engleprunt's 2016 - Albums
Obligatory “2016 was trash FML!” shout-out. Whatever, get over it.
1-20 = Top 20 of the year in some sort of order.
21-46 = Other stuff I really liked this year.
47-89 = Other stuff I liked but wasn’t getting my wig blown back by.
90-100 = Disappointment City. |
| 1 |  | Whores.
Gold
Mental Illness As Mating Ritual
Hands (and other appendages) down my favorite this year, solidified by their festival-stealing performance at Aftershock in October. |
| 2 |  | Testament
Brotherhood of the Snake
The Pale King
Old faithful on point. |
| 3 |  | Emma Ruth Rundle
Marked For Death
Protection
Love Marriages but found her solo material hit or miss until this album. Holy Hell Yes. |
| 4 |  | Gojira
Magma
Silvera
Dug it more than Wild Child. Great singles and super heady/emotional stuff when you dive in deep…and I did. Best live show of the year too. Tam, ya missed out. |
| 5 |  | Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas
Mariner
The Wreck Of S.S. Needle
I forgot how much I missed Made Out Of Babies. Never got into the Cult before now but this seems to be a good pairing. |
| 6 |  | The Dillinger Escape Plan
Dissociation
Nothing To Forget
I won’t forget how much I will miss DEP. Glad I caught them live one last time this Fall. |
| 7 |  | Devin Townsend Project
Transcendence
Stormbending
Felt like more of the same at first but this one really grew on me as its majesty revealed itself after repeated listens. I love you, Devin. |
| 8 |  | Free Salamander Exhibit
Undestroyed
Time Master
Sleepytime Gorilla…Exhibit? Waited way too long for this. More soon, guys, please? Cool. |
| 9 |  | Goes Cube
Shadows Swallowed The Flood
Anthologies
Keep getting better with each successive album but now they’re gone. Good one to go out on at least. |
| 10 |  | Avernal
La Quimera de la Perfección
Habitante De Cadaveres
Argentinian death metal?! Duuuuuuuude… |
| 11 |  | Rhin
Passenger
Drag My Feet |
| 12 |  | Nothing
Tired of Tomorrow
Curse Of The Sun |
| 13 |  | Revocation
Great Is Our Sin
Communion |
| 14 |  | Cobalt
Slow Forever
Elephant Graveyard |
| 15 |  | Vektor
Terminal Redux
Charging The Void |
| 16 |  | Opeth
Sorceress
Chrysalis |
| 17 |  | Oozing Wound
Whatever Forever
Diver |
| 18 |  | Trap Them
Crown Feral
Hellionaires |
| 19 |  | Gatecreeper
Sonoran Depravation
Patriarchal Grip |
| 20 |  | Cables & Arms
Framing Defeat For The Critical Eye
Hang The Moon |
| 21 |  | Meshuggah
The Violent Sleep of Reason
Born In Dissonance |
| 22 |  | A Tribe Called Quest
We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service
We The People |
| 23 |  | Orbs
Past Life Regression
Jaws On Repeat (Life On Hold) |
| 24 |  | Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard
Y Proffwyd Dwyll
Y Proffwyd Dwyll |
| 25 |  | LTNT
Rank
No Aquarius By Will |
| 26 |  | Blood Incantation
Starspawn
Starspawn |
| 27 |  | Abnormality
Mechanisms of Omniscience
Mechanisms of Omniscience |
| 28 |  | Nails
You Will Never Be One of Us
You Will Never Be One of Us |
| 29 |  | Death Angel
The Evil Divide
The Moth |
| 30 |  | Weezer
The White Album
Thank God For Girls |
| 31 |  | Iggy Pop
Post Pop Depression
Gardenia |
| 32 |  | Ravencult
Force Of Profanation
Beneath The Relics Of Old |
| 33 |  | Violent Soho
WACO
