onsdag 2 Apr 2014, 3:08
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d61/Coffinwood_Mill/skull2_zpse351f805.jpg
Hi folks,
The years have come and gone, and yet for some odd reason I still receive requests for my 'Best Of' journal entries in Heavy Metal, as well as several other genres. Why I still receive these requests I have no idea, but I've relented on being an e-seclusionist curmudgeon and eternally lazy long enough to post my Best in Heavy Metal of 2011 list. I hope whatever poor soul or bored last.fm troll that reads this dated meandering of metal finds something that they haven't otherwise heard or thought to listen to since '11. Also, I encourage any suggestions for albums released in 2011 that I've omitted as it's painfully obvious from my list that I can't possibly listen to everything out there.
Journal entries for 2012 and 2013 are forthcoming. No, for real this time.
Enjoy,
- Coffinwood_Mill
† Please support the artists listed here and purchase their music or merchandise †
Absu, after eight long years of recording silence have released their second album in three years, the chaotic and speed driven Abzu. The second hellish force in a malevolent planned trilogy dealing with the abyss, this is an album that could’ve placed higher on my list, but even so it shreds as hard as any of the aforementioned records. The record, as per the norm for Absu, is rife with thrashing blackened insanity, with “Circles of the Oath” and “Skyring in the Spirit Vision” delivering my favorite tracks on Abzu. Highly Recommended!
For fans of: Melechesh, Deströyer 666, Desaster, Inquisition, Weapon, Nifelheim.
Initially, I lacked the initiative and interest in hearing Beyond the Fall of Time due to a series of – what I now understand as – absolutely unfair and ultimately erroneous reviews on the release, pegging it as being nothing more than the masturbatory effort of technical proficiency and nothing more, basically reserved for those who want to merely wish to hear endless noodling. This couldn’t be further from the truth. With their sophomore effort, Exmortus’ brand of technical death meets thrash metal is dynamic success that showcases not only the amount of skill the provide in their lead guitar work, but how much face-melting riffs shred throughout Beyond the Fall of Time, especially on tracks like “Kneel Before the Steel” and “Destroy”. This is a killer release, and one that I return to often. If you’re into any of the below artists, you’d be doing yourself a disservice to not give it a listen.
For fans of: Hellwitch, Warbringer, Horrendous, Excruciator, Deathhammer, Timeghoul.
TRIUMPHANT RETURN!
As the opening bars of “Hand of Darkness” release their putrid grasp on the grave and immediately reach for listeners throat, you quickly realize that the legendary gore-obsessed death metal cult Autopsy have lost none of their ghoulish proclivity for sadism, violence, and abject brutality. Macabre Eternal is precisely the true return that many fans thought not possible – a vicious foray into the uncompromisingly gore-obsessed death metal sound that they themselves helped to twist into the cruel and sick sepulchral form so revered many years ago. The morbid perfection of the record is that the entirety of the release is unquestionably within the confines of Autopsy’s distinctive sound, but freshly exhumed; tormented and sick vocals, frenzied solos, and the unrelentingly punk-infused percussive canters rot forth from each perverted track. Dare I say that with Macabre Eternal, Autopsy may have exceeded all of their previous material. Highly Recommended!
For fans of: Abscess, Asphyx, Repulsion, Grave, Cianide, Cancer.
Great debut!
Without question, one of the best death metal records of 2011, Towards The Megalith is an exceptionally destructive foray into the realm of evil as fuck down-tuned and absolutely uncompromising death metal. Towards The Megalith storms out of the hellgate with tracks like the opener “Chaos Apparition” and “Chasm of Oceanus” only to ultimately drag you into the abyss of monolithic death metal sludge at the midpoint with “Vault of Membros”, my personal favorite on the record. With a stylistic approach that invokes the death doom of New York legends Winter before shifting suddenly to early-90’s Florida tech death, Disma have created a masterpiece of the genre that feels both tremendously familiar yet utterly new. Strongly recommended!
For fans of: Funebrarum, Cruciamentum, Dead Congregation, Hooded Menace, Krypts, Convulse.
