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1.
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Horrendous - Anareta
(9.5) (Progressive Death) Just one year after wowing with Ecdysis, Horrendous is back and reached perfection on their 3rd full length. Scales back on the Progressive tendencies in favor of a Death/Thrash sound reminiscent of Death Metal's earliest days. However, as Horrendous are wont to do, they've put their own spin on it and brought the sound unapologetically into the 21st century. |
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2.
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Misþyrming - Söngvar Elds Og Óreiðu
(9.5) (Black) Iceland does not fuck around when it comes to black metal. Dark, heavy and dissonant while still maintaining enough melody and rhythm to be thoroughly memorable. Guitars have a DsO style and tone but the drums and bass often steal the show. I tend to favor black metal (and metal in general, really) that features the bass high in the mix, or at least audible. Here the bass is doing much more than just setting bland low end tones. It takes center stage at numerous points throughout, laying down fantastic grooves complemented perfectly by superb drumming. Even the two ambient tracks which serve as a midpoint interlude and closing track, are eerie and haunting in just the right way. Finally, the roaring, vitriolic vocals are at exactly the right level in the mix, not overbearing, not too buried. |
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3.
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Abyssal - Antikatastaseis
(9.5) (Blackened Death/Doom) There is a fair amount of shoegaze-style metal here. Is this post-death metal? Abyssal has broadened their sound from their previous album Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius. While no where near as dense as their previous effort, the more atmospheric nature of this album serves to create crescendos and be more memorable and dare I say... accessible? |
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4.
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Shape Of Despair - Monotony Fields
(9) Funeral Doom |
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5.
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Tribulation - The Children Of The Night
(9) (Progressive Blackened Death 'n' Roll) Not much Death metal left in their sound but somehow they're all the better for it. Exceptionally catchy, hooky riffs all throughout this album. |
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6.
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Ghost - Meliora
(9) (Heavy/Occult Pop) Ghost have truly found their stride here and made an album that is imminently replayable from front to back. Lots of sing along worthy tunes here singing the praises of Satan. |
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7.
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Grey Heaven Fall - Black Wisdom
(9) (Black/Death) These Russians emerged from nowhere late in the year to bring us one of the best black metal albums of the year. |
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8.
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Chapel Of Disease - The Mysterious Ways Of Repetitive Art
(8.5) (Progressive Death) Very strong addition to the emerging trend of next level progressive death metal with an analog retro old school vibe. |
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9.
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Gnaw Their Tongues - N.V. [Collaboration]
(8.5) (Black/Death/Noise) To me this is significantly better than GTT's full length from earlier this year. Suitably nightmarish for a collaboration between these two bands. |
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10.
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Chaos Ech-s - Transient
(8.5) (Death Doom) Free form, improvised Death Doom, who would've thought? Abstract, majestic and terrific. |
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11.
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Obsequiae - Aria Of Vernal Tombs
(8.5) (Blackened Folk/Melodic Black) A standout extreme folk album in the vein of Agalloch and Saor's work. Sounds beautiful on headphones. Not raw by any means but not over produced. |
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12.
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Elder - Lore
(8.5) (Psychedelic/Stoner) One of the better stoner albums I've heard from the past few years. The vocal hooks aren't as catchy as those on 2011's Dead Roots Stirring but the vast instrumental jams are even more compelling. At times I'm reminded of one of my favorite instrumental stoner jam bands Earthless. There's plenty of guitar heroics here. The 5 tracks range between 9 and half and 16 minutes which is about my limit for attention span for individual tracks. |
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13.
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Chrch - Unanswered Hymns
(8.5) (Stoner Doom) Massive sound as befits the genre. Fantastic sections where they let off the gas and get into psychedelic atmospheric exploration takes this to the next level. |
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14.
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Leviathan - Scar Sighted
(8) (Black/Blackened Doom) Solid return to form for Wrest. Each track is good to great on its own but after numerous spins, I just don't like how the album flows. The last three tracks take a definite blackened doom route that sounds like it belongs on a separate release. |
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15.
