I KNOW THIS IS A LOT TO READ, BUT PLEASE TRY! I PUT A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT INTO THIS PROJECT!
Also, here's some shameless advertising:
Spoiler:I'm a sort of new fretter, and I only fret metal. Sorry. However, my taste in metal is actually quite good. Come to my thread to download great songs by great bands such as these:
OPETH
KATATONIA
MASTODON
THE SWORD
ISIS
INTRONAUT
AGALLOCH
BURST
BARONESS
and many more!
I ear-fret only, but don't let that fool you. My songs are of good quality (some of my older stuff might not be up to par, but it's still strong stuff). I mostly fret expert guitar, but I have several drum songs with multiple difficulties. So drop by please!
Let me begin by telling you about myself. I'm only 15, so I haven't had the time to really listen to tons of music. I only got into music around 2 years ago, and since then I've progressed into being a full-blown metalhead. However, I'm not your average 15 year-old metalhead that listens to Metallica and Slipknot. I'm way into progressive or extreme metal and love stuff like Opeth and Meshuggah. I also BUY all my music, and try to get it on real CD's. Unfortunately my limited budget means that this year I only bought about 20 albums, a joke compared to the average adult metalhead. So if my picks seem a little "un-obscure" to you, it's just because I want to choose the most important albums before I buy all the really underground ones.
My list is composed of ten albums, each by different artists. That doesn't mean I didn't buy more than one per artist, however. For instance, I got four Opeth albums this year, but only one made the list, even though one of the others could break my top 5 if I'd allowed it. If I bought more than one album by a band on the list, there will be a small section with a mini-review for each extra album. Also, there will be a mini-review for the closest runner-up.
Under the album artwork, the tracklist will be posted, and I'll have highlighted my three favorite songs from the album in red. I'll also rate the album on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest. My choices are based on how much I enjoyed the album, not its overall quality.
Plus, I'm assigning each album a genre, which will be way overkill (like Progressive Classical Jazzy Blackened Death Metal). This is fun, and it helps you decide what you'll like best!
And now on to the list.
#10
Spoiler:Intronaut - Prehistoricisms
2008 (Century Media)
Progressive Extreme Drumming Sludge Metal
Primordial Soup
The Literal Black Cloud
Cavernous Den of Shame
Prehistoricism
Sundial
Any Port
Australopithecus
The Reptilian Brain
I'm pretty sure that Intronaut has more potential than any other metal band around today. There's literally nothing else like them. Intronaut's main attractions are two virtuoso musicians: Bassist Joe Lester and drummer Danny Walker. Lester's bass sound is wonderfully sexy, and his aptitude for constructing basslines is incredible. Intronaut focuses on its bass player more than any other metal band I've heard. In the middle of most of the songs, there's a quiet section where the guitarists play a simple, eerie riff, and Lester shows off his skills. These are some of the awesome moments that make Intronaut Intronaut.
However, for me, Danny Walker is the star of the show. He's probably the best drummer I've ever heard. His drum riffs are infuriatingly complex, and sometimes extremely fast (listen to "Australopithecus"). He seamlessly flies between the toms and cymbals, and combines them as one to create a solid backing for the rest of the band.
The other musicians, guitarist/vocalist Sacha Dunable and second guitarist Dave Timnick are skilled, but can't keep up with the rest of the band (which is somewhat ironic, considering how most metal guitarists are constantly leaving the other members behind). On Prehistoricisms, the vocals solely consist of a meaty growl/roar. This can be a major turnoff, but it's actually pleasant to the trained ear of extreme metalheads.
Prehistoricims is the band's second album, and it is quite an album. It begins with the clean tones of the wonderful interlude "Primordial Soup", which melds into the thunderous, crunching "The Literal Black Cloud". The band experiment with strange time signatures on this song, but ultimately it's too ponderous to be named one of the album's best tracks.
The next song is "Cavernous Den of Shame". It's fast and furious, and one of the shorter songs. However, it's bisected by an extensive quiet section, which is where Danny Walker really comes out to play. The drums here are really sublime, and sound more like factory equipment than a musical instrument. The next three songs are each around the 7-minute mark. "Prehistoricism" seems gritty and unpleasant at first, but proves itself one of the better tracks upon later listens. "Any Port" opens with wonderful drumming and bass licks, and closes with a 2-minute afro-drumming solo (which I'm pretty sure consists of two drum solos layered on top of one another. "Sundial" is one of the weaker tracks, but still catchy.
My favorite song on Prehistoricisms is "Australopithecus". It's frantically played by all four musicians, and 2/3 the way through comes an ambient section that makes you feel like you're floating in space. Then the drums kick back into overdrive, and the song ends after 4 1/2 minutes. Finally, the album closes with the epic sixteen-minute "The Reptilian Brain," which is divided into five sections, each pertaining to a part of our primal instincts. The first is around five minutes and has a very oriental, quiet feel. Then things picks things up a bit, and the song explodes with some really heavy chords. The next section is full of mayhem, but the song ends with a sublime bass extravaganza that makes you feel like... well, you know. "The Reptilian Brain" never feels boring (except perhaps during the first section), but it doesn't get exciting or vital enough to be named one of the best tracks.
