We have all seen some albums that have had lots of mentions for album of the year,in a specific genre or overall, but this thread is for sharing an album at the top of your list that you aren't seeing mentioned everywhere else. Can also be something that is very close to the top of your list, but let's keep it pretty high on your list to avoid this becoming a "plug every obscure album you liked" thread.

Hopefully this thread can help us find some things we missed this year, and it would be interesting to hear people's opinions as to why the album is being ignored as well, so bonus points for discussing that. Of course you are encouraged to share your thoughts on albums brought up, it can perhaps shed some light on why it's being missed.

I'll get things started:

For me, it's Sickening Horror - Overflow. The Gorod seems to be getting a lot of "best death/tech death" mentions so I'm a bit surprised the Sickening Horror is going so missed. That's not to say it sounds a lot like the Gorod, but it does share some of the elements people seem to praise on A Maze of Recycled Creeds, while also being a fairly un-tech death release in that it avoids many of the issues that typically drive people away from the genre. It has the same jazzy influences and slightly noodly but relaxed nature that the Gorod shows glimpses of, while having much more memorable songs that stand out individually and they nearly completely avoid the "wank" that so many complain about with most technical releases. It also has a more intimate, sort of "genuine" atmosphere to it, sounding like a band that wants to play you some songs instead of wow you with technical mastery or blast you away with their heaviness.

I'd say it's easily the most unique tech death album of the year and is a far cry from the band's previous releases, leaning way more into the progressive side of things than the tech side of things like their last two did. I'm not aware of anything that is pretty similar to it, but if someone else does please share!

As to why it's being missed, I think it's a mix of two things. For the tech death fans, it's admittedly not very intense or "heavy" compared some of the other releases in the genre, and for people who actually enjoy the complicated guitar "wank" as many call it, it doesn't offer much of that. It actually seems it would be considered "tech death for people who don't like tech death" more, but I'm thinking most of those people don't even bother with the genre anymore so they haven't given it a chance.


Since I'm opening things up, I'll add an honorable mention for the Encyrcle's self-titled album as my traditional/speed metal album of the year. Great "old school" atmosphere without sounding like it's trying too hard, excellent vocals, well placed speedy sections with just a hint of technicality at the right times to keep things sounding "sharp", catchy riffs and choruses, and a fitting production. Other than a slightly repetitive chorus on one of the songs, I'm not sure what more you could want from an album in the genre.

Not sure why it's going missed other than the fact that it's on Unspeakable Axe, which is a great young label but most of their lineup is thrash or death oriented, and they are sub-label of Dark Descent, also a death metal label... I'd guess a lot of people looking for more traditional metal aren't really checking those labels out to find it.

Edit: Here are links if anyone is interested:
http://deepsendrecords.bandcamp.com/album/overflow
http://unspeakableaxerecords.bandcamp.com/album/encyrcle