Metal Storm logo
2014, Now Featuring A Peanut Butter Burger!


Thank you all once again for all of the suggestions and recommendations from 2014, and for following this list over the year! I can't promise I'll get to all of the suggestions, nor will I make this list as much of a priority. However, I will probably get to them at some point in the near future. The only thing I need to do is adjust my ratings, which are skewed very high at the moment.

My future plans: Well, I'm going to be primarily pilfering metal selections from everyone else for a little while. I don't know if I'll contribute by making a 2015 list or not. I'm very interested in making an alternative metal or all-time favourites list, so that's my next project. I imagine you'll see another 2015 list materialize, but it will probably be later than usual.

Created by: Diverge | 19.01.2014



1. Qualeaceans - Capture Of Ziz
[9.8] Experimental death metal with a little bit of kraut midway for taste. Thanks to mz for bringing this album to my attention!
2. Amogh Symphony - Vectorscan
[9.7] Easily the best avant-garde metal I have heard since uneXpect's Fables of the Sleepless Empire in 2011. This is an absolutely stunning piece of avant-garde jazz fusion metal, remarkable simply because it remains cohesive without skimping out on experimentation/technical guitar work (an enormous challenge that very few of their contemporaries have overcome). This stands light years away from The Quantum Hack Code, and if you didn't already know the name, you wouldn't suspect Vishal made both of these records. A definite album of the year candidate, and my personal favourite Amogh Symphony album.
3. Schammasch - Contradiction
[9.3] An extreme metal tour de force, with some creepy nuances and an astonishing vocal performance all around. This album is actually better than Emptiness's Nothing But the Whole, mainly because it injects some much needed personality to make the album cross the other side.
4. Kayo Dot - Coffins On Io
[9.3] Prog with avant-garde tendencies- probably the closest thing we'll get to the progressive rock album of the year. Toby Driver's impressive vocal performance conjures memories of Peter Gabriel's Genesis days, but his ability to finely control his falsetto is the real icing on the cake. Add the "Future Noir" Blade Runner styled atmosphere, and you've got a winner all around. Fantastic.
5. Stoic Dissention - Autochthon
[9.3] Dissonant black/doom
6. Gazpacho - Demon
[9.3] Progressive rock
7. Los Random - Pidanoma
[9.3] Progressive metal/avant-garde
8. Taurus - No/Thing
[9.0] Alternative/avant-garde
9. Zaum - Oracles
[9.0] Middle-Eastern styled doom from Moncton, NB
10. Space Witch - Space Witch
[9.0] Instrumental psychadelic sludge metal
11. Persisting Absolution - MMXIV
[8.9] A really exciting technical thrash/death metal band that's producing some of the best local music I've heard in a long time. This demo is absolutely enormous. This is fun and technical, like a thrashier version of Gorod without the jazz-based additions. Be sure to check out Barra Xul as well. http://persistingabsolution.bandcamp.com/album/mmxiv
12. Ride for Revenge - Enter the Gauntlet
[8.9] Death metal
13. Execration - Morbid Dimensions
[8.9] Experimental death metal
14. Vanhelgd - Relics Of Sulphur Salvation
[8.9] Death metal
15. Impetuous Ritual - Unholy Congregation Of Hypocritical Ambivalence
[8.8] Death metal
16. Benighted - Carnivore Sublime
[8.8] Brutal death metal
17. Trepalium - Voodoo Moonshine
[8.8] Jazz/groovy death metal
18. Plebeian Grandstand - Lowgazers
[8.8] Dissonant black metal with hardcore touches
19. Omnerod - Ivory Dune
[8.8] Avant-garde djent
20. Major Parkinson - Twilight Cinema
[8.8] Progressive rock
21. Crib45 - Marching Through The Borderlines
[8.7] Post metal/sludge metal
22. Nasheim - Solens Vemod
[8.7] Atmospheric black metal
23. Nero Di Marte - Derivae
[8.7] Ulcerate-styled progressive melodeath
