too.many.records.

Best of 2008 - #55 to #51

2009-10-10T11:43:00.002+01:00

55. the gutter twins - 'saturnalia'
Mark Lanegan doesn't really move anymore on stage, but he doesn't need to - his voice does all the moving he needs. While his solo records have been nothing short of magical, it's been a while (since 1996, to be precise, with 'Dust', the last album of the Screaming Tree) since we've heard him rock out a bit. It took Greg Dulli, the other gutter twin, to get him back on that track again, and we should thank him. Actually, Dulli isn't really the "other", as he seems to be the main driving force in the band, and shows up in style as well with marvellous guitar lines and a strong voice that fits well with Lanegan's low and sexy croon. It all just clicks - 'Saturnalia' is remarkable album, full of melodies, groove and personality, sounding like old time rock without being outdated in the slightest.

54. withered - 'folie circulaire'
There's black metal, there's death metal, there's even a bit of grind (Barney from Napalm Death's unmistakable bark shows up at one point!), and not one second of it sounds forced our out of place. That's 'Folie Circulaire', an almost unbearably intense yet extremely atmospheric blast of extreme music's best bits, mean, agressive and focused. Most of all, it's the thick dark fog that seems to envelop every song (including the very appropriate Necrophobic closing cover) that gives the album its identity and its running thread, not to mention that overpowering menacing air.

53. zozobra - 'bird of prey'
The name Caleb Scofield might be familiar to the more sludge and post metal-minded among you, having been in Cave In and Old Man Gloom, and while he surrounds himself with a few notable people (Aaron Harris, Stephen Brodsky, Adam McGrath) on this, Zozobra's second album, it's very clear that he is the man here, and that he's acquiring a very interesting musical personality. 'Bird Of Prey' is a much more accomplished effort than 2007's 'Harmonic Tremors', with all the Old Man Gloom-like suffocating weight that you'd expect from such a band but with a notable improvement in the songwriting. Thick, black grooves permeate the gruff screaming and monstrous dense riffs, making songs like 'Heartless Enemy' or 'Sharks That Circle' stand out among the current throng of young sludge bands trying to be Neurosis. Bodes very well, this does.

52. menace ruine - 'cult of ruins'
One of two albums released by Menace Ruine last year, 'Cult Of Ruins', the first to come out, is actually the hardest to talk about, given the stratospheric heights attained by the other one... expect to find it higher (much higher) on this list, incidentally. Which is a bit unfair, really, since it has more than enough merits to stand on its own and earn this position in the list - more aggressive and raw that 'The Die Is Cast' (such is the name of the other beast), it already contains that eerie and undescribable atmosphere and labyrinthine songwriting that has made this band one of my recent favourites. Sort of picking up the spirit of The Angelic Process, also being a couple duo from Canada and engaging in similar, in spirit at least, exercises with feedback, atmosphere and texture, Menace Ruine nevertheless show a darker aesthetic, closer to black metal, a colder industrial feel and a greater willingness to let it rip in the noisier sections. 'Cult Of Ruins' is a long and rewarding journey that got a very swift continuation - keep your eyes on the list for more, even if you might have to wait for the top 10...

51. the firstborn - 'the noble search'
Finally realizing the potential they have always had, also with, at long last, a sound that makes them justice, Portugal's The Firstborn delivered the very best album of their career by a long mile in 2008. Still on the path of Buddhism, approaching some of its ideas from interesting angles, making apt (read - not going apeshit with them and remembering they're still a metal band) use of instruments like sitar, The Firstborn's greatest achievement is nevertheless in the songwriting department, where they don't live or die strictly by Bruno Fernandes' powerful and unique voice anymore - there are meaty riffs and some tremendous guitarwork that will stick with you, not to mention almighty choruses like on 'Flesh To The Crows' or 'Water Transformation', where the talent of Bruno is evident. As if that wasn't enough, Hugo Santos from Process Of Guilt shows up to roar like only himself can on a couple of songs. Best Portuguese album of 2008, no doubt.

Best of 2008 - from #60 to #56

2009-10-09T15:46:00.004+01:00

A bunch more, before it's 2010 and I have another fucking list to spew forth.

Oh, and screw the song links too. Let me know if you really really want those to return, but hey - you guys will download the whole thing anyway if you fancy it, cheap bastards you all are, so.

Let's just hope you then go and buy the ones you really like.

60. outlaw order - 'dragging down the enforcer'
Jokingly known as EyeHateJimmy by the band members themselves, and it's easy to understand why, because Outlaw Order consists of all the members of EyeHateGod (plus Pat Brouders now, on bass, he plays for Crowbar too) minus Jimmy Bower, who is often busy on tour with NOLA supergroup Down. If you got past this typical New Orleans crossbreeding with no confusion, then the obvious point should have remained with you - GO GET THIS ALBUM. Ruthlessly confrontational, single-mindedly focused on the band members' much discussed problems with the law, with Mike Williams' trademark twisted lyrics and vocals, Outlaw Order is like a faster, more concrete version of EyeHateGod, and that should be all the recommendation you need.

59. made out of babies - 'the ruiner'
I must admit I got this album banged into my subconscious by my wife's incessant playing of it, but if it did find the way there, then it's because it has its worth. And quite a bit of it, too. Never having been all that much of a fan of Julie Christmas' other musings, be it previous Made Out Of Babies albums or what she did with Battle Of Mice, 'The Ruiner' was where it all clicked for me. Not only does it burst all those into insignificance with its razor-sharp writing and playing, much more to-the-point than before, it also shows Julie in the vocal form of her life. Finally focusing the uncanny talent of her voice properly, it lends the songs that extra dimension they seemd to lack before. Take opener 'Cooker' for the perfect example, equally expansive and hatefully restrained, it's an explosion of great guitarwork, memorable songwriting and that voice. A solid and consistent album that finally realizes the potential of Made Out Of Babies.

58. lords - 'fuck all y'all mother fuckers'
Title says it all, really. Lords are back, they sound just they did on 'Swords' and you'd better fucking love it or Chris Owens will probably kick your ass, as he does frequently to people during the average 364 days of the year that they spend touring. Unhinged, out-of-control noisy punk-fueled chaos is what they do, and it rocks. What's even more amazing is the fact that despite that whole don't give a fuck attitude and with songs like 'This Is Not A Song, Dumb Ass' (and it isn't, but it's cool anyway) and 'Why I Don't Give A Fuck', they don't come across as some sort of joke or crazy just for the sake of it band. They rock hard, they rock mean, and they rule.

57. khold - 'Hundre år Gammal'
Proof that it's still possible to do a kick-ass, hateful black metal album in 2009 without reinventing the damn pentagram, and it wasn't even so predictable that Khold's main man Gard would be able to produce this sort of thing. Very far from being a minor band in terms of quality, Khold's previous albums haven't, however, always come up with the goods consistently, 'Masterpiss Of Pain' really stands out as something that neither 'Krek' or 'Phantom' were able to surpass. Well, this bile-fueled little thing just managed to surpass them all at once, by combining everything that was great about each one of them. More than being raw, it feels raw, with Gard's voice the main instrument in creating that feeling, spitting out his Norwegian lyrics with such force that you can almost understand them regardless of whether you understand the language or not. However, soundwise, it's hardly Darkthrone we're talking about, the guitars are satisfyingly thick and the riffs buzz through you with the strength of a sledgehammer, as every song sticks, without the need for any filler or indeed any frills. With Satyricon going further and further down the road to boring town, this is what we need - stripped to the bone, dark and potent black metal like we someimes feel they don't do it anymore.

56. decrepit spectre - 'coal black hearses'
Behind that rather silly band name hide the mighty figures of Kvohst (Dødheimsgard, code), Aort (code, Blutvial), Heimoth and Cyriex (both from Seth), so don't fuck with them. It's only a three track EP, but it's extremely promising - if code is too out there for you, go listen to them a few dozen times more, because they're awesome and you're missing out. But while your brain can't cope, try this. Somewhat similar to the Khold album I just talked about above, it's meaty, well-produced black metal, stomping in its mid-pace fury, but unlike Khold it also creates that eerie and discordant atmosphere that these musicians are renowned for in the other bands they're a part of, except without that layer of avantgarde-ism that we've come to expect. A short piece of gloomy horror that paves the way for a proper debut full-length that is coming shortly. Watch this dark space.

Best of 2008 - from #65 to #61

2009-04-06T18:53:00.001+01:00

65. general lee - 'hannibal ad portas'
One of my best personal discoveries of 2008, General Lee are a French sludge band that already have a few years of experience, despite 'Hannibal Ad Portas' being their debut album. Like it used to be, you know, when you didn't just post a generic deathcore song on your MySpace and got a record deal out of that. Anyway, it's an album that shows its maturity, developing lengthy songs (six of 'em in 45 minutes) with mastery and entirely appropriate movements, rather than just pasting together bits just for the sake of having long songs. A song like 'Drifting' maintains a real identity through its hills and valleys, impressing both for the dragged-out heaviness of its angrier parts and also for the solid melodic richness of the quieter moments. All this potential surely means that we might be seeing General Lee on more of these end of year lists in the future.

General Lee - 'Drifting'

64. mourning beloveth - 'a disease for the ages'
This sort of doom/death has evolved very little, as a genre, since its first steps in the beginning of the 90s, and that's usually the biggest criticism when yet another new band shows up with another dynamics-less hour-long album of true melancholic misery or something of the sort. However, as in every genre, there's a handful of bands that still keep it alive, not by "evolving" beyond recognition, but simply by applying undeniable quality to everything they do. Irish gang Mourning Beloveth have been at it since 1996, and while you know what to expect of them by now, it is nevertheless always good to receive a new album. The desolate riffs and suffocating heaviness of the slow songs are utterly devoid of any hope, but there is fragile beauty and sensitivity enough (not to mention the acquired taste that is Frank Brennan's back-up clean vocals) to not take it into funeral doom territory. Above all, there is a grittiness, a down-to-eart approach and lack of "woe is me" melodrama to this band that makes you believe everything they sing about, and that is really all the difference.

Mourning Beloveth - 'Trace Decay'

63. north - 'what you were'
North are from Phoenix, and they were threatening to become yet one more instrumental post-rock band with their debut 'Ruins'. The concept seemed cool when Explosions In The Sky and other people first showed up, but it's suffering from an acute case of overcrowding right now, and 'Ruins' didn't really offer anything revolutionary to allow it to jump out of the shelves at you. Next step for North? Meander a bit more in instrumental forgetfulness? Hell no! The quintet cranked up the noise and hired Kyle Hardy to scream like there was no tomorrow, and the result was 'What You Were'. Beard metal at its best, muddy and charging, with enough remnants of their previous post-whatever melodic awareness to make these songs more than just mere exercises in screaming. A huge upgrade for a band that is now very promising, and a case study on how to evolve properly.

North - 'Ghosts Among Us'

62. the devil and the sea - 'heart vs. spine'
Yet another kick-ass debut album! What was it with 2008? Did everyone collectively decide to start a cool band, all of a sudden? Check out that opener, 'Batwing' (right now if you must, it's just below this text) - if that beginning doesn't smash your head in, check your pulse. Way to start a recording career! Plus, when you think you've got The Devil And The Sea all figured out, they throw some curveballs at you, slowing everything down to a massive doom groove, unpleasant and confrontational. The overall feeling is close to that of a band like 16, or even Tombs in the more extreme moments. There's that same sense of gritty reality, of street smarts and of a very real haze of violence that you get from such bands. Throughout the album, those curveballs keep coming, and you get bits of ambient drone, occasional post-metal detours and even some angry noise-rock. All of those rest on the very heart of 'Heart Vs. Spine' - the repetition of finely tuned, lived-in gigantic riffs, menacing, foreboding and fucking awesome.

The Devil And The Sea - 'Batwing'

61. playing enemy - 'my life as the villain'
The unavoidable importance of all the bands in which Playing Enemy's members have played should speak for itself - Rorschach, Deadguy, Nineironspitfire and the colossal Kiss It Goodbye have pretty much shaped a genre of sorts that is now being plundered with the commercial success that none of those have ever had by bands like Norma Jean, August Burns Red or Every Time I Die. Success they may have, but they lack the roughness, the soul and the edge that made all those bands so important, along with Playing Enemy. Unfortunatly, apart from their awesomeness, they also all have one common denominator - none of them last long, and 'My Life As The Villain' was the collection of the final songs that Playing Enemy ever recorded. More musical than the previous EPs, which edged dangerously close to noise territory, the guitarwork nevertheless still feels full of bile and angry suffering, perpetually releasing accumulated tension and frustration. The drumming is precise and much less hazy than the rest of the sound, working like an anchor and pounding away merciless rhythms. Playing Enemy will probably fade into general obscurity like all those bands mentioned in the first paragraph, but at least the small cult following that remains know that we're all in on a big secret.

Playing Enemy - 'Applause And Abuse'

Best of 2008 - from #70 to #66

2009-04-04T15:08:00.003+01:00

70. warrel dane - 'praises to the war machine'

Joined by former (at the time, since he's now re-joined the band) Soilwork songwriter Peter Wichers on guitar, Nevermore's frontman put out, with this unlikely pairing, a surprisingly good solo album. More than just quenching the thirst for new Nevermore material, most of the songs on 'Praises To The War Machine' are very much Dane's work, with a separate identity from his main band. Of course, some of it will sound like Nevermore, which would be unavoidable, but overall it's commendable how Dane avoids any obvious references or clichés. With some of the more aggressive moments hitting that rather epic Nevermore quality, like opener 'When We Pray' and its unforgettable chorus or 'The Day The Rats Went To War', it's on the album's quieter but also darker moments that the real gems are to be found. Much more personal than a Nevermore album could ever be, 'Brother', 'August' or 'This Old Man' offer an insight into Warrel Dane like we've never had before, and they are moving, passionate and utterly bleak songs, beautiful without being ballads and with a tremendous impact without being brutal. The icing on the cake are the two covers, Simon & Garfunkel's 'Patterns' and The Sisters Of Mercy's 'Lucretia My Reflection', especially this latter one - although they are rather unnecessary to the flowing of the record, they show the full range of Dane's interpretative powers.

Warrel Dane - 'Brother'

69. torche - 'meanderthal'
Almost universally hailed, 'Meanderthal' is the album that really put Torche on the map, and right from the first listen it's easy to understand why. While maintaining their sludge/doom framework, Torche have meandered (sorry) into a middle-ground territory - the almost pop sensibilities of the melodic hooks, that warm and fuzzy guitar tone and the absolute catchiness of all the material, from the most scorching to the slower stuff, all of them beg to be heard by a much wider audience than what seemed to be reserved for Torche based on their previous work. With riffs to die for ('Across The Shields', 'Speed Of The Nail'), ton-heavy sludgers ('Sandstorm') and exhilirating rock-outs ('Fat Waves'), the closest reference point for Torche is actually Kyuss, these days. That's not a band to throw around lightly, and in this case it's perfectly justified.

Torche - 'Speed Of The Nail'

68. they are cowards - 'demo'
It's only a demo, but it's disgustingly heavy so it gets in the list with all the social grace of a homeless wino, pushing around all the other records until it lands in its place smelling of stale piss. Made up by three former members of Atavist and ex-RedRightHand guitarist Robbo, this Manchester foursome take everything that's ugly about Iron Monkey, Khanate or indeed Atavist themselves and join it into one freewheelin', aggressive and provocative whole. Fat grooves and bruising attitude abound, and promise a whole deal for what's coming next. Which, apparently, is a split with Black Sun. Satan help us all.

Get it free from their website!

67. amenra - 'mass iiii'
Maybe their concert at Roadburn will help Amenra build the following that they would so richly deserve, based on every gargantuan record they've put out so far - 'Mass IIII' is no exception. Relentless and hurtful while still allowing space and time for darkly atmospheric moments, with colossal dynamics that make you feel like someone who's been punching your face in has just allowed you to get some air for a few seconds before resuming the activity and, above all, with the overwhelming sluge hiding painfully beautiful underlying melodies, this Belgian troupe have really done it again with this album. Ignore them at your own peril!

Amenra - 'Razoreater'

66. genghis tron - 'board up the house'
Electro-grind, eh? A few attempts have been made before by a few rather unknown bands, but Genghis Tron really do step up that surreal genre notion to a seemingly unbeatable degree. All kinds of bleeps and scratches and even some beats hover around an insane orgy of mathcore/grind craziness. Go see some photos of how these guys look (I mean, really.) and you can picture them holed up in their bedrooms, fiddling with their laptops for hours until they come up with this stuff. However it is they do, the fact is that it slays and will probably be the starting point for a deluge of copycat "cybergrind" bands all wanting to make a similar kind of hellish racket like this.

Genghis Tron - 'City On A Hill'

Best of 2008 - from #80 to #71

2009-04-03T12:44:00.002+01:00

80. dismember - 'dismember'
One of the four horsemen of the apocalypse (well, of Swedish death metal) that still stand strong and proud, along with Entombed, Grave and Unleashed, Dismember offer us yet another slice of bass-heavy, groovy death metal. By now nothing that Matti Kärki's band can offer will sound new, but that's not the point either. Even if they can still raise some eyebrows (like the unashamed Iron Maiden worship on 'Under A Bloodred Sky'), the point of Dismember is that you know what you can count on, and what you can count on is good - eleven more blasts of solid, exciting and no-frills proper death metal.

Dismember - 'Under A Bloodred Sky'

79. inverno eterno - 'póstumo'
You might not expect Portugal to produce a quality depressive/suicidal black metal project, but here they are - Inverno Eterno can slash wrists with the saddest of 'em, and they don't have to pretend that they're German or American to do it. With a very Portuguese display of emotions and lyrical expression, Inverno Eterno offer a desolate but painfully beautiful landscape to each of their songs, mostly within the norm of the genre but with some added flourishes that create their very own personality, like the creepy whistling on 'Depois Que Tu Morreste...' for example. A wonderful surprise, when we'd least expect it.

Inverno Eterno - 'Depois Que Tu Morreste...'

78. blindead - 'autoscopia / murder in phazes'
Featuring some known names from the Polish extreme metal scene, most notably ex-Behemoth guitar player Havoc and vocalist Nick Wolverine (who now screams for Antigama as well), Blindead sound absolutely nothing like those references would lead you to think. With Neurosis as the clear guiding light throughout the seven intricate, interweaved, concept-based songs, Blindead offer a remarkably surprising mix of sludge and technical doom metal, introspective, deep and worthy of several listenes to reveal all their hidden secrets. Bringing to mind Bloodlet at times by their fabulous dynamics, incorporating quieter passages among the stressful atmosphere and for their strained weight of composition, Blindead are a name to keep under a careful watch.

Blindead - 'Phaze I: Abyss'

77. anaphylactic shock - 'two thousand years'
Imagine a blackened Entombed, keeping the full rock-out swagger of the legendary Swedes but adding a bit of kvlt icy darkness to the whole thing. Now wrap that in a sort of post-hardcore atmosphere with truly venom-ridden vocals full of spit and bile, and what do you have? A fucking sexy band that you wish existed? Well, wish no more - Anaphylactic Shock are exactly that, and with their unusual mix of styles, the Dutch gang have been tearing up stages and ears alike with their furious live shows.

Anaphylactic Shock - 'Holy Land'

76. harvey milk - 'life... the best game in town'
It would have been a shame if Harvey Milk had bowed out during the seven year period of inactivity they went through. Even if their past legacy would ensure them a place in the hearts of the few who ever subjected themselves to the skewed freakery of their first two albums or the punishing bar-brawl rock-out of their third, there is way too much talent here to just put away, especially when the mighty Joe Preston (ex-Melvins, ex-High On Fire, ex-Earth and ex-Sunn O))), the man's resume reads like the coolest discography in the world) jumps aboard to lend his bass to the proceedings. Aaron Turner's Hydra Head wasted no time, and helped the guys put out 'Life... The Best Game In Town', which is a sort of celebration of everything Harvey Milk have ever done. There's the athletic dynamics of their early tunes coupled with the hard-hitting, to-the-point approach of their latter work, and everything flows perfectly in a gung-ho Motörhead-like fashion. Even their cover of Fear's 'We Destroy The Family' is put through the Harvey Milk processor, making it something very much their own. Unique and highly addictive, don't miss this.

Harvey Milk - 'A Maelstrom Of Bad Decisions'

75. flogging molly - 'float'
California's coolest Celtic punks march on, with yet another album that should come with Guinness coupons, such is the mug-raising quality of their pub tunes. Infused with an extra sense of melody as opposed to the punkier early records, 'Float' doesn't lose, nevertheless, any of its exciting drive. On the contrary, all the songs are even more infuriatingly catchy, and it's one of those records that you'll hum all day if you have the poor sense of putting on in the morning! If any bone in you is tickled by The Pogues or the Dropkick Murphys, or any aspect of Irish musical culture for that matter, you absolutely need this.

Flogging Molly - 'Requiem For A Dying Song'

74. caïna - 'temporary antennae'
Andrew Curtis-Brignell, the sole member of Caïna, achieved with 'Temporary Antennae' what might seem difficult - to follow-up his classic debut 'Mourner' with a record that doesn't even try to follow the horrid creepiness of that album but manages to still create an enveloping ambiance very much its own. Even if it takes a while to catch on, courtesy of less inspired opening tracks, by the time the warped-out 'Tobacco Beetle' comes on you're on your own again, lost within the confines of Andrew's mind. 'Temporary Antennae' is a crawling, dark beast to tackle, but one which offers within its Burzumic core a strange beauty and a bizarrely welcoming atmosphere as well. Light and dark, conflicting extremes and metamorphosis, and one more musical victory for Caïna.

Caïna - 'Tobacco Beetle'

73. akimbo - 'jersey shores'
...where Akimbo take their fascination with deep-sea horror to a whole new level. After those three songs about the Megalodon in 'Elephantine', 'Jersey Shores' is a concept album about a string of strange shark attacks that occurred in 1916, and it's damn near the closest approximation of such a hideous event as you can have without actually ending up in the belly of the beasts. Concept albums are a tricky business, especially for a band that is more known for its über-riffs than exactly their extraordinary storytelling abilities, but Akimbo pull it off in huge style. Telling the tales from the perspective of the victims themselves, Akimbo introduce some droning rhythms and all kinds of warped effects to their already respectable arsenal, lending a whole new weight to Jon Weisnewski's monstrous screaming and the band's punishing sound. Eerie but still in-your-face, 'Jersey Shores' is where Akimbo went up the evolutionary ladder, two steps at a time.

Akimbo - 'I Think I'm A Werewolf'

72. *shels - 'laurentian's atoll'
Although 'Laurentian's Atoll' is an EP, the breathtaking care and attention to detail that it has benefited from, as well as the sheer sparkling beauty of the music makes it very worthy of integrating this list. Showing that it is still possible to innovate within the post-rock spectrum, with truly unusual dynamics and a heightened sensitivity in the quieter parts, *shels sweep all the Pelicans of this world to a corner. The most interesting quality about these 37 minutes is the dream-like feeling of the music - a hazy, even unfinished ghostly appearance of these songs which sees them turn more into "pieces" than actual songs. Sometimes it feels almost free-form but without slipping into over-the-top esoterica, flowing wonderfully like your weirdest but most wonderful dreams would.

*shels - 'Wingsfortheirsmiles'

71. treponem pal - 'weird machine'
Marked, for better or worse, by the death of legendary bassist Paul Raven (Ministry, Killing Joke, Prong) during the recording sessions, 'Weird Machine' transformed into the best epitaph and most dignified homage a musician can get - a wonderful album, full of his own talent for people to remember him by. It's nevertheless unfair to reduce this album to Raven - 'Weird Machine' sees Treponem Pal return in sparkling form, showing everyone how industrial metal should be done. With the mighty Ted Parsons on drums, vocalist Marco Neves uses his animalesque voice like few times before, creating a cyber-metal record free of all the pitfalls and cumbersome mistakes that this genre usually suffers from once you step outside the absolute classic bands (see: every band that Raven has played in). Maintaining a very musical, structured approach to the machinery-like environment, Treponem Pal dropped a true bomb with this album.

