – Cosmogenesis

7. My Dying Bride – For Lies I Sire

8. Swallow the Sun – New Moon

9. Behemoth – Evangelion

10. Demonical – Hellsworn

11. Black Sun Aeon – Darkness Walks Beside Me

12. Callisto – Providence

13. ISIS – Wavering Radiant

14. Unanimated – In the Light of Darkness

15. Amber Asylym – Bitter River

16. Funeral Mist – Maranatha

17. Mastodon – Crack The Skye

18. Napalm Death – Time Waits For No Slave

19. Asphyx – Death…The Brutal Way

20. Shining – VI: Klagopsalmer

APOLLYON

With each passing year I become even worse at being a metalhead. I remember 10 years ago going through pretty much every band website and mp3 clip I could find, discovering a ton of bands I still listen to today. Nowadays, rather than actively searching for new material I expect it to fall into my lap and thus new names are scarce on my list. Which is a shame, as I’m sure there’s plenty of new stuff out there awaiting to blow my head off. Things that I missed that I don’t even know to miss (like finding Disillusion‘s “Back to Times of Splendor” only a year ago). I can only hope they cross my path at some point (thus I’m always open to suggestions). Anyway, here are the metal albums from 2009 that I’ve listened to more than once or twice (in no particular order):

Ghost Brigade – Isolation Songs

Fall of Efrafa – Inle

Dark Sun Aeon – Darkness Walks Beside Me

Katatonia – Night is the New Day

Swallow The Sun – New Moon

Devin Townsend – Addicted

Behemoth – Evangelion

Callisto – Providence

Centaurus-A – Side Effects Expected

Blood Tsunami – Grand Feast For Vultures

Gorod – Process of a new Decline

Mastodon – Crack the Skye

Napalm Death – Time Waits For No Slave

What’s worrying is the amount of Finnish bands on the list as I try not to be a homer, but goddamn this toilet earth, er, hm, country of mine produces a lot of comforting discomfort.

GRIMULFR

Best of 2009 :

best cover art – Inferno – Black Devotion

best song on otherwise unremarkable album: Hudrefolk – Morbid Elite

Favorite Packaging/booklet – Marduk – Wormwood

Comeback Album – Immortal – All Shall Fall

Iron Fist Award – Throne Of Katarsis – Helvete – Det Iskalde Mørket

Dependability – Dark Funeral – Angelus Exuro pro Eternus

Favorite Debut Album – Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Der Weg Einer Freiheit

Best Back from the Dead –Beherit – Engram

Best Title –  Arckanum – fififififififififififi

Most Haunting –Xasthur –All Reflections Drained

Most likely to Induce Vomiting –Týr – By The Light Of The Northern Star

Favorite EP – Neige et Noirceur – Philosophie des Arts Occultes

Best 2008 Release not Heard til 2009 – Adorned Brood – Noor

Best Two song Full Length – Dodsferd – Suicide And The Rest Of Your Kind Will Follow

Best Amon Amarth – Strydegor – Back On Ancient Traces

Top Albums:

1-Marduk – Wormwood

2-Gorgoroth – Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt

3-Wolves in the Throne Room – Black Cascade

4-Mortuus Infradaemoni – Imis Avernis

5-Funeral Mist – Maranatha

6-The Ruins Of Beverast – Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite

7-Månegarm – Nattväsen

8-Teitanblood – Seven Chalices

9-Blut aus Nord – Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue with the Stars

10-Faustcoven – The Priest’s Command

Honorable Mentions: Den Saakaldte – All Hail Pessimism, Geist – Galeere, Gromm – Pilgrimage Amidst The Catacombs Of Negativism, Horna – Musta Kaipuu, Borgia – Ecclesia, Belphegor – Walpurgis Rites – Hexenwahn, Absu – Absu, Crimfall – As the Path Unfolds…

JOHN GNESIN

Top 10 of 2009 a/k/a “From Hype to Hyperbole”

1. A Storm of Light – Forgive Us Our Trespasses. Droning and draining, dreamy and delirious, wildly experimental in spirit and at the same time hauntingly familiar in it’s archetypal resonance, A Storm of Light begged forgiveness for their trespasses yet left me heralding their transcendence. Even in light of the individual members’ resumes and the fact that this was their second effort, few could have seen this masterful effort coming before coming to the realization is had completely obscured the horizon from which it seemingly emerged. The “Tribe of Neurot” has expanded exponentially over the past decade, and A Storm of Light easily matches and arguably surpasses the best recent efforts of the many minions and perhaps even the masters themselves if I may be so bold. Fucking epic.

2. Japanische Kampfhörspiele – Luxusvernichtung (Vierundfunfzig Vertonte Kurzgedichte). A lot of grindcore bands have stuffed a ridiculous amount of “tracks” onto a release, but JaKa’s feat is in composing 54 memorable “songs” into 22 minutes, with all their trademark catchiness, schizoid transitions, frantic momentum and intensive dynamics not only intact, but in fact, Luxusvernichtung amazingly still finds the band upping the ante while firing on all cylinders. Incomprehensibly, this band just keeps getting stronger, faster, tighter and better as the years go by and as I revisit this album I am already well into the process of flipping out over their early 2010 release Bilder Fressen Strom. Band of the freaking decade, hell the millennium so far. No one even comes close.

