TeethoftheDivine.com’s Staff picks of 2010
It’s that time of the year again, when it’s time to take a look back at the previous year and figure out what the end score was. And as it is with things over here at Teeth of the Divine, this thing is legen-waitforit-dary…but none the less open to debate. So take part in the fun and post your top 2010 lists too! Without further a due, 12 pages of all things 2010 (and more or less, metal). Enjoy!
JORDAN ITKOWITZ
2010 had more metal than ever to discover and consume, in more genres than ever before. In fact, despite the diversity packed into my list below, there were still whole chunks of the underground I barely even dug into this year – power/progressive metal, tech death, hell, good ol’ fashioned heavy metal. I honestly don’t know how anyone can possibly keep up with all of it, but damn if we aren’t lucky to have such a problem.
1. Iron Thrones – The Wretched Sun. This unsigned miracle came out of nowhere and kicked my ass, over and over, with its churning blend of sludge, post-rock and gorgeous Opethian dynamics. I was bummed about the breakup of Burst in ’09 and Isis this year, but Iron Thrones instantly made up for all that.
2. Agalloch – Marrow of the Spirit. After drifting further away from their black metal roots over the past decade, Agalloch came charging out of the Northwestern forests with some of their harshest, most aggressive and most ‘metal’ moments yet – and also some of their most hypnotic. I’ve always been a big fan of this band, but Marrow of the Spirit truly took me by surprise, each listen pulling me deeper and deeper into its unique and haunting landscapes.
3. Dimmu Borgir – Abrahadabra. Soaring choirs, lush orchestration, outlandish costumes, plus the band’s well-honed blend of jackhammer rhythms, tasty riffs and catchy, accessible songwriting. Abrahadabra is all about excess, and who cares if it’s black metal or not – it’s definitely metal, and entertaining as hell.
4. Enslaved – Axioma Ethica Odini. After the gauzier Vertebrae, the aggression and rawness returned with Ethica Odini – but without sacrificing any of the psychedelic bloom in the process. A few less-than-engaging tracks and an uglier stance in general made this less captivating for me than Ruun or Isa, but it’s still a stellar release from an amazing band.
5. Ihsahn – After. Finally, Ihsahn’s post-Emperor ambitions were matched with compelling songwriting and a unique hook that felt inspired and not just pompous. The rippling saxophone wasn’t the real marvel here, though – it was the cohesive, thoughtful and balanced construction of the entire experience.
6. Front Line Assembly – Improvised. Electronic. Device. Yeah, it’s not technically metal, but it is FLA’s most metallic album since their classic Sepultura/Pantera–sampling Millennium, and one of the most propulsive releases of the year.
7. Ghost – Opus Eponymous. The Satanic stance may be a cheeky gimmick, but these guys write great songs that I couldn’t stop listening to, with just enough doomy swagger to balance out their sugary hooks. The Devil has risen, and he’s got a hell of an ear for melody.
8. Les Discrets – Septembre et ses dernieres Pensees. I had initially slotted Alcest in here, but after giving both albums another listen, I’ve decided that this is the superior experience. It may lack Ecailles de Lune’s ferocious (and sadly few) black metal moments, but it also doesn’t have that album’s more cloying moments either. Instead, Septembre was just wonderfully lovely, serene and haunting throughout. Fantastic cover art too.
9. Nattsol – Stemning. I heard a lot of black metal this year, much of it great, but not much felt as timeless, cleanly crafted and as fluidly entertaining as this tiny little Bergtatt-ian release. An excellent debut.
10. Barren Earth – Curse of the Red River. No new Opeth release in 2010, and only a collection of re-recordings from Amorphis (though an admittedly great one), but this mammoth release handily filled the progressive death/doom gap anyhow. Monstrous vocals, sweet harmonies, unpredictable proggy songwriting – what else would you expect from a Finnish supergroup?
11. Martriden – Encounter the Monolith.
12. Kruger – For Death, Glory and the End of the World.
13. Alcest – Ecailles de Lune.
14. Fear Factory – Mechanize.
15. Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier.
