JD Anderson

This list is more of a summary of what happened to grab my attention, not really a “best of” by any means. There are still a ton of things on my “to listen” list that I haven’t gotten around to. I was overwhelmed with the quality of music this year, and here is the part of the surface I was able to scratch, in no particular order.

Aosoth – IV: An Arrow In Heart. As horrific as its predecessor, III, with just a dash more death metal influence thrown in. This was one beastly album. If I were forced to choose a single album as the best of the year, this would probably be it.

Agrimonia – Rites of Separation. This album represents all that is great about metal. They seem to have an unending supply of crunchy, varied riffs, and the songwriting skills to stitch it all together. Absolutely fantastic album.

Ulcerate – Vermis. The logical conclusion of the last pair of albums from this New Zealand force. Unrelentingly brutal, with an atmosphere to match, making it one of the heaviest records created by any band, ever.

Vattnet Viskar – Sky Swallower. Using Cascadian black metal as a starting point, and incorporating elements of doom metal, post-rock and ambient, Vattnet Viskar isn’t so much reinventing its niche genre as it is stripping it down to its bare elements and bringing out all that is beautiful and ugly about it in their own unique way.

Anagnorisis – Beyond All Light. Proudly flying the flag of Satanic USBM, this album provides a contrast to all the Deafheavens and Liturgies of the country with churning, abrasive Anaal Nathrakh-styled blackened death metal, technical drumming and razor-sharp riffs, tempered with soul-rending emotionality. The album is not without its imperfections, but the strength of the first track alone pulled me in instantly. The cavernous production also gives this band the weight it needs to be truly successful with its compositions. The band has a strong melodic sensibility but uses it to give their music a dark, creepy flavor that a lot of USBM bands miss.

Fyrnask – Eldir Nótt. You’ve heard this kind of hypnotic black metal before, yet one-man project Fyrnask manages to make it sound fresh. Traditional instrumentation and subtle keyboard atmospherics blend seamlessly with blistering, melancholy temolo and blastbeat attacks. Many of the songs take unexpected turns, but the result is strangely satisfying.

Cult of Luna – Vertikal. I’ve always enjoyed Cult of Luna even though they seemed clearly derivative of other sludge-metal bands, especially Isis. On this album, however, they have stepped up the use of synthesizers, which were always subtly present, lending this album a more claustrophobic, soundtrack-type atmosphere (and some of which are clearly referential to Vangelis‘ Blade Runner music). This album is their darkest, but also their most refined. These changes are welcome, and serve as a kind of counterpoint to the recent 80s synthpop revival, and also finally set Cult of Luna apart as their own entity. They have finally come into a sound that is uniquely theirs, while still evidencing their Isis/Neurosis lineage.

Terra Tenebrosa – The Purging. Heavier and more disturbing than the first to my ears, there are also more distinct echoes of the band’s past as members of seminal hardcore group Breach. This music is so strange, so creative, so disturbing, that I can’t help but wonder if, like the music of Breach, it will be looked back upon as years ahead of its time. It plays like heavy post-hardcore that exists in the same level of hell as avant-garde death metal like Portal and the new fucked up French bands (Blut Aus Nord, Aosoth, etc.)

Vasaeleth – All Uproarious Darkness. Brutal death metal with cavernous production reminiscent of diSEMBOWELMENT and newer, similar death metal acts Impetuous Ritual and Mitochondrion. Where Ulcerate is concerned with nothing but the future of death metal, Vasaeleth looks back to classic bands like Immolation, painting with darker, heavier strokes from the same brush. This is the way death metal should be: dark, disturbing, fast, and filthy.

Rorcal – Vilagvege. Punishingly bleak sludge metal with overwhelming atmosphere. This outfit has been making music like this for a long time, and it’s a shame they aren’t getting more press. But on the other hand, I can understand it; their music is almost as inaccessible as it is uncompromising.

Dead in the Dirt – The Blind Hole. These vegan grinders sound so pissed off, it’s hard to imagine where they get all the energy without animal-derived sources of protein to supply it. Plenty of crusty breakdowns a la Rotten Sound add variety to the onslaught.

