CRUSTCAKE GERF'S BEST OF 2009

10~

Krallice
Dimensional Bleedthrough [Amazon]
(Profound Lore)


Outstanding when it's not too noodly, tolerable when it is. If these guys would just reign in their tendency to wank, they would be an unstoppable force in contemporary American black metal.

Crucial Cut: "Intraum"


9~

Liturgy
Renihilation [Amazon]
(20 Buck Spin)


They bill themselves as 'pure transcendental black metal' and I suppose that's a rather accurate description, though I might suggest 'pure transcendental white metal' instead. It's very blissful. Textural, spiritual. Liturgy sound like no other band.

Crucial Cut: "Beyond the Magic Forest"


8~

Black Anvil
Time Insults the Mind [Amazon]
(Relapse)


Technically, this album was first released on Momentum Records in 2008, but it only saw broad release within the last year thanks to Relapse. This album is an absolute gem, its hardcore- and thrash-laced black metal rumbling along at breakneck pace. Powerful!

Crucial Cut: "Release the Kraken"
Free Download: "Ten Talons Deep" [MP3]


7~

Converge
Axe to Fall [Amazon]
(Epitaph)


Converge are at it again. A solid effort, and a natural followup to No Heroes. Very few bands can match Converge's consistency.

Crucial Cut: "Wretched World"


6~

YOB
The Great Cessation [Amazon]
(Profound Lore)


The Pacific Northwest doom overlords are back with a massive slab of riffs that rivals The Unreal Never Lived and Illusion of Motion. No other band can match the intensity of YOB's sprawling, thundering doom.

Crucial Cut: "Burning the Altar" [MP3]


5~

Isis
Wavering Radiant [Amazon]
(Ipecac)


Isis, along with Mastodon, are still the reigning kings of metal in this decade. Though Mastodon's Crack the Skye failed to pique my interest, Isis' Wavering Radiant is a fine effort and stands up to extensive repeat listens. As Cosmo Lee put it, "Isis have softened, trading riffs for textures." Though ultimately I prefer riff-Isis to texture-Isis (Oceanic, to be precise), Wavering Radiant is an outstanding effort with many memorable moments.

Crucial Cut: "Hall of the Dead"


4~

Wolves in the Throne Room
Black Cascade / Malevolent Grain [Amazon]
(Southern Lord)

I'm cheating a bit here and combining Wolves in the Throne Room's EP release, Malevolent Grain, with their 2009 full-length masterpiece, Black Cascade. The two releases seem to go hand-in-hand, and it only seems natural to combine them. Black Cascade is more of an 'atmosphere' album than the band's most-hailed Two Hunters-- at first it seems less memorable, but upon repeat listens Black Cascade stands up as an outstanding effort. Malevolent Grain features, as many WITTR releases do, female voice courtesy of Jamie Myers (ex-Hammers of Misfortune). WITTR seek not to pound the listener over the head but elect a rather more subtle approach, surrounding the listener with harmonies and textures and slowly enveloping the listener as ivy envelops an old building.

Crucial Cut: "Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog" [MP3 - edit]


3~

Kylesa
Static Tensions [Amazon]
(Prosthetic)


Pummeling, energetic, and catchy. This album is home to some of the best riffs and best songs of 2009. Kylesa have managed to hone their formula into a precision riffing machine complete with not one but two drummers, who play off each other on Static Tensions with dexterity but lock in tighter than a mortise an tenon joint when they play together.

Crucial Cut: "Unknown Awareness"


2~

Sunn O)))
Monoliths and Dimensions [Amazon]
(Southern Lord)


Perhaps Sunn O)))'s finest album, Monoliths and Dimensions successfully connects two disparate worlds: the world of underground extreme music, and the world of contemporary orchestral music (particularly minimalism-- Steve Reich, John Adams, and Philip Glass come to mind). I'm obviously fond of the first world and, perhaps less obviously, fond of the second as well, so this album really hits the spot for me. Sunn O))) have incorporated strings, choir, brass, and woodwinds into their drone formula successfully, without sounding forced or pretentious. A stunning masterpiece that culminates with the surprisingly bright tonalities that emerge from the fog of album closer "Alice."

Crucial Cut: "Big Church (Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért)"


1~

Tombs
Winter Hours [Amazon]
(Relapse)


This album came out of nowhere and slugged me over the head like a ton of bricks. Flawless from start to finish, this is a melding of a modern American black metal aesthetic with hardcore roots, post-rock atmosphere, and other unlikely influences such as Joy Division. Winter Hours is expertly recorded-- engineer Ian Whalen captures guitarist Mike Hill's vicious tones with ease-- and the album is perfectly paced, featuring just enough breaks in the violence to temper it, making the album more powerful overall than it would be without these breaks. There is no doubt in my mind-- this is the finest heavy album of 2009.

Crucial Cut: "Merrimack"
Free Download: Gossamer [MP3] [Video]

~~~~~~

I couldn't pick just ten records that defined the year for me, so let's get to some 'honorable mentions,' in alphabetical order:

Amesoeurs Amesoeurs (Profound Lore) - Black metal meets Joy Division and the Cure.

Ancestors Of Sound Mind (Tee Pee) - Organ-laden epic psych / prog; Pink Floyd through a modern stoner rock lense.

Blut aus Nord Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue With The Stars (Candlelight) - Epic, sprawling, progressive black metal.

Doomriders Darkness Come Alive (Deathwish) - The long-awaited followup to 2005's killer Black Thunder, Darkness Come Alive is one hell of a death 'n roll rager.

Kowloon Walled City Gambling on the Richter Scale (Perpetual Motion Machine) - Down-tuned and sludgy, Gambling on the Richter Scale sounds like the rumble of a gritty diesel freight train.

~~~~~~

And here are a few records that I absolutely love, though I can't include them in my 'official' Top 10 because of various conflicts of interest:

Constants The Foundation, The Machine, The Ascension (The Mylene Sheath)
Goes Cube Another Day Has Passed (The End Records)
Junius The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist (The Mylene Sheath)*
Naam Naam (Tee Pee)
Riff Cannon Mercury Mountain (self-released)
A Storm of Light Forgive Us Our Trespasses (Neurot)

* If this album was in my official Top 10, it would be at the top.