Every year our LISTMANIA series of posts includes not only lists of the year’s best releases as compiled by our staff, invited guests, and our esteemed readers, but also lists assembled by what we call “big platform” web sites and selected print magazines. And every year, it seems that DECIBEL magazine provides the launch for LISTMANIA by coming out with the first of the lists we see from that category of web sites and print zines — and they’ve done it again this year.
I’m a long-time DECIBEL subscriber, but my hard copy of the January edition, which features Steve Tucker on the cover and includes the YE list, hasn’t hit my mailbox yet. However, today DECIBEL provided an on-line teaser for the issue that included their full ranking of the year’s Top 40 albums.
This is the second year in a row that DECIBEL has scooped their own list rather than letting leeches like me do it, and so I can now again re-publish their list without too much guilt. There is of course a lot more content in the January issue, including commentary about each of these 40 albums and why they were selected (you can read everything else DECIBEL has previewed about the January issue here).
Before turning to the DECIBEL Top 40 I’ll share again the thoughts that I share every year at this time about the phenomenon of year-end lists in metal.
They continue to serve several useful purposes. One, of course, is to introduce fans to albums they may have overlooked. I also know people who don’t buy much music during the year and actually wait to read year-end rankings before preparing their shopping lists. And, perhaps most obviously, they give us something to discuss and argue about. Because, duh, we don’t have enough to argue about already.
And it’s easy to argue over year-end lists. No matter who compiles them, they’re going to leave out albums you think should be included, they’re going to include albums you don’t think belong, and they’re going to screw up the rankings. I mean, that’s a given, isn’t it? The only list that could possibly satisfy any individual fan from start to finish is the one they make for themselves.
I usually try to hold my own comments to a minimum when I post these year-end lists, mainly because I can’t manage to make a list of my own. But here are a few observations about this one, just to get the conversation started.
First, only two of these albums were self-released; all others were backed by labels, although some of them are quite small and obscure. The two albums that were self-released are those by Napalm Raid and Cormorant, and both of those are certainly deserving of recognition. Among the remaining 38, Profound Lore wins the DECIBEL label sweepstakes with five releases on the list, followed by Nuclear Blast with four, Relapse with three, and two each from Season of Mist, Dark Descent, and Epitaph.
Second, I seem to have heard a greater percentage of the albums on this list than on DECIBEL’s 2016 Top 40. I have no idea what that signifies. Of the ones I haven’t heard, I confess that the one I’m most intrigued about is the one that’s possibly the most obscure appearance here, a Greek black metal band named Wampyrinacht, who released a demo and an EP in 1996 and 1998 and apparently have now resurfaced after almost 20 years of dormancy. There isn’t much obscure (or even not-so-obscure) black metal on the list, but that’s hardly surprising.
Third, as usual, I found some pleasant surprises among the rankings — Integrity appearing at No. 5 and Spirit Adrift at No. 2 are the biggest ones. And, as usual, there are by my lights some odd rankings and some glaring omissions, especially in the category of black metal, but that’s inherent in the nature of year-end lists, especially lists that are the result of some kind of composite of inputs by a multitude of writers. I also realize that with each passing year I tend to fall further and further down into the wormholes of obscurity and become increasingly less interested in the biggest names in the field… simply because they tend to be less surprising.
But fourth, the list does include some of my own 2017 favorites, and I was especially gratified to see Dodecahedron, Bell Witch, Spectral Voice, and Necrot placing in the Top 15. I can also understand the placement of Paradise Lost in the top spot. It’s a combination of an old revered name and an album that struck me as a triumphant return to form, even though it wouldn’t have been my own AOTY. But I don’t know what would have been, if I had actually made an effort to decide.
Anyway, I’ll stop there and let you guys continue the conversation in the Comments. I’m quite sure you have opinions.
