Here at NCS, we’re putting a different spin on year-end listmania. Ours isn’t a list of the best metal full-lengths of the year. It’s not even necessarily our list of the best individual extreme metal songs of the year. Ours is a list of the most infectious extreme metal songs we’ve heard this year. We’re talking about songs that produce involuntary physical movement and worm their way into your brain to such an extent you can’t get ’em out (and wouldn’t want to).
We’re not ranking our list from #10 to #1 because that would be too much fucking work (and your co-Authors would still be arguing about it this time next year). So, our list is in no particular order. We’re also dribbling the songs out one at a time because your lazy Authors are still debating what belongs in the remaining slots. Our list heretofore:
1. Asphyx: Sorbutics
2. Mastodon: Crack the Skye
3. Amorphis: Silver Bride
4. Goatwhore: Apocalyptic Havoc
5. August Burns Red: Meridian
And to see our sixth entry on the list, continue reading after the jump. (By the way, that photo up above is of a nebula about 2,000 light years away that shares its name with this band.)
Hey everyone, IntoTheDarkness here, and I’m going to talk about our sixth entry on the list of Most Infectious songs of the year. When we talk about an infectious song, we mean one that keeps you coming back again and again because you just can’t get it out of your head. Pelican’s latest album What We All Come To Need is filled with songs that fit this definition to a tee. This album is my most listened-to album of the year. I’ve listened to each and every song off this album over and over, but there is one song that makes it onto our list of most infectious songs of 2009 at number six: “Ephemeral.”
Pelican’s brand of progressive instrumental post-hardcore/drone makes for an unforgettable combination of rhythm and sharp, clear guitar lines that seem to tell a unique story with every song. “Ephemeral,” which appears on both Pelican’s new CD and an EP they released earlier in the year, is one of my favorite songs of the year. It combines beautiful melody with moments of heaviness that are unmatched on the rest of the CD. This combination makes it one of the most addicting songs of 2009.
Pelican hit a new high with this CD and the live performance I had the privilege to attend at El Corazon in Seattle was one of the best live shows I’ve seen. If you haven’t heard “Ephemeral,” you can stream it through the link below. Better yet, buy a copy of What We All Come To Need, because the whole CD is fucking amazing.
2 Responses to “THE TEN MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS OF 2009 (Part 6)”
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I was of the mind to scroll though all the old entries of the most infectious songs. Found this, it’s fuckin great. It’s kinda cool reading and comparing what you guys wrote 10 years ago. I think there has been a clear progression in the writing and even though it wasn’t bad in 2009, the site has matured a lot, and it shows in the writing. Love it. Especially the fact that you guys try to keep it fresh and are aware of the minefield of cliches in description of metal sounds. Hats off.
One thing that hasn’t changed is taste, Beelzebub’s balls but ya’ll were able to pick great songs back then and still now without fail. Listening to Pelican’s Ephemeral: if it was released today it would make it on 2019’s list for sure.
SO great to wake up and read your comment this morning! My day is already made — thank you very much for your kind words. And it’s also really fun to look back at the songs I picked way back when the site was just a few months old. (This is the first time I’ve done that since I prepared that list.)