ILL? YA!'S BEST OF 2010

10~

The Meads Of Asphodel
The Murder Of Jesus The Jew [Purchase]
(Candlelight Records)

I'm cheating a bit here. The Murder... is not necessarily the best album of the year, but it’s certainly the most bizarre (aside from Sigh’s Scenes from Hell perhaps). From black metal wails and unrelenting blasts to trumpet solos, angelic choruses and lengthy soliloquies, I’m not sure if I even like what these Brits are doing, but I can’t stop listening to it.


9~

Melechesh
Epigenesis [Purchase]
(Nuclear Blast)

Thrashy and dark in equal parts, this is the most memorable release by Melechesh so far. The middle eastern influence both forms the melodic backbone and fills out the atmosphere of most songs with an array of native instruments. Forest is replaced with desert, icy moon with scorching sun, and Odin worship turns into Sumerian lore; in a crowded black metal landscape, it's a welcome change.

Crucial cut: "Illumination: The Face Of Shamash"


8~

Salome
Terminal [Purchase]
(Profound Lore)

Salome are a live band, period. Their music is simple, straightforward – the magic comes from seeing it pour fourth live, emanating from somewhere beneath the ground like mountains forming from tectonic collisions. Terminal is not too shoddy of an approximation though, steeped as it is in the band’s trademark pace changes and remarkable ability to use silence as a weapon. Honestly, this album would be at a higher spot on the list if I had NOT seen the band live before. Still, it's a preview or reminder at best.

Crucial cut: "Epidemic" [MP3]


7~

Thou
Summit [Purchase]
(Gilead Media)

Summit doesn't so much beat you senseless – the way Terminal might - as suffocate and drown you in layers of riffs, rasps and feedback. The album is also maddeningly laid-back, floating in a weird, tense space between funeral doom and sludge and never giving you the satisfaction either genre can deliver. In the end, this is one I 'appreciate' more than I actually 'like.'

Crucial cut: "Grissecon" [MP3]


6~

Rosetta
A Determinism Of Morality [Purchase]
(Translation Loss)

Rosetta's little piece of self-loathing on Facebook reads “Four low-achieving nu-metal kids who discovered marijuana and Isis approximately six months ago.” Fuck if I believe that. A Determinism... elevates them to the very height of the post-whatever genre, ebbing and flowing like some kind of gaseous cloud far beyond the stratosphere. A beautiful album that, for once, your 'normal' friends might also appreciate.

Crucial cut: "Ayil" [MP3]


5~

Winterfylleth
The Mercian Sphere [Purchase]
(Candlelight)

Winterfylleth have crafted a perfect mix of somber, vicious and uplifting black metal on The Mercian Sphere. Melodic, sweeping, thick...'mossy'. I'm running out of cliches, so let's just say that most of these songs sound like they were found, not just written.

Crucial cut: "To Find Solace... Where Security Stands"


4~

Decrepit Birth
Polarity [Purchase]
(Nuclear Blast)

The Death worship on Polarity release isn't very subtle, but that's the point. If you're into the more old-school, primal death metal that's cropping up all-over the place, this won't be for you. But if you want brutality mixed with progression, melody and mind-blowing guitar work, look no further – this is motherfucking space-death. You know the planets that Salome conjure violently forming, Winterfylleth show overgrowing with forests and Rosetta envision spinning in space? Well, now it's time for them to collide and Decrepit Birth provide that soundtrack.

Crucial cut: "Solar Impulse"


3~

Misery Index
Heirs To Thievery [Purchase]
(Relapse>)

Unlike Decrepit Birth, Misery Index don't really fuck around too much with atmospheres and solos. Actually, they just don't fuck around. Heirs to Thievery is the most unrelentingly teeth-clenching, vein-popping release on this list. More than before, Heirs has an industrial, machine-like quality, as if the songs are being stamped down by giant, rusty chunks of metal. No wonder these guys sparked one of the most violent mosh pits I've ever seen. There's nothing remotely human here, just a giant wrecking ball to the brain.

Crucial cut: "Heirs To Thievery" [MP3]


2~

Immolation
Majesty & Decay [Purchase]
(Nuclear Blast)

If Heirs to Thievery sounds like one giant death factory, Immolation's Majesty & Decay has a much more organic quality, though it's no less frightening. Everything here – pace, production, vocals – is just immense. While lesser bands fade within a few albums, Immolation have somehow managed to somehow top themselves 20 years into their career.

Crucial cut: "A Glorious Epoch"


1~

Ludicra
The Tenant [Purchase]
(Profound Lore)

While all the releases on this list are certainly at the top of their respective genres, only The Tenant goes one step further and shreds the very idea of “genre” to bits. Beautiful melodies swirl in between vicious riffs, drums plod and blast, voices rage and songs subjugate styles, not the other way around. If I had to sum-up “metal” with one release, this would be it.

Crucial cut: "A Clean, White Void" [MP3]

~~~~~~

Top shows of 2010:
-Concussion, Magrudergrind, Misery Index @ Union Pool in February
-Chambers, Tiger Flowers, The Abominable Iron Sloth @ Party Expo in May
-Mass Grave, Oak, Coffins @ a warehouse with a bunch of crusties near a cemetery in Baltimore in May
-Crowbar @ Santo's Party House in December

~~~~~~

Favorite heavy bands I discovered in 2010:
-Mass Grave
-Gnaw Their Tongues
-Weapon
-Cobalt
-Igorrr