AOTY #2: Pallbearer - Sorrow & Extinction

No album had the kind of widespread impact on the metal community as Pallbearer's Sorrow & Extinction. Fawned over by critics across the board, S&E found it's way onto just about every end of year list. And it's certainly deserving of the praise. One could even go so far as to call it an instant doom classic. Cleanliness is next to godliness they say, making Pallbearer worthy of worship with clean vocals evoking the deepest of sorrow from the listener. Cleanly picked guitar compliments the deep doom dirges as well with such clarity of vision and execution as to make one wonder how the band could possibly follow up this incredible full length debut. Sorrow & Extinction is a monumentally powerful album sure to stand the test of time and stand as a benchmark for the doom genre as a whole.

(Profound Lore)

Pallbearer Official Site

AOTY #6: Ash Borer - Cold of Ages

Whenever I listen to Ash Borer there is only one thing I want to do, and that is nothing. I just want to be. And let the sound wash over me, lift me. Raise this crude form beyond the earthly realm. Lift me to a place where all that exists is sound, colour and feeling. Fear, anguish, desperation, anger, melancholy. Beauty, hope, determination. Ash Borer's brilliant use of texture, layers and atmospherics on Cold of Ages is stratospheric. Haunting vocals low in the mix howl like spectres reaching out from beyond the grave.

Ash Borer are reaching for the top of the US Black Metal pile. If they continue to progress at the rate they have been and release material with such quality on a torrid pace (a split, EP and two LPs in less than two years) there's no telling what kind of legend they will bring upon themselves, whether they want it or not.

(Profound Lore)

Ash Borer Official Blog

AOTY #9: Bosse-De-Nage - III

This San Francisco group came out of virtually nowhere to captivate me almost beyond words. I tried to put my thoughts about Bosse-De-Nage's III into words for months but every time I listened to it I became overwhelmed by the raw emotion pouring from the album. I kept getting this vision of the band in a coffee house performing with all their heart as the seated assembly merely soaked in the experience like a piece of art. Or a poetry reading. I supposed the fact the lyrics read more like an essay than black metal lyrics aids that visual. I even referred to the sound as Coffee House Black Metal. III is such an emotionally charged album but in a very nontraditional way. I just wish it hadn't taken me this long to discover them.

(Profound Lore)

Bosse-De-Nage Official

AOTY #29: Evoken - Atra Mors

I don't believe I have as of yet been able to fully appreciate all that is Evoken, but Atra Mors may be the (anti-)stimulus needed to realize the totality of Evoken's vision. As the album completes its peregrination, all the while dragging its toes as the mud sucks at the feet, one is transfixed by the unburdenable weight placed upon them. Atra Mors is unconscionably heavy. The gravity here comes not only from the ungodly low tuning but from the mood the album creates. The unbearable sadness of deep loss saturates the very fabric of the album robbing the listener of the ability to feel joy. Piano and synths augment the guitar and impeccably perform drums to create vast soundscapes capable of transporting the consciousness beyond this realm. Atra Mors is funeral doom at its best. It's unfathomably slow, brooding and depressive yet never boring as it injects flashes of light to stimulate the heart.

(Profound Lore Records)

AOTY #30: Indesinence - Vessels of Light and Decay

Few releases of 2012 pack as much atmospheric punch as Vessels of Light and Decay. Just as the hooded figure on the cover invites the child into the void (the extended artwork is pretty fantastic) Indesinence invite us into stunning darkness. Vessels is a doom laden death metal journey through the blackest regions of the soul. The pounding riffs and doom passages stack layer upon layer of emotion onto the listener. The burden is heavy yet well received for those inclined to the melancholic. These Londoners have summoned a superb ode to the pits of human suffering.

(Profound Lore Records)

Indesinence on Facebook

The Kingdom of Noise Album of the Year for 2011: KRALLICE - DIOTIMA

No album of 2011 captured me the way Diotima (Profound Lore) did. Krallice have crafted a masterpiece that at times has left me literally speechless. Rendered mute and dumbfounded by the sheer brilliance of their creation. The immensity of talent that forms Krallice is mind-blowing. And I feel ashamed that I haven't realized that until this year. I can almost guarantee that I heard Dimensional Bleedthrough but for whatever reason it didn't click with me. As I've said before, Black Metal in general is a taste I have only acquired in the past couple years. The less black there is in my hair, the more black there is in my heart. Granted, Diotima is considered avant-garde as far as Black Metal goes but it hasn't transcended the genre altogether. One of the aspects of Black Metal that I particularly enjoy, and that Krallice perform with considerable success, is the sense of motion. Specifically a sense of flight. For the entire length of the album, my consciousness soars through time. Landscapes and colours shift and fade in my mind's eye. Darkness and light explode across my being or creep through my veins. My mind, body and spirit melt into one entity, content in nothing other than the absorption of the sound waves.

