We’re now beginning the final month of 2015, and you know what that means: Now begins the countdown to the end of the year and the strengthening onslaught of the annual holiday season. In the world of metal, this month we’ll also start seeing more and more lists of the year’s best albums.
Back in 2009, when this site was just a few days old, I wrote a post about year-end lists and why people bother with them. The best reason still seems to be this: Reading someone else’s list of the albums they thought were best is a good way to discover music you missed and might like.
We don’t do an “official” NCS year-end “best albums” list. However, we publish the picks of each of our regular staff writers as well as a large group of guest writers (which we’ll start doing later this month), and every year we also invite our readers to share their lists. If YOU have made your own list of the albums, EPs, or splits released in 2015 that you think are the best of what you’ve heard this year, we invite you to share it with us in the Comments section to this post. And if you haven’t made a list yet, maybe you should consider doing that.
We don’t have any hard-and-fast rules about year-end lists. Your list doesn’t have to be a specific number — it doesn’t have to be a “Top 10″ or “Top 20″ list, it could be a Top 2 list or a Top 15, or any other number.
And it doesn’t have to be a cross-genre list, i.e., the best of all metal you’ve heard this year. It could be the best hardcore albums you heard, or the best death metal, or the best black metal, or the best grind, or the best folk metal, and on and on — pretty much whatever you want to do and feel comfortable doing, as long as it fits your definition of metal.
Don’t be shy, and don’t worry about being judged — if you haven’t figured it out already, it ain’t our style or the style of our commenters to ridicule what someone else thinks is great metal.
And if you don’t have a list ready yet, no sweat, because you can come back to this post whenever you like and add your list later — or comment on the lists others have posted. I’ll put a link to this post at the top right side of every page so people can find it quickly — look for the link to 2015 NCS READERS’ YEAR-END LISTS. That will make the comments to this post a collection point for “Best of” readers’ lists. And that link will stay on our page throughout 2016.
So start thinking and start commenting (please, and thank you).
196 Responses to “LISTMANIA 2015: READERS LISTS OF THE YEAR’S BEST METAL”
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This is the first year I’ve been regularly visiting this blog and may I say how much I appreciate a metal blog that focuses on the music and artists instead of gossip and sensational news stories. I am continually turned onto new and exciting bands I would have otherwise missed out on. Thanks! With regards to my list it’s my lucky 13 listed alphabetically; I tend to favor the prog/tech metal bands but there’s a sprinkling of other genres as well.
1. Alkaloid “The Malkuth Grimoire”
2. Alustrium “A Tunnel to Eden”
3. Barren Earth “On Lonely Towers”
4. Between the Buried and Me “Coma Ecliptic”
5. Black Fast “Terms of Surrender”
6. Cattle Decapitation “The Anthropocene Extinction”
7. Dark Sermon “The Oracle”
8. Khemmis “‘Absolution”
9. Leprous “The Congregation”
10. Paradise Lost “The Plague Within”
11. Sanzu “Painless” (EP)
12. Walking Corpse Syndrome “Human Delusion”
13. Wrvth “Wrvth”
Interesting as this will be completely different from my Top 25 list.
But always good too see other stuff for me to go back and reconsider 🙂
Thanks! I always enjoy these year end lists and seeing what everyone has been getting into. I’ve been playing the s**t out of the Paradise Lost and Leprous records particularly. Cheers!
That Barren Earth album is so, so damn good. Very nice list.
Thanks! Yeah that Barren Earth album has been horribly overlooked imho. Maybe because it came out at the very beginning of the year, who knows? 🙂
Yeah I agree. You’d think a band with that sort of pedigree would draw more attention. Imo each of their albums has been better than the last.
Ohhhh shiiiiii…..
Would it be really cheeky to shove a link to a list I already sort of did? Ah well, doing it anyway:
http://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=4380&page=&message_id=
Not really in any order, though I’m fairly confident The Great Tyrant is my AotY. Listening to it is what I think Swans fans must feel when they go apeshit over whatever Swans album they’re going bananas over. It’s just immense.
But I guess the notable ones would be something like this, in no real order:
The Great Tyrant – s/t
Dragged Into Sunlight / Gnaw Their Tongues – NV
L’indécis – Céleste
Tribulation – The Children Of The Night
Sea Witch – The Blackened Sea
Pyramids – A Northern Meadow
PSUDOKU – Planetarisk Sudoku
Magister Templi – Into Duat
Leviathan – Scar Sighted
Howls of Ebb – The Marrow Veil
Björk – Vulnicura
Grey Heaven Fall – Black Wisdom
Ghost – Meliora
Anna von Hausswolff – The Miraculous
Faith No More – Sol Invictus (Sue me: best FNM album if you ask me. Incredible work)
Echoes of Yul – The Healing
Chaos Echœs – Transient
Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss
Cap it at that I guess.
I’ve been meaning to finish a review of Grey Heaven Fall that I’ve left alone for far too long. Seeing it here was a reminder of how badly I’ve been neglecting it. And I guess I need to listen to The Great Tyrant. Had no idea that’s where the Pinkish Black people came from.
Get on that review! That Grey Heaven Fall has been blowing my mind since it was released!
This, right?
https://pinkishblack.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-tyrant-the-trouble-with-being-born
Yeah, that’s the one. The vocals get quite sublime a bit later on into the record.
Literally never heard of this band or their new band until you mentioned it. Sounds interesting and messed up (in a good way) so far. Thanks 🙂
No problem! I found them randomly on invisibleoranges.com a couple of months ago. Pinkish Black have been making a little headway in recent times, and aren’t too bad. Like a more dulcet, gothy version of The Great Tyrant I think, though I haven’t explored them too deeply.
This is my list about the albums, demos and EPs that I consider the best I have heard this year. You will find more than a genre. It’s a long list but I know that quality is better than quantity. I hope to read lists made by the other readers and writers of course and thank you for this request:
Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers
Sulphur Aeon – Gateway to the Antisphere
Hate Eternal – Infernus
Theories – Regression
Abhorrent Decimation – Miasmic Mutation
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
Rivers Of Nihil – Monarchy
Abyssal – Antikatastaseis
Ævangelist – Enthrall to the Void of Bliss
Vorum – Current Mouth
Rannoch – Age of the Locust
Human Improvement Process – Enemies of the Sun
Cruciamentum – Charnel Passages
Slægt – Beautiful and Damned
Kaeck – Stormkult
Devouring Star – Through Lung and Heart
Adversarial – Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism
Leviathan – Scar Sighted
Reverie – Bliss
Panopticon – Autumn Eternal
Amiensus – Ascension
Vampire – Cimmerian Shade
Tribulation – The Children of the Night
Horrendous – Anareta
Gruesome – Savage Land
Undead – False Prophecies
Sadistic Ritual – Edge of the Knife
The Monolith Deathcult – Bloodcvlts
Mgla – Exercises in Futility
Misþyrming – Söngvar elds og óreiðu
Serpents Lair – Circumambulating the Stillborn
Shrine of Insanabilis – Disciples of the Void
Devathorn – Vritra
Acherontas – Ma-Ion (Formulas of Reptilian Unification)
Shape Of Despair – Monotony Fields
Paradise Lost – The Plague Within
Alkaloid – The Malkuth Grimoire
Sanzu – Painless (EP)
Sanzu – Heavy Over The Home
Black Breath – Slaves Beyond Death
Marduk – Frontschwein
Bloodstrike – In Death We Rot
Destruktor – Opprobrium
Possession – 1585 – 1646
Sacrificium Carmen – Ikuisen tulen kammiossa
Kampfar – Profan
Enslaved – In Times
Drudkh – A Furrow Cut Short
Kroda – GinnungaGap GinnungaGaldr GinnungaKaos
Khors – Night Falls onto the Fronts of Ours
Outre – Ghost Chants
Serpent Noir – Erotomysticism
Akhlys – The Dreaming I
Blaze Of Perdition – Near Death Revelations
Creeping – Revenant
Crypt Sermon – Out of the Garden
Windhand – Grief’s Infernal Flower
Hooded Menace – Darkness Drips Forth
Gorrch – Nera Estasi
Isvind – Gud
Abjvration – The Unquenchable Pyre
Aegrus – Devotion for the Devil
Tsjuder – Antiliv
Awe – Providentia
Altarage – MMXV (Demo)
Tyranny – Aeons in Tectonic Interment
In Dread Response – Heavenshore
Thornesbreed – GTRD
Azavatar – Azavatar
Inculter – Persisting Devolution
Deathhammer – Evil Power
Byzantine – To Release is to Resolve
Cold Cell – Lowlife
Ghost Bath – Moonlover
Pyrrhon – Growth Without End
Imperial Triumphant – Abyssal Gods
Katavasia – Sacrilegious Testament
Cut Up – Forensic Nightmares
Grave Pleasures – Dreamcrash
Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss
Firespawn – Shadow Realms
Kvltist – Catechesis
Diavolos – You Lived Now Die
Autopsy – Skull Grinder
Clutch – Psychic Warfare
VI – De Praestigiis Angelorum
“There’s just no good music being made anymore,” they say. “Music is dead,” they say.
Yes, they say it but is their opinion, not a fact. The music is something directly connected with the emotive part of the listener, you know, seems that for some people music is just a way to kill the silence or to kill boredom or just because is the trend of the moment who probably will never understand why some genres as became “cult” or why some people needs to express themselves through art, well, in some way, they’re lying.
I count 11 of these that will be on my Top 25 🙂
I’m glad that you appreciate some of the releases in my list, I guees that Imperial Triumphant are one of those names. 🙂
Is this your favourites list or is this every album that you listened to this year?
This list is about my favourites but no, these are not the only albums I have heard in 2015
I’m sorry but I forgot one album that I think is great Death Metal:
Demiurgon – Above the Unworthy
Thanks a lot for this list. I hadn’t heard of Khors before, and I’m really enjoying it.
You’re welcome, thanks for your time and let me suggest you their previous albums in “Wisdom of Centuries” and the debut in “The Flame of Eternity’s Decline” but the entire discography is worthy to be heard.
My top 25 for the year is looking something like this:
1. Crypt Sermon – Out Of The Garden
2. Mgla – Exercises In Futility
3. Visigoth – The Revenant King
4. Archgoat – The Apocalyptic Triumphator
5. Death Karma – The History Of Death And Burial Rituals Part I
6. Embodied Torment – Liturgy Of Ritual Execution
7. Ghoulgotha – The Deathmass Cloak
8. Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers
9. Ad Nauseam – Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est
10. Scythian – Hubris In Excelsis
11. Panopticon – Autumn Eternal
12. Destruktor – Opprobrium
13. Rosy Finch – Witchboro
14. Ghost Bath – Moonlover
15. Tome Of The Unreplenished – Innerstanding
16. Wooden Stake – A Feast Of Virgin Souls
17. Horrendous – Anareta
18. Dodheimsgard – A Umbra Omega
19. Iniquitous Deeds – Incessant Hallucinations
20. Adversarial – Death, Endless Nothing And The Black Knife Of Nihilism
21. Wolfheart – Shadow World
22. Advent Sorrow – As All Light Leaves Her
23. Ruby The Hatchet – Valley Of The Snake
24. Undergang – Doden Laeger Alle Sar
25. Employed To Serve – Grayer Than You Remember
I count 4 of these on my Top 25 🙂
I’m rather sad that I missed Death Karma before, but thanks for promoting it – it’s amazing
Hi, my list is going to be a short one as i found this year good for metal but only a few releases really kick my ass hard.
Outre – Ghosts chants
Alustrium – A tunnel to Eden
MGLA – Exercices in futility
Abjvration – The unquenchable pyre
Serpents Lair – Circumambulating the Stillborn
Good – A maze of recycled creeds
Hail from France, keep going NCS, you’r great. Thx !
