Just so you're aware.

Before I publish my Top 20, you should know that there are a couple of glaring ommissions. These would be The Company Band and Javelina. At "press time" I still hadn't heard them. The Company Band may not have been included even though it has a member of Clutch. But I can almost guarantee Javelina's sophomore release would have made my Top 40 somewhere. I keep thinking there is one other band that would have a shot if I heard it but I can't think of it right now.

I am also drawing a blank on the handful of bands that just missed the cut. I thought I had it written down but I guess not.

The long wait is almost over. I will be publishing the Top 20 of my Top 40 Best Albums of 2009 by Monday. I have everything written out. I just have to go over it and paste it on here. I promise you'll disagree with me.

Top 40 Albums of 2009 Part 2: # 30-21

30. Big Business - Mind the Drift:  Big Business usually ranks higher than this but 2009 was such a great year. Mind the Drift takes me on a nautical journey every time I hear it. This is almost as close to chill out music as I get. Album highlight: “Cold Lunch” (Bonus track version)

29. Asphyx - Death…The Brutal Way: There is just something about Martin Van Drunen’s voice that makes anything he screams over that much better. Not that this wouldn’t be incredible anyway. Militaristic buzz saw riffing behind the tortured screams of the dying makes Death…The Brutal Way the only way I would want it. Album highlight: Van Drunen's vocal onslaught.

28. Obituary - Darkest Day: Who cares if Obituary is part of the “old guard” of death metal these days? They still destroy eardrums better than most. I just love their classic death metal sound. Circle headbang factor is a 10. Album highlight: “Lost“

27.  Nile - I:  This is my first experience with Nile and it was a good one.  They are able to meld eastern themes and instruments into the brootal without it sounding fake or contrived. First impressions are important. Good show, Nile. Good show. Album highlight: “Kafir!” (mostly for “There is no god!”)

26. Dying Fetus - Descend Into Depravity: Also a first time for me. (My death metal history needs some work) I usually shy away from lots of technicality but not here.  It doesn’t take away from the songs the way some other bands do. The bass playing is incredible. Album highlight: "Conceived into Enslavement"

25. Napalm Death - Time Waits For No Slave:  What’s not to love?  These grind progenitors never fail to impress. I was listening to this in the car with the kids and my daughter says “Daddy, this sounds like you”. If only I were as good as Barney Greenway. Album highlight: "Downbeat Clique"

24. Pestilence - Resurrection Macabre: Yup, another first. If you haven’t guessed by now I’m all over the old school death metal this year.  I found myself going back to this one a lot. I don’t really know why but I don’t care why either. Album highlight: “Resurrection Macabre”

23. Doomriders - Darkess Come Alive: There's really a meld of genres here but what really holds it together is the groove. Some people would call it stoner rock but it's better than most of bands that claim that name. Isn't there a guy from Converge in Doomriders? Album highlight: "Come Alive"

22. Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder: Shrinebuilder puts the super in supergroups. Members of Neurosis, Sleep/Om, Melvins AND Wino?! Oh yeah. The best part is, they live up to what you would expect. Every member's contribution connects to make the whole something huge. Best supergroup since Down. Album highlight: "Pyramid on the Moon"

21. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse: Not a huge fan of Pig Destroyer but definitely a fan of ANb. Maybe I should go back and rediscover PD. Agorapocalypse offers barely controlled chaos and severe vocal aggression.When they aren't at warp speed, they sure can bring the heavy. Album highlight: "Druggernaut Jug Fuck" if only for the name.

My Top 40 Albums of 2009: Part 1: #40-#31

40. Culted - Beyond the Thunders of the Upper Deep: Heavy-ass doom. Manitoba/Sweden collabo portrays bleakness and cold. This would be great on vinyl.
39. Unholy - New Life Behind Closed Doors: There's nothing entirely unique about this high-energy metal outfit. But it makes we want to scream, headbang and play air guitar all at the same time. And since when was that a bad thing?
38. Lord Mantis - Spawning the Nephilim: Again, nothing uber-special about it. But I like it. Good tones and great vocals. And if they are singing about the Nephilim, that's fuckin' cool.
37. Ex Deo - Romulus (Nuclear Blast): Ancient Roman concept album/band. Powerful and epic. Makes me want to buy a sword and rule an Empire!
36. Tombs - Winter Hours: There is a lot going on here. Intricate soundscapes and raw power merge to send the listener on a bleak and tortured journey from which he will return a changed man. Not a casual listen.
35. Magrudergrind - Magrudergrind: Magrudergrind is one of the reasons I am getting into grind more. It isn't just noise to me anymore. There seems to be actual thought and structure to it. (I'm looking at you, Anal Cunt.)
34. Cattle Decapitation - The Harvest Floor: This one could be a casualty of an early in the year release. Maybe over listening too. It's incredible though. The precision and vocal range are astounding. I was never a big fan before this album but I am now. Besides, they just might have the best t-shirts in the biz.
33. Om - God is Good: Same formula as always, more or less. That's partially the reason they are ranked so low this year. I usually have them in my Top 10. Kudos for including some extra instrumentation but points are taking off for the departure of Chris Hakius.
32. Mantic Ritual - The Executioner: The first of many thrash-tastic releases on my list this year. This album is RIPPIN'! It's like the last 25 years never happened! I love thrash.
31. Behemoth - Evangelion: It's Behemoth so it's pretty much an automatic. But this one kind of dragged on so it falls out of the Top 30.

