Top Tiggidy Ten Of Two Thousand Eleven

The time has come, good ladies and gentlefolk of the internet, for me to push up my sleeves, furrow my brow and tippidy-tap out my annual 'This is the shit that I thought was the best thing my ears heard this year' list. I'd convinced myself at some point that 2011 had been a pretty shitty year for music, and thought I was really going to struggle to even find ten albums that came out this year that I enjoyed, let along that I thought were worth me spending my precious time waxing lyrical about. And then I had a scroll through my ipod and realised that, a) Actually, a bunch of awesome shit came out this year, and b) I'm a dumb twat for failing to acknowledge this on memory alone.

What follows is maybe a slightly more varied list than last year, if only for the fact that a couple of the albums contained within AREN'T METAL. I know, shock horror, right? Anyone that reads my increasingly-sporadically-updated blog (aka no-one) should know by now that though my veins do pump molten steel around my blackened, icy heart, I have an occasional desire to listen to music that isn't all about how severely it can smash your testes into a fine paste. It is with that little warning that I present to you....

DOUGIE DIAMOND'S TOP MOTHERFUCKING TEN ALBUMS OF 2011, MOTHERFUCKER.

Cave In - 'White Silence'

Of course this was going to be here. Cave In, along with another musical troupe who shall be featured later on in this list, have been consistently one of my favourite bands for the best part of the last decade. Unlike many who have deserted them at various points because of their constant stylistic evolution, I have been not only a fan of, but dedicated slave to each and every release Cave In have ever sent forth, and 'White Silence', the band's first proper full length since 05's 'Perfect Pitch Black', is no exception. I approached the album assuming that 09's comeback e.p. 'Planets Of Old' would give some sort of indication as to the musical approach Cave In would be employing, and as ever managed to be completely wrong-footed and immediately dumbfounded by what was spewing from my headphones. Beginning with the stark, lo-fi title track and never ceasing, 'White Silence' reshapes the Cave In sound into bold new forms. 'Serpents' and 'Vicious Circles' are two of the most, well, vicious things the band has ever committed to tape, and though not 'metal' in the same way 'Until Your Heart Stops' was, these songs tear at your ears with nasty, stabbing guitars and Caleb Schofield's now legendary roars. 'Summit Fever' has one of Cave In's biggest riffs since, err, 'Big Riff' and 'Iron Decibels' brings some of Adam McGrath's Clouds side-project's jerky stoner-isms into play, and both 'Heartbreaks, Earthquakes' and 'Reanimation' show off Stephen Brodsky's knack for woozy, almost Beatles-esqe balladry. The true centrepiece of the album is undoubtedly 'Sing My Loves', and 8-plus minute powerhouse of droning beauty, shimmering guitars and soaring vocals. It's the song of the record and one of the best of Cave In's career. I've mused in the past that each member of the band took a recognisable chunk of the Cave In sound with them into each of their respective side projects and elaborated on them. 'White Silence' is what happened when these now fully explored and matured ingredients got thrown back into the mix together, and it is as glorious a concoction as anyone could ever hope for/expect from this incredible band.

Key track: 'Sing My Loves'

Havok - 'Time Is Up'

I could pretty much describe this album with three simple words - THRASH FUCKING METAL. I toyed with plopping Revocation's latest 'Chaos Of Forms' on this list, and there are definitely plenty of reasons to argue it's inclusion here, but the pure and simple fact remains that out of the few balls-out thrash albums I heard this year, 'Time Is Up' rips the hardest, makes me want to get drunk the fastest, and kicks arse with more panache than any other. Havok could quite easily find themselves lumped in with the myriad of Municipal Waste clones that have popped up in the last 5 years or so, but that would be incredibly disrespectful of just how much they is NOT that kind of band. Though on the surface it's the same white hi-tops and Pabst Blue Ribbon-chugging party thrash, Havok are in many respects the Megadeth to Waste's Anthrax, both lyrically and musically. Take album highlight and new single 'D.O.A.' - structurally it is far more complex than your average D.R.I wannabe could ever hope to deal with, and the lyrics are a gut-punchingly sober anti-drink-driving tale. The song also has some of the gnarliest thrash riffs I've heard in forever, and a pitch-perfect replication of Tom Araya's 'Angel Of Death' scream. Sounds killer, right? It is. The entire album is a fast, aggressive and oh so headbangable love note to the glory days of thrash, yet always sounds contemporary, and anyone who loves fast, dick-smashing metal should cram this down their Christmas stocking.

Key Track: 'D.O.A.'

Trap them - 'Darker Handcraft'

I'm going to be totally lazy here because I already wrote about this album a few months ago not long after it came out, so if you really need to know why I think it's awesome have a scroll down a few posts and go nuts. Needless to say months down the line I still listen to this album lots (I have it blasting away right now as a matter of fact), it still kicks my fucking teeth in and makes me want to break shit.

