LISTMANIA 2017 WRAP-UP

 LISTMANIA 2017  6 Responses »
Jan 122018
 

 

There’s a possibility that at this late date I might still receive a year-end list or two that I’ve forgotten were coming, but with those possible exceptions our 2017 edition of LISTMANIA has concluded — or at least close enough that I’m ready to provide this wrap-up.

Once again, we had an extensive series of year-end lists. As usual, some of them were re-postings of lists that appeared at “big platform” web sites and print magazines, and others were prepared by our own stable of stable geniuses. But once again the largest group of list posts came from invited band members and assorted other guests, including fellow metal bloggers/writers. Plus, we’ve also received valuable, extensive lists in reader comments on THIS POST (and new lists are still being added there).

In this article I’m collecting links to all of the 2017 year-end lists that we published, divided into categories and listed within each category in the order of their appearance. For people who are looking for the best metal that 2017 had to offer, these lists provide a tremendous resource, as they have in past years.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to 2017 LISTMANIA and to everyone who made time to read what we pulled together. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2017: A YEAR-END LIST FROM STARKWEATHER (RENNIE RESMINI)

 LISTMANIA 2017  4 Responses »
Jan 122018
 

 

Editor’s Note:  starkweather vocalist Rennie Resmini is not only a very talented music-maker, but also a man with tastes that match up unusually well with may own inclinations… and he has a way with words. I’ve been following him on Facebook (here) for a while and I see what he recommends, and he also sends me recommendations from time to time. As you know if you read my round-ups of new music regularly, he has been a source of great discoveries.

For all those reasons, I asked him if he would be willing to provide a year-end list for publication here. For those who follow him on FB, you know that he posted extensive separate lists of albums, EPs, demos, and splits. For us, he whittled those down considerably to the 15 titles you will see below, using as one factor what he listened to the most. As he told me, “Here it is, quick and dirty so I don’t overthink… though by tomorrow I’ll have changed my mind”.

If you’re not familiar with starkweather’s music, go here — and get ready for something new from them in a few months’ time… Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2017: BRUTALITÖPIA’S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2017

 LISTMANIA 2017  8 Responses »
Jan 102018
 

 

(Our annual LISTMANIA series includes re-posts of lists from “big platform” music sites and selected print zines, but we usually don’t re-post lists from other metal blogs because that truly would make this long series virtually endless. But we’ve again made an exception for Brutalitopia, because through a variety of MDF hijinks over the years, the NCS crew has become fast friends with the miscreants behind Brutalitopia — Tom, Mick, and Durf. The following is a Top 10 synthesis they compiled of their individual lists originally published at their site.)

 

Hello No Clean Singing! Brutalitöpia is back again to bombard you with more lists; assuming you can take any more since Andy Synn, DGR, and many others have scorched your eyeballs with enough of them recently. All that petty nonsense aside, we think we have some different opinions about different albums than you probably do, because you know that’s, well… different!

We again did our own lists here, here and here but if you want an aggregate of 3 dudes that benefit from the 2 best cities in the country (Chicago and NYC for those not from THIS country), then you are in luck because we’ll do the work because this is the USA in 2017 after all and research (read: clicking) is for the weak. Facts don’t matter, only opinions. Read on for some takes hotter than Tomi Lahren’s on snowflakes! Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2017: MMXVII LIST BY SEMJAZA (THY DARKENED SHADE, ACRIMONIOUS) — PART IV

 LISTMANIA 2017  3 Responses »
Jan 102018
 


Artwork by V.I

 

(For the fourth year in a row we invited Semjaza, the main man behind the superb Greek black metal band Thy Darkened Shade and also a member of the formidable Acrimonious, to share with us his lists of favorite releases, and he again agreed. This year, his year-end thoughts will again be presented in multiple parts, of which this is the fourth and final. Part I, in which Semjaza listed his 10 most-listened-to albums, is here; Part II, which included additional inspirational releases, is here; Part III, which listed favorite EPs, demos, and splits, is here.)

 

Non-metal most-listened releases

  Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2017: A YEAR-END LIST FROM JACOBO CÓRDOVA (MAJESTIC DOWNFALL)

 LISTMANIA 2017  4 Responses »
Jan 092018
 

 

(It’s been a few years since we got a year-end list from our friend Jacobo Córdova — the man behind the magnificent Majestic Downfall from Mexico — but we’re pleased to share his with you this year.  And those of us eager for new Majestic Downfall might add this to the other hints and rumors that perhaps we will see some new music from him this year!)

 

2017: Another year full of great Metal with some truly killer releases. Having said this, I somehow feel I expected a bit more this time. I don´t know why, but while the last 5 years had always delivered 100%, I somehow felt this one fell a bit short. Maybe I am becoming a grumpy old man or viagra is starting to be on my radar, but that is what I felt.