3. Baroness – The Blue Record. Not only did I just now this year get the Seuss-tastic joke of their discography of titles to date (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish…), but I am also very satisfied that Baroness has definitively delivered on their well-deserved hype with their latest album, finally emerging from the studio with a whole that is better than some of their parts. Overemphasizing their epic classic/progressive rock influences to the nth degree while still maintaining their folksy even soulful punk rock spirit is an impressive enough feat in itself, however the real triumph is the total lack of any need to describe or categorize these songs and this album as anything other than just plainly, manifestly awesome.

4. Gorod – Process of a New Decline. We had to see this coming, after two impressive outings in Neurotripticks and Leading Vision; these Frenchies finally delivered on all their potential on album number three. Exquisite virtuoso shredding over crushing and clever arrangements, brilliant and brutal drumming and that kind of noodly bass work that gives 90’s prog death fans all kinds of wood. Progressive and technical as anything out there but heavy as all balls in a direct sense, passionate and purposeful, Process of a New Decline is the best death metal album I heard all year, and while I’m in a superlative mood, possibly the best French death metal album of all time.

5. Devin Townsend Project – Ki & Addicted. Major differences between the DTP(rogject) and the DTB(and)? Damned if I know. That said these two offerings, the first two of four total, more than makes up for the last two decent but far less than stellar DTB outings, though nothing will ever get me the 20 precious minutes I wasted with Ziltoid…The Unlistenable back. Possibly more focused by the long overdue pasturing of Strapping Young Lad, Ki and Addicted recall without repeating my two favorite Devin solo records to date, Ocean Machine and Infinity, the former with it’s chill, mellow even-flow hard rock and the latter with it’s bombastically reckless ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ approach. Impossible to talk about Addicted without citing the collaboration with Anneke van Giersbergen, formerly of The Gathering, which plays brilliantly on both the kooky techno-pop-metal numbers as well as the more serious epics contained therein.

6. Horse the Band – Desperate Living. Typically, a band maturing by their third album is a good thing, but in Horse the Band’s case, their immaturity is one of their biggest charms, and thus A Natural Death while certainly representing a progression, came off a bit flat in terms of pure enjoyability. Such experimentation did open the doors to a highly redeeming album number four, as Desperate Living finds the band rediscovering their defining zaniness and infectious catchiness within the context of a much-expanded musical vocabulary, resulting in an album that is alternately spasmodically frantic and masterfully restrained as the moment dictates. Still the band that no one takes seriously, but everyone should, their bipolar ability to go from irreverently silly to desperately disturbing remains unparalleled.

7. Maudlin of the Well – Part the Second. Even before pressing play, the fact that this was new Maudlin of the Well material, the fact that production of said material was financed by the group’s rabid fanbase, and the fact that such material was to be distributed for free or donation was enough to put this in heavy contention on the basis of positive sentiment alone. Upon pressing play, any misgivings about this not being quite the Maudlin of the Well I remembered were washed away in a flood of brilliant, captivating music, the best Toby Driver has composed since the first Kayo Dot album, which simultaneously makes a lot of sense and no sense at all since apparently most of this music was rescued from the period between the end of the MoTW era and the beginning of the Kayo Dot era.

8. Mournful Congregation – The June Frost. My first encounter with these inexplicably depressed Aussies (GO TO THE BEACH, IT’S TEN MINUTES FROM WHEREVER YOU’RE STANDING + YOU HAVE KANGAROOS – WHY ARE YOU CRYING?), ahem, via their raw but intriguing double-album collection, The Dawning of Mournful Hymns was also my first experience with the funeral doom subgenre. Ever since I have been hooked on band and subgenre alike, and their 2009 effort is justification enough for the group’s appropriately slowly growing fan-base in the underground over the years, sporting just the right blend of ethereal romanticism and sludgy, droney death-march.

9. Keelhaul – Triumphant Return to Obscurity. Maybe my many repeated listenings and placement of this album in my top ten is a symptom of absence making the heart grow desperate, but it was nigh impossible to find fault with the group’s expertly titled comeback album. It is testament enough to Keelhaul’s energy and ingenuity to state that their sound is just as fresh and interesting half-a-decade later as when they last left off, and a rarity that such a reunion effort can make one more excited about the band’s future than nostalgic about their past.

10. YOB – The Great Cessation. Among many other cliched slogans my boss seems to automatically generate, “same church, different pew” certainly applies when considering YOB’s long-awaited return from purgatory when placed side-by-side with Keelhaul’s. Whereas the latter returns to the sound they innovated, the former returns to reassert their rightful inheritance of the throne presiding over the rest of the kingdom of doom, and their expert blending of virtually every style and era of that subgenre into one monolithic morass is still awe-inspiring to behold.