Key Track: 'Every Walk A Quarantine'

Bon Iver - 'Bon Iver'

And so we reach the first of my 'not metal' entries. Bon Iver is an artist whose name has hovered around in the corners of my peripheral vision for a good while now, but it took until this year for me to actually indulge in Justin Vernon's particular brand of heartfelt, sweeping alt-folk. 'For Emma, Forever Ago' and 'Blood Bank' both struck a chord with me right away, coming off as very warm and sincere without ever sounding hokey or cliched, which this kind of twangy acoustic-based music often can, so it was with great interest that I approached the band's sophomore, eponymous full length. And make no mistake, where as 'For Emma..' and 'Blood Bank' were the works of a sole auteur, 'Bon Iver' sounds, and feels, like the product of a real band. In many respects this is the record that Band Of Horses should have made instead of the crushingly disappointing 'Infinite Arms' - rather than the folky acoustic twang of old, 'Bon Iver' is full of eclectic (and electric) post-country mastery, his theatrical side taking centre stage as strings swell and lush band orchestratrions burst forth all over the place. From the delicate opener 'Perth' to the synth-soaked, prom-night glory of closer 'Beth/Rest', this album is a triumph of ambition and heart.

Key track: 'Beth/Rest'

The Chariot - 'Long Live'

Chaos. It's a word that gets thrown around a lot when describing metal and hardcore music, and yet few, if any bands have proven themselves to embody the pure spirit of this word more than The Chariot. I'll be honest, though I adored the band's first two full lengths ('04's 'Everything Is Alive, Everything Is Breathing, Nothing Is Dead, Nothing Is Bleeding' and 06's 'The Fiancee'), The Chariot's last album 'Wars And Rumors Of Wars' completely passed me by. I'm not sure how or why this happened - probably just a case of me being on some other musical trip at the time, but it did and so when it came to wrapping my ears around 'Long Live', I had neither much in the way of expectations or particular excitement. What a silly boy I'd been. Listening to 'Long Live' is something akin to how I imagine it would feel to be standing in the centre of a swimming pool then having a hundred active toasters dropped into it. Frenzied guitar lines fly around at dangerous velocities, drums judder and stab and in Josh Scogin, The Chariot have one of the most charismatic and loose-cannon frontment in the entire metalcore world. Highlights of the album include the spoken word infused assault of 'David De La Hoz' (which also has what could be one of the coolest music videos ever created), and the epic 'The City', which goes from mangled thrash into a vocal-only breakdown into the most anthemic chorus of the band's career. I caught The Chariot live earlier this year and it was without a doubt the most breathtaking display of sheer musical recklessness I've ever witnessed, and 'Long Live' is the closest attempt yet at capturing the spectacle on tape. Long Live Chaos.

Key track: 'The City'

Skeletonwitch - 'Forever Abomination'

Ah Skeletonwitch, my dear old friends. Even though they are obviously known the world over at this point, have toured (both as support and headliners) many well known acts, and released 3 full-lengths on high-profile label Prosthetic, they still feel kind like, y'know, MY band. Since 'Beyond The Permafrost' blew my mind way back in '07, I've held Skeletonwitch close to my heart. So it was pretty damn disappointing when I heard the first couple of preview tracks from 'Forever Abomination' and felt...nothing. Sure, it still sounded like the same blackened thrash I'd loved for the past 4 years, but it just didn't click the way it used to. I almost didn't even pick up the album when it was released because I didn't think I could stand the notion of a shitty Skeletonwitch record. In the end I gave it the benefit of the doubt because I'm just that nice a guy, and thank the horned one below that I did; 'Forever Abomination' may be the greatest achievement in the band's career yet, certainly the most focused and tightest (thanks in no small part to the addition of former Demiricous drummer Dustin Boltjes). The songs that had previously left a bad taste in my mouth now made perfect sense within the context of the album at large, and the whole thing left me with that heartwarming glow that you can only ever get from a savage, face-melting thrash album.

Key track: 'Reduced To the Failure Of Prayer'

Death Cab For Cutie - 'Codes And Keys'

Ben Gibbard has made quite a career for himself turning heartbreak and emotional anguish into fodder for sunny pop-rock anthems. 'Codes And Keys' thus became quite an anomaly instantly upon it's release, being that the lyrical content featured within actually matched the warm and uplifting nature of Death Cab's music for the first time ever. I guess marrying one of the most desirable women in the world will do that to one's general disposition. However, fears that finally finding romantic bliss would destroy Gibbard, and indeed DCFC's mojo are completely unfounded, as 'Codes And Keys' is as glorious a collection of songs as the band has ever produced. Sure, the band have almost completely left behind their quirky indie-rock foundings, but elitist whingers be damned, this is glossy pop-rock of the finest order. From the grand, bouncy singles 'You Are A Tourist' and 'Underneath the Sycamore' to the delicate electronic-tinged 'Unobstructed Views' and triumphant closer 'Stay Young, Go Dancing', 'Codes And Keys' is a pleasure. The album has since gained an unintentional air of melancholy as news recently escaped that Bed Gibbard and Zooey Deschanel have actually seperated, but if you can ignore that 'Codes And Keys' is a wonderful love letter to love itself.

