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1.
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Indesinence - Vessels Of Light And Decay (10) (Death/Doom) Rated this thing a 6.5 in 2012. Relistened to it in 2014 and my opinion seems to have changed drastically. Doom is still a genre in which I'm trying to find my footing. But make no mistake: this is a fantastic album. |
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2.
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Faal - The Clouds Are Burning (9.5) (Post Funeral Doom) Majestic and damn near perfect. |
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3.
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Agruss - Morok (9.5) (Atmospheric Blackened Death) At times somber and melancholic and others hateful and impenetrable. An ode to the happenings at Chernobyl by this mysterious Ukrainian entity. |
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4.
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Lord Mantis - Pervertor (9) (Blackened Sludge) Buzzing, chaotic, hateful madness. |
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5.
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Elysian Blaze - Blood Geometry (9) (Black/Doom) Sounds like it was recorded through a sewer drain but this 2 hour beast is a journey that must be taken. |
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6.
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Igorrr - Hallelujah (9) (Cybergrind/Breakcore/Classical) God damn it. Just when I thought I had a grasp on what is considered bizarre these days, this thing comes around and mindfucks me. |
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7.
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Worship - Terranean Wake (9) (Funeral Doom) The masters of Funeral Doom have returned and do not disappoint. |
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8.
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Reverence - The Asthenic Ascension (9) (Orthodox Black) These Frenchmen have pulled no punches in creating a truly evil sounding album. |
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9.
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Evoken - Atra Mors (9) (Funeral Doom/Death) This might be my favorite thing from Evoken since Quietus. And that is quite an accomplishment. |
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10.
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Ancestors - In Dreams And Time (9) (Stoner Prog) This album perfectly blends many of the sounds I have been into recently. Sludge, Doom and Prog elements come together harmoniously on one of the best releases I've heard in a long time. Fans of 70s style prog and stoner metal shouldn't miss this. |
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11.
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Royal Thunder - CVI (9) (Doomy Southern Psychedelic Blues) I can't stop coming back to this album. A little bit of Stoner Metal, a little bit of blues rock and whole lot of the soulful bellowing of singer/bassist Mlny (pronounced Melanie) Parsonz. The vocal tracking/layering on this album is fantastic. This is an all-around masterpiece. |
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12.
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Monolithe - Interlude Second (9) Experimental Doom/Industrial |
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13.
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Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma (9) (Blackened Horror Folk) A short album at 37 min and change. This is black metal only in the loosest sense of the term. Tremolo picking and blast beats are rare, being replaced by folksy psychedelic riffs and keyboards. Also alternates harsh black metal vocals with Mikael Akerfeldt-esque clean vocals. I didn't really care for this album at first but most of these tracks have proved to be quite infectiously memorable and unique. Fantastic little album. |
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14.
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Rhinocervs - RH-12 (9) Psychedelic Black |
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15.
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Ævangelist - De Masticatione Mortuorum In Tumulis (8.5) Blackened Death |
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16.
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Blut Aus Nord - What Once Was... Liber II (8.5) Black |
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17.
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Desolate Shrine - The Sanctum Of Human Darkness (8.5) (Death) I'm adding this album retroactively, two years late, because I can. A fucking claustrophobia inducing monster of an album. |
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18.
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Anhedonist - Netherwards (8.5) Death Doom |
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19.
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Spectral Lore - Sentinel (8.5) Ambient Black |
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20.
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The Great Old Ones - Al Azif (8.5) Atmospheric Black |
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21.
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Horrendous - The Chills (8.5) Old School Death |
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22.
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Cloak Of Altering - Ancient Paths Through Timeless Voids (8.5) Avant-Garde Black |
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23.
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The Sword - Apocryphon (8.5) Stoner/Heavy |
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24.
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Astra (USA) - The Black Chord (8) (Psychedelic Space Metal/Neo-Prog) Straighforward reinterpretation of 70s style prog. Balances catchiness with depth and intricate songwriting. A more focused album than 2009s The Weirding while still finding space to meander. The guitar work is fantastic, the vocals are catchy without being irritating and the album pacing is top notch. |
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25.
