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| Wizard's Top 20 Metal For 2009 (and Anything Related)
The worst thing about coming up with these stupid end-of-the-year lists is the amount of time and effort put into choosing what made the biggest impact on metal and what made my ears perk-up, especially this year; sifting through the large amount of derivative bands that continually grind metal into overdone, mundane territory. However, anybody saying that 2009 was not a great year for metal, you simply weren?t listening to the right genre and you should go back to convincing yourself that Slayer put out a classic album this year (ugh!). For a list of metal that represents, please see below:
PS. Thank you to anybody on this site that made my year of metal more enjoyable, either through a cheerful comment or a great recommendation. | 1 | | Isis Wavering Radiant
On Wavering Radiant, Isis is in perfect form, not exactly building on their previous post-metal formula, but rather taking it to heights never thought possible. Songs like ?Hall of the Dead? and ?Threshold of Transformation? blow down typical post-metal structures, never quite allowing the listener to lock into the peak/ valley crescendos done so well on past releases. In the Absence of Truth was only the beginning of juxtaposing that perfect blend of harsh vs. lush, Wavering Radiant makes everything sound so much more cohesive. | 2 | | Converge Axe to Fall
I?ve never particularly taken a liking to metalcore or vocals that sound like a child taking a hissy-fit. On Axe to Fall, Converge not only throw away the parameters of metalcore, they?ve learned to balance their weakness (Jacob Bannon) and put him lower into the mix, allowing the music to be upfront and center. An added bonus to the album, a mixed collaboration of artists such as Neurosis and Cave In that display Converges influences while allowing the band to have some fun in the studio as well. | 3 | | Drudkh Microcosmos
Atmospheric black metal has had a moderately good year and Drudkh easily secures number three spot on this list. Not only do they know how to craft songs that cross genres not particular to just black metal, they do it with style and never drone on a single note that makes most kvlt bands so damn boring. Beautiful, poignant black metal that sounds this good should end up on every end-of-the-year list. | 4 | | Ulcerate Everything is Fire
Pushing down barriers in death metal can be a challenge, but let me introduce you to one of two death metal bands on this list that are challenging the best-of-the-best. A furious display of turbulent, off-kilter riffage is accompanied by one of the most complex rhythm sections this side of brutal death metal and only permitting the listener to breathe here and there when their dense sound allows for a few interludes to creep in. Better get your hearing checked after this one. | 5 | | Tombs Winter Hours
Another band to make my top ten that is currently bashing down brick walls with a fused approach. This is an album to ring in the apocalypse, comprised of a gritty coating smothered over thick post metal and finished off with a dash of black metal fury. If there is one band to watch out for in the future, it?s these New Yorkers who will most likely knock down walls of 10? steel as time goes on. | 6 | | Panopticon Collapse
Conceptually, this takes my number one. Compared to Austin Lunn?s self titled in 08, this doesn?t quite stand up to what could be considered one of the greatest American black metal albums ever produced. Still, this doesn?t really matter when you give this entire album a listen as Lunn has once again produced an incredible example of how folkish black metal should be done. When you make albums as incredible as his self-titled, anything afterwards takes second place and sixth on my end-of-the-year list. | 7 | | Minsk With Echoes in the Movement of Stone
Not much has changed for Minsk between this release and The Ritual Fires of Abandonment. This is a good thing because there was nothing wrong with their fusion of sludge and psychedelic metal to begin with. If you enjoyed their debut album, prepare to hear more of the same swirling tribal-esque rhythm patterns that will have you dancing naked around a fire. | 8 | | Gwynbleidd Nostalgia
Melodic?..check. Death metal?..check. Opethian folk inspired passages?..check. What more could you ask these New Yorkers who have created an album that sounds more in vein with the Swedish than their hometown hardcore heroes. Whatever the case, these guys know how to write catchy-as-fuck tunes. Want an example of this? ?Stormcalling? should receive song-of-the-year honours. | 9 | | Wolves in the Throne Room Black Cascade
Completely stripping the shoegaze approach of Two Hunters and going for a more raw approach, I felt Black Cascade was a failure after my initial listen. Digging a bit deeper and growing some patience, I discovered why this album is black metal magic; these guys go straight for the refined subtleties that seem to be lost within the black metal genre itself. This might sound bland at first, but trust me, there is more here than what you think you?re hearing. | 10 | | Pyramids with Nadja Pyramids with Nadja
Rounding out my top ten is a collaborative album that tippy-toes the fine line between drone, shoegaze and black metal. When I pick up albums like this, I usually expect to hear the night-and-day aspects between the two bands. This is not a split; this is collaboration between two bands that have formed a new sound instead of sounding like a split that has both bands featuring the best at what they do. This is not to say that you can?t hear both bands sound in the mix, but they?ve managed to amalgamate their creativity into the perfect unity. Breathtaking! | 11 | | Krallice Dimensional Bleedthrough