I may sound like I am being overly dramatic but this album affected me on a level much deeper than simply auditory pleasure. A sensory satisfaction that mundane can be satiated a thousand times over before you happen across something that is so good it hurts. That's what good art does. It makes you feel. You may feel joy. You may feel anxiety or fear. Anger, Sadness. Pride. Elation or disappointment. It could make you feel powerful, or weak. Or it may make you feel all of these things. The point is that it makes you feel something. That's what Diotima does for me. It makes me feel all those things. Often in the same song. As the soundscape unfolds, I envision it as the soundtrack to a world. It's stories and drama unravelling in sonic elegance. A journey beyond the speakers. An epic worthy of reverence for its ability to move your soul through the ether to a place outside of the everyday. And this is how I feel before I've even read the lyrics. The artfulness of the music is carried through into the words. The screams and growls and howls serve as more than just another instrument. They act as a vehicle for the poetic beauty of the written words. The juxtaposition of the cerebral lyrics and "animalistic" nature of the vocals is somewhat striking but not unexpected. Nothing about Diotima would suggest anything otherwise. One wouldn't expect such care to be taken musically to create such grandeur and nuance only to throw trivial lyrics over it. The lyrics get the listener thinking and the music sets the tone and fleshes out the details which together creates a magnificent singular piece of immensely satisfying art. For me, all this has enough impact to destroy a world. Perhaps similar to the impact that is theorized to have destroyed Tiamat and created our Solar System's asteroid belt. One of those asteroids is coincidentally named 423 Diotima. Named for the historical Greek figure, Diotima's discourses with Socrates are said to be the origins of the concept of Platonic love. While I assure you I have no intentions of proposing marriage to any members of the band, or my double vinyl copy of the album for that matter, my love for Diotima does push the very limits of the definition of Platonic.*

The dramatis personae performing this masterwork consists of vocalist/guitarist Mick Barr (Orthrelm, Ocrilim), guitarist Colin Marston (Behold...Arctopus, Dysrhythmia, Gorguts), bassist/vocalist Nick McMaster and drummer Lev Weinstein. This foursome possesses a superb wealth of talent. Each an absolute master of their craft. Thankfully, it appears that ego does not come part and parcel with all that ability. In the liner notes, writing credits are presented as "MUSIC INITIATED BY..." :LYRICS BY...". I love that term "initiated by". This would lead me to believe (and I have read elsewhere) that this is a total band effort. Each member contributing to and building on an idea, a concept, a framework, initiated by one member. In fact, every member's name appears in the music and/or lyrics. As much as I deride "artists" who don't write their own "songs", I applaud even more so for bands that collaborate as a team. On this their third album, Krallice are now champions.

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*According to the Wikipedia, entry for Diotima, "with genuine Platonic love, the beautiful or lovely other person inspires the mind and the soul and directs one's attention to spiritual things." That sounds about right. "Oh my GOD, this is awesome!"

CD available from Profound Lore here.
2LP vinyl available from Gilead Media here.

#7: Altar of Plagues - Mammal

I'm definitely running into some descriptory fatigue. I'm even making up words. That bums me out more than the doomy, depressive, post-black metal of Ireland's Altar of Plagues. Mammal (Profound Lore) is very atmospheric and dark. The fuzzy, lo-fi guitars and other effects (reverb? I'm no gear head) make the album feel like it was recorded in a cavern. Damp, cold and devoid of sunlight. When AoP choose to go full-on BM, it's a bitter assault. I could handle a whole album of it. But it's the other aspects that make it such a great album. I'm not a patient man (at least in terms of music) but somehow Mammal is able to hold my attention during the gaze-y parts. I find myself entranced as the music soars, gliding above the sorrowful landscape below. The mote of consciousness climbing ever skyward only to plunge back into the blackened hole from which it sprang and erupting in an explosion of emotion.  Even the "keening' parts failed to bore me, as their inclusion only serves to enhance the mood of the album. '09's White Tomb was good, Mammal is better. If AoP can keep up this career trajectory, their future is looking bright. But bleak. Bleak-induced brightness? Sure.