Treponem Pal - 'Mad Box'

Best of 2008 - from #90 to #81

2009-04-02T23:57:00.004+01:00

90. earth - 'the bees made honey in the lion's skull'
Now that all the hipster kids have discovered drone through Sunn O))) or Boris and turned it into a trend, it's a welcome fact that Dylan Carlson has returned to show everyone that this sort of thing has been around way before everyone started paying attention to the mysterious men in robes. Fortunately, Earth aren't merely rehashing 'Earth 2' over and over, regardless of the temptation to cower in the shadow of that timeless classic - 'The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull' is still abstract and hard to get your head round, but it's simultaneously Earth's most musical record so far as well, which is also the result of a heightened importance of the remaining band members. Drummer Adrienne Davies and organist Steve Moore play a role as essential as Carlson's, and together they mix a skewed sort of beauty with the punishing slowness that they are known for.

Earth - 'Engine Of Ruin'

89. black shape of nexus - 'microbarome meetings'
Black Shape Of Nexus are a band that you can always count on to go by the less obvious route. When the suffocating despair of their self-titled debut is still ringing in our years, they opt to follow it with a limited-edition drone album, removing any trace of doom and just throwing you helplessly into a huge black vortex that will consume you without mercy. Four songs (in the vaguest sense of the word) in 66 minutes that will earn you a medal if you can sit through them all the way through without flinching uneasily in your seat and begging for mommy.

Black Shape Of Nexus - 'Microbarome D'

88. suffocate for fuck sake - 'blazing fires and helicopters on the frontpage of the newspaper. there´s a war going on and i´m marching in heavy boots.'
Yes, yes, the title is a huge pretentious mouthful, but let's leave that alone for now. We've heard all the jokes about the band with that album title, but focus on the music itself and you'll be hugely rewarded. Suffocate For Fuck Sake offer a weird conceptual album based on a girl looking back on her time at a mental institution (complete with interview samples and everything), and the music is every bit as intense as that idea suggests. A difficult emotional rollercoaster, 'Blazing Fires...' sounds like a slightly more oddball Isis, or a sort of Cult Of Luna with the heavy parts amplified in their brutality and the more sensitive parts thrown to an emotional extreme that is hard to take. Dark and beautiful at the same time, it won't be an album you'll forget in a hurry.

Suffocate For Fuck Sake - 'We Are Driving Through Darkness'

87. we are the damned - 'the shape of hell to come'
One of the surprises of the year in Portuguese extreme metal, We Are The Damned served up a potent, punked-up Entombed blast that has made waves in every place that it was given a chance. Fast, loose and devil-may-care in attitude, its razor-sharp riffing was complemented by an enormous revelation - diminute vocalist Sofia Loureiro might look like the (tattooed) teenager next door, but when she opens her mouth, all shades of hell come out at once. Impressive!

We Are The Damned - 'Release The Wolves'

86. javelina - 'javelina'
One look at the beards on most of Javelina's band members will let you guess correctly what you can expect musically from these Pennsylvania natives. Ass-heavy, downtuned sludge is their game, and they practice it with an extra portion of motherfucking giant groove to boot. With Mastodon seriously wimping out on their new album, it's reassuring to know that there are lesser known bands that can crush anyone in their unrelenting pursuit of heaviness, on their debut album on top of it. One of the most cool-sounding blasts of weight of the year.

Javelina - 'Gored To Death'

85. KYPCK - 'cherno'
KYPCK (pronounced Kursk, like the sunken submarine) is the new band of Sentenced's Sami Lopakka, and it's all about Russia - from the overal theme, right down to the lyrics, everything is Soviet about 'Cherno'. What might be a silly gimmick actually works, and it makes you wonder how no one thought of this before - the ice-cold and the militaristic aura of mystery surrounding Russia's culture lend themselves perfectly to some doom. Heavier, slower and more cavernous than Sentenced, while still maintaining a mournful melodic sense, KYPCK seems to be much more than a one-off project, and if 'Cherno' is a valid indicator of what they can do, that's good news.

KYPCK - '1917'

84. wrath of the weak - 'alogon'
A sort of My Bloody Valentine gone black metal, Wrath Of The Weak are one of the best projects of the whole crop that shows that Burzum was a musical entity almost two decades ahead of its time. Taking that blueprint and expanding it through hazy atmospheres full of fuzz and open-wide sonic landscapes, anguished cries in the distance and truly enveloping creepiness, Wrath Of The Weak offer an album that will take its time to sink in, but one that will reveal itself tremendously when it does. Even if that 20-minute monolith of the last track feels like a chore to get through, the previous six will draw you in like a movie. A scary, unpleasant but fascinating movie.

Wrath Of The Weak - 'Chapter I: A Leap Of Faith Ends When You Crash To The Ground'

83. witch - 'paralyzed'
Witch rock harder than you and they're most likely older than you too! Featuring J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr (on drums, not guitar!), 'Paralyzed' is simply a blast of old-fashioned rock'n'roll energy, a sort of more excited and vibrant version of Black Sabbath that make a hell of a racket and seem to have enormous fun while doing it. Full steam ahead tracks like '1000 mph' or 'Space God' remind you why rock music needed to be invented, and they have the huge merit of not taking themselves excessively serious. A majestic, swaggering beast of an album that shows young kids how this kind of thing should be done.
Witch - '1000 mph'

82. poisonblack - 'a dead heavy day'
Three albums in and Ville Laihiala has finally figured out the ideal formula for Poisonblack. If the first album was way too camp-gothy, albeit with some good songs, and the second album was mostly bland and forgettable, 'A Dead Heavy Day' is brimming with memorable choruses, razor-sharp riffs, downbeat lyrics and a healthy rock-out atmosphere. Sounds familiar? While it would be unfair to write this album off as a Sentenced sound-alike, that's precisely what was lacking in the two previous albums, that typical Sentenced icy punch that grabbed you by the neck. Ville seems to have finally stopped running away from his past, and acknowledging his Sentenced years while maintaining what are essentially Poisonblack characteristics (check out the clean-vocal melodies on 'The Days Between', for example) he has finally made an indispensable album.

Poisonblack - 'The Days Between'

81. moho - 'chotacabra'
'...He Visto La Cruz Al Reves' might be unbeatable in its blackened sludge/crust attack, but the follow-up doesn't embarrass this Madrid power trio in any way. 'Chotacabra' is dark, foreboding and noisy as hell, enveloping the listener in a pitch-dark atmosphere while still pounding him with monster riffs and scary growled vocals. 'Terror Ultramarino' or the 16-minute long 'Anciago' feel like enormous sea serpents crashing through your boat and eating you up alive. Ouch!

Moho - 'Terror Ultramarino'

...and so it begins - Best of 2008, from #100 to #91

2009-01-08T22:44:00.002Z

It is by now obvious that this unambitious little blog is going to be a repository for my list-making tendencies, as my ever-increasing writing responsibilities for magazines take hold. So, without further ado, let us plunge into the top 100 of 2008 list. It seems to be the general opinion that 2008 has been a strange year - lots of quality albums but not one to rule them all. Let that not be a stain in the year, however. As is constantly the case, contrary to what the negativity-mongers might spew out, fascinating and heartfelt music is always there, if you know where to look. For the next 100 albums, here's where I think it was, this past year. Let me know your opinions and thoughts about the list as it unfolds!

100. iskald - 'revelations of reckoning day'
Iskald translates literally as "ice-cold", and that's really the best description for what awaits you on 'Revelations Of Reckoning Day'. A young two-piece from Norway, these guys have evolved wonderfully in quality in their mere three years of existence, and while this album doesn't reinvent any wheels, it's a quality slab of mid-paced chilling black metal, with plenty of groove as well as piercing riffage to be found. With songs both in Norwegian and in English and a well-placed armageddon theme to the whole thing, Iskald are making a name for themselves. Count on them to be further up everyone's lists in the following years.

Iskald - 'A Breath Of Apocalypse'

99. helms alee - 'night terror'
Helms Alee is a cool discovery from Hydra Head, but a rather easy one to make as well - it's none other than Ben Verellen from Harkonen (and These Arms Are Snakes for a while back there, too) at the, well, helm of this project, along with two girls who make up the rhythm section. Helms Alee are from Seattle, and it shows. Among the many aspects to their sound, there is an unmistakable touch of the more Sonic Youth-influenced bits of the Seattle sound (proving, for once, that it is still a fertile ground of inspiration!), and that is the secret ingredient that makes all their postrock/Slint-like quietloud parts/occasional sludge/younameit elements come together. It's rock, but with a lot of pop too, the good kind of pop, and a whole lot more besides.

Helms Alee - 'Big Spider'

98. grails - 'take refuge in clean living'
Greatly enriched by Emil Amos' contribution on guitar (he was previously the band's drummer), 'Take Refuge In Clean Living' is yet another step up in the continued elegance that is the evolution of Grails. Listen to it while doing something else and it might pass you by as pleasant background music, but pay attention to the subtle intricacies that go on under the surface and your jaw will drop. From the surprisingly sparse and gracious version of '11th Hour' to the ethnic soundtrack music of 'Take Refuge', Grails surprise and please at every turn. In an age when post-rock means 'we have no vocalist', these people are way beyond that tired classification already.

Grails - '11th Hour'

97. hey colossus - 'happy birthday'
Last years 'Project:Death' got a higher place on my list because of its more immediate impact, but 'Happy Birthday' (oh, such a joyful misleading title) deserves the same praise that I always reserve for this south London band. Less openly metal than its predecessor and gone more the way of the drone and the sludge, their sound remains nevertheless very atypical, with their attacks more firmly aimed and calculated. If 'Project:Death' was the mad serial killer with a sledgehammer, 'Happy Birthday' is the insane scientist that takes you in for hideous experiments in his hidden lab. You die anyway, so...

Hey Colossus - 'Are Nice Men'

96. the haunted - 'versus'
Peter is back and all, but they will never write an album like the first one again, okay? Get over it. Shame, however, that they didn't really follow the left-hand path they had started to take with 'The Dead Eye', a fabulous album that fell largely on the deaf ears of The Haunted's less than brilliant fanbase. So, 'Versus' is a step back, but at least a ferocious one. Easily the angriest record they've done since that classic self-titled debut, it wipes the floor with 'rEVOLVEr' (and obviously with the crappy Marco Aro-fronted borefests) and shows that, even when not at their very best, The Haunted are still head and shoulders above the general throng.

The Haunted - 'Moronic Colossus'

95. the gates of slumber - 'conqueror'
True fucking metal! The Gates Of Slumber sound like Omen would sound if they'd be around today, except with rougher vocals and a thicker overall sound. If it's strangely satisfying to have an album like this come out in 2008, to have an album like this of enormous quality come out on a label like Profound Lore is satisfaction threefold. One for the true headbanger.

The Gates Of Slumber - 'Conqueror'

94. kehlvin - 'holy cancer'
And then, all of a sudden, Switzerland is the hotbed of European metal. From Knut to Zatokrev, from Vancouver to these guys, if you want your music to drag you through the mud with a boot on your face while maintaining a strange sense of beauty about it all, Helvetia is the place to go. 'Holy Cancer' is post-hardcore taken to a violent extreme, it's noisy, it's abrasive, the vocals are shouted like there's no tomorrow for anyone's throat and they don't even resist throwing in some weird droning now and then. Crushing!

Kehlvin - 'God As A Mere Intentinal Object'

93. kowloon walled city - 'turk street'
One of the year's most surprising releases, Kowloon Walled City appeared out of nowhere (well, San Francisco) sporting the name of the Hong Kong enclave that's been overrun by crime. Similarly dirty, this mind-blowing EP will grab you quickly by its furious immediate impact, spearheaded by Scott Evans' steel-lunged vocals. The whole thing was recorded in a day (!) and it's entirely free, from their website. Go get it.

Download the full EP for free

92. enslaved - 'vertebrae'
"What, already??", you protest. Yes, 'Vertebrae' is collecting album-of-the-year accolades left and right throughout the world's extreme music media, but unfortunately it hasn't convinced me to that extreme. It is a great album, surely, and fully deserves its place on this list. However, after suffering the vast and deep effect of the magic of 'Isa' and 'Ruun', both on record and on stage, 'Vertebrae' just feels way too thin and like trying too hard. Basically, if you haven't heard it yet, it's Enslaved gone the way of the prog. Still miles above most (post-)black metal coming out of Norway these days, but Enslaved's standards are very, very high, and this falls a little beneath them. Judge for yourself - if you can stomach that solo in 'Ground', then this is probably your album of the year.

Enslaved - 'Ground'

91. misery index - 'traitors'
Misery Index haven't given us one second of rest in all their releases so far, so why should 'Traitors' be any different? Energized by the new blood of drummer Adam Jarvis and guitarist/vocalist Mark “Lo Sneek” Kloeppel, who have contributed a great deal to the songwriting, veterans Jason Netherton and Sparky Voyles deliver the band's best album yet. Shoving down your throat with great force everything that's wrong in the world, Misery Index are a very serious contender within the grind/death field. Make sure you catch them live, where they slay even more!

Misery Index - 'Partisans Of Grief'

The list in full

2008-04-15T12:48:00.004+01:00

For easy reference, here is the full best of 2007 list, with links for each album's review.

It's been some work, but great fun to do. From now on, the blog will resume its regular activity, with posting still frequent. Hopefully.

What did you think of it? What would you change for your own lists? Did you discover anything with my list? Let me know!

too.many.records. - best albums of 2007

Album Of The Year. Neurosis - 'Given To The Rising'
2. Black Sun - 'Hour Of The Wolf'
3. Ulver - 'Shadows Of The Sun'
4. Rotting Christ - 'Theogonia'
5. Primordial - 'To The Nameless Dead'
6. The Angels Of Light - 'We Are Him'
7. Cobalt - 'Eater Of Birds'
8. Deathspell Omega - 'Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum'
9. Pig Destroyer - 'Phantom Limb'
10. High On Fire - 'Death Is This Communion'
11. Orthodox - 'Amanecer En Puerta Oscura'
12. Cephalic Carnage - 'Xenosapien'
13. Lake Of Tears - 'Moons And Mushrooms'
14. Mayhem - 'Ordo Ad Chao'
15. Caïna - 'Mourner'
16. Stinking Lizaveta - 'Scream Of The Iron Iconoclast'
17. Minotauri - 'II'
18. Portal - 'Outre''
19. Evoken - 'A Caress Of The Void'
20. Whiskey Priest - 'Hungry'
21. Naglfar - 'Harvest'
22. Alcest - 'Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde'
23. Dirge - 'Wings Of Lead Over Dormant Seas'
24. David Galas - 'The Cataclysm'
25. Watain - 'Sworn To The Dark' / IXXI - 'Assorted Armament'
26. Tombs - 'Tombs'
27. A Whisper In The Noise - 'Dry Land'
28. Wolves In The Throne Room - 'Two Hunters'
29. The Angelic Process - 'Weighing Souls With Sand'
30. The Great Deceiver - 'Life Is Wasted On The Living'
31. Impaled Nazarene - 'Manifest'
32. Marduk - 'Rom 5:12'
33. Melt-Banana - 'Bambi's Dilemma'
34. Big Business - 'Here Come The Waterworks'
35. Iron And Wine - 'The Shepherd's Dog'
36. Blood And Time - 'Untitled'
37. Hardingrock - 'Grimen'
38. Grinderman - 'Grinderman'
39. Om - 'Pilgrimage'
40. Vital Remains - 'Icons Of Evil'
41. Candlemass - 'King Of The Grey Islands'
42. Atavist - 'II: Ruined'
43. Coliseum - 'No Salvation'
44. DHG - 'Supervillain Outcast'
45. Red Harvest - 'A Greater Darkness'
46. L'Acephale - 'Mord Und Totsclag'
47. Reverend Bizarre - 'III: So Long Suckers'
48. Fall Of The Leafe - 'Aerolithe'
49. Antimatter - 'Leaving Eden'
50. Behemoth - 'The Apostasy'
51. Pantheon I - 'The Wanderer And His Shados'
52. Deathchain - 'Cult Of Death'
53. DoomSword - 'My Name Will Live On'
54. Dark Tranquillity - 'Fiction'
55. Entombed - 'Serpent Saints'
56. Exodus - 'The Atrocity Exhibition - Exhibit A'
57. El Hijo - 'Las Otras Vidas'
58. End Of Level Boss - 'Inside The Difference Engine'
59. Horna - 'Ääniä Yössä'
60. ManOwaR - 'Gods Of War'
61. Dark The SUns - 'In Darkness Comes Beauty
62. Jesu - 'Conqueror'
63. Decayed - 'Hexagram'
64. Hey Colossus - 'Project:Death'
65. The Ocean - 'Precambrian - Hadean/Archaean'
66. The Howling Wind - 'Pestilence & Peril'
67. Trap Them - 'Sleepwell Deconstructor'
68. Unsane - 'Visqueen'
69. Viaje a 800 - 'Estampida De Trombones'
70. Yakuza - 'Transmutations'
71. Scandinavian Music Group - 'Missä Olet Laila'
72. Shining - 'V: Halmstad'
73. Sigh - 'Hangman's Hymn'
74. Ghost Brigade - 'Guided By Fire'
75. Mael Mórdha - 'Gealtacht Mael Mórdha'
76. Ministry - 'The Last Sucker'
77. Anaal Nathrakh - 'Hell Is Empty And All The Devils Are Here'
78. Sear Bliss - 'The Arcane Odyssey'
79. Middian - 'Age Eternal'
80. Amorphis - 'Silent Waters'
81. Akercocke - 'Antichrist'
82. Blood Of The Black Owl - 'Blood Of The Black Owl'
83. Amber Asylum - 'Still Point'
84. Gravetemple - 'The Holy Down'
85. Helrunar - 'Baldr Ok Íss'
86. Boris With Michio Kurihara - 'Rainbow'
87. Bergraven - 'Dödsvisioner'
88. [Before The Rain] - '...One Day Less'
89. Ravencult - 'Temples Of Torment'
90. Wormwood - 'Starvation'
91. Type O Negative - 'Dead Again'
92. Swallow The Sun - 'Hope'
93. Nifelheim - 'Envoy Of Lucifer'
94. Nadja - 'Touched'
95. Down - 'Over The Under'
96. Paradise Lost - 'In Requiem'
97. Elend - 'A World In Their Screams'
98. Mithras - 'Behind The Shadows Lie Madness'
99. In Vain - 'The Latter Rain'
100. Seahorse - 'I'll Be New'

2007 album of the year

2008-04-15T11:06:00.006+01:00

neurosis - 'given to the rising'
It was obvious, wasn't it? It's funny that you see Neurosis' name thrown around a lot these days (hell, I'm guilty of that in spades, I can find a Neurosis reference point in just about any album you can throw at me, it's like a superpower or something), but especially by people who can't find anything else to say about an ambient/drone/monolithic riffing/rather unclassifiable record and just lump everything together in the one-size-fits-all "oh, they sound like Neurosis and Isis and Cult Of Luna" dropword. Well, fuck that. Neurosis aren't a band to be lumped in with any other bands, good as they might be, or with any movements, or trends, or anything. As the most essential and primordially true musical entity of the post-Swans era, Neurosis are their own movement. They have followed their own individual way on every single thing they've done and that is why they are so revered, considered so influential and also so misunderstood. As with any musical force of this magnitude, with Neurosis it's much more than just the music. It's the vision, it's the path they take to follow that vision, it's the very resonance of their impact on everyone who has ever listened to them. It's that blood-curdling, soul-cleansing, 30-second scream on 'To The Wind', where Scott Kelly dregs up just about everything he has inside him and just throws it, well, to the wind, as it were.

No other band can even remotely reach the heights of intensity, of total immersion, of oneness with their own art in its every manifestation that this band does in every single release, in every single song, in every single note. Whereas regular-joe bands stagnate and good bands "evolve", Neurosis just keep adding and adding. There's no evolution, so to speak, in their manifestations, since way back on 'Souls At Zero' - what there is, is a spinning cycle of life, death, fire, soul, blood, tears and truth that keeps spinning around itself, somehow like the ouroboros on the cover of 'Through Silver In Blood', keeps devouring itself, but growing and expanding at the same time. 'Given To The Rising' is just that. There's everything - from ravaging fury to unavoidable pitch-black ambient passages, from blinding aggression to delicate darkness, from the fiery directness of 'Enemy Of The Sun' to the tribal mysticism of 'Through Silver In Blood' to the elegiac sombreness of 'The Eye Of Every Storm' to unique dymanics and developments in songs that are as ton-heavy as they are inspiring, moving and touching to behold. It's like going to the moon to watch the final apocalypse from there - you have all the slow, funereal atmospheres developing in front of you, but at the same time the entire event presents itself with the singular beauty of finality. And what you would hear in such a situation would surely be something akin to the first half of 'At The End Of The Road', one of the several tectonic movements on this album that will resonate long, long after you've heard them.

Needless to say, you need this. Everyone does.

Neurosis - 'To The Wind'

Best of 2007 - #2

2008-04-14T12:19:00.002+01:00

2. black sun - 'hour of the wolf'
Here's the reason why some people call me a schizo. On the very podium of my favourite albums of last year, there's the direct leap from Ulver's album, the most quietly beautiful release of the year, to this - the most abrasively noisy piece of ugly dirtiness of the year. No subtlety, pleasantries or any kind of remorse in sight, Black Sun just beat you into a fucking pulp until you stop moving and then they keep doing it and doing it and doing it until they're satisfied with the mess you're in. And then they do it for a long while more. Many parts of songs consist of ripping the same THUD! chord out of their instruments for several minutes while spewing forth some words of hatred, while others ooze the sludgiest, grittiest riffs this side of fuck knows what. I had this to say when I reviewed the wretched thing for issue #154 of Terrorizer magazine, and it's pretty accurate still:

With James Plotkin doing the mixing and mastering of the album and Billy Anderson throwing in a mix as well for one of the songs, you can more or less form an idea of what to expect from Glasgwegians Black Sun. Despite that, you’ll never be totally prepared for the filth that’s coming. The easiest reference point would be the Swans’ early output, as the pounding, confrontational nihilism of ‘Hour Of The Wolf’ resonates with the same sense of foreboding evil. The dirty rumble also brings to mind the vicious menace of Eyehategod or Godflesh’s ‘Streetcleaner’, but Black Sun are operating primarily on their own twisted mindspace here. You just don’t fuck with Black Sun - witness in horror as ‘Krokodil’ spirals down into slower-and-slower repetition for the latter half of the song, cower in fear as the furious ‘Stuck Pig’ mercilessly beats you up and finally surrender to the slow-burning heaviness of the 18-minute long ‘A Deputation Of Spastics’. Essential stuff.

Put it this way. Black Sun have a t-shirt, that I admit I wear rather proudly, that says 'BLACK SUN.' on the front. On the back, the ugliest skull you've ever seen, black cross on its forehead, slapped in between the lettering 'YOU WON'T LIKE IT.'
Yeah, that sums it up.

Black Sun - 'Disintegrate To Khrist'

Best of 2007 - #3

2008-04-14T11:56:00.000+01:00

3. ulver - 'shadows of the sun'
When I first conceived this list, 'Shadows Of The Sun' was well positioned, a top ten record, yes, but not this well positioned. However, in the few months since the first version of the list was dreamt up (and that's the coolest thing about lists that people who argue bitterly about them never seem to get - they're not set in stone, they evolve just like we do and any list is just a picture of a moment), this album has been steadily, quietly and very enjoyably listened to on an almost daily basis, and it seems set to stay that way. It's a perfect situation-album if there ever was one - it's the perfect album to put on when you're going to sleep, when you're on a long journey, when you want to make a certain kind of love to your partner, in the early morning when you feel like being quiet, you name it. As a mood-setting album, there are precious few, ever, that can match it. In yet another one in the long list of Ulver style-jumps (we're talking about a band that has made, among many many others, a phenomenally harsh trvekvlt album with 'Nattens Madrigal' or a trip-hop William Blake concept album with 'Themes From William Blake's The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell'), 'Shadows Of The Sun' was initially thought by its creators, and mainly by chief genius Kristoffer 'Garm' Rygg, as the most sombre album possible, with no percussion at all. Although it does feature a little bit of it, this is essentially the theme of this album - 'Shadows Of The Sun' doesn't drive, rock or pound. It floats. By night. Constituted by mostly plaintive passages, never flashy or flamboyant, at first seemingly freeform but with a very deep and slowly developing structure, it's a record that rarely jumps on you and makes you go 'whoa!', but when it's over, you'll probably breathe a long sigh, think about what you've just listened to, and finally draw out that long, inspired 'whoa' anyway. It's almost wrong to talk about this album in a technical way, in a 'this sounds like that' kind of way, because that's not the point. The piano, Garm's always softly and somberly (and soberly) sung voice, the electronic effects, the intelligent and purposefully vague (yet deeply affecting) lyrics, all of it combines into a complete whole that is one of the most quietly and enduring emotional musical experiences that I can think of. Ever. As a sort of bonus, although it does fit the continuity of the album perfectly (it's not the token 'last song', either), Ulver thrown in a cover of Black Sabbath's 'Solitude' that, well, has to be heard to be believed. If it's not the best cover version of any band, ever, it's damn well close. It's hard to pick apart an album that you won't avoid listening to all the way through, but songs like the simply beautiful 'All The Love' or the discouraged 'Funebre' will maybe be some of those that stand out more, but not one thing sounds out of place in this remarkable album. Is it beautiful, like music?, Garm near-whispers on 'Like Music'. And it's not. It's much more than that.