Lorn – Subconscious Metamorphosis. I maintain what I originally said in my review for this album: it may not be as original as the seminal works of the French third-wave bands, but Subconscious Metamorphosis is a truly creative album. The effect of the tracks is cumulative; the album must be listened to as a whole. It is a dark, compelling journey into an unfamiliar, hostile dimension.

Others I found noteworthy:
Carcass – Surgical Steel
Gorguts – Colored Sands
Exhumed – Necrocracy
Svart Crown – Profane
The Amenta – Flesh is Heir
Year of No Light – Tocsin
Carne – Ville Morgue
Celeste – Animale(s)
Lychgate – Lychgate
Lord Dying – Summon the Faithless
Hope Drone – Hope Drone (EP)
Oranssi Pazuzu – Valonielu
Vukari – Matriarch
Lycus – Tempest
Skeletonwitch – Serpents Unleashed

Non-metal Shout-outs:

Sigur Ros – Kveikur. A lot of non-metal reviewers commented on how “heavy” this album is. While readers of this site will obviously scoff at such a hyperbolic label, Kveikur is much heavier and darker than Sigur Ros’ past material. But it’s also their most accessible, most songs following standard pop structures rather than linear post-rock compositions. “Hrafntinna” is probably the most beautiful piece of music recorded this year, and alone is worth the price of admission. Thankfully, there are other gems here as well.

The National – Trouble Will Find Me. For me, The National’s music, while great, is not the main draw. The lyrics of this band touch on everything that is difficult about living adulthood in our current age. Not all of the lyrics are great, but there are so many standout lines. I identify so distinctly with words like, “” and “When I walk into a room, I do not light it up. / Fuck.” The experience of adulthood is ultimately tragic, and The National have captured it for the second time in their follow-up to High Violet.

The Haxan Cloak – Excavation. The terrifying ambient soundtrack to your most disturbing nightmares. Difficult to listen to all the way through at one sitting. This album rewards patience, but the “reward” might be terminal depression.

True Widow – Circumambulation. What little press this album received was positive, and piqued my interest. After investigating this band and their discography, I ended up considering this album outshined by other efforts, especially the eponymous debut from 2008. Their sound explores a completely uncharted area between “slowcore”/shoegazing, male/female bands like Low and The Rosebuds, and somewhat bluesy doom-rock like a stripped-down Black Sabbath. Worth a look if that sounds even remotely interesting to you.

Ulver – Messe I.X-IV.X. As always, Ulver provides a challenging, unique release. Ditching many of the electronic touches that graced their previous albums, Messe is a dark reflection that centers on orchestration. It’s in a similar vein as Shadows of the Sun, but more austere.

Disappointments:

Deafheaven – Sunbather. There are many bands that have played these kinds of shoe-gazing harmonies better (My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai, Smashing Pumpkins, etc) and bands that have blended them with black metal more effectively (Alcest, Wolves in the Throne Room, Amesoeurs, Woods of Desolation…and so many more). I don’t hate this album, I guess, but I honestly don’t understand the hype. And I usually really enjoy metalgaze or whatever you want to call it. The songs on this album sound really disjointed to me. Roads to Judah was better.

Windhand – Soma. I enjoyed their previous album, but this one was too repetitive in a bad way. Very underwhelming.

Altar of Plagues – Teethed Glory and Injury. Shortly after releasing this album, A.O.P. declared their disbandment. It’s unfortunate, because they showed so much promise on their first two LPs and handful of EPs. Teethed Glory and Injury found them experimenting dramatically with shorter song structures, more dissonance, and some industrial-type sounds. Although they could have worked, the new additions unfortunately didn’t serve any concrete purpose to the music, and it came off as structurally weak. The album ended up terribly disengaging. However, given the strength of their past material, it made sense that they were due for a swing and a miss. It’s unfortunate that they are no longer continuing the project, integrating their new ideas more successfully into the black metal paradigm at some point in the future.