LISTMANIA 2015: YEAR-END LISTS FROM MEMBERS OF AMIENSUS

 

We have been steadfast fans of Minnesota’s Amiensus for years, and so we are very pleased to bring you year-end lists from four of the band’s members.

These lists include metal, of course, but also albums from other genres as well , and two of the members have also listed some favorite individual songs.

If you haven’t heard the music of Amiensus before, go HERE and get acquainted (they’re on Facebook at this location).

 

 

 

JAMES BENSON – Vocals

1. Mac Demarco – Another One
2. Arcturus – Arcturian
3. Tame Impala – Currents
4. Deafheaven – New Bermuda
5. Abiotic – Casuistry
6. Senses Fail – Pull the Thorns From You Heart
7. Counterparts – Tragedy Will Find Us
8. Cult Leader – Lightless Walk
9. Grimes – Art Angels
10. Abigail Williams – The Accuser
11. Sithu Aye – Senpai EP
12. Above the Earth – Above the Earth
13. Vattnet Viskar – Settler
14. Kauan – Sorni Nai
15. Taake – Stridens Hus
16. Terraform – Zenith EP
17. Akhyls – The Dreaming I

 

TOP SONGS

Abigail Williams – Will, Wish and Desire

This was my top metal song for the year for many reasons. Even though the album didn’t crack my top 5 overall, I thought this song was extremely different and combined some prog/classic rock elements that I wholeheartedly love with black metal.

 

 

Mac Demarco – A Heart Like Hers

I was never a Beatles fan, but for those who don’t know who Mac Demarco is, you might be convinced this was The Beatles. Synth-heavy and awesome vocals and lyrics make this one emotional

 

 

 

 

ZACK MORGENTHALER – Guitars

1. Mac Demarco – Another One
2. Deafheaven – New Bermuda
3. Abigail Williams – The Accuser
4. Grimes – Art Angels
5. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
6. Vattnet Viskar – Settler
7. Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
8. Timecop 1983 – Reflections
9. David Maxim Micic – Eco/Ego
10. Enslaved – In Times

 

 

 

MATTHEW PAULAZZO – Drums

Abyssal – Antikatastaseis
Akhlys – The Dreaming I
Carach Angren – This is No Fairytale
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss
Dan Terminus – The Wrath of Code
David Maxim Micic – Eco/Ego
Fear Factory – Genexus
Funerary Call – The Mirror Reversed II
Gnaw Their Tongues – Abyss of Longing Throats
Hate Eternal – Infernus
Ingested – The Architect of Extinction
Intervals – The Shape of Colour
Irreversible Mechanism – Infinite Fields
Jakub Zytecki – Wishful Lotus Proof
Kardashev – Peripety
Karjalan Sissit – …Want You Dead
Kave – Ominousium
Kraanium – Chronicles of Perversion
Lychgate – An Antidote For the Glass Pill
Mechina – Acheron
Midnight Odyssey – Shards of Silver Fade
Neurotech – Stigma
Northaunt – Istid I-II
Oceano – Ascendents
Putridity – Ignominious Atonement
Rivers of Nihil – Monarchy
Soilwork – The Ride Majestic
Tesseract – Polaris
The Last Ten Seconds of Life – Soulless Hymns
Timecop 1983 – Reflections
Veil of Maya – Matriarch

 

 

 

TODD FARNHAM – Bass

1. Leprous – The Congregation
2. Carach Angren – This is No Fairytale
3. Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction

6:33 – Deadly Scenes
Abhorrent – Intransigence
Alkaloid – The Malkuth Grimoire
Arkaik – Lucid Dawn
Asceptic White Age – Reminiscence
Björk – Vulnicura
CocoRosie – Heartache City
Corpo-Mente – Corpo-Mente
Cryptopsy – The Book of Suffering: Tome 1
Death Grips – The Powers That B
Evan Marien – Artifacts
Gorod – A Maze of Recycled Creeds
Gruesome – Savage Land
Imperial Triumphant – Abyssal Gods
Intronaut – The Direction of Last Things
Irreversible Mechanism – Infinite Fields
Krallice – Ygg Huur
Lost Soul – Atlantis: The New Beginning
Mechina – Acheron
Mgla – Exercises in Futility
Our Oceans – Our Oceans
Öxxö Xööx – Nämïdäë
Plini – The End of Everything
Pyrrhon – Growth Without End
Sceptic – Nailed to Ignorance
Sithu Aye – Senpai
Slugdge – Dim and Slimeridden Kingdoms
Steven Wilson – Hands. Cannot. Erase
Twisted Insane – Voodoo
Weeping Birth – The Crushed Harmony

 

TOP SONGS

Alkaloid – Carbon Phases

This song is an absolute journey for me, and one through the very nature of polarity at that. Perfectly crafted melodic sections are countered with absolutely crushing riffs, and verses full of harsh vocals are met with the clean vocals of choruses and bridges. Did I mention the
epic leads and solos yet? There are plenty of those to go around.

 

 

Corpo-Mente – Dorma

I might be cheating with this choice, since I first heard it in 2013 when it was a single and not part of an album, but I absolutely love this song. Calm, collected, and beautiful, it is another masterpiece by Gautier Serre (Igorrr) and Laure Le Prunenec (Öxxö Xööx, Igorrr), two musical masterminds who are sorely under-appreciated (along with frequent collaborator Laurent Lunoir (Öxxö Xööx, Igorrr), who is not part of this project).

 

 

Gorod – Celestial Nature

Ever since I learned about Gorod a few years ago, I have always loved their music (I was very glad to be able to catch them at a show, albeit one that was almost criminally empty, back in 2013). Their new album is fantastic, but this song stood out to me in particular because of its perfectly crafted balance of melody, technicality, and groove. This song has riffs for days.