 |
1.
|
Royal Thunder - CVI (10) (Doomy Southern Psychedelic Blues) I can't stop coming back to this album. A little bit of Stoner Metal, a little bit of blues rock and whole lot of the soulful bellowing of singer/bassist Mlny (pronounced Melanie) Parsonz. The vocal tracking/layering on this album is fantastic. This is an all-around masterpiece. |
 |
2.
|
Ancestors - In Dreams and Time (9.5) (Stoner Prog) This album perfectly blends many of the sounds I have been into recently. Sludge, Doom and Prog elements come together harmoniously on one of the best releases I've heard in a long time. Fans of 70s style prog and stoner metal shouldn't miss this. |
 |
3.
|
Merrimack - The Acausal Mass (9) Black |
 |
4.
|
Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma (9) (Blackened Horror Folk) A short album at 37 min and change. This is black metal only in the loosest sense of the term. Tremolo picking and blast beats are rare, being replaced by folksy psychedelic riffs and keyboards. Also alternates harsh black metal vocals with Mikael Akerfeldt-esque clean vocals. I didn't really care for this album at first but most of these tracks have proved to be quite infectiously memorable and unique. Fantastic little album. |
|
5.
|
Hidden Orchestra - Archipelago (9) (Nu-Jazz/Acid Jazz/Trip-Hop) This is in no way metal but it's so damn good I couldn't leave it off this list. |
 |
6.
|
Reverence - The Asthenic Ascension (9) Industrial Black |
 |
7.
|
Agruss - Morok (9) (Atmospheric Blackened Death) Awesome band out of Ukraine. Terrific album. |
 |
8.
|
Nachtmystium - Silencing Machine (8.5) (Black) This album has everything I look for in the genre. A little melody, a little dissonance, strong atmosphere and slight psychedelic leanings. |
 |
9.
|
Aluk Todolo - Occult Rock (8.5) (Ambient Black/Krautrock) I have zero experience with whatever 'krautrock' is but this album is terrific in its subtlety. |
 |
10.
|
Bosse-De-Nage - III (8.5) (Experimental Black) Think 90s post-rock band Slint meets WITTR. This album really came out of nowhere and caught me by surprise. The spoken word lyrics are haunting and surreal as if spoken from a dream-like trance. Easily one of my favorites of the year. |
 |
11.
|
The Great Old Ones - Al Azif (8.5) Atmospheric Black |
 |
12.
|
Ævangelist - De Masticatione Mortuorum In Tumulis (8.5) Blackened Death |
 |
13.
|
Anaal Nathrakh - Vanitas (8.5) (Black/Grindcore) Intense. Relentless. Amazing. |
 |
14.
|
ASTRA (USA) - The Black Chord (8.5) (Psychedelic Space Metal/Neo-Prog) Straighforward reinterpretation of 70s style prog. Balances catchiness with depth and intricate songwriting. A more focused album than 2009s The Weirding while still finding space to meander. The guitar work is fantastic, the vocals are catchy without being irritating and the album pacing is top notch. |
 |
15.
|
Whales and Aurora - The Shipwreck (8) (Post-Sludge) Builds a wonderful atmosphere and just elegant as hell. |
 |
16.
|
Blut Aus Nord - 777 - Cosmosophy (8) (Industrial Black) This is my favorite of the 777 trilogy. Combines a good mixture of industrial and dissonant sounds with more melodic black metal. |
 |
17.
|
Igorrr - Hallelujah (8) (Cybergrind/Breakcore/Classical) God damn it. Just when I thought I had a grasp on what is considered bizarre these days, this thing comes around and mindfucks me. |
 |
18.
|
Deathspell Omega - Drought (8) Black |
 |
19.
|
Obsidian Kingdom - Mantiis (8) Experimental Black/Death |
 |
20.
|
Enslaved - RIITIIR (8) Progressive Black |
 |
21.
|
Wilderun - Olden Tales & Deathly Trails (8) Epic Symphonic Folk |
 |
22.