Top 5 Canadian Releases of 2009

I love being Canadian. And I love Canadian Metal. Some Canadian music makes me ashamed (Celine Dion, Anne Murray, Nickelback), some rocks (Neil Young, Rush), but Canadian Metal makes me proud. Here's the Top 5 Canadian releases that made me proud to be Canadian in 2009.

5. Arise & Ruin - Nightstorms Hailfire (Guelph, ON): Vicious metalcore sans clean vox. I was told by vocalist Ryan Bauchman himself that he will never lighten up his vocals. Good. Hints of doom and thrash work their way into the mix. All this makes for one hell of a live show.

4. Culted - Beyond the Thunders of the Upper Deep (Winnepeg, MB/Sweden): This Winnepeg duo's collaboration with a Swedish vocalist produced some heavy fuckin' shit. Seriously awesome doom with scary blackened vocals. Best enjoyed loud as hell and blazed out of your mind.

3. Ex Deo - Romulus (Montreal, PQ): Some bands create concept albums, some bands create concept bands. Ex Deo is basically Kataklysm doing Roman themed epic metal. Nothing wrong with that! Great music and a history lesson all in one. Battle of the Bands idea: Ex Deo vs. Nile.

2. Buried Inside - Spoils of Failure (Ottawa, ON): Bands like this I find hard to categorize. Pummeling doomy music with hardcore-ish bellowed Neurosis type vocals. The song titles are Roman numerals and I can't understand most of the vocals but they've always been a very cerebral band. I'd like to see a lyric sheet. I challenge you to try and not scream along anyway. This album rules.

1. Titan - Colossus EP (Toronto, ON): More or less in the same vein as Buried Inside but with more variation musically and vocally. "Bangover"-inducing ferocity throughout with just enough breathing room to recover before you pass out. I managed to see Titan live twice in 2009 and both times they kicked my ass! Extra kudos to the band for knocking out the power to a city block during one of their shows. That's fuckin' metal.

Honourable Mentions: 3 Inches of Blood and Bastard Child Death Cult.

Did I really?

Did I really used to read Revolver Magazine religiously? I think I did. Why the hell did I do that!!?  I picked up the latest issue with the Vulgar Dislay of Power cover story. For the cover story. Pretty much the rest of it was garbage. Features on crap ass bands, an ad every other page for some clothing line or other BS, a horrible Top 20 of 2009 etc. I feel dumber having read it. Maybe I'm just an elitist but it seems way too Hot Topic. I mean really, it appears they now have a monthly column featuring this month's Hot Metal Chick. Seriously?

Maybe it's been a big downhill slide since they were bought by Guitar World. I've only read 3-4 months worth in the last 3 years so maybe it has been gradual but I remember the last one I read (sometime in 2008) being pretty lame too. It had an article about Seether. It did. When I read Decibel, I write down at the VERY least 25-30 bands/albums I want to check out. This month's Revolver? 1. Fear Factory's Mechanize. And that's more out of curiousity than anything.

I guess this is where the guys at work that are all "BFMV!!! Whoo! Spineshank is reuniting!!! I love Mudvayne!! FFDP rules!" get their information. It's time I take these kids to school.

OK, vacay's over. Back to the cuts.

So I've been on vacation/holidays/not working for a couple weeks or so. Therefore, I've been spending less time on the internet. So just to let you know I'm still alive, here are some more cuts to my year end list.

The Red Chord - Fed Through The Teeth Machine: wicked album title. Talented musicians. Not my style.

Red Fang - Red Fang: Love, love, loved it! But it's not so much a new album as it is 3 EPs released as an album. This is more of a DQ.

Resistant Culture - (whatever it is I can't remember): This band is pretty kick ass. They need some work though. And better production.

Samael - Above: Nothing really grabbed me.

Scar Symmetry - (again, can't remember): AAAHHH! THE VOCALS!!!!

 

Did you hear about the Soundgarden reunion? YEAH BABY!

The cuts keep on comin

Insomnium - Across the Dark: a little TOO melodic.
Katatonia - Night is the New Day: sissy metal.
Kittie - In the Black: would be better if Morgan wasn't the singer.
Krallice - Dimensional Bleedthrough: As far as black metal goes, it's probably good. But I didn't really dig it.

KsE is sitting on the fence. I don't want to like it, but I can't help but sing along.

Get Thrashed!