Overall, Prehistoricisms is a great album, not the best, but definitely great. Supposedly, Intronaut have really improved with the recent release of Valley of Smoke, but I have yet to hear it. Prehistoricisms is definitely my favorite drumming album ever, so if you're into that, it's easily worth the 10 bucks.
8/10
#9
Spoiler:Burst - Lazarus Bird
2008 (Relapse)
Progressive Spaghetti Post-Metalcore
I Hold Vertigo
I Exterminate the I
We Are Dust
Momentum
Cripple God
Nineteenhundred
(We Watched) The Silver Rain
City Cloaked
Burst is kind of like Intronaut in that they have a mind for innovation. Basically, they play metalcore, which I have an aversion to, but they add tons of progressive and post-metal to their recipe, which I just love. Their songs remind me of a bowl of spaghetti, in that they're very technical and take tons of twists and turns the whole way through. The opening track "I Hold Vertigo" demonstrates this well. It starts off with a generic chugging riff, but soon finds itself in numerous places, from quiet, clean interludes, to desperate choruses, to a stop-start ending section that is both obnoxious and enjoyable at the same time.
The next song, "I Exterminate the I", is easily one of the best tracks. It's chock-full of awesome riffs, (or is it the same riff repeated on different pitches and effects?) and provides an excellent musical adventure. The final two minutes of the song are really climactic and finish the song excellently. However, there's this one section in the middle I don't get that has clapping and some other wankery that shouldn't be present in a metal album. This brings to rise Burst's main issue: In their aspirations to be "progressive," they add little hoo-hahs that are unnecessary and don't fit with the song. But these problems are easily overlooked, and Lazarus Bird is "progressive" in every sense of the word.
The next two tracks, "We Are Dust" and "Momentum" contain most of the post-metal influence. The former song is easily the stronger of the two. The beginning section is quiet, eerie, and sorrowful all at the same time, but then the song explodes with a riff (that's playing as I write this) that makes you feel the song's subject has finally climbed out of a pit of despair. "Momentum" is rather so-so, but is distinguishable for a 5-second riff orgasm 3 1/2 minutes the way through that is totally unnecessary and yet totally amazing at the same time. It's just 5 seconds, but it almost makes the song.
"Cripple God" is one of the album's highlights and demonstrate's Burst's technical skill. There are about twenty awesome riffs in this song, but it ends with another unnecessary section that has a Wild West vibe. Burst's guitarists are quite skilled, but they never descend into technical-shred-wankery that would prove annoying. Burst also has two vocalists, Linus Jägerskog (who covers the extreme vocals) and Robert Reinholdz (who does the clean vocals).
"Nineteenhundred" is another technical, fun effort, but ends with yet another over long, unnecessary section that consists solely of trumpets (I think). However, the album's true opus comes next. "(We Watched) The Silver Rain" is an epic 9-minute hell of a song. It opens with a quiet, simple riff, which then explodes to the point where you can't even hear it anymore because of the awesomeness. After this comes a wonderful clean riff, which is then transmuted into a heavy chorus with the guitar alchemy of Jonas Rydberg and Reinholdz. There are also a couple really noodley sections that boggle the mind, and a quiet interlude 2/3 the way through.
Lazarus Bird closes with "City Cloaked," which is almost as long as the previous track, but not quite as awesome. The first five minutes are typical Burst, yet they follow a generic verse-chorus-verse pattern. The ending of the song is extremely beautiful and a perfect ending to this awesome album.
Unfortunately, Burst decided to break up while touring for this album. Hopefully it will stand testament to the experimentation of this great band.
8.4/10
#8
Spoiler:The Ocean - Precambrian
2007 (Metal Blade)
Prehistoric Progressive Post-Sludgecore
Hadean
Eoarchean
Palaeoarchaen
Mesoarchaean
Neoarchaean
Siderian
Rhyacian
Orosirian
Statherian
Calymmian
Ectasian
Stenian
Tonian
Cryogenian
I've been into dinosaurs and prehistoric stuff since I was little, so when I heard there was a metal album based around this topic, I knew I had to get it. Turns out Precambrian is about the Precambrian period, which is before dinosaurs. In fact, it's the period during which the Earth was created over 4.5 billion years ago. And it only uses these time periods as metaphors to address modern topics. But still, Precambrian is the metalhead paleontologist's dream come true.
Precambrian is actually a double album (or, if you prefer, a 1.5 album). The first CD is a mini-disc with five songs that demonstrate The Ocean's hardcore-oriented side. The second album is around an hour in length and focuses on the band's quieter and more post-ish side (although it's still quite heavy). The second CD is musically superior to the first (though I enjoy the first CD more), and orchestral in structure. In fact, The Ocean used the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra to record instruments besides the typical metal fare. The end result is an epic to end all epics, a masterpiece of music and creativity.
