Blog On The Motorway

And so we come to that part of the year when the blogosphere goes bat shit crazy for lists, like a cumulative High Fidelity support group, and I am no exception.  I know that there is still a month left of the year, but since this morning I was ordered by Ellen to do no more downloading of albums until after Christmas, lest I ruin a surprise present (I got caught listening to Them Crooked Vultures, which miffed her a bit) if there are any more great albums I wont hear this year anyway.  So, for what it’s worth, these are the ten albums that has been on constant repeat over the last 11 months.

1. Converge – Axe To Fall

Roughly akin to an appendectomy without anaesthetic, Axe To Fall is the world’s greatest hardcore band on blistering and brutal form, their best since 2001’s genre defining Jane Doe.  From the staggering opener ‘Dark Horse’ which sounds like a cross between Iron maiden and an Aids ravaged monkey, to the closer ‘Wretched World’ (co written and performed with Genghis Tron) this is demented and suffocating music to lose your mind to. Brilliant.

 Converge – Axe to Fall video

2. Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Agorapocalypse

If Axe To Fall presents the ultimate in batshit hardcore, then Agorapocalypse takes a run at silliest Grindcore record in history.  Ditching their previous penchant for recording songs no longer than twenty seconds, this etches up the programmed drum machine grindcore frenzy to 11, and introduces the incredibly sexy second vocalist that is Katherine Katz. More traditional than their previous attacks, this is nonetheless the aural equivalent of a knifepoint mugging.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Agorapocalypse Now (audio only)

3. Isis – Wavering Radiant

Isis returned to form following the slightly disappointing ‘In The Absence Of Truth’ with another slab of prog infused doom metal, sticking solidly to the tried and tested formula of ‘big riff, slow bit, heavy chorus, now the build, ooooooh fuck I just came a bit there’ that they have stuck with since Oceanic.  But it’s big and beautiful and back to being heavy where it needs to be, and if you’re Isis, that’s all you ever really need to do in my books.

 

Isis – Threshold of Transformation (audio only)

4. Baroness – Blue Album

Baroness ply a fine line in post-Mastodon bluesy prog metal, and have steadily been making a name for themselves with each record, but here they finally find their groove, with a slightly poppier sound that still contains thick as tar grooves with Foo-Fighters-eqsque songwriting ability.  The wheels come off a little towards the back end, but this is nonetheless a corking bluesy party album.

 Baroness – A Horse Called Golgotha (Video)

5. Kylesa – Static Tensions

Treading a similar southern rock vein to Baroness, but with darker intent and two drummers rather than the more common one, Kylesa return with another cracking album, dark and marauding, sludgy and warm. Hampered (once again) by a slightly shoddy production this is still a cracking mix of Clutch, Mastodon and Neurosis infused doom metal.

Kylesa – Unknown Awareness (audio only)

6. Mastodon – Crack The Skye

I have to admit that as much as I love this album I do feel a little bit disappointed in it, missing as I do the fire and ire of their previous releases. That’s not to say that it’s not mind-blowingly fucking awesome, because it is, but their last two albums have lasted a lot longer that this one did.  Still, the absolutely mental storyline of a man going into space, meeting Rasputin and whatnot, coupled with music that would have Spinal Tap rethinking their own Jazz Odyssey, this is unlike anything else out there, and thoroughly deserving of a top ten place. But if it had had a bit more fire it would have gone to number one without hesitation.

Mastodon – Divinations (Video)

7. Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue

The return of the icons of my childhood has probably coloured this a little bit for me, but nonetheless this is a cracking album, full of the darkness and pain and misery you would expect. New singer William DuVall slots into the mix effortlessly, and if anything the old vocal harmonies are more prominent than they were with Layne. And A Looking In View is crushing. Since the video is decidedly NSFW however, here is an acoustic performance of the album’s haunting closing track.

 

Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue (live acoustic)

8. Pelican – What We All Come To Need

Another year, another great Pelican album, and once again shattering the idea that instrumental music is boring. Great big riffs flowing again and again, relentlessly chasing that perfect moment. Excellent.

Pelican – Glimmer (audio only)

9. Every Time I Die – New Junk Aesthetic

Combining the rage of hardcore with the gutsy swing of Rock and Roll, Every Time I Die are a beast of a band who get better and better each time out, without every radically changing their sound, instead honing their sound until is is a lean and taut killing machine. Awesome stuff, and at a band at full strength.

 

Every Time I Die – Wanderlust (video)

10. Behemoth – Evangelion

Poland’s demented Behemoth are back for another album of massively heavy death metal that takes itself far too seriously and ends up being utterly hilarious as a result. It is doubtful that you will ever hear such technical prowess outside of this album, and the sheer lunacy of it makes it unparalleled in its brilliance. If you don’t believe me on just how insane these guys are, check out the full-corpse-paint ridiculousness below. Smoke, girls, corpse paint, blood!

Behemoth – Ov Fire and the Void (video) This is also a bit NSFW, but it’s mad, so that’s why I’m putting it up. Consider yourself warned.

So that’s it. Normally there’d be a lot more balance to this sort of thing, but to be honest there’s not been a non-metal album this year that has equalled these ten albums for me.