[Music] Metal

[Kathandira]

Here is an album that really cemented my love for progressive metal. It's hard to find now-a-days as I believe there was an issue between the old singer and the rest of the band. The album has been unavailable for stream for quite a few years now, but I finally found it on Daily Motion.

The Human Abstract - Nocturne

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3364t4

A.J. Minette (Lead Guitar) is an absolute monster, and very creative. His work on Digital Veil is even better as he decided to go back and take Classical lessons before putting that album together. I'm just not a huge fan of the singer they chose for that album, so I linked the one I prefer.

[Cairhiin]

Can anyone recommend me some heavy/speed/power metal with melodic dual guitarplay like the opening of this track? The genre isn't that important, I guess, but I assume that would be where it's most common. Alternatively, just give me some more bands that mix black metal and heavy metal.

Maybe this (Lord Weird Slough Feg, and that album is a monster):



There are so many heavy metal bands that use twin guitars though (Iron Maiden being the most known of them all).

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Here is an album that really cemented my love for progressive metal.

For me (although I'm not that big on progressive metal):

[Duilliath]

Can anyone recommend me some heavy/speed/power metal with melodic dual guitarplay like the opening of this track? The genre isn't that important, I guess, but I assume that would be where it's most common. Alternatively, just give me some more bands that mix black metal and heavy metal.

The Lord Weird Slough Feg has already been mentioned. Hammers of Misfortune might be another one to check out, as well as Manilla Road.

Also, for a more Black / Heavy metal feel: Malorkarpatan.

[Cairhiin]

1 Visigoth – Conqueror’s Oath. It’s rather ironic Visigoth is my number one pick of 2018. A few years back I heard a track called Dungeonmaster and it was so cringeworthy that back then I would never have expected the awesomeness they would unleash with Conqueror’s Oath. What an excellent heavy metal album. Any self-respecting fan of the genre should listen to this.

2 Harakiri for the Sky – Arson. This band came as a total surprise. Excellent post black.

3 Panopticon – The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness. Okay I’ll preface by saying that I really do not like part two of this two album release. It’s no doubt pretty decent americano but I simply do not care for americano. This album would have been my favorite release this year were it not for part two.

4 Khemmis – Desolation. A few years back I first heard Khemmis and I ranked Hunted as my favorite album of 2016. This year Khemmis is not quite reaching that far but once again they deliver. Doom metal with crushing heavy metal riffs just does it for me. Who needs Pallbearer when you have Khemmis.

5 Uada – Cult of a Dying Sun. It’s no surprise this album is this high on my list. Devoid of Light cemented Uada as one of my favorite black metal bands. Cult of a Dying Sun doesn’t quite reach that level, but it is still an incredible album. Uada just keeps delivering.

6 Drudkh - Їм часто сниться капіж (They Often See Dreams About the Spring). Drudkh really outdid themselves after a bunch of lackluster albums.

7 Funeral Mist – Hekatomb. This album really blew me away on first listen. Fast black. No compromises. Excellent production.

8 Mournful Congregation – The Incubus of Karma. I’m a huge doom fan and Mournful Congregation ticks all the boxes. It’s depressing yet beautiful.

9 Gatekeeper – East of Sun. Someone (Limenaa) on these forums introduced me to this band and I must admit it took a few listens before this album began to really hit home. Excellent old school heavy metal.

10 Sargeist – Unbound. Uncompromising black metal from frosty Finland. If you are into black metal, do yourself a favor and listen to these veterans of the scene. Features VJS, guitarist of Nightbringer. Need I say more?

11 Sojourner – The Shadowed Road. Great atmospheric black metal and their best outing to date.

12 Can Bardd – Nature Stays Silent. If you like Caladan Brood and are wondering why the fuck they still haven’t made a new album after their soul crushingly awesome Book of the Fallen well, there’s Can Bardd. This one-man (19-year-old kid) band delivers an awesome album that only falls short on its horrible production.