For the uninitiated, Midnight play face-rapingly addictive beer soaked blackened heavy metal – imagine an unholy coalescing of Venom, Judas Priest, and Bathory snorting massive lines of punk rock energy off of Satan’s cock, and that basically sums up the sound on their latest release Satanic Royalty. Tracks like “Lust, Filth and Sleaze” and “Holocaustic Deafening” showcase the blackened heavy metal meets pure stomping punk wall of putrid albeit breakneck sound as the band pulls no punches and leaves no unmelted faces in their wake, courtesy of shredding solo’s and scathing heavy metal showmanship. An uncompromising, hedonistic, and ultraviolent release, there are carnal delights that any self-respecting metalhead could delight in on Satanic Royalty. Killer album!
For fans of: Abigail, Nifelheim, Nunslaughter, Trench Hell, Gospel of the Horns, Bastard Priest.
As part of the renowned French underground scene, the horde known as Haemoth have been summoning forth an abundance of orthodox black metal for the better part of a decade. While their malicious and aggressive musical approach is not something that is going to ever be deemed “progressive” within the genre, a record with a nostalgic familiarity like In Nomine Odium is exactly what I require from time to time. The seething onslaught of cavernous crescendos and dissonant motifs saturated in a raw hellish onslaught of blackened hate make this a positively addicting listen. For fans of the orthodox and classic black metal sounds of the past, this is an invigorating listen that I would strongly recommend.
For fans of: Aosoth, Antaeus, Ondskapt, Krohm, Insane Vesper, Hell Militia.
This is not black metal. There really is no viable genre distinction that can successfully describe the disharmonic orchestra of tortured noise that Gnaw Their Tongues have achieved on Per Flagellum Sanguemque, Tenebras Veneramus. While artistically they may produce albums at a respectable albeit predictable yearly rate, I am rarely disappointed in what they have to offer, and this 2011 release may be their finest offering yet. This turbulent cauldron of cacaphonious noise is brimming over with the barbarous sounds of blackened flagellation, a hopeless aura of lo-fi horror/snuff film atmospherics, and moreover the shrieking cries of the most tortured and tormented of doomed victims. Each track is littered with a horrifying abundance of instruments ranging from what you would normally expect from the band, but also including keyboards, live string and horn arrangements, and the eerily uncomfortable samples of death and realized despair. Give me more.
For fans of: Aderlating, De Magia Veterum, Menace Ruine, The Axis of Perdition, Cloak of Altering, NDE, Khanate, Grunt.
This 2-piece from Finland specializing in a bass-oriented dirge of blackened cacophony, the likes of which haven’t been heard since the glory days of Beherit and Archgoat are certainly an acquired taste – even for the most seasoned of contemporaries and fans of the legendary Finnish black metal scene. The songs that comprise Under The Eye are utterly bizarre, absolutely outlandish, and possibly as batshit crazy as you’d expect from a group that habitually features members on stage in the nude. Several of the instruments on the release are completely unidentifiable, yet retain the thick trudge of darkness and punishingly scathing textures throughout the release. As if the caustic inundation into Ride For Revenge’s malevolent tempest of noise isn’t mind-melting enough, the only temporary reprieve from the onslaught are the occasional spacey ambient passages spattered throughout Under The Eye. Not a release for everyone, but a positively killer album nonetheless.
For fans of: Dead Reptile Shrine, Kadotus, Pseudogod, Antediluvian, Torturium, Saturnian Mist.
Sincerely evocative in the most disseminated and repetitively bleak way, Ash Borer was a mammoth release from the wilds of the Pacific Northwest eco-friendly and naturalistic cabin-dwelling “Cascadian black metal scene,” which is habitually hit-or-miss at best. However, as convoluted and pretentious as many of their more “post” or “ambient” blackened peers sound, Ash Borer have seemingly steered clear of those Pitchfork-reading vegan pitfalls and after only two demos and a split release have become one of the region’s most preeminent and promising black metal acts. Existing fans will undoubtedly take note of a decidedly more balanced and effective prowess in the song-writing than on previous efforts. Yet, it’s quite clear that Ash Borer are yearning to capture a desolation and emptiness in their echoing dissonance that they will realize in time as they mature as a band, but for the moment their 2011 release is still in regular rotation per my listening habits.
