2018 Releases Ranked
Just a list with all the releases of 2018 that I somewhat cared about. I will give a description of my rating, favorite songs and the time spent listening to the records (for top 10 at least, also thanks lastfm). |
| 32 |  | Against The Current
Past Lives
Well, I enjoyed the last record but this one tries so hard to be mainstream radio-friendly music with cliche lyrics and stupid choruses that it actually made me kinda aggressive whilst listening to it. 1,5/5
Favorite song: Sweet Surrender |
| 31 |  | Bullet For My Valentine
Gravity
Don't Need You hyped me up, only to completely disappoint me with this record. Not sure what I expected. Half of the album seems to be filler songs. 2/5
Favorite songs: Don't Need You; Breathe Underwater |
| 30 |  | Machine Head
Catharsis
Ugh, well, Not great, apart from some nice riffs. 2/5
Favorite songs: Triple Beam; Razorblade Smile |
| 29 |  | Eyes Set to Kill
Eyes Set to Kill
Not even sure why I decided to give this record a listen, because I did not care about ESTK since their earlier stuff, which I really enjoy though. This record however was not that enjoyable and most of it rather uninspired, whithout memorable parts or emotional lyrics that you could relate to. 2,5/5
Favorite songs: Saved You With a Lie; Survive |
| 28 |  | Parkway Drive
Reverence
Oh boi, Wishing Wells made me excited for this one, but it seems we won't get a heavy sounding Parkway Drive back. Lots of this record seemed boring and forgettable to me and this record continues the downwards trend for this band. 2,5/5
Favorite songs: Wishing Wells; Absolute Power |
| 27 |  | Letdown
Till Now
Expected to get a full length from these guys after their last EP, but this EP seems like a step down and I wonder if they will release some great stuff in the future or not. 3/5
Favorite song: Downcast |
| 26 |  | CrazyEightyEight
Burning Alive
I expected to like this record more than I did in the end. Not sure why I can't get into this that much, might be because there are lots of quiet songs/parts on this one, which make even the heavier songs not that enjoyable for me. 3/5
Favorite songs: Tears in Rain; Nitroglycerin; I Am Tetsuo |
| 25 |  | THE FEVER 333
Made An America
New project from letlive. singer Jason Butler and it gives me Rage Against The Machine vibes with a modern twist. Overall a little experimetal, but it makes me happy to hear some screams out of Jason again, overall nice to listen to. 3/5
Favorite songs: Made An America; (The First Stone) Changes |
| 24 |  | Victorius
Dinosaur Warfare - Legend of the Power Saurus
Dinosaurs. In Space. With lasers. A pretty fun listen, even though it is power metal. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Legend of the Power Saurus; Dinosaur Warfare |
| 23 |  | Secrets
Secrets
This record seems like a step up from the last one and is probably their heaviest since their debut, making this a very interesting listen, because the cleanest clean vocals ever come together with some great breakdowns. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Chemical Reaction; Mouth Breather; Five Years |
| 22 |  | Moose Blood
I Don't Think I Can Do This Anymore
This record also has some of the best Moose Blood songs on it, but overall the title of it kinda represents the mood of a lot of the songs. They are not that inspired like earlier works and the lyrics seem kind of repetetive at times. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: All the Time; Such A Shame; Pull Me From The Floor |
| 21 |  | Mayday Parade
Sunnyland
Although there are some great songs on this record I feel like this is a step down from their last record 'Black Lines', which changed the usual sound of Mayday parade up quite a bit, while this one seems to be the take it safe approch, therefore making this record less memorable. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Looks Red, Tastes Blue; Piece Of Your Heart; It's Hard to Be Religious When Certain People Are Never Incinerated by Bolts of Lightning |
| 20 |  | Circus Of Fools
REX
A pretty good record from real-life friends of mine. Felt like this was a substantial step forward form their last record and the addition of the new singer really helped to make songs like 'Watch Me' memorable. Seeing them live at their release show was also really impressive. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Watch Me; Fallen Paradise; Testimony of an Ignorant Prick |
| 19 |  | Petal
Magic Gone
Has its lows and highs, at points it was just too quiet for me, I guess, since she did not always used the full potential of her voice, which makes half of the record more forgettable, for me at least. On the other side songs like 'Stardust' or 'I'm Sorry' are incredible. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Stardust; Magic Gone; I'm Sorry |
| 18 |  | Mire Lore
Marrow Leech
Another nasty Deathcore record with really slow and really fast paced parts with filthy vocals. The drum-machine drumming might be a little overdone at parts, so it makes your brain melt when you listen to it with too much bass. Overall pretty solid debut. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Marrow Leech; Summoning |
| 17 |  | Dance Gavin Dance
Artificial Selection
As always with DGD there are some songs that I really, really enjoy, but then there are also those songs that I really dislike (e.g. 'The Rattler'), which makes this album yet another good one, but not amazing. Also, these clean vocals are sick as usual. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Midnight Crusade; Count Bassy; Evaporate; Flash; Care |
| 16 |  | Pale Waves
My Mind Makes Noises
Overall also a pretty good record which stayed under its potential due to being a little too long. I feel like some songs like 'One More Time', 'Drive' or 'She' could have been left out. Nonetheless most of it is enjoyable and catchy, but still not too pop-driven. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Television Romance; Noises; Came In Close |
| 15 |  | Black Tongue
Nadir
Mixing some Deathcore and Doom together, to get slow and nasty breakdowns - nice. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Second Death; The Cathedral; Abuse Ritual |
| 14 |  | The Wonder Years
Sister Cities
Had a hard time with this record, it has a very melancholic, gloomy note to it, which I usually like, but it lacks the usual energetic parts that made earlier songs so enjoyable and relatable. So, overall I was kind of disappointed with this record, although it is by no means bad, it might also have come out at the wrong time of the year, might have been better to release it at the end of autumn or something.