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#14: Leviathan - True Traitor, True Whore

Again for the sake of laziness, I mean, expediency, I'm just going to copy the review True Traitor, True Whore  I wrote a few weeks ago.

Leviathan - True Traitor, True Whore

A handful of years ago my Album of the Year List wouldn't touch Black Metal with a ten foot pole.  This year however, Black Metal will very likely be the most represented subgenre on the list. Thanks in no small part to the newest Leviathan release,True Traitor, True Whore (Profound Lore).  Being unfamiliar with sole member, Wrest's previous works, these fresh ears absorbed the album free of comparison.

The many layers of the album float through the consciousness in a fog of discontent. The listener can never really get comfortable as the different aspects are pulled to the surface. The way the varied instrumentation is mixed is extraordinary. It's not necessarily what is highest in the mix that garners the most attention. Each time through, a different feature presents itself making the album a dynamic listen even after several plays. Even when the album pulls back from the full black metal assault it still seeps with menace. Wrest has captured that tortured part of the soul and set it to music. True Traitor, True Whore can be seen as a voyage on a black sea of emotion. When the vessel is not drowning in malice, it drips with despair. Wrest's vocals (think chicken-carcass-in-a-meat-grinder/Dark Crystal bird monster with strep throat/monstrous feral beast) don't so much tell a story,as act as an atmospheric vehicle driving the album down into the twisted depths of the listener's psyche. The bleak psychedelics and ghostly howls mixed with the primitiveness of the the base emotions the album conveys make this a truly frightening album. It's not hard to imagine that those uninitiated to music of this ilk may well find themselves in the fetal position slowly losing their grip on sanity. That one man can create art of this impact from his heart and soul is very inspiring. I have to force myself to take it off repeat and return to reality. A reality that seems a little darker in the shadow of True Traitor, True Whore.

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#15: Loss - Despond

I'm usually a pretty upbeat kind of guy. But I have had my down times. Plenty actually. Despond (Profound Lore) is the soundtrack for down times. It sounds like it's made of pure melancholy. It's incredibly depressing sounding. Loss manage to drag your spirits down without just down tuning to unreasonable levels. Despond is mostly a doom affair, barely moving at all. Just as one who is depressed barely moves through life. Brief flashes of black metal occasionally break through the gloom. They feel like a frustration in not being able to be as sad as you really want to be. Or a lashing out at the world that doesn't understand your sorrow. The voice of this discontent is an other worldly growl. The deepest and most guttural vocalizations I've heard this year. Maybe ever. They sound like a black hole gurgling water. When vocalist/guitarist Mike Meacham isn't imitating and ancient volcano, his clean vocals still evoke a deep sadness. There is almost nothing at all uplifting about this album. If you know someone going through some hard times, give them anything but this. Despond will only serve to deepen their despair. I've never heard a band this good at auralizing emotion.

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#16: Disma - Towards the Megalith

I don't usually like to make direct comparisons between bands but in this case the similarity (to me) was so striking I couldn't help it. Disma remind me a lot of Hooded Menace. They both employ a similar guitar tone and uber-evil growls. But while Hooded Menace are a bit more ethereal sounding, Disma are more beastly. I'm going to use a few "wintry" metaphors here that don't necessarily fit with the band but it's cold and snowing outside. Towards The Megalith (Profound Lore) moves with a few different pacings. One is that of a giant Yeti stomping through a mountain town annihilating any and all life. The next is a glacial pace. Like the sap oozing from a lonely and ancient pine. And the third is like an avalanche racing down the mountainside. But take all that and imagine it bathed in a green mist and covered in blood. It's an incredibly sinister sounding album conjured forth from the bowels of hell itself. I could handle more death metal that sounded this dark and foreboding. It darkens the sun. Makes good men evil. Speakers ooze blood and children run screaming. (Not mine. I subject them to brutality from birth.) I've listened to this at least a dozen times in the last few days and the monumental riffs and crushing vocals of ex-Incantation vocalist Craig Pillard stills pulls me uncontrollably Towards the Megalith.