For fans of: Fell Voices, Bosse-de-Nage, Skagos, Alda, Panopticon.
Revolting vocalist and guitarist Rogga Johansson is a busy guy, balancing time between Paganizer, Ribspreader, Bone Gnawer, The Grotesquery, and finally Bloodgut. Revolting is, as you’ve probably guessed, my favorite of the bunch and In Grisly Rapture is clearly his best work to date in any of the aforementioned bands. Death metal in the Swedish vein, the entire album a monstrous foray into the blood-drenched and limb-cutting world of horror, with fierce hyper-speed riffs, hook-laden melodies, mauling drums and Rogga’s gore-spewing vocals leading the way. Suffice to say, In Grisly Rapture was one of the most ghoulishly fun releases of 2011.
For fans of: Demonical, Miasmal, Bone Gnawer, Bastard Priest, Undead Creep.
Recall that in January of 2011, Wrest (real name Jef Whitehead) had been arrested and was being held on $350,000 bail for sexually assaulting his then-girlfriend. Whether or not the details of those specific charges are true, it did nothing to prevent Profound Lore from releasing True Traitor, True Whore – one of the most embittered and acrimonious heavy metal releases of last year. While the album title leaves little room for interpretation, the scathing, sickened, and entirely haunting content on the album was one of the more enthralling and shocking listens of 2011. There are arguably more layers on this release than any previous Leviathan record as Wrest delves into an unconventional black metal approach that coalesces dark ambient, industrial, and even rock nuances into the caustic maelstrom of True Traitor, True Whore – a release encapsulating the artists own personal Hell. This is a must hear release.
For fans of: Lurker of Chalice, Xasthur, Crebain, Blut aus Nord, Krieg, Deathspell Omega, Craft, Krieg, Sapthuran.
Putrefied fingers and tortured primeval moans grip the listener by the throat and violently drag them deeper into the sarcophagi pandemonium that entombs the true malevolent essence of O' Hell, Shine In Thy Whited Sepulchres. Perhaps I’m a bit biased due to my love of lo-fi death metal similar to the legendary Incantation and newer projects like Impetuous Ritual, but with their sophomore release, Encoffination achieved a pestilential and reverberating death metal churn that is as barbarous as it is enigmatic. Each instrument on the release is implicit in its plodding menace, formulating the grim mucilage that provides the foundation for this Hellish and audible tomb of primitive despair. The subterranean percussion drives this crawling morass of a release along, while the muddy guitars pummel the listener until they are left to rot with the memory of having been grave-fucked by one of the best newcomers in the death metal scene. Highly Recommended!
For fans of: Grave Upheaval, Grave Ritual, Venenum, Swallowed, Decrepitaph.
Well worth the four-year wait, Prime Evil Damnation rewards the patient blasphemer with a filthy Archgoat-worship cacophony of relentless chainsaw-buzz riffs and punishingly heavy drums for a raw, straight-forward and positively brutal listen. While the majority of the record is a scathing barrage to the senses, Bestial Raids does succeed in imbuing a destructive and militant mood on tracks like “Ceremonial Bloodshed” by including martial samples of troops confidently marching to war. The only negative, however, is perhaps that the black/death desecration bellowing from the putrid bowels of Hell doesn’t last very long and Prime Evil Damnation blasts by very quickly – which only leads to repeat listens.
For fans of: Doombringer, Sadomator, Antediluvian, Nuclear Desecration, Deiphago, Kerasphorus.
Great full-length debut!
The Australian black metal scene continues to impress by birthing forth the yet another nefarious doctrine into the unholy annals and psalms of obscure down-under darkness. Predominately influenced by the crepuscule purveyors of the Scandinavian scene, Ill Omen’s Divinity Through Un-Creation invokes an audible portal to the desolate and unhallowed foundations of the true black metal sound, honoring the Norwegian roots of the genre while permeating their ritualistic psalmody with a contemporary distinction of haunting depth and cimmerian ambiance. While Ill Omen’s homage to the old gods may not be a paradigm for the unorthodox or innovative, they truly make up for it by delivering one of the best black metal releases of 2011. Get it.