13 Bosse-de-Nage – Further Still. Love it. Chaotic. Fresh. Amazing album.

14 Black Majesty – Children of the Abyss. Welcome back. What an album. This is why I love power metal when it is well made and this is well made.

15 Primordial – Exile Amongst the Ruins. On first listen I really didn’t think this album would make it to my list, but it really grew on me. Features some amazing tracks.

Honorable mentions:
Cantique Lepreux – Paysages Polaires. For me this album was better than their debut.

Kriegsmaschine – Apocalypticists. Great album but suffers a little near the end of too long-winded tracks.

Morne – To the Night Unknown. Dark and crushingly awesome sludge / post black.

Satan – Cruel Magic. Oh boy this is NWOBHM at its finest, but I had to choose between Black Majesty and this and Black Majesty felt like finding something long thought lost while Satan is the familiar.

Biggest disappointments:
Ashes of Ares – Well of Souls. It’s not even a bad album. It has Matt Barlow, but it just suffers from the same issue as their debut. It has so much potential and Barlow just destroys but it all falls short as nearly every song is a midtempo banger.

Metal Church – Damned If You Do. What happened to Metal Church? Their previous album was amazing but Damned If You Do is just a dime a dozen straightforward thrash metal with mostly boring tracks.

Candlemass – House of Doom. Well it’s an EP but it’s boring. Not a single song stands out. It’s flat. Dull. SAD.

Tribulation – Down Below. I cannot understand the hype for this album. It’s boring like Candelmass boring. Sounds more like sellout metal to me. Call me a hater.

There is no mention of Immortal in this list. Here it is. Immortal - Northern Chaos Gods. Maybe the biggest surprise of the year. While Abbath is scrambling for relevance, Demonaz plays again.

[daem]

Insert epic great list here

Hella good list :chefkiss: I agree with near most of it. Should probably listen to Visigoth more, for some reason it kept getting into the backburner this year.

[Limenaa]

Cool list! None from your top 15 will be on my list even though I was the one recommending you Gatekeeper iirc.

[Cairhiin]

Cool list! None from your top 15 will be on my list even though I was the one recommending you Gatekeeper iirc.

Yea you recommended Gatekeeper to me, thanks!

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Hella good list :chefkiss: I agree with near most of it. Should probably listen to Visigoth more, for some reason it kept getting into the backburner this year.

Glad you like it! Everyone hear seems to have quite different taste, which is also rather refreshing.

[Gib Lover]

Great list! I'm about done with my 2018 catch up then I'll be throwing one together, definitely will be a bit of overlap between our two lists.

[Cairhiin]

Great list! I'm about done with my 2018 catch up then I'll be throwing one together, definitely will be a bit of overlap between our two lists.

I had to catch up a lot the last month as well. Next year's resolution is to stay on top of new albums a bit better. I also no doubt missed a couple of great ones. Another reason I love to see these lists.

[Limenaa]

1. Spectral Wound - Infernal Decadence
2. Tomb Mold - Manor of Infinite Forms
3. Taphos - Come Ethereal Somberness
4. Panphage - Jord
5. Satan - Cruel Magic
6. Ripped to Shreds - 埋葬(Mai-zang)
7. Sepulcher - Panoptic Horror
8. Wulkanaz - Wulkanaz
9. Wytch Hazel - II: Sojourn
10. Spite - Antimoshiach
11. Human Serpent - For I, The Misanthropist
12. Infernal Coil - Within A World Forgotten
13. Nachash - Phantasmal Triunity
14. Deathhammer - Chained to Hell
15. Sacral Rage - Beyond Celestrial Echoes

Honorable mentions:

Kriegsmaschine - Apocalypticist
Varathron - Patriarchs of Evil
Ungfell - Mythen, Mären, Pestilenz
Visigoth - Conqueror's Oath
Gatekeeper - East of Sun

Strong fucking year. The Wulkanaz album I heard for the first time a few days ago and instantly fell in love. Great raw, punky BM!

