Of Woven Dirt and Luster: CJ's Top Metal Albums of 2015

Every year, I make a fairly concerted effort to compile my list of favorite releases in a way that makes the listening experience dynamic. Overall, many of the releases that make my lists are those that command both melody and quirkiness, grimy dissonance and luster. I enjoy so many different genres that my selections even surprise me, at times. Normally I do have some non-metal releases mixed in, which you can see on my RYM profile. Here, however, I will only focus on the metalest of all the metal!

This is my final list with placements that were decided by originality and overall musical contribution to their respective genres. I quickly cut bands and artists out who I felt were not attempting to introduce new nuances to their sound in an effective or interesting way, so this list wasn't just a typical array of albums I appreciated, but a culminating experience that caused me to revisit records multiple times over. I hope you find it interesting!

Honorable Mentions

Advent Sorrow - As All Light Leaves Her
Vehemence - Forward Without Motion
Leprous - The Congregation
Ghost Bath - Moonlover
Coffincraft - In Eerie Slumber
Cult Leader - Lightless Walk
Horrendous - Anareta
Abhorrent Decimation - Miasmic Mutation
Vola - Inmazes
Panopticon - Autumn Eternal
Wrvth - Wrvth

Top 10

10. Swallow the Sun - Songs From the North I, II, & III

If I could have broken this release up per album, I would have, because Despair (part III) is pretty much a 5/5 for me. It's absolutely soul-crushing and some of the best material this band has put out to date. Gloom and Beauty are also very strong, but they're very separate in my mind and are consequently the reason why this barely makes my top ten. I was really worried that these guys wouldn't be able to break into new interpretations of their music after their 2012 record, but they proved me wrong with their ambition and vast creative genius on this collection of materials. I will never complain about waiting three years for an StS record ever again.

9. Kardashev - Peripety

Kardashev return with a contemplative, melodic and brutal piece of progressive deathcore. I really love these guys because of their insistence on keeping the genre of deathcore more intelligent than many of their cohorts have tried to do. With heavy influence from bands like Fallujah and Aegaeon (who are also part this more intelligent interpretation of the genre), it's hard to argue with the formula, here. It's only successful, however, because they are able to reimagine it without faltering or forcing the music into uncomfortable boundaries. If you're a fan of deathcore and you don't like this, it's probably because you like things more straight forward and that's okay, but this band has a chance to open the door for a genre which is incredibly reliant on generic guitar tones, compositions and monotonal vocals. I hope more bands and listeners start offering this band the respect they deserve.

8. Chapel of Disease - The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art

What's important about this release is its manifestation of death doom as a trophy of musical wanderlust. You're going to be scarce in finding something that blends more genres, yet maintains a palpable devotion to its respective sound. This could be the first in a necessary development for death doom metal surfacing beyond 2010. It takes what's really successful in the newer, cavernous death metal movement and embraces other important influences that harken back to why a band like Candlemass was so innovative. The key here is that Chapel of Disease have found a sound entirely their own and have crafted an incredibly complete work, here.

7. Underling - Bloodworship

I'm really blown away by the amalgamation of genres, here. Punk, black metal, sludge, shoegaze - you name it. At first, I wasn't sure that I liked this as much what they did with their EP, 'Breathe Deeply', but of course this list is about rewarding bands who choose to innovate their sound and Underling came out swinging in that respect. The more I listened to this, the more I gained an appreciation for what it must be like to break away from a sound and to continue developing it all at the same time. We still hear aspects of Underling on this debut release that were very apparent and successful on their EP, but we also hear so many new things on this record that are initially difficult to digest. Given a chance, I think these guys will take this style of nuanced and hackneyed black metal into new territories that bands like Deafheaven refuse to explore.

6. Tribulation - The Children of the Night

Did Blue Oyster Cult decide to write a new record? Of course, Tribulation bring their very unique sound to the table, here. That's what makes it so good for me - it's somewhat nostalgic yet altogether a very original piece of work. Judge Dredd and I actually wrestled with this one for a while because at times it's hard to tell whether or not this band is prepared to follow the path of Ghost in the way that they are simply attempting to emulate music that's been around for decades. In the end, there's a quality to Tribulation's take on that whole affair that makes it undeniable - completely its own untamed beast. The fact that this album is decidedly more gothic than black, more progressive than gritty, is strange and fascinating because it still conveys those sensibilities overwhelmingly. Indeed, those Strange Gateways Beckon.