For fans of: Temple Nightside, Impious Baptism, Atra, Hellvetron, HIC IACET, Erebus Enthroned.
Clearly another victory for the French black metal scene, Aosoth are without a doubt one of my most listened-to black metal bands at the moment. Their pitch-black aesthetic of crushing rotten blackness, all while capturing an esoteric and theological penchant for eerie, droning ambiance all imbues their motif of malevolence with what can only be described as an unspeakably evil sound. With III, Aosoth truly upped the ante, infusing blackened sludge as a nuance to their already impenetrable sound of vicious hook-laden riffs and pummeling barrage of percussion, mercilessly forging the swirling hate-filled compositions of ungodly grime found on III. Excellent release.
For fans of: Antaeus, Hell Militia, Ascension, Katharsis, Ondskapt.
Great full-length debut!
I eventually heard Nocturne of Eyes and Teeth early in 2012, because when it was released in March of 2011 by High Roller Records the limited-edition LP was sold out within only a few days. That said, the wait was definitely worth it. Reveal’s sound is a diabolic coalescing of blackened thrash that is injected with a myriad of rollicking rock influences providing for an almost malevolently psychedelic and violent audible vibe. While the band isn’t going to collect accolades for being the most original or progressive in the genre, the collective nuances on Nocturne of Eyes and Teeth are the kind of furious and unforgiving offensive on the listeners senses that will keep you favorably occupied until their next eagerly awaited release.
For fans of: In Solitude, Necrovation, Teitanblood, Nifelheim.
Great full-length debut!
Alongside Mitochondrion’s Parasignosis, this may have been the most impressive death metal release of 2011. With their full-length debut in Through The Cervix Of Hawwah, Antediluvian created a cacophonic and twisted dissonance of excruciatingly violent music that is positively bestial in the impassioned darkness that it delivers. The album is a heinous collection of face-melting riffs, primal drum blasts, audible bass riffs (that will destroy your stereo @ 11), and some of the most throat-rippingly pestilential vocal assaults you’ll hear in the genre. Essentially, this and the rest of their discography is a must-hear for fans of extreme metal.
For fans of: Cruciamentum, Vasaeleth, Heresiarch, Encoffination, Impetuous Ritual.
Some things never seem to change. A. A. Nemtheanga & co. are undisputedly the most consistent band in the entire heavy metal genre. Since their seminal debut in 1995 with Imrama, Primordial have thoughtfully refrained from releasing anything even remotely sub-par throughout the duration of their admirable recording history. Redemption At The Puritans Hand is yet another landmark album (a predictable outcome at this point), replete with the epic grandeur and desolate bitterness that embodies the inherent spirit of the band and their dynamic archetypal sound. Yet another victory for the Irish, and if you haven’t heard Redemption At The Puritans Hand yet, waste no time in doing so.
For fans of: Mael Mórdha, Negură Bunget, Sólstafir, Moonsorrow, Enslaved, Helrunar.
Great full-length debut!
Unrelenting and uncompromisingly harsh, Luciform confronts bold listeners with an unholy and scathing coalescing of raw orthodox black metal complete with layer upon layer of desolate razor-thin walls of ubiquitous cruel noise. Virtually every aspect of this brilliant release is rife with shrill and unhinged demonic wails, salacious riffs and hypersonic drumming ferociously intertwined with a maelstrom of blackened noise. If that wasn’t enough, Sutekh Hexen’s debut is also replete with a disquieting and caustic static ambience that rivals virtually all of their irreverential contemporaries. Luciform was truly the most concentrated and chaotic onslaught of unnerving noise that the metal genre had to offer in 2011, and a release that I’ve perpetually returned to for the last year and half. Highly recommended!
For fans of: NDE, Odz Manouk, Obolus, Katharsis, Tukaaria, Grunt, Clinic of Torture.
