SgtShock's 2015 List
So there's about 2 weeks left in the year but I doubt any gamechangers will pop up. Maybe Baroness' Purple. Anyways, here's yet another year-end list for you. It's almost entirely metal. |
| 15 |  | Mare Infinitum
Alien Monolith God
Haven't seen this one around here too much, but it's definitely worth a listen if you're into doom or sludge. The Cthulu angle has been beaten to death, but with riffs like these, who even cares? Best Track: The Nightmare Corpse-City of R'lyeh |
| 14 |  | Death Grips
The Powers That B - Part II: Jenny Death
Memes be damned. This album captures all of Death grips' ferocity and fires it point blank at your face. It's an amped up version of everything you hate and love about this band. Best Track: On GP |
| 13 |  | Gloryhammer
Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards
Man, I remember hating this one so much. Definitely one of those records you put on ironically to laugh at and then end up falling in love with anyways. Except Universe On Fire. Sincerely, f*** that song. Best Track: Goblin King Of The Darkstorm Galaxy |
| 12 |  | Mgla
Exercises in Futility
I was late to the party on this one, and dayummmm was I missing out. There's a lot of expansions to black metal's sounds as of late but Mgla stick to the genre's core elements and perfect them. So many riffs on this one are absolutely killer. Gonna be firmly rooted on repeat for the rest of this month. Best Track: Exercises in Futility - I |
| 11 |  | Abyssal
Antikatastaseis
Album artwork can tell you a lot about the experience you're about to dive into. Abyssal's latest is no exception; depicting swirling depths of the void through relentless tremolo riffs and suffocating production. While #2 on this list stole the show from this one, it's still one of my most played this year. BEst Track: The Cornucopian. |
| 10 |  | Deafheaven
New Bermuda
It doesn't quite blow me away like Sunbather did a few years back, but it's a great step for them. George Clark shrieks and howls each line with a sense of authority absent from their previous works. There's some sections that don't work, but other than that, New Bermuda delivers. Best Track: Gifts To The Earth |
| 9 |  | Downfall of Nur
Umbras de Barbagia
This stunning debut LP is criminally underrepresented in metal EOTY lists. If you missed out on this record, give it a shot. Damn-good bleak, atmospheric black metal. Best Track: IV: Ashes |
| 8 |  | Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp a Butterfly
What more is there to say about this record? It rules, and I'm officially on the bandwagon. Best Track: King Kunta |
| 7 |  | Ithaca
Trespassers
So yeah, some of the albums on this list have tracks that are longer than this entire EP, but I love it anyways. This is converge-worship done right. Best Track: Otherworldly |
| 6 |  | Rosetta
Quintessential Ephemera
While certainly lacking the sheer amount of scale that the rest of Rosetta's discography usually offers, QE is rewarding in it's own special way. Songs have definitely been trimmed back here and their newest band member took a while to grow on me but now I can't imagine the band without him. Best Track: Untitled III |
| 5 |  | Locrian
Infinite Dissolution
If Liturgy's divisive release scared you away from this type of black metal, give Locrian a shot. While it's certainly not fierce by any means, it's accessible and has a surprising level of depth. Best Track: Heavy Water |
| 4 |  | Izah
Sistere
Should any album be 88 minutes? Did Izah overreach with this one? No matter your answer to these questions, it's hard to deny what Izah has managed to accomplish here. The ambient, building passages in these tracks are so fresh and immersive. While it's true some of the production here is a little off (snare drm cough) I don't even care. Best Track: Sistere |
| 3 |  | Hive Destruction
Hive Destruction
Surprisingly well-executed and smart for a debut, this one I kept coming back to. Each track captures a different element of the post-metal genre with grace and skill. If you're a fan of this type of music, don't sleep on this one. Best Track: Fear Is The Mindkiller |
| 2 |  | Leviathan
Scar Sighted
There's been a lot of praise thrown at this release and it deserves every bit of it. From track one you can tell this album is going to be legitimately terrifying. It's essentially the aural experience of treading water alone in an underwater cave with the knowledge that something massive lurks just below you. Leviathan's succeeds on every front with flying colors. Best Track: All Tongues Toward |
| 1 |  | Panopticon
Autumn Eternal
Roads to the North was an album I really wanted to like last year but had some issues with. Autumn Eternal scatters those to the wind like the dead leaves of it's namesake and has cemented me as a fan of Lunn's work. He really strikes a perfect balance between light and dark with the riffs and sounds he chooses here. Every track stands out for it's own reasons and I would be hard-pressed to say that there was something I didn't like on this masterpiece. Oh, and it's worth mentioning that Lunn is easily one of the most fun and entertaining BM drummers to listen to right now. Best Track - A Superior Lament |
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