[Cairhiin]

1. Spectral Wound - Infernal Decadence
2. Tomb Mold - Manor of Infinite Forms
3. Taphos - Come Ethereal Somberness
4. Panphage - Jord
5. Satan - Cruel Magic
6. Ripped to Shreds - 埋葬(Mai-zang)
7. Sepulcher - Panoptic Horror
8. Wulkanaz - Wulkanaz
9. Wytch Hazel - II: Sojourn
10. Spite - Antimoshiach
11. Human Serpent - For I, The Misanthropist
12. Infernal Coil - Within A World Forgotten
13. Nachash - Phantasmal Triunity
14. Deathhammer - Chained to Hell
15. Sacral Rage - Beyond Celestrial Echoes

Honorable mentions:

Kriegsmaschine - Apocalypticist
Varathron - Patriarchs of Evil
Ungfell - Mythen, Mären, Pestilenz
Visigoth - Conqueror's Oath
Gatekeeper - East of Sun

Strong fucking year. The Wulkanaz album I heard for the first time a few days ago and instantly fell in love. Great raw, punky BM!

Some nice stuff in your list. I personally also really liked Panphage, just didn't make it to my list. Satan goes without saying. Some of the other stuff isn't really my cup of tea but I'll give some of it a listen. I tried Tomb Mold but it wasn't for me (not a fan of death metal). Definitely gotta give that Wulkanaz a spin.

[tlitd]

Make no mistake, acclaim was unwarranted. Unsolicited and unwanted. No ovations and no accolades, but a mere acknowledgement would have been nice. "I'm aware they exist. No, they're not featured on my "album of the year" listing - whatever that may substantiate - but I'm aware they exist. They're there, regardless of my impression of them." Alas, the albums I've enjoyed this soon to succumb into the dust of ages year were not even mentioned by anyone else but me. Despite the assumed eccentricity of my preferences, that's still a genuinely amusing experience. Slightly surreal, but that's alright.

Since I don't listen to any other sort of metal than black, here are my 6.66 ₰ ordered chronologically:
1. Withered Grey - Leberzirrhosenwalzer
2. Mahr - Antelux
3. Alrakis - Echoes from η Carinae
4. Firtan - Okeanos
5. Hwwauoch - Hwwauoch
6. Gjaldur - Unterm Totenbanner

Spotted the Pfennige in there, being the astute observer that you are? Hardly surprising, 66.6% of them are German.

[hellhamster]

Overall top 10, metal didn't make the cut unfortunately.

1. Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want (noise/industrial rock)
   Legit left me in awe. This isn't an album that completely turns the noise rock genre on its head, but manages to be a masterpiece in spite of it.
2. Autechre - NTS Sessions (IDM)
   Very like Autechre's previous (elseq), which was also my album of the year for 2016, this one has a tiny bit more filler that prevents it from achieving masterpiece status. Overall though, what a fucking sound design and outside the box writing that doesn't seem alienating at all, but very embracing despite the 8 hour run time warning sign.
3. Julia Holter - Aviary (experimental/art pop)
   Holter's magnum opus contains every mad and interesting idea she has ever had probably. It comes very close to Kate Bush's best works from the 80's
4. Against All Logic - 2012 - 2017 (house)
   Nicolas Jaar decides to drop his experimentation and manages to release one of the best house albums of all time.
5. Binker & Moses - Alive in the East? (avant-garde jazz)
   An impeccable live offering/full-length album with some of the greatest avant-garde/jam jazz of this century. Those fucking drums.
6. Low - Double Negative (ambient/glitch pop)
   They can change their slowcore sound many times over decades long in their career, and still manage to release incredible and unique material.
7. Parquet Courts - Wide Awaaaaake! (art punk)
   Highly infectious and well-written art punk with an undertone of Talking Heads.
8. Anna von Hausswolff - Dead Magic (darkwave)
   One of the best voices in music, Anna manages to come out of nowhere and make everyone fall in love with her. It seems obvious that Swans/Michael Gira are a huge influence for her, and this record seems like a tribute to them.
9. Jonny Greenwood - Phantom Thread (modern classical)
   Astonishing modern classical that isn't either derivative or bloated wankery for once, just great music that plays at your heart strings.
10. MGMT - Little Dark Age (synth pop/psychedelia)
    One of the greatest pop albums of the decade with a marvelous synth sound.