|
Winterfylleth - The Threnody of Triumph (8) (Pagan Black) Mmmmm pagan heathenry. |
 |
23.
|
Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Unstille (8) (Melodic Black) Great tone. Great atmosphere. Great record. |
 |
24.
|
Blut Aus Nord - What Once Was... Liber II (8) Black |
 |
25.
|
Wildernessking - The Writing of Gods In The Sand (8) (Progressive Black) Black metal from South Africa?? Yes. And it kicks ass. |
 |
26.
|
Addaura - Burning For The Ancient (8) (Atmospheric Black) Great pagan/nature oriented black metal in the vein of WITTR. |
 |
27.
|
Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction (8) (Doom) Haunting traditionalist doom metal right here. Saw praise for this thing all over the web and was quite skeptical. Give this album a shot and you may very well be surprised at how great it sounds. This is one of my favorite vocal performances on a doom record. |
 |
28.
|
Agalloch - Faustian Echoes (8) (Atmospheric Black, Neofolk) Great track. I feel kind of bad rating a single song higher than some of these other full albums. But not really. It's streaming on their bandcamp if you haven't heard. Check it out. |
|
29.
|
If These Trees Could Talk - Red Forest (8) (Instrumental Post-Rock) This is firmly on the more accessible end of the post-rock spectrum. Concise, catchy tracks. |
|
30.
|
Galaktik Cancer Squad - Celestia (8) (Atmospheric Black) Quality bandcamp stuff from Germany. Not groundbreaking by any stretch but a strong performance nonetheless. |
 |
31.
|
Verdunkeln - Weder Licht Noch Schatten (8) (Psychedelic Black) Very interesting for the first few listens. The shine wears off quickly though. Still consider this to be a very good album. |
 |
32.
|
Darkspace - -I (8) (Ambient Black) Impressive re-recording of their first demo. |
 |
33.
|
Ash Borer - Cold of Ages (8) (Black) Not sure if this would be considered 'Cascadian black metal' or not. But this band is continuing a trend of my favorite black metal releases coming from the west coast of the US. |
 |
34.
|
Yakuza - Beyul (8) Avant-Garde Progressive |
 |
35.
|
Gnaw Their Tongues - Eschatological Scatology (8) (Black, Noise) I feel dirty after listening to this. As in, in need of a shower. Fuzzy, disgusting and well done. |
|
36.
|
Abstracter - Tomb of Feathers (8) Crust Sludge/Doom |
 |
37.
|
Old Man Gloom - NO (8) (Sludge, Noise) Aaron Turner is at it again. The former frontman of Isis is back with a noisy vengeance. |
 |
38.
|
Bend The Sky - Origins (8) (Instrumental Progressive Symphonic Djent) The lack of vocals and the inclusion of symphonic backing makes this djent not only listenable but enjoyable. |
 |
39.
|
Woods of Ypres - Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light (8) (Blackened Gothic Doom) This thing listens like a suicide note. The lyrics are so hauntingly, brutally honest. The songs cross from gothic doom to full on black metal at will and generally without leaving the listener feeling too disjointed. |
 |
40.
|
Schattenbrandung - I - Apophänie (8) Black/Doom |
 |
41.
|
The Sword - Apocryphon (8) Stoner |
 |
42.
|
Wodensthrone - Curse (8) (Atmospheric Pagan Black) I like this album but it fails to stand out. Just kind of bland pagan black metal honestly. Good thing I'm a fan of the genre. |
 |
43.
|
Behold! The Monolith - Defender, Redeemist (8) (Stoner Doom) CVLT Nation says "If a bong-ripping demon rose from the fiery underworld to impregnate Motörhead, their resulting hellish lovechild would undoubtedly be Behold! The Monoloth." Well put. |
 |
44.
|
In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad (8) (Atmospheric Progressive) I definitely get a Katatonia vibe from this album. Could be the art work. Could be the album title. Could be the beautiful atmosphere. Whatever it is these guys own it and succeed in producing one of the most gorgeous albums of the year. |
 |
45.