24. Alkerdeel - Dyodyo Asema [Collaboration]
[8.7] Sludge metal
25. Rude - Soul Recall
[8.5] Traditional death metal
26. Wo Fat - The Conjuring
[8.5] Stoner/doom metal
27. Gloomy Sunday - Introduction to the Apocalypse
[8.5] Hardcore
28. Rosetta - Flies To Flame
[8.5]
29. Moanaa - Descent
[8.5]
30. King Bong - Pinng- Or The Underwater Adventures of a Young Cthlulu
[8.4] Psychadelic/stoner metal
31. Amniac - Infinite
[8.4] Post-sludge metal
32. Pallbearer - Foundations Of Burden
[8.4] Traditional doom metal
33. Smallman - Envision
[8.4] Alternative metal
34. Thessa - Exile
[8.3] Instrumental djent/progressive
35. Serdce - Timelessness
[8.3] Progressive metal/technical metal
36. White Suns - Totem
[8.3]
37. Lethe - When Dreams Become Nightmares
[8.3]
38. Eden Circus - Marula
[8.3] Post-metal/alternative metal for fans of Karnivool and Soundgarden
39. Hark - Crystalline
[8.3] Stoner doom/sludge rock
40. The Helix Nebula - Meridian [EP]
[8.3] Djent instrumental
41. 7 for 4 - Splash
[8.3] Progressive jazz fusion with a bit of funk, featuring a former member of Sieges Even.
42. AsZension - Biosphere
[8.3] Progressive metal/fusion
43. Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails
[8.3] Melodic death metal
44. Soen - Tellurian
[8.3] Alternative metal
45. Lazuli - Tant Que L'herbe Est Grasse
[8.3] Progressive rock
46. Dirge - Hyperion
[8.3] Post metal/sludge metal
47. Shattered Hope - Waters Of Lethe
[8.3] Doom
48. Mammoth Storm - Rite of Ascension [EP]
[8.3]
49. As We Draw - Mirages
[8.3] Hardcore post-metal
50. Rishloo - Living As Ghosts With Buildings As Teeth
[8.2] The renuited band has released a stunning comeback that paves a new pathway between Eidolon and Feathergun, on the one hand, while straying into even more unique territory. The most unpredictable record in their discography- there are some really unsettling moments and also some tantalizing psychadelic noodlings, along with some downright stunning vocal performances by Drew. Will not disappoint.
51. Deumuseth - Deumuseth
[8.2]
52. The Bellerophon Project - Mental Abscess [EP]
[8.2]
53. Limb - Limb
[8.2] Stoner metal
54. Nibiru - Netrayoni
[8.1]
55. Emptiness - Nothing But The Whole
[8.1] Black/death metal
56. Noneuclid - Metatheosis
[8.1]
57. Lurk - Kaldera
[8.1] Sludge metal
58. Darkspace - Dark Space III I
[8.1] Ambient black
59. Memories Of A Dead Man - Ashes Of Joy
[8.0] Alternative metal
60. Conquering Dystopia - Conquering Dystopia
[8.0] Technical/instrumental progressive metal
61. Perturbator - Dangerous Days
[8.0] Horror-themed electronic; thanks to Fat & Sassy!
62. Atlas Machine - Elysium
[8.0] Ambient
63. Mindplotter - Depths
[7.9] Djent
64. Giant Squid - Minoans
[7.9] Post metal
65. Perfect Beings - Perfect_Beings
[7.9] Progressive rock
66. Cynic - Kindly Bent To Free Us
[7.8] Progressive metal/fusion
67. Devius - The Absents Presence
[7.7]
68. Ifing - Against This Weald
[7.7]
69. Doom Machine - Doomnation
[7.7] Groove metal
70. Merkabah [POL] - Moloch
[7.7]
71. Fen - Carrion Skies
[7.5]
72. Ævangelist - Writhes In The Murk
[7.5] Some excellent moments here, but from one listen I seem to prefer the approach of OeS.
73. Distorted Harmony - Chain Reaction
[7.5] Progressive metal
74. Ethersens - Your Wandering Ghost
[7.5]
75. Ethereal Riffian - Aeonian
[7.4]
76. Hexis - Abalam
[7.4]
77. Hirsute - Still Waiting
[7.4]
78. Sydonia - Reality Kicks
[7.3] Progressive rock/metal
79. Thou - Heathen
[7.2] Sludge metal
80. Hail Spirit Noir - Oi Magoi
[7.2] Avant-garde progressive/black metal
81. Altar Of Betelgeuze - Darkness Sustains The Silence
[7.2] Doom metal
82. Warknife - Amorphous
[7.0]
83. Seven [US] - End of the Circle
[7.0] Djent
84. Monsterworks - Universe
[6.3] Progressive
85. Dog Fashion Disco - Sweet Nothings
[6.3] Avant-garde
86. Alcest - Shelter
[6.2] Atmospheric rock/shoegaze
87. Desolation - V
[5.6]
88. Teramaze - Esoteric Symbolism
[4.5]
89. We All Die (Laughing) - Thoughtscanning
[3.4]