Already a definitive classic in the death metal genre, Mitochondrion's Parasignosis was truly one of the most challenging, intricately formulated multitude of dark and sinister layers of sonic turmoil that has ever been vomited forth from the death metal genre. The inexorable and cyclical séance of brutal textures and thick almost overbearing metallic chaos provide for a unique and all-encompassing listening experience that few albums from 2011 or any other year can equally match. While their debut Archaeaeon was an absolute success, Parasignosis is a quintessential and genre-defining epic that demands repeat listens. While I suspect that most discerning death metal fans have heard this tumultuous masterpiece by now, if somehow it has slipped through the cracks waste no time in inundating yourself in the complex dissonance and occult ambiance that Parasignosis has to offer.
For fans of: Impetuous Ritual, Adversarial, Antediluvian, Vasaeleth, Ulcerate.
Ad Hominem - Dictator - A Monument of Glory
Aluk Todolo - Finsternis
Amorphis - "Skyforger"
Aosoth - Ashes Of Angels
Archgoat - The Light Devouring Darkness
Arckanum - ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ
Ashen Light - Кровь Апокалипсиса
Aves - Aves
Avulsed - Nullo (The Pleasure of Self-Mutilation)
Behemoth - Evangelion
Bloodline - Hate Procession
Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With the Stars
Candlemass - Death Magic Doom
Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague
Den Saakaldte - All Hail Pessimism
Deströyer 666 - Defiance
Devourment - Unleash The Carnivore
Diocletian - Doom Cult
Doomraiser - Erasing the Remembrance
Drudkh - Microcosmos
Ea - Ea II
Echoes of Yul - Echoes of Yul
Evile - Infected Nations
Foscor - Groans To The Guilty
Fukpig - Spewings from a Selfish Nation
Funeral Mist – Maranatha
Furia - Grudzien za Grudniem
Furia - Płoń
Glorior Belli - Meet Us At The Southern Sign
Goatwhore - Carving Out The Eyes Of God
God Dethroned - Passiondale
Gorgoroth - Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt
Havohej - Kembatinan Premaster
Havok - Time Is Up
Hellveto - Kry
Hjarnidaudi - Psyko:Stare:Void
Horna - Musta Kaipuu
Huata - Atavist Of Mann
Hypocrisy - A Taste Of Extreme Divinity
Immortal - All Shall Fall
Impiety - Terroreign (Apocalyptic Armageddon Command)
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Kreator - Hordes of Chaos
Kylesa – Static Tensions
Laho - Escape From the Dying Star
Les Discrets / Alcest - Les Discrets / Alcest
Lvpvs Infestvs - Post Fata Resurgo
Malfeitor (Ita) - Incubus
Månegarm - Nattväsen
Marduk - Wormwood
Metalucifer - Heavy Metal Bulldozer
My Dying Bride - For Lies I Sire
Necrodeath - Phylogenesis
Nile - Those Whom The Gods Detest
Onslaught - Killing Peace
Oranssi Pazuzu - Muukalainen puhuu
Paroxysmal Descent - Paradigm of Decay
Process of Guilt - Erosion
Psoriasis - Lethal Treatment
Reaktor 4 - Reaktor 4
Rev 16:8 - Grand Tidal Rave
Sacrifice - The Ones I Condemn
Samael - Above
Siena Root - Different Realities
Sjenovik - Zephaniah
Skeletonwitch - Breathing the Fire
Slayer - World Painted Blood
Solar Wisdom - The Temple of Honour
Speedwolf - Ride With Death
Spiritus Mortis - "The God Behind The God"
Suffocation - Blood Oath
Sui Caedere - Thrène
Sun Of The Blind - Skullreader
Svart - Vanara, Vanmakt Och Avsmak
Svarte Greiner - Kappe
Teitanblood - Seven Chalices
The Black League - Ghost Brothel
Thrall - Vermin to The Earth
1349 - Revelations of the Black Flame
Trist - Willenskraft
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust
Urgehal - Ikonoklast
Vader - Necropolis
Vektor - Black Future
Vorkreist - Sickness Sovereign
W.A.S.P. - Babylon
Witchrist - Curses of Annihilation
Wodensthrone - Loss
Wolves In the Throne Room - Black Cascade
Wolvserpent - Gathering Strengths
Wyrd - Kalivägi
Xasthur - All Reflections Drained
YOB - The Great Cessation