|
Evoken - Atra Mors (8) (Funeral Doom/Death) Well produced but I can't get myself to be excited for the funeral doom sound. |
 |
46.
|
Nontinuum - The Stars You Gathered, The Stars I Destroyed (7.5) Ambient Black |
 |
47.
|
Hooded Menace - Effigies of Evil (7.5) Doom/Death |
 |
48.
|
Napalm Death - Utilitarian (7.5) (Deathgrind) Believe it or not this is the first and only album I have heard by Napalm Death. The album started off a bit slow but picked up on the fourth track and proceeded to blow me away the rest of the way. These guys have been on the scene for 30 plus years and still put their contemporaries to shame with their creativity and energy. |
 |
49.
|
Vintersorg - Orkan (7.5) Progressive Black Folk |
 |
50.
|
Faustcoven - Hellfire and Funeral Bells (7.5) Black/Doom |
 |
51.
|
Cloak of Altering - Ancient Paths Through Timeless Voids (7.5) Avant-Garde Black |
 |
52.
|
Between The Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence (7.5) (Progressive Metalcore) To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this release. Yes, BTBAM holds a special place in my metal catalog but I wasn't counting on these guys continuing to move forward and expand on their sound. Actually I expected a rehash of Colors. But this album is a logical step forward and a strong statement from a band that continues to exceed my expectations. |
 |
53.
|
Be'lakor - Of Breath and Bone (7.5) (Melodic Death) I understand and respect the praise this album has garnered so far this year. This genre is just not something I like to listen to again and again. Strong vocals and solid guitar work impressed me but do not make me want to hear more than a couple of spins. |
 |
54.
|
Witch Mountain - Cauldron of the Wild (7.5) Doom/Heavy Metal |
 |
55.
|
Downfall of Gaia - Suffocating In The Swarm of Cranes (7.5) (Atmospheric Black/Doom/Post-Metal) Very good, interesting sound but too many boring, drawn out passages to be great. |
 |
56.
|
A Forest of Stars - A Shadowplay For Yesterdays (7.5) Atmospheric Victorian Black |
 |
57.
|
Ørkenkjøtt - Ønskediktet (7.5) (Experimetal/Progressive) Blackwater Park-era Opeth worship is evident on this album. That being said, these Norwegians show a ton of promise as this album seems to barely touch on what they might be capable of. |
 |
58.
|
Pig Destroyer - Book Burner (7.5) (Grindcore) The lack of a bass brings this thing down in my book. |
 |
59.
|
Lord Mantis - Pervertor (7.5) Blackened Sludge |
|
60.
|
Maeth - Horse Funeral (7.5) (Instrumental Psychedelic Stoner) As I listened to this 25 minute ep - which is free on their bandcamp page - I couldn't help but draw comparisons to Pelican. Albeit with a psychedelic and fuzzed out stoner approach. |
 |
61.
|
Soen - Cognitive (7.5) (Progressive) The vocalist sounds so much like Maynard from Tool it's uncanny. Martin Lopez on drums is a definite bonus as well. |
 |
62.
|
Sunpocrisy - Samaroid Dioramas (7.5) (Atmospheric Sludge) Decent Cult of Luna clones. |
 |
63.
|
De Profundis - The Emptiness Within (7.5) Progressive Death |
 |
64.
|
The Faceless - Autotheism (7.5) (Progressive Tech Death) This is way more interesting than your standard tech death album. The guitars are able to convey emotion when necessary which is a rarity in tech death. The clean vocals get old pretty quickly though. |
|
65.
|
My Sleeping Karma - Soma (7.5) Instrumental Psychedelic Post-Sludge |
 |
66.
|
Witchcraft - Legend (7) (Stoner) Strong vocals and some wicked guitar licks. |
 |
67.
|
Neurosis - Honor Found In Decay (7) (Post-Metal) Never cared much for Neurosis. Still don't, it turns out. |
 |
68.
|
Krallice - Years Past Matter (7) Experimental Black |
|
69.