Honorable Mentions a/k/a “Thanks for Slaying”

19 A.D.D. – Dead River, Ablaze in Hatred – The Quietude Plains, Animals as Leaders – S/T, Antigama – Warning, Between the Buried & Me – The Great Misdirect, Bloodhorse – Horizoner, Buried Inside – Spoils of Failure, Burnt By the Sun – Heart of Darkness, Converge – Axe to Fall, Dysrhythmia – Psychic Maps, Giant Squid – The Ichythologist, Jesu – Infinity & Opiate Sun, Martyrdod – Sekt, Mastodon – Crack the Skye, Nadja – Under a Jaguar Sun, Belles Bettes, collaborations with Pyramids & Black-Boned Angel, Nile – Those Whom the Gods Detest, Obscura – Cosmogenesis, Our Survival Depends On Us – Painful Stories Told With a Passion for Life, Porcupine Tree – The Incident, Raised Fist – Veil of Ignorance, Suffocation – Blood Oath, Swallow the Sun – New Moon, Tombs – Winter Hours, Until Death Overtakes Me – Days Without Hope, Woods of Ypres – The Green  Album

Disappointments a/k/a “Dishonorable Discharges”

Clutch – Strange Cousins from the West, Ensiferum – From Afar, Shrinebuilder – S/T

JORDAN ITKOWITZ

Top 20 of 2009:

1. Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vetusta II. Beautiful, terrifying, exquisite and transcendent. The best black metal album I’ve heard since Anthems at the Welkin at Dusk, which not only makes this my #1 pick for 2009, but one of my favorite releases of the past ten years.

2. Kalisia – Cybion. This monumental space-opera stretches to the ends of the universe, with scope, ambition and technical fireworks to match its epic narrative. Mandatory listening for fans of melodic death and progressive metal.

3. Insomnium – Across the Dark. With this magnificent release, these Finnish death/doom masters have taken their already-sumptuous sound to even more soaring heights – and to even more miserable depths.

4. Mastodon – Crack the Skye. Russian mystics, astral projection and shaggy, psychedelic groove. Mastodon’s transformation is now complete, and although they may not pummel as hard as they used to, they’re more fascinating than ever.

5. Wodensthrone – Loss. Close your eyes and journey back into England’s murky, forgotten history with this fantastic pagan black metal odyssey – one of my all-time favorites in the genre.

6. Klabautamann – Merkur. Although neither Enslaved nor Opeth had new releases in 2009, you could hear both bands’ signature sounds – jagged riffage and smooth, nocturnal lullabies – throughout this startling piece of black metal art.

7. Amorphis – Skyforger. For a band I’d once left for dead, Amorphis has been having one hell of a renaissance. Once again, they know exactly how to deliver rousing, triumphant and gorgeous melodies, with the perfect blend of light and shade.

8. Blood Tsunami – Grand Feast for Vultures. Dear Slayer: World Painted Blood was a decent return to form, although younger bands like these Norweigan thrashers write such amazing riffs that the bar keeps getting pushed higher and higher. Better luck next time.

9. Obscura – Cosmogenesis. This was a toss-up between Nile, Gorod and these German tech-death wizards, who eventually won out with their catchy melodies, twisty cosmic riffs and twangy, Cynic-al basslines. Necrophagist who?

10. Katatonia – Night is the New Day. A noticeable shift in writing style made this the band’s most challenging album to date, but they’ve also never sounded more lush or haunting.

11. Nile – Those Whom the Gods Detest

12. Gorod – Process of a New Decline

13. Wolves in the Throne Room – Black Cascade

14. Isis – Wavering Radiant

15. Saint Deamon – Pandaemonium

16. Fen – The Malediction Fields

17. Absu – Absu

18. Centaurus-A – Side Effects Expected

19. Immortal – All Shall Fall

20. Woe of Tyrants – Kingdom of Might

Most Disappointing Releases of 2009:

1. Brutal Legend. Yeah, I know I gave it a glowing review, and the game is still a perfect love letter to metal, with an astoundingly realized world, a terrific story and an incredible soundtrack. Too bad I thought the RTS gameplay , clever as it was, turned the game into a chaotic, frustrating slog. I would much rather have played a straight-up action-adventure, or better yet, experienced Schafer’s unique vision as one amazing CG movie.

2. Dream Theater – Black Clouds and Silver Linings. “A Nightmare to Remember” features some of my favorite DT melodies since Scenes from a Memory. Shame the rest of this album seemed rehashed and corny.

3. Clutch – Strange Cousins from the West. I was okay with Clutch’s detour into Beale Street’s straightforward southern rock. I just didn’t want them to get stranded there. Bring back the bluesy prog-metal goodness of Blast Tyrant and Robot Hive/Exodus again!

Best Discoveries (of pre-‘09 releases):

1. 8-bit Metal. If underground black metal weren’t geeky enough, it definitely is when you listen to it as an 8-bit NES tune. It’s all over YouTube – and now we have a dedicated thread on the forums, where I’ve posted plenty of homebrew compilations of black metal, progressive and tech-death, even Maiden.

2. Janvs – Vega. An introspective, warmer take on progressive black metal with some lovely Opethian dynamics at play.

3. Volahn – Dimensiones del Trance Kosmico. Raw, chaotic and authentic Norweigan black metal by way of California’s Black Twilight Circle. Another jewel in the USBM crown.