The first album (which is more the size of an EP) is called Hadean/Archaean. "Hadean" opens Precambrian with one of the most furiously awesome intros I've ever heard. You seriously HAVE to hear it. "Hadean" could be one of the album's best tracks, but the rest of the song fails to live up to the incredible beginning. The next four songs are all metal of the highest quality, making use of polyrhythmic beats and technicality to the fullest extent. Most people say Hadean/Archaean isn't as good as the second disc, but I like it just as much, if not more. In my opinion, the best songs on this disc are the incredible "Eoarchean" and the supremely heavy "Mesoarchaean". "Neoarchean" also has an amazing opening riff.
The second album, about an hour in length, is Proterozoic. This disc showcases The Ocean's progressive side. Robin Staps, The Ocean's frontman and primary songwriter, must be a musical genius. His placement of notes and instruments is superb. He could be a composer if he wanted. Unusually for a metal album, Proterozoic contains lots of classical instruments, like cello, violin, and piano. This is not detrimental at all and only adds to the album's epicness.
The Proterozoic era begins with "Siderian," a short interlude that melds seamlessly into "Rhyacian," the album's 11-minute epic. "Rhyacian" begins quietly and ends quietly, but in between are some incredibly heavy guitars that crush all in their path. The instrumental "Statherian" is set to a speech on human nature, and the tempo gradually increases until building to a heavy climax, and the next track, "Calymmian". "Calymmian" is a rather simple song, but it destroys like one of the huge lava flows from the Precambrian period. Things heat up again as the album takes more twists and turns, from the riff-full "Ectasian" to the melodic "Stenian".
Another highlight of the album is "Tonian," arguably Precambrian's weirdest track. It consists of wonderful piano interspersed with some really strange heavy parts. Finally the piano is put away and "Tonian" builds to a climax, which is somewhat contrasting with the next song.
For me, "Cryogenian" is one the things that makes this album so great. It's a five minute classical-only piece that is one of the most sublime closers I've ever heard. For an album as brutal as this one, "Cryogenian" is a rather strange but perfect choice for an ending. It just makes it all the more epic. The Precambrian period has come to a close, and the evolution of life is about to begin.
8.8/10
#7
Spoiler:Agalloch - The Mantle
2002 (The End)
Depressive Atmospheric Folk/Doom/Black Metal
A Celebration for the Death of Man...
In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion
Odal
I Am the Wooden Doors
The Lodge
You Were But a Ghost in My Arms
The Hawthorne Passage
...And the Great Cold Death of the Earth
A Desolation Song
Printed on the CD for The Mantle is a quote by the poet R. W. Emerson: "The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship." I think this phrase represents Agalloch with uncanny accuracy. They use nature (winter, in particular) in their artwork, their lyrics, even their music (deer skulls). You will never find a band with more intimate respect for nature than Agalloch.
Agalloch is best described as a folk metal band with black and doom metal elements. The music and lyrics are very dark, but inspire powerful thoughts. They use acoustic guitar just as much as electric in their music, and in one song ("The Lodge"), even hit a deer skull to create an unusual clicking noise. Just listening to The Mantle is enough to make even the most rambunctious person thoughtful and quiet. Agalloch is that in tune with their inner emotions.
The Mantle begins with "A Celebration for the Death of Man," a short acoustic interlude that leads up to one of my favorite songs of all time. "In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion" is a 15-minute opus of depression and epiphany. It's easily the most epic song I've ever heard. It opens with a wonderful acoustic pattern, which leads to more folk-ish melodies. Around halfway through, the song dips down into the depths of despair. This section is the most depressing you'll ever hear in a song. But just when things start going bad, the main character finds salvation in nature and the song reaches its climax. Every time I listen to this part, I want to climb some huge mountain and fly. It's so freakin amazing. Finally "In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion" ends with a godly acoustic riff.
The next song is "Odal," another wonderful instrumental track. It's primarily acoustic, but there are some electric guitars (or keyboards?) adding some very nice effects. "I Am the Wooden Doors" is another great song. It's the fastest on the album, and showcases the drumming talents of Chris Greene.
After the short interlude of "The Lodge," comes "You Were But a Ghost in My Arms," one of my favorites. The acoustic riffing is great, and it's very emotional. You can feel vocalist John Haughm's despair at losing his loved one in your bones. John Haughm's black metal vocals are a turnoff for most people (I thought they were weird when I first heard Agalloch) but you eventually grow used to them. His clean vocals are also very unique and perfect for the tone of the music.
The next three tracks form the ending of the album. The 11-minute instrumental "The Hawthorne Passage" is split halfway through by some samples of wind, but then builds up to an uplifting and amazing climax. "...And the Great Cold Death of the Earth" is sort of a ballad, and a bit overly long. It ends with a great acoustic section that's reminiscent of "In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion". Finally, "A Desolation Song" closes the album with John Haughm expressing his anger and melancholy at how he is "lost in the desolation of love".