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Israthoum - Black Poison And Shared Wounds (8) Orthodox Black |
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26.
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Enslaved - RIITIIR (8) Progressive Black |
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27.
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Pallbearer - Sorrow And Extinction (8) (Doom) Haunting traditionalist doom metal right here. Saw praise for this thing all over the web and was quite skeptical. Give this album a shot and you may very well be surprised at how great it sounds. This is one of my favorite vocal performances on a doom record. |
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28.
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Bell Witch - Longing (8) Funeral Doom |
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29.
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Maeth - Horse Funeral (8) (Instrumental Psychedelic Stoner) As I listened to this 25 minute ep - which is free on their bandcamp page - I couldn't help but draw comparisons to Pelican. Albeit with a psychedelic and fuzzed out stoner approach. |
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30.
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Bosse-De-Nage - III (8) (Experimental Black) Think 90s post-rock band Slint meets WITTR. This album really came out of nowhere and caught me by surprise. The spoken word lyrics are haunting and surreal as if spoken from a dream-like trance. |
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31.
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The Faceless - Autotheism (8) (Progressive Tech Death) This is way more interesting than your standard tech death album. The guitars are able to convey emotion when necessary which is a rarity in tech death. The clean vocals get old pretty quickly though. |
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32.
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Profetus - ...To Open The Passages In Dusk (8) Funeral Doom |
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33.
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Svartidauði - Flesh Cathedral (8) Black/Doom |
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34.
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Anaal Nathrakh - Vanitas (8) (Black/Grindcore) Intense. Relentless. Amazing. |
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35.
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Gnaw Their Tongues - Eschatological Scatology (8) (Black, Noise) I feel dirty after listening to this. As in, in need of a shower. Fuzzy, disgusting and well done. |
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36.
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Wodensthrone - Curse (8) Atmospheric Pagan Black |
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37.
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My Sleeping Karma - Soma (8) Psychedelic Post Metal |
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38.
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Aluk Todolo - Occult Rock (8) Blackened Drone |
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39.
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Seirom - 1973 (8) (Ambient/Blackgaze/Drone) Another gem I overlooked until 2014. I'm starting to like this Mories guy. |
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40.
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Deathspell Omega - Drought (8) Black |
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41.
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Merrimack - The Acausal Mass (8) Black |
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42.
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Wilderun - Olden Tales & Deathly Trails (8) Epic Symphonic Folk |
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43.
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Agalloch - Faustian Echoes (8) (Atmospheric Black, Neofolk) Great track. I feel kind of bad rating a single song higher than some of these other full albums. But not really. It's streaming on their bandcamp if you haven't heard. Check it out. |
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44.
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Bend The Sky - Origins (8) (Instrumental Progressive Symphonic Djent) The lack of vocals and the inclusion of symphonic backing makes this djent not only listenable but enjoyable. |
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45.
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Woods Of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light (8) (Blackened Gothic Doom) This thing listens like a suicide note. The lyrics are so hauntingly, brutally honest. The songs cross from gothic doom to full on black metal at will and generally without leaving the listener feeling too disjointed. |
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46.
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P.H.O.B.O.S. - Atonal Hypermnesia (8) Experimental Death/Doom |
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47.
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Abnormality - Contaminating The Hive Mind (8) Brutal Death |
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48.
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Ørkenkjøtt - Ønskediktet (7.5) (Experimetal/Progressive) Blackwater Park-era Opeth worship is evident on this album. That being said, these Norwegians show a ton of promise as this album seems to barely touch on what they might be capable of. |
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49.
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Napalm Death - Utilitarian (7.5) (Deathgrind) Believe it or not this is the first and only album I have heard by Napalm Death. The album started off a bit slow but picked up on the fourth track and proceeded to blow me away the rest of the way. These guys have been on the scene for 30 plus years and still put their contemporaries to shame with their creativity and energy. |
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50.
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Nachtmystium - Silencing Machine (7.5) (Black) A little melody, a little dissonance, strong atmosphere and slight psychedelic leanings. |