|
Adrift - Black Heart Bleeds Black (7) Blackened Post-Sludge |
 |
70.
|
Atriarch - Ritual of Passing (7) Blackened Doom |
 |
71.
|
Dopethrone - III (7) (Blackened Stoner Doom) This is stoner doom instrumentally with black metal vocals. While some are turned off by this, I don't mind it. It works better at some parts than others. I enjoyed the first and last tracks the most. The rest of the album just seemed to lack a certain spark. |
 |
72.
|
Oak Pantheon - From a Whisper (7) (Melodic Black/Post-Metal/Folk) It's obvious Agalloch is a big influence on these guys. Pretty good execution. |
 |
73.
|
The Howling Wind - Of Babalon (7) Black |
 |
74.
|
Xanthochroid - Blessed He with Boils (7) Symphonic Folk Black |
 |
75.
|
Anhedonist - Netherwards (7) Death/Doom |
 |
76.
|
Psycroptic - The Inherited Repression (7) (Technical Death) This band has put out an impressive showing in a genre that usually bores me to tears so to speak. A lot of these songs teeter on the brink of catchiness without veering very far from the traditional tech death formula. |
 |
77.
|
Dråpsnatt - Skelepht (7) Atmospheric Black |
 |
78.
|
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Piñata (7) Avant-Garde, Swing |
 |
79.
|
An Autumn For Crippled Children - Only The Ocean Knows (7) Experimental Black |
 |
80.
|
Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I (7) (Progressive Melodic Black) I loved this album on my first listen. The next listens caused this album to fade a bit for me. The violin and clean vocals make this album memorable but I think they are over used and often misused in a way that becomes slightly off-putting. |
 |
81.
|
Barren Earth - The Devil's Resolve (7) Progressive Melodic Death |
 |
82.
|
AtomA - Skylight (7) (Atmospheric Post-Rock) The most I can say about this band is their sound is interesting. I don't really care for it though. The effort they seem to put into sounding epic just comes off as cheesy to me. |
 |
83.
|
Ahnengrab - Omen (7) (Black) Contains some of the best riffs I can recall on a black metal album. At times almost dips into power metal instrumentally which I strangely really enjoy. |
 |
84.
|
Posthum - Lights Out (7) Ambient Black |
 |
85.
|
High On Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis (7) (Stoner) Despite the respect I have for Matt Pike, I've never been a big fan of High On Fire. This album has brought me a little closer to the bandwagon. This album seems more cohesive than their past releases and maintains the headbanging quality through most of the tracks. |
 |
86.
|
Mutilation Rites - Empyrean (7) (Black/Thrash) I'm admittedly biased against any band from Brooklyn. Because fuck New York. This is a competent effort but rather boring and too thrashy for my taste. |
 |
87.
|
Pharaoh - Bury The Light (7) (Power) I normally cringe any time I hear power metal. This album seems to have toned down on the cheese factor. |
 |
88.
|
Sleeping Peonies - s l o w l y d i s a p p e a r i n g (7) Blackgaze/Ambient |
|
89.
|
Conan - Monnos (7) (Stoner Doom) Unapologetically heavy. By this I mean their album blew out one of the speakers in my car and I have yet to receive an apology. They are a bit of a one trick pony throughout the album with the notable exception of "Golden Axe", an interlude of sorts. But that trick happens to kick your proverbial teeth down your very real throat. |
 |
90.
|
Abnormality - Contaminating The Hive Mind (7) (Brutal Technical Death) Listened to this thing the whole way through without ever realizing the vocalist is a woman. Makes the chick from Arch Enemy sound like Miley Cyrus. This whole album is just solid badassery. |
 |
91.
|
The Contortionist - Intrinsic (7) (Progressive Deathcore) The name of this album - an adjective without a subject - perfectly captures the spirit of their music. Sounds jazzy at times but fails to break through the glass ceiling deathcore has established for itself. |
|
92.