40. The Lurking Fear, Out of the Voiceless Grave, Century Media
39. Woe, Hope Attrition, Vendetta
38. Pyrrhon, What Passes for Survival, Willowtip
37. Power Trip, Nightmare Logic, Daymare
36. Ufomammut, 8, Neurot
35. Disharmony, Goddamn the Sun, Iron Bonehead
34. Wormwitch, Strike Mortal Soul, Prosthetic
33. Propagandhi, Victory Lap, Epitaph
32. Farsot, Fail-Lure, Lupus Lounge
31. Napalm Raid, Wheel of War, Self-Released
30. Oxbow, Thin Black Duke, Hydra Head
29. Loss, Horizonless, Profound Lore
28. Lock Up, Demonization, Listenable
27. With the Dead, Love from With the Dead, Rise Above
26. Dreadnought, Awake in Sacred Waves, Sailor
25. Cannibal Corpse, Red Before Black, Metal Blade
24. Wampyrinacht, We Will Be Watching. Les Cultes de Satan et Les Mysterères de la Mort, Zazen Sounds
23. Midnight, Sweet Death and Ecstasy, Hells Headbangers
22. Pagan Altar, The Room of Shadows, Shadow Kingdom
21. Artificial Brain, Infrared Horizon, Profound Lore
20. Cloak, To Venomous Depths, Season of Mist
19. Akercocke, Renaissance in Extremis, Peaceville
18. Enslaved, E, Nuclear Blast
17. Cormorant, Diaspora, Self-Released
16. Myrkur, Mareridt, Relapse
15. Dodecahedron, Kwintessens, Season of Mist
14. Obituary, Obituary, Relapse
13. Craven Idol, The Shackles of Mammon, Dark Descent
12. Kreator, Gods of Violence, Nuclear Blast
11. Bell Witch, Mirror Reaper, Profound Lore
10. Converge, The Dusk in Us, Epitaph
9. Wolves in the Throne Room, Thrice Woven, Artemisia
8. Full of Hell, Trumpeting Ecstasy, Profound Lore
7. Immolation, Atonement, Nuclear Blast
6. Spectral Voice, Eroded Corridors of Unbeing, Dark Descent
5. Integrity, Howling, For the Nightmare Shall Consume, Relapse
4. Necrot, Blood Offerings, Tankcrimes
3. Pallbearer, Heartless, Profound Lore
2. Spirit Adrift, Curse of Conception, 20 Buck Spin
1. Paradise Lost, Medusa, Nuclear Blast
42 Responses to “LISTMANIA BEGINS: THE DECIBEL TOP 40 FOR 2017”
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wait, wait, wait, the new Pallbearer kinda sucks
Also not trve enough!!!!!!!
It goes in the “crowd-pleaser” category I guess.
Yeah, also I’m a miserable elitist delinquent.
You and I will be good friends…I can tell
Oh yeah, can’t wait to see your end of the year dump list.
Lots of good stuff in there, obviously (including a few entries which may, or may not, end up in one of my lists in a few weeks), but it’s noticeably VERY USA-centric.
Which I get, to an extent, it’s an American print magazine and needs to cater to a primarily American audience… but from a quick head-count I think almost 2/3 of the entries are from the US? Which does seem a tad excessive.
As usual, Decible scores exceptionally well with some of the names that will appear on my own list in late December (i.e., Artificial Brain, Akercocke, Pyrrhon, etc.. Overall, I give the list a 6/10. I was certainly not surprised to find Paradise Lost and Pallbearer in the top three (haven’t we seen that before I think?) Otherwise, move the releases from Pyrrhon, Woe, and Cannibal Corpse up a bit, Obituary’s self-titled back several spaces, and Immolation up a few spaces. Lastly, slightly off topic, speaking of Power Trip, I find it weird that I’ll be seeing them on tour with Cannibal Corpse. I feel as though I should be seeing them on a tour with Backtrack or Hatebreed.
Having seen both Power Trip and Gatecreeper a few times this year, to me having them open for Cannibal Corpse makes perfect sense and I’m really looking forward to seeing them all together. Just different enough to stand out individually, but all highly energetic. I expect I’ll need a neck brace the day after.
Any list that doesn’t have Ulsect in simply isn’t worth anyone’s time.
Also, MUTEKI by Seiko Oomori is better than a lot of these. Pfffft. grumble grumble 😀
Oh, I just looked at it properly. Cannibal Corpse? Get fucked, that album is the very definition of ‘that’ll do, get it out the door in time for the tour.’
So it begins.
Not a bad list, a little low on black metal as always.
And painfully low on black metal of the atmospheric/trees ‘n shit variety as always. My personal list will most likely include the likes of Grima, Falls of Rauros, Sun of the Sleepless, and Fen among others for example.
And Grift? It should definitely include Grift.
I think Grift is sitting in my Bandcamp wishlist amongst a few others I’ve been neglecting to pay attention to. I’ll try to remedy that before the end of the year.