Ulver - 'All The Love'

Best of 2007 - #4

2008-04-12T23:46:00.002+01:00

4. rotting christ - 'theogonia'
This is it - this is the album that Rotting Christ have been hinting at for over a decade and a half. Although they are already part of extreme metal's history, with their historial (and very important for their time) first albums, most notably 'Non Serviam', way back from 1994 (this is how we music geeks notice that we're getting old!). However, the development of their career has seen them waver unstably between their mediterranean metal style (an expression which I don't really like, but it fits as a description somehow) and a mid-90s Century Media-style dark metal, with some good and some less good results. Even in the less inspired albums, though, there has always been something noteworthy, a couple of songs that have made us all wish that they would always be like that. 'Theogonia' marks Rotting Christ's 20th anniversary, and as a celebration, no fan could have wished for more. Sakis has revealed how grueling the preparation for this album has been, with over a year of writing, and it shows. Much like Primordial, funnily enough right down here in the list, 'Theogonia's songs are immense, broad in scope, but not as tormented as Primordial's - here, it's as if you were overseeing a vast green plain, while riding your horse. On the plain, however, there are also armies of evil monsters, because every song has, besides the epic feel, also a very vicious streak, with probably the nastiest riffs since that 'Non Serviam' landmark. Right from the pounding, catchy opener 'Sign Of Prime Creation', the whole album is just addictive. Sakis' deep but raspy growl has never sounded better or fuller, and the songs are so well crafted that a tribal call to arms like 'Nemecic' doesn't need more than 4 minutes and a bit to feel like a 15-minute opus. Like Nile, for instance, it's the way they weave everything into the very body of the songs themselves - there's no need of sword fight samples to make a song feel warlike, there's no need of ethnical instrumentation to give it that Eastern feel, there's no need of warriors' chants or operatics to give the songs a fanfare, boastful atmosphere. All you need is the music itself to make you feel that. They haven't lost their demonic streak either, just check out the short and furious 'Rege Diabolicus' for proof of that. Varied, exciting, rousing, inspiring and totally killer from start to finish - 'Theogonia' deserves the highest praise and demands that Rotting Christ be taken into consideration on the upper echelons of extreme music. Brilliant stuff.

Rotting Christ - 'Nemecic'

blip!

2008-04-11T16:23:00.003+01:00

Quick break to tell you that most of the .mp3 from the entries previous to the last one (Primordial) aren't working due to a bandwidth issue, I'm in the process of migrating the files and I expect everything to be done in a few days. Apologies for that. In the meanwhile, entertain yourself with the teaser for the forthcoming SWR festival in Barroselas, in the north of Portugal. Don't miss it!

Best of 2007 - #5

2008-04-11T16:17:00.001+01:00

5. primordial - 'to the nameless dead'
The growth of Primordial has been staggering. These Irish warriors are one of those bands that make you wonder how on earth they're going to make another album at each of their releases, such is the monumental scope of their music, and then a couple of years later they do and it all seems perfectly natural evolutionary step. Albums like 'Journey's End' or 'Spirit The Earth Aflame' were tremendous, and some of the few in metal history to actually merit the word 'epic' which is so casually thrown around these days. However, the one big leap in Primordial's career has been 'The Gathering Wilderness'. Their 2005 album is one of the finest musical creations of the 00s, a rousing and moving glorious lament that is equal parts standing-on-a-windswept-moor chest-beating inspiring as it is infinity-gazing Neurosis-like everything-metal. It collected album of the year accolades just about everywhere and it's a career-defining moment that is even more inconceivable to follow than any other of their albums. That is the huge burden hanging on 'To The Nameless Dead', and the finest compliment one could pay it is that it stands tall and proud while bearing that heavy load. As vocalist Alan Nemtheanga himself said when I interviewed him, "we might never write another 'The Coffin Ships'," in reference to the most moving track from 'The Gathering Wilderness', but that's where the great thing about 'To The Nameless Dead' resides, as it doesn't try to follow directly on the path of its illustrious predecessor. Whereas 'The Gathering Wilderness' was essentially Irish in its soul, and with a tragic, sombre lamentation environment, 'To The Nameless Dead' is more universal in its thematic appeal and more elegiac in its tone. As its title implies, these songs are a hommage to those who have fallen unsung, while bravely defending a land or a cause against a bigger, outnumbering enemy and severely negative odds. Nemtheanga has cited his travels as great sources of inspiration and that is very evident here, this album is the work of someone with a broad view both of history and of present times, because 'To The Nameless Dead' isn't just about old war tales - in fact, much of it can be taken as a metaphor for the globalized world that we are being fed in this very moment, as Alan himself has expressed in the interviews after the release of this album. This is not a gimmick, or an empty show of false integrity here - for something like this to work, it has to come straight from the heart and guts, and you don't get much more honest than this band. We're talking about a bunch of guys who recently refused a five-figure deal to use one of their songs as a ringtone, much to the bemusement of the phone company who had proposed them the deal. Alan's soulful, affecting screams, roars and spoken passages, the vastly evocative quality of the mournful and rousing music and the often chilling lyrics (that you may look away, but your children will not at the end of 'As Rome Burns'...), all of it makes this album a true experience that anyone with half a soul won't fail to be moved by. Where is the fighting man?, Alan howls during opener 'Empire Falls'. He's right here, Alan. Right here.

Primordial - 'As Rome Burns'

Best of 2007 - #6

2008-04-10T12:43:00.003+01:00

6. the angels of light - 'we are him'
Michael Gira and Jarboe have taken very different paths ever since the dissolution of the Swans, who are, along with Neurosis, the most seminal, important and underlyingly influential band of the last 20 years. Of course, being part of something so essential is both a blessing and a burden, as none of them will ever be seen outside the Swans context for the rest of their careers, especially by Swans loony-fanatics like yours truly. However, both are talented enough to not let that lingering shadow cloud their subsequent projects in a negative way. Jarboe has proceeded with her harrowing solo work, as well as collaborating with some of (alt-)metal's most gifted visionaries of today, like Neurosis themselves, Justin K. Broadrick (of Godflesh and Jesu fame), Cobalt and even Attila Csihar (Mayhem) and Phil Anselmo, who will guest on her next record. Gira, for his part, has wandered further into the left-field, both on the artists he signs on his wonderful Young God Records label (he discovered, among others, Devendra Banhart and Akron/Family) and on his own work. Although he has also collaborated with several people on other projects, as well as maintaining his brilliant solo career (his concerts in Portugal were one of the most intense musical experiences I have ever witnessed - and photographed), The Angels Of Light are nevertheless his main musical output these days. Quite close to the Swans on the first couple of albums, the project has veered towards a psychedelic folk direction with the inclusion of the Akron/Family members on the line-up, and the last album 'The Angels Of Light Sing "Other People"' was rather uncharacteristic of Michael's usual sound and mood, despite being a very good record. Not so with 'We Are Him', which is where the personality that this band has taken meets the horrifically apocalyptic feeling of the Swans, with gigantic results. Although I harbour quite a soft spot for 'Everything Is Good Here / Please Come Home', there is no doubt that this is the most accomplished Angels Of Light album to date - on it, Gira sounds absolutely in control of his talent and vision, draining himself to the bone of heavy emotions that are as intense as they are genuine. The opening pair of songs is one of the most potent in recent discographic memory. 'Black River Song' is a thundering pitch-black anthem, where Gira, prophet-of-doom-like, howls black river runs beneath this ground / black river flows forever but he makes no sound over a repetitive guitar line and a rhythmic drum pounding. It's eerie and there's no escaping from it, as 'Promise Of Water' delivers a similarly uneasy ambiance, despite the more acoustic calm of the song. 'My Brother's Man' is one of those disturbing family songs where murder and love are interweaved in the closest of ways, a theme that is revisited occasionally throughout the album, which see-saws between haunting gospel-like movements and Gira's alternatively spooky or apocalyptic howl. When the whole thing is over, you'll feel emotionally drained but also affected by the skewed beauty that every song seems to offer, for those that know where to look. At 54 years of age, Michael Gira still evolves, changes, mutates and innovates as an artist as few have ever done before. For all this, he deserves the highest praise.

The Angels Of Light - 'Black River Song'

Best of 2007 - #7

2008-04-02T11:44:00.002+01:00

7. cobalt - 'eater of birds'
[review published on issue #161 of Terrorizer magazine]
This album will surely get a lot of attention of some circles from which it probably wouldn’t otherwise, because of the presence of Jarboe’s unrivalled, haunting vocals on two of the songs. While this seems a bit unfair, because her contribution, while excellent in creating some chilly moods in those songs, really isn’t all that meaningful to the outcome of the album, it’s actually a good thing. Because most of those people will really want to hang out a while with ‘Eater Of Birds’ once they taste their initial morsel of it. The straightforward violence of their debut ‘War Metal’ has been considerably twisted into something much darker in the two years that have passed since its release. Not that it’s any less violent, on the contrary – the songs on ‘Eater Of Birds’ positively drip with black bile, a thick miasma surrounding them in a way akin to early Anaal Nathrakh. Nevertheless, the Colorado duo have discovered the power of atmosphere, which is interesting since they are on the label that has issued some of the most impressively atmospheric records in recent memory, like Alcest, Caïna, Nadja or Nachtmystium to cite but a few. Of all those, Cobalt are, however, the most bruising ones by far. With some dirty Doomriders-gone-black-metal grooves contrasting heavily with the harrowing late Swans-like passages. ‘Eater Of Birds’ is also infused with a strong tribal feeling (don’t think Sepultura, think ‘Through Silver In Blood’) that is the last step in this solid, merciless beating. The concept of the album is apparently about the return to the primitive aspects of man, and most of the music here fits that notion with great aplomb. There is something indeed animalistic about these eleven songs, something that is particularly highlighted by these dynamic contrasts of the songwriting. One of the two Cobalt members is away for Army duty right now, but believe me, it’ll be worthy waiting for him to return to hear this stuff live.

Cobalt - 'Invincible Sun'

Best of 2007 - #8

2008-04-02T11:43:00.002+01:00

8. deathspell omega - 'fas - ite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum'
Wanna know what this sounds like? The title of the album means, in Latin, 'By divine law, go, you cursed, into the eternal fire!'. That's more or less it. Okay, I'll try to resist the temptation of ending this analysis right here with a loud 'GO GET IT!'. This tempation is strong, because 'Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum' is daunting. In every way. Thematically, it's already the second chapter on a complex trilogy that goes so further into the probing of mankind's relationship with faith and its rejection that this would turn into a mini-course in theology if we'd get into it properly. So, erm, let's not, but you'd be well advised to read, search and investigate about it if you really want to enjoy this record properly. The initially aparent randomness of the album is disconcerting and you need any foothold you can get to get to grips with it, and after a while (a long while, probably) it will dawn on you how close the music follows this light-and-dark concept. Even in purely musical terms, 'Fas...' is very complex. The irregularity of the rhythms throws sudden explosions of blastbeats and harsh vocals as quickly as it retreats back into the shadows where it lurks in anxious wait of the next assault. Listening to this album is a deeply unsettling experience, akin to walking along a claustrophobic corridor in pitch-dark, knowing that at some unknown point along the way an evil presence will come out of the wall and rip your eyes out. Again and again. The sinister mood is even deeper because of the ecclesiastical environment, as if that corridor was in a long-lost catacomb underneath an abandoned church where all kinds of unearthly rituals may occur. Am I full of shit? I probably am, but this is the kind of stuff that goes through your head throughout this rollercoaster of true darkness. Whereas lots of today's black metal is easily dismissable as cartoonish, you can't dismiss the seriousness behind Deathspell Omega very easily, which is what makes this the foremost band of the genre and the one that pushes it forward the most nowadays. Joining everything of the best that the genre has to offer, from the longing, far-away despair of Burzum to the maniac intensity of Watain to the creepy atmospheres of Blut Aus Nord, 'Fas...' is a monster piece of work to be discovered by the darkest of souls only.

Deathspell Omega - 'A Chore For The Lost'

Best of 2007 - #9

2008-04-02T11:07:00.001+01:00

9. pig destroyer - 'phantom limb'
[review published on issue #78 of LOUD! magazine, translated and slightly adapted for too.many.records.]
The incessant racket that was Pig Destroyer's previous album 'Terrifyer', had a accompanying counterpoint to it, the mysterious DVD-audio that contained one single sinister, slow and oppressive 37-minute song called 'Natasha', for which you needed even more stomach to listen to in its entirety than for the album itself. Aware of the effect that these contrasts provoked in their listeners (or victims?), Pig Destroyer have on 'Phantom Limb' a sort of mix of both. Of course, the minute-and-a-half insane discharges are present and accounted for, but roughly half the songs here are over three minutes long, showing a complexity and different arrangements that make the record a much more intimidating whole than the constant grind of yore. Expect no mercy, however. Everything hits you, and it hits you hard. Harder than before, even - as the dynamics improved, the fast parts are much faster and project an even greater image of uncontrolled insanity, and their effect is much more pronounced because of the contrast with those bits when everything becomes sicker, slower and you go back to that dark room that was 'Natasha'. It's not pretty at all, and with a new fourth member hired just to wreak havoc on samples and electronics, it gets even uglier, which is obviously the point. Vocalist J.R. Hayes is a liberated monster, belting out his penetrating lyrics mixing esoteric lyricism with visceral gore like few have done this side of Dax Riggs and sharpening these songs beyond what's reasonable. Pig Destroyer were already at the top of the grindcore 'hierarchy', but judging by all the territories this album visits, soon you'll have to mention them on the death metal hierarchy, as well as doom's, and devil knows what else. No need to go into petty discussions about best songs and whatnot. It's all a merciless beating from beginning to end, and you'd have to be crazy to endure it all. Fortunately, we all are, a bit.

Pig Destroyer - 'Thought Crime Spree'

Best of 2007 - #10

2008-04-02T10:53:00.001+01:00

10. high on fire - 'death is this communion'
Matt Pike, High On Fire's legendary frontman (he was in Sleep with Al Cisneros) said in an interview shortly after the release of 'Death Is This Communion' that he doesn't need to dress up in a warrior's costume covered with blood and guts to prove that this band is for real, and that is the perfect way to start to understand High On Fire. Crystallizing like few others the true spirit of what rock and metal really are, High On Fire are just a kickass power trio like they used to make 'em, belting out fist-to-the-face tune after fist-to-the-face tune, grooving wildly as if the devil himself was whistling a tune. It all sounds loose and devil-may-care, but underneath it all there is a rock-solid structure that makes this album one of the strongest of the year on a musical level as well, besides the unbeatable feeling. The balance of songs is spot-on, and you'll be sorely missing out if you just hear an isolated song from this. It's an album and meant to be enjoyed at one, from the roaring-out-of-the-gates enthusiasm of opener 'Fury Whip', reminiscent of stuff from 'The Art Of Self Defense', you're totally hooked, and from there the record see-saws between wildly different moods. Perfectly captured by yet another legend that is producer Jack Endino, you get Eastern-tinged exoticism ('Waste Of Tiamat' and 'Khanrad's Wall'), blitzkrieg go-ahead brutality that will make you smash any furniture unfortunate enough to cross your path if you listen to it at home ('Turk') and tribalist intensity that Sepultura would kill for ('Headhunter'). The ending is the final climax to this mind-twisting collection of songs, as the strangely moving 'Return To NOD', where Matt's lingering solo work is more epic than any band, well, dressed up in warrior's costumes covered with blood and guts. A blindingly intense album, supremely mature but that will nevertheless make you feel like a teenager all over again.

Best of 2007 - #11

2008-03-27T16:02:00.002Z

11. orthodox - 'amanecer en puerta oscura'
[review published on issue #8 of Rock-A-Rolla magazine]
Sevilla’s Orthodox are everything but – already on their first album, ‘Gran Poder’, a relatively hidden gem, it could be perceived that these Spaniards were on to something special. Although the album got lost in its own meanderings a bit too often for its own good, that unmistakable feeling of a band on to something unusual was there. ‘Amanecer En Puerta Oscura’ confirms that, and a lot more besides. Still a remarkably difficult album, even more so than its predecessor, as sombre, unsettling passages alternate with urgent jazzy labyrinths to create an unpredictable tapestry that will require a lot of dedication for it to make any sense. Structures seem loose and vague, which helps the eerie, trance-like quality of most of the music, but once you get used to it the underlying thread becomes apparent, a moving force similar to later Neurosis. Most of the record is instrumental, and when voices do appear, it still feels instrumental, as they are used for texture and richness of atmosphere primarily. ‘Amanecer En Puerta Oscura’ is a great evolutionary leap for the band, as the focus is much greater than on their debut. The several elements are given less space to get lost in themselves and the dynamics are helped a great deal by this mutating approach to songwriting. Exotic in a dark and frequently disturbing way, experimental but controlled, strangely uplifting but nevertheless oppressive in its stronger moments, this is an album of contrasts and touching extremities, on which the patient listener will be immensely rewarded.

Orthodox - 'Con Sangre De Quien Te Ofenda'

Best of 2007 - #12

2008-03-27T15:57:00.003Z

12. cephalic carnage - 'xenosapien'
[review published on issue #9 of Rock-A-Rolla magazine]
‘Xenosapien’ is a rare beast – a bomb of a record that manages to grab you by the neck instantly, such is its catchiness and extra sense of groove (in comparison with their previous albums, which weren’t exactly groove-less monoliths), but which is not an immediate record at all, as it also keeps revealing itself in hundreds of brilliant little details as you listen to it more and more. And listen to it you will. Previous Cephalic Carnage albums, ‘Lucid Interval’ especially, but also 2005’s ‘Anomalies’, have been extremely impressive but have also left the impression that they were trying to do too much. Not that they’re not capable of it, given the stratospheric technical level of these musicians, but as bassist Nick Schendzielos proclaims in this issue’s feature, sometimes less is more. ‘Xenosapien’ is a perfect example. Encapsulating all the moods found in CC’s music before, be it the grind, the doom, the crazy jazz, you name it, into a simpler-sounding but harder-hitting package, this record shines through where it’s most important to – songs. Remember those? Properly formed, individual songs that burst with vitality and imagination, from the surprisingly spooky mid-pace of ‘G.lobal O.verhaul D.evice’ and its saxophone, to the whirlwind that is ‘Divination & Volition’, to the quasi-black metal intensity of ‘Touched By An Angel’. The highly entertaining conspiracy theory lyrics and unusual artwork are the icing on a cake that has been baked to near perfection. As a triumph of creativity and genre-bending, you’d be hard pressed to find anything better this year so far.

Cephalic Carnage - 'G.lobal O.verhaul D.evice'

Best of 2007 - #13

2008-03-27T14:15:00.003Z

13. lake of tears - 'moons & mushrooms'

One of the most unfairly underrated bands of the last decade, Lake Of Tears nevertheless soldier on, with each album always a surprise in terms of musical direction taken. ‘Moons And Mushrooms’ is a sort of combination of all that was good about the past six records but much more guitar-focused, with melancholy, catchy choruses and their indefinable fantasy quirkiness greatly enriched by the wonderfully strong guitar sound. Much darker and heavier than before, it’ll appeal to anyone into any kind of melodic metal., read my review on issue #159 of Terrorizer magazine. Unfortunately, that was all the space I got to write about 'Moons And Mushrooms', but there would be much more to say, as there would about most Lake Of Tears albums, a band that has been consistently underrated throughout their career. On 'Moons And Mushrooms', if you still don't know Lake Of Tears, you have the perfect entry point, because the album is a sort of summing up of all the best things they've done before. The infectious melodies of 'Children Of The Grey', the sad melancholy of 'Like A Leaf' or the razor-sharp intensity of the guitar sound in opener 'Last Purple Sky' (and throughout the whole record, really - this is the best guitar sound the band has ever had) are just some of the highlights of a consistently brilliant album that will once again be rather overlooked, but will satisfy that happy bunch that is the Lake Of Tears fanbase. It's like we're all in to a little secret, and it actually feels great. And if you still doubt their rock credentials, check out the Status Quo cover 'Is There A Better Way'.

Lake Of Tears - 'Last Purple Sky'

Best of 2007 - #14

2008-03-11T11:45:00.000Z

14. mayhem - 'ordo ad chao'
Actually, if you don't mind me lapsing out of my Mr. Reviewer tone for a while, I've got the perfect real life episode to explain exactly what it feels like to listen to 'Ordo Ad Chao'. It was a night of intense, erm, alcohol sampling, and my friends who participated in the event stayed at my place, after locomotion slowly stopped being an option. One of them stayed on the sofa on the living room, where we had been listening to some music on an mp3 player, which was left on by forgetfulness. After a while, and we are talking about someone who's into the most fucked-up music you can think of, he woke up, uncomfortable and confused, from an unpleasant sleep, wondering what it was that was giving him such a nasty feeling. It turned out that the mp3 player that had been left on had reached 'Ordo Ad Chao'. Asleep or awake, this is exactly what this album will do to you. The way I see it, Mayhem have been searching for their direction ever since the black metal cornerstone that is 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'. 'Wolf's Lair Abyss' was a blast, but a mini-album and one that they apparently didn't build on musically, 'Grand Declaration Of War' was ambitious but ultimately clumsy (and it hasn't aged at all well) and 'Chimaira' was just a forgettable, straightforward attempt at brutality. On 'Ordo Ad Chao', which, significantly, witnesses the return of 'De Mysteriis...''s vocalist Attila Csihar, is where Mayhem manage to combine all their previous misguided ambitions of necro ('Wolf's Lair'), weird avant-creepiness ('Grand Declaration') and boot-in-the-face ('Chimaira') into one fucking disturbing whole that is much more than the sum of those parts. This is above all an album of violent contrasts - for all the dissonant, angular and not obvious at all guitarwork (there are no riffs, as such, to speak of in the entire album), the sound is still horribly old-school necro-sounding, not quite on Darkthrone levels but close, which will alienate any post-something fan that might be attracted by the drone-like texture of the sound. Conversely, the structures are so atypical, combining silences, skewed drum patterns and Attila's inhuman throat sounds into a whole that will go far beyond the usual expectations of the regular black metal fan. It's useless to give you .mp3 sample songs, because this isn't an album that you can get by one song. Either you get the whole thing after living with it (and terrified by it, probably) for weeks, or you don't.

Best of 2007 - #15

2008-03-07T11:28:00.002Z

15. caïna - 'mourner'
[review published on issue #80 of LOUD! magazine, translated and slightly adapted for too.many.records.]
Shortly after Alcest blew me away, the perfect companion for 'Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde' came out, and companion can even be interpreted in several ways. Alcest's album is a soft, pastoral affair, essentially feminine in its aesthetics and sensitivity, while 'Mourner' is a sort of masculine counterweight to the environments lived in Neige's work. Equally born from a solitary musician's work, young Andrew Curtis-Brignell, who doesn't feel at all the need to hide behind a demoniac alter-name (despite being a LaVey follower), 'Mourner' is the dark and disturbed face of the ambient genre. Something so scarily enveloping as 'Hideous Gnosis' is an eloquent demonstration of what you can expect of a record of this magnitude - a spartan beginning, threateningly minimalist, in which Curtis-Brignell softly sings Who’s on the side of the angels and who’s on the side of Satan?, the song transforms further and further, until we're thrown to the flames on the latter stages of the metamorphosis, as if it's suddenly a Xasthur song. The tortured voice is worthy of Varg Vikernes in 'Dunkelheit', as it proclaims No one is there anymore over guitarwork so abrasive that it sounds like a swarm of wasps. Throughout the nine songs, musical landscapes as esoteric as they are uncomfortable remind us of Swans (mainly), My Bloody Valentine, Burzum, Jesu, Lustmord and even Alcest, and from them the essential is retained. The red thread used to piece everything together is unmistakably Caïna. In an era where 500 teenage bands a day show up on MySpace, and half of them manage a recording contract after a week, it's amazing how one musician all by himself, and of this age, can have such maturity and self-confidence to create a visionary work, with its own separate identity. Hats off, dear Andrew.

