teamster's top 25 for 2017
Hell, I will join the party. Was very hard to narrow down to 25. Great year for metal for me. |
| 1 |  | Au-Dessus
End of Chapter
Regarde Les Hommes Tomber really got me started on this blackened sludge/post black kick. This is some of the heaviest yet most beautiful music I have heard in while. The layered guitar work is flawless. |
| 2 |  | Viscera
3 | Release Yourself Through Desperate Rituals
The grindcore elements flourish seamlessly with the black, post and sludge elements. Each of the 5 songs are very different and distinguishable. |
| 3 |  | Slowdive
Slowdive
My first experience with the band. The aura and atmosphere are clean and in most purist form of ethereal compositions. Now I must check out their entire discography. |
| 4 |  | Echoes (UK)
Cornerstone
A late find, anything sounding like Hands or Everything In Slow Motion gets my undivided attention. A diligent mixture of post hardcore and alternative rock soundscapes, this is a very emotional album. |
| 5 |  | Fen
Winter
Arguably my favorite band on the planet, I was a bit skeptical of this album through the first couple spins. After many more I realized a stripped down, more straight black metal approach isn't such a bad thing. |
| 6 |  | Sarin
Darker Lakes
Thanks to Pistol Pete for reminding me about this band. I really enjoyed their previous album, Burial Dream. Darker Lakes picks up where Burial Dream left off and still fills the void in my heart where Isis was. |
| 7 |  | Celeste
Infidele(s)
Another blackened sludge/post black masterpiece. Somewhat melodic and yet dissonant, Infidele(s) stretches the boundaries and creates a brutal and unforgiving landscape. |
| 8 |  | The Death Of Money
Ghost Pains
When I listen to this album I stare into space, cherishing every last second of the post-y droning, even-keeled cadence of the songs. I soak in the anguish from singers voice, feel his pain. Shivers my friends, shivers. |
| 9 |  | Hundredth
Rare
I haven't listened to any of the bands previous stuff. From what I gathered this album sounds nothing like their other albums. Too bad, because Rare is a terrific dark, shoe-gazy album. |
| 10 |  | Opium Eater
ENNUI
Another late find in 2017. An ambitious effort consisting of many sub genres. Post metal at its heart but also featuring progressive, post rock and sludge/doom. Yes, it will all make sense. |
| 11 |  | Hubris
Apocryphal Gravity
Best post rock album I listened to this year. Makes me feel like I am in outer space. Expansive soundscapes and perfect synchronization of thick interludes and meticulous crescendos. The electronics are outstanding. |
| 12 |  | Cranial
Dark Towers, Bright Lights
A massive wall of sound surrounds the intricate details in this crushing and raw post metal album. Heavy when it needs to be, delicate when it wants to be, the sheer power and intensity is captivating. |
| 13 |  | Lodz
Time Doesn't Heal Anything
I've seen this described as "light post metal", melancholic and atmospheric. How profound. All I know is the glossy production and emotional vibes beaming from this album are lustrous and puts a smile on my face every time I listen. |
| 14 |  | Another Heaven
I: You Are Loved
Thanks to UniqueUniverse for putting this on the Sputnik radar. The most unique (heh) sounding album I heard this year. Combines shoegaze, sludge, doom, punk into one fluid mixture. Somehow, through solid song writing, it works. |
| 15 |  | Lento
Fourth
First full length album from this underrated post/sludge metal band since 2012. Densely orchestrated and non-linear songwriting are features that mark this album a triumphant return. |
| 16 |  | Sunrot
Sunnata
Noise, sludge, doom are the main facets of the music. The hazy and analog sounding production just adds to the overall brooding atmosphere. An atmosphere filled with chaos, bedlam and mayhem. |
| 17 |  | Spotlights
Seismic
Heavy and layered down-tuned guitars, deep bass and gloomy, abstract song structures are the hallmarks on this dreamy, gazey but stern release. This will hold me over just fine till Lantlôs's new album. |
| 18 |  | Guantanamo Party Program
III
Simple and uncomplicated post metal with a pinch of noise and sludge. Sometimes I don't want to think when listening to music. I just want to enjoy riffs and addictive melodies. III is the perfect antidote. |
| 19 |  | YLVA
M E T A
Reminds me of early CoL. A sound that's firmly rooted in sludge metal, and sometimes veers towards the post side of that spectrum. But on the whole YLVA seem a bit more expansive, slower, more deliberate. |
| 20 |  | Foscor
Les Irreals Visions
First time with this band too. They were a traditional black metal band before this album. Hard to believe because there isn't much black found here. Proggy with some post black metal moments vibrant with up-beat tones and alternative flavor. |
| 21 |  | Redshift Pilots
Moonlight Synthesis
This album would probably end up higher on the list if there was more time in 2017. Extremely hard to digest; I have spun this many times trying to figure out what kind of music this is. That's the great thing about music - sometimes the greatest quality is the unknown, discovering for yourself, hearing it the way YOU want to. |
| 22 |  | HEIR
Au peuple de l'abîme
Devastating post black metal. Hardcore and sludge prevail as well. A beautiful fusion of everything I like in my metal. The production is what makes the music stand alone on its own merits. |
| 23 |  | Sundran
Sundran
I asked a couple of friends of mine to genre-tag this and told them "good luck". Atmospheric black metal without the bleak production is what I could come up with. Slow, distorted passages and breakneck blackened fast lanes with the occasional tremolo picked guitar sequences. Very melodic sounding too. |
| 24 |  | Impure Wilhelmina
Radiation
In light of Katatonia's recent hiatus announcement, I suggest to you a nice substitute. Radiation will fill all your nocturnal alternative needs. Glistening song structures, perfect production and solid instrumentation and vocals. |
| 25 |  | Hark
Machinations
Anciients last album, Voice Of The Void really blew me away. The only album I could find in 2017 resembling it's stature is Machinations. Sludge/stoner metal done right. Complex musically and lyrically yet fun. |
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