5. Mesarthim - Isolate

Ethereal, cosmic, atmospheric and beautifully composed throughout. Space-themed black metal is far from new and it's become part of the new array of themes that are being beaten to death in metal music, but it's certainly a testament towards to the times we live in. It's even somewhat admirable that we have now begun to reconcile this vast body we have, as living beings, been thrust into through one of the most abrasive and vehement forms of music available. Somehow, in that contrast, a project like Mesarthim ultimately commands the beauty and haunting, cold darkness of space without abandoning that vehemence. At times dark wave, at times the blackest of black metal and, oddly, at times cheesy 80s synth-fest. Somehow this is a near perfect formula for me, and while 'Isolate' fell off a little bit for me at the end of the year, I was ultimately enthralled by this odd black metal concoction.

4. Archivist - Archivist

Just slightly overlong, but commanding and beautiful nonetheless. A few people on RYM started praising this record amidst the undeserved fervor (just my opinion!) surrounding Deafheaven's 'New Bermuda' and I had to check it out. With little resistance, this band found their way into my top five and never really left. As the year continued on, I kept listening and was thrust into an oblivious sort of stupor each time. I can't even work when this album is on anymore because all I want to do is focus on every aspect of it, which is a good problem to have. This is heavily sludge influence black metal and all the post-whatever tendencies you could ask for, but they've got a special approach to that style that makes me forget about many other bands who are doing the same. It's unfortunate that such an interesting combination of genres has been beaten so far into the ground by now, but that doesn't mean that the bands who are doing it right don't deserve credit. They deserve a lot of credit. This stuff is absolutely arresting and full of brilliant musicianship at every turn. Turn the volume up, bring the lights down low and make yourself at home. This debut release is as strong as they come.

3. Ad Nauseam - Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est

This was my first perfect score of the year for good reason. Ad Nauseam remind us that Gorguts are really good at what they do, but are not the only prevailing masters of dissonance and disarray. Of course, a group like this probably doesn't exist without their predecessors in Gorguts or Deathspell Omega, but when a band takes a sound so alien and erratic and ups the ante for just how absurd it can become you kind of have to stop and appreciate it. If this album were only fulfilling that quality, it would still rank highly, but here's why it's a perfect album for me: there is a spontaneous and unpredictable quality to this album that is somehow held together entirely by...cohesion. Yes, that's right. This album's real success is born from a formula that is, indeed, difficult to discern, yet somehow so commanding and unnerving. Listen to a song like La Maison Diev. You can hear every calculated moment in a sheer perfection of chaos. If not for musicians like this, metal would get boring really quickly, and even with their clear influences I can confidently say I've never heard anything quite like this before.

2. Mgła - Exercises in Futility 

I don't think I have to justify this selection very much, because I know many of you agree with me on just how great this release is. There's a level of hypnotism on this record that I feel commands its overall comprehension. Most of the soundscapes have a familiar appeal, but their meandering qualities draw the listener in just before the journey's end. At that precise moment, the next movement begins in an eruption of surprisingly repetitive, yet entrancing resolution. This album does it multiple times, in fact. You're listening, listening, listening...and all at once you are utterly thrust into haunting, suspended, even catchy riffs and vocal patterns. Many times I found myself wondering how the release could feel so complete and masterful - a sound unto itself and a precedent for all black metal acts yet to come.

1. Akhlys - The Dreaming I

Sinister beyond description, calculated with directives that make you squirm. This is caustic and unnerving black metal where darkness and morbid sensibilities reign supreme. Akhlys delivers my best album and musical experience of the year. Nothing compared to this in its abject delivery of disgusting and unsettling musical exploration. The pure energy of the record is enough to command insanity, but there is such a surprising and ultimately incomparable sense of melody on this release that is somehow born both of dissonance and luster. Without hesitation, The Dreaming I will make you question every other evaluation of music you've made this year. Only an album of this nature can make you question whether or not you loathe or adore it, and in my case, it was surely the latter.

