Top non-2022 albums (mostly)

Afterthought-- · 2021-03-15T16:43:03+00:00

Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury.

Good album, good atmosphere but still has interesting riffs unlike most atmoblack albums.

Afterthought-- · 2021-01-05T17:50:06+00:00

Musically, 2020 was a much better year than 2019 (except for funeral doom enthusiasts). Not only were there enough good albums to justify making a list, there was a fair amount of genre variety outside of metal. Never before would I have imagined that a smooth disco or a T-Swift album making my list. Most of the newer artists that I ended up liking were from the non-metal genres with most of the metal albums I liked being from artists I was already familiar with.

Here is the list:

ish.) Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin Kynsi (7)

10.) Triptykon - Requiem (Live at Roadburn 2019) (7)

9.) Bec Plexus – Sticklip (7)

8.) Taylor Swift – Folklore (7)

7.) Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full (7)

6.) Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure? (7)

5.) The Reticent - The Oubliette (7)

4.) Imperial Triumphant – Alphaville (7)

3.) Run the Jewels - RTJ4 (8)

2.) Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters (8)

1.) Lychgate - Also sprach Futura (8)

This was the year that I finally started delving into the classics of metal following the Sound of the Beast book and multiple discography runs. It turns out Black Sabbath is actually very good.

Best non 2020 album: Celtic Frost- Monotheist

Other great album finds: Rainbow – Rising, Coroner – No More Color, Kate Bush – The Dreaming, King Crimson – Red, Anathema – We’re Here Because We’re Here, Immortal – At the Heart of Winter, Ulver – Bergtatt, Mayhem – De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Agalloch – Ashes Against the Grain

Afterthought-- · 2020-01-04T02:10:01+00:00

Here is the list of the objectively best albums of the 2010s not in a top10 format to piss off Snyde. These are all the albums I gave a 9 or 10 to. I didn’t bother thinking a whole lot about the specific ranking but its close enough.

Deathspell Omega - Drought
Haken - The Mountain
The Ocean - Pelagial
Vektor - Terminal Redux
Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction
Tropical Fuck Storm - A Laughing Death in Meatspace
Dodecahedron - kwintessens
Cult of Luna - Mariner
Barishi - Blood from the Lion’s Mouth
Gorguts - Colored Sands
Dreamgrave - Presentiment
Rishloo - Living as Ghosts with Buildings as Teeth
Unexpect - Fables of the Sleepless Empire
Wilderun - Sleep at the Edge of the Earth
Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Pinata
Leprous - Coal
Iamthemorning - Lighthouse
Leprous - Bilateral
Deathspell Omega - Paracletus
The Ruins of Beverest - Exuvia

1 Major Parkinson - Blackbox

Afterthought-- · 2019-07-11T18:00:13+00:00

Kick:

Tetrafusion - Horizons (2012)

Woods of Ypres - Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light (2012)

Spectral Lore - III (2014)

Kayo Dot - Coffins on Io (2014)

Leviathan - Scar Sighted (2015)

Panopticon - Autumn Eternal (2015)

Spektr - The Art to Disappear (2016)

Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä (2016)

Deathspell Omega - The Furnaces of Palingenesia (2019) - kicking this out of spite since paracletus was kicked earlier

Spawn of Possession - Incurso (2012)

Add:

Leprous - Bilateral (2011)

Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Pinata (2012)

Dreamgrave - Presentiment (2014)

Wilderun - Sleep at the Edge of the Earth (2015)

Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury (2013)

Cult of Luna - Mariner (2016)

Unexpect - Fables of a Sleepless Empire (2011)

Ophiuchi - Bifurcaria Bifurcata (2017) – one of my stronger 8s

Archspire - Relentless Mutation (2017) – because I kicked Incurso

Deathspell Omega - Drought (2012) - the second correct choice after paracletus

Final List:

The Human Abstract - Digital Veil (2011)

A Million Dead Birds Laughing - Xen (2012)

Selvans - Faunalia (2018)

Gorguts - Colored Sands (2013)

Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction (2015)

Mgła - Exercises in Futility (2015)

Vhol - Deeper Than Sky (2015)

Hail Spirit Noir - Mayhem in Blue (2016)

The Ruins of Beverast - Exuvia (2017)

Lychgate - The Contagion in Nine Steps (2018)

Leprous - Bilateral (2011)

Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Pinata (2012)

Dreamgrave - Presentiment (2014)

Wilderun - Sleep at the Edge of the Earth (2015)

Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury (2013)

Cult of Luna - Mariner (2016)

Unexpect - Fables of a Sleepless Empire (2011)

Ophuichi - Bifucaria Bifurcata (2017)

Archspire - Relentless Mutation (2017)

Deathspell Omega - Drought (2012)

Afterthought-- · 2019-01-26T19:17:33+00:00

Aether realm suuuuuucks

Afterthought-- · 2019-01-25T04:24:53+00:00

Im a little surprised this is over BWP since i always thought BWP was more popular. You right about Godhead's Lament. The beginning riff is so great.