Key track: 'St Peter's Cathedral'

Oathbreaker - 'Maelstrom'

At this point in time it's hard to expect anything other than excellence from a record if it comes with a Deathwish Inc logo stamped on it. Jacob Bannon knows his hardcore (how could you not being the frontman of one of it's leading lights Converge for 20 years), and pretty much everything that his label puts out is at least reliable, most of the time outstanding. It is definitely the latter category that Oathbreaker fit into. I heard this band a couple of years ago after picking up their debut 7" on Leeds-based trendsetters Thirty Days Of Night, and was instantly blown away by their ragged blend of hardcore, metal and thrash. 'Maelstrom' picks up everything about that e.p. and dials it up to 11; thundering d-beats, cataclismic riffs and frontwoman Caro Tanghe's enraged bellows mesh together to form a punishing aural assault. It's an easy and possibly lazy comparison to make, but the band come off as a more punk-rock version of departed thrashers Light This City (also a female-fronted act), with the melodic At The Gates-isms replaced by an Entombed-meets-Converge hardcore attack. Oathbreaker recontly came to the UK and played only 2 shows, neither of which were in London, the bastards. If anyone would like to book them a tour with Trap Them next year I think that would be very nice indeed.

Key track: 'Origin'

The Black Dahlia Murder - 'Ritual'

It continues to astound me the number of sloppy music journalists that lump The Black Dahlia Murder in with the ever-expanding 'deathcore' scene. I appreciate that they appeared around the same time that said scene was finding it's feet and have toured with many of those bands, but aside from the fact that they don't all have long hair and the singer wears glasses (shock horror!), there is nothing about The BDM that isn't straight up melodic death metal. 'Ritual' not only proves this with aplomb, but pretty much perfects it. A controversial opinion this may be, and I'm sure a very large number of people would have me hanged for saying it (if more than about 3 people read my blog to begin with), but for me 'Ritual' is the most important, and best, melodic death metal album since 'Slaughter Of The Soul'. Not one second of playtime is wasted, every song has a strong identity of its own without ever straying from The BDM's signature sound, and most importantly the whole thing makes me want to bang my fucking head real hard. The playing on 'Ritual' surpasses everything the band has ever committed to record before, Ryan Knight having now completely cemented both his place in The BDM and as one of the leading lights of the modern metal world, his leads coming across as both mind-blowingly shreddy and incredibly memorable, no mean feat for any guitar player and yet one he seems to handle with ease. I could go into a detailed account of exactly why each song kicks balls in, but why spoil the experience of just hearing it? Buy the album you fucking fool.

Key track: 'Carbonised In Cruciform'

Mastodon - 'The Hunter'

Yeah, like no-one saw that coming. Mastodon are, along with Cave In, one of my absolute favourite bands of all time. Like Cave In, they have pretty much never released a bad record (as long as we ignore that Jonah Hex e.p., shhhhhhh), and also like Cave In they have chosen 2011 to put out what may be their most ambitious and daring album yet. 'Hang On!', you may scream, 'Crack the Skye was a far more ambitious venture! The Hunter is full of 4 minute 'pop' songs and has no overreaching concept tying the whole shabang together! Shenanegans, I cry!'. To which I would reply - EXACTLY. Mastodon have thus far made a career for themselves releasing highbrow concept albums, broadening in both narrative scope and progressive musical flair with each successive release, culminating in '09's mind-bending masterpiece 'Crack the Skye'. That Mastodon chose not to try to top this stellar achievement with an even bigger concept and even longer songs and instead busted out a 13-track, 50 minute collection of thematically disjointed smashers was not only a bold move, it was really the best thing they could have done. No longer shackled by the larger concept, 'The Hunter' features some of Mastodon's most sonically diverse work to date, and as such is a much richer record that never gives itself time to become stale or boring. Tracks like 'Black Tongue' and 'Spectrelight' bring back the heavy in a way not heard since '04's breakthrough album 'Leviathan', while 'Octopus Has No Friends' and 'Blasteroid' inject a poppy, almost Torche-esque melody into their trademark sound. And in 'The Creature Lives', Mastodon have written maybe the most twistedly brilliant song of their lives - an epic ode to the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Some people hoped Mastodon would make another 'Remission', some wanted 'Crack The Skye part 2', what we got was neither and yet more than either of those. It's probably their greatset achievement yet, no matter what the prog-heads would have you believe.

Key track: 'Octopus Has No Friends'

There we have it. There aren't any pictures in the post because I tried that and it made the file size too big and blogger didn't like that. Blah. Whatever. Before I depart this life for the next (or just, t'know, do something else), I feel that few more albums deserve something of a mention, albums that have been omitted from the main list because they came out before 2011 and I'm just slow on the uptake sometimes. 'Goner' by Early Graves and 'Lichtlaerm' by Alpinist are a pair of throat-grabbing, pissed-off-as-fuck hardcore records that everyone with a taste for music that makes you wee yourself a little bit should be listening to. Early Graves sound like Cursed, but almost more angry (if that's possible), and Alpinist are a less doomy counterpart to the blackened hardcore of The Secret. They both rule your ass. Finally, probably the album I listened to the most all year was '09's 'At The Dream's Edge' by one-man wunderkind Chimpspanner. Seriously, this album is so good it makes me want to do a little cry just thinking about it. There are plenty of 'bands' around doing this kind of instrumental tech-prog thing, from CloudKicker to Animals As Leaders, yet whilst plenty of them have the musical chops, not one of them knows their way around an actual SONG like Chimpspanner. The 13 tracks on this album aren't just 5 minute chunks of 'look-what-I-can-do', but actual songs with memorable structures and hooks. Not that CS is any less technically impressive than his peers - he's pretty much Vince DiCola with an 8-string Ibanez. If anyone should be soundtracking the modern Transformers movies, it's Paul Ortiz. Oh, by the way, 'Under One Sky' = best song I heard all year, bar none.

See you next year chumps.

DDxx

Pre-emptive Strike

Yeah, I know I know, it's been about 3 million years since I last wrote anything here. Like anyone gives a shit, I'm fairly sure I'm the only cunt who reads this anyway. Whatever. 2011 is only just over a month away from being over and done with, which obviously means it's almost time for me to round up my best-of-year albums and write some junk about them. But that time isn't quite here yet. This here post is just a little primer of what you can expect from the full thing when I get round to it, so without further ado, we have what currently stand as contenders for my almighty top ten:

All Pigs Must Die - 'God Is War'
Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory - 'Portal 2: Songs To Test By'
Between The Buried And Me - 'The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues'
The Black Dahlia Murder - 'Ritual'
Bon Iver - 'Bon Iver'
Cave In - 'White Silence'
The Chariot - 'Long Live'
Death Cab For Cutie - 'Codes And Keys'
Helms Alee - 'Weatherhead'
Mastodon - 'The Hunter'
Oathbreaker - 'Maelstrom'
Revocation - 'Chaos Of Forms'
Rotten Sound - 'Cursed'
Skeletonwitch - 'Forever Abomination'
Trap Them - 'Darker Handcraft'
Tombs - 'Path Of Totality'

There are a bunch of albums I've yet to check out that came out this year that I'm gunna try my darndest to cram in my ears before December is out, so expect Coliseum, Justice, Feist, Wolves In The Throne Room, Saviours, Cloudkicker and who knows what else to join the list above. I should probably also point out that some of the best shit I heard this year is stuff from the last year or two, so bands like Early Graves, Alpinist and Chimpspanner will be getting some better-late-than-never love.

See you fuckers in a month
DDxx

The infernal return?

So, it appears that it has taken me a month and a half to actually follow up on my previous post, and all I have to say on the matter is: meh? What are you gunna do, cry about it? I thought not. I've had other shit to do, albeit not particularly important or taxing shit, but nevertheless, blogging about heavy metal records has taken something of a backseat in my mind. Yet here I am, stuck at work serving absolutely no-one on a glorious bank holiday, so what better way to waste my time than on here. Whoopie fucking doo.

Anyway, so a few bands I like have put out new records in the last couple of months, and as an anonymous non-entity on this world wide web of ours, I obviously feel that it's my duty to tell you if they suck or not. First up to the plate is 'The Human Romance', the latest offering from Washington D.C.'s favourite Gothenburg-apeing thrash titans Darkest Hour. I've always been a huge, slobber-running-down-my-chin kinda DH fan, and as such approach each record with high expectations, and it pains me to report that 'The Human Romance' is a big step down from 09's 'The Eternal Return'. It's not an inherently bad record - far from it - but the influence of producer Peter Wichers (of Soilwork fame) is so overwhelming it's at points hard to defferentiate this record from any number of generic-sounding At The Gates-lite swill. When Darkest Hour thrash out, they do it with a skill and panache almost untouched by anyone else, but so very rarely does 'The Human Romance' break out of a mid-paced, latter-day In Flames-esque plod that my boiling frustration almost causes my head to evaporate into a cloud of claret steam. It's not all dreary, mind: opener (kinda) 'The World Engulfed In Flames' is a fast, punchy number that gets the head nodding with no trouble, and closer 'Beyond The Life You Know' is a flat out DH classic, all breakneck melodic death and anthemic choruses. It's just the bland mush that makes up the middle of this particular thrash-sandwich that I find so hard to swallow. What happened guys? Better luck next time.