The Mantle is epic in every sense of the word, and chilling as the freezing winds that make up its subject matter. Agalloch have many devoted fans because of their sincerity, and I'm one of them. Their latest album, Marrow of the Spirit, is supposed to be awesome. Hopefully I'll get it for Christmas.
8.9/10
#6
Spoiler:Cynic - Traced in Air
2008 (Season of Mist)
Technical Progressive Death Jazz
Nunc Fluens
The Space for This
Evolutionary Sleeper
Integral Birth
The Unknown Guest
Adam's Murmur
King of Those Who Know
Nunc Stans
Cynic is famous for being the weirdest band on the planet. They emerged in the early 90's in the Florida death/jazz scene along with Atheist (and probably some others I don't know about). After releasing their classic debut Focus in 1993, Cynic broke up, only to release Traced in Air 15 years later in 2008. Hopes were high that Traced in Air would be a worthy follow-up to Focus. Now, I haven't heard Focus yet, but I'm pretty sure Traced in Air is just as great.
The first time I ever heard Cynic, I was playing "The Unknown Guest" on FoFix. Just from the opening riff I knew this band was different. Then the vocals kicked in. At first I thought "What the hell?" but later I started loving them. Cynic's frontman and guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal uses a vocoder to make his voice sound robotic and high-pitched. You're probably thinking, "Like those crappy R&B losers on the radio?" No, it's not like that. Masvidal's voice sounds like some sublime alien entity, much like the one depicted in the cover art.
And let me say this, too. If you buy this album, buy the actual CD. The artwork is a-freeking-mazing, and the booklet is chock-full of sublime paintings to accompany the lyrics.
But now let me talk about the music. Cynic combine technical death metal with jazz fusion and throw the freaky vocals in to add some fun. This calls for an extremely unusual, but surprisingly accessible, style of music. "Nunc Fluens," (Latin for "Flowing Now") begins the album with some whooshy effects and afro-drumming. Then an epic riff kicks in and the song ends, too soon. That's one of Traced in Air's main problems. The longest song is just over the 6-minute mark, and overall the album is just too short. m0ar Cynic pl0x!
The next track is "The Space for This," a great song that demonstrates just what Cynic are about. Spiritual enlightenment, finding your true self, that sort of thing. "Evolutionary Sleeper" is a fast song with a really abnormal section in the middle where Masvidal sings "I'm an evolutionary sleeper" in the most un-metal way possible. But guess what? It's still awesome. "Integral Birth" is one of my favorite tracks, it has a great chorus and ending.
My favorite song on Traced in Air is "The Unknown Guest". It begins with a noodley riff that fades in, not out, and then some signature high-pitched robo-vocals. This song is just sublime, and the guitar solo is great, too.
"Adam's Murmur" contains the catchiest riff on the entire album, and is a solid effort altogether. "King of Those Who Know" is the longest song on the album at 6:08. It's a wonderful adventure of Cynic-y riffs and melodies. Too soon, the album ends with "Nunc Stans" (Abiding Now), a good, if rather unexciting, epic closer.
Keep an open mind with Cynic. If it wasn't awesome, I wouldn't have put it above Agalloch.
8.9/10
#5
Spoiler:Between the Buried and Me - Colors
2007 (Victory)
Overjoyous Technical Progressive Deathcore
Foam Born (A) The Backtrack
(B) The Decade of Statues
Informal Gluttony
Sun of Nothing
Ants of the Sky
Prequel to the Sequel
Viridian
White Walls
Between the Buried and Me are characterized by their ability to be extremely heavy while retaining a cheerful atmosphere. They are masters of their craft, which is a blend of metalcore and prog death metal. Colors was the album that brought them into their present state, one in which most of the songs are around the 10-minute mark (or longer), and there are too many twists and turns to count. BTBAM's song structures are always varied, and no section ever repeats. Riffs flow seamlessly, and songs go from brutal to pleasant in the blink of an eye. No other band is able to recreate this playing style.
Colors is a strange album in that it flows like one single song, but it is split up into eight tracks. The lyrics are also radically different than anything else I've read (most of the time you can't understand them through listening). It's like a narrator is telling you his story, much more informally than is the norm in metal, and in music in general. It's like reading a monologue.
The two-part song "Foam Born" begins Colors with "Part A: The Backtrack". It's only two minutes long, opening with a brief piano ballad and then shifting to heavy power chords. "Part B: The Decade of Statues" picks up where Part A left off with some of the most furious moments on the album. It's around 5 minutes, short for BTBAM, and rather unremarkable, although there's a wonderful riff towards the end that's really catchy.
It's these small sections that make BTBAM so darn good. Often you'll happen across a riff that makes you feel amazing, but only lasts a few seconds. This only keeps it fresh, but sometimes you wish it'd last longer.