Blanket |
| 34 |  | Hammers Of Misfortune
Dead Revolution
The Precipice (Waiting For The Crash) |
| 35 |  | Chevelle
The North Corridor
Punchline |
| 36 |  | The Black Queen
Fever Daydream
Ice To Never |
| 37 |  | Eerie
Eerie
Yeti |
| 38 |  | Khemmis
Hunted
Above The Water |
| 39 |  | Destrage
A Means To No End
Don't Stare At The Edge |
| 40 |  | Gozu
Revival
Lorenzo Llamas |
| 41 |  | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
Igneous |
| 42 |  | Superjoint
Caught Up in the Gears of Application
Ruin You |
| 43 |  | Anagnorisis
Peripeteia
Disgust And Remorse (Part II) |
| 44 |  | Numenorean
Home
Home |
| 45 |  | Bolzer
Hero
Spiritual Athleticism |
| 46 |  | Giraffe Tongue Orchestra
Broken Lines
Back To The Light |
| 47 |  | Highly Suspect
The Boy Who Died Wolf
Serotonia |
| 48 |  | Rikard Sjoblom
The Unbendable Sleep
Rhyme And Reason |
| 49 |  | Red Fang
Only Ghosts
Flies |
| 50 |  | Stiu Nu Stiu
Fake End
Aegna Saar |
| 51 |  | Barishi
Blood from the Lion's Mouth
Master Crossroads, Baron Cemetery |
| 52 |  | Cyborg Octopus
Learning To Breathe
Data_M1nefield |
| 53 |  | Graham Patzner
Ballads
Wheel Of Fate |
| 54 |  | SubRosa
For This We Fought the Battle of Ages
Troubled Cells |
| 55 |  | Black Crown Initiate
Selves We Cannot Forgive
Belie The Machine |
| 56 |  | Asphyx
Incoming Death
Forerunners Of The Apocalypse |
| 57 |  | Aborted
Retrogore
Retrogore |
| 58 |  | Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Getaway
Dark Necessities |
| 59 |  | Anthrax
For All Kings
Monster At The End |
| 60 |  | Navajo Witch
Ghost Sickness
Void |
| 61 |  | Black Tusk
Pillars of Ash
Bleed On Your Knees |
| 62 |  | Obscura
Akróasis
The Monist |
| 63 |  | Dimitree
ID/EGO/SUPEREGO
Persistent Vegetative State |
| 64 |  | Neurosis
Fires Within Fires
Fire Is The End Lesson |
| 65 |  | Candiria
While They Were Sleeping
Mereya |
| 66 |  | Mare Cognitum
Luminiferous Aether
Occulated Temporal Dimensions |
| 67 |  | God Damn
Everything Ever
Oh No |
| 68 |  | In Mourning
Afterglow
The Lighthouse Keeper |
| 69 |  | Defiatory
Extinct
Dogs Of War |
| 70 |  | Aeges
Weightless
Echoes |
| 71 |  | Dunsmuir
Dunsmuir
Our Only Master |
| 72 |  | Alcest
Kodama
Kodama |
| 73 |  | Mustard Gas and Roses
Becoming
Let It Roll |
| 74 |  | Knives Out!
Left In The Lurch
Gomorrah |
| 75 |  | American Head Charge
Tango Umbrella
Perfectionist |
| 76 |  | Serpentine Dominion
Serpentine Dominion
Sovereign Hate |
| 77 |  | Sinsaenum
Echoes of the Tortured
Splendor And Agony |
| 78 |  | Church of Misery
And Then There Were None
Make Them Die Slowly |
| 79 |  | Oathbreaker
Rheia
Second Son Of R. |
| 80 |  | Conan
Revengeance
Throne Of Fire |
| 81 |  | SUMAC
What One Becomes
Blackout |
| 82 |  | Murs and 9th Wonder
Brighter Daze
Otha Fish |
| 83 |  | Crippled Black Phoenix
Bronze
No Fun |
| 84 |  | Necrot
The Labyrinth
Cycle Of Pain |
| 85 |  | Heiress
Made Wrong
Clearing |
| 86 |  | Inter Arma
Paradise Gallows
Potomac |
| 87 |  | Beastwars
The Death of All Things
Devils Of Last Night |
| 88 |  | Megadeth
Dystopia
Fatal Illusion |
| 89 |  | Metallica
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct
Spit Out The Bone |
| 90 |  | Deftones
Gore
Gore
And now we’ve reached the stuff I was excited about or at least wanted to like more.