4. Sapfhier – Trollskogen. Maybe it was the trollish, Kvist-like guitar tone or the waterlogged EDT-era Dimmu Borgir keys, but either way, I got a big nostalgic kick out of this album.

5. US Christmas – Eat the Low Dogs. Rippling, spacey sludge with a southern gothic twist – like listening to 16 Horsepower during a particularly bad trip.

Favorite Songs of 2009:

1. Mastodon – “Divinations” 2. Insomnium – “Lay of the Autumn” 3. Amorphis – “Silver Bride” 4. Porcupine Tree – “Time Flies” 5. Blut Aus Nord – “Disciple’s Libration” 6. Blood Tsunami – “Personal Exorcism” 7. Lamb of God – “Choke Sermon” 8. Saint Deamon – “Pandaemonium” 9. Isis – “Ghost Key” 10. Nile – “Utterances of the Crawling Dead”

LARRY “STAYLOW” OWENS

Best Albums of 2009:

1 .Blood Tsunami – Grand Feast For Vultures – I liked Blood Tsunami’s debut, but this took things to a whole new level. Blackened, nasty thrash metal with a enough killer riffs to level an entire city. Easily the best thrash album of the past decade.

2.God Dethroned – Passiondale – This was a very close contender for my AOTY spot. This album is just a beast, from the monster riffs, great lead work and melodies to the absolutely pulverizing drumming of Roel Sanders to the engaging World War I concept centered around the Battle of Passchendaele. I couldn’t get enough of it.

3.Darkane – Demonic Art – I’ve become kind of a fanboy of this band over the past few years with their blazing, wall of sound approach to death/thrash. They keep things fresh each outing, continuously expanding and moving their sound forward, and Demonic Art is no exception.

4.Be’lakor – Stone’s Reach – I’m still floored that one of the bigger metal labels hasn’t snatched these guys up yet. Slightly progressive melodic death with some doom-y elements that is superbly executed and infinitely memorable.

5.Goatwhore – Carving Out the Eyes of God – One of my surprises of the year. I wasn’t ever a big fan of their first couple albums, but as they’ve moved in a more black/thrash direction with this and it’s predecessor A Haunting Curse, they’ve quickly converted me into a huge fan.

6.Kreator – Hordes of Chaos – Mille and Co. are pure win these days. Of all the big thrash names from 80’s, no one is kicking as much ass as Kreator since the turn of the millennium. Hordes of Chaos is easily on par with the previous two albums in being the best work they’ve ever done.

7.Between the Buried and Me – The Great Misdirect – I loved Alaska 4 years ago, but for some reason I never got on board with it’s follow up Colors, despite endless praise wherever you looked. I guess I was just too preoccupied with other releases to give it it’s proper due. The Great Misdirect however, had me hook, line and sinker after 4 or 5 spins as it’s leaps and bounds ahead of Alaska. The influences here are far ranging, but no matter what they do, it just works and never fails to blow my mind.

8.Vektor – Black Future – This one came out of nowhere and totally floored me on the first spin. These young cats from Arizona pay homage to Voivod with their logo but not as much as you’d think in their sound. Sure the influence is there, but as others suggested and I found out for myself, they sounded much closer to Deathrow’s Deception Ignored. I even detect a just a little Rust In Peace era Megadeth in there. Long, complex songs with all around great axe work, blackened vocals and the occasional falsetto make these guys really stand out among the current crop of thrash ‘revival’ bands.

9.Skeletonwitch – Breathing the Fire – As with the two albums that came before it, Breathing the Fire is a truckload of awesome blackened thrash with NWOBHM overtones. Easily one of my favorite new bands.

10.Insomnium – Across the Dark – I was a casual fan of this band before, but Across the Dark changes that, as they’ve taken their game to a whole new level here. Beautifully depressing.

11.Hypocrisy – A Taste of Extreme Divinity

12.Adagio – Archangels in Black

13.Hirax – El Rostro de la Muerte

14.Slayer – World Painted Blood

15.Revocation – Existence is Futile

16.The Empire Shall Fall – Awaken

17.The Black Dahlia Murder – Deflorate

18.Obscura – Cosmogenesis

19.Lay Down Rotten – Gospel of the Wretched

20.Rumpelstiltskin Grinder – Living for Death, Destroying the Rest

21.Dreaming Dead – Within One

22.Razor of Occam – Homage to Martyrs

23.Dying Fetus – Descend Into Depravity

24.Centaurus-A – Side Effects Expected

25.Infinitum Obscure – Sub Atris Caelis

BEST EP’s:

1.Barren Earth – Our Twilight

2.Hollenthon – Tyrants and Wraiths

3.Spirit Disease – Spawn of Satan

MOST DISAPPOINTING:

Amoral – Show Your Colors – I knew it was going to be bad when Niko Kalliojärvi left the band and was replaced by Finnish Idol winner Ari Koivunen, but this far exceeds any expectations I had in terms of utter shit. The switch in style from technical melodic death metal to watered down, poppy power metal is the worst I’ve ever seen. Originally they had said Koivunen would still be doing some growls along with the clean vocals, but it seems they opted for the full sell out instead. Never before have I gone from liking a band so much to hating them so much – this band is fucking dead.