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#26: Morne - Asylum

I've seen Shutter Island. An asylum no place I want to go. But not all asylums are created equal. Be it a  physical place or merely a state of mind. Morne's Asylum (Profound Lore) puts me in a mental state I am more than happy to visit. It's not necessarily a happy place though. It's not an album to make you smile. There is almost nothing uplifting about it. Opener "Asylum" segues through over 17 minutes of emotional turmoil. It sounds like the stages of mourning. But not necessarily in the usual order. I can hear sadness. I can hear denial. I can hear anger and a thirst for revenge. I can hear acceptance. Speaking of thirst, the vocals of singer/guitarist Milosz Gassan have a very dry quality to them. Like a thirsty man begging for water. (Or a broken man begging for mercy) The keyboards/piano on the track only add to the sense of foreboding and despair. The themes brought forth on the title track are consistently carried throughout the album. It's easy to get lost in the tides of sound from the densely thick and fuzzed out tones and forget that there is anything beyond heartache and loneliness. Yet through it all I can still hear and undercurrent of fight, not flight. If the world has you seeking Asylum, Morne's a good place to start.

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#29: KEN Mode - Venerable

Winnipeg's KEN Mode crack the top 30 as the second Canadian entry on my list. As much as I like the album, I find it very hard to describe Venerable (Profound Lore (That's 5 Profound Lore releases on the list so far if you're counting along at home.)) The trio has crafted a dynamic record that goes beyond their normal designation as a noise-rock band. I don't like that "noise" tag at all really. At least on Venerable. To me, "noise" implies some arty lack of coherence. That's not the case here. Yes, the album swings from quiet, whispered moments to soul-crushing heaviness. Sometimes rather abruptly. But it makes sense. There are riffs. Great riffs. Your head may spin but for good reason. A spinning because the way the textures weave themselves into the whole is worth of veneration. Not a spinning in frustration of trying to wrap your head around it. I was also impressed with the balance between the four ingredients in this tasty dish. Of the vocals, guitar, bass and drums, no one flavour dominates the taste of the album. It's been a good year for the 'Peg. First Venerable, then the return of the Jets. I've seen the Jets play (the old Jets) but I've yet to experience KEN Mode live. That's something I hope gets rectified in 2012. (ie. Come play Kingston, ON)

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#33: Wolvhammer - The Obsidian Plains

Releasing an album in late October doesn't leave much time for scribes such as myself to digest it before the baying for year end lists begins. Luckily, The Obsidian Plains (Profound Lore) from Minnesota's Wolvhammer didn't take long to make an impression. Wolvhammer blends the cold and bleak aura of black metal with an almost catchy death'n'roll rumble. I can hear some of what may be a sludge influence as well but I can't call it anything but Black Metal. Especially considering the vibe that the demon-from-hell-come-to-kill-you-all screams of vocalist Adam Clemans. Given the black metal blasts and the infectious riffing I'm not surprised I love this album as much as I do. What does surprise me however, is the fact that it features former members of Nachtmystium and Across Tundras. (Jeff Wilson and Heath Rave, respectively) Both bands that I have never really enjoyed. Maybe that's why the are FORMER members. They wanted to make better music. Well, mission accomplished. The Obsidian Plains is the sort of blazing awesomeness you need to get you through a cold Minnesotan (or in my case, Canadian) winter. Bring on the bleak.

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#35: A Storm of Light - As The Valley Of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade

That album title sure is a mouthful isn't it? Sounds pretty deep doesn't it? Well so does the record. ATVODBUOSMF (Profound Lore) is a journey that I can't think about without envisioning thick fog. Perhaps the fog represents the ether from which the rich tones seemingly flow. The strained, emotive quality of Josh Graham's vocals make the album sound very personal. This is one of those albums where I really would have benefited from a lyric sheet. Despite the clean, completely decipherable lyrics, I have the inability to process and understand the meaning of lyrics unless I read them. Even though, as of yet, I have very little idea of what I am supposed to get from the album, I do know how the album feels. It feels like struggle. It feels somewhat uncomfortable. It feels of loss and desperation. There is a fluidity that moves through the record in peaks and valleys. One of the aspects that appeals to me about ASOL is how at times it reminds me of the short-lived band, The Sabians (feat. Justin Marler and Chris Hakius of Sleep). It's not so much that the bands sound alike as much as they remind me of each other. Certain guitar parts are very similar and the vocals have the same emotional quality. However, ASOL paints a soundscape whereas The Sabians were more straightforward. ATVODBUOSMF is a densely rich and dark album. Monstrously heavy without the monster vocals. It's the vocals that make me kick myself. Kick myself for not doing what I needed to do to get my hands on some lyrics. Because as deep as the album sounds, I bet the lyrics are even deeper.