Incidentally, Caïna will have available in the spring a limited split release with Portuguese doom kings Process Of Guilt, through Major Label Industries, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that one too.

Caïna - 'Hideous Gnosis'

Best of 2007 - #16

2008-03-07T00:08:00.001Z

16. stinking lizaveta - 'scream of the iron iconoclast'
[review published on issue #9 of Rock-A-Rolla magazine]
With instrumental rock and metal on the rise like it would have been crazy to think about a decade or so ago, and bands popping out everywhere, each of them trying to out-warp the previous one, it’s very refreshing that there are three guys from Philadelphia keeping it pretty simple, with mammoth riffs shot out one after another, super tight, pounding rhythm section and squealing fuzzy solos are the norm here. Within this apparently limited framework, Stinking Lizaveta carve out sixteen dirty, rocking hymns. With lots of variety – take for example the opposition between the charging 2-minute ‘Gravitas’ and the slower, sunnier 6-minute ‘Unreal’ - throughout which your interest won’t dwindle one iota. On the contrary. Risking a big claim here, this is the most addictive and replayable instrumental rock album of the past few years. Fortunately for the band, everything seems to be in place for them now. Although they have been around since 1994, ‘Scream Of The Iron Iconoclast’ catches them in the best form of their career, at the best possible time for this kind of music, and with the best possible name to drop – it’s Steve Albini doing the recording here, and what a rock-out that must have been. Don’t miss it.

Stinking Lizaveta - 'To The Sun'

Best of 2007 - #17

2008-03-07T00:06:00.002Z

17. minotauri - 'ii'
At some point, you just want to rock. For all the wonderful creativity, emotion, brutality, innovation or just plain weirdness that we music geeks like to look for endlessly in our piles and piles of precious records, sometimes we all just feel like putting something on that will rock. No frills, no complicated atmosphers, no heavily layered vocals, no journeys into an inner world of splendid depth - just the comfort that there are still people who can call a song 'Doom On Ice' and get away with it, tongue-in-cheek, just because they can. That's when we put on Minotauri. A cool way to look at this Finnish band is to imagine they're a sort of even more stripped down version of fellow Finns Reverend Bizarre. There's the same sort of back to the basics, old heavy stuff worship approach, but without the mysticism and cult leanings of the Reverend. 'II', tragically Minotauri's final album (even on that announcement they're simple - 'now we're dead! fuck off!' at the end of the booklet), sounds dusty but inviting, heavy but never entirely serious, and the balance they achieve with this is brilliant. It's all about the music, really - the one advantage that Minotauri have over, oh, any retro-rock (I do hate the term 'retro', but you understand) band is the songs. Faultless songwriting, perfectly placed instruments and vocals with just the right amount of grittiness, melody and power that will burrow into your brain and stay there, like the best Candlemass or Pentagram tracks. Great music. Sometimes we should remember that that's what it's all about.

Minotauri - 'Hammer Of Doom'

Best of 2007 - #18

2008-03-05T14:56:00.001Z

18. portal - 'outre''
[review published on issue #82 of LOUD! magazine, translated and slightly adapted for too.many.records.]
Profound Lore's releases have been consistently brilliant so far, especially in 2007, and Portal is no exception. These mysterious, hooded Aussies, with their second album, take the rotten carcass of death metal, decomposed and eaten by whatever creatures that come out of this portal, to levels of unimaginable degradation. At the core of their line-up, a couple of members from Star Gazer (if you don't know them, go get 'The Scream That Tore The Sky'. Like, now.), a band that does their own sort of sinister, cosmic death metal - Portal is just the opposite. Organic, mouldy, subterraneously monstrous. This music is abject, ugly and at first glance not subtle at all, but at the same time it exhales a ritualistic feeling that provides some haunting to the cavern where it takes place. Gone are the days when extreme music used to really scare us, but hideous pourings such as 'Black Houses' or 'Omnipotent Crawling Chaos' are probably the closest we can get to that. In a moment of rare inspiration, the record label describes this record as the soundtrack to Dali's disturbing horror short movie 'Un Chien Andalou', and that's in fact the best way to approach this. It also gives an idea of the graphically evocative potential of 'Outre´'. Rarely has a recent record given way to such brain activity, desperately trying to picture the abominations suggested by it. Apparent frivolities like a fantastically designed digipak take a particular place of relevance here, and contribute to an indissociable whole, despite the exclusivity of this sort of thing - just like other prophets of esoteric terror like Khanate, The Axis Of Perdition or even 80s Swans, 'Outre’' is not for the ones who want it, it's for the ones who can take it.

Portal - 'Omnipotent Crawling Chaos'

Best of 2007 - #19

2008-02-29T11:29:00.002Z

19. evoken - 'a caress of the void'
As the more extreme forms of doom, and funeral doom in particular, become a more broadly accepted proposition, more and more bands of the sort begin to show up, either newly formed, or being picked up more easily by record labels. It's also a time, however, to remember the ones who have been here before, and who still are the natural leaders of the genre. Direct spiritual descendents of the two entities that basically formed the entire blueprint for the genre, Disembowelment and Thergothon, they have been spreading their miserable, crawl-paced terror since the frightening 1996 EP 'Shades Of Night Descending'. Always at the forefront with such monuments of heavy slow doom such as 1998's 'Embrace The Emptiness' or the recent 2005's 'Antithesis Of Light', Evoken have now delivered an album of a magnitude that can rival with anything they've done before. 'A Caress Of The Void' is a bottomless pit of despair, and a much more dangerous one than before. This time, there's camouflaged quicksand covering the pit, so you'll think you'll be okay at first and then you'll start to sink in, slowly, until you realize the creeping horror that's still down there. There is a newfound sense of melody (within this context, let's not get carried away with the word 'melody' here) in Evoken's music, with a song like 'Mare Erythraeum', for example, providing an almost singable line, or at least hummable. These bits, and the slightly more digestible song sizes, that now hover around the eight minute mark, make 'A Caress Of The Void' an album that's strangely easier to get into, but that on the other hand proves impossible to get out of. The small specks of light make the darkness all the more impenetrable, a feeling that's very helped both by the band's amazing performance and by the perfect production - the sound can get literally suffocating in behemoths like 'Astray In Eternal Night'. At one point, you'll need to come out for air, but you'll just want to hold your breath and go back in again.

Evoken - 'Astray In Eternal Night'

Best of 2007 - #20

2008-02-25T10:37:00.005Z

20. whiskey priest - 'hungry'
And then, sometimes, you need to rest. You need to sit down, dim the lights and be quiet, let your troubles and your tiredness sink in. That's when you put 'Hungry' on. Whiskey Priest is Noah Hall and his guitar, together with a few friends, and it's the acoustic album of the year. The first line of the band's description on their MySpace reads I like quiet songs. I like honest songs., and that's precisely what 'Hungry' delivers. Songs that whisper and gently strum their words and chords to you, but also songs that resonate deeply very long after you've heard them because of the brutal honesty with which they are delivered. Noah also says love makes me want to sing songs about love, but don't think by that quote that you're getting into some sappy pink album. At its core, 'Hungry' is wounded and heartbroken. It's not completely hopeless and bleak, but hope is a distant concept, one that is there merely as a little beacon of light (should the years choose to be kind and after all you're still inclined, if some day I come across your mind and we're not completely out of time, I will be with you - 'Waiting Game'). Throughout these thirty-five minutes, Noah exposes his bare feelings, through outrageously beautiful and varied compositions, despite never leaving the simple guitar/voice/piano set-up. The guitar and voice were recorded live, for honesty's sake, so every song sounds warm, personal and like Noah is singing to you while sitting across your chair in your room. The lyrics don't offer too many unsolvable riddles, but they manage to speak of things in a very evocative way, bringing up very powerful images that complement the melodic richness of the songs perfectly. Highlights are everything, with every song glowing in its own very individual aura - there's the surprisingly gorgeous minimalist version of 'Sweet Child O' Mine', appropriately shortened to 'Sweet Child' as the second verse isn't sung, there's the biting sarcasm of 'Love & A Gun' (all you need is love, love is all you need, yeah, love and a gun I mean), there's the desperate wishing of 'Superman' (wanna be someone's hero someday if I can, don't wanna end up one more broken superman) and there's 'Souvenir', an exceptionally dangerous song if you're on heartbroken street yourself, so desolate and melancholic an ending it provides to the album, a bit like David Poe's 'Love Won't Last The Afternoon' on his remarkable 'Love Is Red' album. Yeah, I do run-on sentences when something touches me deeply, and that's precisly what 'Hungry' has done. Goddamn it, even the packaging itself is amazing, with a strangely moving little tale by Gina Ochsner that explains the meaning of the album title. If there's still some heart left in you after the world beats you down, you need this.

Whiskey Priest - 'Souvenir'

Go buy it here.

Best of 2007 - from #25 to #21

2008-02-21T22:38:00.004Z

25. watain - 'sworn to the dark' / ixxi - 'assorted armament' (watain) (ixxi)
A double-header! I could go into all kinds of wonderful justifications to have two records sharing one spot, and they'd actually be valid, like both Watain and IXXI embodying what's still relevant about black metal these days, kind of torchbearers for the genuine core of a genre, how both albums are similar beasts of misanthropic aggression, all that. All true, but this is actually a bit of a cop-out to hide the fact that I discovered IXXI, shamefully, when this list was already well underway, and 'Assorted Armament' is way too good to leave out. While we were furiously headbanging in the car to it, noticing that it wasn't a million miles away from 'Sworn To The Dark', my bestest friend JMR suggested that I slip them both in the list side by side, so here it is. Watain is Watain, if you're not into them, you're not into black metal, period. 'Sworn To The Dark' might not be as essential as 'Casus Luciferi', for example, but it's still a trve-as-fvkk satan-worshipping black'n'rolling middle-finger to music in general, and stuff like 'Storm Of The Antichrist' makes it all worthwhile anyway. Catch them live and feel the smell of death as the blood of a hundred shows rots on their clothes. And fuck off. Preferably, while listening to 'Assorted Armament' - just the beginning of the record is enough for you to understand what you're getting into. After the intro, where you can hear a whole bunch of mouse squeaks, a voice spits out 'Earth, man. What a shithole!". After that, the let's-hit-other-people-NOW! rifff of 'Armageddon Nobility' kicks in, dirty, filthy, groovy and GRAAARGH and you're hooked. And it goes on for nine more songs, so go get it. Now. You wimp.

Watain - 'Storm Of The Antichrist'

IXXI - 'Armageddon Nobility'

24. david galas - 'the cataclysm'
David Galas is mostly known for his involvement with Lycia, and there are a few traces of that sort of goth-y darkwave in 'The Cataclysm', but you'd be well advised to approach this album as a self-contained piece of work. And such a stark and sombre work that it is - Galas has worked on it for six years ever since Lycia disbanded in 1999 up to 2005, and it shows. The scope of the record is massive, with nineteen tracks spanning over seventy minutes of music, a remarkably well-worked concept that ties in with the booklet photos, taken by the well known Elena, the "kid of speed" that has done shocking work among the ruins of Chernobyl. It's precisely the air of desolation and abandonment transmitted by that region and by those photos that David can transmit perfectly with his music, with his deep croon very reminiscent of Michael Gira and the lushly but sombre and soberly arranged instrumentation. A song like 'September' perfectly illustrates the depth of dark beauty and of heightened melancholy that permeates this entire masterpiece. All of 'The Cataclysm' has been written, performed, recorded and produced by David himself, which shows the level of musician that we're dealing with here. Superb.

David Galas - 'September'

23. dirge - 'wings of lead over dormant seas'
[review published on issue #165 of Terrorizer magazine]
Much like the unfurling of their long songs, Dirge’s evolution as a band has also taken its time and matured, and now it seems the ideal time for everyone to realize their worth, as they are currently an all-encompassing behemoth truly worthy of being up there with Neurosis or Isis. themselves. ‘Wings…’ is composed of two discs, with five songs on the first one and the title track as the single one-hour track of the second one. On that first disc, opener ‘Méridian’ is a perfect blueprint example of what you can expect from the other songs. A 19-minute slab of creeping atmosphere that grows patiently but also stealthily, so when you least expect it you find yourself in the middle of a thunderously heavy whirlwind of sludge doom, capable nevertheless of switching back to quiet, minimalist ambient again. All these transitions take their time, seamlessly, so it never feels like the album is pulling you along. If anything, it walks side by side with you. ‘Wings…’ would be essential for this disc alone, but that second disc elevates it to classic status. Profoundly deep, it’s a journey of rising and falling, of light and dark, of silence and abrasive noise, which sums up everything the band has done so far. For once, the word genius is entirely appropriate.

Dirge - 'Epicentre'

22. alcest - 'souvenirs d'un autre monde'
[review published on issue #160 of Terrorizer magazine]
Neige’s (he of Peste Noire) solo project has one of those press sheets that seem to try way too hard, as it describes Alcest like “Yann Tiersen applied to Burzum”, but bugger me with Varg’s spiky mace if that bit of surrealism doesn’t feel 100% accurate after listening to ‘Souvenirs…’ in its entirety. And listen to it you will, often, such is the addictive nature of these soundscapes. You’ll even start to throw crazier names onto that description pile, like Sigur Rós or Jesu, which are probably the most important comparison point here. The enveloping, feverish melancholy that drips from this album feels a lot like the hypnotic shoegaze of Jesu’s self-titled debut, with the important difference that the guitars are still used as black metal guitars, obviously without the same harshness as Neige’s pure BM work, but with similar texture and coldness. This juxtaposition of feelings helps make ‘Souvenirs…’ a towering monument of fragile, desperate beauty that you’d be foolish to miss, regardless of your usual genre of choice.

Alcest - 'Printemps Emeraude'

21. naglfar - 'harvest'
[review published on issue #157 of Terrorizer magazine]
With an evolution somewhat opposite to many other bands, Naglfar’s constantly ascending path has seen them rise from their obscure and rather indifferently generic beginnings to the potent beast they now are. Not even the loss of lead vocalist Jens Rydén after 2003’s ‘Sheol’, an album which was the first real sign that Naglfar might be reaching for something bigger, dampened their conviction, as bassist Kristoffer Olivius put on a hell of a performance on 2005’s ‘Pariah’. Olivius has now dropped his old bass altogether to focus only on his piercing screams, and his improvement is remarkable, no mean feat considering what he has already done before. His powerful and versatile shrieks are the first noticeable result of an overall step up in intensity. If ‘Pariah’ was angry, ‘Harvest’ is furious. Even though still predominantly mid-tempo, the dynamics are much improved, with the slower parts feeling oppressive and the faster parts feeling rabid. One of the great things about ‘Pariah’ was the way that it managed to transmit real hatred in its best songs, and ‘Harvest’ also reinforces that quality. The twisted riffing ‘Odium Generis Humani’ or the sick melodies of ‘Feeding Moloch’ feel full of bile, worthy successors to ‘Spoken Words Of Venom’, however they maintain a distinctive, memorable melodic feel to them. A new factor introduced here is the immense scope of some of these songs - epic in the sense of their vastness, a bit like Rotting Christ’s new album. Opener ‘Into The Black’ is a great example of this, but the pièce de résistance is the surprisingly devastating title track which closes the album. Not only the best thing on offer here, it indicates a possible future that could be very bright for the band. It would be not only lazy, but unfair to label Naglfar mere Dissection successors, as there is much more to them, but the fact remains that these Swedes balance their genres to a similar effect, blending the best of black, death and thrash in a way that has been done precious few times, if any, since ‘Storm Of The Light’s Bane’. Modern extreme metal at its best.

Naglfar - 'Way Of The Rope'

Best of 2007 - from #30 to #26

2008-02-20T12:59:00.002Z

30. the great deceiver - 'life is wasted on the living'
[review published on issue #163 of Terrorizer magazine]
Shame that metalcore has become such a dirty word, otherwise it would be a perfect term to describe bands that actually can appeal to the sensitivities of both hardcore and metal audiences by doing a bit more than just mixing clean and rough vocals and doing a lot of breakdowns. As it is, it’s hard to describe The Great Deceiver’s new album without alienating the genre purists by the end of the first sentence. It’s their loss anyway. Tomas Lindberg (ironically enough, as At The Gates are often cited as an influence on the current “metalcore” bands) and Kristian Wahlin’s band has defied easy categorization ever since 1999’s ‘Cave In’, with each album a potent cocktail featuring a different balance of genres, and here that balance has clearly gone the way of the hardcore punk. The intensity is enough to bring Converge to mind often, while the creativity and agility of the guitarwork work beautifully in keeping the record fresh and interesting, despite the directness of the music, so you’ll be kicked in the face for 12 songs and enjoy every hit. Where’s the hunger? The dedication? Where’s the passion?, Tomas screams during closer ‘21st Century Heartburn’. Well, it’s right here.

The Great Deceiver - 'Home To Oblivion'

29. the angelic process - 'weighing souls with sand'
There is a certain frame of mind, a red thread going through some artists and bands of the past couple of decades that connects them, more spiritually than in actual performed music itself. The Angelic Process don't really sound like My Bloody Valentine, or Swans, or Jesu, and neither of those bands really sound like each other, but there is the same underlying feeling to their albums, the same bittersweetness that's left in your gut whenever they finish playing. The Angelic Process is a couple (K. Angylus and MDragynfly) who have recently put the band on hold, tragically, due to an injury to Angylus that prevents him, for an indefinite period, to play drums and guitar properly, but before disappearing (for what one hopes is a temporary period - here's hoping, K.) they've left us this monument of an album. What comes to mind after enduring a full listen of 'Weighing Souls With Sand' is waves - tidal waves of blurry, hazy, gigantic walls of noise burying inside them painfully beautiful and feverishly intense, emotional melodies. Everything in this album is both subtle and with immense scope, and it never meanders into pointless tragedy for tragedy's sake - it's like a brutal elegance that's thrown at you, enveloped in a surprisingly rich musicality, as the almost-hidden structure of the songs reveals itself once you get your head round the winds-lashing-across-Venus'-surface way in which they are presented. Approach with caution, for you might not come out.

The Angelic Process - 'Million Year Summer'

28. wolves in the throne room - 'two hunters'
It's interesting, and I have mentioned this before, how the impact of Burzum's music (while not necessarily Varg's lyrical message, or at least not in its entirety) is only now being fully processed and applied to evolution by some of the most interesting (post-?)black metal bands. 'Two Hunters' is one such example, strictly musically speaking, as Wolves In The Throne Room flow between raw, unadulterated aggression in the vein of the classics like Darkthrone or Immortal, and something quite beyond easy comparisons, a whirlwind of atmosphere and feeling. Take a song like 'I Will Lay Down My Bones Among The Rocks And Roots', for example, for a full Wolves In The Throne Room experience - the beginning is quietly acoustic, then after a while it surges into hyperspeed black metal distortion before pulling you back for another moment of quiet. The ending is then enormous, as intensity and ambiance are coupled together, including some beautifully mournful vocals by guest vocalist Jessica Kinney. By that title you can imagine a rural, back to the roots ideology at work here, and that's exactly what this band practises - the three members live in a self-sustained farm, growing their own nourishment and raising their own cattle. This nature worship transpires into their music, not in a hippie way but in a fundamental admiration for what surrounds us, both light and dark, both good and evil, with a balance in the crystallization of these feelings into sound rarely heard in recorded music.

27. a whisper in the noise - 'dry land'
[review published on issue #24 of Underworld magazine, translated and slightly adapted for too.many.records.]
Rarely has a band's name been so appropriate as here. Whisper In The Noise's sound is just that, a whisper among all the racket that can have a bigger impact just by its simplicity and meaning than all the loud volumes that might fill up the rest of your musical day. Three albums in, this Minnesota band give us an example of class and maturity. Recorded by Steve Albini, the songs exhibit a rare and delicate beauty, without ever getting into over-sentimentality. There is a minimalist elegance in these compositions, enriched superbly by the classical instrumentation which blends in with the low-profile piano and guitars. Songs like opener 'As We Were' or the wonderful 'This Time, It's' perfectly illustrate the general environment of the record, a slow development of an almost despondent sadness that nevertheless reaches leves of quiet euphoria, as West Thordsons voice echoes vague ghostly tales of a chilling evocative power. Monotony never sets in, through the intelligence with which the songs switch gears almost imperceptibly. The mood is very Southern Gothic - the old, wooden country houses, empty and abandoned, lonely old men inside slowly tracing the course of painful memories that they offer in each room. Albini's work is remarkable - each instrument resounds with crystal clarity the exact sound that is required by it, helping 'Dry Land' pull you in to repeated listens like few other records do, especially within a certain frame of mind. 'Dry Land' is an unusual, genuine record, and clearly reaffirms the faith if sometimes you think that people just don't do music like they used to.

A Whisper In The Noise - 'This Time, It's'

26. tombs - 'tombs'
[review published on issue #165 of Terrorizer magazine]
This is it, people. Whether you want the crushing weight of Godflesh, the hypnotic intensity of Swans, the piercing coldness of the darkest drone music or the atmosphere of the heavier shoegaze bands, Tombs deliver all that. This 30-minute EP is salivatingly brilliant, from the icy horror of ‘Fountain Of The World 666’ to the obliterating pain of ‘Calvaire’ or the ominous noise-instrumental that is ‘Marina’. A proper full length will probably kill us all. And what’s more, we’ll love it anyway.

Tombs - 'Calvaire'

Best of 2007 - from #35 to #31

2008-02-19T18:24:00.004Z

35. iron and wine - 'the shepherd's dog'
It's been rather hard for those of us who fell in love with Sam Beam's first couple of softly hushed, minimalist guitar-picking albums, the unforgettable 'The Creek Drank The Cradle' and 'Our Endless Numbered Days', to follow his inevitable evolution into a more arranged, structured kind of composition, with more instruments and a few people around him colouring the songs. The 'Woman King' EP was okay, but it sort of passed you by, which raised my fears a bit for this album, but in the end Sam has been able to prove that no matter what the form is, the essence of his music can and will touch hearts regardless. Truth be told, there was little else to do with his old style anyway, and in this album he has thrown the doors of experimentation wide open. It's not wild "avantgarde" experimentation, but it's stuff like the fabulous dimension of 'Boy With A Coin', a song that is at the same time creepy and jolly, the little beat of 'House By The Sea' that propels Sam into his most adventurous vocal performance so far and the groovy undertones of 'Wolves (Song Of The Shepherd's Dog)', for example. Even a song like 'Resurrection Fern', which could be lifted straight off the first albums, is given a new shade by the quiet but present arrangements. Above all, this album must feel like a sort of liberation for Sam, who has now a hundred ways in which to explore his typical small-town, rural heartbreak stories in the next releases. I'll await them eagerly.

Iron And Wine - 'Boy With A Coin'

34. big business - 'here come the waterworks'
Big Business sure got their overdue spotlight this year, since both of the musicians that constitute the band are now also members of the Melvins line-up (and recorded an album I was quite excited about). However, that can also be a slight drawback for Jared Warren (vocals and bass) and drummer Coady Willis, since everything they do will now be looked at under the big shade of King Buzzo's crown. Which is unfair, especially since 'Here Come The Waterworks' is such a great record. Sure, there's hints of the Melvins here, but mostly in their approach to things, in that vaguely mocking-indie way that the Melvins do things, the same warped sense of humour. Apart from that, the album lives on a strange contrast that manages, somehow, to work - it's tremendously heavy but also surprisingly clean and uplifting, this both in music and in lyrics too. Take 'I'll Give You Something To Cry About', with riffs that weigh a ton and could have come from any doom album but also with twinkling guitar harmonies and sort of silly oh ohs, which happen right when Jared is singing about vultures. It's weird stuff, but it all comes together into a huge mass of pure rock. Go figure.