Metal only

1. Svartidaudi - Revelations of the Red Sword (black metal)
2. Obliteration - Cenotaph Obscure (death metal)
3. Horrendous - Idol (death metal)
4. Deceased…- Ghostly White (thrash/death metal)
5. Tomb Mold - Manor Of Infinite Forms (death metal)
6. Wolvennest - Void (psychedelic rock/doom metal)
7. Imperial Triumphant - Vile Luxury (avant-garde metal)
8. Sleep - The Sciences (stoner metal)
9. Urfaust - The Constellatory Practice (black/doom metal)
10. Sulphur Aeon - The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos (death metal)

[Gib Lover]

Fallen Empire just released 5 albums from their bands today, I've listened to 3 of them so far and they're all good
https://bandcamp.fallenempirerecords.com/music

[tlitd]

The eponymous release of Délirant is a nice surprise, but it will most likely be ignored and cast aside just like Hwwauoch was a while ago. Let's be fair, it's an expected outcome: exercises to transpose raving lunacy into music are purely cathartic for the artist/band, at the cost of failing invariably to appeal&appease consumerism. Deranged black metal is definitely an acquired taste, regardless of how uncannily immersive these works are otherwise.

That much said, I really do enjoy listening to music which seemingly shreds away my very sanity. And I find it relaxing too, getting here and there as the waves of music carry you along is soothing. Floating adrift in a primordial ocean, at home within a different kind of amnion. Surrendering your own sanity is akin to having front row tickets to the grand spectacle of a Götterdämmerung.

[Duilliath]

Hwwauoch made some reasonable waves in the right places. The names behind the band raised a few eyebrows and the music lived it up to it. I've seen it mentioned on a few EoY lists, which is already more than can be expected from a new 'project' in, frankly, a rather full genre.

Speaking of which, my (metal) top 10.


1) Wolvennest - Void
2) Ascension - Under Ether
3) Abigor - Höllenzwang
4) Funeral Mist - Hekatomb
5) Khanus - Flammarion
6) Messa - Feast For Water
7) Yob - Our Raw Heart
8) Portal - Ion
9) Svartidauði - Revelations of the Red Sword
10) Mare - Ebony Tower

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Fallen Empire just released 5 albums from their bands today, I've listened to 3 of them so far and they're all good
https://bandcamp.fallenempirerecords.com/music

That Lubbert Das release is particularly solid.

[Cairhiin]

One thing I love about the new year is all those releases from last year popping up that were under everyones' radar.

Just listened to the start of that, and it's pretty good besides the horrible production.

[Deleted]

Amorphis,ablum of 2018 for me.Probably best album i heard in my life

[Cairhiin]

I wouldn't say it's horrible, I like that it has some grit but the mix could definitely use some work. The vocals aren't the best either, they are somewhat amateurish and he can't project his voice enough to get the sound you need for heavy/epic metal but the guitars and keyboards come together for some really nice melodies and the overall songwriting is just pretty fun.

I'd say what the band is lacking in proficiency they are making up for with authenticity. I'm definitely going to keep an eye on them from now.

Yea, they do sound promising for certain. I prefer the sound to be a bit heavier as well.

[Duilliath]

I was going to comment upon the Amorphis album, but then I saw you post Epica doing a Powerwolf cover.