Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Kingdom of Noise Top 40 Albums of 2013

2013 was a damn good year for metal. I didn't listen to as much as I did in 2012 though. I spent more time with albums as I tried to write the best reviews I could. I was writing for other people now and not just myself. That being said, I did listen to a LOT of music. I posted what did slip past me last year and I have picked up on some of those albums. But this is about what really turned my crank last year. I could make a list of 100 albums that are worthy of my recommendation but I'll go with the usual 40.
However, I won't be breaking each one down with a blurb as I have in years past. I simply don't have the time. And since I already wrote about most of them it seems kind of redundant.
So without further ado, MetalMatt's Top 40 Albums of 2013 (with accompanying review links, mine or those of friends).
And don't pay too much attention to the order up to around #20.

40.  Full of Hell - Rudiments of Mutilation (A389) Reviewed for Ghost Cult Magazine.
39. Nails - Abandon All Life (Southern Lord) Kevin Sirois' review at About Heavy Metal.
38. Phil Anselmo & The Illegals - Walk Through Exits Only (Housecore) Reviewed for About Heavy Metal.
37. Sepultura - The Mediator Between The Head And Hands Must Be The Heart (Nuclear Blast) Reviewed for About Heavy Metal.
36. Inter Arma - Sky Burial (Relapse) Reviewed for Hellbound.
35. Adoran - Adoran (Consouling Sounds) Reviewed for About Heavy Metal.
34. Monster Magnet - Last Patrol (Napalm) Reviewed for Scratch the Surface.
33. Fell Voices - Regnum Saturni (Gilead Media) Reviewed for Hellbound.
32. Ash Borer - Bloodlands (Gilead Media) Reviewed for Hellbound.
31. Cara Neir - Portals to a Better, Dead World (Halo of Flies/Broken Limbs) Reviewed for Metal Bandcamp.
30. Exhumed - Necrocracy (Relapse) Dean Brown's review for Scratch the Surface.
29. A Storm of Light - Nations to Flames (Southern Lord) Reviewed for About Heavy Metal.
28. Earthless - From the Ages (Tee Pee) Reviewed for Ghost Cult Magazine.
27. Inquisition - Obscure Verses for the Multiverse (Season of Mist) Dave Schalek's review for About Heavy Metal.
26. Yellow Eyes - Hammer of Night (Sibir) Reviewed for Metal Bandcamp.
25. Oranssi Pazuzu - Valonielu (Svart) Bill Haff's review for Scratch the Surface.
24. Castevet - Obsian (Profound Lore) Reviewed for Hellbound.
23. Lychgate - Lychgate (Gilead Media) Reviewed for Hellbound.
22. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Mind Control (Rise Above) Karen Mann's review for About Heavy Metal.
21. Uzala - Tales of Blood and Fire (King of the Monsters) Reviewed for Scratch the Surface.

#20-11 are pretty fluid too.

20. Magister Templi - Lucifer Leviathan Logos (Cruz Del Sur) Reviewed for About Heavy Metal.
19. Shooting Guns - Brotherhood of the Ram (self) Reviewed for Hellbound.
18. Beaten to Death - Dødsfest! (Mas-Kina) Reviewed for Metal Bandcamp.
17. Corrections House - Last City Zero (Neurot) Reviewed for About Heavy Metal.
16. Demon Lung - The Hundredth Name (Candlelight) Reviewed for Ghost Cult Magazine.
15. Vista Chino - Peace (Napalm) Reviewed for Scratch the Surface.
14. Kylesa - Ultraviolet (Season of Mist) Reviewed for Hellbound.
13. Skeletonwitch - Serpents Unleashed (Prosthetic) Reviewed for Scratch the Surface.
12. Pyres - Year of Sleep (Granite House) Reviewed for Ghost Cult Magazine.
11. KEN Mode - Entrench (Season of Mist) Reviewed for Hellbound.
10. Windhand - Soma (Relapse) Reviewed for Scratch the Surface.
9. Woe - Withdrawal (Candlelight) Dave Schalek's review for Last Rites.
8. Noisem - Agony Defined (A389) Reviewed for Metal Bandcamp.
7. Cloud Rat - Moksha (Halo of Flies) Reviewed for Kingdom of Noise.
6. Jucifer - за волгой для нас земли нет (Nomadic Fortress) Reviewed for About Heavy Metal.
5. Batillus - Concrete Sustain (Seventh Rule) Reviewed for About Heavy Metal.
4. VHOL - VHOL (Profound Lore) Reviewed for About Heavy Metal.
3. Subrosa - More Constant Than The Gods (Profound Lore) Reviewed for Hellbound.
2. Anciients - Heart of Oak (Season of Mist) Blurbs written for Scratch the Surface and Metal Bandcamp.
1. Clutch - Earth Rocker (Weathermaker) Blurbs written for Scratch the Surface and Hellbound.