|
The Moon Mistress - Silent Voice Inside (7) (Stoner Doom) This Russian band seems to have a bright future ahead of them if they keep writing monster tracks like 'The Wicker Man'. Their sound is pretty generic stoner doom but the album is definitely worth a listen if you're into the genre. |
 |
93.
|
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind) The Crafty Ape (7) (Progressive) I liked the sound of a bunch of these songs but this album is just so fragmented that it just doesn't come together very well into one cohesive vision. It seems like they were going for that 'modern Pink Floyd' thing but just couldn't find a way to blend all the sounds they wanted to use so they just partitioned the sounds into what amounts to three separate EPs. |
 |
94.
|
Elysian Blaze - Blood Geometry (7) (Blackened Funeral Doom) Slow and punishing. Clocking in at around 2 hours this is relentless and not for the faint of heart. |
 |
95.
|
Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage (7) (Progressive Death) Hey look! Another Gojira album! And it sounds exactly like you thought it would. |
 |
96.
|
Daylight Dies - A Frail Becoming (7) Melodeath/Doom |
 |
97.
|
The Machine - Calmer Than You Are (7) Stoner Doom |
 |
98.
|
The Firstborn - Lions Among Men (7) (Avant-Garde Black) Gotta love the sitar. |
 |
99.
|
Amenra - Mass V (7) Sludge/Doom/Hardcore |
 |
100.
|
Sleestak - Altrusian Moon - A Lo-Fi Collection Of Psychedelia And Space Rock (7) (Stoner/Psychedelic) This is sort of a hodge-podge of meandering jam sessions similar to the more meandering parts on last years 'The Fall of Altrusia'. A bit much for a single listen, clocking in a 90 minutes. But it's nice to burn one and space out to a track or two. |
 |
101.
|
Decline of The I - Inhibition (7) Post-Black |
 |
102.
|
Dragged Into Sunlight - Widowmaker (7) Blackened Sludge |
 |
103.
|
Panopticon - Kentucky (7) (Atmospheric Black/Bluegrass) Quite the odd combination here. This ode to their home state misses the mark with me. The juxtaposition of black metal tracks and bluegrass tracks is confusing and quite absurd. |
 |
104.
|
Obscura - Illegimitation (7) (Technical Death) A collection of covers and b-sides. About as good as one could expect it to be. |
 |
105.
|
Dissona - Dissona (7) (Progressive) This album took a few spins to grow on me but I am genuinely impressed by a sound that I don't typically enjoy. A lot of their vocals still annoy me but the song structures and production put a smile on my face. |
 |
106.
|
Drudkh - Вічний Оберт Колеса (Eternal Turn Of The Wheel) (7) Black |
 |
107.
|
Black Pyramid - Black Pyramid II (7) Stoner Doom |
 |
108.
|
Katatonia - Dead End Kings (7) (Alternative Doom) I've never been a Katatonia fan. I gave this album a listen out of curiosity and was less impressed with this album than with their stuff I heard from last decade. |
 |
109.
|
Skyharbor - Blinding White Noise: Illusion & Chaos (7) (Djent) The Indian version of Tesseract. But I like this album slightly more than Tesseract's last one. |
|
110.
|
Giza - Future Ruins (7) Instrumental Post-Metal |
 |
111.
|
Bastard Sapling - Dragged From Our Restless Trance (7) Black |
 |
112.
|
Lustre - They Awoke To The Scent of Spring (7) (Atmospheric Black) Beautiful but slow and often monotonous. |
 |
113.
|
Dämmerfarben - Herbstpfad (7) Atmospheric Black/Doom |
 |
114.
|
Pelican - Ataraxia/Taraxis (7) (Instrumental Sludge) A nice little sampler of where these post-metal stalwarts might be taking their sound for their next album. Two headbanging rock'n'roll influenced tracks sandwiched by more atmospheric tracks. |
|
115.
|
Monuments - Gnosis (7) (Aggressive Djent) I'm not normally a big fan of djent but these guys keep it interesting by taking sort of a grind approach to the sound. |
 |
116.