Thanks very much for giving this a read! Don't forget that Judge Dredd and myself will be hosting the show on KJHK from 9 pm - midnight every Sunday.

The State of Metal 2015: Judge Dredd's Dreaded Top 10

I will preface this by saying this is probably the most curmudgeony end-of-the-year write up that I have ever done. Fitting that it's also the end of the first year of my 3rd decade on this hell called Earth and I'm quickly approaching 20 years of listening to Metal. So, just the natural course of things I suppose.

The older I get, the more I find myself attracted to the realer, rawer side of heavy music. More and more, I tend to avoid a lot of Metal music that is not firmly rooted in the "Real" (i.e. no fantastical elements). With some exceptions, I also tend to avoid anything that's overproduced, and I'm glad there are bands out there who don't believe that EVERYTHING should be quantized. I feel like that just takes away any emotion and power from music that SHOULD foster emotion and power within the listener. In fact, there seems to be quite a blowback from bands of all subgenres rejecting the still-current trend of over-digitizing music. But, of course, this rejection of quantization and over-digitization doesn't guarantee great results.

A lot of the bands that seem to reject quantizing and over-digitizing are too often bands that are merely repeating what has been done before, and thus are trying to maintain the sound quality of some past era. Whether Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal...I keep hearing more and more retreading every year. And the fact that we have had various "retro" waves (Thrash, Death, Proto/Occult and now Doom) is all the more telling that Metal is in serious need of a creative boost.

Concerning my Metal tastes, what I've found most appealing in the last few years is excellent songwriting with either emotional or mental depth (or both), excellent musicianship that avoids overly complex noodling, various qualities that make a specific band distinct or unique, and for Satan's sake, bands that sound MODERN. Obviously, all of these characteristics are pretty subjective, but such is the nature of music taste. *

Of current trends in Metal music, I am most impressed with the skronky Black Metal (aka the house that Deathspell Omega built), Post-Black Metal, and skronky Death Metal (aka the house that Gorguts built). However, I feel like these three styles are approaching over-saturation status rather quickly. I am also enjoying a lot of these bands that I hear combining Hardcore, Crust, and Black Metal in a variety of interesting ways, though many of them come off as being too derivative. Finally, I heard a fair amount of really good Grind/Powerviolence this year. While I love Grind/Powerviolence, they are two subgenres that don't produce a lot of memorable songs and albums. Bands like Unrest, Die Choking, Cloud Rat, and of course, the godfathers of Grind themselves, Napalm Death, have proven this notion wrong this year.

To me, bands that really pushed the envelope this year include Gnaw Their Tongues, Deafheaven, Liturgy, Igorrr, Cloak of Altering, Orakle, Aevangelist, Pyramids, Howls of Ebb, and Dendritic Arbor amongst others. The thing is, I don't even like some of these bands that much, but I fully acknowledge their unique sound and their pushing of boundaries. Despite how controversial Liturgy has been over the last 5 or 6 years, I don't think anyone can willingly admit that their newest album sounds like anyone else in the Metal world right now.

* Now, before you call me a hypocrite, I will explain why a couple of my choices could be designated as having "retro" qualities. For example, Tribulation was definitely going with a "retro" vibe with "Children of the Night". But the thing is, their songcraft is just so undeniably good and their unique mix of Occult/Psychedelic Rock and Death/Black Metal really sounds like no other band out there today (although I'm sure that will change shortly considering their recent success).

An Invisible Oranges writer basically summed up a lot my feelings quite nicely in his 2015 write up.

