Luke Saunders

During my first full year writing for Teeth of the Divine I’ve chewed through more metal releases in a calendar year than ever before. The constant flood of quality releases across the metal spectrum made the choice of narrowing down my favorite releases a particularly daunting though enjoyable task. Inevitably, amidst the slew of top notch albums there were some misses and disappointments, and plenty of albums that I didn’t get around to hearing. But when crunch time arrived, and after much deliberation and deep thought, the following list represents the albums that pushed the hardest and maintained the rage.

Lastly, I’d like to give a warm and hearty shout-out to my fellow scribes here at Teeth of the Divine for giving me the heads-up on some killer bands/albums and offering a range of different perspectives and quality writing across the board…And to all the hardworking and inspiring metal artists, labels and producers for delivering the goods yet again this year. This is an awesome gig and 2013 has been another huge year for fans of heavy and extreme music. Bring on 2014! Cheers.

1. Carcass – Surgical Steel (Nuclear Blast Records). Yeah an obvious choice, but a justifiable one nonetheless. Even after the initial giddy rush of excitement subsided, Surgical Steel proceeded to kick my ass again and again. Carcass version 2.0 came back inspired and rejuvenated, armed with a slick and robust modern sheen, using Heartwork and Necroticism as reference points to thrash and shred their way to glory.

2. The Ocean – Pelagial (Metal Blade). Pelagial is a highly ambitious and masterfully executed prog metal opus, ebbing and flowing with rich textures and smart dynamics embedded into a meticulously arranged concept based on the oceanic depth zones. Frontman Loïc Rossetti delivered one of the best vocal performances of the year.

3. Void of Sleep – Tales Between Reality and Madness (Aural Music). I had the pleasure of reviewing the promo for this album at the tail-end of 2012, prior to its January release. The sludge/doom/stoner combo, coupled with proggy, angular rock, resulted in an addictive and stylish album that demanded my attention throughout the year.

4. Secrets of the Sky – To Sail Black Waters (Kolony Records). Rarely is a debut album as assured, accomplished and gripping as this first offering from the up and coming Oakland sextet. Secrets of the Sky seemingly rose from nowhere with a fresh sound rooted in progressive doom and embellished with post-metal atmospherics and a decidedly blackened sheen.

5. Inquisition – Obscure Verses For The Multiverse (Season of Mist). My first exposure with Inquisition saw me lured in time and time again like a gullible fish. The experienced duo delivered superbly executed, riff-driven black metal; with the catchy, off-kilter riffs, dense blasting and bizarre demonic croaks forming a strange yet compelling combination.

6. Suffocation – Pinnacle of Bedlam (Nuclear Blast Records). After the lacklustre Blood Oath I had begun to think Suffocation’s best days were well behind them. Pinnacle of Bedlam crushed that notion with a brutally proficient barrage of trademark tech-death, which found the band rediscovering their songwriting mojo with devastating results.

7. Gorguts – Colored Sands (Season of Mist). Refusing to be overshadowed by the hype generated by the Carcass comeback, Canada’s finest made their long-awaited return with a typically mind-bending album of supreme technical and compositional skill. A challenging and rewarding listen.

8. In Solitude – Sister (Metal Blade). Sister’s doomy, gloomy tone is offset by ample moments of uptempo heavy metal swagger and highly addictive anthems. This album was a real grower for me and one of the flat-out catchiest releases of the year.

9. Aosoth – IV: An Arrow In Heart (Agonia Records). A hate-filled, grimy dose of blackened artistry, seething with malevolence and featuring a robust exterior courtesy of the killer production job. An unhinged and absorbing listening experience.

10. Satan – Life Sentence (Listenable Records). If there was ever a style outside my comfort zone, the NWOBHM movement would be up there with my least investigated genres in the metal realm. These German veterans returned from the wilderness with a cracking album that changed my tune (atleast for this album), combining the aforementioned style with some super catchy melodic speed metal for a thrilling old school metal experience.

11. Arsis – Unwelcome (Nuclear Blast Records). Arsis went from underground darlings with an astonishing debut under their belt, to an inconsistent and divisive unit as their career plodded along.Unwelcome rights the balance and is a blistering return to form that finds James Malone and co sandblasting away the weaker moments from Starve for the Devil to reveal their most inspired songwriting since A Celebration of Guilt. 

12. SubRosa – More Constant Than the Gods (Profound Lore). Opening epic, titled “The Usher”, was the most heart-wrenching, soul crushing piece of music of the year. Drenched in darkness and sorrow, the rest of the album followed suit; dense, plodding doom backed by dreary soundscapes, addictive melodies, and mournful violins. Probably would have cracked my top 10 with a bit more appreciation time.

13. Sacriphyx – The Western Front (Nuclear War Now! Productions). Gruff and soulful, raw yet melodic, the Australian duo cashed-in on their earlier promise with a long awaited yet unsung debut of unquestionable high quality. With a heartfelt lyrical concept based around famous Australian battles of war, The Western Front is a rugged, organic death metal beast.

14. Entrails – Raging Death (Metal Blade Records). Entrails keep moving from strength to strength. Raging Death is arguably their strongest album to date and one of the best examples of the old school, Swedish death formula post-millennium. Heavy-as-fuck, catchy, and armed with a divine guitar tone.

15. Byzantine – Byzantine (Overkill). Byzantine came back from the dead to release an album of elastic songcraft and high-octane energy. Ample doses of groove, thrash and melody, coupled with some killer techy elements and sublime soloing, capped-off an incredibly catchy and entertaining album.