16. Negura Bunget – Vîrstele Pamîntului.
17. Weapon – From the Devil’s Tomb.
18. Twilight – Monument to Time End.
19. Nachtmystium – Addicts: Black Meddle Part II.
20. Decrepit Birth – Polarity.
21. Sorgeldom – Inner Receivings.
22. The Sword – Warp Riders.
23. Kylesa – Spiral Shadow.
24. Blut Aus Nord – What Once Was… Liber I.
25. Winterfylleth – The Mercian Sphere.
Best 2009 Albums I Didn’t Hear Until 2010:
Johann Wolfgang Pozoj – Escape of Pozoj.
Scythian – To Those Who Stand Against Us.
The Morningside – Moving Crosscurrent of Time.
Best Comebacks:
Fear Factory
Soilwork
Most Addictive Songs of 2010:
1. Ghost – “Ritual”
2. Dimmu Borgir – “Born Treacherous”
3. Whispered – “Faceless”
4. Soilwork – “Two Lives Worth of Reckoning”
5. Fear Factory – “Powershifter”
Albums I Expected to Play More Often in 2010, But Didn’t For Some Reason:
Ludicra – The Tenant.
Nevermore – The Obsidian Conspiracy.
Arsis – Starve for the Devil.
In Mourning – Monolith.
Album I’m Still Trying to Decipher:
Deathspell Omega – Paracletus.
Find more articles with: 2010, Blog, Staff Picks
Another amazing year for heavy music, another year of thoughtful, well-written reviews, captivating discussions, and excellent overall journalism. I have been a religious reader of TOTD for a long time, (since well before it was TOTD in fact), and this is actually the first time I have commented, replied, posted anything. I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, thank you, FUCKING THANK YOU to all of the staff. Thank you from the darkest corner of my heart for your diligent and relentless pursuit of the music that I love. Without you, I would be lost.
on Jan 10th, 2011 at 15:32Thanks to TOTD for another year of excellent metal reviews.
Nice lists – some stuff in there I haven’t yet heard and, by the sounds of it, will need to.
Just to add my two cents, here are the albums which didn’t appear on any of the TOTD lists, but which I had in my best-of:
Adversarial – All Idols Fall Before The Hammer
Ascension – Consolamentum
Bloody Sign – Chaos Echoes
Diocletian – War Of All Against All
Galar – Til Alle Heimsens Endar
Immolation – Majesty And Decay
Svart Crown – Witnessing The Fall
Witchrist – Beheaded Ouroborus
Looking forward to the rest of 2011!
on Jan 10th, 2011 at 18:27Thumbs up to Larry’s list. Actually contains metal bands I’ve heard of. Really shocked but surprised at the mention of Lyzanxia and Universum (considering it was self-released towards the end of December). Also agreed on the Arsis and The Crown picks — compared to Deathrace King, Doomsday King was just a load of poorly produced uninspired crap.
on Jan 10th, 2011 at 20:49Thanks again TOTD for another year ful of great reviews and helping steer some of us who are out of the loop in the right diretion for good music. The only thing I thought this list was mising was probably the greatest release of 2010 and that is Enslaved’s “Axioma Ethica Odini”, a MASTERPIECE which cannot be surpassed.
on Jan 11th, 2011 at 18:39I’ve been going through the lists and it’s really interesting how varied they are, in fact some people have listed as their favorites albums that other have listed as disappointments. Frankly I’m surprised that everyone hated Ozzy’s new one so much, I thought it was over a billion times better than his last few. I honestly like every song on there except “Let it Die”. Maybe I’m in a weird niche or something.
To Benjamin, I saw that you had Blood Calls We Die on your list and I have been looking for their album EVERYWHERE to no avail. I couldn’t even find a place to buy it other than some Japanese site. Where or how did you get this tape??? I gotta have it!
on Jan 12th, 2011 at 01:55Thanks for listing Metazoa. Sorry we didn’t get it out to you sooner! :-)
on Jan 13th, 2011 at 22:14Krustster, I’ll put you in touch with the label guru, give me a shout at – bsdeblasi@gmail.com.
on Jan 15th, 2011 at 00:12