Big Business - 'I'll Give You Something To Cry About'

33. melt-banana - 'bambi's dilemma'
Play a random Melt-Banana album to anyone with a "conventional" music taste and the reactions are usually wonderful. From "are those yelping monkeys?" to "oh, those must be the South Park dolls!", I've had all sorts of reactions. At their core, however, these nutty Japanese girls are one of the coolest bands ever, mixing typical Japan weirdness with shit-heavy Godflesh-isms with go-ahead punk. All their albums have gone one step ahead in finding the perfect balance for all these apparently incompatible influences, and it's in 'Bambi's Dilemma' that they come closer than ever to the motherload. It's the album that goes to more extremes, in both directions - while it's the one with the most insane vocal acrobatics (the dog impression in 'Dog Song' is, well, hard to explain without listening), the harshest noise moments and the most unexpected bits of electronics, but it's also the one with the closest thing to hit singles that they've ever had and with the hugest metal riffs you could ever wish for in the middle of all this cacophony. Just when you've listened to the whole thing, rocked and punked out and think you're finally making sense of it all, they throw a mega-curveball on you with the ambient (?) industrial of closer “Last Target On The Last Day". Genius.

Melt-Banana - 'Cracked Plaster Cast'

32. marduk - 'rom 5:12'
Rarely has a vocalist change produced so many good things. When Legion left Marduk, the band felt kind of washed-up, repeating the same thing over and over. Since then, the former vocalist has gone on to do a wonderful blackthrash album with his new band Devian, and Marduk have been totally revitalized with the arrival of the creepy Mortuus, known for his ravishing work in Funeral Mist. Naturally fitting in the role as if it has been his for decades, his demented and from-the-gut-of-satan vocals helped make 'Plague Angel' a pulverising return to form, and now with the unholy 'Rom 5:12' he steps those up even a bit more and Marduk is definitely back on the christgrinding map. Finally, guitarist and main man Morgan has realized that evil does not only lie in speed, and Marduk are able to slow down to a grinding (that's the word) halt right off from 'The Levelling Dust', a thick miasma of black riffing from which you can almost smell the putrefaction. This haunting feel is intelligently built in the songs, so you don't get slow-song-fast-song like they have tried to do before on 'Nightwing' for example, but a varied and very uncomfortable overall experience. 'Imago Mortis' is one of the top black metal songs of the year, 'Cold Mouth Prayer' returns briefly to the warp-speed mode, which works much better because now you're not expecting it all the time anymore. then there's a little surprise that's the final piece to lift the album to amazing status - the authoritarian, menacing 'Accuser / Opposer', in which Primordial's vocalist Nemtheanga delivers a guest vocal performance worthy of all the brilliance that his band have delivered us recently.

Marduk - 'Imago Mortis'

31. impaled nazarene - 'manifest'
[review published on issue #164 of Terrorizer magazine]
If there is a band that embodies non-compromise, it’s Impaled Nazarene. Sure, throughout all the albums they have released so far (and there have been a few already, count ‘em!), there have been ups and downs in quality, but there isn’t a stinker among them and there are several brilliant ones, and, most importantly, in all of them Mika and the lads have shown that they don’t give a flying fuck about any trends or musical climates. Nor have they shown any sign of mellowing out, either, as each of those releases has been a blast of hate-fuelled violence. It’s quite a past to live up to, and the best thing about ‘Manifest’ is that not only it lives up to it easily, but it feels like a summing up of all the best bits of their body of work. Unthinkably long for ImpNaz standards, its 50 minutes hold some of the most varied and exciting tunes of their career. Despite being generally perceived as straightforward music, Impaled Nazarene have never been easy to categorize. There’s thrash, death, grindcore and black metal all mixed with an explosive punk attitude, leaving their own nuclear metal catchphrase as probably the most accurate term for it so far. But on ‘Manifest’, everything goes one step further – they manage to put in a doom song, ‘Funeral For Despicable Pigs’ and a goddamn exhilarating Motörhead-gone-extreme rock-out in ‘You Don’t Rock Hard’, just to cite a couple of examples of the generally looser, catchier approach to songwriting. This makes the record an addictive start-to-finish experience, but it’s done in a way that it keeps the furious, uncontrolled feeling of the earlier stuff like ‘Ugra Karma’. Just listen to the insanity of ‘Pandemia’ or the wonderful opener ‘The Antichrist Files’, in which Mika shamelessly shrieks “pledge allegiance to Satan.” No, they haven’t started to take themselves too seriously yet, and the obligatory goat song is still there. It’s still good old reliable Impaled Nazarene, except they’ve still got a few tricks up their sleeve and, unlike many other bands that have reached this level of extremity, they seem to be getting even better with age.

Impaled Nazarene - 'You Don't Rock Hard'

Best of 2007 - from #40 to #36

2008-02-18T23:28:00.003Z

40. vital remains - 'icons of evil'
I was utterly exhausted, devastated by three whole days of Wacken and a couple of hours away from a whole-day bus+train+plane ride without sleeping, but was still quite pissed off when Vital Remains didn't show up for their gig at the big German festival. And there's a reason - after 1349 played, I couldn't have imagined a better way to finish the whole thing off than a show heavily based on this ugly motherfucker of a record. 'Icons Of Evil' is the perfect companion piece to Deicide's trailblazing 'The Stench Of Redemption' (and Benton fronts the band here too). Everything that makes a good death metal album is here, as 'Icons Of Evil' is simultaneously vast and claustrophobic, sweeping and crushingly to-the-point. The tempo doesn't vary much from halfway through mid-pace and speedy, but this helps the stomping feel, as if each riff and each blastbeat is yet another nail hammered into the body of that christ dude. Perfect Erik Rutan production, typical Benton bile and stellar guitarwork from guitarists Tony Lazaro and Dave Suzuki make this a must-have for any self-respecting death metal fan.

Vital Remains - 'Hammer Down The Nails'

39. om - 'pilgrimage'
Al Cisneros says that there has only ever been one song that just varies throughout his career, and he didn't even write it, he just picked off the air what was already there. I guess that's really all you need to know about 'Pilgrimage', a fantastically peaceful and tranquillity-inspiring record that goes even further in the exploration of the immensely musical effects of humming and vibration than the debut 'Conference Of The Birds'. It's impossible to describe the sense of wonder and discovery that this album will have on you if you give it space and time to develop, so try it for yourself.

Om - 'Pilgrimage'

38. grinderman- 'grinderman'
It's easy to explain - Nick Cave grew a handlebar moustache, picked up a guitar and started writing sleazy rock songs on it, and joined fellow bad seeds Warren Ellis, Martyn P. Casey and mega-drummer Jim Sclavunos on a journey through the dirtiest corners in town. Grinderman's music is energetic like we hadn't heard Nick Cave in a long time. Not that his recent albums haven't been amazing, they have, but it's cool to have Nick sound dangerous again, and sometimes very funny too on top of it. The greasy essence of rock is perfectly captured on the immortal 'No Pussy Blues', but the whole album reeks of sex, drugs, sex, rock'n'roll and just a bit of sex. And judging by the Bad Seeds' latest album, this was a very good kick in Nick's career. Get it on, indeed.

Grinderman - 'No Pussy Blues'

37. hardingrock - 'grimen'
[review published on issue #161 of Terrorizer magazine]
Not that it wasn’t obvious, for the various things they already did while Emperor was 100% active, and for what they contributed to the band itself, but it has been interesting to realize how different the two main musical personalities of the historical Norwegian band really are. While Samoth is still firmly rooted in extreme metal, both as musician and label owner, Ihsahn has been exploring all the sounds that he touched upon already with his Emperor songwriting, if briefly. Due to its experimental nature mostly, his solo and project career has been rather hit and miss, but it has nevertheless been a brave and admirable one. Next up is Hardingrock, a name that sounds strange at first but has an easy explanation, for this band consists of Ihsahn on vocals and guitar, his wife (today known as Starofash) on keyboards, vocals and guitars and a Mr. Knut Buen on a traditional Norwegian instrument called a Harding fiddle. This instrument has a devilish connotation, as the church forbade them to enter churches in Norway, and Buen is one of the top players in the country. As you might have guessed by now, ‘Grimen’ is a folk album, but as with other Ihsahn projects, his penchant for symphonic metal and King Diamond wails plays a part, as well as some electronic dabblings in a couple of songs. For the most part this difficult mix works really well, but perversely it’s the purely folk bits of the album, when Ihsahn steps back into the background a tad (vocals included), that are really exciting, as they sound totally natural and flowing. The vocals are used mainly in a poetry-reciting fashion or softly sung at most, so the fiddle really is the driving force for the songs, and together with the ambient backdrops created by the Tveitan couple, it’s capable of creating diverse moods, either melancholically sad or drunkenly festive. Although unassuming in comparison with the rest, ‘Grimen’ is Ihsahn’s most genuine and consistent post-Emperor release so far.

Hardingrock - 'Fanitullen'

36. blood and time - 'untitled'
The Latitudes series has been entirely essential so far, with all the artists contributing to this series of limited releases containing exclusive material really capturing the spirit of it, regardless of their musical genre. Be it Shit And Shine, William Elliott Whitmore or Miasma & The Carousel Of Headless Horses, to mention but a few of the most impressive ones, every release has been astounding. However, Blood And Time's untitled five-song Latitudes album might be the best of them all so far. In case you're not aware, Blood And Time consists of Scott Kelly, Noah Landis and Josh Graham, all Neurosis members, and if that doesn't make you rush out and buy the damn thing already, something's wrong with you. Just in case you need more convincing, though - this untitled little gem is the lost link between Neurosis' 'The Eye Of Every Storm', Scott Kelly's solo album and Michael Gira's solo work. It's sombre, it feels quietly apocalyptic, as if you're watching the end of time in slow motion and it doesn't really feel so bad after all. It's like an acoustic 'Through Silver In Blood'. It's like Blood And Time's sole album 'At The Foot Of The Garden' after a bout of depression. I can go on, but you're wasting precious time that you should be using to order a limited copy of this.

Blood And Time - 'Silver Ocean Storm'

A short graphical pause.

2008-02-14T16:01:00.003Z

If you would allow the shameless plug, I would like to inform you that a new companion blog for our beloved (well, mine anyway) too.many.records. has been created. It's called too.many.photos. and its name is self-explanatory, I would think.

I will try to keep it as straight to the point as this one. If all that matters here is records, then all that matters there is photos. It is not supposed to be a photographer's blog, as I don't think knowing which lens or shutter speed I used would significantly improve your experience of looking at it. It's time to let the images of our favourite musicians do all the talking.

I hope you will enjoy it.

Now, enough non-recordspeak. Onward!

Best of 2007 - from #45 to #41

2008-02-11T23:51:00.001Z

45. red harvest - 'a greater darkness'
[review published on issue #34 of Unrestrained! magazine, slightly adapted for too.many.records.]
Always a left-field band, Red Harvest have gone one step further into the unusual with this. These Norwegians have been refining their innovative industrialized thrash for well over a decade now, with Cold Dark Matter their most accomplished work to date, but A Greater Darkness is one mean motherload of an album that eclipses everything they’ve done so far in terms of sheer quality. The most phenomenal difference towards the other albums is the threatening, poisonous atmosphere of terror that stains the whole thing. The darkness on this album is indeed much greater than before – check out the coiled, about-to-explode venom of 'Hole In Me' or the dissonant creepiness of 'Dead Cities' for textbooks examples of sonic evil. This unique ambiance is achieved through a slightly different approach to songwriting, as the sound feels much less mechanical than before. The industrial vibe is still present, but invaded by an organic, (post-)human feel. Put it this way: if Red Harvest were a mean robot before, now they are a killer cyborg. This makes the album much more challenging and, seemingly paradoxically, more immediate than any previous work. The immediacy of the beats and the shredding riffs is counter pointed by the insidious melodies and pounding cybergrooves that lodge themselves in your brain after a few listens. The final icing on the cake is 'War Themes', a military march of a song, constituted mostly of sampling and percussion, that is simply obliterating.

Red Harvest - 'Hole In Me'

44. dhg - 'supervillain outcast'
DHG, for those not in the know, is how Dødheimsgard are now known. When I interviewed main man Vicotnik last year he told me that the name change was no big deal. It’s a supplement, we never stopped being Dødheimsgard, we just have two names now,. no big philosophy behind it, he told me, but maybe subconsciously that was done to shed just a little bit of the pressure that was on this band to deliver something. Okay, so this is not a million disc selling band, but within our little world of strange music, the name Dødheimsgard carries a little weight, on the strength of the revolutionary work they left almost a decade ago when, due to millions of problems, the band went on hold for a while. '666 International', for example, was the blueprint for a whole new world of modern, futuristic post-black metal that never really materialized, as the few bands that seemed destined to spearhead it either disappeared, broke up or went somewhere else musically (Thorns, Satyricon, Arcturus). It still sounds wonderfully fucked-up and absolutely brilliant to this day. Well, 'Supervillain Outcast' won't have the same kind of impact, probably, but it's still miles ahead of most supposedly forward-thinking bands. Vicotnik overhauled the whole line-up, arming himself with new vocalist Kvohst, who was also in Code, along the way (and who has since left the band, sadly), but it's the unpredictable quality of the music that still carries the band's sound. The album, and DHG in general, is not as crazy as every review tries to make them seem, but the constant wall of electro-black intensity makes the album so unusual that you won't even know how to categorize it, let alone appreciate it fully. Genius, still, after all these years.

43. coliseum - 'no salvation'
[review published on issue #9 of Rock-A-Rolla magazine]
The fact that Ryan Patterson, vocalist/guitarist for this Louisville band sounds just like Agnostic Front’s Roger Miret is true, but probably misleading as a means to define the band, so let us not reduce them to just that. They do have a general musical framework close to Agnostic Front and a few other hardcore classics, but the great thing about Coliseum is that they sound incredibly angry, more so than most bands in recent memory. The intensity levels throughout the entire album (no, there is no respite) reach worrying levels sometimes, as the average breakneck speed increases even more to help get their desperate message across – there are no rose-tinted glasses here, as the band pummel into you the world like it really is. Some of the songs are metallic enough to recall equal parts of Black Flag and Motörhead at their grittiest, but despite this fiery aggression, there are as many chances to sing along as there are to headbang. Coliseum never lose their sense of melody in the eye of each of these 13 storms, and as such some great hooks are thrown aplenty throughout. When a band has this much to get off their chest, and when it’s done with this much honest, genuine passion, it’s easy to overlook the songwriting element, and the great thing about ‘No Salvation’ is that underneath the violence you have songs, so the album won’t last you for two weeks, it will last you for years. Unassumingly so, this might help shape the more traditional-influenced hardcore to come.

Coliseum - 'Funeral Line'

42. atavist - 'ii: ruined'
Lights go down and then everyone dies. Slowly, painfully, drowned in the sorrow of their worthless, miserable existence. Grrrrrrrrrrurrrrrrrrghdooooooom.

Atavist - 'II'

41. candlemass - 'king of the grey islands'
After yet another bout of Messiah Marcolin insanity, Candlemass, the legendary doom giants who seemed completely revitalized after 2005's crucially awesome self-titled album, were left with an album and no vocalist. A great album, on top of it, with some soaring songs and some near-psychedelic arrangements thrown in among the traditional Candlemass doom that has inspired so many of the bands that we currently listen to. The chosen man couldn't be more appropriate for the job, or more surprising - Rob Lowe, singer for the-other-best-doom-band-in-the-world, Solitude Aeturnus, a band that very fortunately he did not leave. That problem solved, you get everything you usually want from your Candlemass albums, Leif Edling's crushing grooves, even spiced up a bit by those elements. Take the instantaneously recognizable as prime Candlemass 'Devil's Seed', or the dreamy, unusual feel of 'Of Stars And Smoke'. So why isn't this in the top 5, then? Well, because, although it stands head and shoulders above most competition, 'King Of The Grey Islands' has moments where Candlemass doesn't really sound much like Candlemass for real. An adaptation for which there was no time or will would have benefited Lowe as well, as it seems that he's trying to modulate his talents to a structure that was already written for someone else. So, Leif and the boys, here's the deal - 'King Of The Grey Islands' is great, but since we know that the next album, thought since the beginning with Rob in mind and with a better environment around the band, should be a motherload of doom, we'll leave this one here in this already very respectable position and cross fingers. Deal?

Candlemass - 'Of Stars And Smoke'

Best of 2007 - reaching halfway! From #50 to #46

2008-02-08T11:59:00.002Z

50. behemoth - 'the apostasy'
[review published on issue #162 of Terrorizer magazine]
Behemoth have been worryingly average for a while now, and the fact that this less inspired (by their standards) period has coincided with a rise in their commercial status, especially in the United States, is a very valid cause of concern for fans of these Polish giants. ‘Demigod’ was a step further into their definitive affirmation as a death metal band, as opposed to their blackened earlier output, but it was a bland, uninspired step which left several question marks on what would be the ideal direction to follow on the next release. Their commercial future might be relatively secure, with the kind of popularity they seem to hold now, but purely musically speaking, a lot hangs on ‘The Apostasy’. So it’s good that ‘Slaying The Prophets Ov Isa’, the first track proper after the moody intro, will kick any lingering doubts and anxieties from your mind with all the violence you could wish for. A clinically precise yet very pleasantly gritty and above all very heavy slab of proper death metal, it nevertheless shoots off in several other directions that elevate it from very good to brilliant status, and sets the norm for what comes next. In a month where I feel like I’ve used the word ‘ethnic’ on every single review, Behemoth show everyone how it’s really done. Much like Rotting Christ’s ‘Theogonia’ or any Nile album, all those influences are entangled in the songwriting itself, instead of someone just plucking a sitar when the drums go quiet. Coupled with frequent tempo changes and the best, most twisted and fiery drumming of Inferno’s career, this melting pot of ultra-brutal death metal, shit-scary vocal layering, Middle-Eastern chanting and tribalism turns a song like ‘At The Left Hand Ov God’ into something very close to a masterpiece. Even better, if that’s possible, is ’Inner Sanctum’, where none other than Warrel Dane wails all over some sick black metal riffing and jazz piano (!), his characteristic voice a perfect and surprising match to Nergal’s deeply resonant growls. ‘The Apostasy’ isn’t catchy, and all the kids who picked up on the band recently will have trouble getting to grips with its complexity and density, but the top-notch songwriting, the sheer weight of the atmosphere and the grinding relentlessness of the whole album make it one of the top death metal releases of the year so far.

Behemoth - 'Inner Sanctum'

49. antimatter - 'leaving eden'
Saddest band in the world, proclaims the sticker on the cd case, but that might be misleading. In fact, the first feeling that you get from 'Leaving Eden' isn't really of overbearing sadness, but of quiet, of solitude and contemplation. This record actually sounds a bit like the more pensive bits of Anathema, which is funny since it's the first Antimatter album to not feature ex-Anathema bassist and songwriter Duncan Patterson, leaving Mick Moss as the remaining founder. It does still have a tie to the Liverpool band though, as Danny Cavanagh guests with a few guitar parts. Somewhat like Ulver's 'Shadows Of The Sun' (coming up later... much later!), 'Leaving Eden' is the perfect album for a silent, dark evening, and even to put on just before you fall asleep. There's the same kind of quiet melancholy in the singer/songwriter-like simplicty of 'Ghosts', the breezy, 70s-like 'Another Face In The Window' or the beautiful instrumental 'The Immaculate Misconception'. I must admit I feared Anitmatter would fade away without Duncan, but that might have actually been a good thing. Wonderful as Antimatter's previous albums where, there always seemed to be a conflict of styles between the two men, and with 'Leaving Eden', Mick Moss has managed to create the most cohesive and coherent Antimatter album to date.

Antimatter - 'Ghosts'

48. fall of the leafe - 'aerolithe'
Sadly, Fall Of The Leafe split up shortly after the release of 'Aerolithe', but at least they left another great album so that we won't grieve too much. Long-time fans of the band will grieve anyway, because there was something special to Fall Of The Leafe. Whether it's Tuomas Tuominen's unique, labyrinthine vocals or the never obvious but nevertheless infinitely catchy song structures and hooks, you can't really find a comparison point for these guys. Mixing all kinds of melodic metal elements and even, why not, a few poppy bits now and then (mostly in feeling), Fall Of The Leafe's songs were often memorable, launching into choruses molded by Tuominen's voice meanderings and coloured by his cryptic, unusual lyrics. If previous album 'Vantage' was where he totally let loose with all his vocal talent, 'Aerolithe' is a more controlled affair, where the music is given space to breathe (ie, he shuts up now and then) and therefore work much better as a whole. Although there isn't a stand-out million-dollar song like 'The Fresco' on 'Aerolithe', the whole album feels more like a complete effort, and still offers a few highlights of incomparable melody, like 'Sink Teeth Here' for example. Sink your teeth on it down there and you'll know what I mean.

Fall Of The Leafe - 'Sink Teeth Here'

47. reverend bizarre - 'iii: so long suckers'
That title is well revealing - Reverend Bizarre are no more. What the hell happened to Finnish doomsters in 2007? Two of the finest, most brilliant bands in the entire genre of traditional doom, Reverend Bizarre and Minotauri, have called it quits last year, apparently just because they could. At least they both left monuments to their memory, 'II' in the case of Minotauri (later on this list...) and this little monster in the case of the Reverend. Basically, 'III: So Long Suckers' is two hours (yeah, it's a double) of The Riff. The ghosts of Black Sabbath or Candlemass are summoned to the seance, and all the spirits join together to spew forth mammoth doom riff after mammoth doom riff. And that's it, really. Reverend Bizarre have always kept it simple, you want doom, you get doomed, with Albert Witchfinder crooning all over the slow paced of the beasts that are these seven (for two hours, I repeat!) songs. A worthy funeral for the Reverend.

46. l'acephale - 'mord und totsclag'
Holy shit. One of the major headfucks of the year, 'Mord Und Totsclag' will require some getting used to, even by people who listen to abrasive music daily. L'Acephale combine the atavistic primitivism of old Darkthrone with a viciousness worthy of Funeral Mist to create a severely bruising wall of hellish black metal fury. The vocals are some of the most intense, paint-peeling shrieks heard this side of Dead, and the music reaches Burzumic levels of repetition and creepiness often. The most amazing thing about this record is the creeping unease that permeates it, from the most direct stuff like 'The Book Of Lies' to the unbearable 21 minutes of centerpiece 'Against A Weeping Sea Of Sleep'. That's the best description for 'Mord Und Totsclag - it's unbearable. All props to you if you can listen to it all the way through in one sitting, because sometimes even the music on this album seems to be unable to keep up with itself, like on the insane 'Terror Is Our Tenderness', where the instrumental part sometimes goes down in volume during vocalist's Set Sothis Nox Law shrieking. Phew.

L'Acephale - 'Terror Is Our Tenderness'

Best of 2007 - from #55 to #51

2008-02-07T23:01:00.001Z

55. entombed - 'serpent saints'
Seventeen years, nine full length albums. Time flies, doesn't it? I'm not aware of the demographics of my readership, but I assume that some of you guys were toddlers when 'Left Hand Path' came out. Man, do I feel old. Entombed, however, don't - 'Serpent Saints' is yet another slab of dirty, heavy Entombed-metal that fits perfectly alongside their past discography. Entombed's career, like almost every band that has had a massive influence towards a genre, has always been marked by those first albums, up until 'Wolverine Blues' more or less. Unlike many of those bands, though, and even if every fan seems to have a different album to pick on, the fact is that Entombed have never released a bad album, not even an average one, if you look at it unbiased by your own expectations. 'Serpent Saints' even sidesteps the more-of-the-same issue (although it's a very wonderful same!) that might have been valid on some other albums, because they're rockier, Motörhead-er than ever and at the same time doomier and creepier and Black Sabbath-er than ever too, with their typical way of not taking themselves too seriously ('Masters Of Death' is very tongue-in-cheek, for example) but still grinding you down with shit-heavy stuff, like the mammoth 'The Dead, The Dying And The Dying To Be Dead'. A metal staple, Entombed are. Here's to the next two decades.