Without further adieu, here is Judge Dredd's Dreaded Top 10 of 2015:



10. "Qliphoth" Cloud Rat
Hands down the most emotionally gut-wrenching Grindcore album of the year. The band alternates between really crusty, punk-driven Grind songs and slow, churning and at times, shimmering, sludge songs. I get the impression from the lyrics that the vocalist, Madison Marshall, has gone through some pretty heavy emotional shit the last couple of years. A lot of songs focus on the despair of a downtrodden everyday life. A lot of the songs are named after animals ("Raccoon", "Bloated Goat"), which makes me wonder if they're used as metaphors for the lyrics. The French Romantic poet Charles Baudelaire did this, so I wonder if he's a lyrical influence. Baudelaire often took objects (most infamously "Spleen") and would write poems centered around the object. Anyway, it was close, but this probably my favorite Grind album of the year.





9. "Antikatastaseis"Abyssal
"Antikatastaseis" is one evil-sounding album. Albeit, there are some parts that have an almost triumphant sound to them, this album is overall psychologically dark. The record was produced/mixed to make it sound cavernous and murky, so most of the separate elements (guitars especially) have a fairly equal presence. Thus, it's difficult to distinguish each element from one another. This creates a sort of looming, chunky mass of malevolence, similar to that of Portal.




8. "The Armed" The Armed
These guys are kind of off the radar to a lot of Metal fans. They mix hardcore, noise rock, and metal, but a little less on the metal side. They obviously owe a huge debt to The Dillinger Escape Plan, but with this release, I feel like they are moving in a direction that is more their own. Their sound is much more focused in that there are a lot less instrumental gymnastics. Their songs are concise and violent.



7. "Children of the Night" Tribulation
"The Formulas of Death" was one of my favorite albums of 2013. In "Children of the Night", Tribulation take a much more psychedelic/classic/occult rock approach to their already potent mix of Death and Black Metal. I still hear a lot of Dissection influence, which is obviously not a bad thing. Not much more to add that hasn't already been said about this album. Looking forward to hearing more from these guys, and I really hope they don't turn into Ghost (bleh!).



6. "Anareta" Horrendous
It seems like a few bands are starting to "retrofit" the '90-'95 Death sound (as well as other Progressive Death Metal bands of that time, such as Atheist) onto their own sound, but this record stands out for a few reasons. First, there is an unbelievable amount of emotional depth to this album, and that comes out in a lot of different ways, but especially the expressive guitars. The guitarists have almost a mournful, elegant way of expressing melody at points. There almost a lyrical element to some of the guitar melodies. Second, solidly written, memorable songs. Definitely one of the best guitar performances of the year.



5. "New Bermuda" Deafheaven
I'm not really able to add much that hasn't already been said about this band and album. They kind of perfected the "blackgaze" sound (I hate that word) on 'Sunbather' and we've already seen some copycats in the last couple of years (*cough* Ghostbath *cough*). So, I think it was a great move for them to expand their sound in some ways (see the "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer" part in "Brought to the Water") and to make it a bit more aggressive. They took a chance and it obviously produced great results.



4. "Exercises in Futility" Mgla
I sort of suspected that these guys would be doing awesome things in the future when I elected to put their last full length, 2012's "Hearts Towards None", on my honorable mentions from that year. There were a lot of really good Black Metal albums that came out this year: Akhlys, Azavatar, Blaze of Perdition, Leviathan, Deafheaven, Pale Chalice, Bosse-de-Nage, etc., but Mgla stands above the pack for me. Nothing they do, at least on paper, is particularly unique but their sound is immediately recognizable. It's hard to pinpoint what's so damn good about this album, but there is certainly something hypnotic about the music.

 

3. "Lightless Walk" Cult Leader
Easily the meanest, angriest sounding album on my list. Former members of noisy metalcore legends, Gaza, come back more misanthropic than ever before.



2. "Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est" Ad Nauseam
Holy FUCK!!! Where the FUCK did this album come from?! And how come did I see absolutely NO PRESS about this? It's really noisy in the style of Gorguts, and I mean...like, straight up ripping off of Gorguts, but it's just soooooo good. Best Death Metal album of the year BY FAR.