I just finished watching Get Thrashed. It's a documentary about the history of Thrash Metal. It was pretty good. I'm kinda late to the thrash scene so it had a lot of info I didn't know. Thrash started in like '82-'83 when I was 4-5 years old so you can understand that I wasn't a metalhead back then. All I heard was Sharon, Lois and Bram or the country crap my Mom listened too. I got some CCR and stuff like that from my Dad, but it wasn't metal. I didn't get into metal til "One" by Metallica and even then, I wasn't INto it. I hadn't denounced everything else yet. (Sepultura did that for me) Of course, I got into the Big 4, had no idea about Exodus, Testament, Kreator, Death Angel, etc etc. I have heard of them before this but didn't really know the history or how they fit into it.

If you are into metal at all, I highly recommended this doc. Great music, great insight. It's different than Heavy Metal in Baghdad because it's not just about one band. It's not quite as good as Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, but better than that one Penelope Spheeris did. The Decline of Western Civilization 2: The Metal Years. I might even say it's better than Global Metal. The sequel to Headbanger's Journey.

I really dig documentaries on stuff I like. And I love metal.

You're cut!

I broke the alpha order tonight. I skipped everything from H to L. I wasn't in the mood for anything in that range. I went right to Napalm Death. So good. Then I back a bit to Magrudergrind. So good. Oh right, the cuts.

God Dethroned - Passiondale: Death metal. Good. War themed lyrics. Good. Anti-Judeo-Christian moniker. Good. Periods of non-brutalness. Not good.

Goreaphobia - (not coming to mind right now): Ripping old-school death metal from old school death metallers. However, sub-par vocals. Could have used better production. And nothing really memorable about it.

Hatebreed - Hatebreed: I didn't actually listen to this in the last few days. I tried to. The first song is pretty bad and it just soured it for me. They have fallen so, so far.

Outside of the above mentioned bands I listened to Slayer, Kylesa and Black Sabbath all weekend.

Oh! and I scored a free record player this weekend. Now all I need is a needle (maybe) and let the vinyl collecting begin!! (My wife is gonna hate me)

My thoughts on Decibel's Top 40 #20-#1

#20 Asphyx - Death...the Brutal Way: brutal is the only way I like it. This album is amazing.
#19 The Atlas Moth - A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky: haven't had the pleasure
#18 Paradise Lost - Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us: haven't been able to get past the first couple tracks. It's just not where my head's at this year.
#17 Mastodon - Crack the Skye: took me a few listens to get it. It's great. The all instrumental version is great too.
#16 YOB - The Great Cessation: It's pretty good but it wore on me after a while. Light one up and....
#15 Nile - Those Whom the Gods Detest: My first experience with Nile. It won't be the last. This is awesome.
#14 Magrudergrind - Magrudergrind: I've been becoming more of a grind fan lately and this album is part of that.
#13 Obscura - Cosmogenesis: too damn technical. not my bag.
#12 Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse: see Magrudergrind
#11 Immortal - All Shall Fall: still working on a taste for "traditional" black metal.
#10 Isis - Wavering Radiant: could be their last album? oh that's too bad. NOT
#9 Marduk - Wormwood: see Immortal
#8 Tombs - Winterhours: I had forgoten about this. It'd pretty awesome but likely won't be this high on my list. If at all.
#7 Slayer - World Painted Blood: It's Slayer. Nuff said.
#6 Kylesa - Static Tensions: Should make number 1 on my list. Still need to transcribe the interview I did with Laura and Phillip.
#5 Cobalt - Gin: This black metal I dig. LOTS.
#4 Napalm Death - Time Waits for No Slave: This came out so early in the year, I have to back and listen to it again. It's good though, it's Napalm Death.
#3 Coalesce - OX: I may be one of the few people who just doesn't like them. I don't dislike them. I'm just indifferent.
#2 Converge - Axe to Fall: AMAZINGNESS EMBODIED!!
#1 Baroness - Blue Record: The Red Album topped my list that year. This year, Blue Record will be damned close.

2 more list eliminations

Disappearer - The Clearing This was never really in contention. I just hadn't heard it much. And it's not in contention now. There are plenty of bands with the same M.O. that do it way better and with more energy. (Baroness, Torche, any number of lacklustre NeurIsis clones) I found the vocals weak and the instrumentals leaving me wanting more. Like vocals. I was making up screaming vocal melodies in my head. It sounded much better. I'd listen to it again but I wouldn't crave for it.

Divine Heresy - Bringer of Plagues Say what you want about Dino Cazares. But the dude is awesome. I've loved everything he's done up til Divine Heresy. The vocals are bad, it's like nu-metal never ended, and there's too many recycled Fear Factory riffs. After the awesomeness of Brujeria, and the wickedness of Asesino I don't know why Dino would do this. He and Burton need to make nice with Christian and Ray, and remanufacture FF with the soul of a new machine. (See what I did there?)

Tops of 2009 list update

So I started listening to the 90 or so albums on my iPod. I'm going in alpha order for now.
Here's some of the albums that are NOT gonna make it.