Entombed - The Dead,The Dying, And The Dying To Be Dead'

54. dark tranquillity - 'fiction'
If you happened to have visited my last.fm page, you will notice that I listen to these guys a lot. Quite a lot. As much as I love At The Gates (and I do - I will travel to a couple of countries this summer with the express purpose of seeing them live) and Entombed (see above!), among others, Dark Tranquillity will always be the epitome of what Swedish death metal means and of its importance towards metal and extreme music as a whole. Their intricate lyrics, their catchy but pounding songs, their musical and emotional intelligence, everything is great about this band. So what is the new album doing at #54? Well, this might be the less positive review you will read in this top 100, but when a vaguely disappointing album still makes it halfway up the list, then it's because my expectations are sky high for the band in question, which is the case. Don't get me wrong, 'Fiction' is fabulous, but it's just not enough of a leap from 'Character', as that album was from 'Damage Done' (much more expansive and almost space-like feel), or as that was from 'Haven' (more aggressive and to the point), or as 'Haven' itself was from 'Projector' (creepy electronics, no clean vocals) and... you catch my drift. I have to admit that 'Projector' is still my favourite DT album, and those much-missed Mikael Stanne clean vocals make a return here on one of the songs ('Misery's Crown'), but 'Fiction' doesn't have the same individual album feel as all the other albums from 'The Gallery' until now. However, several brilliant moments like that wonderful last song, the aformentioned 'Misery's Crown' or the typical DT 'Nothing To No One' still make it a highly recommended album. Let's just hope the guys try a bit harder next time so that the record makes it to where it belongs - in the top 5 at least.

Dark Tranquillity - 'Misery's Crown'

53. doomsword - 'my name will live on'
[review also published on issue #78 of LOUD! magazine, translated and adapted for too.many.records.]
'My Name Will Live On' is the perfect power metal (well, sort of) album for people who dislike the genre, with no super-high-pitched vocals and cinematic delusions that are characteristic of some of the bands that those who don't like the genre hate the most. With DoomSword, you get the essence of epic, the notion of the enormity and the glory of past battles. After a rather lengthy absence, these Italians show that the sort of form that produced the masterpiece that is 'Resound The Horn' is still intact. Despite the rather tradicionalist look, DoomSword is a bit of an unique band. The seriousness and the sobriety with which they tackle the historical events that their songs are based on leave no doubts regarding their dedication and integrity, and it also injects in their music a believable feeling that is remarkable. For all that, 'My Name Will Live On' is huge in scope - a devoted, focused listen to a song like 'Gergovia' will make us feel in the battlefield itself, led by Vercingétorix (him on the album cover), resisting stoically and heroically to the Roman invasion. The environment around these songs is very heavy, from the sonic destruction of 'Steel Of My Axe' to the irresistibly inspiring 'Once Glorious'. The balance between power, excitement and even beauty is very good. The final cherry is Deathmaster's excellent vocals, sounding like a true leader of men, summoning them into battle. Get your swords ready.

DoomSword - 'Once Glorious'

52. deathchain - 'cult of death'
The loss of former vocalist Rotten, who did a great job on this Finnish band's two first albums, was a blow that some of the fans haven't been able to get over even now, but if they would try to look a bit beneath the surface they would realize that 'Cult Of Death' is actually a great progression for the band. Much more death metal than before, this album will take some getting used to if you were expecting a thrashy affair like their previous efforts, but once you get used to it you'll find a cavernous, brutal death metal album like they used to make 'em in the old days. K.J. Khaos, who also growls for Deathbound and The Duskfall, really goes low end here, and it gives heavy songs like 'Serpent Of The Deep' or 'Necrophiliac Lust' a remarkable potency. For the geeks among us (I know you're out there!), the album feels like a collection of monsters of the week, with each page of the booklet depicting the death hammer (for, erm, 'Deathammer'), that serpent of the deep or the mad exorcist in 'Hour Of The Exorcist'. Kickass album, and great fun.

Deathchain - 'Serpent Of The Deep'

51. pantheon i - 'the wanderer and his shadow'
Pantheon I might feature both Andrè Kvebek and Tor Risdal 'Seidemann' Stavenes, former members of 1349, but take that only as a quality reference point, because there is little of 1349 here, and if this was what the pair wanted to do, then it's great that they left their former band and dedicated themselves to this. Pantheon I practises a polished, complex kind of black metal - note how i used 'complex' as a lame way to actually mean 'symphonic', because that word has become so dirty in black metal circles that I'm afraid you'll just skip to the next review if I mention it. Rest assured, however, that this is symphonic like it should be. There's no ham-fisted sub-Hammer Horror crap here like in the latest Cradle Of Filth efforts or in all of Dimmu Borgir's unbelievably overrated career, in fact the band closest to the way Pantheon I develop their sound is probably Emperor, with all differences duly remembered. To be more accurate, the vast spacey feeling of Emperor with a bit of the rawer aggression of Old Man's Child almost gets us there, but Pantheon I are strong enough to stand on their own merits, and there are a lot of neat little touches, like a few surprising thrash parts, the odd Hestnaes-like clean vocal part or some moments where the fury really steps up, like in the great 'Cyanide Storm'. An enormously classy release of modern Norwegian black metal.

Pantheon I - 'Cyanide Storm'

Best of 2007 - from #60 to #56

2008-02-07T11:36:00.001Z

60. manowar - 'gods of war'
'Gods Of War' has turned, surprisingly, into the most divisive album of Manowar's long career. Sure, they have always been a factor of contention within metal as a whole. On one side you have the people who think they're silly and dumb, on the other all the fans who realize that the over-the-top posturing is exactly the point of Manowar and are therefore free to enjoy the music, that has been of a superior quality very often, something which is often overlooked because of the whole image the band generates. Few casual listeners think that Manowar actually have written, among other things, a haunting, crushing doom song ('Hatred'), gorgeous metal ballads ('Master Of The Wind', 'Courage', 'Heart Of Steel'), rousing epic cavalcades ('Black Wind, Fire And Steel', 'The Power Of Thy Sword', 'March For Revenge'), not to mention the 30-minute epic 'Achilles, Agony And Ecstasy In Eight Parts'. The one decision that is arguable about 'Gods Of War' is that they have applied the 'Achilles' concept to a full album, a concept album about the god Odin, but this time without the constant metal rumble that the opening track from 'The Triumph Of Steel' had. Of these sixteen tracks, only eight are "proper" songs, and one of them is a bonus track that doesn't really belong in the whole concept. This makes 'Gods Of War' a very difficult album to sit through if you're not in the musical equivalent of a let's-watch-Lord Of The Rings-the-whole-way-through mood. Symphonic intros and orchestral passages are remarkably well done, and the entire album flows exactly like a movie, but after superb heavy and fast blasts like 'Sleipnir' or 'Loki God Of Fire', sometimes you wish they'd just get on with it. However, if you think about it, that's really your problem. The music here is awesomely put together as a cohesive whole, and it's remarkable that a band well on their way to their third decade of existence still has the balls to put out something like this in today's current musical climate. Oh, and that bonus track - it doesn't fit, but it's terribly exciting in a silly true metal kind of way. It's called 'Die For Metal'.

ManOwaR - 'Sleipnir'

59. horna - 'sotahuuto'
It's Horna. After the black plague album, they wrote 'Sotahuuto' as a tribute to the old school and Bathory. It's fucking grimm trve BM, cold, raw, entirely shrieked in Finnish, preferably to be listened on vinyl and not made to be liked, so fvkk off. \m/

58. end of level boss - 'inside the difference engine'
[review published on issue #24 of Underworld magazine, translated and adapted for too.many.records.]
The riff that opens the first song, 'Selfishnegativevibemerchant', shows right away what End Of Level Boss are all about. A textbook example of what a stoner riff is, it serves as a basis for the song's development, which doesn't limit itself to heavy and slow. Just like the rest of the album, in fact. The dynamics on display here are the best quality of 'Inside The Difference Engine', with surprising structures and frequent detours over dissonant territory in the vein of prime-era Voivod that give the album a sort of industrialized feel. For once, the press sheet comparisons are right - End Of Level Boss do sound like the missing link between Kyuss and Voivod. Two huge names to throw about, but these guys can take their weight perfectly. Throughout the record, both oppressive ('Instinktivitus', scary!) and urgent ('Reticence') atmospheres are created, always with a guitar athleticism worthy of someone like Stinking Lizaveta (with whom End Of Level Boss have played, actually). This cross-genre exploration is possible because this band is musically very solid - the rhythm section is huge, and the vocalist sounds either like a steroid-filled John Garcia or a less schizo Mike Patton. Therefore, the predisposition to make up stuff is enormous, as the two last songs show, from atop their bizarreness. Whether they show the band's future sound or not, this is in any case a band that gives guarantees for the future. And if the leap to the next album is as big as the leap from 'Prologue' to this one, you'd better watch out!

End Of Level Boss - 'Instinktivitus'

57. el hijo - 'las otras vidas'
[review also published on issue #24 of Underworld magazine, translated and adapted for too.many.records.]
Good music does funny things to you, to the point of bringing down irrational prejudices (not that there are any rational ones). I do admit a certain personal distaste for songs sung in Spanish, but it's a distaste that's mostly part of the past right now, and it's all Abel Hernandéz's fault. Migala's former vocalist, after this band broke up, decided to get together a new band and throw himself at this very personal project. With the precious help of multi-instrumentalist and producer Raül Fernandez, the result was the writing of nine irresistible songs. It's very difficult to try to explain the appeal of the simplicity of 'Las Otras Vidas'. Although the album doesn't have a glowing factor of originality or any fantastically arousing moment in particular, it's one of those that insinuate themselves, underneath your skin, slowly, until you realize that you listen to the thing almost every day, especially when you want to take a break from all the hellish metal of doom that most of my readers probably listen to all day long. Just like it happens with a record like Nick Cave's 'The Boatman's Call', for example. The stand-out note is entirely Abel's voice. Sober, accompanied by various acoustic instruments, it's one of those full and low voices, capable nevertheless of the softest melodies that seem to come out without any kind of effort, a bit like Robert Fisher (Willard Grant Conspiracy) or Matt Berninger (The National). Songs vary between pop-folk and something more atmospheric, that will appeal to anyone who likes Iron & Wine and other similar bands. The comparison is necessary but very reductive. An album of this class and feeling should appeal to anyone who likes good music, full stop. Even to those who didn't like to listen to Spanish singing.

El Hijo - 'Vals De Los Besos'

56. exodus - 'the atrocity exhibition - exhibit a'
The revival of Exodus is a wonderful thing. With so many troubles that have happened to this band, it's a small miracle that they're still together at all. That they're actually still thrashing the house down with powerhouse albums like 2005's 'Shovel-Headed Kill Machine' and now this little baby. Vocalist Rob Dukes is a big part of this, as he's probably the best vocalist the band has ever had (no disrespect to the much-missed Paul Baloff, but he is), and succeeds in injecting that final bit of bile that these tracks need to work. By "work", I mean "punching you in the face and leaving your broken and messy nose for the rats to pick on", of course. As a final piece of the puzzle, original drummer Tom Hunting also returns to the fold on this album, beating his kit like there's no tomorrow. Just like the awesome previous album, 'Atrocity Exhibition' is a simply a shred-fest that will make you thrash all around (acting like a maniac?) and headbang from beginning to end. Varied, incorporating several tempos for massive killing capacity. Funnily enough, in the middle of a thrash revival and bands like Municipal Waste, Evile and SSS catching all the attention, old-timers Exodus are still by far the best thrash band around.

Exodus - 'Riot Act'

Best of 2007 - from #65 to #61

2008-02-04T16:53:00.001Z

65. the ocean - 'precambrian'
The scope of 'Precambrian' is simply staggering. An ambitious double album (comprised of a mini-CD, 'hadean/archaean' and a "full" disc, 'proterozoic'), entirely conceptualized (and metaphorized, too) around the creation of the Earth, created by a band that's not even a band, but an open collective of musicians (their official name is actually The Ocean Collective), how's that for starters? By all this you might expect a dreamy, drawn out record with 20-minute songs, but that's where the Berliners surprise you. The music that bellows forth from their apparently huge rehearsal space is the finishing move to this overwhelming ambition, and it's surprisingly intense - a rather unique mixture between post-rock, Cult Of Luna especially, and vicious metallic hardcore like Converge, all of it tempered by odd little details like left-field electronic bleepings and atmospheres. Enriched by some of the best packaging I've ever seen on a digipak, 'Precambrian' is an album that will hit hard from the beginning but will take a while to discover fully.

The Ocean - Orosirian (For The Great Blue Cold Now Reigns)'

64. hey colossus - 'project:death'
[review published on the April issue of Rock-A-Rolla magazine]
The prolific Hey Colossus are, musically speaking, part of the less-is-more school of thought (in terms of number of releases, though, they’re very much the-more-the-merrier!), as their downtuned, dirty beasts of songs stampede their way forward without any big frills or unnecessary filler. Hey Colussus’ aim is to rock you, and they do that shamelessly, under the haze of static and fuzzy feedback, as if Boris were playing Doomriders songs. The title-track from the Doomriders album in particular, one of the best songs in memory, has a worthy successor here, in the truly kickass ‘I Am The Chiswick Strangler’, a two-minute blast of energy that will conjure up images of legs-apart, full-on rocking stances. Elsewhere, other highlights include the vicious ‘On The Pleasure Of Hating’, a gnarly, filthy release of disgust, and the unbearably heavy ‘Rope Assassin’, in which the rumbling chaos almost drowns out the tortured screams of the vocalist. The predominantly slow pace feels menacing, which gives the listener a great rush when things start to pick up a bit of speed and extra bite. In fact, the whole album feels almost dangerous, a true reflection of the great cover image. ‘Project:Death’ is a mandatory release for anyone into ugly, bass-heavy music with serious attitude and aggression, and it manages the worthy feat of being Hey Colossus’ best work so far.

Hey Colossus - 'I Am The Chiswick Strangler'

63. decayed - 'hexagram'
[review published on issue #162 of Terrorizer magazine]
After a difficult period during which guitarist and founder JA was left as the only band member, Decayed has suffered a complete line-up overhaul. Now the 17-year-old Portuguese black metal institution returns with renewed strength and confidence, and it’s precisely that confidence and faith in themselves that elevates ‘Hexagram’ above the usual norm. Unlike many bands based in Central and especially Southern Europe, Decayed do not feel the need to pretend that the inspiration for the album came from a snowy Norwegian forest. Rock’n’roll, sacrifice your soul!, is the battle cry of powerful new vocalist W halfway through ‘Ceremonial Cleansing’, and that really sums it up - the black heart of ‘Hexagram’ beats to the punkish, devil-may-care rhythm of Venom. These genuine old-school vibes are enriched with a very modern sense of viciousness, showing that Decayed are not only rooted to the past, but also to the future. Black’n’roll might feel like a tired gimmick for tired black metallers of yore, but this is the genuine article.

Decayed - 'Ceremonial Cleansing'

62. jesu - 'conqueror'
According to Justin K. Broadrick, Jesu's aim from the beginning was to create the saddest music possible, and while that is quite a goal, it is also a very open one. This has allowed Jesu to evolve from the hypnotic bleakness of debut EP 'Heart Ache' and open up to other forms of expression. Although the dreamy, hazy quality of the music is still the main characteristic of Jesu's composition framework, 'Conqueror', a bit like what 'Silver' hinted at, is generally softer, sometimes coming close to a sort of floaty emo-gone-ambient atmosphere that's closer to My Bloody Valentine than anything else. The "pop" feel that many have complained about is misleading, however. 'Conqueror' is still so rich in layers and fine subtlety that you'll genuinely hear something new every time you play it.

61. dark the suns - 'in darkness comes beauty'
It's something in the water, or in the weather, or that they feed to babies, but there is an overall feeling to Finland's dark rock bands that no other country can really match. Not that they try much, since this kind of thing can really only be done in Suomi - you have nowhere else with bands like (post-'Amok') Sentenced, Entwine, Charon, Poisonblack, Cryhavoc or Eternal Tears of Sorrow, to name but a few. Dark The Suns is the newest addition to this illustrious bunch, and it features all the staples of this geographical sub-genre, there's the gravely vocals (slightly more gravely than most here), the melodic leads, the emotional subjects, the sexy and stylish sense of darkness. The main difference is the way Dark The Suns use their keyboards, as they are omni-present and carry the main melodies of the songs themselves, for extra dramatic factor. All this could be the set-up for a bad review, waiting for the 'so, heard it all before, cliché, wimp music, avoid.' punchline. Thing is, Dark The Suns songs work. They're insanely catchy, but there's quality underneath that allows them to survive the disposable factor, there's soul to them. Of course you'll hate it if you only dig extremebrutaldeathmetalgroaargh, but if you like melody and emotion in your music, check out these guys.

Dark The Suns - 'The Sleeping Beauty'

Best of 2007 - from #70 to #66(6)

2008-01-31T15:17:00.002Z

70. viaje a 800 - 'estampida de trombones'
[review published on issue #159 of Terrorizer magazine]
After a long silence, Spaniards Viaje A 800 return with their unusual take on stoner rock. Despite the relative conventionality of their music, very clearly influenced by Black Sabbath, Hawkwind and Kyuss, it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly sounds different about them. Indeed, the Spanish lyrics give it an air of exoticism that is rare in this sort of music, but the riffs are hypnotic enough for the language to be quickly forgotten after a couple of songs. Perhaps it’s the fact that Viaje A 800’s songs are more direct, less hazier, less stoned if you will, than your typical stoner rock. They not only avoid the drugged out, long repetitions common in some other bands of this kind, but there’s in fact an almost punk-like immediacy in the rockier songs like ‘Zé’ or ‘Patio Custodio’ that is very satisfying. ‘Estampida De Trombones’ is the chance to listen to an example of how to give a tired genre a new, subtle twist, while still rocking the house down.

69. yakuza - 'transmutations'
[review published on issue #163 of Terrorizer magazine]
Shape shifting isn’t the half of it, as each song on ‘Transmutations’ twists the album further into uncategorizable territory. There’s the dreamy jazzy structures of the sax-lead ‘Egocide’ exploding halfway into Patton-esque metal cabaret, the Neurosis worship of ‘Raus’, the pitch-black doom of ‘The Blinding’ or the devastating 2-minute death metal blast of ‘Steal The Fire’. Just to name a few. Call it a mess and give it 5/10, right? Well, wrong. It sounds crazy when write descriptions of each song like that, but when you’re actually listening to it, it doesn’t feel that insane. Yakuza aren’t a crazy grind band shooting in all genre directions just because they have ‘jazz influences’, and all the songs have the band’s very distinctive mark on them, regardless of their stylistic clothing. It will take some listens, but you’ll eventually discover a subtly structured record that knows when to chill out and when to go for your throat. A great record that is both brutal and intelligent.

Yakuza - 'Egocide'

68. unsane - 'visqueen'
The somewhat hard-to-define, vicious post-hardcore sound of Unsane has been slowly but surely developing, and all of their albums have been a challenge to fans, who don't expect anything less from this NY-based band. 'Visqueen', their first album for Mike Patton's Ipecac label, goes some way to taking the Unsane sound to a new extreme, as the creepy desolation that was always present on their past records is very emphasized here, but all without losing their trademark rumbling power. Take opener 'Against The Grain', where everything that makes Unsane great is represented - the song is intimidating in its relentless and incisive heaviness, but also releases a quantity of unease and razor-sharp angst that makes it feverishly intense. The rest of the album falls a few inches short of this genius opening blast, but stays close enough to make all of it mandatory both for Unsane fans and for those who like uneasy aggressive music. To top it all off, Unsane throw a last-gasp curveball with 'East Broadway', an eight-minute almost ambient piece that'll scare the shit out of you and makes the wait for the next album a very exciting one.

Unsane - 'Against The Grain'

67. trap them - 'sleepwell deconstructor'
No big review needed for this. 'Sleepwell Deconstructor' is the sound of the pissed off, the frustrated, the angry. It's what you put on when you've had enough of all the shit in the world and you want to start breaking things. It's no surprise that there are members of December Wolves in this ('Completely Dehumanized' is one of the most vicious albums ever) and that the original name of the project was Trap Them And Kill Them. The feeling of letting out aggression is nearly palpable because this isn't just random noise, it's uncontrolled aggression released in a controlled form, much like Pig Destroyer's awesome 'Phantom Limb' (more on that a bit further up the list...) it bashes your head in with minute-long death-crust-grind missiles. All of the songs are highlights, and then there's the equivalent to that last untitled song on 'Phantom Limb', or even Converge's 'Grim Heart / Black Rose', in the form of the five-minute long 'Deconstructioneer Extraordinaire', the one rest in pace in the middle of all this chaos, that nevertheless keeps the violence-inducing levels way up there anyway. A crazy album that'll tire you just by listening to it.

Trap Them - 'Swine Into Silk'

66(6). the howling wind - 'pestilence & peril'
[review published on issue #164 of Terrorizer magazine]
Killusion could have released ‘Pestilence & Peril’ under the guise of Thralldom still, and it wouldn’t shock anyone, since The Howling Wind is a direct progression from the oblique take on black metal that was the trademark of Thralldom. However, it also makes sense that this should be an entirely new project, since that progression leap is indeed a large one. ‘Pestilence & Peril’ is more obviously black metal than Killusion’s previous work in Thralldom, but not black metal in the orthodox kind of way. The spaced-out feel of the guitars actually recalls that dead stump in the genre’s evolutionary tree that is the late 90s Moonfog releases such as Thorns’ debut or Satyricon’s ‘Rebel Extravaganza’, but much dirtier and murkier. The closest comparison to ‘Pestilence & Peril’ is Aura Noir’s ‘Deep Tracts Of Hell’. There is the same alternating between quasi-doom (some Unearthly Trance there too!) stomping horror and faster songs, but always maintaining that greenish, menacing toxic haze. In what seems to be quickly becoming a norm in Profound Lore releases, this album feels dangerous. There is an underlying viciousness to all these songs that projects the intended atmosphere of terror with great effectiveness, but the main factor for that is the caveman-like muffled production. A bit like the label’s previous release, Portal’s ‘Outre’’, ‘Pestilence & Peril’ doesn’t sound either necro or crunchy – it sounds like you just put your ear to the ground and heard the bestial roar of an unknown beast miles beneath you. Animalistic it might be, but the album is also very well structured. Take a song like ‘Virulence 33’, for example, in which the relentless , abrasive pace that shreds your face for five minutes is abruptly cut short half a minute from the end, leaving you all alone with a few discordant sounds that segue into the spooky interlude, ‘Southaven’. When you’re finally feeling safe, the mid-paced hell of ‘Stealth Eugencis' wrecks your nerves all over again. You’ll be on edge for the duration and you’ll love every minute of it.

The Howling Wind - 'Stealth Eugencis'

Best of 2007 - from #75 to #71

2008-01-31T12:38:00.001Z

75. mael mórdha - 'gealtacht mael mórdha'
It's not only Primordial doing the Irish epic thing - Mael Mórdha (which is the name of an ancient Irish king from the 11th century, in case you were wondering) also evoke images of standing on windswept moors beating your chest in the rain. While Primordial have transcended that and turned into something quite unique over the past few years, Mael Mórdha are younger and keep their music closer to the Irish folk-metal style of something like 'Journey's End', but there are a few twists to their style as well, namely their doom influences, which help turn this album into something a bit special too. The epic, mournful tales owe as much to the Bathory's viking heroics school as they do to Cathedral or Candlemass riff-of-doooom school, and all this mixed with the folk elements and the captivating historical storytelling makes 'Gealtacht Mael Mórdha' a mandatory release if you're into this sort of thing. What about a Mael Mórdha / Primordial gig, eh?

Mael Mórdha - 'A Window Of Madness'

74. ghost brigade - 'guided by fire'
'Guided By Fire' is one of those records that sound pleasant but unremarkable at first. Their dense Katatonia-esque melodic metal brings to mind a whole bunch of other Finnish bands that play the sort of dark metal one usually associates with the country, with traces of both the old (Amorphis) to the new (Dark The Suns) being clear on 'Guided By Fire'. The subtlety of the compositions, however, begins to unveil itself as the melodies get more and more familiar, and then 'Guided By Fire' opens up as something quite wonderful, especially considering this is a debut album. It's essentially the sobriety of the whole affair that does it, as the overall sadness of the songs doesn't sound overbearing or contrived but keeps the melancholic intensity, something that is much helped by Manne Ikonen's excellent, diverse vocals. One of the most promising debuts of 2007.