|
Botanist - III - Doom In Bloom (7) (Experimental Black) The album art is among my favorite of the year. The music... not so much. I wanted to like it but it just didn't capture my intrigue. |
|
117.
|
What The Blood Revealed - Harbour of Devils (7) (Post-Metal) They seem to be following in the footsteps of fellow Scots Mogwai and God Is An Astronaut. Slightly heavier than anything either of them has done though. |
 |
118.
|
Monolithe - Interlude Second (7) (Atmospheric Doom) This just sounds so generic. It's not bad by any means but there is nothing to set it apart either. |
 |
119.
|
Graveyard - Lights Out (7) Psychedelic Blues Rock |
 |
120.
|
Chimp Spanner - All Roads Lead Here (7) (Progressive Djent) Sounds strikingly similar to Animals As Leaders. Where AAL's full length's have seemed drawn out, this EP is about the perfect size for this style imo. |
 |
121.
|
Shroud of Despondency - Pine (7) Atmospheric Black |
 |
122.
|
Ihsahn - Eremita (7) (Progressive Black) Not sure what point is trying to be made by using an upside down photo of a post-breakdown Nietzsche for the album cover. The music itself sounds slightly original in a Devin Townsend sort of way but nothing I found all that great. |
 |
123.
|
Lunar Aurora - Hoagascht (7) Atmospheric Black |
 |
124.
|
Horn of The Rhino - Grengus (7) Sludge |
 |
125.
|
Akphaezya - Anthology IV: The Tragedy of Nerak (7) Avant-Garde |
 |
126.
|
Havok - The Point of No Return (7) (Thrash) Excellent band. If this were more than an EP it would be higher. |
 |
127.
|
Christian Mistress - Possession (7) (Retro Heavy Metal) Of the numerous bands I've heard going for that retro sound, this one failed to rise above the generally mediocre pack. |
 |
128.
|
Carach Angren - Where The Corpses Sink Forever (7) Symphonic Black |
 |
129.
|
Sylosis - Monolith (7) (Melodeath/Thrash) Competent but soulless. |
 |
130.
|
Meshuggah - Koloss (6.5) (Technical Post-Thrash) Here's another band who's sound has never appealed to me. They're up to their same old tricks on this album. |
|
131.
|
Halcyon - Jerusalem (6.5) (Atmospheric Black) This group seems to be very talented but I didn't care much for the tone or the production. The vocals were too high in the mix for my taste as well. I'd call them a poor man's Cormorant. |
 |
132.
|
Bound By Entrails - The Stars Bode You Farewell (6.5) (Atmospheric Black) Not a very polished sound. None of the tracks stood out to me. |
 |
133.
|
Sybreed - God Is An Automaton (6.5) Industrial/Groove |
 |
134.
|
Goatwhore - Blood For The Master (6.5) (Black/Death/Thrash) As much as I appreciate the anti-Christian sentiment present here, this record just sounds rather bland. |
 |
135.
|
Dordeduh - Dar De Duh (6.5) (Atmospheric Black/Folk) Found this thing incredibly dull. |
 |
136.
|
A Life Once Lost - Ecstatic Trance (6.5) (Metalcore/Groove) Bleh. |
|
137.
|
Vetter - Vetterkult (6.5) (Atmospheric Black) The atmosphere on this record is amazing. I was thoroughly creeped out at certain points. The songwriting itself is lacking however. It's like the songs are built toward crescendos that never take place or simply peter out without ever going anywhere interesting. |
 |
138.
|
Ahab - The Giant (6.5) (Funeral Doom, Post-Metal) I'm not quite sure what to make of Ahab deciding to branch into post-metal territory with this album. While part of me wants to applaud them for becoming more diverse, this new technique is very hit and miss and just comes off as them being bored with their old style and wanting to do something new without much new effort. |
 |
139.
|
Wilds Forlorn - We, The Damned (6.5) (Atmospheric Black) 'The Great Loss' was one of my favorite albums of 2010 but this album just didn't hit me the same way. Hopefully it's a grower. It's usually not good when my favorite thing about an album is the dialogue sound clips. |
 |
140.
