Here is my very late end of year list. Life has been rough in resent years. I fell way behind in my new album search. By new years day I still had around 4000 albums I wanted to preview tracks from before I put my list out.
1. "Suicidal Self Harm" Lugubrious Cult (Depressive Black Metal)
This was a big surprise. Given the really generic sounding band name and album title for a DSBM band. And even the lyrics are pretty cringy, so I wasn’t expecting much. But the music and vocal performance are fantastic. This is one of the extremely rare black metal albums that I really enjoy and each listen it grew on me more. Its kind of funny how cathartic this stuff ends up being for me.
2.“We Don't Rise We Just Fall” Firmament
Looking at this as basically a follow up to “Decay” Tension as this band is mostly the same line up. Overall this was a big improvement over that album. Maik Huber has an amazing voice, so I’m sad to see it appears he left the band already. Hope to see him in another project like this.
3. “Threatening Skies” Goat Explosion (Stoner/Epic Doom Metal)
Fairly unique sound that shifts from epic doom to more straight forward stoner metal.
4. “IV: Sacrament” Wytch Hazel (Hard Rock/Heavy Metal)
This album was a pleasant surprise. I was disappointed with “III: Pentecost” which sounded like it was trying to me more in your face then the albums before it and it felt like Wytch Hazel was losing it’s unique voice. They are much better when there is more subtlety to their music and “IV: Sacrament” felt like a return to their earlier sound and I really enjoyed the album a lot.
5. "Golden Arm" Haunt (Heavy Metal)
Trevor William Church still keeps impressing me with his high output of quality albums.
6. "Treacherous Ways" Helms Deep (Heavy Metal)
Excellent debut album. Was surprised to see John Gallagher from Raven in the line up.
7. "The Grateful Undead" Druid Stone (Stoner/Sludge Metal)
The production on this album is great sounds like the band is playing live one room over. The cover of “I Walked with a Zombie” is the real stand out piece on this album.
8. “Miracle of Death” Vanishing Kids (Post Rock/Stoner Metal)
Unique blend mixing elements of psychedelic rock, gothic rock, dream pop on a foundation of doom metal.
9. "Follow the Cold Path" Autrest (Atmospheric Black Metal)
Excellent debut, sounds sort of like Olhava but is still fairly distinct.
10. “Les Ombres Maladies” Trépas (Atmospheric Black Metal)
Very solid album, nothing really outstanding, but it has good melodies and the whole album maintains a consistent quality.
11. “色即是空” (“Shiki Soku Ze Kuu”)人間椅子(Ningen-Isu) (Progressive Hard Rock/Doom Metal)
Ningen-Isu has been consistent since I started listening to them, and always deliver a satisfying listening experience.
12. “Outward” Moozoonsii (Progressive Metal)
Its rare that I find an instrumental album I really like. While many instrumental bands fail because they focus on the guitar players technical skill but lack focus in their musical composition Moozoonsii makes complex music while still maintaining a compelling composition.
13. “Morgöth Tales” Voivod (Progressive Thrash Metal)
My introduction to Voivod was the bum “Target Earth” and I haven’t dug into their back catalog yet, so I can’t compare these new recordings to the originals. But the album is consistent with the last few albums they put out. I tend to like their faster thrashier songs. So like the last few albums their was some tracks I liked some I didn’t.
14. “黄泉ガヘリ(Back from the Underworld)” 兀突骨(Gotsu Totsu Kotsu) (Death Metal)
Gotsu Totsu Kotsu feels like they are starting to stagnate. It’s much the same as their previous albums. But Nothing particularly stood out on this album in a positive way, and the album felt front loaded.
15. "The Coral Tombs" Ahab (Funeral Doom Metal)
A good album, but it’s hindered by long ambient segments that go on wat to long.
16. "Shattered Vanity" Leathürbitch (Heavy/Speed Metal)
Joel Starr’s over the top vocal performance makes the album. Without it the music wouldn’t hold up.
17. "Supernatural" Wizards of Hazards
Decent album elevated by Ville Willman’s emotional vocals.
18. "Might & Power" Megaton Sword (Epic Heavy Metal)
A good album, unfortunately dragged down by the slower tracks which just weren’t very interesting. If it had a few more tracks like “Might” and a few less tracks like “Power” it could have been a contender for my album of the year.
19. “Beyond the Breakers” Diamonds Hadder (Progressive Metal)
This seems to be a continuation of what John Evermore started on Metal Guard Pacifica which I’m glad to see and this is a good album. However the best tracks on this album were from “The Crying Game” Metal Guard Pacifica and this album has a new rendition of “Ballad of the Dead Rabbit” that is nothing compared to the original. So it has me worried that the other musicians he had before contributed a lot more to the album and the new band isn’t going to be able to produce the same quality.
20. "Zero Body" Berserkyd (Heavy Metal)
One of the better instrumental albums I’ve heard in a while . Sounds like a really good video game soundtrack.
21. “The Fractal Ouroboros” Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze (Atmospheric Black Metal)
When the album gets going its good, but the long ambient sections hinder the overall composition. “Trophy” and “Suffocate O Earthen Lungs; They Now Lungs of Ash” were the stand out tracks.
22. "Fatal Encounter" Air Raid (Heavy Metal)
23. "Lionheart", & their cover of "Pegasus Fantasy" are the really outstanding tracks on this album the rest is ok but pretty forgettable.
24. "Midnight Dreams" Valentino Francavilla (Heavy/Power Metal)
Album was front loaded, “Fireland”, & “Midnight Wolf” were great but the rest of the album was forgettable.
25. "Geomancy" Owl (Stoner Metal)
I put this on my list because I bought the album, and I still feel it’s a good album. However after repeated plays I got tired of it, and it doesn’t grab me the way it did when I first listened to it.