Track three, "Informal Gluttony" is where the album starts getting good. It's longer than "The Decade of Statues" by about a minute, but it's unusual because it begins and ends with a very African-sounding drum solo. The main issue with "Informal Gluttony" is the overly long and drawn out chorus of "Feed me fear/Informal Gluttony". Then the afro-drum solo at the end melds with the furious drum fill that begins "Sun of Nothing," one of the album's better tracks. "Sun of Nothing's" beginning is really heavy and fast-paced, but halfway through comes one of the most wonderful clean sections I've ever heard. It's almost like having a very, very good dream while "floating towards the sun of nothing". Wonderful as "Sun of Nothing" is, it didn't crack the top three tracks.
"Ants of the Sky" is over 13 minutes and the reason I bought this album. The song begins with some catchy riffs, and then transforms into a sublime metal rendition of some classical song I can't remember. Then it descends into heaviness for the next 5 minutes, interspersed with a few jazz solos and such. 7 1/2 minutes into the song it suddenly gets very quiet and furtive, and then explodes as frontman Tommy Rogers dreamily cries, "Dream on/Fly on/In your mind, you can fly" while huge, drawn power chords plow their way. This part rests on the thin line between dorky and epic, but I love it. The song descends into a peaceful guitar solo, and then another classical section. Finally, it ends and the next song begins.
"Prequel to the Sequel" has one of the best intros I've ever heard. When I hear it, I imagine colorful towers that defy the laws of gravity building themselves up into the sky. And then it gets heavy, displaying the technicality of BTBAM's guitarist, Paul Waggoner. In the middle is a totally bizarre (and unnecessary) section of accordions and Rogers putting on a fake French accent. In my opinion, this is sort of like the "Burst syndrome", putting in random little thingamajigs to make the song sound "progressive". But not to worry, after the French section the song enters full gear with Adam Fisher supplying higher-pitched hardcore vocals and Rogers blasting his normal roaring voice. This ends another song.
"Viridian" is a quiet 3-minute interlude featuring a bass solo. Just after it ends, "White Walls" hits with full force. This is the longest song on the album at over 14 minutes, and one of my favorite songs of all time. It's typical brutal BTBAM until around halfway, then comes an uncharacteristically sorrowful quiet section with beautiful guitars. Things kick back into gear for a couple minutes, and then comes the best part of the entire album. Waggoner comes on with an amazing guitar tone and plays an incredible 3-minute guitar solo of complex repeating patterns that takes you to a magical place FAR FAR away. This is one of the best parts of any song I've ever had the pleasure to hear. Finally, "White Walls" ends with a beautiful, almost exhausted-sounding piano that ends the album perfectly. Truly amazing indeed.
9.1/10
#4
Spoiler:Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance
2006 (Peaceville)
Alternative Depressing Death/Doom Metal
Leaders
Deliberation
Soil's Song
My Twin
Consternation
Follower
Rusted
Increase
July
In the White
The Itch
Journey Through Pressure
My first taste of Katatonia was 2009's Night is the New Day, which I loved. I wanted more, so I got the previous album, The Great Cold Distance, which I loved even more. Katatonia are characterized by being extremely depressed all the time, and mixing huge amounts of emotion (usually anger and sadness) into their music. In fact, Katatonia pack more emotion into a 4-minute song than any other band can with a 10+ minute song. Vocalist Jonas Renske can't do unclean vocals due to some health issues, so he's limited to his clean voice, which is (fortunately) quite amazing. It suits the mood of the music perfectly. As such, Katatonia do away with traditional metal song structures and go for a more mainstream approach. This might turn off metal purists, but luckily Katatonia are not mainstream at all, and their music is so amazing anyway it doesn't matter.
One of the things I wasn't expecting about The Great Cold Distance is that it is a riff monster through and through. Every song has its fair share of riffs, whether they be heavy or quiet. There's even some syncopated Meshuggah-ish action ("July", "The Itch"). The quality of the songs is consistent the entire way through (excepting "Journey Through Pressure", which is rather boring compared to the other songs), and the production quality is impeccable. Considering this album has 11 tracks, that's a lot of good material to listen to.
"Leaders" opens The Great Cold Distance with angst and fury that is uncharacteristic of the band, including two awesome screams from guitarist Anders Nyström (Renske is incapable of screaming). Next comes "Deliberation", one of my favorites. There are some parts of this song that border on electronica or techno, which actually sounds awesome in the song.
"Soil's Song" is about as epic as you can get in 4 minutes without even trying. There's just a feeling of desperation about it that's really enthralling. "My Twin" is one of the album's more popular songs. It has a really powerful chorus. The song "Consternation" is the most brutal on the album, and one of my favorites (although it didn't make the top three).