Favorite songs: It Must Get Lonely; Heaven's Gate; The Ocean Grew Hands to Hold Me |
| 13 |  | Hot Mulligan
Pilot
Finally got a full length record out of these guys and it is pretty good for a debut. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: How Do You Know It's Not Armadillo Shells; All You Wanted By Michelle Branch |
| 12 |  | Like Pacific
In Spite of Me
Great follow up record to their debut, I think they have not released one bad song overall, although parts of this record seemed forgettable, that's why it is not further up. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Self Deafeated; In Spite of me, Consider Me |
| 11 |  | Hollow Prophet & Scumfuck
Scumprophet
Filthy vocals, but overall a little too chaotic for me to be top tier. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Scumprophet; Voracious Human Grubs |
| 10 |  | Behemoth
I Loved You at Your Darkest
Pretty good record, has its low points tho. I also don't enjoy Behemoths black-metal style that much, maybe because it is too chaotic for me, not sure. 3,5/5
Favorite songs: Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica; Rom 5:8
Time spent listening: ~10 hours |
| 9 |  | Beartooth
Disease
A step up from their last record, which I did not really enjoy, this record seems to be even with their debut 'Disgusting'. 4/5
Favorite songs: Bad Listener; Used and Abused; Clever
Time spent listening: ~9 hours |
| 8 |  | Marmozets
Knowing What You Know Now
At first this record was way too experimental for me, especially vocal-wise, although after I saw them live and how Becca was able to hit even the weirdest notes, I quickly changed my mind about this record. 4/5
Favorite songs: Major System Error; Habits; New Religion
Time spent listening: ~26 hours |
| 7 |  | Acrania (UK)
Tyrannical Hierarchy: Vol 1
Insanely filthy vocals. Great highs, great lows, insane pig squeals and on top of that great lyrical content. What else can you wish for? 4/5
Favorite songs: Exterminate the Liberated; Gagged With Propaganda
Time spent listening: ~4 hours |
| 6 |  | Skeletonwitch
Devouring Radiant Light
Another great black metal album, not sure how I got introduced to it, but it sure is a well executed record. 4/5
Favorite songs: Fen of Shadows; The Luminous Sky; Sacred Soil
Time spent listening: ~13 hours |
| 5 |  | Happy Accidents
Everything But The Here And Now
Saw them live as opener for Tiny Moving Parts and therefore started listening to their setlist beforehand and their music fit right into my love for emo/pop-punk. Their energy on-stage was also impressive and they seemed genuine. Keep up the great work! 4/5
Favorite songs: Act Naturally; Wait It Out; Different Views; Text Me When You're Home
Time spent listening: ~10 hours |
| 4 |  | Senses Fail
If There Is Light, It Will Find You
Senses Fail was the band that got me into 'heavier' music in the first place (besides A Day To Remember), but I did was not really able to get into their newer works that came after 'Life Is Not A Waiting Room'. I was pleasently surprised that this record sounded much more like the old stuff that I was obsessed with. Furthermore I think the lyrical content has matured a lot since then, which made these tracks even better. 4/5
Favorite songs: First Breath, Last Breath; Elevator to the Gallows; Stay What You Are
Time spent listening: ~7 hours |
| 3 |  | Tiny Moving Parts
Swell
At first I wasn't really into this album, but it grew on me when I prepared myself to see them live, which was a great experience. Super nice guys as well, but I still feel like this is a step down from their previous record 'Celebrate' 4/5
Favorite songs: Wishbone; Warm Hand Splash; Whale Watching
Time spent listening: ~19 hours |
| 2 |  | Harakiri for the Sky
Arson
First record I really payed attention to from them and it blew me away to be honest. The depressive lyrics and overall concept of this record work very well together. 4,5/5
Favorite songs: Tomb Omnia; The Graves We've Dug; Heroin Waltz
Time spent listening: ~14 hours |
| 1 |  | Architects
Holy Hell
Really powerful lyrics, great vocals and some nasty breakdowns. Glad I finally gave Architects a chance again, after not being able to get into their earlier albums. 4,5/5
Favorite songs: Holy Hell; Doomsday; Modern Misery
Time spent listening: ~13 hours |
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