Smart picking OUTRE, I agree 🙂
“if you haven’t figured it out already, it ain’t our style or the style of our commenters to ridicule”
I will totally judge and ridicule your tastes
Yeah, Islander was asleep at the wheel on that one. LOL
On a serious note, any ridicule I dish out is pure fun and ball busting. But even I have softened over the years and learned to play “nice”, for the most part.
I guess living under a semi Frenchie dictatorship will do that to ya 😉
I think you meant to say “semi Frenchie BENEVOLENT dictatorship”.
Well, yeah, my language was a little loose. What I meant to say was “it ain’t our style or the style of our commenters OTHER THAN SURGICALBRUTE to ridicule.”
These eleven stand out in my mind (in no particular order):
Crypt Sermon
Khemmis
Magic Circle
Gorod
Alustrium
Sarpanitum
Scythian
Chapel of Disease
Sulphur Aeon
Horrendous
Obsequiae
This has been a really, really good year for old-school doom and old-school death metal.
I disagree about death metal…theres been some really good albums of course, but as far as actual number of releases, I think this is one of the slowest years for that style in awhile
Are we in agreement that the style has reached its saturation point already? I’m sorta over it unless it is super well done or adds something interesting into the mix 🙂
I totally agree that it’s been a slow year for death metal releases AND that OSDM has more than reached the saturation point . I was actually rather surprised when I realized just how many albums more or less in that style impressed me this year. That said, I’ll take quality over quantity any time, and the handful of truly memorable old school death metal albums I heard this year is noteworthy. If I included the much more “modern” sounding releases from Lost Soul, Abhorrent Decimation, Abhorrent, Contrarian and Alkaloid (all of which I like, but not quite as much as those I mentioned above), then in my eyes it’s been a very strong year for death metal overall.
I’d say it pretty much peaked in 2012, with a few stragglers popping up in 2013. Honestly, I’ll never get tired of those bands because I enjoy the style so much, but like you said, at this point it has to be an album that really catches my attention for me to add it to my year end list
As an OSDM fan I’m surprised you don’t have the new Cruciamentum here. It’s quite the good thing.
I have to admit I’m a little burned out on OSDM this year. Probably because 2013 and 2014 saw such strong death metal releases. I think Grave Miasma’s ‘Odori Sepulcrorum’ was probably the peak for me, and since then everything has sounded just a tad worse as a result. This year has definitely had its fair share of good stuff though.
Cruciamentum was really underwhelming…not bad, but really not as good as it could have been, especially given the amount of time it took to release it
I think it was a couple of years too late to be sure. At the moment I’m much more enthused by the sort of deconstructive death / black like Emptiness, Chaos Echœs and the like that’s been popping up. It’s hard to focus on the more standard fair right now, even if it is good.
To be honest, I’m with SurgicalBrute on Cruciamentum – it’s distinctly underwhelming. It’s not bad, just bland (in as much as death metal can be bland).
Agreed that record did nothing but bore me for the most part 🙂
The three “Illusion of Choice” songs/segments/movements at the end of the Alustrium album are some of the most inspired pieces of music released this year. Nice list!
Thanks! I love the “Illusion of Choice” suite; it’s the sort of audacious concept that when it succeeds (as it does here) really sets a band apart from their peers.
Something like this:
1. Draconian – Sovran
2. Wilderun – Sleep At The Edge Of The World
3. My Dying Bride – Feel The Misery
4. Trials – This Ruined World
5. Ghost – Meliora
6. Swallow The Sun – Songs From The North
7. Mgla – Exercises In Futility
8. Galar – De Gjenlevende
9. Horrendous – Anareta
10. Nechochwen – The Serpent Tradition
11. Paradise Lost – The Plague Within
Great year for metal.
I don’t have a list, but if I did, it would have to include this:
Kroda – GinnungaGap-GinnungaGaldr-GinnungaKaos
\m/ Nice to see at least some love for that album in here.
I had hoped to have a list by the time this post went up, but I don’t. There’s still a few albums I really want to check out and I’ll probably find a few more from others.
I’ll give you 25 in the very beginning of January.
Or if you want 60, just read my monthly column 😉
I’ve been behind on new stuff for most of the year so I was using your columns to help catch up; they’ve been very helpful. Our final lists may not have a ton of overlap but there should be a handful we’d agree on.
Plenty of time left. We’ll be posting lists well into January before we finish, and I expect (and hope) the lists in this Comment section will also continue to come in for the rest of this month and into early next year.
I don’t have a carefully ranked list, but if I did, the following five would certainly be somewhere at the very top:
Mgła – Exercises in Futility
Misþyrming – Söngvar elds og óreiðu
FIN – The Furrows of Tradition
Shrine of Insanabilis – Disciples of the Void
Ghost – Meliora
I like em well enough, but I doubt Ghost will ever really be my thing. The rest of those albums were topnotch though
Swap the Ghost album with VI – De Praestigiis Angelorum, then. ;-]
That one is also among the ones at the very top.
Yes the Shrine of Insanabilis album was a very nice surprise this year. Kinda came out of nowhere.
i second your comment for Shrine of Insanabilis
That Fin album is a late add to my listening thats really been a treat.
My top 25. Not ranking them because I don’t need that unnecessary stress in my life. Alphabetical order cuz I’m cool like that!
Abhorrent – Intransigence
Abyssal – Antikatastaseis
Ad Nauseam – Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est
BlackQueen – The Directress
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
Cruciamentum – Charnel Passages
Crypt Sermon – Out Of The Garden
Dalkhu – Descend Into Nothingness
Dystrophy – Wretched Host
Elder – Lore
Iniquitous Deeds – Incessant Hallucinations
A Loathing Requiem – Acolytes Eternal
Nechochwen – Heart of Akamon
Nylithia – Hyperthrash
Obsequiae – Aria Of Vernal Tombs
Panopticon – Autumn Eternal
Putridity – Ignominious Atonement
Repulsive Dissection – Church Of The Five Precious Wounds
Rivers Of Nihil – Monarchy
Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers
Serocs – And When the Sky Was Opened
Sulphur Aeon – Gateway To The Antisphere
Temple Of Baal – Mysterium
Theories – Regression
Ur Draugr – With Hunger Undying – I know this album hasn’t been released yet but I’m putting it up here because I’m really looking forward to it and I think it’s gonna be a year end gem
First time I’ve seen someone mention Hyperthrash anywhere. That album is so damn good, and so damn fun. Been meaning to review it here, but I keep putting it off to maintain the illusion of diligent academic study.
Damn, I suddenly remember seeing a video from them way back. I shall delve into this album you speak of…
You guys are going to be so fucking bummed when I just list Jethro Tull’s discography.
What a cop-out. I mean, not even picking just one Tull album, but lazily listing them all.
I warn everyone that I barely have time to listen to more music than is posted here at NCS, so most albums below should (or at least, could) be familiar to you.
Top tier:
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
Tempel – The Moon Lit Our Path
VI – De Praestigiis Angelorum
Second tier:
Alustrium – A Tunnel to Eden
Irreversible Mechanism – Infinite Fields
Obsequiae – Aria of Vernal Tombs
Rivers of Nihil – Monarchy
Eïs – Bannstein
Praetoria – Mirror of Modernity
Enshine – Singularity
Lost Soul – Atlantis: The New Beginning
Sunset in the 12th House – Mozaic
Not listened enough to judge tier:
Blaze of Sorrow – Eremita del Fuoco
Abhorrent – Intransigence
Odious – Skin Age
Dawn of Dementia – Immolation of Avernis
Oh, and like last year, the top tier will probably be expanded up to March with all the fantastic material the other posts here contain… There’s not enough time.
I was SO looking forward to that VI album, but was a little disappointed. Just makes me want to listen to Arrow in Heart. Still one of the better releases this year.
Interesting, I can definitely hear the similarities there. But two years ago I distinctly remember not liking that release. A nice proof of evolving taste 🙂
Hail Odious, my Alexandrian komrades, keepers of the Egyptian metal flame
I found this to be a particularly strong year for metal and these were the albums I listened to the most:
01. Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers
02. Hooded Menace – Darkness Drips Forth
03. Killing Joke – Pylon
04. Unrest – Grindcore
05. Skinless – Only The Ruthless Remain
06. Tombstalker – Black Crusades
07. Kowloon Walled City – Grievances
08. Temple Of Gnosis – Mysterium Magnum
09. Heaving Earth – Denouncing The Holy Throne
10. The Kill – Kill Them… All
11. Firespawn – Shadow Realms
12. Castrator – No Victim
13. Subterror – Antropomortem
14. Nile – That Which Should Not Be Unearthed
15. Grave Ritual – Morbid Throne
First time I’ve seen anyone mention The Kill anywhere. Great album! Those guys do grindcore properly!
This is a terrifying list. Don’t you have trouble getting to sleep at night?
I balance my listening out with lots of jazz, classical, choral, and film scores. I sleep just fine.
Crap. A reminder that I never listened to the Firespawn record, despite intending to.
Also just realizing that. Damn thing’s been sitting in my iTunes just waiting for me.
Skinless is great. It’s going up on my list too.
Just gave the Tau Cross multiple spins and it is a phenomenal record; definite top five potential but I don’t want to remake my whole list so I’ll just note it here.
Karyn Crisis’ A Gospel Of Witches was also pretty great. Damn… so many good albums this year!
1. Faith No More
2. Iron Maiden
3. Finsterforst
4. Kauan
5. Macabre Omen
6. Mgla
7. Grimoire EP
8. Grift
9. Enslaved
10. Cradle of Filth
A nice surprise to see the Grift album on a list. Reminds me of how much I’ve enjoyed it.
1.The Kill- Kill them….All
2.Ling Tosite Sigure- Es or S (EP)
3.Suffering Mind- Waste Farm
4.Maruta-Remain Dystopian
5.Leviathan- Scar Sighted
6.The Crinn-ShadowBreather
7.Despise You-All your Majestic Bullshit (7″)
8.Panopticon-Autumn Eternal
9.Mgla-Excercises in Futility
10.Sacridose/Triac (Split 7″)
A huge surprise and my favorite album of the year: Abigail Williams – The Accuser. I never, EVER thought I’d write that, but this album has everything, yet sounds like nothing else. It might not be your cup of tea (or blood), but if you’ve avoided this album due to the, um, unevenness of their previous releases, you might be missing out on something very special.
That being said, here’s my 20.
Abigail Williams – The Accuser
Abyssal – Antikatastaseis
Adversarial – Death, Endless Nothing, and the Black Knife of Nihilism
Aevangelist – Enthrall to the Void of Bliss
Amestigon – Thier
Azavatar – Azavatar
Blaze of Perdition – Near Death Revelations
Cult Leader – Lightless Walk
Imperial Triumphant – Abyssal Gods
Krallice – Ygg Huur
Lux Ferre – Excaecatio Lux Veritatis
Moonreich – Pillars of Detest
Mord’a’Stigmata – Our Hearts Slow Down
Outre – Ghost Chants
Pyramids – A Northern Meadow
Regardes les Hommes Tomber – Exile
Shrine of Insanabalis – Disciples of the Void
This Gift Is a Curse – All Hail the Swinelord
Tod Huetet Uebel – Malícia
VI – De Praestigiis Angelorum
I’m guessing I’ve liked the previous AW albums more than you did, but I’m totally in agreement that The Accuser was outstanding. I hope it will open the eyes of more people who might have written off AW years back and never realized how really talented Sorceron is (and IMO their current line-up is the best yet). Enjoyed the rest of your list too.