The remaning songs are all great, from the dark, brooding "Follower," to the intense emotion of "Rusted" and "Increase". "July" is one the album's highlights, with a powerful chorus and a halfway section with some Meshuggah-ish chugging/drumming. "In the White" is another really great song with some almost lullaby-ish melodies set to thrashing power chords. "The Itch" ends with an impressive 20-second scream and an incredible riff. Finally, the aforementioned "Journey Through Pressure" closes The Great Cold Distance as a rather uneventful ballad.
I don't know if you guys have noticed this, but Katatonia use the word "come" ALL THE TIME in their lyrics. Sometimes it sounds amusing...
Really my only complaint with Katatonia is the relatively simple song structure, but the emotional power these guys put into their music is astonishing. Really great stuff.
9.3/10
Other Katatonia I bought this year:
Night is the New Day
2009 (Peaceville)
Nearly as good as The Great Cold Distance, but with a more progressive/experimental edge, Night is the New Day is another splendid album. "Forsaker", "The Longest Year", and "Day and Then the Shade" are all really excellent songs.
9/10
#3
Spoiler:Meshuggah - obZen
2008 (Nuclear Blast)
Experimentally Technical Post-Thrash Djent Metal
Combustion
Electric Red
Bleed
Lethargica
obZen
This Spiteful Snake
Pineal Gland Optics
Pravus
Dancers to a Discordant System
As far as I'm concerned, this is the most intense, most hardcore, most badass metal record I'll ever listen to. Sure, grindcore may be more brutal, tech death may be faster, but nothing touches obZen's fury (especially Bleed). It's one of those albums that makes everything else sound lame after listening to it.
Meshuggah is one of the most influential underground metal bands ever. They pretty much invented polyrhythms and such. If you hear a band that uses a riff that doesn't quite sound right, or is mathematically complex, Meshuggah did it first. So it only makes sense that their latest album kicks ass. obZen is full of Jens Kidman's hardcore shouting, Tomas Haake's superb drumming skills, and the three guitarists' tight technicality. Plus, this album is proof that "metal lyrics aren't worthless." I won't post any examples, but just read the booklet and see if you can wrap your mind around all the big words. Meshuggah is metal for the intellectual.
"Combustion" kicks off obZen with a distortion-less riff (for once, it isn't just a complex repeated series of notes). Soon this riff erupts into a bigger riff, and then Jens Kidman starts screaming his bald head off. This is one of the album's better tracks, but it's a little unorthodox compared to the rest of the songs. "Electric Red" starts off boring, but gets interesting towards the middle as it starts getting more furious, until it settles into a mean chugging riff and fades out (the way most of Meshuggah's songs end).
Next comes "Bleed" (I'll get to that in a minute), and then "Lethargica," which, true to its name, is the "slow and deliberate" track of obZen. The next two tracks, "This Spiteful Snake," and "Pineal Gland Optics" are rather so-so compared with the rest of the album, but they get the job done well.
"Pravus," the penultimate track, is a lightning-fast killing machine filled with all the riffs you could ever want. This song gets stuck in my head all the time. Download it to FoFix and see if you can play the intro (forgive my bragging, but I was able to do it). If "Pravus" were a weapon, it would destroy all in its path.
If "Dancers to a Discordant System" were a weapon, it would crush the opposition with one stomp. This 10-minute epic has one of the most suspenseful intros you'll ever hear, followed by a spidery riff that I just can't understand (yet still I love it). After a slight pause, this spider turns into a tarantula and overwhelms your senses. Then comes the attack, interspersed with quieter moments with Jens growling. After a kabillion riffs and a jazzy guitar solo, the song, and album, end with Fredrik Thordendal's tremolo strumming set to a superbly heavy riff.
However, I skipped the most important song on obZen, the "killer-app", if you will. "Bleed" is my favorite song of all time, hands-down. Go listen to it right now. I'll even give you a link. That, there, is the most fury that you can put into a song, no matter how hard you try. Listen to the chugging riff, the constantly shifting time signatures, the IMPOSSIBLE drumming by Tomas Haake. How is this song even possible? So many times have I been just randomly looking at stuff on the internet, listening to music. Then "Bleed" comes on, and I can't help but stand up and headbang the entire 7-minute duration of the song. Then my neck hurts like hell, but who cares? The lyrics are even in my signature! Nothing touches "Bleed," nothing ever will. There, I've said enough. Go get yourself this album.
9.3/10
#2
Spoiler:Isis - Panopticon
2004 (Ipecac)
Epic Atmospheric Post-Sludge Metal
So Did We
Backlit
In Fiction
Wills Dissolve
Syndic Calls
Altered Course
Grinning Mouths
Panopticon is more epic than a hundred Lord of the Rings, more awesome than Halo 50. It's basically incredible-ness in music form. I've only heard a little bit of post-metal, but can anyone top this album?
Isis is (was) well-regarded as one of the most important members of the post-metal movement. Their second full-length Oceanic was dubbed the first post-metal album, and Panopticon, their 2004 follow-up, perfected the genre. Isis isn't about the technicality of the musicians, the lyrics, or the song structure. It's about what it makes you feel. Panopticon makes me feel like I'm living the most epic fantasy adventure of all time. It's an inspiring masterwork of art, a testament to this incredible band's legacy, which will last a very long time.
