[EDITOR’S NOTE: IntoTheDarkness is one of the three original co-founders of this site, and although he doesn’t write for us very often, he’s been a consistent source of good musical recommendations. I twisted his arm and got him to give me his list of the year’s best releases, and in most cases he included a very few words of explanation. As usual, he didn’t capitalize anything or use punctuation, but I guess that’s what an editor is for. 
ITD is our resident deathcore maven, but as you’ll see from the list, his interests don’t stop there. On the other hand, his No. 1 pick nearly made me fall out of my chair.]
Here’s my list of the best 25 albums of 2010. The first 20 albums are listed alphabetically — not ranked by quality, because I don’t want to decide — but I do list my top 5 in order at the end.
Conducting From the Grave: Revenants
much better then their first release
The Contortionist: Exoplanet
really good techy stuff
Dark Fortress: Ylem
best black metal band still making albums
Diskreet: Engage the Mechanicality
really good tech death
Draconis: The Cult of the Dragon
great find. really impressed
Enthrope: Tomorrow’s Dead Days
great melodeath
(the rest of ITD’s list follows the jump . . .)
Fleshgod Apocalypse: Mafia
doesnt need words
Fleshwrought: Dementia/Dyslexia
most original stuff of the year
Human Parasite: Proud To Build the Insidious Catastrophe
now THIS is some great brutal death
Ion Dissonance: Cursed
really cool sound. good mix of styles
Kalmah: 12 Gauge
one of the better melodeath releases of the year
King Conquer: America’s Most Haunted
best deathcore album this year
Lost Dreams: Wage of Disgrace
good melodeath album
Nalvage: Worship Dehumanization
black death
Neaera: Forging the Eclipse
Sarcolytic: Thee Arcane Progeny
best tech death this year
Thy Art Is Murder: The Adversary
deathcore 2nd only to King Conquer
Tightrope: The Infinite Being
really good unknown tech deathcore
Veil of Maya: [id]
great
Wretched: Beyond the Gate
really good all the way through
Here’s the top 5 in order:
5. Eluveitie: Everything Remains As It Never Was
best folk metal album of the year. super catchy
4. The Acacia Strain: Wormwood
awesome. great death metal and good mix of styles with an effective use of breakdowns
3. Cloudkicker: Beacons
best instrumental album all year
2. Incarnia: Proclamation
Umm yeah
and the winner is…
1. October Tide: A Thin Shell
They’re a relatively new discovery and I must say…extremely impressed. This album blew me away, and not only are they top 5 of the year but they might be in my top 5 bands overall. Hell of an amazing album that deserves the number 1 spot. Beautiful combination of melodic death and doom metal that is even better than Swallow the Sun.
[EDITOR’S UPDATE: I haven’t listened to ITD’s top pick yet, though I damned well will. But here’s a taste of what that album has to offer:
5 Responses to “INTOTHEDARKNESS WEIGHS IN: HIS 25 FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2010”
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Just lending a quick ear to ITD’s no. 1. Dark. Quality.
My suggestion would be to add a track to the article by the way.
Consider it done brother. Actually, it is done.
“Dark Fortress: Ylem – best black metal band still making albums”
Works for me.
Oh and “New Moon” was 2009… but it is good enough to transcend yearly boundaries.
Aaaaagh. That was my screw-up. ITD realized New Moon was from last year and wrote me back to replace it with another album. I added the other album and then forgot to remove New Moon — which I’ve just now done.
I say leave it in. It’s that awesome.