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'
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'
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
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