Disclaimer: All top lists are unofficial and do not represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
[ More lists by Diverge ]



Comments page 2 / 3

‹‹ Back to Lists
Comments: 64   Visited by: 155 users
26.03.2014 - 16:55
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Contributor
That Mourning Dawn release has potential. A little "slow" sometimes - I am not a big fan of that kind of doom - now I have to listen to disc 2...enormous album.

Also, I didn't like that Warknife album so much. Like you said, the vocals are the big turnoff. Keep the recs coming.
----
rekt
Loading...
25.04.2014 - 17:40
raveneffect
Nice to see people are giving Major Parkinson's Twilight Cinema their respective Credit. Its a really good album. Loved your list, +1 from me
Loading...
26.04.2014 - 14:36
Diverge
Written by raveneffect on 25.04.2014 at 17:40

Nice to see people are giving Major Parkinson's Twilight Cinema their respective Credit. Its a really good album. Loved your list, +1 from me

Yep, Twilight Cinema is amazing, and certainly one of the best albums I have heard this year. Thanks for taking the time to type a message.
Loading...
26.04.2014 - 14:39
Diverge
Written by Monolithic on 23.03.2014 at 11:44

Alright, here's my first shot: Mourning Dawn - Les Sacrifiés

This album is a beast. I've been trying to give it a few full, thorough listens through before evaluating it, a task that will be easier to achieve now that school is done. I've been rating things that are easy to evaluate for a little while, so I just thought I'd justify why it's not on the list yet.
Any more recommendations?
Loading...
06.06.2014 - 00:28
mz
I do believe that once again, we will be in huge disagreement about album of the year. Maybe it's not that bad, but once you mention 3 of the most respected extreme metal bands, deathspell omega, esoteric and gorguts as similar to something, you set the expectation level pretty high.
It's like calling your son Jesus.
----
Giving my ears a rest from music.
Loading...
06.06.2014 - 01:33
Diverge
Written by mz on 06.06.2014 at 00:28

I do believe that once again, we will be in huge disagreement about album of the year. Maybe it's not that bad, but once you mention 3 of the most respected extreme metal bands, deathspell omega, esoteric and gorguts as similar to something, you set the expectation level pretty high.
It's like calling your son Jesus.

In retrospect, Esoteric was probably a stretch but I do definitely hear some Gorguts and Deathspell in there. I only meant to imply that they were clear influences in the music, which is predominantly Fen-like. Indeed, the album has been getting some acclaim in the underground and for good reason- after a few listens, I can honestly say I enjoy this album a little more than Fen's work (and I'm a Fen fanboy).
Loading...
09.06.2014 - 07:16
Chobo_jokeR
Eager to hear Stoic Dissension after your comparison to Fen's Epoch.
Loading...
13.08.2014 - 03:25
Zap
I like that there's a lot of non-MS stuff on here. Listening to Taurus right now and it sounds promising so far.
Loading...
13.08.2014 - 04:30
Diverge
Written by Zap on 13.08.2014 at 03:25

I like that there's a lot of non-MS stuff on here. Listening to Taurus right now and it sounds promising so far.