There it is. Now I can take this piece of paper with the list on it out of my pocket for good. It's only been there two months.
17  D

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The Ones That Got Away

Try as I might there are always a few albums each year that manage to evade my ears. Sometimes it's because I hadn't heard of them. Sometimes I just didn't have the time to sit at my computer streaming. Sometimes I didn't care. And sometimes it's because I only downloaded three albums all year through less-than-legit channels. I broke good, people. So before I get into the 40 albums of 2013 that I did hear, and that I loved, here's a list of a shitload that I missed. It's mostly Metal Blade or Nuclear Blast or Century Media. And it's a pretty good list! I've seen well over 50% of these on other people's best-of lists. Guess I'm missing out.

Alright, so here's the shit I missed. So don't bitch at me when you don't see it on my Top 40.

Orchid - The Mouths of Madness (Nuclear Blast)
Ghost B.C. - Infestissumam (Loma Vista)
Norma Jean - Wrongdoers (Razor & Tie)
Purson - The Circle and the Blue Door (Rise Above/Metal Blade)
Horisont - Time Warriors (Rise Above/Metal Blade)
Scorpion Child - Scorpion Child (Nuclear Blast)
Carcass - Surgical Steel (Century Media)
Kvelertak - Meir (Roadrunner)
In Solitude - Sister (Metal Blade)
Thrawsunblat - Wanderer on the Continent of Saplings (Ignifera) (listened on bandcamp a bit.)
Voivod - Target Earth (Century Media)
Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us is the Killer (Party Smasher)
Tribulation - The Formulas of Death (Invictus)
Portal - Vexovoid (Profound Lore)
Suffocation - Pinnacle of Bedlam (Nuclear Blast)
Immolation - Kingdom of Conspiracy (Nuclear Blast)
A.M.S.G. - Anti-cosmic Tyranny (Profound Lore)
Northumbria - All Days Begin as Night (heard once on bandcamp)
Deafheaven - Sunbather (Deathwish)
Morne - Shadows (Profound Lore) (just went on bandcamp. Very impressed.)
Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance (Peaceville)
Deicide - In the Minds of Evil (Century Media)
Six Feet Under - Unborn (Metal Blade)
Vattnet Viskar - Sky Swallower (Century Media)
Motorhead - Aftershock (UDR)
Russian Circles - Memorial (Sargeant House)
Church of Misery - Thy Kingdom Scum (Rise Above/Metal Blade) (heard some in a friend's car)
Blood Ceremony - The Eldritch Dark (Rise Above/Metal Blade)
Watian - The Wild Hunt (Century Media)
Lord Dying - Summon the Faceless (Relapse) (Just not enough time with it.)
Protest the Hero - Volition (Razor & Tie)
The Ocean - Pelagial (Metal Blade)
Hawkeyes - Poison Slows You Down (MeatTooth) (kinda forgot about it)

There's probably a couple dozen more I didn't hear that I should have. Like Cult of Fire. And everything else on Iron Bonehead.  And tons of others.
I'll right some of these wrongs one way or another over time. Or not. There's always something new right around the corner.