?Dweedly-dee, dweedly-doo? are some of the retarded adjectives you have to put up with when you?re a fan of Krallice. Sure, they don?t form anything structured by conventional terms, but that is what makes them stand apart. Featuring the guitar virtuosity of Mick Barr (Ocrilim), his speedy tremolo licks are showcased in an oddball combination of avant-garde and black metal. Technically speaking, if you have the patience of a four-year old, you will not understand (or appreciate) what this dweedly-dee, dweedly-doo is all about. Ever see the movie Pi? It?s all about the patterns. | 12 | | Greymachine Disconnected
2009 was not a good year for industrial and quite frankly, I can?t see the genre going anywhere really interesting in the future. However, when you mention industrial pioneer Justin Broadrick and post metal master Aaron Turner in the same sentence, a load of semen should be shooting out of your ears in excitement. I almost feel though that a majority of people going into this album expecting a Godflesh and Isis collaboration are in for a shock. What we are treated to is a noisy variation of industrial metal that is so ridiculously uncompromising, it completely makes all of those synth-pop loving Skinny Puppy fans look like fags (including myself). | 13 | | Funebrarum The Sleep of Morbid Dreams
Old school Swedish death metal that doesn?t sound derivative? Count me in! On Funebrarum?s The Sleep of Morbid Dreams, you can find your fill of tight Dismember riffs and enough furnace blasting beats to make Satan shit his pants. Best part of all, you will want to go back for a second helping. | 14 | | Deathspell Omega Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum: Chaining the Ka
Deathspell Omega are a bit of an anomaly when it comes to their respected black metal genre. This one song, twenty-two minute E.P. is another awesome stepping stone in the bands strange career. Blinding black metal, whirly progressive passages, bouncy offbeat rhythm patterns; this is only skimming the many surfaces that this song/ band have to offer. | 15 | | Portal Swarth
Upon hearing Portal?s Swarth, I was left in a daze of confusion. How could a band manage to sound so awful and yet make the hair on the back of my neck stand straight on end? This is the second of two death metal bands to be featured on this list that I feel are knocking down barriers and rivaling the best in their given genre. Swarth comes across as a pulverizing assault at first, but given time, nuances galore begin to rear their ugly heads from around corners, adding a very terrifying atmosphere to the mix. Brutal? Maybe if you?re a pussy. Terrifying? Someone please, change my pants. | 16 | | Napalm Death Time Waits for No Slave
I find it rather hilarious when I read that grind-album-of-the-year honours go out to Magrundergrinds self titled. Yes they are a great band but the legends of grind simply put Magrundergrind in their place. Devastatingly punishing from start to finish, Time Waits for No Slave is the best example of what Napalm Death does best. The usual death/ grind fuse is still in tact from previous albums, but this time Napalm Death step it up with a hint of atmosphere, making these fourteen cuts some of their most memorable to date. | 17 | | Black Cobra Chronomega
If there was one great thing that 2009 did for metal, we can all collectively agree that sludge was made more accessible for the better. If Kylesa?s Static Tensions didn?t catch your attention, then Black Cobra might be the answer. Utilizing a sludgy tone in the vein of Leviathan era Mastodon, Black Cobra lock onto a groove that strangles the listener with swirling rhythm sections and never lets up throughout. | 18 | | Devildriver Pray for Villains
Dez Fafara has come along way since his days of parading around with gothic nu-metallers Coal Chamber. Pray for Villains not only establishes Dez as a dead serious musician, he also brings along a band of competent musicians to help him prove his point that he is indeed all about the metal. Most notably about this album, the power of the riff can be felt throughout and backed by one of the most solid drumming displays of 2009. | 19 | | Cobalt Gin
Phil McSorley has come up with a new genre, war metal! Fresh off a tour in Baghdad, Iraq, McSorley came back in 2008, wrote Gin, and took off again to fight a war that seems to have no end in sight. What was created between him and his partner in crime Erik Wunder was a view into the darker side of turbulent times. Building upon their black metal roots of 2007s Eater of Birds, Cobalt decided to allow a few more dynamical twists into the mix such as whirling Tool-esque tribal drum patterns and a crustier tone, giving way to haunting, spacious passages that are dark as fuck. Salute! | 20 | | Buried Inside Spoils of Failure
Rounding out my top twenty is a band that failed to impress me back in 2005 with their debut and immensely complicated concept album Chronoclast. While Chronoclast was too complicated for it?s own good (and really, really boring), Spoils of Failure doesn?t exactly change the formula a whole hell of a lot; rather tightening the undone screws and losing the repeating riffs that plagued Chronoclast to no end. Everything here is far more focused and their use of doomy chords throughout each stomping song feels like there is hope at the end of the tunnel. This album fortunately, never allows you to reach that ray of hope. | |
Wizard
01.04.10 | Exhaustive list and the best you will come across on the net besides your own hahahaha. I tried to cover all of the bases of metal but I couldn't find any nu-metal that stood out to me. Oh well, hope you all enjoy my hours of time put into this. | Mordecai.
