WULF'S TOP 10 METAL ALBUMS OF 2014 BRUTAL BLOWOUT EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

WHATTUP SHIT HEADS!!!   Fashionably late as always, your boy Wulf is back in the motherfuckin house to bring you his list of the top 10 metal albums of 2014 like every other goofy metal blog and website out there this time of year...
As a bonus, I also heard some albums, that, while not exactly "metal", still are worth mentioning (you'll see what I mean later).
As a quick note, I'd also like to mention that Judge Dredd kind of called it way back in 2010 with the whole post-death metal thing.    Read his post, and then also check out all the stuff that's been catching a lot of attention lately (Morbus Chron, Artificial Brain, Tribulation, the return of Gorguts, etc.).   Hell, even Job for a Cowboy is starting to get more "out there" in terms of experimentation (their latest album, "Sun Eater", was actually pretty good!)!   It's going to be interesting to see where all of this goes.
Anyway, while I wouldn't say it was a strong year for metal as a whole, a lot of great stuff still came out!   I'm still not too sure about the order of my albums, but whatever, they're all really good!!  Enjoy!!

10.   "As the Stars" - Woods of Desolation

I'm honestly surprised this wasn't on Judge Dredd's Top 10!!  For fans of sad, shoegazing, beautiful, longing, haunting, Graduation Day black metal (I believe Mark of the Beast came up with that one)...you can't go wrong with this one!  Australia's answer to early Alcest (think "Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde"), Woods of Desolation is a one-man band (D.), except for this album the band is also rounded out by Vlad (from Drudkh) on drums, Balam (from Pestilential Shadows) on bass, and Old (ex-Wardaemonic) on mournful, tortured vokills.   Beautiful, but depressing stuff.   Fans of early Alcest, Svarti Loghin, Deafheaven, Nontinuum, etc.
You can listen to this album here.

9.   "A Skeletal Domain" - Cannibal Corpse

I don't know how in the fuck Cannibal Corpse are so consistent.   A lot of people will argue that these dudes are only able to still make music because they just put out the same album over and over again, and while there is a grain of truth to that, I challenge any death metal band to release records like this that are as consistently catchy, well-produced, and FUN as pretty much anything Cannibal Corpse has ever released.   Of course, this album is no exception to the rule, with all the trademark bone-crunching riffs, skull-smashing stomps, all complimented by Corpsegrinder's throat-shredding vokillz.   I have absolutely no idea how he can still sound as good as he does, let alone have a voice at all!!   Another fine edition to the Cannibal Corpse discography.

8.   "Svn Eater" - Lvcifyre

No, no, not THAT "Sun Eater"!  THIS Sun Eater (or "Svn Eater", whatever) is by Lvcifyre (or "Lucifyre", I'm so sick of it with this u/v bullshit) and is some really great, evil, black/death metal by way of the UK, even though none of the dudes in the band are actually British (apparently, T. Kaos and Cvltvs are Polish and Menthor is from Portugal).   You can tell in the music too, as it sounds kind of like a mix between Cultes Des Ghoules (Mark of the Devil from CDG is actually a guest vocalist featured all over the album), Deathspell Omega, and maybe Dead Congregation...definitely more mainland European metal rather than British metal of this style (Akercocke, Cradle of Filth, Anaal Nathrakh, etc.).   Anyway, I should probably also mention that this album is really kind of weird upon first listen...it starts off pretty slow and takes awhile to get going (although Mark of the Devil's vokills are, as always, fucking killer), but by the third track ("Liber Lillith") you should get the idea of what the band is all about.   As a bonus, the lyrics are really evil and go perfectly with the sort of "cavernous" death metal vocal style and overall sound that's becoming popular nowadays.   Oh, and Menthor's drumming is really fast...if you want to hear some of his other blisteringly fast drumming, check out his work on Enthroned's latest album, "Sovereigns".

This album cover is so good!!  I highly recommend listening to the title track while staring at the fucking AWESOME cover art (or you could read along with their lyrics, that's cool too).   It makes me want to immediately grab an axe, put on some armor, and just head over to that unholy temple to investigate whatever evil shit is going on in there.   Just look at that sky!!  Shit's obviously getting serious.   Or I guess you could just watch the music video (or check out their whole album here), which I've embedded below:

7.   "Cthulhu" - Ceremonial Castings

The first track off this record ("The Great Old Ones" (you can actually listen to the whole album for free here)) might be my favorite song of the year.   I highly recommend listening to this song while following along with the lyrics (very well-written) or just staring at the album art.   It's so good!!  Also, fucking perfect vocals, especially when he goes "CTHULHU BE REBORRRRRNNNN!!!"   I actually know a lot more about the H.P. Lovecraft mythos from metal lyrics and role-playing games rather than the actual stories themselves, as I'm not very good at reading and get too confused by his weird writing style.    Anyway, this song fucking rules!!  The rest of the album is great too, but do yourself a favor and at least check out the first track!   Also, killer drumming, Blood Hammer is a fucking beast!!  It's a shame these guys broke-up right after putting this out :(   R.I.P.


