The WZA'D'S BEST OF 2009

by The WZA'd (Austin)


10~

Mastodon
Crack The Skye [Amazon]
(Reprise)


I wasn’t going to include Crack the Skye on my list initially. For months, I hated this album (after a short love affair when it came out). But when I finally saw them live again with Converge and High on Fire, it clicked back into place. The sing-along choruses, memorable solos, ridiculous concept and fond memories make this album one of the best of the year for me.

Crucial Cut: "Crack the Skye"


9~

Portal
Swarth [Amazon]
(Profound Lore)


Death metal never scared me, and while Swarth doesn’t make me sleep with the light on either, it’s the closest thing to horrifying I’ve heard from a metal band. Get past the “pretension” surrounding the band and there’s a record here unlike anything else this year.

Crucial Cut: "Larvae"


8~

The Red Chord
Fed Through the Teeth Machine [Amazon]
(Metal Blade)


Clients is no longer the record we should judge The Red Chord’s future releases by. That’s not to say that Fed Through the Teeth Machine is their best album (it’s certainly between the two), but the album sees the band going in a different direction. Fans will need to redefine what the band means to them after this slow-grower of an album.

Crucial Cut: "Mouthful of Precious Stones"
Free Download: "Hour Of Rats" [MP3]


7~

Gaza
He Is Never Coming Back [Amazon]
(Black Market Activities)


Gaza’s newest record sounds pissed off, and urgently so. But after every show of brute force, an almost peaceful instrumental interlude comes in to let the album breathe, making the heavy parts all the heavier. Straddling the line between sludge, grindcore, hardcore and other appropriated genres (opener “How it is. How it’s going to be.” is a send-up to “Black Sabbath”), Gaza’s sound is almost indefinable but completely recognizable.

Crucial Cut: "Canine Disposal Unit" [MP3]


6~

Kylesa
Static Tensions [Amazon]
(Prosthetic)


Static Tensions leaves behind the spacey interludes found on Kylesa’s previous two records in favor of more solid, memorable songs. With two drummers, one per speaker, Kylesa sounds busier than ever but aren’t any worse off for it. Weaving together sludge, Kyuss-esque (Kyesque?) psychedelia and post-hardcore, Kylesa bring the heavy with a heaping portion of melody.

Crucial Cut: "Perception"


5~

Coalesce
OX/OXEP [Amazon]
(Relapse)


OX didn’t grab me at first. I listened to it, let it sit for a while, then came back to it and liked it as much as any good album this year. But when OXEP came out recently, I finally got it. With Nathan Ellis driving the band with his bass and Jes Steineger trying desperately to veer it off course with his guitar, the album is a calculated mess of spastic, mathy hardcore with Americana interludes peppered in.

Crucial Cut: "Wild Ox Moan"


4~

Burnt by the Sun
Heart of Darkness [Amazon]
(Relapse)


Heart of Darkness has become my workout music. While Gaza may sound pissed off, Burnt by the Sun don’t rely as much on atmosphere in their sound and have the riffs, speed and bottom-end I need when I’m pushing myself farther than my body is supposed to go. Similarly, the band pushes themselves farther than they’ve ever gone on what is their final album.

Crucial Cut: "The Wolves are Running"
Free download: "Inner Station" [MP3]


3~

Isis
Wavering Radiant [Amazon]
(Ipecac)


Soothing, layered, crushing, melodic, beautiful, triumphant. ISIS didn’t mess around with this one.

Crucial Cut: "20 Minutes/40 Years"


2~

Weekend Nachos
Unforgivable [Amazon]
(Relapse)


I didn’t realize it until recently, but it seems that I have listened to Unforgivable more than almost any other album this year. That’s what my computer says anyway. It’s not an accident either – this is some heavy, angry hardcore, with a guitar sound more sludgy than most sludge metal bands. Aside from the brutally short songs, the raw, dark production makes this album sound about as welcoming as a punch to the gut. Not that Weekend Nachos is any worse off for it. One of the best albums all year.

Crucial Cut: "Nights" [MP3]


1~

Agoraphobic Nosebleed
Agorapocalypse [Amazon]
(Relapse)


Some people might think that using a drum machine is cheating, especially when you use it like Scott Hull did on the new AnB album. But I submit that having a computer as your drummer isn’t cheating any more than having Scott Hull as your guitarist is. Add in two more singers than most bands have, one of them the piercing bloody scream of Katherine Katz, and the odds are already in AnB’s favor. The band doesn’t stop there though – with as much grindcore, powerviolence, metal and punk they could find, they created songs that attack at 1,000 BPM from all directions. If there’s an album this year that will make your head explode, this is it.

Crucial Cut: "Timelord Two (Paradoxical Reaction)"
Free Download: "Agorapocalypse Now" [MP3]

~~~~~~

Honorable Mentions

You may have noticed that Baroness and Converge aren’t on my top ten. They’re not on this list either, but I don’t think I need to tell you that they’re good albums.

1. Brutal Truth – Evolution Through Revolution

Classic grind from a classic band that not only still holds up today, but does it better than most.

2. Cannibal Corpse – Evisceration Plague

Straight-up brutal death metal. Kids shouldn’t have to listen to Job for a Cowboy when there’s still a band like this around.

3. Howl – Howl EP

Next year’s best band.

4. Hull – Sole Lord

This one got a lot of rotation, but I didn’t include it on the list because the production was so-so. Doomy, progressive, down-to-earth. Wonderful.

5. Javelina – Beasts among Sheep

I wish I knew Philly had a sludge metal band when I was still up there. This is for fans of Kylesa, Buzzov-en and Black Tusk.

6. Laudanum – The Coronation

Doom, but with unsettling noise parts. When it hits, it hits hard.

7. Mammoth Grinder – Extinction of Humanity

My favorite Austin local band just got signed to Relapse. Sludgy death metal in the vein of Autopsy, but more straightforward.

8. Magrudergrind – Magrudergrind

Weekend Nachos beat them out for a spot on my top ten, but this is definitely one of the best grindcore releases all year.

9. Pelican – Ephemeral EP/What We All Come to Need

Filled with hooks and riffs, Pelican’s releases this year exceeded my expectations.

10. Shrinebuilder – Shrinebuilder

You know the people in Shrinebuilder, so you have a good idea of what this sounds like. The album is great, but live is where the band really gels.

11. Tombs – Winter Hours

What more can I say about this that we already haven’t said a billion times?

12. YOB – The Great Cessation

This album was THIS close to making top-ten status, with the first, second, and last tracks being absolutely stellar. Definitely the most crushing doom release this year.