Another one I stole from Joe. Thanks, though.
Loading...
13.08.2014 - 06:05
Diverge
Written by Zap on 13.08.2014 at 03:25

Oh yeah, and if you get the chance, you should check out Smallman's Envision album. I highly doubt it'll end up making your list, but it's probably my favourite alternative metal album released this year and an album I feel more people should know about!
Loading...
13.08.2014 - 12:09
Zap
Written by Diverge on 13.08.2014 at 06:05

Oh yeah, and if you get the chance, you should check out Smallman's Envision album. I highly doubt it'll end up making your list,

I don't know man, it actually might, that first song on bandcamp was really good :p I'll listen to the full thing when I get the chance.
(just FYI, I don't dislike alternative metal, I just haven't explored a lot of it besides Faith No More )
Loading...
14.08.2014 - 04:06
Diverge
Written by Zap on 13.08.2014 at 12:09

Written by Diverge on 13.08.2014 at 06:05

Oh yeah, and if you get the chance, you should check out Smallman's Envision album. I highly doubt it'll end up making your list,

I don't know man, it actually might, that first song on bandcamp was really good :p I'll listen to the full thing when I get the chance.
(just FYI, I don't dislike alternative metal, I just haven't explored a lot of it besides Faith No More )

Yeah, alternative metal is an odd little genre. It's been a pretty shitty year for alt metal if I had to be honest, although the new Rishloo might make up for it still. In 2013, it was pretty much all I was listening to. I have a soft spot for it even if many of the genre's largest stars produce albums in which only 75% of the songs are truly great. I really like the way Smallman incorporate the bagpipe at times, and the vocalist (while not unique) manages to bring me back for repeated listens.
Loading...
08.09.2014 - 15:51
MechanisT
Account deleted
This, I think, would be up your alley. Awesome, unconventional post-metal/post-hardcore for the win.

Loading...
08.09.2014 - 15:54
Ilham
Giant robot
I second the As We Draw recommendation.
Loading...
10.09.2014 - 05:46
Diverge
Written by [user id=109200] on 08.09.2014 at 15:51

This, I think, would be up your alley. Awesome, unconventional post-metal/post-hardcore for the win.



I've definitely heard the name. I'll give it a listen through!
Loading...
12.09.2014 - 04:39
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Contributor
Written by Ilham on 08.09.2014 at 15:54

I second the As We Draw recommendation.

try this too...

http://fjort.bandcamp.com/
----
rekt
Loading...
12.09.2014 - 05:23
Diverge
As We Draw was fucking massive. Downloading Lines Breaking Circles now.

As for Fjort, the first track was also pretty sweet. I will download that one as well!
Loading...
12.09.2014 - 12:27
Ilham
Giant robot
Written by tea[m]ster on 12.09.2014 at 04:39

try this too...

http://fjort.bandcamp.com/

I've had these guys on my "to listen to" list for a while, it'll speed up the process, thanks.
Loading...
18.09.2014 - 23:58
Ilham
Giant robot
Written by Diverge on 12.09.2014 at 05:23

As We Draw was fucking massive. Downloading Lines Breaking Circles now.

As for Fjort, the first track was also pretty sweet. I will download that one as well!

I found Lines Breaking Circles less interesting and too similar to the big names in post-metal they must be taking their inspiration from. But it's still a nice album, I love the sudden screamo moments. Although I wouldn't mind hearing a remaster of it in the future, if they ever make one.
By the way they did a 3-way split with Euglena and Hexis. Worth checking out, especially for Euglena. Hexis, you must already know them by now.

