Jordan Itkowitz

Once again, there was just waaaaaay too much metal to get through this year. And once again, my voracious appetite and varied tastes just make the job harder. I’ll check out just about anything, which is why you’ll find melodic death, power metal, progressive metal, technical death metal, sludge, doom/death and black metal all cozied up next to each other on my list.

I think I like this top 20 better than any year in recent memory. So much good stuff, I’m not ready to move on to 2014 yet.

1. Soilwork – The Living Infinite (Nuclear Blast). This incredible double album has been perched atop my year-end list since February. Explosive energy and speed, virtuoso musicianship, massive singalong hooks and some of the most excellent and polished songwriting in the history of the entire melodic death genre. Instant classic.

2. Cult of Luna – Vertikal (Density Records). Yes, this came out late last year, but it was so awe-inspiring that I knew I had to save it for the top of this year’s list. Like its inspiration, the 1927 silent film Metropolis, Vertikal is monolithic and labyrinthine. Its intricate, atmospheric, and gorgeous post-metal soundscapes take these massive songs and compress them down into fleeting dreams.

3. Vhöl – Vhöl (Profound Lore). The supergroup of the year, with members of Ludicra, Yob, and Hammers of Misfortune playing a ferocious, retro/modern, and genre-defying mix of black metal, thrash and sludge, delivered with chest-thumping, yowling heavy metal bravado.

4. Cult of Fire – मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान (Iron Bonehead Productions). Last year, these Czech mystics exploded onto my year-end list with the epic and arresting Triumvirat. Less than a year later, they return with another masterpiece of raw Eastern black metal, hypnotic atmosphere and now, Indian-inspired psychedelia. Mark my words, a few more albums like these two and Cult of Fire will be held in the same high regard as genre-transcending visionaries like Emperor and Akercocke.

5. Ade – Spartacus (Blast Head Records). An unstoppable phalanx of Roman-inspired symphonic/technical death that isn’t just more focused and murderous than the new (and comically overcooked) Fleshgod Apocalypse, it also destroys the last Nile album as well. Amazingly epic, melodic and cinematic.

6. Stratovarius – Nemesis (Edel AG). Start to finish, one of the most consistently exciting, darkly aggressive and well-written power metal albums I’ve heard in a long time. Gloriously addictive songs from masters of the genre.

7. Enshine – Origin (Rain Without End Records). Like many melodic death/doom fans, I have been lamenting the demise of Finland’s Slumber since 2004. I was also disappointed by their partial rebirth with last year’s overwrought AtomA. This is a much more pure and majestic return to form, so much so that it sounds like a direct sequel to Fallout. Gorgeous leads and ethereal atmosphere and synths.

8. Carcass – Surgical Steel (Nuclear Blast). Like most of you, I never thought I’d hear another Carcass album again, let alone one as pristine, groovy, brutal and flamboyant as Heartwork. Jawdroppers like “Unfit for Human Consumption” or “Noncompliance to ASTM-F 899-12 Standard” made this worth the (two decades!) wait. Best metal comeback in years.

9. Ghost – Infestissumam (Loma Vista Recordings). I wasn’t completely entranced when I reviewed this album earlier this year, but surprise surprise, it’s been a steady player all year. Its inspired combination of retro-doom shtick, pounding swagger and ballsy, innovative incorporations like surf rock and ABBA-like ballads (“Ghuleh/Zombie Queen,” amazing) never fail to put a smile on my skull. It also boasts one of my favorite songs of the year, “Year Zero.” I can’t wait to see what they do for album #3.

10. Orchid – The Mouths of Madness (Nuclear Blast). In a year that finally saw Black Sabbath return with a very good album (13), these acolytes rose up to slay their masters with snarling swagger and killer songwriting. Worship or no, I think The Mouths of Madness is the best Sabbath album since Heaven and Hell.

11. Tribulation – The Formulas of Death (Invictus Productions). Thrashy, filthy and sometimes groovy death metal with surprisingly psychedelic songwriting. At times, it sounds like the cross-genre successor to Dissection’s melodic black/death metal classic Storm of the Light’s Bane, at other times I get Opeth-style atmospherics. More restless and unpredictable than you’d expect from an album with the word ‘formulas’ in its name.

12. Cerekloth – In the Midst of Life We are Death (Hells Headbangers). Denmark’s Cerekloth infuses old-school death metal rumble with blackened malevolence, unsettling drone and towering doom. The songwriting is concise yet expansive, and is so good all the way through that the album is done before you know it. Really satisfying.

13. Fractal Gates – Beyond the Self (Great Dane Records). Another monstrous eruption of melodic death/doom with tragic leads, cavernous vocals and a pummelling rhythm attack. Enshine’s release tore at my heartstrings more, so it’s higher on the list, but this is still excellent stuff for fans of Slumber, Rapture, Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum. It also boasts one of the year’s most unexpected and awesome covers: “Mighty Wings,” originally recorded by Cheap Trick for the Top Gun soundtrack.

14. Chthonic – Bu-Tik (Spinefarm). I always wrote Chthonic off as the Taiwanese Cradle of Filth, but I’m glad I returned for another listen. Bu-Tik blew me away with its mix of speedy symphonic black metal, uniquely Asian melodies and well-paced songwriting. Highly recommended to fans of Dimmu Borgir, Stormlord and Anorexia Nervosa.

15. Aether Realm – One Chosen by the Gods (Independent). One of the luckiest finds of the year (thanks Harley!). Combines Ensiferum’s sense of drama and heroics with the showy, speedy fireworks of early (good) Children of Bodom. They’re from North Carolina, not Finland, but damn if this isn’t still a terrific and hugely entertaining Viking-themed melodeath album.

16. James LaBrie – Impermanent Resonance (Inside Out Music). I never would have expected James LaBrie to moonlight with melodeath during his time off from Dream Theater. His sparkling vocals plus Peter Wichers’ addictive hooks (and an EMP attack of technocore synths) made for one of my year’s most undeniable pleasures. If you’re a melody whore like me, you can’t deny ear candy like “Undertow” or “Back on the Ground.”

17. Riverside – Shrine of New Generation Slaves (Inside Out Music). Finally, Polish progressive act Riverside returns with a worthy follow-up to their 2007 masterpiece Rapid Eye Movement. Lovely melodies, dreamy prog interludes and Mariusz Duda’s silky croon. Fans of Porcupine Tree, Anathema, Tool, Opeth and Pink Floyd shouldn’t miss this.

18. Omnium Gatherum – Beyond (Lifeforce Records). Pink Floyd is still apparently alive and well and living in Finland, where they now play godly melodic death/doom like this album.  Stunning leads and melodies, lovely cleans (which sound at times like Peter Gabriel), plus a cover of Rush‘s “Subdivisions.”

19. Entropia – Vesper (Independent). While the rest of my metal colleagues have been praising the new Deafheaven to the, well, you know, they’ve somehow missed out on this brilliant, melancholy, fragile, haunting, and far less tedious mix of black metal, shoegaze and doom. Their loss.

20. Twilight of the Gods – Fire on the Mountain (Season of Mist). I must admit, I’m not used to hearing Primordial’s A.A. Nemtheanga sing with so much upbeat and heroic gusto, but he’s an inspired and exciting fit for these anthems of flat-out awesome traditional heavy metal. Ronnie James Dio would have loved this.

More Good Stuff
In Solitude – Sister (Metal Blade)
Code – Augur Nox (Code666)
Noctum – Final Sacrifice (Metal Blade)
Kvelertak – Meir (Roadrunner)
Artlantica – Across the Seven Seas (Steamhammer)
Lord Dying – Summon the Faithless (Relapse)
Disfiguring the Goddess – Deprive (Independent)
Black Sabbath – 13 (Vertigo Records)
Necrowretch – Putrid Death Sorcery (Century Media)
Feared – Furor Incarnatus (Independent)

Best EPs
Bölzer – Aura (Iron Bonehead Productions)
Jess and the Ancient Ones – Astral Sabbat (Svart Records)
Cult of Luna – Vertikal II (Density Records)

Biggest Disappointments
1. The Devil’s Blood breaking up. One of my favorite bands of the last 5 years, and one of the best of the new crop of occult/retro acts. They burned brightly and brilliantly, and then, in the spirit of 70s Satanic showmanship, disappeared in a puff of smoke.