Ghost Brigade - 'Rails At The River'

73. sigh - 'hangman's hymn'
It's thrash this time! Sigh continue their own devil-may-care tortuous path, that has included black metal, psychedelia, classical music and many more genres, in a fusion unique to this Japanese troupe. 'Hangman's Hymn' is one of the most violent Sigh albums so far, as the classical-trained genius that is main-man Mirai saw it fit to pay hommage to his German thrash obsessions after the milder, stoned environment of the eerie 2005 effort 'Gallows Gallery'. The result is a bombastic cacophony of symphonic blackened thrash, divided in three acts, with tons of intricate details to discover. If you like wimp shit like Dimmu Borgir, then check out 'Dies Irae / The Master Malice' for an example of how symphonic elements should really be used in extreme music.

Sigh - 'Dies Irae / The Master Malice'

72. shining - 'v. halmstad'
No misleading anyone with that record cover, so no, Shining haven't lightened up yet. Suicide is still the main topic of the day for these Swedes, with the highly debated suicide rumour of vocalist Kvarforth (unfounded, by the way) surely adding some anticipation prior to this release. So this album is not a walk in the park, unless it's an abandoned part at 3am and you intend to go there to slash your veins open with a rusty razorblade, by the moonlight. The angst and the void of emptiness that emanate from this release feel real, even if the music itself has gotten progressively cleaner, from the gritty filth of the first album to the jazzy melodies that the icy terror is infused with on this, their fifth record. Overall, the predecessor 'IV. The Eerie Cold' was slightly stronger, musically, but for that feeling of black emptiness, all of Shining's records are essential.

71. scandinavian music group - 'missä olet laila'
Yeah, a pop album among all this darkness, but it's how pop should be done. Scandinavian Music Group are a band from Finland, formed in 2002 with a few people that used to play in Ultra Bra. Originally a four-piece, the line-up has expanded to seven people, which allows them to explore all the possibilities of harmonies with pianos, pedal steel guitars and vocals. It's hard to pinpoint what exactly makes SMG so appealing, but maybe because we're all so jaded with tremendous metaphorical explanations in reviews that sometimes we overlook the basics - brilliantly written, simple, melodic music that you remember and feel like listening again long after you put on the record for the first few times, all this achieved without any big fanfares or "easy listening" tricks that ruin mainstream pop music these days and turn it into the disposable crap that it is. Take a song like 'Itkevä Lintu', that consists of little more than piano, some effects and Terhi Kokkonen's beautiful, softly sung voice but manages to become enormous in your mind by the effect of the infectious melody, a bit like the best Azure Ray songs. The song structures aren't always verse-chorus-verse obvious but manage to keep all the hooks in place, and even the more conventional-sounding ones like 'Naurava Turskan Kallo' keep a strange, morose feeling to them, a bit like the environment you get from a Black Box Recorder song. If you can't understand Finnish, do find someone to translate some of the lyrics to you, because they're an integral part of the experience. On the wonderful 'Mustana, Maidolla, Kylmänä, Kuumana', the best song on the album, Terhi sings in her native Finnish you talk a lot / for such an early morning / I can listen carefully / but my memory is useless / I might call you tomorrow / ask if you'd like to meet up / do you want to kiss / my neck in the hallway / or then I'll make coffee like it's nothing / and forget / black, with milk, cold, hot / I drink it in whatever the way. If you only buy one pop album this year, make it this one.

Scandinavian Music Group - 'Mustana, Maidolla, Kylmänä, Kuumana'

Best of 2007 - from #80 to #76

2008-01-18T10:37:00.001Z

80. amorphis - 'silent waters'
Vocalist Tomi Joutsen was part of what helped make Amorphis' 2006 album 'Elegy' such a resounding come-back for the band. I manifested my love for it on these very pages and gave it a very respectable spot on my best of 2006 list, at the time. His deep, soulful yet powerful voice carried those wonderful compositions even beyond their original brilliance and put a band that was more or less fading right back on the map. This is all good, but it created a huge anticipation for this follow-up, which naturally takes away a bit of the impact that it might have had otherwise. Therefore it's natural that you'll feel somewhat underwhelmed on your first sessions with 'Silent Waters', especially considering the subtlety of the album. There is nothing as catchy as 'Brother Moon' or instantly live-set-material like 'House Of Sleep' here, as this record is much less direct. After this initial adaptation, however, the rich melodic tapestry becomes apparent, as does the fact that Joutsen still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Well, throat. The quiet, emotional 'Her Alone' represents well this relative shift of direction, with several other songs in this sombre, melancholic vein. It's not all quiet emotion though, as the album also offers a few rocking numbers like the bruising opener 'Weaving The Incantation'. Above all, the most notable thing about this finnish band is that, 17 years after their inception, they are still mutating, creating and innovating.

Amorphis - 'Her Alone'

79. middian - 'age eternal'
Some of you might be familiar with Yob, a very unorthodox doom band that released four fascinating albums (if you're not, here's a good place to start) and then disbanded back into the aether where they seemed to have come from. Well, some aeons stuck around in the form of guitarist Mike Scheidt, who formed the Middian entity shortly after, and 'Age Eternal' is their first discographic step. Despite some similarities in the overall feeling of the sound, there are important differences between the two bands. Middian approach their songwriting in a more dynamic fashion, varying the tempos much more and even going outside the dooooom of Yob for several interesting loud/quiet interactions. The riffs are huge, the vocals are downright scary when they leave the cavernous roar for something quite otherwordly and the entire package feels oppressive, intimidating and above all very heavy. A very promising debut in the life of a band that has since been troubled by some band from Milwaukee who are just out to hurt them and get money because of the band name. Support them in any way you can, they deserve it.

Middian - 'Dreamless Eye'

78. sear bliss - 'the arcane odyssey'
It's great that this Hungarian band is finally starting to get the recognition they have fully deserved for years. Yes, 'The Arcane Odyssey', their sixth full-length, is their best album yet, but not by a very wide mile. Records like 1998's 'The Haunting' or 2002's 'Forsaken Symphony', just to name a couple of examples, have already been very noteworthy and essentially original releases. Most people with a vage knowledge about Sear Bliss will know them as the band with the trombone, but it goes so far beyond that. The brass instruments they use, trombones and trumpets, are merely there to give these songs an extra air of vastness, of epic cosmic proportions, of space, just like the keyboards that avoid the Dimmu complex of carrying a song and ruining it and are used for texture, for ambient. But none of this would work if the songs themselves weren't written like that - vast, mournful yet very black monsters like opener 'Blood On The Milky Way', the Naglfar-gone-orchestra 'The Venomous Grace' or the dark folk of 'Path To The Motherland', among many other highlights, combine to make 'The Arcane Odyssey' a truly unique experience. When someone tells you black metal is stagnated, play them this.

Sear Bliss - 'The Venomous Grace'

77. anaal nathrakh - 'hell is empty and all the devils are here'
'Hell Is Empty And All The Devils Are Here' is a straight-to-the-point fucking blast of hatred and bile, and both for the break-the-furniture impulses it'll raise in you and the band's devil-may-care mock-the-trve attitude it would deserve a much higher placing on this list. Vitriol's (aka Dave Hunt or, well, Dave Cunt) vocals keep evolving too, to the point of bringing to mind the great Simen Hestnaes on the huge 'The Final Absolution'. Thing is, despite all the great things about this blackdeaththrash assault, this is Anaal Nathrakh we're talking about, and the face-ripping assault of 'The Codex Necro' or 'Domine Non Es Dignus' still remains completely unrivaled. By all means go out and get this right now if you have any kind of interest in aggressive music, but get those two instead if you don't have them already.

76. ministry - 'the last sucker'
Farewell albums are difficult beasts to tackle. Either they're great and worthy of being the final memory of a good band, or they're half-arsed releases that focus more on their circumstances than on their music. Happily for all Ministry fans, this happens to be a case of the former. Not that Al Jourgensen's mighty gang would need it, as Ministry will be more than remembered for deflagrations like 'Psalm 69', 'Filth Pig' or 'The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste', among many others, like this late string of hate-fueled anti-Bush administration records. The approach to 'The Last Sucker' has been the right one - throughout these eleven songs (including an unbelievably pitch-black Doors cover, 'Roadhouse Blues'), Ministry offer their fans everything that they have loved about the band in these decades of their existence. The buzzsaw guitarwork, the kick-ass groove, the harsh industrial environment, Al's trademark vocals snarling all over the place and the gung-ho rock'n'roll feel of it all will leave everyone drooling for more, and that's the proper way to bow out. A special note to the participation of the great Paul Raven, who passed away recently. His typically thunderous bass is the final piece of a final puzzle that concludes a brilliant band in style.

Best of 2007 - from #85 to #81

2008-01-17T10:45:00.001Z

85. helrunar - 'baldr ok íss'
Enslaved have long moved on to grander and more all-encompassing things, but if you still long for some straight-up viking black metal in the vein of Bathory and, indeed, old Enslaved, Helrunar, along with bands like Helheim or Kampfar, are one of the best prospects available right now. 'Baldr Ok Íss' works great especially because it's a very balanced record - although these Germans never go all widdly on us, even offering some harsh and more traditional black metal like in the ferocious 'Schwarzer Frost' or 'Íss', they do know when to get down to acoustics and old-man-storyteller mode ('Winter'). The rest of the album is the typical chest-beating epic style, and the whole mix is yet another perfect soundtrack to some conquering and pillaging while wearing a horned helmet. Not terribly original, but it sounds great anyway.

Helrunar - 'Schwarzer Frost'

84. gravetemple - 'the holy down'
Take Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O))), Khanate, Burning Witch, you name it), Attila Csihar (Mayhem, Tormentor, Aborym, and indeed Sunn O))) sometimes) and experimental multi-instrumentalist Oren Ambarchi, and you have one of the most musically warped-out trios that you can conceive already. Now, ship the lot of them off to unstable, war-torn Israel in the summer of 2006, and have them perform screwed-up dark ambient droning doom improvisations. Are you scared yet? You should be, because the result of all that insanity is captured in this one-track, 60-minute disc and it's not an easy ride at all. The atmosphere is always unsettling, sometimes drawing you into a state of almost calm, with slow-burning hisses and bleeps, only to lash out at you when you least expect it into bursts of sonic violence, with chanting, growling, electronics, drumming and guitar feedback going at each other like a pack of rabid wolves, or as if Mayhem, Khanate, Sunn O))) and Whitehouse were all playing at the same time. My first listen of 'The Holy Down' happened during a 200km road trip with a friend, and I can tell you that our state when we arrived felt more like we had driven 20000km than 200. Mindfuck at its best.

83. amber asylum - 'still point'
There's a reason why Kris Force, Amber Asylum's frontwoman, has collaborated with my official Best Bands In The World, Like, Ever, which are Neurosis and Swans. In all Amber Asylum releases, there is the same underlying sense of earth movement, of some deeper, bigger thing than all of us that is being touched upon with these sounds. Not that the music itself is in any way similar in form, as Amber Asylum operate within a neo-classical framework, with Kris' remarkable soprano voice being a constant presence, but the images evoked by each artist's work is entirely similar. Although 'Still Point' is mostly operatic, sometimes even bombastic, the use of flutes and cellos and the entirely non-obvious nature of the compositions make it sound like one of those records to put on, on that day when they will say on the news that this is it, folks, the apocalypse is coming and tomorrow will never come. On that day, you will sit on your porch looking at the red horizon, and you will have Neurosis' 'Through Silver In Blood', Swans' 'Soundtracks For The Blind' and maybe 'Still Point' playing on repeat, and somehow, everything will feel meant to be.

82. blood of the black owl - 'blood of the black owl'
[review published on issue #159 of Terrorizer magazine]
Blood Of The Black Owl’s self-titled debut starts out rather misleadingly, as the first track ‘Kills The Timber’ firmly sets expectations for a slow-paced ride through harsh Darkthrone territory. Sole member Chet Scott must enjoy surprises, because that’s what you get as soon as the following song, ‘The Thunderous Hooves Of Two Goats In The Sky’, kicks in. Well, it slithers in more than kicks, as the sound of the rain and the spooky atmosphere start to envelop and consume you. When you least expect it, some dirty, gritty guitar has started to permeate through this gloom, settling into a repeating, hypnotic riff. The album see-saws like this throughout, impressively seamless in its transitions and changing dynamics, offering its fair share of pitch-black highlights after a few listens, the most fascinating one being the tribal horror of ‘Uwwalo’. Negură Bunget for the spiritual approach and Orthodox for the ritualistic feel are two good comparisons, but Blood Of The Black Owl is promisingly original.

81. akercocke - 'antichrist'
Considering the devastating live show that Akercocke put on and the totally individual personality that each of their records so far have shown, 'Antichrist' is a difficult album to tackle at first. Even before you start to listen to it, there's that terribly cliché title to contend with, and after the first couple of listens the whole thing seems to pass you by somewhat, very bland by comparison with the savage 'The Goat Of Mendes' or with the rich and complex tapestry of 'Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone'. Let it settle, however, and the dark pleasures of Akercocke will unveil themselves to you. The face-pounding violence of ''Footsteps Resound In An Empty Chapel', the gloriously ambitions 'My Apterous Angel' and a lot of subtle little innovations in the band's sound such as the jazzy elements of 'Axiom' or the unexpected electronic work in 'The Dark Inside'. Although it doesn't have the same impact as some of their previous, revolutionary work, 'Antichrist' is the sound of a band in constant evolution, and it becomes so catchy as you listen to it more and more that it might well end up as one of the Akercocke records that you will listen to more often.

Akercocke - 'Axiom'

Best of 2007 - from #90 to #86

2008-01-10T00:37:00.002Z

90. [beforetherain] - '...one day less'
The long awaited debut full length of these Portuguese doomsters is vast and contemplative to the point of feeling like a journey. In fact, it feels like several journeys in one - both a journey to the most dramatic of human emotions and also a musical journey to a time when Anathema were putting out albums like 'Serenades'. Darren-period Anathema is indeed the main reference point here, especially for Carlos D'Água's mournful vocals, but in a genre in which it's hard to innovate, it's the work of riffmeisters Valter Cunha and Hugo Santos (who is also in the gigantic post-doom band Process Of Guilt) in particular that lifts '...One Day Less' above the usual norm. The pair weave a perfectly balanced tapestry of sorrow without being mushy, of melancholy without being wimps. Those seventeen minutes (count 'em!) of the closing title track must rank very highly on the song of the year category.

[BeforeTheRain] - 'You... My Ruin'

89. wormwood - 'starvation'
A very hard record to analyze, because of the highly unusual mix of elements that it contains. On any given song, this Seattle band can be building up a downcast riff worthy of My Dying Bride, only to have it mutate into five minutes of Neurosis atmosphere build-up, and have it climax on a female-vocal symphonic bit worthy of Peccatum. It sounds a mess, but it strangely works, and in case you're worried, the one theme running through the album is the murky darkness that envelops it all, so those cleaner atmospheric and symphonic parts don't really sound like artsy-fartsy meanderings and actually help to enrich the entire experience. Of course, the musical concept behind this album is so ambitious that it doesn't grab you completely for the entire duration, but in the wide majority of songs it does and as such it ranks as one of the very positive surprises in originality of 2007. The press release that came with the promo called it 'Panic-stricken Terrified Woebegone Metal of Hell' and, for once, it might be on to something.

Wormwood - 'Release From Expectation'

88. ravencult - 'temples of torment'
I was pretty excited about this record a few weeks ago, and my opinion still holds up!

87. bergraven - 'dödsvisioner'
[review published on the July 2007 issue of Rock-a-rolla magazine]
Don’t commit the mistake of raising the volume during the deceptively quiet beginning of this strange album. You would regret it three minutes or so later, when the black clouds are fully formed and finally descend upon you. Single member Pär (plus session drummer) single-handedly creates a black, hellish miasma, a mix of suicidal doom and ambient black metal as if Shining were playing ‘Dunkelheit’, expressing nihilistic self-hatred throughout the eight painful songs. Some interludes like those first three minutes come and break the overall thick fog now and then, although the album never meanders too far into ambient territory, and even the quieter parts feel somewhat alien and intangible, adding eeriness to the ensemble in a way similar to Ved Buens Ende. A few clean guitar leads also make their presence known and they are the disc’s weak point, as besides not being anything fantastic on a musical level, they detract from the very real black mood ‘Dödsvisioner’ is capable of creating. Otherwise Bergraven offer here an oblique approach to black metal that is very refreshing indeed. In a fetid kind of way, of course.

Bergraven - 'Ondkall'

86. boris with michio kurihara - 'rainbow' (michio) (boris)
[review published on issue #157 of Terrorizer magazine]
Something on Boris’ ‘Pink’ it didn’t quite fit the rock-out of the rest of the album - that opening atmospheric track, ‘Farewell’. This collaboration with guitarist Michio Kurihara picks up precisely from there, as opener ‘Rafflesia’ sounds like ‘Farewell’s missing 5 minutes, except greatly enriched by Kurihara’s endless-sounding leads. Such is their mesmerizing quality that they bring to mind the similarly infinite guitarwork of Katatonia’s ‘Brave Murder Day’. Given Boris’ increasing exposition, it’s easy to relegate Michio’s participation to secondary status, but nothing could be more unfair. Having shown consistent touches of genius in several bands, of which psychedelic rockers Ghost are probably the best known, he lifts some of these songs to brilliant status. Good examples are ‘You Laughed Like A Water Mark’, on which his swooping, swirling guitar contrasts with the laidback stoner vibe of the song, or the bluesy sounds that twist the otherwise shoegazing ‘Starship Narrator’ into something quite different.. Boris don’t lie back and watch, either. Showing no wear from the wealth of releases of the past few months, they push limits and explore new ground, always sounding exciting and otherworldly. The loud/quiet dynamics on ‘Sweet No. 1’ are pure Boris, as is the hazy cloud of ‘Fuzzy Reactor’. Just like ‘Altar’, ‘Rainbow’ is a consistent, tight collaboration that is much greater than the sum of its already excellent parts.

Boris with Michio Kurihara - 'Sweet nº1'

Best of 2007 - from #95 to #91

2008-01-09T10:04:00.001Z

95. down - 'iii: over the under'
Never try / You either do it or don't waste your time, croons Phil Anselmo hoarsely on 'Never Try', one of the standout tracks from the third Down album. It shows the determination that's behind this album, a determination that's fueled by very real factors, especially for the former Pantera frontman - his battles with addiction, Dime's death and everything that happened up to that point, Phil is a man with demons and he's not afraid to look them in the eyes, and his vocal performance is intense, soulful and one of the best of his career. Katrina is also a theme hanging over the music created by all these New Orleans natives (Phil, Pepper from Corrosion Of Conformity, Kirk from Crowbar, Rex the ex-Pantera bassist and drummer Jimmy Bower who's been in nearly every known local band), and all these hardships give the hard rockin' blues of 'Over The Under' a very real and very gritty feeling. The music is right up there, too - from the 70s rock of 'N.O.D.' the the monstrous groove of 'I Scream', this is Down through and through and won't disappoint anyone looking for some honest, fat-groovin', heavy southern rock.

Down - 'Never Try'

94. nadja - 'touched'
It's drone, Jim, but not as we know it. Nadja's main man, Adrian Baker, has hit upon a formula that is nothing short of revolutionary, and will be more so once he develops it more. And he does get chances to, as his flow of releases is steady and fast-paced! But 'Touched' has been rather special among everything else Adrian has done recently. Withing the doom-applied-to-drone framework of Nadja, it's probably where you should start if you want to discover this band, or even a whole new genre. 'Touched' is drone for people who aren't into it (yet?), the swathes of saturated noisy textures always 'saved' by a sense of motion and of atmosphere that makes them listenable. Once these things start to settle through repeated listens, you start to perceive the enormous motion that's going on in these tracks, the underlying dynamics that build up tension and anxiety and then release them in huge cycles of sinister moods. To crown this achievement, there's 'Flowers Of Flesh', a total mindfuck of a 'song' that will be your best bet whenever you need to clear a room. Pay attention to Nadja in the future.

93. nifelheim - 'envoy of lucifer'
The Bröderna Hårdrock are back! The most famous evil twins of extreme metal, guitarist/bassist Tyrant and vocalist Hellbutcher, have returned along with the rest of Nifelheim which now includes former Entombed drummer Peter Stjärnvind, rechristened Insulter Of Jesus Christ! after his entrance into the Nifelheim kingdom. During this seven year gap, they did release a couple of split albums, tributes and a best-of, but not a proper full-length, which is what we really want from Nifelheim. The wait was long but worth it - 'Envoy Of Lucifer' is the most exciting record the band has done so far. A filthy, no-holds-barred blackthrashing attack (the mouldy crypt-like feel of 'Evil Is Eternal' has to be heard to be believed), it does nevertheless show an impressive level of musicality. Beneath the apparent simplicity and crudeness of the sound, there are real riffs and real structuring holding the songs together, something that is easily explained by the twins' love of hard rock and classic heavy metal, namely their obsession with Iron Maiden. At Wacken 2008, there'll be a chance to catch both Maiden and Nifelheim live, so let's all go and raise horns!

Nifelheim - 'Evil Is Eternal'

92. swallow the sun - 'hope'
After two sublime albums of Opeth-esque, growling doom metal, 'The Morning Never Came' and 'Ghosts Of Loss', these Finns have opened up their sound to let in a more fragile kind of melancholy. The crushing, hopeless doom riffs are still there, but now a little pale light is let in now and then with quieter passages and surprisingly delicate clean singing by vocalist Mikko Kotamäki. The appearance of Katatonia's Jonas Renkse on the song 'The Justice Of Suffering' speaks volumes, as they are one of the closest reference points to the hypnotic sadness that songs like the mesmerizing 'Don't Fall Asleep' are capable of creating. An elegant and subtle way to be doomed.

Swallow The Sun - 'Don't Fall Asleep'

91. type o negative - 'dead again'
Peter Steele and his cohorts' attitude on stage might be going a bit way too overboard with the don't-give-a-shit thing, but the fact is that, decadent (in a good or bad way, depends how you look at it) as they might look in that context, Type O Negative's albums have never wavered in quality. 'Dead Again' is yet another huge, hazy trip through the warped mind of Type O, with the by-now trademark overly long skip-me-if-you-dare song ('These Three Things'), the doomed-out rocker that always makes it to the airwaves (the apocalyptic 'The Profits Of Doom') and plenty of other drugged&doomed-Beatles sort of excursions in black humour, like 'Some Stupid Tomorrow' or 'September Sun'. Business as usual, and business is good.

Type O Negative - 'The Profits Of Doom'

Best of 2007 - The action is go!

2008-01-08T11:09:00.001Z

I've been obsessively dedicated to music since I was a wee lad, and being extra anal about it I have naturally compiled every kind of list possible about music. But my most meaningful lists have always been the end of year ones, to the point that my, erm, liberal updating of this space has been greatly saved by these lists. It's that time again (ie, January), and during the painful task of compiling 2007's list I realized that this has been of the best years for good music, in the sheer amount of quality releases, in recent memory. Doing those top20s that the magazines I write for have asked me was hellish. Stretching it to top50 for too.many.records. alleviated a bit but was still unthinkable in terms of what it would still leave out. Therefore, dear friends, I present you my insane top100 of 2007. And you know what? There's still a bunch of unmentioned ones that I hate to leave out. That's how cool 2007 was.

Onward!

100. seahorse - 'i'll be new'
'I'll Be New' feels like a genuine musical experience just like they used to make 'em in the old days. A voice and a guitar recorded live in the studio, a backing piano and a little bit of electronics which really add to the atmosphere, and you have a record that feels like that old pair of sneakers that you won't wear out anymore but still keep to wear around the house because they're so comfortable and friendly. There is pain and heartbreak in these lyrics, of course, as there usually is in the music that comes straight from the heart, but the soft hush of the remarkably sharp and evocative lyrics and the occasional foot-tapping moment like the wonderful 'The Devil & I' make for a truly enjoyable experience and an album you'll return to more times than you might think at first.

Seahorse - 'The Devil & I'

99. in vain - 'the latter rain'
Getting people like Jan K. Transeth from the legendary In The Woods... and Kjetil Nordhus from, curiously enough, In The Woods... sort-of-follow-up-band Green Carnation, is a bold step for a band as young as In Vain. Yes, they are both amazing vocalists who greatly enrich the tracks they contribute to in 'The Latter Rain', but they also bring their baggage with them and all the drooly obsessive fans of those bands (including me, especially of In The Woods...) expecting huge things. That's the one thing you have to get over when facing this album, and it's not easy, especially since it sounds so bland on the first couple of listens. Once you do stick to it, however, the depth and subtlety of songs like 'In The Midnight Hour' or 'As I Wither' become apparent, and In Vain emerge as a sort of mix between Opeth's less flamboyant moments and those typically Finnish dark metal bands like Dark The Suns, for example. The quality of this debut is not always constant, but there is such a wealth of riches and potential in these guys that they will surely be on the must-watch radar in the next few years.