6.   "Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry" - Blut aus Nord

Everyone's been losing their shit over this album, but honestly I think it's kind of overrated.   That being said, it's still really good!!   Lots of beautiful, icy melodies this time around ("Paien" might be one of my favorite black metal songs of all time!) to go along with the typical winding, twisting, meandering Blut aus Nord-ness that his fans are used to at this point.   Also, I don't care what anyone says, I've suspected that BaN has been using programmed drums for many years now (I'm not even sure if W.D. Feld or GhÖst are even real people, but I could be wrong), so this album finally including an obviously real (and extremely talented drummer, Thorns) is a breath of fresh air and matches the album's style perfectly.   This album takes a few listens to really get into because the tracks are so labyrinthine, but I highly recommend checking it out, especially if you've only heard Blut aus Nord's more recent albums (which tend to be more weird and vaguely industrial-ish).  You can listen to the album for free here.

5.   "Roads to the North" - Panopticon

Although the first track kind of sounds like early 2000s melodic death/metalcore for some reason (think As I Lay Dying), overall this album is great!  I remember a long time ago I was talking with my buddy Brad (see Accursed Wound) about folk metal, and he was curious as to if there were any folk metal bands out there that only incorporated American folk (as opposed to 99% of the rest of the folk metal bands out there which are pretty European folk-based, even the ones from the United States!).   At the time the only thing I could really think of were bands like Agalloch (eh...not really), Across Tundras (not really metal), and maybe some others that didn't really fit the bill.   Little did I know that sure enough, there was an up-and-coming black metal band that would be exactly what we were looking for!
Panopticon seems to have come out of nowhere, exploding onto the USBM scene with their killer breakthrough album "Kentucky" in 2012 (really should have been on my "Best of 2012" list, but for whatever reason it wasn't).   Anyway, I can't believe it took Austin Lunn only 2 years to come out with this album as well, given that he's the only member (handling like 9 instruments on this record, organizing the guest appearances, recording, writing lyrics, artwork, etc.), PLUS also being involved in like 3 or 4 other bands as well.   Incredibly impressive, especially considering that this album is really good!
   Anyway, if you're interested in listening to some bluegrass/Americana-infused melodic death/black metal, then by all means check this record out!  Some tracks are even just straight up bluegrass!   Perfect for drinking beer or whiskey with some friends, warming up around a wood burning stove on a bleak winter evening!   You can even listen to it for free here!

4.   "Engineering the Void" - Soreption

   As a general rule, I think tech-death is pretty fucking boring.   Guitars endlessly noodling around, wimpy drums clicking around and being clever, bland vocals, I hate all that shit.   So why am I into Soreption, with a boring metal band name, cheesy art that looks like it was selected from a stock power metal album cover generator, and has a lot of the characteristics that I just said I hated?

Did you check out the video?!   See what I mean?!   It's so catchy!  They've got that sort of ultra-crisp, twisting staccato of old school Decapitated going on, which I love and don't think enough bands are doing right now.   Just compare it to, say, Guttural Secrete (R.I,P.), or some classic Origin, for example and you'll see what I mean.   Sure, the shit is ludicrously complex, insane, and more brutal, but for my money tech death is all about the crunch and the delivery.   To take it to the next level, let's compare it in terms of character classes in a generic fantasy RPG.   If I want to play a tech-death-style character, I want my dude to be more of a monk/rogue/assassin type...he's all about the finesse, the precision, the critical hit from a sneak attack.    So many other tech-death bands go for the more "brutal" approach (Barbarian), and it's obvious that so many people are into that style.   For me, it's just too much, and if we're going to listen to "barbarian" death metal no one fits the bill more than brutal slam bands like Devourment.   

Anyway, there's nothing really much else to say other than I was really surprised that I enjoyed this album so much!  It's chock full of solid, crunchy riffs, and is a lot of fun!

3.   "Follow the Black Smoke" - Earth Rot

Besides putting out my favorite metal music video of the year (see below), I was completely blown away by these dudes when I saw them open for Dark Tranquillity in Seoul early in 2014.   Similar to Pestilential Shadows (see below), this is another Australian metal supergroup comprised of Perth underground death/black metal scene vets that came together to obliterate us with their potent blend of death/grind with a healthy dose of black metal and sludge/groove.   Sounds kind of weird eh?   They honestly remind me of a more black metal influenced Blood Duster for some reason... great riffs that make you want to get really fucking drunk and headbang (at least, that's what I did when I saw them live), plus an obvious sense of humor underlying it all.   Just kind of depends on the song, as the band's mood definitely changes a lot over the course of the record (just compare "Black Tears" with "Stares of Semipiternity").   This is a killer band, a really fun album, and I'm honestly still surprised they aren't signed yet (unless that's what they're going for)!!  If you're into death metal, black metal, or grindcore check these dudes out!!   You can listen to the whole album for free here.

2.   "Promulgation of the Fall" - Dead Congregation

I don't really know what else can be said about this album that hasn't been said already... it's brutal, evil as FUCK cavernous death metal, "cavernous" being a big buzzword in the metal underground right now for this style that's been becoming more popular recently.   You're essentially taking the mysticism and aesthetics of black metal. but realizing that yeah, black metal is honestly pretty goofy when it comes down to it and death metal is a bit more respectful...at least, in the metal scene.   If you really zoom out and look at the big picture, pretty much ALL of metal, regardless of genre, is really silly and there's no way around it (which is maybe the biggest reason why I love metal in the first place).   Anyway, this album fucking rules and will kick your ass and blah blah... one of the best metal albums of the 2010s for sure!   You can listen to the album for free here.

1.   "Ephemeral" - Pestilential Shadows

Ahhh, good ol' Pestilential Shadows!  I seem to have caught Australian black metal fever ever since I lived in Sydney for most of 2012 because by now you've probably noticed that this is the third Australian entry on my list.   To be fair, I actually never listened to Woods of Desolation until this year, and Earth Rot weren't even a band until last year.  That being said, I am perhaps somewhat biased towards these filthy cunts (that's how they talk in 'Straya mate!) because:  A.   They're (or at least they kind of used to be, most of the dudes on this album are relatively new to the band) a Sydney black metal supergroup, comprised of some of the city's most talented BM artists and are a pretty big deal there.  B.   They put on a killer show when I saw them at The Devil's Arcana, ending with the bassist literally destroying his bass on stage at the end.   C.   The album is really fucking good and speaks for itself!   This album's pretty much got it all in terms of what I like in black metal- a dark, brooding atmosphere, haunting, beautiful melodies, and a sense of urgency, intensity, and mysticism all thematically tied together with concepts such as the occult and death anxiety.   While they certainly have their own sound and style, I feel like their sound can be described as combining the best of Deathspell Omega's grandiosity, the darkness and bleakness of Secrets of the Moon, the violence of Watain, and even at times random stuff like the sorrow of Agalloch, the black 'n' roll of mid-era Darkthrone, and the sad beauty of post-black metal like Woods of Desolation.   

Combined with top-notch production, musicianship, songwriting, and awesome artwork, this is an album I'll be coming back to a lot to check out.   If you ever find yourself in Sydney, take a chance and listen to this album while taking a stroll through a sketchy part of town after dusk ;)

Some of my favorite non-metal albums of 2014:

These albums aren't exactly "metal" per se, but are definitely still involved in the overall underground scene one way or the other.   

"Terrestrials" - Ulver / Sunn O)))

Are you guys familiar with George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire Series" (or the "Game of Thrones" TV show if you're a poser)?  Well I bet you never would have imagined, but I'm a huge fan (FINALLY almost finished with "Dance With Dragons", took me long enough)!!  Anyway, I have absolutely no idea why, but for whatever reason this album makes me feel like I'm on some sort of hallucinogens while in one of the those really exotic cities in Essos like Qarth, Meereen, or maybe even Vaes Dothrak.   I thought this album was really cool!  Psychedelic, fairly bizarre, experimental, cinematic...my kind of stuff!   You can check out the whole album for free here.

"Guilty of Everything" - Nothing

I'm usually not a fan of this type of music, but I enjoyed this album!   Also, you don't have to feel like a wimp when you listen to this because one of the dudes was in jail for awhile (maybe a clue to the title of the record?).   I really like the song "Get Well" a lot.   Enjoy the whole album for free here.

"Minoans" - Giant Squid

While I can't stand the cover art, I thought this album was overall really cool!   Being a history dork, I really enjoyed the lyrical theme (this time centering around the Minoans (duh!), the ancient people of the Greek island of Crete and their inevitable downfall) and concept of the record, along with the creativity and experimentation that comes, as always, with every Giant Squid release.  Check this out if you're a fan of progressive, experimental, or just weird rock/metal.  Enjoy the entire album for free here.

"Babymetal" - Babymetal

I don't care what anyone says, I don't care if they're a gimmick, I don't care if they're considered metal or not, I think Babymetal are fucking great!  Their music is a blast (I'm sure it's really fun live!), the songs are catchy, and their music videos are awesome!!  Fukk tha haterz!!

Dungeon Synth:

You really thought I would end this post without talking about dungeon synth??  You're fucking crazy!!  It hurts me to say it, but I actually enjoyed these albums more than most of the metal I heard this year :(  I guess I'm getting soft in my old age! 

"Within the Land of My Imagination I am the Only God" - Erang

I feel like I've discussed Erang enough on here these past couple of months or so, so you can read my thoughts on the album here.   Top notch neo-dungeon synth for a new generation of adventurers!!   Enjoy all of Erang's music for free here.

"Norforagel - Thull" - Splendorious

I just found out about Splendorius (horrible name, sorry), and was amazed at how well their style faithfully emulates old-school Mortiis!!   This is fucking perfect!!  Definitely going to be the soundtrack to my next RPG sesh!!   You can listen to the whole album for free here (this was surprisingly hard to find!).

"Wandervogel des Waldes" - Lord Lovidicus

While Erang's "Within the Land of My Imagination I am the Only God" is my favorite dungeon synth album of 2014, this is a very, very close second.   While I'm a big fan of Lord Lovidicus' more recent output (starting with "Forgotten Ruins"), I've always felt like he was no match for Erang.   This album proved that I was a fool for thinking so!   Lord Lovidicus has come a long way, and "Wandervogel" is easily his best album and one of the greatest dungeon synth albums of all time (especially the second half, it's truly killer stuff)!  I guess some might be critical of the change in sound (the older stuff used to be more lo-fi and cheesy), but this album proves that Mr. Lovidicus is still on an upward trajectory.   As always, great background music for dungeon exploration in your favorite fantasy tabletop RPG of choice.   You can listen to all of Lord Lovidicus' music for free here.

Wulf's Official Response to Decibel Magazine's Top 100 Black Metal Albums (part 3)

80. "In the Streams of the Inferno" - Mysticum




I know next to nothing about Mysticum except that they were playing black metal in Norway in the early '90s and and did a split with Ulver in '94. Other than that I guess this is some sort of forgotten classic? Like a lot of these albums on this half (100-50) of the list I'll have to check it out later. Sorry guyz.



79. "Fex Urbis Lex Orbis" - Ludicra



Man, part 3 of this list is starting out pretty badly. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get into Ludicra when they were all the rage several years ago. I know Judge Dredd was all over them, but for whatever reason they just didn't click for me. Add this to the growing pile of albums from this list I should probably revisit.



78. "Om" - Negură Bunget



OK, finally a band I know something about!! I've been interested in these dudes ever since I read an interview with them in Metal Maniacs (RIP) a long time ago where they talked about how their take on black metal was heavily inspired by Romanian folk tales, legends, and mysticism. Sign me up!!
Anyway, many people consider "Om" to be their best album (and if IIRC one of Terrorizer Magazine's Top 10 metal albums of the 2000s!), but unfortunately I'm still not too familiar with their stuff, even though I really like what I've heard!! I'm still pissed I didn't get to see these guys when they came to Sydney, but it was one of my first days at a new job!! :(



77. "Darkspace I" - Darkspace



I'm listening to this CD right now!! From what I can tell, it's somewhat similar to Wroth's other one-man BM band Paysage d'Hiver, except I prefer the latter. Paysage has a more varied sound, and his ambient stuff rules!! Really great for D&D (even if Professor Grindstein thought it sounded like NPR's Hearts of Space, bah!). Anyway, if you want unrelenting, emotionless, cold and uncaring black metal, then knock yourself out!



76. "Phoenix Rising" - Destroyer 666



Yeah!! Finally an album I'm somewhat familiar with!! Maybe it was because I was in Australia, but while living in Sydney I listened to this album all the time on the way to work!! I'd say "Lone Wolf Winter" is arguably the best song on the album, but almost the entire thing is chock full of killer riffs and savage energy. I don't know if I'd necessarily count this is a black metal album, but whatever. I'd say this is actually a pretty good spot on the list for this album!



75. "Written in Waters" - Ved Buens Ende



I haven't listened to much of this album, but based on what I've heard I think this album sucks and don't know why so many people like it! Maybe it's just too "weird" or whatever, maybe it's because the vocals are lame, maybe it's because the cover art blows, but if we're making a Top 100 black metal albums list then this would definitely not be one of my selections. Sorry, but no thanks!!



74. "Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum" - Deathspell Omega



Even though it took me awhile to get into Deathspell just because they're style is so unorthodox, this is a great album, even if it is arguably the weakest of the "trilogy" that makes up their three latest full-lengths. Anyway, not too sure what to say about this record other than that it's dark, evil, disorienting, and has done a lot in taking black metal to a new, more intellectual and philosophical level.



73. "Battles in the North" - Immortal



One of my favorite Immortal albums!! I remember first checking out Immortal back in the Kazaa days and downloading as many black metal music videos as I could find. Besides Emperor's "The Loss and Curse of Reverence" and Satyricon's "Mother North", "Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms" was arguably my favorite, even though not much happens in the music video. I think I just liked the song title...at the time, I didn't understand why the band was perhaps trying to sound like shit on purpose and was mainly into stuff like Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar, and In Flames. Anyway, it took me awhile but Immortal's pre-"At the Heart of Winter" sound really grew on me. I started realizing that crystal-clear production wasn't everything, and while "Sons of Northern Darkness" sounded awesome, there was a certain charm and mysterious atmosphere that went with this record's icy, hyperspeed riffing and blasting, rickety drums.



72. "Maranatha" - Funeral Mist



Always wanted to check out Mortuus' solo project, but didn't realize anything he had put out was critically acclaimed!! I'll investigate soon!



71. "Ultima Thulée" - Blut aus Nord



Seriously?? I guess it's a kvlt album and shit, but I found it to be kind of cheesy, amateurish, forgettable, and nowhere near as great as Blut aus Nord's later stuff!! Maybe I'm missing the point, as this is a much more dark, grim take on Nordic mythology (usually a lyrical theme completely beaten to death at this point by ever viking/folk metal band ever), but still!! I'm still working on BaN's earlier albums, but as far as I can tell the band didn't become truly relevant until "The Work Which Transforms God" (2003), which was also the leader in a renaissance of twisted French black metal that is still going strong today!! Anyway, sorry but I don't believe this album is good enough to be on here.

WULF'S TOP 10 METAL ALBUMS OF 2012 EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!

This has been one hell of a year!! While most of it was spent working in Sydney, Australia (and exploring its seedy underbelly of thrash, doom, and black metal via some killer metal fests such as Evil Invaders IV and The Devil's Arcana), as of this writing I am now back home in the forsaken prairies of the vast American Midwest, just in time for another grim winter. While I spent most of this year pretty out of the loop due to not having the time or money to read Decibel or Terrorizer and just being too damn lazy to keep up online, I feel like with this list I'm probably overlooking a lot of releases that would have made it had I been more attentive to what's come out this year. Obviously some of the other writers on here have posted their top albums, and while I haven't listened to a lot of those albums I'm going to use my lack of expertise in what was hot this year to cobble together a list that is unique in its development (the majority of the albums I check out are usually based on friends' recommendations, but this year I did most of my exploring on my own due to living in another continent and being cut off from my usual magazine publications that keep me up to date). I have a feeling that if I had been back in Kansas this list would have been much different, but oh well. Here are the Top 10 albums I'll most likely be listening to repeatedly in the future that perhaps you will enjoy exploring as well:

10. "Monolith of Inhumanity" - Cattle Decapitation

You would think that at this point the whole "Cattle Decapitation" premise would be getting pretty old. Don't get me wrong, I think they're a great band and were all really cool dudes when I met them (especially Travis Ryan, one of my favorite metal performers to see live!), but I just remember back in the day they got a lot of attention for being vegetarians and singing about humans being slaughtered in abattoirs and shit and there wasn't a whole lot of focus on their actual music. 10 years later and 5 full-lengths in, half of the band isn't even vegetarian anymore and I was really disappointed when they lost the fat dude with the beard on bass (replaced, I should note, by local band Origin's very own Derek Engemann, small world!). You'd think they'd be losing steam, but holy shit did they kick the shit out of everyone with "Monolith of Inhumanity"! While I think it might be SLIGHTLY overhyped (and a little redundant from a songwriting perspective), it's still easily one of the year's best death metal albums for sure.
What does it for me on this album is almost purely David McGraw's drum performance and the drum production as a whole. I haven't heard drums sound this good in a long time...I usually describe it as a "punchy" sort of sound, but that just sounds kind of dumb...just listen to them, you'll know what I mean! I can't get enough of that drum sound, it's just so polished-sounding and crisp without crowding the mix. Needless to say, McGraw is a fucking BEAST on this recording, he's all over the place and I'm sure doing really complicated shit as well...I have a hard time listening to the rest of the album just because I like the way the drums sound so much!! My vote for the drummer of the year!
Everyone else sounds great too, especially the fucking insane vokillz!! Ryan viciously screams, growls, and rasps with extreme malice and venom throughout the entire album (although I'm not too sure about the Devin Townsend-esque semi-clean vocals, but whatevs)!



If you want to get crazy you can watch the really gross video for "Forced Gender Reassignment" here!

9. "Blood Fetish" - Putrid Pile

Although a pretty big name in the brutal death/slam scene, I feel like Putrid Pile is always overlooked! I really enjoyed "House of Dementia" from 2009 but I don't really remember it generating much buzz among critic picks for best of the year. "Blood Fetish" is just as good, with pretty much everything you would expect-- sick guttural vokillz and disgusting lyrics (Shaun LaCanne is probably not OK mentally), catchy, brutal riffs with the occasional slam breakdown, and a surprisingly good production job for being what is essentially bedroom death metal.



What I really like about LaCanne's guitar playing is that he doesn't get too nutty or ambitious by attempting to be overly-technical or fancy, just straight-to-the-point, unpretentious brutality and no-frills drums (which always sound crisp and punchy without being too mechanical-sounding, extremely important if your drums are going to be programmed IMO). This would be a blast to see live!!



8. "And So It Came To Pass" - Dyscarnate

If there was one death metal album that came out this year that I'd say is a perfect companion to an intense workout with your bros ("bro metal"), you can't go wrong with the new Dyscarnate joint. They combine killer production, brutality, slam/groove, and surprisingly catchy songs compared to most of the other br00tal shit that came out this year. While I wouldn't go so far as to call this slam, it still makes me want to wear a sideways cap (or at least wear it at a jaunty angle), mesh gym shorts, and prepare to get completely pummelled in the pit. With songs like these, I find it hard to believe that these dudes wouldn't kill it live on a regular basis. Oh, and to top it all off their promo pics look like they just got finished with their menswear catalogue photo shoot and didn't have time to change and just said fuck it. Who knows, maybe they don't even like metal but are just really disgruntled office employees.

Seriously though...brutal, slamming DM band's promo pic, or extras from a Brooks Brothers Men's Catalogue (Fall Edition 2012) photo shoot?

Anyway, all jokes aside this is obviously one of my favorite death metal albums of the year, and if you like your slam/brutal DM slickly-produced (for once) with some top-notch performances, check this out!!


7. "Legend" - Witchcraft

It looks like the past few years have been rough on Witchcraft. I'm not too sure on the exact details of the all the drama that went down but they look like a different band at this point! Magnus even cut his hair :(
Anyway, I know the one they call (The Malicious Intent Blog's very own) Cate the Great wasn't too keen on this latest album, I really enjoyed it!! The experimentation from "The Alchemist" is still there, but without getting nutty and ruining the whole proto-doom/psychedelic rock atmosphere that's at the core of the band's sound. Passionate vocal delivery, memorable melodies and riffs, and overall just a really solid album. It's definitely great to put on if you're getting rowdy at a party or just hanging out with friends (or having sex for that matter, whatever)...a lot of metal (especially the metal I like) doesn't really fit that description, but then again I haven't considered Witchcraft a metal band for quite some time, if ever really...haha therefore I guess they don't belong on this list, but who cares. While I can't say that if you like their previous albums you'll enjoy this one, don't let Cate the Great scare you off! Light up a doobie with your friends or loved one(s) and have fun!! "Legend" is definitely an album you could put on that would satisfy many a metalhead as well as those who prefer non-metallic shit as well! Killer band!!



6. "I Begin" - God Seed

After King ov Hell dropped the turd of an album that was "The Underworld Regime" (which was supposed to be God Seed's debut album but obviously Gaahl was too embarrassed to have his name attached to it; King got Shagrath to do vocals instead lol), my hopes were not high for "I Begin". If "The Underworld Regime" was the best that King and Gaahl could come up with after splitting away from Gorgoroth, I was going to have to side with Team Infernus. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this new album!! While Gaahl's vocals are as venomous and versatile as ever and the rest of the band's playing and songwriting is quite strong, what truly impressed me was the atmosphere Geir Bratland brought to the mix with his experimental, psychedelic keyboard wizardry. While at times it's just kind of weird (like on "Aldrande Tre"), other times he fucking NAILS it (check out the second half or so of "This From the Past"!! I feel like it's the soundtrack to Gaahl taking too much LSD or something and standing on a mountain contemplating the cosmos or some shit. Also check out the album's bizarre single "Alt Liv", which they also produced a cryptic music video for. While sometimes I find the whole 70's keyboards thing kind of irritating in metal (see Borknagar's later shit or some of Amorphis' stuff) just because I think it just makes it sound more "zany" than anything, Bratland definitely knew what he was doing on here. Anyway, besides that I highly recommend it if you like your black metal weird and want to explore an interesting, multi-dimensional album!

I can't find "This From the Past" on Youtube, but you should definitely check it out (via Spotify or whatever), as it's definitely one of my favorites of the year (especially the second half!!).

5. "Sorrow and Extinction" - Pallbearer

Everyone was all over Pallbearer's nuts this year, and for good reason!! They came out of nowhere with their well-crafted brand of crushing doom, but still kept it real with their soaring vocals and some beautiful melodies intertwined with their funereal dirges of oblivion and woe. What really does it for me on this album are Brett Campbell's vocals! Just listen to "Foreigner" or "The Legend" and you'll see what I mean, as his style is far from original (similar to Ozzy-era Black Sabbath or Zeeb Parkes of Witchfinder General), holy shit does he nail that delivery perfectly without going overboard. I also really enjoyed the dual guitar harmonies as well!! While I still wouldn't say this is an amazing album, if you're a doom fan or don't like harsh vokills in your metal but still dig the heavy sound (??) then I'll bet you just might dig this album! Just get yourself into an altered state of irreversible misery and cry yourself to sleep, this album is the perfect soundtrack!!


4. "Umskiptar" - Burzum

Ah yes, the ol' Burzum dilemma. I'm not going to get into all the drama or pro/anti "fan of the music, not the artist" arguments, and am just going to specifically focus on my own thoughts regarding the album and where I feel Varg's coming from, based on his own ludicrous rants and cringe-worthy commentary on the state of the world that can be seen on Burzum's official website.
Anyway, "Umskiptar" is a weird album, to be sure. Compared to his pre-prison releases, the new Burzum is less heavy, more experimental, and yet still retains that dirty, adventurous, bold "Burzum" sound that's always been there. While thematically the album is supposed to revolve around Norse mythology and the Völuspá and all that, honestly I don't feel that imagery at all while listening to it. Instead, I just think about Varg himself, his writings, and his current feelings towards the state of the world...sadness, fear, despair, and a longing for the world to in reality be how it should be in his own imagination. On his website he rambles on about how fucked up and corrupt the world is and how Europe has lost its way and blah blah, yet he's constantly providing updates on his own RPG that he's developing (lol except I am actually pretty excited about this), his fantasy novel, and pseudo-scholarly writings on pagan Europe. I guess I can see where people are coming from when they talk about how it's difficult for them to enjoy Burzum's music because Varg is vehemently racist, a murderer, arsonist, etc., because I have difficulty not thinking of all the current events that I can only assume are the true inspirations for his music, from which all this mythological imagery seems to just be a cover or allegory.
Obviously, I could be mistaken since I don't know anything about the Völuspá, its story, or what's really going on in Varg's mind, but while listening to "Umskiptar" I couldn't help but imagine myself suddenly looking through the world from the eyes of Mr. Vikernes- his anxiety/dread over the potential collapse of the Eurozone/European Union, the massive influx of immigrants (specifically, Muslims) to Western Europe and its resulting change in racial demographics and the problems that may come with it (or not, hopefully), the supposed lack of values of modern day European society, etc. Or who knows, maybe what's really bugging him is that he has no one to playtest his new RPG with because his kids aren't old enough yet to get it, his wife thinks RPGs are gay, and his neighbors are all old and only speak French (I guess Varg lives in France now).
Seriously though, from a purely musical perspective I really enjoyed this album!! While at times it's a little clunky (and a little boring and dull), his songwriting is just as good as any other new Burzum album. I honestly feel like Varg is one of the most underrated metal guitarists because while he's no Steve Vai, the shit he comes up with such a limited style and sound is always amazingly creative. One of the best examples of this is on my favorite track, "Valgaldr"...it starts off kind of weird, but around the 3:00 mark it really starts to pick up, and by the end of it I feel like I've listened to something like a black metal requiem for Europe. Listen to how he combines layers of those guitar tracks together along with the vocals!! I remember walking along the highway in North Sydney in the rain and just really feeling this song...it's just so sad, yet kind of dream-like as well!! It always makes me think of man's place in the cosmos, the current state of European politics, forgotten gods, cavemen in bear cults, and shit like that. Yeah, it's also honestly pretty goofy, but I guess that just comes with listening to any metal, really.



3. "Becoming" - Abigail Williams

Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. If you didn't read my previous post I wrote on these guys and want to know what the deal is, feel free to check it out! I'm too lazy to go into it here, except I will say that I might have overreacted slightly when I first heard this album earlier this year, but that's not to say that it's still not deserving of a place on my Top 10!!
Anyway, I knew something was up when I started listening to the first track and it reminded me of an outtake from the Heroes of Might and Magic 3 soundtrack until the guitars kicked in. After that I wasn't exactly surprised when it became clear that Abigail Williams had changed their style yet again, but what did surprise me was that they really seemed to get it right this time and seemed confident and comfortable at the same time, as if they'd been playing this style the whole time. While some of the songs go on for too long and suffer from too much experimental indulgence (and perhaps even come off at times as slightly pretentious or goofy- a good example of this is the throwaway interlude track "Three Days of Darkness" which seems like it was co-produced by Yanni) or just get kind of boring, overall this album is quite strong- great production, solid musicianship, and just a general feeling of freshness and inspiration...even if they are just ripping off post-black metal darlings such as Wolves in the Throne Room, Altar of Plagues, and Nachtmystium.

What I like about this song is that it has so many gorgeous moments which contrast well with the harshness of the music and production. When I listen to this song I always get this scene in my head of some dude really high on opium and the Titanic just crashed into the iceberg and he's trying to make it out alive. Kind of reminds me of a cross between the end of the movie Titanic mixed with the game S.O.S. on SNES...I used to play that game with my buddy Braden when we were kids (who's involved with D&D metallers Accursed Wound). Maybe try listening to the song while watching this youtube video of some serious S.O.S. gameplay!!
Anyway, the strings and weird synth effects work really well and definitely make this one of the better experimental BM songs that came out this year.

2. "Time I" - Wintersun

Ah yes, the infamous "Time" album from Wintersun. Besides the really long songs, it's pretty much what you would expect from everyone's favorite "Extreme Majestic Technical Epic Melodic Metal" band from Finland (apparently Wintersun's own official classification of itself as a metal genre), but with a strong Eastern/Oriental flourish (especially on the intro track, "When Time Fades Away"). Probably a reference to Mists of Pandaria and how addicted Jari still is to WoW (zing).
While it's already semi-embarrassing that I'm still a giant metal fan, I'm not self-conscious enough to be weird when Cannibal Corpse or something comes on when I'm in mixed company, but I'd seriously have a hard time legitimately trying to explain to any normal person why I love Wintersun so much and how listening to them sweeps away to a land of frozen forests and misty crags upon which winter wizards of the grim Northern Wastes go to battle with forgotten arcane magic(k)al sorcery and unicorns triumphantly--
You get the idea. Either you love this shit or you don't, but there's no denying that Jari and co. are amazing musicians, and while perhaps this album isn't amazing enough to have to be 8 fucking years in the making (we'll see how the other half of the album goes whenever the shit that's released!!), I definitely worked on my Pathfinder (similar to D&D haaaa) campaign more than once while listening to this album. Definitely my guiltiest pleasure on this list!! At least it's not like Nightwish or something though, right (I did secretly kind of like "Dark Passion Play" and all of their shit with Tarja tho :/)??
It's too bad that Wintersun never released a real music video for a song off this album, but can you really blame them?? Besides the two instrumental tracks, the shortest song is over 8 minutes. Anyway, this is the best I could do. LOL at Jari Mäenpää's fashion sense, but I do really like the music.

1. "777 - Cosmosophy" - Blut aus Nord

My favorite metal release of 2012!! Whenever I listen to Blut aus Nord I always have visions of a vast, hyper-futuristic, dystopian metropolis where everything is just really fucked (basically this). I'm sure Vindsval has other shit in mind with his lyrics that involve astral projection and gnostic mysticism or whatever, but that's what his music makes me think of. That or being on heavy-duty psychedelics while being lost in space...constantly distracted by the beauty of the cosmos while also being absolutely fucking terrified. Yeah yeah, I know that obviously you don't need to be lost in outer space for that to happen to you, but it's an extremely important detail when I imagine this scene when listening to BaN. Just like the cover art and previous albums, "777 - Cosmosophy" is creepy, cold, etherial, weird, and at times quite beautiful. Vindsval's soaring clean vocals kind of remind me of Ihsahn's epic vocals in some of Emperor's later stuff, except more removed and distant...it's a great match with the meandering, at times even broken-sounding riffs and mechanical drums.
It's important to listen to this album when you're not doing anything distracting...check this album out when you're laying in bed at night in complete darkness and focus on following the music. I first tried to listen to it while doing yardwork for a family friend in the middle of the day and thought it was pretty boring. I hate to describe albums as "growers" but I guess that's what this record was to me. One day I plan on listening to the entire "777" trilogy all the way through, but for now I'd say perhaps "Cosmosophy" is my favorite of the three. This definitely isn't for everyone, but if it sounds intriguing to you then definitely check it out!!


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On a separate note, is it bad that my truly favorite album of 2012 wasn't even a metal album? It wasn't even an "album" (in the technical sense) either!! Chief Keef's "Back From the Dead" mixtape was one hell of a compilation, and even though it seems like everyone's pretty over the whole "Don't Like" craze/meme I still feel like this is a great release! Also, I still haven't heard Chief Keef's debut album "Finally Rich" which came out this year, but I'm sure it's just as good!
(The video that started it all...)
I remember walking around Sydney while listening to this on my iPod and feeling so fucking cool. One of my favorite experiences was listening to the entire album while I was drinking by myself at The Star Bar and digging how it just kept on getting better with each song. Every time I heard "Midwest kush, bitch!" I remember walking around and thinking, "yeah, we don't fuck around in the Midwest! You bitches better not fuck with me!"...even though I'm white, from the suburbs of a progressive college town in Kansas, and was raised by parents that had academic backgrounds in the liberal arts. No one in The Star Bar knew that though (or would really care either way, I suppose) :D
(I prefer the "Back From the Dead" version, but whatever)
I think what really does it for me is not really Chief Keef's lyrics (which are actually surprisingly well-done given his really simple vocal delivery) or style but Young Chop's killer beats!!



Anyway, thanks for taking the time to check this out, feel free to leave any comments and let me know what you think! I'm definitely going to do a much better job of keeping up with metal for 2013 and plan on blogging more (as well as joining up with Judge Dredd and his current invasion of South Korea), so keep your eye on the good ol' Malicious Intent blog for updates!!