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Paradise Lost - The Plague Within
(8) (Death Doom/Gothic) This might be my favorite Paradise Lost album, period. Very strong return to form by these death doom stalwarts. |
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16.
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Satan - Atom By Atom
(8) (Heavy) Fun, riff-tastic old school heavy metal. |
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17.
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Advent Sorrow - As All Light Leaves Her
(8) Depressive Black |
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18.
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Akhlys - The Dreaming I
(8) (Black/Dark Ambient) I've never been impressed by Naas Alcameth's other band Nightbringer. Because of this, I didn't expect much from this album. But this is leaps and bounds better than what I remember of Nightbringer. The centerpiece 'Consummation' is the highlight of the album. The track begins and ends with insanely fast bass drumming and hazy but ferocious tremolo picking taking a backseat in the mix to comparatively nonchalant cymbal work creating a rather unusual dynamic. Little things like this throughout the album lend charm to an otherwise bleak and terrorizing record. |
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19.
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Ur Draugr - With Hunger Undying
(8) (Extreme Progressive) This band has a similar approach to their sound as mid-era Opeth and Enslaved, sans unnecessary clean vocals. Very well done heavy sections with folksy acoustic passages interwoven throughout. |
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20.
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Bell Witch - Four Phantoms
(8) Funeral Doom |
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21.
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Kyomdarak - 灰の中に宿る意思
(8) (Ambient Black/Noise/Grind) Haven't seen anyone anywhere talking about this band/project out of Japan. Reminds me of Gnaw Their Tongues but I kind of like this better. Buzzsaw layered riffs, insane programmed drums, grind style Schizophrenic screaming along with haunting samples and keyboards. This is absolutely worth your time and is pay what you want (along with the rest of their already deep discography) on bandcamp. |
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22.
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Imperial Triumphant - Abyssal Gods
(8) (Avant-Garde Black) Boldly dissonant ode to the cesspool that is NYC. |
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23.
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Cruciamentum - Charnel Passages
(8) (Death) Finally, the long awaited debut full length from this underground UK band. They do not disappoint. Dark, heavy and unforgiving. Death metal done right. The cover art is among the best of the year so far. |
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24.
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Tod Huetet Uebel - Malícia
(8) (Black) Insane shit out of Portugal. |
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25.
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Ego Depths - Dýrtangle
(8) (Extreme Doom) Fucking terrific funeral doom/extreme doom. Use of eastern folk instruments in an avant-garde manner creates a unique and jarring experience. This might be better than his last album. |
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26.
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Amestigon - Thier
(8) (Black) They certainly don't shy away from guitar solos on this album. Excellent overall sound. Lags at points but that is to be expected when each of the four tracks is over ten minutes long. Overall, kind of reminds me of Schammasch's Contradiction with less death metal influence. |
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27.
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Desolate Shrine - The Heart Of The Netherworld
(8) (Death) I only discovered this band in November 2014. Their previous effort The Sanctum of Human Darkness is one of the best albums I've heard in my life. So when I saw that yet another potential gem was only 2 months away I was giddy. However, my giddiness was tempered with the knowledge that most of time when I'm highly anticipating an album, it disappoints because I set my expectations too high. The Heart of The Netherworld does not disappoint. While not quite as claustrophobia-inducing as The Sanctum, it is as filthy a slab of extreme genre mixing as you'll find. There is plenty for black metal, death metal and extreme doom fans to love about this album and this band. |
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28.
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Cloud Rat - Qliphoth
(8) (Grindcore) I guess you could call this 'mature' grindcore. It's been quite a while since I've stumbled on grindcore I've even remotely enjoyed. The nuance and willingness to slow down for numerous brooding sections makes this album memorable. The songwriting and performance are top notch as well. |
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29.
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Slugdge - Dim & Slimeridden Kingdoms
(8) (Blackened Death) Slugs and riffs. Same story for this productive and consistent band. |
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30.