With that observation out of the way, these killer albums made it to my year-end list and they somehow lit a flame in the right spot. Hail Heavy Metal, Hail Death! Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2017: MMXVII LIST BY SEMJAZA (THY DARKENED SHADE, ACRIMONIOUS) — PART III

 LISTMANIA 2017  7 Responses »
Jan 092018
 


Artwork by V.I

 

(For the fourth year in a row we invited Semjaza, the main man behind the superb Greek black metal band Thy Darkened Shade and also a member of the formidable Acrimonious, to share with us his lists of favorite releases, and he again agreed. This year, his year-end thoughts will again be presented in multiple parts, of which this is the third. Part I, in which Semjaza listed his 10 most-listened-to albums, is here, and Part II, which included additional inspirational releases, is here.)

 

Most-listened EPs, Demos, and Splits

Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2017: A YEAR-END LIST FROM AUSTIN LUNN (PANOPTICON)

 LISTMANIA 2017  4 Responses »
Jan 082018
 

 

(Our friend Austin Lunn had a busy 2017, and one of the reasons is likely the recently revealed fact that Panopticon has a new double-album coming our way in March via Bindrune Recordings in the U.S. and Nordvis in Europe, the title of which is the scars of man on the once nameless wilderness. Nevertheless, Austin again graciously agreed to put together a year-end list of favorite records that we could share with you.)

 

I’m sorry I am a bit behind with this list as my life has been a bit chaotic as of late.

There was so much music to consume in 2017… Here is a list of some of the records I enjoyed in 2017…some are from 2016 and I was just a little late to discover them. I had quite a few more but I just felt as if my list was getting a bit excessive. This list spans a lot of genres and is in no particular order… But I will say that the first 5 on my list were my favorites this year. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2017: MMXVII LIST BY SEMJAZA (THY DARKENED SHADE, ACRIMONIOUS) — PART II

 LISTMANIA 2017  5 Responses »
Jan 082018
 


Artwork by V.I

 

(For the fourth year in a row we invited Semjaza, the main man behind the superb Greek black metal band Thy Darkened Shade and also a member of the formidable Acrimonious, to share with us his lists of favorite releases, and he again agreed. This year, his year-end thoughts will again be presented in multiple parts, of which this is the second. Part I, in which Semjaza listed his 10 most-listened-to albums, is here.)

 

Additional inspiring metal albums

 

I am one of those who respected the devoutness of Ancient Records since the very first steps of the label. Swartadauþuz and Sir N. decided to continue separate ways but they both still release great spiritual art. In order not to spam the list with most of their releases, I decided to state that one simply ought to buy their releases.

Listen here: https://mysticismproductions.bandcamp.com/

and here: https://svartrit.bandcamp.com/ Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2017: A YEAR-END LIST FROM GRANT SKELTON

 LISTMANIA 2017  21 Responses »
Jan 052018
 

 

(We present NCS contributor Grant Skelton’s excellent 2017 year-end list, curated to present dark releases that haven’t gotten as much attention as they deserve.)

 

Greetings friends! Regrettably, I’ve been more absent from NCS this year than I would have liked. My spouse and I have been unburdening ourselves of student loan debts, which meant more overtime, which then meant less free time for writing. We’ve a good way to go yet, but we’re much further along than we were. But, I digress. Onward to the list

I went for a bit of a different approach this year. Rather than breaking down the genres (and subsequently driving our editor-in-chief further into mental instability than he already is) I made a single list representing a variety of genres. A caveat: these albums are certainly not ALL of what I think deserves the title of “best” of this year’s releases. Below, you’ll see my criteria. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2017: A YEAR-END LIST FROM AUSTIN WEBER

 LISTMANIA 2017  6 Responses »
Jan 042018
 

 

(We present Austin Weber’s list of 20 favorite releases from 2017, which include excerpts from his reviews both here and at Metal Injection.)

 

While I usually do very long year-end feature focusing almost solely on obscure music for NCS each December since 2012, our overlord Islander was in need of some holiday relief so we’re sticking to a mainly Top 20-ish format this year to ease the burden he graciously undertakes of working on all our lists for publication.

I don’t really think of my year-end favorites in a ranked-number-focused way, so the order of the ranking below is fairly irrelevant, just as a heads-up. Although a Top 20 constraint means I can only list a small fraction of my 2017 favorites, I tried to balance this list by covering a number of my top favorites from this year that didn’t get as much attention and will hopefully be new to some of you. So my goal here with a capped limit of 20 was to pick the 20 releases I felt stood out most as releases I know for sure I’ll come back to a lot after the current year ends. I also urge you to check out the hyperlinked Honorable Mentions I’ve included below the Top 20 to find more killer music worth checking out. Continue reading »

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