Black Dahlia Murder - Deflorate (not my fave style of metal and the vocals get irritating after a while)
Arise & Ruin - Nightstorms Hailfire (I'm friends with these guys, I hang out with them at their shows. I want to include them but album has some weak spots. Great guys and great live show)
Batillus - (can't remember) (pretty good instrumental doom/drone but it got boring in parts. comes with the territory)

Coalesce - OX ( some pretty good parts but it just wasn't doing anything for me. Call me crazy.)

Daath - The Concealers (The new one lacks all the quirkiness/electronics that made the last one so appealing.)

Dethklok - Dethalbum II (it's good and has lots and lots of circle-headbang appeal but it's band based on a TV show. An AWESOME tv show but a tv show nonetheless.)

Despised Icon - (I'm drawing a blank) (Cream of the deathcore crop but that's like being the best player on, say, the Redskins. It's still metal/football and it's better than rock/basketball but there is way better. Brootal Death Metal/ the Saints. and worse. Crabcore/Lions, Rams etc)

Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons of Bad Luck (on the light side and very situation/mood/state of mind dependant)

Devildriver - Pray for Villians ( t'would be better to pray for Dez. The band is great but I feel Dez is the weak link. It is wrong that I kinda/sometimes/almost like Coal Chamber better than this album?)

There is about 6 maybes in that alpha range but considering there is about 8 or 9 probables in that range too, I doubt they'll make it

My thoughts on Decibels Top 40. #40-#21

40. Funebarum - The Sleep of Morbid Dreams: I haven't heard this one. Not for lack of trying. It's been on my search list for months.

39. Millions - Gather Scatter: See above.

38: Municipal Waste - Massive Aggressive: Their punk/thrash crossover is fun but it doesn't pull me in the way it does a lot of other people. There's not many un-serious bands that I can get into.

37. Javelina - Beast Among Sheep: see 39, 40. If it's half as good as their self-titled debut, I'll be superstoked when I hear it.

36. Suffocation - Blood Oath: This must be some kind of mistake. Did they put a 3 in front of the 6 by accident? Easily one of the best death metal albums of the year.

35. Goes Cube - Another Day Has Passed:  I honestly can't remember if I heard this one or not. Must have made quite the impression!

34. Culted - Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep: I've only heard this once so far but it's fucking awesome. DOOM!!!

33. Krallice - Dimensional Bleedthrough: This is on my iPod. Haven't got to it yet. Maybe I'll throw it on when I finish listening to the Baroness album for like the 10th time.

32. Brutal Truth - Evolution Through Revolution: I think it was pretty good. I haven't heard it in MONTHS.

31. The Red Chord - Fed Through The Teeth Machine: I don't like my death metal too technical but I enjoyed this the first time around. It deserves another spin or two in a better environment. (not my van) It's better than Clients and Prey For Eyes anyway!

30. Keelhaul - Keelhaul's Triumphant Return to Obscurity: Pretty original. Not many bands can blend noise rock, math metal and stoner vibe and pull it off. They do.

29. Katatonia - Night is the New Day: I haven't gotten past the first track yet. Not really my thing.

28. Gaza - He's Never Coming Back: Haven't had the chance get this yet. It's on the "to download" list. I'll probably love it.

27. Goatwhore - Carving Out the Eyes of God: Another apparent typo. Should be closer to 7. This album is so kick ass it's not funny.

26. City of Ships - Look What God Did To Us: Not bad. Not great either. I'd have to really be in the mood for it. (read: stoned)

25. Burnt By The Sun - Heart of Darkness: Too bad it's their swansong. This is the first BBTS album I've heard. And it's great. It's easy to call it metalcore but it's better than 99% of bands with that label.

24. The Gates of Slumber - Hymns of Blood and Thunder: I was disappointed by this. Their last album was great but I couldn't get into this one.

23. Funeral Mist - Maranatha: Never heard of them.

22. Mournful Congregarion - The June Frost: I enjoy some funeral doom now and again but I found this one boring.

21. Altar of Plagues - White Tomb: Heard it once. I'd need more before I can say. I know it was a while ago too.

 

I'll give my opinions on #20-#1 in the next few days.

I wish I could write better.

Admission time, folks. I don't feel I'm a very good writer. I read Decibel and various metal blogs and think, "Wow. They can write much better than me." But I don't beat myself up about it. I didn't go to Journalism school. I was never good at english. And I played tuba (very poorly) in Grade 7 and 8. It doesn't really set one up to be a master of writing about music's most complicated genre. But I do what I can. I write what I feel.  I don't know an arpeggio is. I can't tell you what time signature anything is in. Hell, I can't even properly define pinch harmonics. But I can tell you what kicks ass and what sucks balls. And I'm not talking about kinky sex. Sometime soon I hope to have the time to look up the definitions of some common metal lingo that I am too embarrassed to admit I don't know. Anyway, I was just bored and don't have any specific album to talk about at the moment so I thought I'd just throw that info at ya.