01.04.10 | very nice list Wiz although I can't stand 18. I checked out 12 because of your review and its pretty awesome. | Wizard
01.04.10 | Mordecai, I finally got around to Catch Thirty-Three yesterday and today. It ain't no I but it's still very well executed. Can't believe anybody likes 12 hahahaha. | Metalstyles
01.04.10 | 8 and 18 pwn. There is some stuff here that I should check out, but I'm too lazy (except Converge and Ulcetrate who I shall give a go for sure). I'll relax for now and when the new year gets in heavy gear, I'll try to follow the 2010 releases. | lobby
01.04.10 | 9 and 19 are the only ones that will make mine | BallsToTheWall
01.04.10 | War metals been around for a while FYI.
I partly approve of this list. A handful of great albums but 4,5,8,9, 14, 15, and 19 were merely good. | JAV
01.04.10 | I knew you'd had Isis at #1, kinda surprised to see Converge up so high though. | Crysis
01.04.10 | I've been waiting for you to make this list, and you definitely didn't disappoint. I haven't heard 5 or 8 but will do so now. I'm surprised Isis is your number one, I didn't particularly care for that album. However, props for 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 19. Good work. | lobby
01.04.10 | and yes, i hated 12 | pizzamachine
01.04.10 | Nice list. ba-da ch! Drudkh sounds interesting | Poet
01.04.10 | Hi my name is Karl and I am METHUL!!!!! | Crysis
01.04.10 | Holy shit just listened to "Stormcaller" from 8 and it was incredible. | pizzamachine
01.04.10 | Ba-da ch! | Dryden
01.04.10 | cool list | Zoo
01.04.10 | Awesome list bro. Did you ever see mine? | Powerban
01.04.10 | Ulcerates album is awesome. Probably my fav of this list. Still yet to check out the latest Panopticon and Devildriver. My friend keeps telling me how awesome it is.
Wavering Radiant is a great cd, Isis pulled the best move they could here. They got more darker and spacey, added more vox as well. Hopefully they sort out the flaws of the album though and Wavering Radiant proves to be one of the best transitional albums ever. They couldn't just keep with the same sound, with all those cheap imitations around, so even though I feel it's their worst album since celestial, I feel it was the move to a different sound. Isis will never become redundant if they keep this up. | Mordecai.
01.04.10 | Glad you got around to it Wiz. Listening to 12 has made me become a Broadrick fan, so i've checked out most of his catalogue. | Burn2Burn
01.04.10 | Nice list, Wiz. Props for 1,2,9,18 and 19 (yay cobalt yay!!) I'm gonna check out most of these other ones as well, lots of stuff I missed this year it seems haha. | Taoboxer9
01.04.10 | good list 7 commentary . I agree w/ 1.well put.Going to check out 12 &19. | Wizard
01.04.10 | Crysis,
I was going to say "You haven't heard 8? JESUS TITTY FUCKING CHRIST, this band made this album for you!" It's like your type of Opeth.
Zoo, I'm checking out your list right now.