Next up, Trap Them, modern day heroes of all that is crust and grindworthy, return with 'Darker Handcraft', their 3rd full-length and first for new label Prosthetic. TT are a band I've grown to love very much over the last couple of years - their D-Beat infused grind/hardcore hybrid helped kick off a fascination in crust that has yet to die down, and 'Darker Handcraft' may be one of the greatest examples of the entire movement I've yet to clap my grotty lugholes on yet. For the most part Trap Them have eschewed the ferocious blast-beat laden attacks of yesteryear and have developed their sound into a groovier, Entombed-esque rock and roll nightmare. 'Damage Prose' kicks off the album with a barrage of face-peeling riffs, hammering drums and Ryan McKenney's trademark tortured howls. It is literally one of the best opening tracks I've heard in a long time and sets the mood perfectly for what is already likely to be one of my albums of the year. I had the pleasure of seeing Trap Them live a couple of weeks ago and 'Darker Handcraft' perfectly captures the nerve-shredding terror the band incites on the stage. I could not reccommend this record enough, as long as you like your music charred to a crisp and served with a teaspoon of regurgitated stomach acid.

I just can't make my mind up about Protest the Hero's latest opus 'Scurrilous'. It has everything going for it that made the band's last album 'Fortress' so awesome - soaring vocals, pin-sharp shredding, ever-twisting songwriting dexterity. And yet, something's amiss, some un-quantifiable factor that I'm unable to put my finger on. Maybe it's that every song on the album reaches a mid-paced gallop and stays there - gone are the high-octane thrash-outs of times gone past. Now I know PTH are hardly a 'thrash' band, but for me at least this aspect of their sound is sorely missed on 'Scurrilous'. Otherwise it's business as usual here. Not amazing, not terrible. Meh.


Oh Between The Buried And Me, how you doth spoil us. Despite being a good year-and-a-half since 'The Great Misdirect' came out, it feels like the band's new e.p. 'The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues' appeared out of nowhere. After finally breaking free from their contract with long-time label and mediocre hardcore purveyors Victory Records, BTBAM have returned refreshed with the backing of 'far more reputable label' Metal Blade and a stonker of an e.p. 'The Parallax...' is 30 minutes of furiously inventive progressive metal, but anyone expecting anything otherwise obviously doesn't know BTBAM very well. Throwing more ideas into each song (all 3 of which average 10 minutes) than 99% of bands manage in an entire career, this e.p. is apparantly part 1 of a conceptual saga to be concluded later this year with a full-length album. I'll be waiting with baited breath.

And finally, we have the (sort-of) return of Atlanta's favourite sons, Mastodon. 'Live At The Aragon' is, as you might have gathered, a live album, so there's not actually any new music here for me to write about. But I fucking love Mastodon, and I'm not going to miss an opportunity to wax lyrical about their endeavours. I got to see The 'Don on the London leg of the 'Crack The Skye' tour (of which's Chicago date makes for the meat of 'LATA') and it was nothing short of mesmerising. It's become quite a popular trend in recent years for bands to perform entire albums live, but with 'Crack The Skye' there was really little other option - it is just one of those records that exists as a complete work and splitting it up into chunks would be nothing but detrimental to the material. As is evidenced on the DVD portion here, Mastodon really decided to fucking 'bring it' on this tour, with outlandish psychedelic projections acting as a visual interpretation of the crackpot 'story' being told in the album's lyrics, all in a very Tool-esque fashion. Beyond the performance of the album as a whole (which is immaculate throughout, strained vocal harmonies nonwithstanding), Mastodon also wheeled out some tried and tested classics as an encore. I can't help but be puzzled by the omission of the final one-two punch of 'Iron Tusk' and 'March Of The Fire Ants' (as were performed at the date I saw them) and their replacement with the band's staple live cover of The Melvins' 'The Bit'. But hey, what do I know, as history has proved time and time again, Mastodon do what the fuck they want, whenever they want. Anyway, I'm babbling. 'Live At The Aragon' is a fucking killer live album/DVD. So buy it.

There we go, doesn't that feel better. A day well wasted at work, a few more opinions that no-one wanted clogging up the interwebs, and now I have a much emptier head to re-fill with cold beer and dreams of wizards. Until next time motherfuckers. DDxx

Lazy

I am well aware that it has been almost 3 months since my last post, and would like to state right now that it has nothing to do with my inherent laziness. OK, maybe it does a bit. But mostly it's that absolutely no albums have come out that have piqued my interest in 2011 so far, so I've had fuck all to write about. Well, it appears things are about to change, as not only is there a shiny new Darkest Hour record about to hit our shores (yes, I know it's already out in the US, and probably all over the internet too), but there are new albums about to drop by Trap Them, Protest The Hero and Scale The Summit, not to mention Mastodon's 'Live At the Aragon' CD/DVD. So, keep your eyes peeled kids, Dougie shall be back with a shitty vengeance very soon.....

The Official Top Ten albums of 2010. Officially.

So here we are. We are finally close enough to the year's end for me not to feel premature in ranking the year's best albums. 2010 has been a year of surprises-bands who made last year's list have returned with crushing disappointments, and bands whose names had never even piqued my interest before have dominated my listening habits. It's been tough whittling down my previously published list down to ten, with many missing through no demerit of their own: this is simply the ten I happened to pick but any of the 20 or so albums in my last post are worthy of your time. So, without further ado, and in no particular order (sort of), Dougie Diamond's top ten albums of 2010!

Torche - 'Songs For Singles'

Torche are, for lack of a better word, awesome. 'Meanderthal' made it onto my top albums of the decade list last year, and as you can imagine my anticipation for 'SFS' was pretty fevered. An online stream of 'UFO' about a month before the 'album's' release certainly lifted my spirits-a glorious, saccharine-sweet burst of musical sunshine, full of Steve Brooks' trademark vocal harmonies and heart-warming riffs, the song set the bar pretty high, so I was pretty deflated upon finally hearing the full record and realising this was by far the best song on it. However, after a few more spins, 'Songs For Singles' started to reveal it's secrets and what secrets they are. Torche are, for me, at their best when knocking out 2-minute pop-rock gems, and two of their finest ever are found within 'SFS'- 'Hideaway' and 'Cast Into Unknown', both songs full of their own brand of postitive Beach Boys-meets-Baroness vibes. 'Songs For Singles' isn't as complete-feeling or well-rounded an experience as 'Meanderthal', but judging by the record's title, it was never meant to be. What it is , is a ray of light in an in increasingly bleak scene, and should be cherished as such.

Key Track - 'UFO'

Envy - 'Recitation'

It's been 4 long years since Envy released their last full-length, 06's incredible 'Insomniac Doze', and though we've had the 'Abyssal' e.p. and splits with Thursday and Jesu to tide us over, there's nothing like an Envy album to warm us up in the harsh winter. So it was with open arms I welcomed 'Recitation' into my life and into my heart, and I couldn't have asked any more of Japan's finest sons. A majestic mash-up of all of the finest points from Envy's career, this album manages to sound as regal and glacial as 'Insomniac Doze' whilst mixing in the more upbeat, positive vibes and tempos from 'Abyssal'. The first big surprise 'Recitation' has to offer is the incredibly beautiful slow-build of it's opening two tracks, 'Guidance' and 'Last Hours Of Eternity'; where as once they would have kicked things off in their typically huge and bombastic fashion, here they caress and soothe you into submission long before any hint of a screamed vocal or distorted guitar. When things finally do kick off on 'Rain Clouds Running In A Holy Night', it is in the most sky-scraping, heart-warming way imaginable, with busy drums and massive major-key chords crashing around Tetsuya Fukagawa's huge vocals, creating the kind of epic cacophony dreams are made of. Probably the most versatile album in Envy's catalogue, 'Recitation' should not be missed by any fan of post-whatever music.

Key Track - 'Dreams Coming To An End'

The Secret - 'Solve Et Coagula'

For anyone who misses the about-to-fly-off-the-rails blackened hardcore of Cursed, take heed - The Secret are about to become your new favourite band. A misanthropic, hate-filled, bile-spilling assault of a record, 'Solve Et Coagula' will boil your blood and make you want to hit things in the face. I listened to and enjoyed the band's previous album 'Disintoxication', but felt that it somewhat lacked the focus to really push it to the forefront of my ipod playlist. Focus is no problem here, and the songwriting on display is so tight and precise that it could slice through lead. Mixing crusty, Darkthrone-esque blackened death'n'roll with the pace and attack of the aforementioned Loudest Band In Canada, The Secret have crafted the most vicious hardcore album of the year. Prepare to have your ears destroyed.

Key Track - 'Death Alive'

Deftones - 'Diamond Eyes'

What a pleasure it is to be able to put Deftones on this list. This band are almost single-handedly responsible for the way my taste in music developed, yet it has taken them a decade to release an album that comes anywhere close to the dizzying heights of genre-destroyer 'White Pony'. But wow, what a fucking return to form! From the opening crunch of the title track onwards, 'Diamond Eyes' is a revelation, even more so considering the tragic circumstances under which it came to fruition. It's hard to listen to the album without wondering what could have been had Chi Cheng not had his devastating accident-we would have instead ended up with 'Eros', the album Deftones had just about completed and had spent much time talking up in the press. Whether we ever get to hear 'Eros' is likely to depend on whether Chi ever recovers, but listening to the dark grooves of 'You've Seen The Butcher' or the swooning bliss of 'Sextape' it's hard to worry either way.

Key Track - 'Diamond Eyes'

High On Fire - 'Snakes For The Divine'

High On Fire carry on the grand tradition of bands I completely missed the boat with. To think I let them go by me without so much as a shrug is testament to what a narrow-visioned douche I can be. 'Snakes For The Divine' is the glorious grey area that exists between the beer and whiskey-soaked fury of Motorhead and the progressive-minded poundings of Mastodon; a rip-roaring ride through a heavy metal wind-tunnel where furious riffs and caveman-esque bellows smash you about the head something silly. Though hardly a poster-boy for the modern man, Matt Pike is probably one of the most underrated guitar players on the planet, his riffs knocking seven shades of shit out of 99% of his contemporaries, not to mention the primal Slayer-esque fury of his screeching leads. As a pure balls-out heavy metal experience, 'Snakes...' was unbeatable in 2010, and I'm thankful I finally took the plunge on this incredible band.

Key Track - 'Frost Hammer'

Black Breath - 'Heavy Breathing'

I'm not even going to beat around the bush: Black Breath are awesome because they sound like Entombed. And that is the highest praise I could ever hope to offer any death'n'roll band. 'Heavy Breathing' sounds like the missing link between 'Clandestine' and 'Wolverine Blues', all buzz-saw guitars, rampaging thrash beats and glass-gargled vocals. It is a beast of a record, and I don't need to say any more than that. Buy it you damn fools.

Key Track - 'Black Sin (Spit On The Cross)'

Astrohenge - 'Astrohenge'

It always pleases me to discover new bands, and one of the nicer aspects of living in London is that every now and again I get to do this by actually witnessing said bands live. I first caught Astrohenge at an all-day metal show earlier this year, and sandwiched in-between half-baked grind bands and dirgey pseudo-post-metal rubbish they managed to absolutely knock my socks off. Instrumental metal (or, 'instrumetal' if you will) often tends to consist solely of Isis wannabes or Meshuggah-apeing 'djent' wankery, but Astrohenge fit neither bill, or any other casual pigeon-hole you'd care to fling them at, melding Mastodon-esque prog-sludge to high voltage thrash, piano-tinkled jazz and crushing doom. The closest possible comparison i could throw at them is Between The Buried And Me (whom 'Henge opened for earlier in the year), but purely in both bands' abilities to throw so many disparate styles into their collective melting pots and come out with something greater than the sum of it's parts. Did I mention that Astrohenge have a keyboard player instead of a bass? No? Thart's because it's probably the least remarkable thing about them. Probably one of the finest bands the UK has seen in some time, avoid them at your eternal peril.

Key Track - 'Toil In Hell'

The Dillinger Escape Plan - 'Option Paralysis'

I managed to completely leave this album off so many of my preliminary attempts at this list, and I can only put this down to the fact it came out so many months ago that it's not really been at the forefront of my memory. So I re-listened to it a few days ago and, much like back in February when it was released, it tore my mind into shreds and pissed on the remains. No self-respecting fan of heavy music needs to be told what an incredible, genre-smashing band TDEP are, so I won't waste my precious time dossing around at work to go into that. I will however make the shocking admission that I never really got into Dillinger until 07's 'Ire Works', an amazing record that should have been hard to better, but gosh darn it if 'Option Paralysis' didn't just go and blow it out of the water. It's an album that cranks every aspect of TDEP's sound to it's illogical extreme: the heavy parts are devastating, the choruses are towering, the WTF parts are WTFingF. It's an album so accesable and yet so dense and layered listeners will still be peeling it apart years from now. It's the mightiest accomplishment of The Dillinger Escape Plan's career without question. Expect the next album to be better.

Key track - 'Farewell, Mona Lisa'

Intronaut - 'Valley Of Smoke'

Intronaut's last album, 'Prehistoricisms', is one of my favourite albums ever. EVER. This fact obviously meant that I approached 'Valley Of Smoke' with very high expectations, and it's hard for me to say if they were met. Is 'Valley...' a fucking fantastic album? Yes. Yes it is. Is it 'Prehistoricisms' good? Well...that's where things get a little more complex. Certainly Intronaut have evolved into something grander on 'Valley Of Smoke'-the songs are a little more considered, their approach more mature and graceful. Sacha Dunable's new-found vocal clarity is also a welcome new addition, with much of the album coated in a John Baizley-esque melodic roar, compared to the throaty growls of old. And yes, the production is much better this time around. So, where then, does my hesitation stem from? It's the lack of grit. Sure, 'Valley...' is still a very heavy record, but it just lacks the dragged-from-the-primordial-sludge heft of their earlier work. My favourite aspect of 'Prehistoricisms' was that it managed to graft incredibly dexterous song-writing onto weighty, tar-pit-thick dirge. It's a minor gripe, for sure, and 'Valley Of Smoke' wipes the floor with 99% of other bands and albums. Just not their own.

Key Track - 'Elegy'

Kvelertak - 'Kvelertak'

I try not to play favourites in my top tens. The idea is that if an album made it this far, it doesn't need any further arbitrary ranking and is simply awesome. However, every year one album gets listened to just that little bit more than the others, and this year that album just happens to be the début of a rock and fuckin' roll band from Norway whose name I'd never even heard before this year. The word Kvelertak translates into English as 'stranglehold', and that is exactly what this band have had on my affections all year. I heard the album and liked it plenty straight away, but it wasn't until I actually saw them play live that it really clicked: this is the greatest rock band around right now. Everything about this album is perfect, from the ever reliable Kurt Ballou production, to the wetsuit-tight song-writing. Most bands with 3 guitar players end up wasting the potential that affords them, but not Kvelertak-3 way harmonies, huge walls of blistering noise, ripping leads; you name it, it's got it. They are practically a Scandinavia's greatest hits act, throwing together the best of frosty Nordic black metal, Turbonegro's rollicking rock'n'roll, and dare I say it, an almost ABBA-like ability to write catchy guitar hooks. Seriously. It appears that this band are on the tip of many tongues at the moment, and rightly so; if they can continue on the road they are on, Kvelertak could, and should, be the biggest band in the world.