In Vain - 'In The Midnight Hour'

98. mithras - 'behind the shadows lie madness'
It doesn't have the same impact as their previous album did (which was not their debut, but since 'Forever Advancing ...... Legions' went by largely unnoticed it almost feels as if it was), but 'Behind The Shadows Lie Madness' is still a gigantic piece of work by the Leon Macey/Rayner Coss duo. If anything, the lesser impact is that because this new album doesn't stray too much from the path carved by its predecessor, but that's by no means a bad thing. First, because it's not a path well-traveled. Mithras' take on death metal is rather unique, a sort of Morbid Angel out in space, expansive, with crazy time signatures and a stellar technical level that allows them to turn beasts like 'The Twisted Tower' or 'To Fall From The Heavens' into mind-expanding rollercoasters of spaced-out brutality.

Mithras - 'The Twisted Tower'

97. paradise lost - 'in requiem'
Some will argue that this approach to the spirit of 'Icon' that has been going on since the last self-titled album is a sign that the Yorkshire gloomsters are running out of experimentation ideas, but a) with Paradise Lost, some will always argue and b) it's refreshing to see these guys not going all exploratory on us. Not that it was a bad thing - it's horrible to refer to this new phase of Paradise Lost as a 'return to form'. If you are just a bit open-minded in your tastes, it's easy to see that they have never really not been on form, if you kindly ignore the one bland and uneventful album of their career, 'Believe In Nothing'. 'In Requiem' doesn't reach the heights of the Paradise Lost classics of the early and mid-nineties, but that's not really the point, and times have changed anyway. It is a much better effort than the last album, however, and it's a great sign that the band is getting this vibe down much better. Melancholic and surprisingly hard in places, 'In Requiem' marks yet another valid step in the illustrious career of Paradise Lost.

Paradise Lost - 'Prelude To Descent'

96. elend - 'a world in their screams'
This French/Austrian trio keep releasing material that shows that you don't have to do faster-than-thou hard-as-fuck satan-metal to still produce harrowing, scary and downright intense music, and 'A World In Their Screams' is the latest example of that. They would infinitely deserve more recognition, but it's a hard middle-space to be in - Elend are too dark and too scary for the 'regular' audiences and too guitar-less for the 'regular' metalhead. The few lucky ones who manage to get their heads round this, though, are in for one hell of a ride. With over twenty musicians contributing to the work of the core three members, 'A World In Their Screams' is an unsettling experience, bombastic, orchestrated, with choirs and spoken passages clashing quite violently with shrieking violins, pounding percussive elements and pure noise, but somehow it all manages to fit together in one big, spooky world of darkness.

Elend - 'La Carrière D'Ombre'

Red and raw

2007-12-12T23:02:00.000Z

crooked fingers - 'red devil dawn'
released: january 2003
merge records

songs:
1. big darkness 2. don't say a word 3. you can never leave 4. bad man coming 5. you threw a spark 6. boy with (100) hands 7. sweet marie 8. angelina 9. disappear 10. carrion doves

Some records are better enjoyed in a certain state of mind. Despite its consistent quality that has made 'Red Devil Dawn' a weekly revisited record of mine since its release in 2003, it's clearly an album for the brokenhearted. Not that Eric Bachmann's band (now performing solo, after an outrageously beautiful first album, 'To The Races') have ever been a bundle of laughs, but there's a strangely euphoric quality about this album's sadness, an almost resigned, contemplative weight of the spirit that can suddenly break into song for a little while just because a pretty bird passed overhead.

It's the storytelling that does it, too. Bachmann can sound deeply personal in his lyrics, going to the point of naming names (Angelina in, well, 'Angelina', Cary in 'Disappear'), but nevertheless all the stories manage to hit you straight through the heart. It's not an easy ride. There's loss, like in 'Don't Say A Word': There ain't no easy way to lose the heart you call your home, Bachmann's raspy but warm and honest voice softly proclaims over the acoustic background. There's the coming to terms with that loss and even finding redemption, like in the mentioned 'Disappear' and this shattering chorus: Cary don't cry I'm gonna disappear /And take this sorrow far away /So you can live your life /No need to ride through salt tracks of sad tears /There's beauty in an ugly thing /Redemption in demise. There are sad people, there are broken people and mistreated people, like the mysterious girl whom the boy with (100) hands tries to reach. There's even a bit of creepy menace in the oddly beautiful 'Bad Man Coming'.

None of this would matter if the music did not keep these moods, but it does so brilliantly. Bachmann's voice is seemingly fragile and vulnerable but never goes past the breaking point and he delivers his lines with a rare emotional poignancy. You get the feeling that these sombre acoustic songs, with the occasional flourish like the Spanish feeling of 'You Threw A Spark' or the rocking 'Big Darkness', would get the messages across even without those lyrics.

Suitably enough, it ends with 'Carrion Doves', an elegant and elegiac song, apparently about someone hanging on a decision that could change the course of love. There are victims to be made / Decisions to be weighed / You're guilty now but in your heart / There soon could be a change.

Change your heart. Go get this record.

the good: almost palpable emotion, elegant heartbroken songs that remain with you for years
the bad: nothing, really, but stay away if you want something jolly to listen to on a sunny afternoon

song of the day:
'Boy With (100) Hands'

hellenic horror

2007-10-14T22:38:00.000+01:00

ravencult - 'temples of torment'
released: september 2007
dark essence records

songs:
1. the sigil of baphomet 2. in times of demise 3. onslaught command 4. blessed in heresy 5. commence the burning of heavens 6. the nightsky codex 7. utter cold void 8. the needles of truth

After a few more months of absence, nothing better to kick too.many.records. back to life than a bit of fucked-up black metal from hell, right? Well, it's not really hell, it's Greece, but don't let that little fact affect your judgement of Ravencult, because there is little Mediterranean-ness, or none at all, in their music. Unlike, say, Rotting Christ, to keep it in Greece, or Negură Bunget, to go a little bit up north to Romania, who are both living proof that black metal can jolly well have nothing to do with creepy Nordic woods, Ravencult have chosen not to wear their geographical origins on their sleeves. 'Temples Of Torment', their debut album, goes in the same direction that the couple of demos and the EP had gone already - which is the traditional orthodox BM sound.

Okay, so there are the foundations for a bit of bashing, right? Fortunately, this is one of those times when it's really cool to be wrong. There isn't anything revolutionary, or even mildly innovative, about 'Temples Of Torment', but sometimes we should remember that if something is well done, it doesn't have to necessarily break new ground all the time, or at all. When I say we, it's also a bit of self-criticism. We snobby reviewers are a bit obsessive about the originality thing, which at the end of the day is a good thing, because creativity should be valued above all things, but can also have perverse effects, like demeaning records that are pretty (or ugly, in this case!) conventional in form and/or concept, but are nevertheless quality releases that end up being played a lot even after we have scoffed at them about being "generic".

'Temples Of Torment' is a perfect example of that, as it is mostly following the footsteps of genre classics but it's also a blast anyway, exhaling a foul, evil atmosphere and providing diversity and meaty slabs of blasphemous brutality. The fact that important figures are involved in this album, like Knut Magne Valle (who played guitar for Arcturus and Ulver, for example) who produced the album and Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O))), Khanate) who did the cover art, lends a certain credibility to the band and might make a few more people take notice, but might also give misleading expectations. There is nothing experimental, melodic or lushly produced about 'Temples Of Torment' - sandwiched between the over-saturated samples of a church choir that open and close the album (similar to the one that precedes L'acephale's savage 'Book Of Lies'), you get no-frills, keyboard-free nasty black metal in the vein of Darkthrone or Bathory, except with a better sound and a few deviations into mid-tempo, like on 'In Times Of Demise, that work really well in terms of atmosphere.

Regardless of the speed, the aggression is vicious and constant, the bile reaching its high point on the hideously creepy 'The Nightsky Codex', a dissonant Aura Noir-like song that would be a serial killer hiding in the woods if it was magically turned into a person.

If you like your black metal raw and abrasive, while still maintaning musicianship and quality songwriting, Ravencult should be on your list of priorities.

the good: an example of how there's always life in a genre if things are done right, truly evil atmosphere
the bad: nevertheless, there isn't anything new here, or greek for that matter

song of the day:
'The Nightsky Codex'

2006 album of the year

2007-05-07T11:50:00.000+01:00

tom waits - 'orphans - brawlers, bawlers and bastards''

The first thing that needs to be perfectly clear is that Tom Waits is the coolest man in the world. If you still need any evidence besides listening to his records, just go on youtube and look for a few live performances or interviews. Seriously, do. Few, if any, in the history of recorded music, have assumed so many roles and characters and musical personalities with the same elusive other-worldness, yet very deeply rooted to the world at the same time. Waits goes beyond the mere songwriter, or musician even. There is this aura about him that seemingly seems to turn every single artistic output from his part into something that truly matters. Whether he's the drunk loser singing his blues down at the local bar, the creepy carnival barker, the (anti-)religious prophet or the junkyard guy assembling new songs from discarded trash, or more yet, there is the unmistakable, unconventional, unique Tom Waits mark about it.

'Orphans' is where, for the first time, you can experience all of those in one thrilling, captivating sitting. The concept is perfect for Waits, and the title could not be more appropriate. From someone who has carved masterpieces out of little odds and ends of music, to have a collection of little musical orphans that have been almost lost along the way is incredibly fitting. Wipe from your mind any thought that these orphans are unwanted or inferior to the legitimate children, however. Throughout these 54 songs, 30 of them heard here for the first time, Waits performs some of his strongest material ever, both in terms of pure music worth and also emotionally speaking.

These orphans are divided into three discs, each of them with a theme. The first disc consists of the brawlers, ie, the most rocking, growling, bully-orhpans - closer to Waits' latest records, the period from 'Alice' and 'Blood Money' to his latest 'Real Gone'. While nothing is straightforward, the fat riffs on 'LowDown' or the oblique 'Rain On Me' will be instant favourites. It is typically hard to find highlights, but from this volume the unbelievable covers of the Ramones' 'The Return Of Jackie And Judy' and Leadbelly's 'Ain't Goin' Down To The Well', the dirty-souding Gospel of 'Lord I've Been Changed' and the rock-the-house-down of 'Fish In The Jailhouse' have to be mentioned. The most surprising moment, however, occurs with the 7-minute long 'Road To Peace'. The traditionally subtle Waits, politically speaking, delivers here a heart-breaking take on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a profoundly human view of the daily horrors of war seen from both sides. It's not even a protest song, it's a sort of reality check that should make anyone with a heart sit up and think about things.

After the thrills of the brawlers, you can settle down a bit with the bawlers. The lame ballad disc in any other artist's collection, here you get Waits' bittersweetness in its full. He somehow manages to create rousing, soulful, emotional songs that never once even look in the direction of sap. Closer to what he has written in the 70s and early 80s but infused with his experimental tendencies of the last decade, the jazzy 'You Can Never Hold Back Spring', the pastoral feel of 'Widow's Grove' or the simply soaring full version of 'Down There By the Train' turn Waits back into the lonely troubadour whose piano has been drinking, not him.

The last set of orphans is the most opaque and also the most fascinating one. The bastards welcome into their fold everything that doesn't really fit anywhere else, the truer, purest odds and ends from the ultimate odds and ends man. Here you get Waits at his most innovative, and also at his most theatrical of moods. His totally inimitable storytelling actually makes a story feel like a song that you will listen to several times, from the spookiest, creepiest of stories like 'Army Ants' to the downright beautiful like 'Nirvana', he will make you wish that you could have him around to tell you a story every night, even if after a few of them you probably wouldn't sleep much. Some other noteworthy bastards are the apocalyptic 'Books of Moses', the insanity of his version of 'Heigh Ho' or 'Dog Door', a collaboration with Sparklehorse that sounds like a carousel ride gone very wrong.

All through this, nothing sounds out of place, or of less quality, or even like anyone else. Boxes like this are usually a summary of an artists' life, spanning entire careers of, more often than not, dead artists, physically or artistically speaking. Worse still, if they are outtakes or leftovers or b-sides, they're usually completist's material only, for people who simply must have everything a particular artist has put out. 'Orphans' is none of that. It can't begin to summarize Waits' career, if nothing else because his career is still expected to give us quite a lot, but also because that's not the point. What 'Orphans' does summarize is the immense genius and appeal of Waits' music. It takes the best elements of all he has done so far, with the ever-present dichotomy of classic-old and experimental-new in his songwriting, and creates another new, tremendously exciting step for the rest of us to admire.

More than the album of the year, 'Orphans' is three albums of the year rolled into one faultless, genius whole.

song of the day:
'Road to Peace'

top50 - #2

2007-02-28T15:05:00.000Z

2. william elliott whitmore - 'song of the blackbird'

or from:

My excitement about this record was probably very noticeable back then when I talked about its predecessor 'Ashes To Dust' and urged everyone to keep an eye out for this one. See, I had reasons. What I think and feel about Will and his music is already quite apparent in that review, so I can spare you all the redundant praise and step straight into 'Song Of The Blackbird'.

If you have heard Will before (and if you haven't, by god, fix that pronto) you won't be too shocked by the beginning of the record, with his by-now familiar banjo strum introducing 'Dry'. However, as the song progresses, and later the album itself, some slight changes are apparent, namely the melodic richness of the vocals. Will has never been monochordic, but some of the songs here showing a range that's much wider than before.

(photo by Curtis Lehmkuhl)

One of the things I like to do with Will's songs is show them to people who have never heard of him, and then ask them to describe how they think will looks like. His deep, gravely, weary voice is hugely misleading - I have had many answers but none of them are remotely close to what he does look like. On an interview at the Southern Records website, William talks about his appreciation for Minor Threat or Public Enemy, and this is one of the things that sets him apart from the rest. Even though the songs on 'Song Of The Blackbird', like the ones on the two records before, are deeply imbued with the traditional spirit of the South, and still as stripped-down as before (voice, banjo, occasional percussion, and that's it), some almost-pop hooks (pop in the context of Will's songs, do not get me wrong here) are apparent now and then, which makes the record a curious meeting of traditional past and exciting present.

Will's storytelling abilities have also been improving impressively. His music has often compared to Johnny Cash for little reason other than journalistic laziness, but storytelling is the only real area where the two are really very comparable. Like Cash, Whitmore can write seemingly individual, character-based stories that can resonate deeply within anyone, regardless of the reader/listener ever having anything to do with railroad workers, inmates (Cash only, this one) or farmers, to name but a few members of both men's favoured cast. Stories become universal because their basic themes are universal.

At first glance, Will's songs seem to be centred around death, but they're not. Death is a backdrop, it is indeed very present but merely as a factor of life, and that is what is really celebrated here. It's not the weakness of the demise that is valued, it's the strength of the resistance to it, usually through love. The best example of will's outlook on life that he expresses through his songs is 'Take It On The Chin', where he proudly sings: he said life is a gamble and before you throw them dice, if it's more than you can handle please take this advice. He said stand your ground and don't back down, that's the only way to win. and when life throws a punch, son, you've got to take it on the chin.

With the possible exception of the forthcoming number one on my 2006 top list, William Elliott Whitmore is hands-down the best singer/songwriter in activity today.

song of the day:
'Take It On The Chin'

top50 - #3

2007-02-19T23:57:00.000Z

3. negură bunget - 'om'

(review published on issue 33 of Unrestrained! magazine and slightly adjusted for too.many.records.)

Maybe in a few years we will have a better term for it than the rather hideous post-black metal, but there’s a wealth of activity brewing in the wake of the black metal’s heyday that is truly fascinating, with a few bands expanding on the orthodox black metal framework by incorporating other influences and concepts. Just as quick examples, there’s Blut Aus Nord, Anaal Nathrakh, Deathspell Omega and these rather mysterious romanians, Negură Bunget.

Having evolved wildly in the 10 years of their existence so far, never making the same record twice, they now seem to have reached a point of maturity of which 'Om' is the direct result: an ambitious piece which will surely lift them out of the hushed possible-big-thing-in-the-future semi-obscurity in which they have dwelled in the past few years. It’s not like the previous album, '‘N Crugu Bradului', a masterpiece of eerie darkness, was an accessible work, but 'Om' goes deeper into uncharted territory, adding melancholy and even psychedelia to the mix. Don’t be fooled by the term, or by these changes, though. 'Om' manages to create an even more suffocating environment than its predecessor. Forgive the cliché, but it does feel like you’re standing in the middle of a forest in the region of Transylvania from which Negură Bunget hail from. Except it’s not at night – it’s in daytime, with the pale rays of light coming through the few openings in the thick leaves, as if choked by them.

This light-and-dark contrast is a theme explored throughout the album, with piercing screams and harsh black metal distortion being juxtaposed with enveloping keyboards and some truly spooky clean vocals. The song 'Cunoaşterea Tăcută' is a good example of this, a slowly evolving epic that reaches almost unbearable intensity levels. You don’t just put on this record – you need to give it time and attention to absorb you, but when it does, it does it like precious few other records do.

'Om' is a part of a bigger spiritual concept created by the band and it would take several posts of this blog to go into it in depth, but suffice to say that after a few listens, a lot of bands in your discography will seem a bit cartoonish in comparison.

Much of the future of black metal in particular and extreme music as a whole resides here.

song of the day:
'Cunoasterea Tăcută'

top50 - #4

2007-02-19T23:54:00.000Z

4. melvins - '(a) senile animal'

Ahh, the Melvins. The oddest, most left-field and utterly essential side-effect of the early 90s Seattle craze, who after all these years are still young (at heart), fresh and invigorating. King Buzzo and his cohorts always manage to do something exciting and new with every one of their albums, and they're not new to collaborations (take the unforgettable Fantômas + Melvins Big Band album), but this time the result is even better than their insanely good norm. Basically they incorporated a whole band into the Melvins fold, with the two members of the band Big Business, Jared Warren and Coady Willis. Now, these two guys are a bass player and a drummer. Since Dale is obviously still a Melvin, do the math - two drummers.

The two drummer idea isn't a new invention, although it's a rare attempt, and it could easily have been a meaningless gimmick. But come on, this is the Melvins. so one listen to '(A) Senile Animal' is enough to not only convince you, but to floor you completely. The weight and the rumble of this album is simply unbelievable. Play this through good speakers with a hefty subwoofer (seriously, do) and the low-end will probably register on the richter scale. King Buzzo was already the king of sludgy, dragged-out riffage, but with this kind of support behind him the result is stellar. The chugga-chugga of 'Blood Witch' or the jumpy rock-on of 'A History Of Drunks' are like Black Sabbath given a spit-polish, a shot of Alice In Chains and all revved up for 2007.

Yeah, Alice In Chains. For all is not bashing away in this album - the vocal harmonies and even the riffs themselves are insanely catchy and hummable, and soon you'll have the supreme pleasure of singing along with Buzzo as the songs whirlwind around you. With two drummers, it's possible to do all kinds of crazy time signatures and that helps the tempo tremendously - in '(A) Senile Animal', nothing is boring and everything flows, the album gets angry, calms down, then jokes a bit, then thrashes the place again. Everything sounds in place, songs belong next to each other. In these days of loose mp3 (like that one down there, ha), this is a proper album, created like one and meant to be heard like one.

It's a crime to say this, considering the absolute wealth of riches that the Melvins back-catalogue provides, but this is probably their most consistent and exhilarating album ever. Fuck The Darkness or Trivium or whatever else mainstream media has tried to push as rock these past few years - this is what proper rock sounds like.

An instant classic.

song of the day:
'A History Of Drunks'

top50 - #5

2007-02-08T16:07:00.001Z

5. solitude aeturnus - 'alone'

Solitude Aeturnus never really went away, but the amount of time since the release of the wonderfully bleak 'Adagio' left the most dedicated fans worrying. The band indeed took a break, but apparently splitting up was never in the cards, which should make any doom fan rejoice. Yet further rejoicing is in order as well, as 'Alone' shows that the time did them well.

Now that vocalist Rob Lowe has been selected as the new voice of Candlemass, and since he will keep his post in Solitude Aeturnus, proper and long overdue attention might start to be directed to this band. Few bands deserve it more - they have long been a steady, strong and reliable pillar of doom metal in particular and metal as a whole. 'Alone' is mesmerizing, right from the start, right before the music, even. Record cover of the year by a wide mile, the Travis Smith artwork describes the music with more accuracy than any reviewer ever will. Just like that tragically beautiful image, 'Alone' is true doom, through and through. It's heavy, it's dense and it's hypnotic.

Rob Lowe is the first and most obvious element of fascination here - he proves (as if any proof was needed if you have heard any of the albums in their discography...) that he's one of the most talented vocalists within any genre with this astounding performance. Both hopeful and hopeless, utterly bleak wails that suddenly break into luscious choruses that let some light in (like on the amazing 'Essence Of Black'), he is a frontman in every sense of the word. John Perez and Steve Moseley are responsible not only for the typically crushing, slow riffs, but also for some extra injections of power in the band's sound - check out the immense 'Sightless' or the frightening 'Burning'. Those songs are also the best example of how to use a rhythm section properly, James Martin's bass and Steve Nichol's drums resonating deeply in your chest. The production is very strong as well, carrying the weight these compositions need faultlessly.

Solitude Aeturnus is a band with very high standards, having maintained consistently high quality ever since their historical debut, so the fact that 'Alone' is their best work ever is even more of a feat. If you have any interest in dark, heavy music, you cannot pass this one up.

song of the day:
'Sightless'

top50 - #6

2007-02-06T09:36:00.000Z

6. ed harcourt - 'the beautiful lie'

Ed's 2006 album was actually my very first review on too.many.records., and the choice was easy at the time, because it was the record permanently glued to my stereo. It was also, I thought, a good universal choice for a blog that I like to try to maintain eclectic, despite my general metallic leanings - there is something here for everyone, if you know where to look.

The person who introduced me to Ed in the first place has had a hard time getting to grips with what is, essentially, Ed's step into maturity. I fell in love with Ed for his sunny pop hooks and easy-going goodtimes, so I'm not sure if our relationship will take this latest change, she says, and that might be the biggest stumbling block to overcome when dealing with 'The Beautiful Lie'.

The hooks are there, as is still the boyish irreverence that I mentioned on my first review of this, but everything is a bit denser and slightly more sombre in places, so the sunny bits take their time to reveal themselves. When they do, however, they settle in for good. On one hand, you will melt at the endearing sweetness of 'Good Friends Are Hard To Find', and also find that it's impossible not to join in the thrilling chorus of 'Revolution In My Heart' or the demented carny that is the murder ballad 'Scatterbraine'.

Ed is trying to branch out. As you can guess from the last sentence of the previous paragraph, Nick Cave and Tom Waits are two big reference points. Not that 'The Beautiful Lie' sounds like them all that much. In fact, it sounds like Ed, which is the best thing that can be said about him at this point in his career (and let's not forget that the man isn't even 30 yet). His uncompromising posture, the approach to songs, to writing, and even to lyrics, show a very promising left-field-ness that could easily blossom into something very special indeed.

will you love me when i'm old / well, i'm still hoping i can get that far, Ed sings on opener 'Whirlwind In D Minor'.

Well, here's to hoping.

song of the day:
'Whirlwind In D Minor'

top50 - #7

2007-02-01T01:14:00.000Z

7. celtic frost - 'monotheist'

Tom Warrior (or his real name, which he uses nowadays, Thomas Gabriel Fischer) had a lot to lose here. Celtic Frost are a sacred name in metal history, one of the most essential bands of the 80s and pioneers in every way, responsible for the existence of much of the quality extreme music we hear today. They're so important that most fans have forgiven them for the unforgettably horrible sell-out that was 'Cold Lake'. Therefore, to reactivate a band like this after over a decade is a very risky move. The panorama is different, tastes are different, Tom and his other Celtic Frost half, Martin Eric Ain, are older and there's the ever-present 'you're doing it for the money!' accusation. So despite the name, there's no guarantee of quality, in fact, the name could weigh them down negatively.

Well, forget all that. 'