Monday, December 31, 2007

Top Ten Albums of 2007

This was originally written and posted on my Myspace blog (the Special Olympics of blogging). I've decided to include it here for posterity's sake. Apologies for the sub-Hunter S. Thompson rambling. Wish I could say I've come a long way since then.


Anaal Nathrakh - Hell Is Empty And All The Devils Are Here
Upgrading one-dimensional necro blast into the best 3rd (or is it 4th?) wave black metal record ever - grindcore bluster with ICS Vortex choruses. The principle of mysanthropy made awesome.


Dodheimsgard - Supervillain Outcast
Forget Dillinger Escape Plan and their radio friendly pandering. The mighty DHG take extreme metal into strange new places, boldly going where no svartmetal heroes have gone before.


Machine Head - The Blackening
With a pedigree extending to three classic thrash bands (Vio-lence, Forbidden, Sacred Reich), Flynn and co. finally drop the umlauts and run circles around the kids on their latest bandwagon.


Behemoth - The Apostasy
Death metal anthems. Fists in the air, double pedal to the metaaaaaaarghl. Credit Behemoth for singlehandedly keeping death metal interesting without resorting to cheap gimmicks.


Dark Tranquility - Fiction
Projector/Haven in its ambition and huge choruses, sliding back and forth between Gothenberg and just plain goth. DT were always the classiest of the NWOSDM, and have never released a bad album, ever.


High on Fire - Death is the Communion
If Mastodon are the Rush of hipster metal, then High on Fire are Motorhead - amps to 11, riffs so huge they block out the sun, and vocals that are more Lemmy than Lemmy. It's like a magic space rock that gives those who touch it the knowledge and power to crush all lesser monkeys.


Reverend Bizarre - III So Long Suckers
Typical. I discover the greatest doom band ever just as they break up.


PJ Harvey - White Chalk
Shut up, this rules.


Naglfar - Harvest
Sailing off to Ragnarok in no particular hurry, mid-paced and melodic black metal that's not afraid to just rock. Like a mix of old Dissection and new Darkthrone, except way better than either.


Killwhitneydead - Nothing Less, Nothing More
Deathcore that's stupid and awesome in equal measures, referencing swedish deathrock, Rob Halford, and meshuggah in their onslaught. Never tedious, always brutal, and definitely better than the new Red Chord. The well-placed movie samples make everything just a little better.

OTHERS
Best Song Title:
Cephalic Carnage - "Let them Hate So Long As They Fear"
First runner up: Death Breath - "Giving Head to the Dead"

C'mon, they're not THAT bad:
Job for a Cowboy

If I were a superhero, this would be my theme song:
Transformers OST, "No Sacrifice, No Victory".

Better late than never:
Public Enemy - Yo! Bumrush the Show
Botch - American Nervoso

Released last year, but blew me away this year:
Gwynnbleid  - Amarathine