Concerning my year end list, I'm working on it. I have about 90 artists on my iPod that made it to the last round so to speak. Some albums aren't on there (Clutch, Mastodon, Lamb of God) because I actually bought the album and if I paid money for it, it's making the list. There's some albums on it that I just need to listen to at least once more before probably cutting them. (Kittie, Daath, Divine Heresy) And there is a couple EPs on there that go on a separate list. Nevertheless, I have quite the task ahead of me. I have a hard time believing I can make it a list of 50 and I'd have to be especially cut-throat to make it a Top 40. Also, there is at least 3 albums I need to listen to that I haven't been able to obatin a copy of yet. (Javelina - Beast Among Sheep, The Company Band - The Company Band, and the new Blacklisted (if it gets released this year) Anyone wanna help me out with these?)

Maybe for something to do later, I'll give you my thoughts on Decibel's Top 40.

These Are They

Yesterday I didn't listen to much. I was in a supremely pissy mood. And I wasn't in an environment where I could properly vent. (Screaming violently in the break room at work doesn't go over well) I spent some of my break time alone and quiet. I didn't even want to see people. Anyway the only album I listened to all the way through was Blood Oath by Suffocation. I picked that because I was wearing a Suffocation shirt. (and it's a fucking KILLER album) When that was done, the next album of the iPod was by These Are They. I believe the album is called Who Linger. There's really nothing overly special about it. At least on first listen. I think it's a grower. I found myself enjoying it more at it progressed. I wouldn't really throw it into any particular sub-genre. The vocals are more or less "death metal" but the music is more varied than that. I'd like to give a more accurate description of the sound but I was listening to Agoraphobic Nosebleed before I started writing this so my mind is in a grind state. I will be listening to Who Linger again (maybe sooner rather than later) so I can give a better breakdown then. But the reason I even feel the need to mention These Are They right now is because of the last song on the album. It's a cover of Soundgarden's "Fourth of July". My favourite Soundgarden song. It's a fair rendition. The vocals are a bit flat and the singer doesn't have Chris Cornell's range, but I can't fault him for that. What I found most interesting was the backing vocals. On the Soundgarden version, Cornell is double-tracked. One low voice, one high.On the These Are They version, there is a clean and a rough. Like a deathy growl. It's a pretty evil sounding song to begin with. The backing growls and the flat clean delivery make it even more so. To my recollection, this is the first cover of "Fourth of July" I have ever heard. Instant props to These Are They. I'm in a "Tops of 2009" mode right now, listening to my fave 75 albums or so, but this cover has earned These Are They some more of my precious time.

Hatebreeed - Hatebreed

First of all, I like Hatebreed and I like this album. I'll admit, it's not their best. (Not by a long shot) There were lots of better albums released this year. But I've heard a LOT worse than this this year. That being said, I'm going to play the bad guy and rip Hatebreed to shreds. Just because I can find fault in something doesn't mean I can't enjoy it to some degree.

I'll start with the music itself because I can speak of that in a more or less general sense. In a word: stock. I bet if you took the time, you could find all the riffs in some form, on one of their older records. The few times they do branch out a little it either sounds forced and/or weak and/or Not Hatebreed. Case in point, on the instrumental track, "Undiminished", it doesn't sound like Hatebreed at all. If I had heard that song by itself randomly, I would never, ever guessed it was Hatebreed. Not in a million years. I would have guessed it was an instrumental Paradise Lost track. And if you told me it was Hatebreed, I'd call you a liar.

On to the vocals. The majority of the gang vocals on this album suck. Either they down right sound bad or they detract from the song. For example, on "No Haloes for the Heartless" the "whoooa" gang vocals sound awful. Ruins the song. And on "Every Lasting Scar", they shout along with Jamey at some parts and it's completely unnecessary. That song is one of the most aggravating on the album. Other than the gang vocals, it features his "Kingdom of Sorrow vocals" as I like to call them. You know, the voice he has where it sounds like he's trying to sound like Kirk from Crowbar but can't? No-one can. He's too awesome. (Isn't a new Crowbar album like, way overdue?) They are "okay" on a KoS album but they don't fit on a Hatebreed album. Plus, it's so damn catchy I can't get it out of my head!!

I don't know if it's just my copy (digital) or what, but the "Escape" cover at the end is horrible. The music is pretty solid and accurate but Jamey, Jamey, Jamey. I hope it wasn't his idea to put all the effects on his vocals.I don't know what they were shooting for, but they missed the mark. Oh, that accursed vocoder!

Be that as it may, Hatebreed can still get the blood pumpin'. If you allow it to permeate, it will raise your adrenaline levels. One of the few redeeming qualities on Hatebreed is "As Damaged As Me". The lines "You're just too fucked for words./You're fucked!" are the most honest lyrics I heard on the album.

Nile - Those Whom The Gods Detest

Nile is a pretty kickass band. I wonder why I never got into checking them out til now? It's not like I'd never heard of them. Decibel inducted Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka into their Hall of Fame and I still didn't check them out. What is wrong with me? Todd would be ashamed. Whatever the cause of my idiocy may be, I'm glad I wised up.