The song structures on Panopticon all follow the same basic pattern: It starts off rather quietly (except So Did We and Altered Course), and slowly but deliberately builds its way into a climax-to-end-all-climaxes. For some reason Isis stopped using this winning formula, but it's in top form on this album. The guitars are all crushingly distorted (except during ambient parts), and Aaron Turner's metal vocals are top-notch. His clean singing is even better; it has an extremely epic feel to it, one it would lose on later releases.
Panopticon begins in full force with "So Did We," arguably the album's best track, and the one that made me fall in love with Isis. "So Did We" is crushingly heavy for the first 30 seconds, but descends into a wonderful ambient section. After a while, the electric guitars and Turner's clean vocals come in to play. The song once again finds itself meandering through passages, until finally it reaches one of the biggest climaxes I've ever heard in any song. This final section is extremely amazing and you MUST hear it before you die.
After the smoke clears from "So Did We", "Backlit" begins with a wonderful ambient intro of guitars entwined like lovers. After a couple minutes, the distortion kicks in and Turner's devastating vocals overwhelm the listener. Then comes another epic climax. Several of my friends who don't even like metal LOVE this song.
"In Fiction" begins where "Backlit" left off. It takes over 4 minutes for the song to finally get into gear, but when it does, it really does. Somewhere in the middle of "In Fiction" is the most furious riff on Panopticon, one that makes the entire song worth listening to. Towards the end things settle back down a bit, and a surprisingly wonderful bassline can be heard in the background...
The next three songs are also great efforts. "Wills Dissolve" is the album's shortest track at just over 6 minutes, and contains a really beautiful atmospheric riff. "Syndic Calls" is one of the more epic tracks, with a very long ambient section that slowly builds into a spacey, huge wall of sound. The song ends with some seriously epic vocal melodies from Turner. "Altered Course" jettisons its cargo in the first few minutes, leaving its remains behind to occupy you for the next eight. This is the album's only frustrating moment, because this part takes so long.
Finally we reach "Grinning Mouths," the perfect closer to this amazing album. It's not as low-key as the other songs, and stays somewhat intense the whole time, even if there is no distortion during some parts of it. Halfway through you hear a fast riff, and then the song pummels you with amazingness. The latter half of "Grinning Mouths" is one of the most empathetic parts of any song I've heard. It finally ends with a massive chugging riff that feels you're winning the final battle against an army of demons hell-bent on your destruction. Then, suddenly, the riff stops, and the album is over. Despite being almost an hour long, it ends too soon.
After their 2009 album Wavering Radiant, Isis made the decision to break up. They wanted to leave their fans while they were still producing quality music, instead of in a state of shame. Isis' powerful legacy will continue for years to come.
9.7/10
Other Isis I bought this year:
Wavering Radiant
2009 (Ipecac)
Wavering Radiant was slightly disappointing to me, but by no means is it a bad album. There are some great songs on here, like "20 Minutes/40 Years" and "Hall of the Dead". I just wish Isis would have retained their epic song structure. Also, Aaron Turner's vocals seem a little rusty.
7.5/10
#1
Spoiler:Opeth - Blackwater Park
2001 (Koch)
Progressive Classical Jazzy Blackened Death Metal
The Leper Affinity
Bleak
Harvest
The Drapery Falls
Dirge for November
The Funeral Portrait
Patterns in the Ivy
Blackwater Park
I've noticed a pattern when listening to music. If you listen to a record and it pops right out at you and strikes you as "awesome", you'll grow tired of it quickly. If you listen to a record and are a bit disappointed with it at first, you'll later fall madly in love with it (doesn't apply if you're disappointed with it 'cause it's bad). Well, I'd heard great things about Opeth, but mostly I'd heard great things about Blackwater Park, the band's fifth album. So I bought it and listened to it on a road trip. I was thinking "I thought this was going to be a lot more awesome than this," when I first listened to it. Well now look. It's made the top of my list!
Opeth are renowned across the world as true masters of music. Pretty much everything they do turns to gold. They even released an album that wasn't metal (Damnation) and people still loved it! But everyone knows that Blackwater Park was where Opeth truly proved their talent. Blackwater Park is so superb, so amazing, so... perfect, that I almost wish I hadn't bought it. I feel guilty about having touched something so godlike.
Opeth always write very long songs (7 minutes or more), and while it's progressive death metal at its core, there are elements of black metal, classical music, and even jazz peeking through. The songs never have repeating verse-chorus-verse patterns (except for "Harvest"). I like to tell people that Opeth is like classical music, except a lot angrier. Frontman and vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt has one of the best death metal voices I've ever heard. It's extremely guttural and innately satisfying. But what's even crazier is that he has one of the best clean singing voices ever. It's astonishing when Åkerfeldt switches between his death metal and clean voices in a song.