Megadeth – Endgame – I had really high hopes for this with the arrival of Chris Broderick and of course all the fluff Dave talked leading up to it’s release, but was ultimately disappointed. It’s not really a bad album – I’d say it’s easily on par with the last two – because a couple of these songs are easily the best songs Dave has written since his heyday, but others are among his worst or just flat out boring. Terrible lyrics abound and Dave’s vocal performance is lacking.

Scar Symmetry – Dark Matter Dimensions – This is actually a good album, especially musically. It’s disappointing that one of the two replacements for ex-vocalist Christian Alvestam failed to really impress me at all. Maybe I’m just a rabid Alvestam fan, but I couldn’t get into it.

2008 ALBUMS I MISSED OR OVERLOOKED:

Cynic – Traced in Air – I listened to this one 5 or 6 times right after it’s release but it just wasn’t clicking. Almost immediately after posting my year end list everywhere it was like a switch went off when I heard it again at a buddies house and it was suddenly one of my favorite albums of 08. A great piece of work that easily stands up to Focus.

Revocation – Empire of the Obscene – I discovered this one shortly after the first of the year and was instantly a fan. Just a notch below their new, Relapse released album Existence is Futile.

BEST NON-2008/2009 DISCOVERIES:

Naglfar – I’ve known them by name only for some time now, but have long ignored them due to the black metal tag. A friend recently changed that when he had me listen to Pariah, which blew me away. Great band.

Ihsahn – Exact same story as above, except the album was The Adversary.

Deathrow – Decpetion Ignored – When comparisons were made to it about Vektor’s Black Future, I had to investigate. Top shelf prog/tech thrash from Germany is what I got. How did it take this long for me to discover these guys and why haven’t more people been singing their praises?

Liers in Wait – Spiritually Uncontrolled Art – I’ve got to thank the guys on the boards in the Now Playing thread for this one – this is excellent.

FAVORITE SONGS:

Blood Tsunami – “Personal Exorcism”, Dethklok – “Laser Cannon Death Sentence”, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder – “Brainwasher c.1655”, Kreator – “Warcurse”, Between the Buried and Me – “Fossil Genera – A Feed From Cloud Mountain”, Be’lakor – “Countless Skies”, God Dethroned – “Poison Fog”, Slayer – “Public Display of Dismemberment”, Vektor – “Forests of Legend”, Megadeth – “1,320”.

SHANE WOLFENSBERGER

2009 blew the doors wide open and it hasn’t stopped all year. The amount of great shit that I have heard and have yet to hear is astonishing. What a great year for metal. 2010 looks to have a great start as well. Happy New Year!

Best Albums of 2009:

1. Katatonia – Night is the New Day

2. Insomnium – Across the Dark

3. Paradise Lost – Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us

4. Skyfire – Esoteric

5. Ulcerate – Everything is Fire

6. Obscura – Cosmogenesis

7. Be’lakor – Stones Reach

8. Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vetusta II – Dialogue With the Stars

9. Mastodon – Crack the Skye

10. Revocation – Existence is Futile

Honorable Mentions

1. Shrinebuilder – Shrinebuilder

2. Fission– Pain Parade

3. Megadeth – Endgame

4. Behemoth – Evangelion

5. Burnt by the Sun – Heart of Darkness

6. Novembers Doom – Into Nights Requiem Infernal

7. While Heaven Wept – Vast Oceans Lachrymose

8. Augury – Fragmentary Evidence

9. Suidakra – Crogacht

10. Wine from Tears – Through the Eyes of a Mad

SCOTT ALISOGLU

Top Albums of 2009

You have no idea how much I agonize about this list. Keeping track of all the releases throughout the year can be mentally taxing. I review one hell of a lot of albums and listen to a fairly wide variety of metal, which is why I put together a Top 30 with honorable mentions; trust me, it’s only a fraction of the albums I’ve heard. Then there is that whole thing about “best” album versus “favorite” album. Consider an album like Altar of Plagues’ White Tomb. It is an incredible album, but I’ve got to be in a specific mood to listen to it. Is it a better album than, say, Fatalists’ The Depths of Inhumanity? Maybe not, but the fact remains that I’m typically more inclined to throw in the Fatalist disc. What is most important to realize is that there is not a lot of difference between, for example, an album at the number 15 spot versus one at the number 25 spot. It is what it is.