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Barús - Barús
(8) (Death) Excellent riffs, terrific production and rather unique vocals make this EP stand out from the crowd. |
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31.
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Callisto - Secret Youth
(8) (Post-Metal) One of the few post-metal albums utilizing mostly clean vocals that I have enjoyed. Not an especially heavy album. The vocals steal the show despite solid instrumentation. |
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32.
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Creeping - Revenant
(8) (Blackened Death/Doom) Nothing too outstanding or original going on here. But it hits all the right notes for my taste. Short and sweet at 32 minutes doesn't overstay its welcome. |
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33.
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Crypt Sermon - Out Of The Garden
(8) (Doom) I usually don't give a shit about traditional doom. Being on Dark Descent I figured I'd give it a chance. And I'm glad I did. The aesthetic here is traditional doom but the guitars have a tinge of stoner to them. Vocals are clean and remind me of a mix of Bruce Dickinson and Mike Scheidt of Yob. |
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34.
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Baroness - Purple
(8) Progressive/Stoner |
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35.
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Tyranny - Aeons In Tectonic Interment
(8) (Funeral Doom) Evil and intense for what I've heard from this genre recently. |
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36.
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Black Earth (ESP) - A Cryptic Howl Of Morbid Truth
(8) (Dark Ambient/Black/Noise) A nice soundtrack for slipping into insanity. This album is Mories-like in its ability to instill a sense of uneasiness in the listener. If you're searching for riffs, look elsewhere. I imagine this could be a soundtrack to what went on in Jack Torrance's head as he lost his mind in The Shining. |
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37.
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Below The Sun - Envoy
(8) Atmospheric Doom |
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38.
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Khemmis - Absolution
(7.5) Heavy/Doom |
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39.
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Valkyrie - Shadows
(7.5) (Heavy/Stoner) This is a side band of Pete Adams guitarist of Baroness. I strongly disliked Baroness' most recent album so I really didn't know what to expect out of this. Unlike Yellow & Green this album allows Pete to really show off his riffing and soloing chops. Vocals on the album are hit and miss. Didn't care for the first track sounding like a heavier version of The Black Keys. The rest of the album has more interesting riffing and more melodic vocals. |
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40.
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Death Karma - The History Of Death & Burial Rituals Part I
(7.5) (Black/Death) This band consists of two of the three members of Czech black metal outfit Cult Of Fire. As the album title suggests, this is meant to be an exploration of different world culture's death rituals. Without reading a lyric sheet, what we really get here is a very diverse, well performed album of blackened death metal. |
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41.
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Izah - Sistere
(7.5) (Post-Sludge) "In four heavy atmospheric compositions IZAH takes the listener from serene post-rock passages to crushing hardcore grooves, from dark ambient to free form noise and from hypnotising black metal to massive walls of sludge" - their bandcamp. A very enjoyable, if quite lengthy album at 72 minutes. |
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42.
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Ahab - The Boats Of The Glen Carrig
(7.5) (Funeral Doom) Gone are the post elements of The Giant. Less plodding that their first two albums. Slow, clean almost jazzy sections break up the heaviness. Not a fan of the clean vocals though. |
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43.
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Volahn - Aq'Ab'Al
(7.5) Black |
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44.
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Autokrator - Autokrator
(7.5) Death/Sludge/Drone |
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45.
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Macabre Omen - Gods Of War - At War
(7.5) Pagan Black |
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46.
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VI - De Praestgiis Angelorum
(7.5) Black |
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47.
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Vastum - Hole Below
(7.5) Death |
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48.
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Downfall Of Nur - Umbras De Barbagia
(7.5) Atmospheric Black/Folk |
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49.
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Bong - We Are, We Were And We Will Have Been
(7.5) Drone/Doom |
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50.
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Echoes Of The Moon - Entropy
(7.5) Atmospheric Black |
Thanks for the recommendation!