The other musicians are also splendid, while not overly technical. Åkerfeldt's and Peter Lindgren's guitar work is satisfying, while Martin Mendez's bass provides a solid backing for the rest of the band. Drummer Martin Lopez proves himself as both a metal and a jazz drummer, switching between the two styles as the riffs change back and forth.
One of the best things about Blackwater Park is the superb production, done by Steven Wilson (whom everyone has undying love for) of Porcupine Tree. The guitars have a unique sound to them, and nothing sounds too forced or drowned out. Often, there will be several layers of guitars, one playing a riff, one playing power chords, one playing high-pitched atmospheric sustains, and maybe an acoustic or two to add to the effect.
"The Leper Affinity" kicks things off after a 27-second wait, and showcases the musicians' technical skills. The best part is during the middle with an acoustic guitar and Åkerfeldt's incredible singing. Things pick back up and a proggy riff comes to the forefront. Then the song ends with a lengthy, depressive piano solo.
"Bleak" is a fan-favorite. It opens with some suspenseful sustains, and then continues with a great riff. Soon Åkerfeldt starts roaring his head off, and the song reaches a wonderful chorus with Åkerfeldt and Wilson both singing clean vocals. Directly following this is a quieter acoustic section. My favorite part of "Bleak" is when the electric guitars return at full force, along with double-bass drumming from Lopez. Way epic.
"Harvest" is a great acoustic number. I put this song on a birthday CD for my mom. The subtle electric guitar mingling with the layered acoustic is astonishingly beautiful. Åkerfeldt's vocals on this track are sublime.
Next comes "The Drapery Falls," one of my favorites. The opening is really, really emotive and splendid. After a while the song descends into some quiet acoustic guitar. Åkerfeldt begins his wonderful singing, until it steadily builds to a climax. Then the electric guitars return and the song gets really heavy for a while. After several minutes, the opening section returns and slowly fades out. "The Drapery Falls" is a truly amazing song.
"Dirge for November" begins with a very depressive solo from Åkerfeldt, accompanied by a wonderful acoustic guitar. The rest of the song is rather simple, with distorted chords and the like, although there is a splendidly hummable riff in the middle. "Dirge for November" ends with one of the best quiet parts on the album. It's one of the things that made me love Blackwater Park.
"The Funeral Portrait" is one of the heavier tracks on the album. Another great acoustic riff fades in, and the electric charges in with a really catchy prog riff. The clean vocals don't come in until late in the song, which slowly fades back into the darkness. "The Funeral Portrait" is followed closely by "Patterns in the Ivy," a beautiful acoustic interlude with some grand piano from Steven Wilson.
And then we come to the album's opus, the title track. "Blackwater Park" contains no clean vocals, and is easily one of the most evil songs I've ever heard. About 3 minutes into it is an extremely suspenseful, yet eerily beautiful, acoustic interlude that repeats for around 2 minutes. And then the song explodes with constantly changing riffs and Åkerfeldt's brutally deep vocals. Towards the end things get really furious, and this is where all of the anger that has built up through this 67-minute album is released. Finally the song quiets suddenly, and the most beautiful acoustic section of all fades out and ends the album. This part makes feels like I've just died and am floating up to heaven. The sheer power of "Blackwater Park" is enough to run New York City for a month.
Blackwater Park is, in short, a masterpiece, and my favorite album of all time. I've explored all of its twists and turns, and it is safe to say that it tops my list.
10/10
Other Opeth I bought this year:
Deliverance
2002 (Koch)
Deliverance is one of Opeth's most brutal records. Unfortunately, it's production quality isn't as good as that of Blackwater Park. The title track of this album is really awesome, it has one of the best outros I've ever heard.
8/10
Ghost Reveries
2005 (Roadrunner)
Ghost Reveries is another great album (it's Opeth, so how could it not be?). There are several awesome songs, like "The Grand Conjuration" or "Ghost of Perdition". However, for some reason, it doesn't have the dark or melancholic atmosphere other Opeth releases have, which somewhat ruins the feel of the songs, making them less addictive.
8.3/10
Watershed
2008 (Roadrunner)
I was pleasantly surprised with Watershed. To me, it's their best since Blackwater Park. Opeth's dark sound, absent on Ghost Reveries, has returned and they've gotten a new shredder guitarist. Their new sound is both radically different and very familiar. "The Lotus Eater" and "Hessian Peel" are two highlights from this album.
9.2/10
Runner-up:
Spoiler:Baroness - Red Album
2007 (Relapse)
Red Album could have easily made my Top 10, but I felt Intronaut and Burst deserved it more. But don't underestimate this album. It rocks. "Rays on Pinion," "The Birthing," and "Wanderlust" are all excellent. My main complaint is that there are too many short instrumental tracks, especially during the second half. I can't wait to hear Blue Record.
8.9/10
Phew! This took all day! I hope you took the time to read the whole thing. Post any feedback you have! Thanks!