I didn’t listen very closely to Tod Huetet Uebel, but, i think, it’s really good stuff. Thumbs up.
Nice to see Mord’a’Stigmata and Tod Huetet Uebel up there.
There is always so much to be discovered in these lists. Here are a few in loose order:
Bloody Tyrant – The Legacy of Sun-Moon Lake
Bell Witch – Four Phantoms
Tribulation – Children of the Night
Hooded Menace – Darkness Drips Forth
Horrendous – Anareta
Paradise Lost – The Plague Within
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – Night Creeper
Moan – First Four Years
Grave – Out of Respect for the Dead
Show Me Wolves – Between Man God and False Idols
Venomous Maximus – Firewalker
Skeletal Remains – Condemned to Misery
My Dying Bride – Feel The Misery
Seagrave – Stabwound
Secrets of the Sky – Pathway
Finally, a list with Bell Witch on it! If I had the mental agility to make my own Top 20 list (which I don’t), Bell Witch would be on it.
01 Antlion – The Prescient
02 Queensrÿche – Condition Hüman
03 Rivers of Nihil – Monarchy
04 Drudkh – A Furrow Cut Short
05 Symphony X – Underworld
06 Melechesh – Enki
07 Gorod – A Maze of Recycled Creeds
08 Lost Soul – Atlantis: The New Beginning
09 Satyricon – Live at the Opera
10 Slayer – Repentless
There are some very diverse lists on this page so far, including this one — which is good!
Thanx! 🙂
Yes! That Melechesh album is just one awesome riff after another!
1. Swallow the Sun – Songs of the North
2. Arcane – Known/Learned
3. Shape of Despair – Monotony Fields
4. Earthside – A Dream in Static
5. Between the Buried and Me – Coma Ecliptic
6. My Dying Bride – Feel the Misery
7. Native Construct – Quiet World
8. Riverside – Love, Fear And The Time Machine
9. Enslaved – In Times
10. Steven Wilson – Hand. Cannot. Erase.
11. Bruce Soord – Bruce Soord
12. Transience – Temple
13. Ahab – The Boats Of The Glen Carrig
14. The Slow Death – Ark
15. Caligula’s Horse – Bloom
16. Paradise Lost – The Plague Within
17. Skepticism – Ordeal
18. Enshined – Singularity
19. Alkaloid – The Malkuth Grimoire
20. Ne Obliviscaris – Hiraeth/Sarabande to Nihil
I’m mildly stunned that this is the first mention of Ahab and Skepticism, both of which I thought were amazing.
I didn’t have as much time and money to devote to finding new music this year, so the bulk of my list consists of bands that I was already familiar with.
Alkaloid – The Malkuth Grimoire
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
Ghost – Meliora
Indesinence – III
Krallice – Ygg Huur
Lychgate – An Antidote for the Glass Pill
Panopticon – Autumn Eternal
Sigh – Graveward
Sulphur Aeon – Gateway to the Antisphere
Thy Catafalque – Sgurr
Tome of the Unreplenished – Innerstanding
Tribulation – The Children of the Night
Vhol – Deeper Than Sky
Thanks to all who have contributed, I have been able to catch up on stuff I had missed. I’ve padded out my list of great tunes by including new releases from the following:
A Forest of Stars
Abyssal
Death Grips
Death Karma
Misthyrming
Nechochwen
Obsequiae
Sarpanitum
Slugdge
Thanks again everybody for once again making this my favorite time of year. Cheers! \m/
My top 25 mainly is made up of:
A Forest of Stars- Beware The Sword You Cannot See
Abhor- Ritualia Stramonium
Amiensus- Ascension
Ares Kingdom- The Unburiable Dead
Barus- Barus
Crimson Swan- Unlit
Desolate Shrine- The Heart of the Netherworld
Endlesshade- Wolf Will Swallow The Sun
Foehammer- Foehammer
Goatsnake- Black Age Blues
Jute Gyte- Ship of Theseus
Kanseil- Doin Earde
Macabre Omen- Gods of War- At War
Magic Circle- Journey Blind
Mare Infinitum_ Alien God Monolith
Mgla- Exercises in Futility
Mourning Mist- Mourning Mist
Nachterror/Altars of Grief- Of Ash and Dying Light
Negative Mantra- A Hymn To Disappointment
Obsequiae- Aria of Vernal Tombs
Porta Nigra- Kaiserschnitt
Satan’s Host- Pre-Dating God Part 2
Sunset In The 12th House- Mosaic
VI – De Praestigiis Angelorum
Wilderun- Sleep At The Edge of Earth
Thanks to this site, and AMG’s, I’ve discovered some great bands and some amazing music and I’m looking forward to a very strong 2016 in metal.
Seems like every list on here adds some things that haven’t appeared in the others, and on yours I’m especially glad to see Ares Kingdom, Nachterror/Altars of Grief, and Porta Nigra (plus more albums I haven’t heard of before).
Most of my top 25 have come from some great commendations on NCS and then getting lost in a bandcamp k-hole! Looking at others’ lists I’ve realised I’ve missed off a lot of great albums that I’ve heard but not had an opportunity to buy yet.
Sulphur Aeon – Gateways to the Antisphere
Mgla – Exercises In Futility
Voices – London
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
Arcturus – Arcturian
Cryptopsy – The Book of Suffering Tome I
Raising the Veil – Bosonic Quantvm Phenomena
Invoker – Aeon
Irreversible Mechanism – Infinite Fields
Akhlys – The Dreaming I
Thy Art is Murder – Holy War
Apophys – Prime Incursion
Vehemence – Forward Without Motion
Entheos – Primal
Temple of Baal – Mysterium
Shining – IX Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends
Mortal Torment – Cleaver Redemption
The Antichrist Imperium – S/T
Inquinamentum – Void
Melechesh – Enki
Abyssal – Antikatastasies
Slugdge – Dim and Slimeridden Kingdoms
Horrendous – Anareta
Shattered – New Atlantas
Vulvodynia – Finis Omnium Ignoraniam
I realize the Voices album is kind of a cheat here. The UK release was last year but the US release wasnt until the end of january, which i found it shortly after. I figured it still counted.
So far I’m seeing very little overlap between what I’ve had on high repeat and the other pics here. Granted, there’s still so many albums I’ve been meaning to pick up. But here’s my top for 2015 so far:
Mephorash – 1557 – Rites of Nullification
https://mephorash.bandcamp.com/album/1557-rites-of-nullification
I’m not even entirely sure what you’d class this as – occult black death metal? how about just “luciferian goodness”
Mechina – Acheron + The World We Lost
https://mechinamusic.bandcamp.com/album/acheron
The space opera continues with some real interesting musical twists. Mechina have managed to carve a unique niche for themselves.
Finsterforst – Mach Dich Frei
Symphonic folk metal, sung in deutsch. If that intrigues you I spewed my thoughts on this album back in February: https://www.nocleansinging.com/2015/02/04/finsterforst-mach-dich-frei
Stömb – The Grey
https://stomb.bandcamp.com/album/the-grey
Just a solid listening experience. Instrumental, largely djent – which is description that would send many readers running. But they’ve got songwriting and variety and they use it well.
Below The Sun – Envoy
https://templeoftorturous.bandcamp.com/album/envoy
An album about the flight of Voyager 1 through the solar system.. and man did they capture the terrifying beauty and immenseness of flying alone through space. A concept album that could have gone all kinds of wrong but really hits the nail.
Myrkur – M + Den Lille Piges Død
https://myrkur.bandcamp.com/album/m
Vocals and melodies that can be haunting but also strangely homely.
Second To Sun – The First Chapter
https://secondtosun.bandcamp.com/album/the-first-chapter
Huge thanks to Islander for posting this a few weeks back. Quite an odd instrumental metal album, sounds like a Frankenstein of conjoined musical twins: part throwing all kinds of metal into the mix, part something that sounds like it wouldn’t be out of place in an anime cartoon.
Fear Factory – Genexus
https://youtu.be/osjYf8FBXbU
Classic Ff sound, reminds me a lot of Obsolete. Catchy, bouncy, quite a fun album.
Julia Kent – Asperities
http://music.juliakent.com/
Not metal at all, but if you’re in the mood for some sombre yet also just a little hopeful cello Julia just wrote an album special for you 😉
Man, really digging the Julia Kent music.
Excellent – I’ve discovered so much good music from you it’s about time I returned something your way. Technically, it’s still no clean singing 😉
My favourite albums of 2015. All of these will get heavy rotation for years and years to come.
50% of all music i have listened to this year, is probably just these 3 albums.
1-Mgla – Exercises in Futility
2-Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss
3-Peste Noire – La Chaise-Dyable
Great albums that deserve more listens. They are far far from the 3 albums listed above, but they are still pretty great.
Shining – International Blackjazz Society
AU-DESSUS – Au-Dessus
Thy Catafalque – Sgurr
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
Outre – Ghost chants
Murg – Varg & Björn
Death Karma – The History Of Death & Burial Rituals part I
Tsjuder – AntiLiv
Kampfar – Profan
Queensrÿche – Condition Hüman
Symphony X – Underworld
Marduk – Frontschwein
Fine, fine list. I really must listen to that whole Chelsea Wolfe album instead of just the singles.
The Agonist Eye of Providence
Cloud Rat Qliphoth
Deathhammer Evil Power
Disrupted Morbid Death
Distant Sun Dark Matter
Gorgoroth Instinctus Bestialis
Marduk Frontschwein
Mefitic Woes of Mortal Devotion
Necrosy Perdition
Der Weg einer Freiheit Stellar
Withering Soul Adverse Portrait
I was going to bust your balls about The Agonist, but then I saw Mefitic on your list, so I’ll give you a pass
That Cloud Rat album is a total mindf*ck.
Really was. You should also check out their tracks on the new split with Drugs of Faith:
https://selfmadegod.bandcamp.com/album/split-17
2015 has been a great year. The best releases (not in order) that I’ve managed to listen in my limited time are:
Ithaqua – Initiation To Obscure Mysteries
Marduk – Frontschwein
Ghost – Meliora
Tribulation – Children of the Night?
Downfall of Nur – Umbras de Barbagia
Macabre Omen – Gods of War – At War
Nocternity – Harps of the Ancient Temples
Midnight Odyssey – Shards of Silver Fade
Urfaust – Apparitions
Spectral Voice – Necrotic Voices
Iron Maiden – Book of Souls
Akrotheism/Septuagint – split
Saturnalia Temple – To the Other
Caedes Cruenta – Ereipia Psixon
Mgla – Exercises in Futility
Tome of the Unreplenished – Innerstanding
Devathorn – Vritra
Svartgren – Prazan Grob
Lucifer’s Child – The Wiccan
Spectral Lore – Gnosis
Acherontas – Ma Ion
Once again Greece dominates the list.
Greek bands have been on such a roll for the last two years especially. And thanks for the reminder about Ithaqua. Totally forgot about that one.
going through lists posted here so far was a great memory refreshment for yet another stellar metal year, following steadily up the volcanic 2014; moreover i’d just like to list a few of the records not mentioned on this page to this point, most of which i learned about from NCS, of course.