Well, I’m officially out of touch. My AotY so far is Archspire. Guess I’ll sink my mead, get my cloak and leave the hall.
One of the most generic lists Ive seen them post…Outside of Loss, Necrot, Midnight, Pagan Alter, and Bell Witch, I don’t think there’s a single album on there Id say truly felt year end worthy
Midnight is going strong for my number 2 slot, that things is too killer.
They never disappoint.
I honestly can’t put my album choices into any ranking. I have a hell of a time just narrowing things down to a self-imposed 25 albums for my yearly NCS article
How can you say that? I bet you haven’t even listened to the new Propagandhi album. 🙂
Come on, this is me…I think the real question is how can I not say that? 🙂
You know I’m just fuckin’ with you. 🙂 And while I have your attention, are you willing to send me your annual YE list for posting again?
Like you even need to ask.
I mean, it wouldn’t even be Listmania if I didn’t bless the rest of you guys with some of my godlike knowledge 🙂
I read this as “Goatlike” and lol’d and then realized it said “godlike” and lol’d a little harder.
oops..and Spectral Voice as well. That album killed
they sure did put some numbers next to those album names alright
DAMN STRAIGHT THEY DID!
Definitely missing Execration («Return to the Void»)
That is a good one, may end up on my list.
Better as last years top 40 list where Metallica seemed to rule over 2/3 of those magazines. I only know of 17 bands, not sure what that means, especially since I already have found lots of good albums that get my head banging.
I haven’t put any thought into a list for this year, but it’s safe to say Cannibal Corpse’s “Red Before Black” would be my #1 🙂
Didn’t VALLENFYRE release their last record in 2017 ?
Who the fuck is Nick Holmes, these days…?
It’s not a bad list, all things considered. My personal top 5 are not included, but I’ve enjoyed many of the records that are. Aside from Wampyrinacht, I’m also surprised that Farsot made the cut. Nice to see that my local tech weirdos Artificial Brain and Pyrrhon are getting some well-deserved love. But of course the most glaring omissions are the records that weren’t released when they went to print, none more so than the new Aosoth.
It’s another pretty good year in metal, so I suspect we’ll have lots more to argue about in the coming weeks and months.
First off, I agree about Farsot — that’s another deep cut, and one thing about the DECIBEL lists is they do seem to always reserve at least a few places for those. It has the smell of calculation about it, but it’s still good that a publication as influential as DECIBEL devotes some attention to below-the-radar bands in addition to all the predictable big names.
And second, I’m confident that DECIBEL didn’t overlook Aosoth. They get promos far more in advance than internet-only sites like ours, because they have such long lead times before they go to print. They had the Aosoth promo, and probably every other release of interest that’s timed to come out over the next 4-6 weeks, before they made this list. They just didn’t make the selection. And Aosoth is one of the releases I had foremost in mind when I wrote that this list has some glaring omissions.
God, end of year lists already! This is depressing on so many fronts:
1. Fuck, a year passed, how did that happen!?
2. I am so far behind on listening to new releases this year, even more than usual
3. Notwithstanding point 2, if Ulvegr isn’t one someone’s list I’m going to be outraged/depressed/never shutting up about it…
The Wampyrinacht is actually stuff that that was written in the late to mid 90’s and recorded in 2000 or so. Released in Feb this year by Zazen Sounds out of Greece.
looks like the kind folks over at Decibel didn’t get a copy of Venenum’s Trance of Death
Can I just state how ashamed I am that I didn’t do this earlier… but…
Paradise Lost? That’s laughable! Gorguts put out the best METAL album this year – don’t deny it. Stop trying to be different – you’re only appealing to hipsters. Have fun with that. I thought i’d found a credible metal music site to frequent. Apparently not – laters!
No Cainan Dawn, Selbst or Aosoth? I reject this list.
This was an amazing year for thrash & speed metal yet only Kreator & Power Trip make their list? Both albums are fine but what about Antichrist, Stalker, Vampire, Condor, etc.? I don’t think Decibel take the genre that seriously; as well those are all Euro bands and Decibel doesn’t give that continent much coverage.
My favorite album of the year was Foreseen’s Grave Danger, crossover thrash from Finland that kicked my ass so hard! Foreseen seem to be ignored in every single year end list unfortunately. Yeah I agree that Power Trip is kind of overrated, their new album was not nearly as good as their first one. I would add Vulture and Lich King to your list as well, the Lich King album really surprised me to be honest… which other thrash albums did you like?