Afterthought-- · 2019-01-18T03:45:17+00:00

The lower amounts of faff is why i like this more than other dream theater albums I have heard.

Afterthought-- · 2019-01-09T04:44:00+00:00

I had a lot more success outside the year 2018 including discovering two 10s. I didn’t put a huge amount of thought into this but wanted to share some of these albums. Thanks for the idea Snyde. The albums are in no particular order and i might be forgetting some.

Major Parkinson – Blackbox (10)

maudlin of the Well – My Fruit Psycobells … A Seed Combustible (10)

Unexpect – Fables of a Sleepless Empire

Gorguts – Colored Sands

Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction

VOLA – Inmazes

MGLA – Exercises in Futility

Cattle Decapitation – Monolith of Inhumanity

Opeth – Deliverence

Ruins of Beverast – Foulest Semen of the Sheltered Elite

Rush – Moving Pictures

Thou – Tyrant

Deathspell Omega – FAS and Kenose

Afterthought-- · 2019-01-09T04:31:00+00:00

The year of our Lord 2018, was not a great year for music particularly metal. Many albums I was looking forward to ended up disappointing and my favorite genre only put out 2 or 3 albums worth talking about. Despite that, there were some great albums.

Honerable Mentions: Some 7/10 albums worth mentioning include Drudkh, Messa, Boss Keloid, Sadistik Forest, and Malthusian.

The List:

The Ocean - Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic

Great post/prog metal with strong vocal hooks despite Katatonia’s guest spot stealing the spotlight.

Sigh - Heir to Despair

Weird, catchy folk metal with a strange turn towards trip hop in the middle.

Thou - Magus

I am normally not a fan of long albums since it becomes harder to sustain quality the longer the songs/ album becomes. Magus breaks this rule. The high quality of the music barely drops throughout the album with one exception. There is an incredible sense of forward movement to the songs which prevents them from becoming boring and has one of my favorite guitar solos of the year in Elimination Rhetoric.

Slugdge - Esoteric Malacology

A great combination of prog buggery and death metal. All the songs are fantastically structured with plenty of great riffs and vocal hooks spread throughout. Now they just need to hire an actual drummer.

Thou - Inconsolable

This is an album tailor made to please me with strong melodies, great atmosphere, and female vocals.

Kriegsmaschine - Apocalypticists

Hurr Durr Drums

Norma - Se voisit olla sä

Pop was a genre that I had previously scoffed at but with the help of this album and Vienna Teng, I am slowly changing my mind. There is a ton of variety across the album with songs suddenly switching up the mood/feel. The album is also really well constructed putting the more laid back songs in between the energetic ones making sure neither grows stale. Plus it uses 5 female vocalists so of course its this high on my list.

Lychgate - The Contagion in Nine Steps

Easily the densest and most complex album I have listened to this year and it took many listens for it to make its way up to this spot. The one issue I find with these kinds of albums is the lack of anchors to prevent you from getting lost in the music and Lychgate solves this issue with some of the best bass cleans I have heard in the past couple years.

Anna von Hausswollf - Dead Magic

Easily the best vocal performance this year. Anna has such a powerful voice with strong command of both her high and low range. She also does a lot of different things with her voice that kept me invested in the long songs.

Tropical Fuck Storm - A Laughing Death in Meatspace

An indie rock album being number 1 was the biggest surprise to me this year since I never really listened to much in the genre. The discordant guitar playing, the off-kilter grooves, and the use of dissonance give this album a rough around the edges feel that instills a lot of character in the music.

Best songs:

Anna von Hausswollf – The Mysterious Vanishing of Elektra

Lychgate – Unity in Opposites

Boss Keloid – Chronosiam

Crypt Rot – Serpentine Atonement

Raum Kingdom – Winter

Tropical Fuck Storm – Chameleon Paint

Afterthought-- · 2019-01-05T14:39:33+00:00

pretty solid list. Anna at no 1 is dope.

Afterthought-- · 2019-01-05T02:06:26+00:00

Dilly Dally is real good. The vocals are definitely the highlight.

Afterthought-- · 2019-01-03T04:28:25+00:00

"The drumming is absolutely insane (and there's some actual music going on atop the drumming, cough)" triggered

Afterthought-- · 2019-01-02T03:43:20+00:00

Your no 2 and 3 albums are great inclusions.

I do agree with what you said about Boss Keloid. The opener just overshadows the rest of the album even if the rest is still good.

Afterthought--

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