Thank you for the kind words everybody. Put alot of blood and sweat into this list. | Crysis
01.04.10 | Yeah I'm currently listening to 8 in its entirety and it sounds like what Opeth would be if everyone's opinion about them was correct. | Wizard
01.04.10 | Gwynbleidd spit, jizz, and shit on every other melo-death band out there. My favourite. | Athom
01.04.10 | too much metals | Wizard
01.04.10 | And I wish the mods would clean up the punctuation formatting on these lists. | Wizard
01.04.10 | redsky, that's the only reason I come to this site. | Athom
01.04.10 | needs more Coalesce/Ea/Mournful Congregation | BallsToTheWall
01.04.10 | Needs moar Krieg | Wizard
01.04.10 | Coalesce was ok but not worthy of my top 20 (alot of people will disagree), Mournful Congregation's - The June Frost is sitting in front of me unopened hahahahha, and I've never heard of Ea. To be quite honest, this is why I was a little hesitant about posting so early. Too many 2009 metal albums to sift through still.
Balls, I see 'Krieg' posted all over the place but I have no idea what it means. You sound like a Nazi when you use that word hahahaha. | Crysis
01.04.10 | Krieg is German for "war" and is a quintessential quality of any tr00 kvlt bm band | BallsToTheWall
01.04.10 | Nicely put.
Sieg Heil!!! on the other hand is German for Hail Victory but a little more out there than Krieg. I'm a little more reserved about that since my grandfather fought in WW2, I refuse to say it anywhere near facebook or myspace or the world. That would make for one awkward family get together. | Wizard
01.04.10 | I like kvlt bm to a point when they're actually doing something unique and not the same old underproduced crap that streams out of suicidal teens basements hahahaha. Voldr is a somewhat quality kvlt band. | Wizard
01.04.10 | And Balls, I had no idea war metal was already a genre. Can you give me some other examples? | Crysis
01.04.10 | Blasphemy- Fallen Angel Of Doom is one of the best | Wizard
01.04.10 | Vordr*
Triple post ftw. | Wizard
01.04.10 | Crysis, that Blasphemy album kicks fucking ass. Unfortunately, it's hard to come by but you can stream it for free on the net hahaha. | BallsToTheWall
01.04.10 | Bestial Warlust- Blood & Valour
Bolt Thrower- Any Album really. War Master and Those Once Loyal fucking slay
Vreid-Milorg
Jungle Rot- War Zone
Sodom-M-16.
You get the point. | Crysis
01.04.10 | Vreid rules Karl, so if you haven't heard them yet get to it. | Chewie
01.04.10 | I salute you and your infinite knowledge on everything. | Wizard
01.04.10 | I thought Sodom - M-16 was thrash? I thought Bolt Thrower was death metal? What kind of game are you guys playing on me?
Hahahaha thanks for reminding me about that Vreid album too hahahahaha. I thought they were viking metal. | Wizard
01.04.10 | Chewie, my knowledge stops after metal hahaha. When are we going to go to a metal show together? I have tickets for Megadeth and Slayer hahahaha. | BallsToTheWall
01.04.10 | Yeah, well, these albums are heavily influnced by war in the lyrics, artwork, etc. What, do you want epic keyboards and operatic wailing over gun shots and cries of agony? | Crysis
01.04.10 | I bet he does | Chewie
01.04.10 | srsly? *smiles like a giddy young lass*
well I've added you on msn so go on once in a while and we can talk the details one of these days | Dryden
01.04.10 | Hotbild | Wizard
01.04.10 | How did you know Balls and Crysis? I need fancy rayguns and cheesy, epic Star Trek music backing up my war!!!
Actually, just give me some Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger to go into battle with. | Crysis
01.04.10 | mmmm crustcore | Crysis
01.04.10 | Steven Segal's new TV show is pretty awesome tbh | Wizard
01.04.10 | Sounds good Chewie. I need to reinstall msn again within the next week dude. I'll keep you posted! | Wizard
01.04.10 | It's better than Cops, that's for sure. Don't fuck with Seagal. | Chewie
01.04.10 | sounds good :) | jrowa001
01.04.10 | very good list. nothing i can say is bad here. i will be making my list sooner or later | BallsToTheWall
01.04.10 | The Power Rangers theme song makes me want to smack children and fondle unsuspecting women.
| Crysis
01.04.10 | i can relate | Relinquished
01.04.10 | Relinquished agrees with most of this list. | Wizard
01.04.10 | Power Rangers theme is the shit. Loved the original show back in the day.