1. "One Day All This Will End" Svalbard
This album came out of nowhere for me a few weeks ago. I cannot FUCKING BELIEVE that this has not been covered more. I've seen it quite a bit in the UK Metal press, but not in the US Metal press for whatever reason. Mixing a variety of subgenres can have disastrous results, as it sometimes comes out like having jigsaw puzzle pieces mixed from different sets, but not having all of the pieces you need to create one uniform image. However, Svalbard's sound is an organic mix of Black Metal, Crust, Hardcore, Screamo, and Post Metal that is uniquely their own (I've often seen the term "Stadium Crust" thrown around...wtf does that even mean?!). The album is an emotional, dynamic journey through various aspects of our modern and digital lives.



Honorable Mentions
"In Times" Enslaved
For some reason I never really got around to listening this album more than a couple of times. As always, though, really good stuff from Enslaved!

"The Dreaming I" Akhlys
This album was so close to being on my Top 10. I love how layered this album is. The layered guitars especially create an almost orchestral element to the music.

"Grindcore" Unrest
The title says it all. A phenomenal Grind album, kind of in the vein of older bands like Terrorizer...but BETTER. Musically tight with dynamic songwriting and songs you can actually distinguish from one another. Better than the newest Napalm Death, IMHO. This album also came very close to being in my Top 10.

"Hubris in Excelsis" Scythian
Some great Death/Black/Folk/War Metal from the UK. Their first album in six years and well worth the wait.

"All Fours" Bosse-de-Nage
Another great Post-Black Metal release from these guys. 

"Lore" Elder
Easily the best "stoner" album of the year. Long jams that don't get boring.

"Sentient Village//Obsolescent Garden" and "Romantic Love" Dendritic Arbor
The almost psychedelic way that this band uses the murky production value combined with their noisy electric guitar collisions (that's what it sounds like) makes "Romantic Love" the most nausea-inducing Metal albums of the year - and one of the best. They kind of encompass a strange intersection of Noise, Powerviolence, and Black Metal. The new single from "Sentient Village//Obsolescent Garden" is a bit more produced and sharp. Truly bizarre and whacked out, and terrifyingly unique.

"Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism" Adversarial
Great, evil Death Metal from the Great White North!

"Maktbehov" God Mother
I have a soft spot for Powerviolence/Grind/Punk kind of stuff, but the band has to do it RIGHT (I especially like when bands of that sound use the buzzsaw guitar tone made popular by Entombed). God Mother gets it right in almost every way. 

"Eclats" Orakle
One of my early favorites of 2015. Weirdo-progressive Black Metal from France. It gets a little too much in places, but really interesting stuff overall. Some parts are comparable to Arcturus while others are more comparable to Opeth or Deathspell Omega.

"Bleeder" Mutoid Man
Stephen Brodsky has been one of my favorite musicians for many years, and I kind of suspected this was where a band of his would end up once I saw Cave In covering "Dazed and Confused" by Led Zeppelin many years ago. Nonetheless, some great stoner shredding.

"Absolution" Khemmis
I wrote this album off pretty early. Retro Classic Doom, ya know *yaaaaawn*. But when I actually listened to it I realized how great the songs were. Awesome stuff.


Non-Metal
It's 2015, Metalheads are allowed to listen to different styles of music.

Rock
"Further Out" Cloakroom
"Celestial Frequency Shifter" Anakin
"Ultraluminal" City of Ships
"The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us" Beach Slang
"The Circle Binds" Glower
"The Heart is a Monster" Failure
"Painted Shut" Hop Along
"Sun Coming Down" Ought
"Viet Cong" Viet Cong

Folk/Folkish
"Sallows" ANAMAI
"On Your Own Love Again" Jessica Pratt
"Primrose Green" Ryley Walker

Electronic
"Caracal" Disclosure 
"In Color" Jamie XX
"Obsidian" Benjamin Damage
"1983" Kolsch
"Body Pill" Anthony Naples
"Fading Love" George FitzGerald
"Company" Slime

Emo/Pop Punk/Punk
"No Closer to Heaven" Wonder Years
"Summer Bones" Hit the Lights
"The Story So Far" The Story So Far

Other
"Abyss" Chelsea Wolfe
"Cranekiss" Tamaryn
"Best Blues" Small Black
"Hallucinogen" Kelela