1. Goatwhore – Carving Out the Eyes of God (Metal Blade)

2. Lions Share, Dark Hours (Blistering)

3. Napalm Death, Time Waits for No Slave (Century Media)

4. Slough Feg – Ape Uprising (Cruz Del Sur)

5. Burnt by the Sun – Heart of Darkness (Relapse)

6. Brutal Truth – Evolution Through Revolution (Relapse)

7. Saxon – Into the Labyrinth (SPV)

8. Weapon – Drakonian Paradigm (The Ajna Offensive)

9. Marduk – Wormwood (Regain)

10. Whiplash – Unborn Again (Puverised)

11. The Red Chord – Fed Through the Teeth Machine (Metal Blade)

12. God Forbid – Earthsblood (Century Media)

13. Hypocrisy – A Taste of Extreme Divinity (Nuclear Blast)

14. Acheron – The Final Conflict: Last Days of God (Ibex Moon)

15. Fatalist – The Depths of Inhumanity (Ibex Moon)

16. Lye by Mistake – Fea Jur (Black Market Activities)

17. Goreaphobia – Mortal Repulsion (Ibex Moon)

18. Shadows Fall – Retribution (Everblack Industries)

19. Hirax – El Rostro De La Muerte (Deep Six)

20. Obscura – Cosmogenesis (Relapse)

21. Asphyx – Death…The Brutal Way (Ibex Moon)

22. Ahab – The Divinity of Oceans (Napalm)

23. Dagon – Terraphobic (Bombworks)

24. Mumakil – Behold the Failure (Relapse)

25. Altar of Plagues – White Tomb (Profound Lore)

26. Fistula – Burdened by your Existence (Plague Island)

27. The Company Band – The Company Band (Restricted)

28. Teitanblood – Seven Chalices (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)

29. Impetuous Ritual – Relentless Execution of Ceremonial Excrescence (Profound Lore)

30. 16 – Bridges to Burn (Relapse)

Honorable Mention

Ignivomous – Death Transmutation; Candlemass – Death Magic Doom; General Surgery – Corpus In Extremis; Superchrist – Defenders of the Filth; Fleshgod Apocalypse – Oracles; Crystal Viper – Metal Nation; Demonical – Hellsworn; Bleeding Fist – Bestial Kruzifix666ion; The Chasm – Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm; Hatebreed – Hatebreed; Death Before Dishonor – Better Ways to Die; Suffocation – Blood Oath; Witchmaster – Trücizna; Cage – Science of Annihilation. Ace Frehley – Anomaly

FRED PHILLIPS

Top 10 of 2009

1. Heaven and Hell, The Devil You Know. Call this a fanboy pick if you want, but I’ve continued to return to this record time and time again over the course of the year. I really think the songs here blow away much of the stuff being done by musicians who could be their great-grandchildren.

2. Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Night Castle. Fans waited a long time for this one, and it was worth it. It’s got a good blend of rock and classical, with some of the most metallic moments on any of their records. There are also a couple of Savatage covers thrown in for good measure.

3. Alestorm, Black Sails at Midnight. Alestorm’s second record is just as much fun as their first was, and the music is better.

4. Amorphis, Skyforger. I find myself firmly back in the Amorphis fan fold after this record. To me, it’s easily the best thing they’ve done since “Elegy.”

5. Saint Deamon, Pandeamonium. This was my introduction to Saint Deamon, and I was immediately impressed. It’s got a great blend of heaviness and melody.

6. Megadeth, Endgame. No, it wasn’t “Rust In Peace” part 2, like Mustaine promised, but I didn’t expect it to be. It’s a rock solid record that’s among the best, if not the best they’ve done since the 1980s.

7. Luna Mortis, The Absence. I’d reviewed a record from this band under their former name, Ottoman Empire, but couldn’t remember much about it. The first album as Luna Mortis, though, pretty much blew me away early in the year.

8. Machines of Grace, Machines of Grace. The band features two former Savatage members, and it’s no secret that I’m a Savatage fanboy, but the music has little to do with that band. This is old-fashioned 1970s-style hard rock with a few progressive leanings.

9. Black Water Rising, Black Water Rising. I’m not sure if this record has officially been released yet, but I’ve been digging the promo since April. It’s some of the best straight-up hard rock I’ve heard in a while.

10. Alice in Chains, Black Gives Way to Blue. I didn’t want to like Alice in Chains without Layne Staley, but I do.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

God Forbid, Earthsblood. With more progressive leanings, God Forbid is about the only band from the metalcore movement that remains in my playlist.

Lazarus A.D., The Onslaught. This may be the best band to come out of the neo-thrash movement.

Goatwhore, Carving Out the Eyes of God. I’ve never been a big fan of my hometown boys, but this record impressed me.

Ensiferum, From Afar. The best folk metal I heard this year outside of Alestorm.

Lacuna Coil, Shallow Life. Yeah, it’s incredibly poppy and commercial, but I still liked it.

Favorite songs of the year (in no particular order):

“Bible Black,” Heaven and Hell. The best song they’ve recorded since “Heaven and Hell.”

“Keelhauled,” Alestorm. Just try and resist this melody. It’s impossible.

“Another Way You Can Die,” Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Featuring Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, this is a very metallic, very Savatage-flavored tune. Probably the heaviest in the TSO catalog.

“The Only One Sane,” Saint Deamon. Great riffing, undeniable melody, fantastic song.

“Hold the Heathen Hammer High,” Tyr. I can’t resist the big melody of this tune. I have to crank it every time it comes on.

“Silver Bride,” Amorphis. This song wormed its way into my head within a few days and hasn’t left.

“Six Times Dead (16.6),” Primal Fear. I can’t get enough of the military march chorus of this song.

“A Tap Dancer’s Dilemma,” Diablo Swing Orchestra. A great blend of big band and rock. I wish more of the record were in this vein.