Thank you jrowa, Relinquished, and fromtheinside.
fromtheinside, glad you like my description, might review Of Fracture and Failure. I don't know what it is with Bannon. I like his lyrics but that scream he does irritates me. On Axe to Fall, he at least varies it quite a bit.
| TheSpirit
01.04.10 | wow list is win. | Wizard
01.04.10 | Thank you Indomitable. Is yours posted? | Observer
01.04.10 | Seems I completely looked over 8. I should check it out. | Wizard
01.04.10 | 8 should have been higher now that I think about it. | Crysis
01.04.10 | Yeah it should of. | TheSpirit
01.04.10 | "Thank you Indomitable. Is yours posted?"
I'm working on one right now actually, hopefully it'll be posted within the next few hours. | Relinquished
01.04.10 | I posted my 09 list a while back, but I guess you bitches overlooked it.
13 should've been higher too. | Wizard
01.04.10 | Fuck, I'm never doing these lists again. | Deviant.
01.04.10 | "Put alot of blood and sweat into this list."
Wizard's blood is in this list?! I'm gonna bottle it and sell it on the black market!!
Seriously Wiz, awesome list. As much as I love Devildriver, and that album in particular, it does seem somwhat out of place on this list. | TheSpirit
01.04.10 | "Put alot of blood and sweat into this list"
MANOWAR | Crysis
01.04.10 | Indomitable go get trashed and write a best of '09 list, it will be amazing, no joke lol | TheSpirit
01.04.10 | haha i wish i could, but i have no more rum :(
but it's my promise to you that everytime i got trashed a new list will come of it. | Wizard
01.04.10 | It does seem out of place but like I said above, I tried to do a nice overview of everything that came out this year. Devildriver just put out great groove metal record with some simple, yet excellent musicianship and that's why they made my list. | Crysis
01.04.10 | I expect nothing less my friend | Relinquished
01.04.10 | that devildriver album suxd so much kokx its not even funny
nah it actually was pretty cool | Wizard
01.04.10 | I quite enjoyed that drunken list Indomitable hahahaha. Drunken rants are my specialty. | Crysis
01.04.10 | Hey Karl where is your drunken list when you admit things which break through your metalhead persona? I know, deep down, you like a little Susan Boyle here and there | TheSpirit
01.04.10 | Haha glad you liked it too Wizard, there will probably be many more to come. | Relinquished
01.04.10 | Karl likes to talk about his parakeets when he's drunk and saying that their awesome cuz they are and about his goatee and shit | Meatplow
01.04.10 | great list wiz
the fact i've only heard 2 of these is probably testament to how little time I spent looking for modern bands | Poet
01.04.10 | KARL IS METUHL!!! | pride
01.04.10 | Sitting somewhere between mediocrity and kinda cool. | Zoo
01.04.10 | Yeah dude, make sure you check out that Tribulation. The Horror is my album of the year for a reason. | jingledeath
01.04.10 | Beastly list dude, 15 is probably my favorite from here and I thought 14 was a 08 release | Wizard
01.04.10 | Crysis,
I listen to lots of stuff outside of metal. You may get a drunken list of my favourite pop artists someday hahaha. And Susan Boyle, she's good at covers and has an amazing voice. I wouldn't ever sit down and give her the time of day though.
Relinquished,
Don't be chatting about our msn talks with other users on here. Personal stuff being said hahahaha.
Meatplow,
That's one of the reasons why you're one of my favourite users. You rec' good, old shit that rules more than most of this list.
someguest,
Behemoth would have ended up between 21-25 if I had to extend this list. Still a great record though.
Zoo,
Going to check out Tribulation tonight.
jingle,
14 was released midway through January in 2009. At least in North America it was.
That brings up another good point. What if the release date for an album was in 2009 in your country but released in late 2008 in another? Does that still count as a 2009 release? | Zoo
01.04.10 | That's usually a gray area of interpretation I like to play around with, if it suits me to. | Wizard
01.05.10 | Canada is ALWAYS the last ones to see new releases even though I'm an hour away from the damn American border. Fuck I hate this cuntry sometimes hahahaha (see what I did there?) | Dryden
01.05.10 | I'm like 40 minutes away from the American border | deftones27
06.27.10 | as long as ISIS is on this list than its a good list | megadeth101
06.27.10 | Isis on a Wiz list?
No way. | Dryden
06.27.10 | dre | megadeth101
06.27.10 | Ov Wizards Wizdom |
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