As much as I like gory and evil death metal, it's nice to find something with a little more depth. The Egyptian themes that run through all the Nile catalogue intrigues me enough that I really want to see the lyrics. Very few bands to that to me. (Behemoth being another) Most of the time if I want to know the lyrics is just to scream along properly. ( I couldn't replicate Karl Sanders' growl anyway)With Those Whom the Gods Detest, I wanna know just to know. I think I'd find it fascinating. It's thinking man's death metal. Maybe not as cerebral as Buried Inside, but definitely more than your run-of-the-mill death and violence death metal.

This album is furious and heavy. It's wicked fast but is able to shift tempo with ease and purpose. Not like those other bands that I mentioned that do it just because. Just enough tasteful technicality in the brutal so as not to turn me off. I have no problem with tech-death to a point. (Dying Fetus, Origin) It keeps it interesting. I have a feeling this will make it into regular rotation. I might even have to buy it. Maybe. I still haven't bought the Slayer album yet.

WInds of Plague - The Great Stone War

Wasn't quite sure what to expect going into this one. I had heard something about it being Epic Metal. Okay. Epic is good. (Ex Deo!!) But this album didn't make me feel very epic. Yeah, there were brass instrument fanfare type stuff but it felt really disjointed. Just when it would get into a nice riff, a weedily woo part would get thrown in and totally disrupt the flow. I hate that. It seems so self-indulgent. It's just not my thing. That's the main reason I don't like a certain subset of bands. (BoO, BTBAM, The Human Abstract, PTH, the Sumerian roster.) Finger acrobatics have their place. They are called solos.

Anyway, not a bad album if you like that sort of thing. But I don't much care for it. I can't say I will never listen to it again but I have enough to choose from I really don't need to.

Listening to the Nile again. and then I might listen to the Hypocrisy album again. Get a second read on it. The problem is I'm reading The Lost Symbol and it's taking up a fair amount of my brain power. A good book vs. good music is a tough battle.

Hatebreed

Disappointing first listen. Hatebreed just aren't what they used to be. Maybe the metal scene is saturated with bands that ape Hatebreed in some way. Therefore, they don't stand out from the pack anymore. Hatebreed deserves for me to listen to it a few more times at least. I can't make final judgment on one listen. At times it sounded too much like Kingdom of Sorrow for a Hatebreed album and the cover of Metallica's "Escape" was pretty pointless. Did I detect a hint of mild vocoder on that track?

I'm trying to remember what else I listened to yesterday and I'm coming up black. Oh! The new Nile. That was pretty kickass. Need to listen to it again before reviewing.

Thank you, Chris Dick

I have to thank Chris Dick. I read his review of Revocation's Existence is Futile in Decibel and it made me glad to know that I am not the only person that thinks the album sucks. It makes me feel good when someone who writes for a respected publication agrees with me. So thanks again, Chris.

My favourite line to use when referring to that album is, the existence of the album is futile. I didn't like Empire of the Obscene either so really, the existence of Revocation is futile.

Speaking of pointless, I was listening to Evergreen Terrace. I think the album is Almost Home. Whatever the title, it's speedy and energetic but when my break was over and I was packing up my breakfast, I had to check to see who I was listening to. That's the kind of impression it made on me.

And speaking of almost home, it's almost time for me to go home after another joyous night shift. Yes, I will yet again be screaming along with Blood Tsunami on the way home.

I really need to reload my iPod.

After listening to Converge, I was kinda stuck on what to listen to next. There was a lot of stuff I just had to interest in and a bunch of stuff I wanted to hear but weren't on there (Baroness, BDM, Cannibal Corpse..). And some stuff that I have downloaded but haven't loaded into iTunes yet (Nile, Hatebreed). So I had to settle.

General Surgery - Corpus In Extremis: Analyzing Necrotism: It's death metal so it's automatically decent. It's not tech-death or (bad) deathcore, so that's 2 more "pros". Some nice groove going on, another "pro". But on the "con" side, it's really nothing special. Predictable even. I found myself tapping out the riffs with my feet even though I'd never heard the song before. Plus, I never once felt the urge to circle-headbang. Not a good sign. It's not bad per se, just kind of generic.

Forsaken - After the Fall: The intro was good. Women screaming for their lives, mob noise, and what I assume was werewolves snarling and growling. It put a cool visual in my head. Townsfolk offering virgins in sacrifice to the lycanthropes. Cool. But, that "cool" ended when the songs started. Pretty good tone. And the riffs and stuff weren't really bad either but the singer's voice just rubbed me the wrong way. It sounded too second-rate 80's for me. So, less than 2 tracks in, NEXT. I don't have time to listen to something I know I don't like.

Tombs - Winter Hours: This one is really hard to describe. Put them on a tour with Kylesa, Withered, (heavy) Neurosis, and early Baroness and they'd fit right in.