“Floyd,” Lynyrd Skynyrd. The first of two completely non-metal songs on my list. Co-written by John 5, this tune is a great, grooving, creepy hard rocker worth a listen even for hardcore metal fans.

“127 Rose Avenue,” Hank Williams Jr. No metal at all here, but it’s a dark, haunting number that’s easily the best he’s recorded in decades.

“No Halos,” Black Water Rising. Great hook, solid hard rock.

“Last of My Kind,” Alice in Chains. Easily the best song on the new record with a great, raging hard rock chorus.

Most Promising Discoveries of 2009:

White Wizzard. I know I gave them some grief for the spelling of their name and their two-year-old EP which was released by Earache this year, but it did show a lot of promise. I’ve kept up with some of the stuff they’re doing for their official Earache debut “Over the Top,” and I’ve got high hopes for it.

The Sin Committee. Their EP was one of the best sets I’ve heard from an unsigned band lately. I’m interested to see where they go from here.

Biggest Disappointments of 2009:

Tim “Ripper” Owens, Play My Game. I had hoped this record was going to blow me away, but it turns out to be an average hard rock album. Here’s hoping Richard Christy’s Charred Walls of the Damned provides some more inspiring work from Owens.

Lillian Axe, Sad Day on Planet Earth. After a big comeback with Waters Rising, one of the staples of my youth follows it up with a mediocre effort that isn’t helped by poor production values. There are good songs, but it’s an overall disappointment.

Kiss, Sonic Boom. Not that I expected greatness from a new Kiss record, but I expected more than this phoned-in attempt to relive the 1970s.

JUSTIN M NORTON

Best Album: Sunn O))) – Monoliths And Dimensions

Favorite Album: Post Mortem – Message From The Dead

Most overhyped: Suicide Silence

Best album cover: Slough Feg – Ape Uprising

Best festival: Maryland Deathfest

Best compilation: Swedish Death Metal

Best comeback: Asphyx

Best metal purchases: Mystifier, Baphometic Goat Worship vinyl box set (Nuclear War Now Productions); Cripple Bastards Age of Vandalism CD box set (Selfmadegod).

Most bizarre concert experiences: Watching Mortuus of Marduk hip toss a fan who jumped on stage and hugged him; the girl in the front row of Cephalic Carnage who picked up an old cup of what appeared to be whiskey and backwash and chugged it; the “models” making the rounds at MDF who were barely clothed and looked like rejects from a Charles Band b-movie production; any concert without The Faceless in an opening slot; the Repulsion show in New York, held in what appeared to be a converted sweat lodge.

Biggest letdown: 1349 Revelations of the Black Flame

Album I heard way to late but should be included somewhere because it rules: Cobalt, Gin

Band I interviewed this year that I am least likely to listen to: Leaves’ Eyes

Frequent traveler miles: Goatwhore

Favorite new discoveries: White Mice; Wicked King Wicker; Tribulation (Sweden); Sollubi ; Hyadningar

Biggest bummers: Deaths of John McCarthy (Post Mortem) and Lux Interior (The Cramps); demise of the print edition of Metal Maniacs.

Honor roll: The Gates of Slumber, Hymns of Blood and Thunder; Nile, Those Whom The Gods Detest; Napalm Death, Time Waits For No Slave; Goatwhore, Carving Out The Eyes Of God ; Isis, Wavering Radiant; Converge, Axe To Fall; Vreid, Milorg; Deathspell Omega, Chaining The Katechon; Magrudergrind, S/T; Baroness, Blue; Lye By Mistake, Fea Jur; White Mice, Gajahovadose; Wicked King Wicker, Borne Black; Brutal Truth, Evolution Through Revolution

Most anticipated 2010: Pig Destroyer; Cretin; Nachtmystium; Decrepit Birth

JODI MICHAEL

Allow me to preface this list by saying that 2009 was a lazy listening year for me; the birth of my son in February made doing other things (such as checking out new music, sleeping, bathing, holding onto my sanity, etc.) difficult. There are no doubt plenty of releases not yet heard that would make this list had I checked them out. Inevitably, though, I won’t get around to listening to them until 2010 and by that point it will obviously be too late. So fuck it. Lazy as I am, that doesn’t mean these ears were deaf to heavy metal in 2009, and there were quite a few albums that stayed in my head long after they were done playing…those are listed here.

1. Kreator – Hordes of Chaos. One of the most anticipated and most played album of 2009 for me. Not quite as excellent as 2005’s Enemy of God, but impeccable Kreator melodies and great energy made this a stellar album.

2. Ravage – The End of Tomorrow.What can I say? I’m a sucker for melody and a vintage metal feel/sound. This album has got both. Would kick me in the balls if I had some.

3. Mastodon – Crack the Skye.Dreamy, hazy stoner prog that swirled around in my brain and begged to be listened to over and over. Great album to mellow out to, and thought-provoking as well. Even without drugs.

4. Wolf – Ravenous. A melodic exercise in ass-kicking and true metal to the core. I thank the gods of metal for the efforts from these Swedes.

5. Hypocrisy – A Taste of Extreme Divinity.Hypocrisy’s near-legendary style continues to evolve as the years fly by. This one gels the best of the band’s components fluidly.