Key Track - 'Offernatt'


So there we have it. Before I depart I'd like to throw a mention out to a couple of albums that came out in 2009 but avoided my attention until this year: 'The Clearing' by Disappearer and 'Serpents' by Struck By Lightning. Disappearer came to my attention as being the 'other band' of the less well known members of Doomriders, but stayed in my sights by being arguably the better band of the two. 'The Clearing' is sort-of post metal, but shares little of the shoe-gaze meandering of bands like Isis or Cult Of Luna; instead it evokes the compressed crushing power of Zozobra, songs never overstaying their welcome or becoming monotonous. Struck By Lightning, on the other hand, come across like the bastard offspring of Disfear and 'Remission'-era Mastodon, all blitzkrieg d-beats and paint-stripping riffs. Get 'em both.

See you next time folks!

A premature look at 2010

This isn't my final 'Best Of The Year' list, so no need to get your knickers in a twist. I know it's only November, and there are still albums that came out this year I haven't got round to hearing yet, so this is really more of a primer for that list, a little preview of what has been rocking my ears this year. Also, I've had this shit swimming around in my head for weeks now and need to get it down on 'paper', or I'm going to forget something important and end up making Avenged Sevenfold or some shit like that my album of the year. Haha, yeah right.

Anyway, in no particular order, albums that I have dug the heck out of this year. (I'll go into detail about just why each of these is awesome in my full post)

Black Breath - 'Heavy Breathing'
Torche - 'Songs For Singles'
Kvelertak - 'Kvelertak'
Envy - 'Recitation'
Oceansize - 'Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up'
Intronaut - 'Valley Of Smoke'
The Ocean - 'Heliocentric/Anthropocentric'
Martin O'Donnell - 'Halo Reach OST'
Fact - 'In The Blink Of An Eye'
Arsis - 'Starve For The Devil'
The Dillinger Escape Plan - 'Option Paralysis'
The Secret - 'Solve Et Coagula'
Coliseum - 'House With A Curse'
High On Fire - 'Snakes For The Divine'
Astrohenge - 'Astrohenge'
Deftones - 'Diamond Eyes'
Jonsi - 'Go'
Sweet Cobra - 'Mercy'
Titan - 'Sweet Dreams'
Daft Punk - 'Tron Legacy OST'

I don't normally go out of my way to rag on albums that failed to live up to expectation, but man, 'Spiral Shadow' by Kylesa was a big step down from last year's incredible 'Static Tensions'. OK, I've only listened to it once, but I found it to be overwhelmingly, soul-crushingly dull, and that is one thing metal should NEVER be. Sorry guys (and gal), better luck next time!

Expect me to have whittled down (and possibly completely changed) this list sometime before we wave goodbye to 2010!

Old is the new...new?

I was about 14 when I first caught the metal bug. Sure, it was the nerve-paralysing 'Nu' strain that infected me first, but hey, that's just an unavoidable side-effect of being a post-millenial teenager. My tastes soon evolved and passed through many stages-metalcore, death, thrash, prog, etc, but there was a pretty consistant thread running through them all-no matter the sub-genre, I was only listening to new bands. Though it's hard to be into extreme metal and be completely unaware of the genre's history, I had no time for classic bands and bought only the hottest new releases, in a pointless game of 'I heard that band before you' one-upmanship. Yes, I was naive, and it was only in my early twenties that I finally bit the bullet and dived into the heady back-catalogue of metal's past, never to return.

I'd say it was Slayer, and more specifically 'Reign In Blood', that showed me that the best bands of yesteryear were by no means hackneyed or irrelevent by today's standards. That album is as vicious and cut-throat as anything you can find lurking about today, and it started a fire in me to seek out as much 'classic' metal as I could find. Within 6 months, new music seemed pointless. Why bother trudging through more turgid deathcore tripe when I could be thrashing out to 'Left Hand Path' or 'Heartwork'? Why waste my time trying to decipher differences between identikit Killswitch-clones when I could slam on 'Master Of Puppets'? Obviously, within time I realised that there was still plenty of great new music around, and that no-one likes a retro-snob. But these discoveries taught me to appreciate that the forefathers of the scenes we inhabit now are not just owed respect for laying foundations, but for being kick-ass bands that wrote neck-snappingly awesome albums.

Since then I've tried to couple the old and new and as a result have discovered some amazing music on both ends of the musical timeline. I also love tracing specific bands' sounds back to their very roots. Love Baroness? Check out some classic Sabbath. Mastodon? Try Thin Lizzy. Like party metal? Stick some Van Halen down your tailpipe. Basically, I think the point I'm trying to get to is that awesome music is awesome music, and it being 'old' or 'new' is largely irrellevent. Sure, the oldies deserve the props for laying the all important groundwork, but what has been built upon them is entirely the newbies' doing. And remember, there is also really shitty music from all eras!

Peace out.