This was easily one of my most anticipated albums of the year so maybe that’s why it was ultimately disappointing. I think the issue is that I like at least a part of each song but most never gel into cohesiveness. Prayers/Triangles and the title track seem to get the closest but even the outro to the latter is drawn out to annoyingness. After two stellar releases before this, I was expecting better from one of my all-time favorites. |
| 91 |  | Kvelertak
Nattesferd
Nattesferd
Again, another album I couldn’t wait for and maybe the inflated expectations doomed it for me. The production feels too lo-fi and I usually dig that sort of thing. It just doesn’t feel like it fits with their other material. I appreciate the experimentation with song structure but some of it blands out a sound that should be anything but. |
| 92 |  | Anciients
Voice of the Void
Ibex Eye
Don’t get me wrong, this album is actually pretty dang good; It’s easily the best out of my list of disappointments. But it’s hard to judge it when compared to their debut which is FUC-KING DOPE. This one didn’t grab me nearly as hard as ‘Heart Of Oak’ unfortunately. Maybe it’s that the pander is strong here: take the easiest parts of Mastodon and combine with what we all wish Opeth still was. Whatever, I still love Opeth regardless. |
| 93 |  | Russian Circles
Guidance
Mota
Every album they release has heaps of acclaim dumped all over it. I always at the very least enjoy each one but I don’t see much progression from album to album. Getting a little tiresome I guess. This one puts me to slzzzzzzzzz. |
| 94 |  | Helms Alee
Stillicide
Galloping Mind Fuk
I really want to like this band more than I do. They have a unique sound and make interesting music but I found this album hard to get through. Despite featuring two (maybe even three?) vocalists, somehow the singing lacks variation. |
| 95 |  | Take Over And Destroy
Take Over and Destroy
By Knife
Another band I want to like more. I really liked their EP from a few years back but full lengths have left me a bit cold. The horror aspect seems to be drenched in extra cheese this time around and other than the first track, I’m not finding much to hold on to. |
| 96 |  | Bloodiest
Bloodiest
The Widow
I think I had this on in the background while I was at work the day it was released so I didn’t properly listen then. Somehow I decided to buy it and have put it on several times since and just cannot get all the way through. I think Bruce makes pretty interesting music normally, especially with Yakuza, but this is the ultra snore-bore. |
| 97 |  | O'Brother
Endless Light
Deconstruct
Their previous two were pretty great so I had high hopes for this. It starts out strong and then after ‘Complicated End Times’ the band delves into a dragging, plodding, lumbering pace that they don’t recover from. I found their opening set for Dillinger to be laborious too. That’s actually a fairly apt adjective for the music on this album. |
| 98 |  | Amon Amarth
Jomsviking
At Dawn's First Light
Vikings More of Vikings of the Vikings Vikings same Vikings. I don’t know what I expected. |
| 99 |  | Nevermen
Nevermen
Hate On
A case in point for the old adage that most supergroups suck. Probably my least favorite album I heard this year. “Such a pity…” |
| 100 |  | David Bowie
Blackstar
Lazarus
Like that transition?! I just quoted Davie Bowid from Labyrinth! Anyone who’s everyone creamed their jeans about this one even if they weren’t wearing any. And hey, fuck you, I love the man’s music just as much as the next bloke but this didn’t deserve the unwavering, universal, 5 star!, 5 star! praise it received. Y’all would have been, “yeah it’s good” had he not died. A lot of it IS good. Some of it annoying. Most of it just fine…like a 3 fine, not an “ohmygord 5!!!!” If anyone is actually paying attention to this list (probably not) then I assume I just lost all credibility by liking the new American Head Charge album more than this icon’s last one ever. “Who does this fucker think he is?!” David Browie, that’s who, ya dang turkey. |
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