Converge - Axe to Fall

My experience with Converge is fairly limited. I don't think I've ever heard Jane Doe. I might have heard Petitioning the Empty Sky. And I haven't listened to No Heroes in years. So really, when I threw on Axe To Fall, it was almost like a new band. A new, incredibly awesome band. Right from the opening riff, this album is a monster. It taps into that part of the brain that says "throw yourself around haphazardly and if someone's elbow breaks your nose, it's totally worth it." I have no doubt that the mosh put at a Converge show is down right frightening. The Red Cross sets up buckets for blood donations. It's just impossible not to get worked up listening to Axe To Fall. The track with Steve Von Till as a guest vocalist is pretty mellow or the most part but when the heavy kicks in near the end, it's huge.

Jake Bannon is an amazing vocalist. The energy that he put into his performance is outstanding. You can't fake that kind of intensity. Kurt Ballou is one heck of a guitar player too. There is nothing simple or easy about his riffs. It's weird that something that intricate can be as catchy as it is. His style makes Converge a very fitting tour-mate for Mastodon. Mastodon may be "sludge" or "crust" and Converge "hardcore" but they are both so complex. And both bands are so tight. Like they were born to play together. I wish I was able to catch that tour. Dammit.

I still can't get over Jake's neck tattoo though. Those things weird me out. Back of the neck. Fine. Side of the neck. You're pushing it. Right over the Adam's Apple? Nope. Sorry. Not for me. Maybe it's because I hate turtlenecks.

I'm getting off topic. If you want to read about Axe To Fall from someone who's a way better writer than I am, check out the cover story in the current issue of Decibel. It's fantastic.

Why can't I just have normal dreams?

I had a pretty messed up dream this afternoon. I can't remember most of it (I jotted down the main points, just haven't got back to it) but at the end, I end up in a park. In this park, I come across a scene of death. The bodies of 4 out of 5 members of Arise & Ruin are laying in front of me. I scream " NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" (Usually, I would wake up groaning at this point) Then I hear this high-pitched wail.scream. It sounded like Travis from Cattle Decapitation. When I find the source, it's Ryan, the lone surviving member of Arise & Ruin clinging to the bottom of the park. Apparently now the park is floating in the air. The scene was similar to Luke hanging from the antenna underneath Cloud City.  I woke up at this point. Nature called, I wrote down some key points and got back in bed. I tried to get back into the same dream but it didn't happen. I'm interested to look at my notes later and try and remember the rest of it.

Goreaphobia - Mortal Repulsion

Not too bad on first listen. Your basic death metal. Not too technical. That's good. Like I said before, death metal has been my chosen sub-genre this year. It kind of had an Obituary vibe to it tonally. On the vocal side, it was more of a black metal, recorded in a cave sound. I liked that too. I guess my only real complaint was that it was a bit long. Not really enough diversity to keep it interesting past the 30 min mark. Nonetheless, my toes were wigglin' in my boots, my fingers were ever so slightly air guitaring on the table and of course, the head nodding. Not full on headbanging in public, but I couldn't keep my head still.

I had planned on listening to General Surgery next but I was reading about the new Converge album, Axe To Fall, and decided to listen to that. Again. It's so awesome.

Well...

I finished the God Dethroned album. Yeah, it's pretty good. I'll have to hear it at least one more time to seriously consider it for the list. I've had like 1 hour of sleep in the last 24, so my judgment is a little off. I'm not exactly thinking straight.

I decided to skip Goreaphobia for now. I was reading an article in Decibel about The Gates of Slumber so I decided to give them another listen. Verdict still stands. Not turning my crank this year. Good tone, nice riffs. Not a big fan of the vocals. Overall it just wasn't intriguing enough for me to really care. Ya can't win 'em all.

Right now, I'm just looking forward to bed in about an hour, and screaming along to Blood Tsunami's "Laid To Waste" on the way home to keep me awake. I fuckin' love Blood Tsunami.

God Dammit!

I shouldn't really say that. Not in any "taking the Lord's name in vain" way. No, I shouldn't say that because cursing a god you don't believe in is pretty useless. I should have said "For the love of blastbeats!!" My point is, I thought I had my list finalists figured out. Then I listened to God Dethroned's Passiondale. It's pretty fuckin' awesome. And it's brutal death metal. I might have to consider it now! What's gonna happen when I listen to Goreaphobia next? And possibly General Surgery after that? It's all too much.

BTW, does anyone know what Justin Marler is up to these days?

Almost year end list time!

This year's "My Top Albums of " list, as always, will be very hard to compile.  I have it down to about 60-70 possibles.  However, I haven't heard the new Nile or Red Chord albums yet. And I think Blacklisted is releasing one this year too. In any case, I'm gonna have to be pretty damn cut-throat. For example, Culted's album, great but won't make the cut. The Gates of Slumber. Their last album made my Top 10 (I think) and their new one won't make the cut.

Strange Cousins From The West by Clutch will be ranked 0 because I am incapable of being unbiased when it comes to Clutch.