16. Age of Taurus – Desperate Souls of Tortured Times (Rise Above Records). A momentous slab of modern doom steeped in traditional values, this debut from the UK young guns proved to be one of the shining diamonds in a quiet-ish year on the doom front. Massive riffs, compelling melodies, and a sturdy upbeat cadence dominated an album of depth and maturity.

17. Vhol – Vhol (Profound Lore). Featuring an all-star line-up, Vhol ‘s debut delivered a blistering speedball of blackened, thrashy fury with a distinctive, otherworldly vibe, and yet more sublime vocal manipulations from Mike Scheidt.

18. Soul Remnants – Black and Blood (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions). A surprise packet, this impressive sophomore album from the unsung Boston crew hit a real sweet spot. Atop an old school Floridian death metal influence the band deftly injects thrash, black metal, tech and melodic death elements without sounding disjointed. Backed by memorable songwriting and hefty modern production, Black and Blood shreds from start to finish.

19. Exhumed – Necrocracy (Relapse Records). The gore metal veterans are still firing on all cylinders. Putting their own distinct spin on Necroticism/Heartwork-era Carcass, the old school heavyweights hit the ground running with their catchiest and flat-out best collection of tunes yet.

20. Revocation – Revocation (Relapse Records). This band can do little wrong in my eyes. Album number 4 is another lean, compact thrasher with all the techy goodness and shredding action I’ve come to expect.

21. Vreid – Welcome farewell (Indie Recordings). Vreid’s continued path away from their frosty black metal roots will no doubt have some purists up in arms. For the rest of us, thrashy black ‘n’ roll with muscular production and addictive hooks created an absorbing headbanger of an album that was a blast to listen to.

22. Man Must Die – Peace Was Never An Option (Lifeforce Records). Another comeback album of sorts, and career-defining moment. Scotland’s tech-death/thrash/grind heavyweights channeled their hardships into an explosive cocktail of extreme sounds and memorable songwriting.

23. Darkthrone – The Underground Resistance (Peaceville). I’ve never been a big Darkthrone fan, aside from the ownership of a couple of their earlier classics. But something about this album struck a chord and kept enticing me back for more. Memorable songwriting bookended galloping heavy metal anthems, each delivered with blackened, punkish attitude.

24. Katalepsy – Autopsychosis (Unique Leader). Brutal death metal done right. A finely honed balance of technicality, guttural explosions, and slamming groove.

25. Wormed – Exodromos (Willowtip Records). Forget their overrated debut, this is a true exhibition of what this long running Spanish outfit are capable of. 10 years between albums only served to rejuvenate the band – honing their attack into the dense, guttural and futuristic tech-death juggernaut of Exodromos.

Honorable Mentions: Deafheaven – Sunbather. Cerekloth – In the Midst of Life We Are In Death. Ulcerate – Vermis. Nails – Abandon All Life. Antigama – Meteor. Skeletonwitch – Serpents Unleashed. Craven Idol – Towards Eschaton. Church of Misery – Thy Kingdom Scum.

Top-notch albums I didn’t get to fully absorb: Cult of Luna – Vertikal. Altars of Plagues –Teethed Glory & Injury. Lycus – Tempest. Oranssi Pazuzu – Valonielu. Magic Circle – Magic Circle.

Best EP(s): Bolzer– Aura, Enabler – Flies. Grayceon – Pearl & The End of Days.

Surprise Packets (Albums that exceeded modest expectations): Soilwork – The Living Infinite. Black Sabbath – 13. The Black Dahlia Murder – Everblack. The Dillinger Escape Plan – One Of Us Is The Killer.

Best Reissue:  – Catharsis (Profound Lore) (a welcome tune-up & artwork overhaul for this modern doom masterpiece).

Top Picks (Non-metal variety): Clutch – Earth Rocker. Queens of the Stone Age – …Like Clockwork. Vista Chino – Peace. Chelsea Wolfe – Pain is Beauty. Purson – The Circle and the Blue Door. Steven Wilson – The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories).

Underrated: Mephistopheles – Sounds of the End (Quirky tech-death that arrived with little fanfare and punched above its weight).

Overrated: Fleshgod Apocalypse – Labyrinth (A technical & compositional marvel which lacked the songwriting thrills and slight imperfections of 2011’s outstanding Agony album. Labyrinth found Fleshgod Apocalypse skirting dangerously close to the style over substance category).

?????:  Portal – Vexovoid. As much as I appreciate and respect the artistic merits and uniqueness of these oddball Australian’s murky brand of dissonance; their music remains impenetrable to me.

Letdowns: The untimely demise of two bands that delivered excellent releases this year. Firstly, down and dirty groove-based Danish death metal band Cerekloth released a corking debut album following several years of underground rumbling. Sadly they pulled the plug shortly afterwards.

Secondly, young UK sludge/doom act Moghul released a very promising EP this year, only to announce they were going on an ‘indefinite period of hiatus’. Artists come and go and move on to new and exciting ventures. Still, it’s a bummer when bands with such talent and potential call it quits all too soon.

I feel a tad conflicted to say it, but the latest Windhand album was a disappointment. After last year’s promising debut snagged a spot on my end of year list (albeit with less competition compared with the abundance of music I’ve absorbed this year), their sophomore long player, Soma, just didn’t deliver the earworm hooks and earthy fuzziness that the debut dished out in spades, despite being a much heavier, darker offering.

Need to check out: True Widow – Circumambulation. Celeste – Animal(s). Immortal Bird – Akrasia.