Exgenesis – Aphotic Veil
Downfall Of Nur – Umbras De Barbagia
Mare Infinitum – Alien Monolith God
Tjolgtjar / The Meads Of Asphodel – Taste The Divine Wrath
Vahevahian – Wrath Of Baalshamim
Knife Of Maleqart – LP
Zatokrev – Silk Spiders Underwater
Akrotheism / Septuagint – Sphinx: Great Enigma Of Times
Devouring Star – Through Lung And Heart
Haethen – Shaped By Aeolian Winds
Akhlis – The Dreaming I
Oxxo Xoox – Namidae
Sigh – Graveward
Corpot-Mente – s/t
Temple Of Gnosis – Mysterivm Magnvm
Arphael – Ambigram (2014)
Gurthang / Beyond Life – Melodies Of Sorrow
Alda – Passage
The Horn / Nekrasov – Volume 13
Taatsi – Olden Folk
Zgard – Totem
Spectral Lore – Gnosis
Hornood Fell – Yheri
Weightless – s/t
Ether – Hymns Of Failure
Gravsang – La Dine Taarer Livet Begrave
Grey Heaven Fall – Black Wisdom
Petrychor – Apocalyptic Witchcraft
Blaze Of Sorrow – Eremita Del Fuoco
Shattering Ice – Ragnarok
Blot – Ilddyrking
Hermodr / Is – When The Frost Has Stopped The Time
Nebula Orionis – Winter Hymns
Order Of The White Hand / Nordwind – Victory Monument Of Death
Nova – Il Ritorno
Hermodr – What Once Was Beautiful
Sivyj Yar – Burial Shrouds
Sterbefall – Plattensee
Witcher – Csendes Domb
Wild’s Reprisal – Against Leviathan
Echoes Of The Moon – Entropy
Lychgate – An Antidote For The Glass Pill
Path – Via Cultus
Wolfshade – Solipsisme (best album title)
Severoth – Winter Fall
Percht – Downshrine
Uncaladon – Interstellar Absorbtion
Crescent Day’s – Dead Luminous Ocean
Frostagrath – A Defective Incarnation (Egypt)
Ymir – Tumults In The Absence
Lustre – Blossom
Spectral Wound – Terra Nullius
Ulgard – Songs For The Wanderer
Vallendusk – Homeward Path
Irae – Hellnation (best Bathory-sounding)
Svarte – Wanderer Between The Light And Dark (Egypt)
Keep Of Kalessin – Epistemology
Seltar – Declaracion
Borgne – Regne Des Morts
Sickening – The Beyond
Eintritt – Breath Of Thanatos
Nyseius – De Divinatione Daemonum
Sale Freux – Crevecoeur
Introspectiva – Transfiguration
Mysticisme – Repandre
Lvthn – The Grand Uncreation
Aqen – L’Etrange Chemin Vers L’Univers Occulte
Aether Lights – Mankind
Twilight Fauna – Shadows Of Ancestors
Anhedonia – Der Shrei Der Natur
Hoth – Oathbreaker
Troll – Drep De Kristne
Taiga – Gaia
Stworz – Coz Po Zyznych Ziemiach
Nahtrunar – Symbolismus
Basarabian Hills – Enveloped In The Velvet Cloak Of Midnight (synths, not metal)
Ashbringer – Vacant
Solarstorm – The Sun
Dynfari – Vegfero Timans
Nox Aeternum – Incipiunt Oblivionem
Wisdom Of Shadows – Sciah Vosieni
Sviatibur – Dans La Splendeur Des Dieux
Truth – Endurance
Celtefog – Deliverance
Rhadamanthys – Midnight Skies
Heresiarh – Dragons Of War
Ever since primary school, I considered myself pretty good at counting. But to see this called “a few” implies I still have several aethereal planes of knowledge to ascend… Intimidating.
Minor remark: Oathbreaker was actually released in 2014. It was in my top 5 of the year though, so I hope its mention here will lead to enlightenment of those poor souls whose ears have not heard its glory yet. 🙂
Oathbreaker had a digipack/special edition release in the early months of 2015, that may be what he was thinking about
honestly, i just listened to the youtube album
I like to compare all collections of things I like to the grains of sand on a square yard of beach, making them all “a few” of my favorite things.
i, too, realized the same thing but it was too late so i end up listing every album i liked that were not mentioned above, though afterwards i see someone beat me to the Temple Of Gnosis..
it will be hard for me to make a proper list out of those hundreds of good albums this year; that’s also why i count on NCS
This was a good reminder for me too, especially now that I’m trying to compile my list of “most infectious” songs and failed to religiously keep track of favorites as the year rolled along.
That YMIR album was released in 2010. Did it get released?
But otherwise, great to see Downfall of Nur, Blaze of Sorrow, Sviatibor, and Devouring Star–crushing album.
*re-released
Top 10 metal releases:
1. Blaze of Perdition – Near Death Revelations
2. Drudkh – A Furrow Cut Short
3. Mgla – Exercises in Futility
4. Murg – Varg & Bjorn
5. Amestigon – Thier
6. Abstracter – Wound Empire
7. Grift – Syner
8. Regarde Les Hommes Tomber – Exile
9. A Forest of Stars – Beware the Sword You Cannot See
10. Paradise Lost – The Plague Within
Honorable not necessarily metal mentions:
Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss
Urfaust – Apparitions
Tervahaat – s/t
Let my start by saying how much I love this site. I discovered it earlier this year and it has introduced me to so many new bands. Anyway, I decided that ten would be the perfect number. Here are my top ten albums of 2015:
1. Alkaloid- Malkuth Grimoire
2. Desolate Shrine- The Heart of the Netherworld
3. Abhorrent- Intransigence
4. Mgla- Exercises in Futility
5. Cattle Decapitation- The Anthropocene Extinction
6. Swallow the Sun- Songs From the North
7. Thulcandra- Ascension Lost
8. Gorod- A Maze of Recycled Creeds
9. Horrendous- Anareta
10. Marduk- Frontschwein
Well, list season sure got here quick this year. I’ve managed to wrestle down my personal favorite albums of the year to twenty-five.
Abyssal – Antikatastaseis
Black Breath – Slaves Beyond Death
Black Trip – Shadowline
Byzantine – To Release Is To Resolve
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
Clutch – Psychic Warfare
Ghost – Meliora
Hæthen – Shaped By Aeolian Winds
High On Fire – Luminiferous
Humm – Sanctuary
Iron Maiden – Book Of Souls
Kampfar – Profan
Kowloon Walled City – Grievances
Lamb Of God – VII: Sturm Und Drang
Marilyn Manson – The Pale Emperor
Misþyrming – Söngvar elds og óreiðu
Öxxö Xööx – Nämïdäë
Panopticon – Autumn Eternal
Ritual Killer – Exterminance
Sigh – Graveward
Skinless – Only The Ruthless Remain
Slayer – Repentless
Thou & The Body – You, Whom I Have Always Hated
Venomous Maximus – Firewalker
Vhol – Deeper Than Sky
That’s a cool list, as I expected it would be, and reminds me (among other things) that I stupidly never listened to that whole Venomous Maximus album. Nice to see Humm and Hæthen on this page for the first time, too.
Dude, that Venomous Maximus is definitely not one to miss!
Favourites that haven’t been mentioned yet:
Ghost Ship Octavius
Loch Vostok – From These Waters
Solution .45 – Nightmares In The Waking State – Part I
Antigama – The Insolent
Lindemann – Skills In Pills
Others:
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
Vhol – Deeper Than Sky
Paradise Lost – The Plague Within
Shining – International Blackjazz Society
Fear Factory – Genexus
Gorod – A Maze of Recycled Creeds
I was wrestling today with the enormous list of “most infectious song” candidates, and happened to listen to both “Mills of the Gods” by Ghost Ship Octavius and “Used To” by Antigama. I really didn’t expect to like the former, but it grew on me. “Used To” is more my style. 🙂
Agreed that Ghost Ship Octavius is an odd beast. Modern metal with traditional tendencies, both genres I would typically avoid. It is technical and melodic, feels a bit like Nevermore at times. Varied, catchy, expertly written and performed. A real surprise.
My Top Five, in no order:
Desolate Shrine
Awe
Sannhet
Akhlys
Imperial Triumphant
It’s been a massive year for music, and metal specifically. Any of the albums in my top 10 could’ve easily been my #1, were it not for the intensively high quality of albums released this year.
I’ve managed to condense this to a top 30 to force myself to make some options.
1/Vattnet Viskar – Settler
Sky Swallower was good, but this album blows it completely out of the water. People had issues with the production, but personally I am not bothered at all by it. Everything works on this record; the theme, the music, the artwork, the emotion, the most catchy song of this year (“Impact”) and the most moving song of this year (“Coldwar”). Vattnet Viskar promoted themselves in my book to one of the most talented bands out there this moment that I need to keep a very close eye upon.
2/Zatokrev – Silk Spiders Underwater
I loved their 2013 release with the impossible title to remember, but Silk Spiders Underwater proves they have so much more potential than a retain their underground status in Switzerland. And “Swallow the Teeth” may very well have the best opening minute I ever heard in a song.
3/Barren Earth – On Lonely Towers
Curse of the Red River was awesome and the Devil’s Resolve had its moments, but overall I was shocked to hear that StS’ singer Mikko stopped providing the band (with pretty stellar) vocals. But the impossible happened; team Barren Earth found a singer that fits the band even better. On Lonely Towers delves even deeper into the seemingly limitless create potential that exists in this band and released one of my favorite songs of the last decade: “The Vault”.
4/Swallow the Sun – Songs From the North
I’ve had my say about this album at the review on this site, but overall I think StS pulled off the impossible: deliver a TRIPLE release of which every albums more than holds its own. I wanted to promote them too #1 purely because of this fact, but I feel like album 1 has more than a few generic moments where it feels like a lesser version of Emerald Forest…, which I why I put them a few places lower. However, StS wrote metal history with this album.
5/Hanging Garden – Blackout Whiteout
I’ve read unnervingly little about this release, but I think it’s brilliant. Hanging Garden choose a much softer and melodic approach to their music, but managed to convince me with one of the moodiest and subtly dramatic albums of this year. I hope they’ll re-explore their harsher side in the future sometime, but for now I am really enthusiastic about their newfound form.
6/Panopticon – Autumn Eternal
Roads to the North was amazing, but Autumn Eternal trumps it in any way I think. More focused, faster, a much better production; Panopticon took everything that was amazing about their last release and perfected their sound.
7/Paradise Lost – the Plague Within
FINALLY, the ‘true’ return to form of these British veterans. With Vallenfyre and the ‘new-old’ Paradise Lost I hope we can look forward to many awesome releases in the future.
8/Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss
Misses Wolfe never ceases to amaze me, and managed to blow my mind once more with her heaviest album to date that explores the dark and twisted creativity, anxiety and experience of California’s best musician. I am really curious where Wolfe will venture next.
9/Deafheaven – New Bermuda
Deafheaven polarizes the metal community more than any other band to date. Critics have not yet decided whether this is black metal, shoegaze or hipsterwankery – but I have decided it matters not, because this album is just as awesome as Sunbather.
10/Draconian – Sovran
Initially seemingly an unfortunate event: ‘losing’ your lead singer, but for Draconian it turned out perfectly; their new South African frontwoman complements Draconian’s melancholic music better than I think any singer could. A fantastic and emotional album.
11/So Hideous – Laurestine
Their 2014 short album was stellar, and Laurestine sees So Hideous continue them on the same path as they were going. Slightly more focus on orchestration in the background for a more bombastic and grandiose sound; I don’t know if I prefer the new approach over the older, but overall I am more than satisfied with more So Hideous.
12/Amorphis – Under the Red Cloud
Amorphis are on of these bands that always have a great sound, but for me never really managed to create an album that as a whole caught my attention. Circle went into the right direction for me (catchy Amorphis is the Amorphis I like) but Under the Red Cloud seals the deal; this is Amorphis at their most diverse and interesting to date.
13/Wolfheart – Shadow World
Shadow World holds no surprises and sees Tuomas continue in the direction set on Winterborn. However, Shadow World is an excellent release for anyone who likes the Finnish approach to melodic death metal, which I do.
14/Sylosis – Dormant Heart
I never was a big fan of Sylosis, but somehow their new album just really works for me.
15/Cradle of Filth – Hammer of the Witches
A very vocal community has hated on Cradle of Filth since the dawn of humanity, but I’ve always liked them; their old jazz, their new jazz: all the same to me. Hammer… is nothing new, but is a highly entertaining addition to their catalogue that has some really great numbers on it.
16/Muse – Drones
Hah! Definitely not metal, and a very mainstream one at that. But everyone has their guilty pleasure, and this is mine.
17/Marilyn Manson – Pale Emperor
Mr. Manson found his way back to enough inspiration for a complete album on Pale Emperor for the first time in more than a decade, and has him grooving like never before. Plus it’s awesome they’ve used in John Wick.
18/A Swarm of the Sun – the Rifts
I loved Aoria’s 2012 The Constant, and since this is pretty much the same band I also love this one. Much more atmospheric, but has some really great moments.
19/Moonspell – Extinct
Moonspell play it a tad too safe on this album and release pretty much 11 catchy singles, that are at the very least enjoyable.
20/Failure – the Heart is a Monster
A mid-2000’s alternative rock album released in 2015 is always a good thing to me.
21/Enshine – Singularity
Enshine pretty much re-released their first album, but who cares, it sounds great.
22/Keep of Kalessin – Epistemology
Especially the first half of the album – with The Grand Design with its furious drum lines as the best moment – is really strong.
23/Fear Factory – Genexus
Fear Factory never was the best band ever to me, but Genexus is really enjoyable and shows just how much you can pull from the same formula that has been beaten to death numerous times.
24/My Dying Bride – Feel the Misery
Never was a fan, but Feel the Misery is a really enjoyable album that convinced me to re-evaluate their earlier work.
25/Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
I’m not so much on the bandwagon as the rest of the interwebs, but this album is pretty crushing, in a good sense.
26/Sulphur Aeon – Gateway to the Antisphere
Tech death at its finest. I really liked their debut and hope to hear from them much more in the future.
27/Hope Drone – Cloak of Ash
A very dissonant piece, just like the previous release, that’s really awesome.
28/Marduk – Frontschwein
Especially the lead single, ‘Wartheland’, is really amazing and super infectious.
29/ Soilwork – the Ride Majestic
A significant step down from the surpringly good Living Infinite, but still contains enough infectious choruses and catchy hooks to be quite interesting.
30/Mono & The Ocean – Transcendental
Not quite a complete album, but especially the amazing song from the Ocean on this EP is worth mentioning. I hope they blow us out of the water in 2016, just as they did in 2013!
Glad to see somebody mention So Hideous. Great record.
Thanks! It’s really good; and it’s great to see that apparently their debut wasn’t a fluke.
Thanks not only for the list but also for the mini-reviews of each selection. (I added some spaces in between each one to make them a little easier to spot.) Great to see Zatokrev, and a reminder that despite how much I have liked Hanging Garden in the past, I completely missed Blackout Whiteout.
Thanks Islander! When I was typing this it seemed easier to read than it ended up being 😉
Hanging Garden is a completely different cup of tea compared to their previous releases; just keep in mind they’ve pursued post-rock influences in exchange for many of the metal elements on this release (but somehow still manage to sound like Hanging Garden), then you might like it.
Fave of the Year:
Beaten to Death – Unplugged
Top Contenders:
Kampfar – Profan
Horrendous – Anareta
Black Breath – Slaves Beyond Death
Tao Cross – s/t
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
Wrvth – Wrvth
A Forest of Stars – Beware the Sword You Cannot See
Industrial Revelation – Liberation and the Kingdom of Nri
Clutch – Psychic Warfare
ok, here’s my list in no particular order apart from place 1.
And I still have so many releases I haven’t heard or not heard enough. So my list may change and grow.
1. Tau Cross – Tau Cross
Archivist – Archivist
Seagrave – Stabwound
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Exctinction
Slaegt – Beautiful and Damned
Claret Ash – The Cleansing
Tribulation – Children of the Night
Albums I really like but am not sure yet how much I like them 😉
Shape of Despair – Monotony Fields
Boss de Nage – All Fours
Hermóðr – What once was beautiful
Amiensus – Ascension
Gloryhammer – Rise of the Chaos Wizard
Kampfar – Profan
Turia – Dor
Archivist And Claret Ash! First mentions of two really outstanding albums.
Tau Cross
HighZoolander’s Top 6.66 albums of 2015
This year I decided to focus on just my favorite albums. Despite hearing lots of good ones, these 6 plus one EP are my favorites – the albums I listened to over and over again. To my surprise, only one is not from Europe, and that one from Australia. Sorry America.
Archgoat – The Apocalyptic Triumphator – The mighty Finnish war horde is at it again, with a lovely slab of disgusting raw black metal served right up your ass. This is glorious, and the song Grand Luciferian Theophany is a highlight, though it represents something of a departure for them, as it is quite slow, but no less terrible and powerful for it.
Grand Luciferian Theophany
Arkham Witch – I am Providence – I love these wackjobs from the UK. Their new album is a brilliantly catchy take on HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. I would not hesitate to recommend the song From Beyond for your Most Infectious songs of 2015 list. I can’t describe their album any better than they did – “ARKHAM WITCH have always had a penchant for weirdness but on their 3rd full-length they’ve taken things one step further, showing an even more whimsical side, and serving a subtle mix of chanting doom mongering, sing-along metallicisms and anthemic mosh agencies, all wrapped in the amorphous tentacles of Lovecraft’s concepts and stories.“ But yeah, however you describe, it’s fucking fantastic.
From Beyond
Chapel of Disease – The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art – This album represents one of Germany’s finest death metal acts with an eminently listenable slab of DEATH METAL. No much more to say than that. I really love this album.
Lord of All Death
Destruktor – Opprobrium – Destruktor is the only band not from Europe on this list, and this was one of my favorite albums. It’s a perfectly satisfying slab of black/death bestiality from Australia, which does their home continent proud.
Priestality
Mefitic – Woes of Mortal Devotion – This death metal masterpiece was a cool surprise from Italy. This just kills in every way.
Eroding the Oblates of the Lord
Sorcerer – In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross – Finally, a powerful, rocking epic doom album that doesn’t merely imitate Candlemass. I love Candlemass, but I appreciate that Sorcerer sound like themselves, and man is this album good in every way. There is not a weak song anywhere to be found. If I hadn’t heard Arkham Witch, this would be my doom album of the year. Even in second place though, it’s as good an album as you’re likely to hear. Something about Sweden and doom just goes down right.
The Dark Tower of the Sorcerer
And finally, the EP:
Cultes des Ghoules – The Rise of Lucifer – The Polish black metal maestros are back. These guys never fail to deliver, and what’s amazing is that even their long songs are so well composed that they remain interesting throughout. This album is no exception, with one 15 minute track and one shorter cover song. Don’t skip this.
The Rise of Lucifer
A few other albums that almost made the cut were Temple of Baal – Mysterium, Necrowretch – With Serpent’s Scourge, Demon Incarnate – S/T, and Öxxö Xööx – “Nämïdäë. But that would have made this a top eleven list.
oops. I screwed up the links, here they are hopefully in a working format:
Archgoat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp9lkveYPmM#t=10m35s
Arkham Witch: https://metalonmetalrecords.bandcamp.com/track/from-beyond
Chapel of Disease: http://fda-rekotz.bandcamp.com/track/lord-of-all-death
Destructor: https://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/track/priestiality
Mephitic: https://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/track/eroding-the-oblates-of-the-lord
Sorcerer: https://soundcloud.com/metalbladerecords/sorcerer-the-dark-tower-of-the-sorcerer
Cultes des Ghoules: https://soundcloud.com/shady-khaled/cultes-des-ghoules-the-rise-of-lucifer-2015
That Destruktor album rips. Its one of many I feel bad about not adding to my self limited list of 20.
Maybe I should make it a Top 50. 😛
It caught me by surprise, but is a very strong album.
Very cool list, and thanks for including thoughts and links.
It’s a pleasure to contribute here.
Mefitic
I spelled Destruktor wrong too for the links. I should stop posting while retarded.
Vola – Inmazes
Very poppy djent with blissful synths and some choruses that remind me of Mew and Circa Survive, as well as very Devin Townsend-esque production. Not my usual thing, but very well-made.
Excoriation – demo
The rawest brutal death metal I’ve heard since Brodequin. And these guys have one of the most savage production jobs ever. It’s so mindless and cathartic and almost platonic in its purity.
Cerebric Turmoil – Neural Net Meltdown
Really complicated, self-referential structures. This is the closest I’ve heard to Wormed, and while it’s a bit more noodly than that band it manages to evoke a similar atmosphere.
Eye of Minerva – Blackened Kingdom Forged in Flame
Absolute chaos! Imagine Absu’s themes and lyricism combined with the frantic songwriting of Crimson Massacre and Blasphemer.
Gorod – A Maze of Recycled Creeds
Just a brilliant album overall, the production holds it back but it has some very smart songwriting with a focus on unusually vivid and inventive melodies – but at the same time the catchy grooves are way more prominent than on their last 2 albums.
Mysterious Priestess – 夢国ノ義士
My token obscure pick, this is a really cool mix of symphonic black metal and prog rock. Again, the production is far too sterile and cramped, but the band’s sound is quite inventive and it scratched the itch I’ve been having for more stuff like the defunct masters Gonin-Ish.
Kekal – Multilateral
I love this band in general, and while this album isn’t their riffiest it has a brilliant combination of abrasive electronics and cyberpunk metallic atmosphere.
Sickening Horror – Overflow
These guys have progged out more and more, this release isn’t all that technical but captures some of the wandering, psychedelic feeling of 90s bands like Supuration. Really a style I wish more people would take influence from.
The new Monolithe and Galneryus have yet to come out, and both of those have AOTY potential, so this isn’t final by any means.
Now thats a cool list, thanks. Haven’t heard of most of these before, and there are some truly unique sounds.
Now that the new Galneryus is out, it’s definitely my album of the year. Holy crap, may be even better than their classic albums… Don’t listen if you’re averse to power metal but it’s fucking phenomenal.
Unfortunately Galneryus doesn’t do it for me any more than any other power metal, but Vola, Kekal and Sickening Horror have been mainstays the last couple of weeks.
Alright, I hope I don’t forget any awesome releases (there have been so many this year)
Wrvth – Wrvth
Death Karma – The History of Death and Burial Rituals Part 1
Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers
Wovoka – Saros (these guys need more love)
Yautja – Songs of Lament
Watchtower – Radiant Moon
Ur Draugr – With Hunger Undying
Ur Draugr – The Wretched Ascetic
Tombstalker – Black Crusades
Sanzu – Heavy Over the Home
The Rodeo Idiot Engine – Malaise
Pyrrhon – Growth Without End
Noisem – Blossoming Decay
Grey Heaven Fall – Black Wisdom
The Mire – Vice Regalia
Matriden – Cold and Silence
Loma Prieta – No Place
Panopticon – Autumn Eternal
Abhorrent – Intransigence
Abstracter – Wound Empire
Ad Nausem – Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est
The Armed – Untitled
Axis – Show Your Greed
The Black Heart Rebellion – People, When You See The Smoke, Do Not Think It Is Fields They’re Burning
Bleak – We Deserve Our Failures
Coraxo – Neptune
Cult Leader – Lightless Walk
Cursed Graves – California Noise
Dragged into Sunlight – NV
Earthmother – Earthmother
Earthside – A Dream In Static
Employed to Serve -Greyer Than You Remember
False Flags – Hexmachine
Frostbitt – Frostbitt
God Mother – Maktbehov
Ithaca – Trespassers
The Syters – Whirlwinds
The Nepalese Temple Ball – Arbor (THIS BAND NEEDS MORE LOVE)
Underling – Bloodworship
Hath – Hath
Equal Minds Theory – The Fall of Haze
Barus – Barus
The Crinn – Shadowbreather
Annakarina – Erasure, I Realized the Fix I Was In
Downfall of Nur -Umbras De Barbagia
Sumac – The Deal
Peste Noir – La Chaise-Dyable
Dendritic Arbor – Romantic Love
Misthyrming – Songvar
CRAP! I forgot to add these few as well (I knew I’d forget some)
Bell Witch – Four Phantoms
Wheelfall – Glasrew Point
Vattnet Viskar – Settler
Swallow the Sun – Songs From the North
Imperial Triumphant – Abyssal Gods
Salem – Every Time I Die
I promise I’m done now
oh yeah…
also…
Adversarial – Death, Endless Nothing, and the Black Knife of Nihilsm
sorry…
Wovoka! Martriden! And wow, a big percentage of lbums on this list that are new to me.