I am pretty sure that this year's list is going to be very heavy in death metal. Of the brutal variety. That's just where my head is at this year. There will be some not so heavy bands (Baroness) but for the most part, it's gonna be a heavy-ass list.

Hopefully starting this week, I can load the iPod with the 60 or so finalists and start paring it down. I'd like to have it done before February this time. Because by the time February hits, I'll have a list of 2009 albums that could have made the list if I had heard them IN 2009.

I can tell you this, I am 99% sure that nothing on Sumerian will make the list.

Paint my world blood.

There is a reason that Slayer have the most devoted fans in metal. That's because they fuckin' rule. World Painted Blood is no exception.

Every band has their "crowning achievement" so to speak. Metallica has Master of Puppets, Sepultura has Chaos A.D., Megadeth has Risk. (JUST KIDDING!!) For Slayer, it's Reign in Blood. Nothing will ever match that album, so it's useless to even try to compare any subsequent Slayer album to it. That being said,World Painted Blood is pretty slaytanic. I've had it on repeat for about 3 days. I had to force myself to listen to something else. (YOB - The Great Cessation) I think people rag on recent Slayer albums because they haven't really changed their style much in forever. But when bands do change their style ( ie Metallica) they get ragged on even more. So you can't win. But really, why should Slayer change anything? Don't fix what ain't broke. Tom Araya can still bring it. ( Fuck you, Auto-tune) Nobody solos like King and Hanneman. And Dave Lombardo is a fucking god. He is phenomenal on this record. Especially on "Unit 731".

I need to stop listening to albums for the first time in my van. The sound is so comparatively shitty that it ruins first impressions. Actually, I listened to the first few songs of this on my computer. At 6am. At very low volume. On one speaker. Yeah, not a good way to introduce an album. When finally I was able to hear it with decent sound, at a befitting volume, I had to kick myself for the flicker of doubt that crossed my mind. World Painted Blood is awesome. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves. It's fucking Slayer!! The worst Slayer track is 250% better than the best tracks from 95% of the metal out there.

World Painted Blood is fast, it's vicious, it gets stuck in your head. I can't stop discreetly air guitaring. Or drumming on stuff. Or singing "murder is my future!" under my breath.

Slayer fucking rules.

Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder

If you don't know Shrinebuilder, shame on you. They are the very definition of supergroup. The lineup: Scott Kelly of Neurosis, Al Cisternos of OM (ex-Sleep), Dale Crover of the Melvins and Scott "Wino" Weinrich of Wino (ex- St. Vitus, Spirit Caravan, Hidden Hand, Place of Skulls, etc etc). The sound: Neurosis meets OM meets Melvins meets Wino. Doesn't get much simpler than that. You can hear elements of all the players other bands in just about every song on the album. I believe they all sing as well. It doesn't sound like 4 bands mashed together though. It's cohesive. It has flow. And it's (as SYL would put it) heavy as a really heavy thing. However, it's not oppressively heavy. i.e. Sunn O))), Sloth, etc. Ya know, stonerdoomgaze heavy.

I really hope this collaboration isn't a one-off thing. They work really well together. All parties are so prolific, it's a wonder they even had time to do this. But, if they did it once, there's no reason they can't do it again. In the meantime, I'll be building my shrine.

Doomriders - Darkness Come Alive

The first time I listened to Darkness Come Alive, I enjoyed it but I was in no big rush to hear it again. A couple weeks went by. At the end a veritable death metal marathon (Suffocation, Hail of Bullets, Despised Icon and Pestilence, with some Skeletonwitch thrown in for good measure) I was almost about to listen to Dying Fetus when I spotted Doomriders beside it on my iPod. I figured a break from brutality wouldn't hurt. Even this time I wasn't "into it". Granted, being played through and FM Transmitter on 15 year old car speakers is not going to do any band any favours. I switched to Blood Tsunami for a little scream therapy. When next I donned my iPod I put it back to Doomriders. Something had changed. Almost instantly I was locked in. It fitting because the track was "Come Alive". I felt like I had. Or at least been awakened to the awesomeness.

Groove, hooks, melody, and emotion all in the context of heavy. I could feel the galloping groove that makes you feel like your flying across a vast landscape. I was hooked by the Torche-esque power-pop elements. Some of the intricate guitar work reminded me of Baroness. The heavy comes into play with the tone and the pummeling drums. The vocals could be my favourite part. Amidst the southern crust/sludge/stoner musical backdrop, a hardcore bellow delivers the message. They're vocals that come from deep within. That are full-out. They can't be sung at any less than full volume. Just the way I like it. Even when they are a little cleaner, they're still powerful and loud. Like someone forgot to tell him that he has a mic. He's singing over the other instruments. Ah, glorious.

I had my Top 50 of 2009 almost figured out. Darkness Come Alive will probably bump somebody out. (Despised Icon's Day of Mourning might too) It's just a matter of who. I also haven't heard the new Slayer yet, but that one's a given.

Hey whatever happened to White Zombie's J. Yuenger?