2. The Devil’s Blood – III: Tabula Rasa or Death and the Seven Pillars (Metal Blade). If the break-up wasn’t bad enough, this turgid, bloated and utterly boring final release was the final twist of the sacrificial dagger. It was barely finished and likely rushed out to fulfill a contractual obligation, but that was just desecrating the corpse. This was so disappointing that I never finished my negative review of the album, preferring to just let The Devil’s Blood rest in peace.

3. Fleshgod Apocalypse – Labyrinth (Nuclear Blast). Agony was my #2 album of 2011. I loved its insane, audacious, and opulent sound, but this one piled on so much excess (and horribly keening clean vocals) it couldn’t help but topple into self-destructive cacophony. Just ridiculous.

4. Witherscape – The Inheritance (Century Media). Dan Swano finally delivers a spiritual successor to Moontower and Crimson, and then drowns it in overdone cleans.

5. Amorphis – Circle (Nuclear Blast). After the triumphant peaks of Skyforger several years ago, the last two albums have seemed too rote and formulaic. This one had a nifty Riverdance-style number which I played for a few weeks, but I forgot about the rest of the album within the month.

Overrated
Deafheaven – Sunbather (Deathwish Inc). Nails the blackgaze sound better than almost any other band so far, but the overlong songs are just one triumphant, heart-rending, keening crescendo after another. Tiresome.

Altar of Plagues – Teethed Glory and Injury (Profound Lore). Man, I am getting so tired of this deconstructed, post-black hipster blah. I keep trying to get it, but I do not understand the love for this album at all.

Portal – Vexovoid (Profound Lore). Yeah, it’s weird, unsettling, creepy, discordant, blah blah blah. So is Aevangelist. So is pretty much every release from The Ruins of Beverast, or Blut Aus Nord’s entire Liber cycle, which quietly ended this year and is getting zero recognition. I dunno. Mood is great and all but I like songs and structure too much to spend more time with this.

Best Album Art
Vasaeleth – All Uproarious Darkness (Profound Lore)
Cult of Luna – Vertikal (Density Records)
Riverside – Shrines of New Generation Slaves (Inside Out Music)
Vhöl – Vhöl (Profound Lore)
Kauan – Pirut (Blood Music)
Oranssi Pazuzu – Valonielu (Svart Records)
Craven Idol – Towards Eschaton (Dark Descent)
Cosmic Church – Ylistys (Kuunpalvelus)

Funniest Release
Christopher Lee – A Heavy Metal Christmas (Charlemagne Productions). It’s awesome. No, really.

Gives Me the Chills Every Time I Hear It
“Luoto,” the opening track on Omnium Gatherum‘s Beyond

Best Late 2013 Listens (aka My Colleagues Have Great Taste)
Soul Remnants – Black and Blood (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions)
Agrimonia – Rites of Separation (Southern Lord)
Immortal Bird – Akrasia (Independent)
Age of Taurus – Desperate Souls of Tortured Times (Rise Above Records)
Void of Sleep – Tales Between Reality and Madness (Aural Music)

Sorry I Missed These Releases in 2012
Cattle Decapitation – Monolith of Inhumanity (Metal Blade)
Ex Deo – Caligvla (Napalm Records)
Pyuria – Incarnadine Revelry (Violent Journey)
Psilocybe Larvae – The Labyrinth of Penumbra (Buil2kill Records)
The Forsaken – Beyond Redemption (Massacre Records)
Herfst – The Deathcult Part I: An Oath in Darkness (Independent)

Looking Forward to in 2014
Bölzer – Soma (Iron Bonehead Productions)
Benighted – Carnivore Sublime (Season of Mist)
Alcest – Shelter (Prophecy Productions)
Mithras – On Strange Loops (Willowtip)
Woods of Desolation – As the Stars (Northern Silence Productions)
Grand Magus – Triumph and Power (Nuclear Blast)
Ered Wethrin – Tides of War (Northern Silence Productions)
Hail Spirit Noir – Oi Magoi (Code666)
plus new albums from Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Mastodon, Tempel, Scar Symmetry, Cattle Decapitation, Insomnium and Iron Maiden