6. Vader – Necropolis.It’s crunchy, it’s evil, and delicious with sprinkles on top. True Vader, true Polish death metal.

7. Pestilence – Resurrection Macabre. Being a huge Pestilence fan made this another most anticipated release for me. Wasn’t quite what I’d expected, but its combination of brutal groove and classic Pestilence mysticism grabbed me.

8. Blood Tsunami – Grand Feast for Vultures. Thrashing their way through the follow-up to 2007’s aptly titled Thrash Metal, these dudes up the ante here. Great cover art, too.

9. Skeletonwitch – Breathing the Fire. A modern metal monolith with just the right amount of infectious melody and potent ferocity.

10. Bleeding Fist – Bestial Kruzifix666ion. Unholy blackened death from Slovenia. Less on the melodic side than my other selections this year, but no less deserving of a top 10 spot.

Honorable Mentions

Suidakra – Crogacht, Slough Feg – Ape Uprising, Cannibal Corpse – Evisceration Plague, Destroy Destroy Destroy – Battle Sluts, Cauldron – Chained to the Nite, Razormaze – The True Speed of Steel,Crescent Shield – The Stars of Never Seen,Obscura – Cosmogenesis,Dreaming Dead – Within One, Megadeth – Endgame.

Most Entertaining

Steel Panther – Feel the Steel, White Wizzard – High Speed GTO

Worst Album of 2009…and Possibly Ever

Throwdown – Deathless

BENJAMIN DEBLASI

Best of 2009 (top 20)

No discernable order, this year I was spoiled rotten.

Kickback – No Surrender

Earth Crisis – To the Death

Merauder – God is I

Converge – Axe to Fall

Ingested – Surpassing the Boundaries of Human Suffering

Vomit the soul – Apostles of Inexpression

Strength for a Reason – Burden of Hope

Providence – Far Beyond our Depth

Impending Doom – The Serpent Servant

Human Mincer – Degradation Paradox

Devourment – Unleash the Carnivore

Despondency – Revelation IV Nemesis

Cheyenne – Doom Prophets

Embryonic Depravity – Constrained by the Miscarriage of Conquest

Enemy Mind/Line of Scrimmage – Split

The Empire Shall Fall– Awaken

Verdict/Hoy Es el Dia/Shiver – 3 way split

Megadeth – Endgame

Trapped Under Ice – Secrets of the World

Dying Fetus – Descend into Depravity

I must stress that this is limited within what I listen to the most (i.e. hardcore and brutal death metal), the odd man out being Megadeth, which, grew, and grew on me considerably.

If I had got the albums when I had ordered them (still waiting on the new ones by Nile, Red Chord, Immortal, Marduk, Hatebreed, Gorgoroth and quite a few more) then the top 20 would have taken a more eclectic shape.

Best Live Bands

1) Kickback – smashed it at Hellfest, by far one of the most powerful bands I have seen live ever.

2) Terror – saw them 3 times in three different countries, licked it each time.

3) Metallica – 3 times in 2 countries, again, smacked it every time.

4) Between the Buried & Me – Finally, after 7 years of waiting, I got to sample this marvel in the flesh.

5) Arkangel – Belgian masters never fail to get the blood pumping

6) E.Town Concrete – all they had to do was play “End of the rainbow,” they did, I spinkicked so much it would put washing machines to shame.

7) Cold World – licked it in New England.

8) Earth Crisis – would have been higher as the performance was great but the show itself was dismal.

9) Cold Hard Truth – this UK Beatdown monster is going places.

10) Despised Icon – they get tighter every time.

Interests for 2010

Misery Signals – new album/tour please.

Shattered Realm – clarification on status, are you done, alive?

Bulldoze – ditto.

Knuckledust, Ninebar – UKHC in general. The LBU needs to get back on track and dropping more albums and crush all this wimpy shit doing the rounds right now.

Goodlife Recordings – Once the label in Europe is looking to take back it’s crown with some interesting prospects in the pipeline.

Italian Death Metal & Hardcore – Not a bad year for us in 2009, (Vomit the Soul, Septycal Gorge, To Kill, Fleshgod Apocalypse) let’s carry it on in 2010.

Unique Leader – they are dropping 4 new releases in January all of which look spicy, exciting year ahead.

Colonize the rotting – ridiculous tech-death-slam-groove, EP was promising, full length promises to exterminate all.

Vomitous – this Swedish slam monolith is frustratingly slow at getting their act together, LAY OFF THE BONGS!

Cold Hard Truth – Full length is taking shape and promises to wreak havoc on dance floors across Europe.

Japan – Home of a ridiculous amount of amazing bands that are like Vomitous, they take too long to get stuff done, but fortunately Extinguish the Fire, Loyal to the Grave and more look set drop some new material in 2010.

Nuclear Blast – Immolation, Testament, All Shall Perish and a lot more are dropping new albums.

Disgorge – brutal DM legends need to get their groove back on despite the loss of Ben Marlin.

Razorback Records – discovered the brilliance of this label only this year, a purchasing frenzy ensued, 2010 I am sure will be as fruitful.