What did you think of FJØRT?
Loading...
19.09.2014 - 19:23
mz
Have you heard Dust Sculptures-Far Above The Pines ? Combining post metal, black metal and progressive rock, It strikes me as something you'd like.
----
Giving my ears a rest from music.
Loading...
20.09.2014 - 20:51
Diverge
Written by mz on 19.09.2014 at 19:23

Have you heard Dust Sculptures-Far Above The Pines ? Combining post metal, black metal and progressive rock, It strikes me as something you'd like.

I have definitely heard Dust Sculptures before. Did they release something last year as well?
Loading...
21.09.2014 - 01:32
mz
Written by Diverge on 20.09.2014 at 20:51

I have definitely heard Dust Sculptures before. Did they release something last year as well?

I have only recently got familiar with this band. Apparently, he had also released another album named Nostalgia in 2013.
PS: I also edited my previous post as it was not properly linking.
----
Giving my ears a rest from music.
Loading...
21.09.2014 - 03:08
Diverge
Written by mz on 21.09.2014 at 01:32

Written by Diverge on 20.09.2014 at 20:51

I have definitely heard Dust Sculptures before. Did they release something last year as well?

I have only recently got familiar with this band. Apparently, he had also released another album named Nostalgia in 2013.
PS: I also edited my previous post as it was not properly linking.

Yeah I recall listening to them (and funny enough, it was on my 2013 list). I'll give it a gander! Thanks, dude.
Loading...
09.10.2014 - 20:15
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Contributor
I forgot who suggested this, but it's a fantastic record.
http://moanaa.bandcamp.com/album/descent
----
rekt
Loading...
22.10.2014 - 05:15
Diverge
Written by tea[m]ster on 09.10.2014 at 20:15

I forgot who suggested this, but it's a fantastic record.
http://moanaa.bandcamp.com/album/descent

Yeah I saw that in your thread! I'll check it out when I get the chance, I promise.
Loading...
09.12.2014 - 14:54
MechanisT
Account deleted
I think this fits the bill perfectly for you. Top notch progressive not unlike In The Silence, with a hint of dreary atmospherics ala Ghost Brigade.

Loading...
09.12.2014 - 14:55
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
I've never had a peanut butter burger. It sounds nice.
Loading...
09.12.2014 - 15:10
Diverge
Written by [user id=109200] on 09.12.2014 at 14:54

I think this fits the bill perfectly for you. Top notch progressive not unlike In The Silence, with a hint of dreary atmospherics ala Ghost Brigade.



Ooh thanks for the recommendation, yo. When I'm done with last-minute school stuff, I'll check it out. I also have to check out Ghost Brigade's newest, seeing as most people have rated it a 9.

Written by [user id=4365] on 09.12.2014 at 14:55

I've never had a peanut butter burger. It sounds nice.

Peanut butter burgers are decent- would rank them as a 9 using the Metal Storm ranking system! It's an odd flavour because the peanut butter, typically a dominant sort of flavour in sandwiches, is reduced to being more subtle. It's a little bit messy because the peanut butter coagulates into goo as soon as it is exposed to the warm patty, but it is considered a local delicacy where I'm from. Just don't put too much on the top bun when you first try it.
Loading...
09.12.2014 - 15:16
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Diverge on 09.12.2014 at 15:10

Peanut butter burgers are decent- would rank them as a 9 using the Metal Storm ranking system! It's an odd flavour because the peanut butter, typically a dominant sort of flavour in sandwiches, is reduced to being more subtle. It's a little bit messy because the peanut butter coagulates into goo as soon as it is exposed to the warm patty, but it is considered a local delicacy where I'm from. Just don't put too much on the top bun when you first try it.

I don't know of anywhere locally that would do such a thing, but I might consider trying that in my home. I will use your list picture as a guide
Loading...
12.12.2014 - 04:44
mz
Did you know that Qualeaceans shared this list on their fb?

Also, something you might like : Torrential Downpour-Truth Knowledge Vision
----
Giving my ears a rest from music.
Loading...

Hits total: 7455 | This month: 15