|
Ufomammut - ORO - Opus Primum (6.5) (Stoner Doom) I started nodding off ten minutes into this album. Creates a decent atmosphere but ultimately is a snoozefest. |
 |
141.
|
Indesinence - Vessels of Light and Decay (6.5) (Death/Doom) Not my cup of tea. Drawn out and dull. |
 |
142.
|
Circus Maximus - Nine (6.5) (Progressive) Not a Dream Theater fan so it would follow that I'm also not into their imitators. |
 |
143.
|
Enochian Theory - Life... And All It Entails (6) (Progressive) Instrumentation is certainly passable but the vocals just strike me as pathetically wimpy. |
 |
144.
|
Khonsu - Anomalia (6) (Progressive Industrial Black) Too repetitive. Interesting at points but dull overall. |
 |
145.
|
Bison B.C. - Lovelessness (6) (Stoner Sludge) Didn't really like the sound and none of the tracks stood out. |
 |
146.
|
Dying Fetus - Reign Supreme (6) (Brutal Technical Death) This band is nothing special nor is this album. |
 |
147.
|
Whitechapel - Whitechapel (6) (Deathcore) Oh boy these fellows are tough. Just listening to this album makes me quiver... More posturing and flexing from the -core scene. |
 |
148.
|
I Saw The Deep - Astronavigation (6) (Progressive Stoner) Sounds sort of like a watered down less talented version of Intronaut. Just stick with the real thing people. |
|
149.
|
Frozen Ocean - A Perfect Solitude (6) Ambient Black |
 |
150.
|
Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II (6) (Drone) I didn't think I had ADD until I listened to this album and realized that no matter how hard I tried, this could be nothing more than pleasant background noise for me. Earth being Earth I guess. |
 |
151.
|
Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion (6) (Progressive Folk) I was blown away by how dull this collaboration between Steven Wilson and Mikael Akerfeldt is. It just has no personality. I enjoy prog as much as the next guy but this was just so bland. There is almost no percussion and an overabundance of listless vocals and seemingly aimless songs. Maybe I missed the point but I think they just dropped the ball on what could have been a special collaboration. |
 |
152.
|
Torche - Harmonicraft (6) (Stoner Sludge Pop) I wish these guys would just stop. Their sound is sort of on the cusp of being good and that in itself pisses me off. Stop trying to make sludge more accessible or whatever. It's throwaway metal. |
 |
153.
|
Baroness - Yellow & Green (6) (Alternative Rock) I've liked all of Baroness' prior releases. But this album seems to follow in the footsteps of Torche and Mastodon in putting out watered down crap. It's almost as if Baroness intentionally scrapped everything that was good about their former sounds. I am thoroughly disappointed by this album. |
 |
154.
|
Burzum - Umskiptar (6) (Folk/Black) Varg's making music to please no one but himself. And it shows. |
 |
155.
|
Horseback - Half Blood (6) (Ambient Black Folk) Really odd sound. Still trying to take this one in after several listens. While I'm a fan of atmospheric and ambient sounds this just never really goes anywhere that I want to be. |
 |
156.
|
Alcest - Les voyages de l'âme (6) (Blackgaze) The title says it all. Lame voyages through the already tired sounds of Alcest. |
 |
157.
|
The Foreshadowing - Second World (5.5) (Gothic Doom) Found it really boring. It seemed like they were trying too hard to be melancholy and epic and it just didn't hit me that way. |
 |
158.
|
Shining - Redefining Darkness (5) Progressive Black |
 |
159.
|
Overkill - The Electric Age (5) (Thrash) They may be classic but this album did absolutely nothing for me. |
|
160.
|
Moonfrost - Starfall (5) (Black) Ghastly tone and vocals. And not in a good way. |
 |
161.
|
Semargl - Satanic Pop Metal (3) (Black, Electropop) Someone was going to do it eventually. Awful. |