This feels far from done, but I feel pretty happy with the top few.
Theres so much Im leaving off that I feel guilty about because I know they will be in my repertoire for the long haul. Things like Slugdge, Sulphur Aeon, Cruciamentum, Vastum, Destruktor, Apparatus, Arstidir Lifsins.
Nechochwen – Heart of Akamon
Panopticon – Autumn Eternal
Infera Bruo – In Conjuration
VI – De Praestgiis Angelorum
Fluisteraars – Luwte
Glaciation – Sur les falaises des marbre
Katavasia – Sacrilegious Testament
Beaten To Death – Unplugged
Lost Soul – Atlantis
The Clearing Path – Watershed Between Earth and Firmament
Claret Ash – The Cleansing
Death Karma – History of Death and Burial Rituals Part 1
Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers
Utstott – Hjorungavagr
Macabre Omen – Gods of War – At War
Outre – Ghost Chants
Pale Chalice – Negate the Infinite and Miraculous
Awe – Providentia
Seeds in Barren Fields – Let the Earth Be Silent After Ye
House of Atreus – The Spear and the Ichor That Follows
I also made a list for EPs, MLPs and splits.
Abjvration – The Unquenchable Pyre
Au-Dessus – Au-Dessus EP
The Haunting Presence – MLP
Slaegt – Beautiful and Damned
Dead In the Manger – Cessation
Awe / Vacantfield / End – Moerae
Stone Healer – He Who Rides Immolated Horses
Immortal Bird – Empress/Abcess
Ancient Moon – Vvltvre
Grimoire – L’aorasie Des Spectres Reveurs
Nice call on Fluisteraars…havent seen that pop up too many times
I loved the previous one and I think this new one is even better.
I agree — nice to see Fluisteraars (among others). Brave for including Dead in the Manger, too.
Also nice to see Pale Chalice! I’ve enjoyed that album quite a bit.
Well, thank god someone (HighZoolander) mentioned Sorcerer as it’s the best doom album of the year by miles (although Crypt Garden is pretty close as is the new Demon Lung) and excluding it from a year end list would be a heinous crime. Apparently there’s a Sorcerer EP coming out this month too.
In the interests of keeping things diverse, I’ve got a few on my list that haven’t been mentioned so far. I’ll talk about them briefly, but ranking them is utterly doomed.
Albums
Agonyst – The Bad Old Days
– Agonyst continue to do their thing, which I’m still referring to as SYL-esque (in the absence of a better description) but with more emphasis on extremity and going off into extended jams.
The Arcane Order – Cult of None
– Melodic death metal, leaning much more towards the death side of things. The songs are a teensy bit overlong, but those solos are to die for
Byzantine – To Release is to Resolve
– OJ brings the riffs for sure and it sounds better than the S/T but there’s something missing – Rohrburgh’s riffs and solos perhaps? Hopefully he’ll do another solo album
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
– Is it better than Monolith? The jury is out but it’s still great
Crypt Sermon – Out of the Garden
– second best doom album of the year
Demon Lung – A Dracula
– heard via the Last Rites FB group. Ace horror themed sludge/doom
Dødheimsgard – A Umbra Omega
– genius or a total mess? I have no idea as it’s still fucking with my head
Enslaved – In Times
– better than RITIIR for sure but this hasn’t gripped me as much as I have come to expect from Enslaved. This might drop off the top 10 at any rate
Galar – De Gjenlevende
– what do we call this? Folk black metal? Whatever. It’s beautiful.
Kjeld – Skym
– probably my favourite black metal of the lot. Channels a lot of second-wave bands (some blatant Emperor moments abound) in a good way
Martriden – Cold and the Silence
– it’s on the list, despite only downloading it yesterday. Encounter the Monolith was one of 2010’s best albums. It’s definitely more proggy than previous albums though
My Dying Bride – Feel the Misery
– I have to admit that I haven’t listened to MDB properly since The Light at the End of the World, so I can’t really call this a return to form, but I am liking it a lot
Pitbulls in the Nursery – Equanimity
– some kind of ridiculously heavy Gojira/Meshuggah mashup? First track rips your face off and then the rest of the album continues the trend
Sanzu – Heavy Over the Home
– it’s not quite the stone cold classic that the EP promised, but if you ever wanted to hear what an ultra-heavy Gojira would sound like, with a heavier Morbid Angel influence, then check this out
Satan – Atom by Atom
– it’s here by dint of Life Sentence being superb. I need to listen to it a lot more though
Slugdge – Dim and Slimeridden Kingdoms
– Gastronomicon was my favourite album of 2014, and this will going to be close to the top. Progressive death/black metal? Uh… something
Sorcerer – In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross
– best doom album of the year without doubt. Crypt Sermon is good, but Sorcerer managed to hold my attention throughout the year
Tempel – The Moon Lit Our Path
– best instrumental metal album of the year. Sludge black death metal?
Trials – This Ruined World
– Angry Metal Guy would probably slap me, but I prefer In the Shadow of Swords. The album is still very very good, but it didn’t stick in the same way
Vhol – Deeper Than Sky
– I listened to the first Vhol when it came out but disliked it for some reason. For about two months of this year, the S/T was all I listened to (alongside Kjeld) and it just clicked. The follow-up has a much better sound, but with the same riffage and thunderous drums of the S/T. It’s mainly down to whether you like the vocals or not.
EPs
Theory in Practice – Evolving Transhumanism
Sanzu – Painless
Denner/Sherman – Satan’s Tomb
Nice to see your name on here — hope all is well with you. And thanks for the list and the descriptions — which led me to check out Pitfalls In the Nursery. Nice! Thanks also for the reminder about Kjeld.
Arkaik – Lucid Dawn
Under The Curch – Rabid Armageddon
Lik – Mass Funeral Evocation
Hooded Menace – Darkness Drips Forth
Cult Leader – Lightless Walk
Hate Eternal – Infernus
Gorgoroth – Instinctus Bestialis
Entrails – Obliteration
Cloud Rat – Qliphoth
Archgoat – The Apocalyptic Triumphator
Ur Draugr definitely gets a second from me
probably missed a ton but it is what it is….
Oh man, how did I miss Lik and Mass Funeral Evocation??? That sounds great.
I am new to the comment section of this site but nevertheless i would like to post my top 25
0.Dodheimsgard – A Umbra Omega
1.Ghost – Meliora
2.Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss
3.Mgla – Exercises in Futility
4.Tribulation – The children of the Night
5.Leviathan – Scar Sighted
6.Archgoat – Apocalyptic Triumphator
7.Acherontas – Ma Ion (Formulas of Reptilian Unification)
8.Clandestine Blaze – New Golgotha Rising
9.Arcturus – Arcturian
10.Awe – Providentia
11.Abyssal – Antikatastaseis
12.VI – De Praestigiis Angelorum
13.Macabre Omen – Gods of War-At War
14.Embrace of Thorns – Darkness Impenetrable
15.Sulphur Aeon – Gateway to the Antisphere
16.Outre – Ghost Chants
17.Katavasia – Sacrilegious Testament
18.Black Breath – Slaves Beyond Death
19.Order of the Apollyon – The Sword and the Dagger
20.Serpent Noir – Erotomysticicsm
21.Goatsnake – Black Age Blues
22.Lik – Mass Funeral Evocation
23.Under the Church – Rabid Armaggedon
24.Abigail Williams – The Accuser
25.Revenge – Behold.Total.Rejection.
Welcome! And thanks for sharing your excellent list with us. Now for the second time I am seeing the album from Lik and wondering how I missed it, and I’m also glad to see Revenge getting some respect.
My top 50 releases of 2015:
1. Ghoulgotha – The Deathmass Cloak
2. Ruby the Hatchet – Valley of the Snake
3. Acid King – Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere
4. Wucan – Sow the Wind
5. Royal Thunder – Crooked Doors
6. Christian Mistress – To Your Death
7. Windhand – Grief’s Infernal Flower
8. Lucifer – I
9. Joy Shannon & The Beauty Marks – Mo Anam Cara
10. Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss
11. Employed to Serve – Greyer Than You Remember
12. Rolo Tomassi – Grievances
13. Dorthia Cottrell – s/t
14. Ouroboros – Emanations
15. Demon Head – Into the Wilderness
16. Heaving Earth – Denouncing the Holy Throne
17. Ad Nauseam – Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est
18. Iron Kobra – Might & Magic
19. Enforcer – From Beyond
20. Satan’s Blade – Curse of the Blade demo
21. Crypt Sermon – Out of the Garden
22. Endlesshade – Wolf Will Swallow The Sun
23. Drowning the Light – From the Abyss
24. Leviathan – Scar Sighted
25. Striborg – This Suffocating Existence
26. Ghost Bath – Moonlover
27. Embodied Torment – Liturgy of Ritual Execution
28. Intravenous Contamination – Drowned in Human Fluids
29. Iniquitous Deeds – Incessant Hallucinations
30. Sadistic Ritual – Edge of the Knife
31. Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers
32. Deathhammer – Evil Power
33. Gouge – Beyond Death
34. Barbatos – Straight Metal War
35. Power from Hell – Devil’s Whorehouse
36. Archgoat – The Apocalyptic Triumphator
37. Revulsed – Infernal Atrocity
38. Encyrcle – s/t
39. Blood Incantation – Interdimensional Extinction
40. Adversarial – Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism
41. Wooden Stake – A Feast of Virgin Souls
42. Obscure Infinity – Perpetual Descending into Nothingness
43. Invincible Force – Satan Rebellion Metal
44. Hate Eternal – Infernus
45. Scorched – demo tape
46. Division Speed – s/t
47. Hate – Crusade: Zero
48. Gruesome – Savage Land
49. Rivers of Nihil – Monarchy
50. Hope Drone – Cloak of Ash
~\WOAHHHW/~
My list will be small. Here are my favorites from this year in no order (just posting bands and not album titles due to time constraint):
Alkaloid
Sulphur Aeon
Outre
Amiensus
Mgla
Pyramaze
Arena
Akhlys
Moonspell
Cain’s Offering
Invoker
Judicator
Gorod
Obsequiae
Panopticon
Thurisaz
Here’s my top fifteen. They’re not in any particular order, save the number one spot going to Horrendous.
Horrendous – Anareta
Wilderun – Sleep at the Edge of the Earth
Grift – Syner
Abyssal – Antikatastaseis
Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss
Tribulation – Children of the Night
Vhol – Deeper Than Sky
Khemmis – Absolution
Trials – This Ruined World
Steven Wilson – Hand.Cannot.Erase
Enslaved – In Times
A Swarm of the Sun – The Rifts
Hope Drone – Cloak of Ash
Grimoire – L’aorasie des spectres rêveurs (EP)
Elder – Lore
Dreadnought – Bridging Realms
1. Mgła – Exercises In Futility
2. Djevel – Saa Raa Og Kald
3. Outre – Ghost Chants
4. Vallendusk – Homeward Path
5. Misþyrming – Söngvar Elds Og Óreiðu
6. Abyssal – Antikatastaseis
7. Osculum Infame – Axis Of Blood
8. Desolate Shrine – The Heart of the Netherworld
9. Tyranny – Aeons in Tectonic Interment.
10. Krallice – Ygg Huur
11. VI – De Praestgiis Angelorum
12. Akhlys – The Dreaming I
13. Leviathan – Scar Sighted
14. Kjeld – Skym
15. Mürg – Varg & Björn
16. NettleCarrier – Black Coffin Rites
17. Imperial Triumphant – Abyssal Gods
18. Awe – Providentia
19. Infernal War – Axiom
20. Archgoat – The Apocalyptic Triumphator
21. Au-Dessus – Au-Dessus
22. Ill Omened – Conflagration Roaring Hell
23. Adversarial – Death, Endless Nothing And The Black Knife Of Nihilism
24. Kzohh – Rye. Fleas. Chrismon
25. Deluge – Æther
Now THIS is a list. First time I’ve seen Djevel anywhere. That album is beastly.
Yes, Djevel made an album which is more kvlt trve second wave than any TNBM from ’90s. And those riffs are fucking amazing – “Vaar forbannede jord” is the song which haunted me for almost two months non stop. Non-fucking-stop. Crazy shit.
i like this list,
Vallendusk, Kjeld, Infernal War, Adversarial
Akhlys – The Dreaming I . . . I cannot believe I missed this. What an absolute monster of an album. Thank you oh thank you to those of you who have enlightened me.
In no particular order, save for the first:
Akhlys – The dreaming I
Haethen -Shaped by Aeolian Winds
Misthryming – Songvar elds oreidu
Shaidar Logoth – Chapter II: The Ritualist
Mgla – Exercises in Futility
Lluvia – Eternidad Solemne
AWE – Providentia
Dragged into Sunlight, Gnaw Their Tongues – N.V.
Abyssal – Antikatastaseis
Adversarial – Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism
VI – De Praestigiis Angelorum
Temple of Baal – Mysterium
Havukruunu – Havulinnaan
Sepents Lair – Circumambulating the Stillborn
Aosoth/Order of Orias – Split LP
Manii – Skuggeheimen
Svartsyn – Nightmarish Sleep
Pyramids – A Northern Meadow
it’s taking me a ridiculously long time to complete my list this year, so i’m just going to get ahead a share part one with at least another to come 🙂
Six Feet Under – Crypt of the Devil
Skinless – Only the Ruthless Remain
Jungle Rot – Order Shall Prevail
Lamb of God – VII: Sturm und Drang
Hate Eternal – Infernus
Slayer – Repentless
Grave – Out of Respect for the Dead
Autopsy – Skull Grinder
Gruesome – Savage Land
Nex Carnis – Obscure Visions of Dark
Cruciamentum – Charnel Passages
Horrendous – Anareta
Skeletal Remains – Condemned to Misery
Coffincraft – In Eerie Slumber
Kataklysm – Of Ghosts and Gods
Entrails – Obliteration
Wombbath – Downfall Rising
Abyssal – Antikatastaseis
Embrional – The Devil Inside
Perdition Temple – The Tempter’s Victorious
Undead – False Prophecies
Heaving Earth – Denouncing the Holy Throne
Revolting – Visages of the Unspeakable
Down Among the Dead Men – Exterminate! Annihilate! Destroy!
Johansson & Speckmann – Mask of the Treacherous
Putrevore – Tentacles of Horror
The Grotesquery – Curse of the Skinless Bride
Ingested – The Architect of Extinction
The Crown – Death is not Dead
Desolate Shrine – The Heart of the Netherworld
My Top 30, has been another great year for music and thanks to the guys at No Clean Singing for revealing so much awesome music!
Haven’t listened to as much as I’d have liked but thought I would contribute to this listmania:
1. Midnight Odyssey – Shards of Silver Fade
2. Swallow the Sun – Songs from the North
3. Leprous – The Congregation
4. Oxxo Xoox – Namidae
5. Enslaved – In Times
6. My Dying Bride – Feel the Misery
7. Akhlys – The Dreaming I
8. High on Fire – Luminiferous
9. The Ritual Aura – Laniakea
10. Carach Angren – This is no Fairytale
11. Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Stellar
12. Amorphis – Under the Red Cloud
13. Symphony X – Underworld
14. Neurotech – Stigma
15. Between the Buried and Me – Coma Ecliptic
16. Maladie – Still
17. Barren Earth – On Lonely Towers
18. Nile – What Should not be Unearthed
19. Kamelot – Haven
20. Melechesh – Enki
21. Shrine of Insanabilis – Disciples of the Void
22. Paradise Lost – The Plague Within
23. Amiensus – Ascension
24. Killing Joke – Pylon
25. Claret Ash – The Cleansing
26. Byzantine – To Release is to Resolve
27. The Black Dahlia Murder – Abysmal
28. Ereb Altor – Nattramn
29. Soijl – Endless Elysian Fields
30. Kylesa – Exhausting Fire
Also some great EPs:
1. Mechina – The World We Lost
2. Ur Draugr – The Wretched Ascetic
3. Lascaille’s Shroud – Restrain the Child
4. Serpentspire – The Cosmic Throne
5. The Ritual Aura – Dramatis Personae
First, I’d like to say it’s been a pretty average year for metal (IMO) and I haven’t been able to find a really strong album of the year so I won’t put a top ten metal list but just 10 very good albums in no particular order :
Tribulation – Children Of The Night
Mgla – Exercises In Futility
Deafheaven – New Bermuda
Napalm Death – Apex Predator – Easy Meat
Faith No More – Sol Invictus
Cruciamentum – Charnel Passages
Khemmis – Absolution
Elder – Lore
Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats – The Night Creeper
Kylesa – Exhausting Fire
I didn’t listen to the new Baroness yet, so it is subject to change…
Thank you all for sharing, always an interesting way to discover new music!
1. Panopticon- Autumn Eternal
2. Downfall of Nur- Umbras De Barbagia
3. Nechochwen- Heart of Akamon
4. Wiegedood- De Doden Hebben Het Goed
5. Obsequiae- Aria of Vernal Tombs
6. Spectral Lore- Gnosis
7. Alda- Passage
8. Izah- Sistere
9. So Hideous- Laurestine
10. Steve Von Till- A Life Unto Itself
11. Sannhet- Revisionist
12. Secrets of the Sky- Pathway
13. Tempel- The Moon Lit Our Path
14. Deafheaven- New Bermuda
15. Hercyn- Dust and Ages
16. Mgla- Exercises in Futility
17. (Baroness- Purple)
I think this was an amazing year. And this is my top 60 (yes, 60 albums) for the year. In order.
Swallow the Sun Songs From the North I, II, II
Enshine Singularity
Paradise Lost The Plague Within
Ghost Meliora
Amorphis Under the Red Cloud
Horrendous Anareta
Feared Synder
Tribulation The Children of the Night
Satan Atom By Atom
Iron Maiden The Book Of Souls
Faith No more Sol Invictus
Enslaved In Times
Arcturus Arturian
Baroness Purple
Cruciamentum Charnel Passages
BTBAM Coma Ecliptic
Sigh Graveward
Soilwork The Ride Majestic
Symphony X Underworld
Moonspell Extinct
Obsequiae Aria of Vernal Tombs
High On Fire Luminiferous
Cattle Decapitation The Anthropocene Extinction
Intronaut The Direction of Last Things
Phantasma The Deviant Hearts
Kylesa Exhausting Fire
Lucifer Lucifer I
Black Dahlia Murder Abysmal
Withering Soul Adverse Portrait
Hate Eternal Infernus
Slayer Repentless
Visigoth The Revenant King
My Dying Bride Feel the Misery
Orpheus Omega Partum Vita Mortem
Khemmis Absolution
Blind guardian Beyond the Red Mirror
Leviathan Scar Sighted
Caligula’s Horse Bloom
Gorod A maze of Recycled Creeds
Leprous The Congregation
Crypt Sermon Out of the Gardens
Goerge Kollias Invictus
Napalm Death Apex Predator – Easy Meat
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats The Night Creeper
Fear Factory Genexus
Thulcandra Ascension Lost
Emerald The Harvest
Lamb Of God VII: Sturm Und Drang
Rivers of Nihil Monarchy
Solefald World Metal
Melechesch Enki
Goatsnake Black Age Blues
Caelestia Beneath Abyss
Shape of Despair Monotony Fields
Disarmonia Mundi Cold Inferno
Wolfheart Shadow World
Keep Of Kalessin Epistemology
Sylosis Victims and Pawns
With The Dead With The Dead
T.A.N.K. Symbiosis
First tier:
Sulphur aeon, gateway to the anti-sphere
Alustrium, a tunnel to eden
Second tier
Alkaloid, the malkuth grimoire
Enshine, singularity
The ritual aura, laniakea
Third tier
Gorod, a maze of recycled creeds
Sarpentra, supernova
Amorphis, under the red cloud
Horrendous, anareta
Haven’t put together a real list yet (but will!), though many of my favorite albums this year have already been mentioned by someone, somewhere here. So I’ll start by naming my favorites from this year that haven’t been mentioned by anyone yet…
Skaur – Farvel
Bearstorm – Americanus
Crom Dubh – Heimweh
False – Untitled
My top 20:
01 Sorcerer – In The Shadow of the Inverted Cross
I’m not going to comment on all my choices, but I’d like to say a few things about this album. Crypt Sermon seemed to garner all the attention and glean all the love when it came to Candlemass-esque epic doom, and they definitely deserved accolades. What makes Sorcerer better and my top pick are a few things. 1) Best male clean vocalist working; 2) Some of the best lead guitar I’ve heard in years – those solos are inspired and moving and have inspired the most air guitar I’ve played since I was 13; 3) all of the songs are ear wormy and force me to sing along no matter where I am, what I’m doing, or who’s around; 4) I’ve bought a lot of vinyl this year and this one’s sound stands tall above them all and for an added incentive the bonus track is on the vinyl, not the cd!
02 Lychgate – An Antidote For The Glass Pill
I didn’t like this album when I first listened to it, and here it is at #2.
03 Tau Cross – Tau Cross
04 Ghost – Meliora
05 Sulphur Aeon – Gateway to the Antisphere
06 Acherontas – Ma Ion
07 Draconian – Sovran
08 Macabre Omen – Gods of War-At War
09 Satan – Atom by Atom
10 My Dying Bride – Feel The Misery
11 Vhol – Deeper Than Sky
12 Mgla – Exercises In Futility
13 Leviathan – Scar Sighted
14 Ouroboros – Emanations
15 blackQueen – The Directress
16 VI – De Praestigiis Angelorium
17 Ares Kingdom – The Unburiable Dead
18 Sunset in the 12th House – Mosaic
19 Imperial Triumphant – Abyssal Gods
20 Tribulation – The Children of the Night
21 Obsequiae – Aria of Vernal Tombs
This actually deserves to be higher in my list. For some rereason the first half of this album didn’t click for me for several months while I loved the second half. Then I listened this past week and it’s all great.
22 Grey Heaven Fall – Black Wisdom
23 Amestigon – Thier
24 Abyssal – Antikatastaseis
25 Maieutiste – s/t
This is my first stop listing my albums of the year.
Being a regular visitor of your blog, I thought, why not contribute and be part of it?
1. Swallow the Sun – Songs of the North
2. Necrowretch – With Serpents Scourge
3. Draconian – Sovran
4. Thy Catafalque -Sgurr
5. Death Karma – The History of Death & Burial Rituals Part I
6. Deafheaven – New Bermuda
7. Enslaved – in Times
8. Paradise Lost – The Plague Within
9. Sarpanitum – Blessed be My Brothers
10. Gorgoroth – Instinctus Bestialis
11. Tribulation – The Children of the Night
12. Good Tiger – A Head Full of Moonlight
13. Melechesh – Enki
14. Armageddon – Captivity and Devourment
15. Regarde Les Hommes Tombre – Exist
Definitely will check out some of the readers’ list…
Hope it’s not too late, been stuck in Fallout 4 since release 😛
Anyway heres my top 10:
1. Intronaut – The Direction of Last Things
2. Between the Buried and Me – Coma Ecliptic
3. Below the Sun – Envoy
4. The Grand Astoria – The Mighty Few
5. Ahab – The Boats of Glen Carrig
6. Faith No More – Sol Invictus
7. Enslaved – In Times
8. Ghost – Meliora
9. Finsterforst – Mach dich frei
10. Maladie – Still
Never too late! We’re not even at the end of the year yet…
With a swish, finally this phantom limb is lopped off. In order:
Wilderun – Sleep at the End of the Earth
Belzebong – Greenferno
Sigh – Graveward
Sanzu – Heavy Over the Home
Goatsnake – Black Ages Blues
Humm – Sanctuary
Martriden – Cold and the Silence
Khemmis – Absolution
Cult Leader – Lightless Walk
Monolord – Vaenir
Sadist – Hyaena
Two of these are also in my top 10. It’s been a great year for stoner/doom, I think.
I have different lists for here and The Obelisk, just completely different crowds I feel. I struggled gathering these 11 here, but over there I could rustle up 20 easy.
An Autumn For Crippled Children- The Long Goodbye
Anomalie- Refugium
Arvas- Black Satanic Mysticism
Avoid the Light_ Spleen
Belhor- Discordia Concors
Burial Vault-Unity in Pluralism
Burnt Books- Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire
Crossed Streams-Hollow
Djevel- Saa Raa og Kald
Enisum- Arpitanian Lands
Entomb the Wicked- Mortem
Ergot- Victims of Our Same Dreams
Fornace- My Journey is Ending But the..
Impalers- God From the Machine
Kaerulean- Adrift
Nechochwen- Heart of Akamon
Nightfell- Darkness Evermore
Nocturnal Depression- Spleen Black Metal
Peste Noire- La Chaise-Dyable
Riptor- Sounds from Hell
Slegt- Beautiful and Damned (EP)
Swallow the Sun- Songs From the North
Tempel- The Moon Lit Our Path
Tombstones in Their Eyes- Sleep Forever
Vials Of Wrath- Days Without Names
I have so many lists to catch up to in these comments, but this being the newest, I have to say how much I like it. The ones I recognize are really good and under-recognized, and that makes me all the more interested in the majority of them, which I know nothing about!
So glad I have finally settled on my top ten, so I can start checking the things I missed from everyone else’s lists!
Elder – Lore
Grimoire – L’aorasie Des Spectres Rêveurs
Imperial Triumphant – Abyssal Gods
Macabre Omen – Gods of War – At War
Napalm Death – Apex Predator – Easy Meat
Sorceror – In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross
Selvans – Lupercalia
Sulphur Aeon – Gateway to the Antisphere
Slugdge – Dim & Slimeridden Kingdons
Trials – This Ruined World
One of these years I’m going to finally go through the exercise of finding old lists I’ve posted at the end of any given year, and compare them to what I would now select as my favourite albums from that year. Sounds a bit time-consuming, though; I think I’ll go and have a couple of beers first…
It was hard to nail down an order after the first 10. Lots of really good albums this year, but maybe no shining star at the top.
1. Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers…: Well, this ruled. Everyone here should be familiar with it so I don’t have much to say.
2. Palace in Thunderland – In the Afterglow of Unity: It’s like Black Pyramid’s first album + Torche. The goofy name is forgivable when the music is this good.
3. Barren Earth – On Lonely Towers: Band keeps getting better. The new vocalist gives them more range and they take advantage.
4. Beaten to Death – Unplugged: I’m not a big grindcore fan, so it makes sense that this doesn’t sound like most grindcore, or anything else I can think of, really. Don’t you fucking dare to call them heavy metal.
5. Goatsnake – Black Age Blues: The wait was worth it. One of the best stoner/doom bands you will hear.
6/7. Khemmis – Absolution / Bedowyn – Blood of the Fall: Two doom albums fueled by great songwriting and memorable hooks.
8. Scythian – Hubris in Excelsis: Great riffs, man. Epic sounding.
9. Bloodway – Mapping the Moment with the Logic of Dreams: Weird, yet catchy. Came out on I, Voidhanger so that should give some idea of the quality.
10. Sabbath Assembly – Sabbath Assembly: I almost gave up on them after what I thought were two unimpressive albums. Here, they reinvent themselves as a real psych/doom metal band and hit a home run.
Others:
40. Plaguewielder – Chambers of Death
39. Porta Nigra – Kaiserschnitt
38. Sulphur Aeon – Gateway to the Antisphere
37. House of Atreus – The Spear and the Ichor that Follows
36. Leprous – The Congregation
35. Obsequiae – Aria of Vernal Tombs
34. Sigh – Graveward
33. Shrine of Insanabilis – Disciples of the Void
32. Borgne – Règne des morts
31. Airlines of Terror – Terror from the Air
30. Nightfell – Darkness Evermore
29. Martriden – Cold and the Silence
28. Batushka – Litourgiya
27. Sirenia – The Seventh Life Path
26. Death Karma – The History of Death & Burial Rituals pt 1
25. Dawn of Azazel – The Tides of Damocles
24. Dodheimsgard – A Umbra Omega
23. My Dying Bride – Feel the Misery
22. Stone Cold Dead – Lava Flows
21. Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
20. Forgotten Horror – Aeon of the Shadow Goddess
19. Katavasia – Sacrilegious Testament
18. Windhand – Grief’s Internal Flower
17. Leviathan – Scar Sighted
16. Ouroboros – Emanations
15. Ghost – Meliora
14. De Profundis – Kingdom of the Blind
13. Solefald – World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud
12. Valborg – Romantik
11. Fetid Zombie – Grotesque Creation
25 Obsequiae – Aria of Vernal Tombs Review
24 Corrections House – Know How to Carry a Whip
23 High on Fire – Luminiferous
22 Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers…
21 Unrest – Grindcore
20 Tsjuder – Antiliv
19 Windhand – Grief’s Infernal Flower
18 The Order of Apollyon – The Sword and the Dagger
17 Thy Cathafalque – Sguur
16 Deafheaven – New Bermuda
15 Tribulation – The Children of the Night
14 Caïna – Setter of Unseen Snares
13 Bell Witch – Four Phantoms
12 Akitsa – Grands Tyrans Review
11 False – Untitled
10 Crypt Sermon – Out of the Garden Review
9 Beaten to Death – Unplugged Review
8 Horrendous – Araneta Review
7 Locrian – Infinite Dissolution Review
6 Krallice – Ygg Huur Review
5 Myrkur – M Review
4 Mgla – Exercises in Futility Review
3 Temple of Baal – Mysterium
2 VHOL – Deeper Than Sky
1 Dodheimsgard – A Umbra Omega
A diverse list, and must say it was a surprise when I got to No. 1. Bravo!
I’ve obsessed over this year’s list more than usual. Such a strong year.
1. Mgla – Exercises in Futility (Black Metal, Poland)
2. Ahab – The Boats of the Glen Carrig (Funeral Doom / Post-Metal, Germany)
3. Vatnet Viskar – Settler (Post-Hardcore / Black Metal, USA)
4. Enslaved – In Times (Viking/Progressive Black Metal, Norway)
5. Deafheaven – New Bermuda (Blackgaze, UK)
6. Wardaemonic – Obsequium (Black Metal, Australia)
7. Intronaut – The Direction of Last Things (Sludge / Post-Metal, USA)
8. Dragged Into Sunlight / Gnaw Their Tongues – N.V. (Industrial Death Metal, UK/Netherlands)
9. Batushka – Litourgiya (Doom/Black Metal/Orthodox Chants, Ukraine)
10. Thy Catafalque – Sgùrr (Avant-Garde Metal, Hungary)
11. Sulphur Aeon – Gateway to the Antisphere (Death Metal, Germany)
12. Panopticon – Autumn Eternal (Blackgaze / Appalachian Folk, USA)
13. A Swarm of the Sun – The Rifts (Post-Rock / Melancholic Rock, Sweden)
14. Cult Leader – Lightless Walk (Grindcore / Post-Hardcore, USA)
15. Sarpanitum – Blessed be my Brothers (Death Metal, UK)
16. Black Breath – Slaves Beyond Death (HM2 Hardcore / Thrash, USA)
17. Deluge – Aether (Post-Black Metal, France)
18. Bell Witch – Four Phantoms (Funeral Doom, USA)
19. Regarde les Hommes Tomber – Exile (Post-Black Metal, France)
20. Below the Sun – Envoy (Post-Metal, Russia)
21. Exgenesis- Aphotic Veil (Doom, Sweden/Portugal)
22. Barshasketh – Ophidian Henosis (Black Metal, Scotland)
23. Outre – Ghost Chants (Black Metal, Poland)
24. Fin’amor – Forbidding Mourning (Melodic Doom, USA)
25. Between the Buried and Me – Coma Ecliptic (Progressive Metal, USA)
26. With the Dead – With the Dead (Doom, UK)
27. In Twilight’s Embrace – The Grim Muse (Hardcore/Death Metal, Poland)
28. Misþyrming – Söngvar elds og óreiðu (Black Metal, Iceland)
29. Windhand – Grief’s Infernal Flower (Sabbath Worship, USA)
30. Caligula’s Horse – Bloom (Progressive Rock, Australia)
31. Akhlys – The Dreaming I (Atmospheric Black Metal, USA)
32. Sylosis – Dormant Heart (Thrash / Melodic Death Metal, UK)
33. Advent Sorrow – As All Light Leaves Her (Black Metal, Australia)
34. Deathcode Society – Eschatonizer (Symphonic Black Metal, France)
35. Pyramids – A Northern Meadow (Industrial / Blackgaze, USA)
36. Baroness – Purple (Sludge/Rock, USA)
37. Kowloon Walled City – Grievances (Hardcore / Sludge, USA)
38. Ennui – Falsvs Anno Domini (Funeral Doom, Georgia)
39. Swallow the Sun – Songs from the North (Melodic Doom, Finland)
40. Shrine of Insanabilis – Disciples of the Void (Black Metal, USA)
41. Leprous – The Congregation (Progressive Rock, Norway)
42. Yellow Eyes – Sick With Bloom (Black Metal, USA)
43. Creeping – Revenant (Blackened Doom, New Zealand)
44. Sunset in the 12th House – Mozaic (Post-Rock, Romania)
45. Wrvth – Wrvth (Technical Death Metal, USA)
46. Hate Eternal – Infernus (Death Metal, USA)
47. Antimatter – The Judas Table (Melancholic Rock, UK)
48. Primitive Man – Home Is Where The Hatred Is (Doom, USA)
49. Wiegedood – De Doden Hebben Het Goed (Hardcore / Black Metal, The Netherlands)
50. Mephorash – 1557 – Rites of Nulification (Black Metal, Sweden)