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Subrosa - No Help For The Mighty Ones

It's not often that an album hits me with the kind of force that No Help For The Might Ones did. I had never heard their previous work and decided to check them out after seeing repeated tweets concerning the release of the album from label Profound Lore. Even before I hit the one minute mark in opener "Borrowed Time, Borrowed Eyes" I knew I was in for a glorious listening experience. The remaining 58 minutes did nothing to change that impression. Subrosa deliver what is generally considered a doom record but the addition of electric violins bowed by Sarah Pendleton and Kim Pack inject an element that allows No Help to transcend the typical genre restrictions. The almost horn-like tones of the violins weave their way in and out of the mix providing added depth to the already deep doom guitars of vocalist/guitarist Rebecca Vernon and bassist Dave "The Deuce" Jones. The result is a wall of sound that wraps around the listener in multiple layers of warmth.  Ironically, this doesn't lead to claustrophobic feeling. Quite the opposite. The deep texture creates and expansiveness that feels as if it encompasses all of creation.

"Borrowed Time, Borrowed Eyes" starts with a tone and riff reminiscent of Electric Wizard until the violins start in. It holds that heavy riff but the violins up the depressive factor with sorrowful overtones. It sets the mood for the entire album. Dark and heavy, triumphant and introspective. Instruments drop in and out as necessary and build upon each other in a series of peaks and valleys. Each song has a vocal passage that grabs hold and leaves and impression that lingers on the brain. Here, it's "How long must my journey go?"

"Beneath The Crown" features mournful violins over a two note drone which falls out as the vocals drift in and builds to a thunderous roar as the the band joins back in. The skittering violins and harsh male vocals make this the most violent sounding song on the album.

"Stonecarver" is the 11+ minute centrepiece of the album. The long intro consists of a serious plodding doom riff over some foreign language spoken word and spidery picked violin work. It continues to build and build til the 4:38 mark when it bursts into the triumphant "chorus". I catch myself randomly singing the "I've separated myself from the..." mantra. Could be my favourite vocal passage of the album. Also at this mark is when you can hear the heavy Kyuss influence. The fuzz tone is spot on. The song segues back into an introspective feeling mood helped by yet more brain lingering lyrics. The song ends with a HUGE sounding, harsh, repeated "there's no help for the mighty ones, now!" aided by more male background vocals. Epic.

"The Inheritance" is the song that means most to me. It's about a concern for the environment. The mood of the song is adequately mournful. Vernon sums it up best when she sings, "We're in the shadow of a dying world." The tinkling wind-up toy outro reminds me of childhood innocence and that it is the children and grandchildren of our generation that will pay for our ignorance.

"Attack on Golden Mountain" is a srsly doomy track mixed with an orchestral angle and choral vocals. There is an Americana feel as well. The violins sound almost like a soundtrack to the main story influencing the mood. The 9 minute length allows it to build, climax and come back down not once, but twice. Who needs short songs?

"Whipporwill" is another track that reminds me of Electic Wizard. As with most of the songs on No Help, it features soaring vocal harmonies that bring a tear to my eye regardless of if the message is sorrowful or forward-thinking. Great songs can do that.

"House Carpenter" is a captivating accapella version of a traditional Celtic folk song. It's a tragic tale of morality beautifully sung.

"Dark Country" encapsulates all the elements present on the record. Huge doom riffs, haunting vocals, part skittery part mournful violins puncuated by the thunderous drums of Zachary Hatsis and droning bass.

No Help For The Mighty Ones is an epic (dare I say, post-doom?) journey to the deepest parts of the soul. The multi-textured layers carry the listener through peaks and valleys of the highest highs and the most sullen lows. Thoughtful compostition and hypnotic use of repitition mesh with the interplay of the myriad stringed instruments. All punctuated by dynamic percussion and powerful female vocals. This has created a truly unique experience. Subrosa have carved themselves their own niche in the stoner/doom universe. While not the only band to utilize female vocals and classic strings in a heavy context, they have created a sound that is incomparable. It may be early, but 2011 will have a hard time topping No Help For The Mighty Ones.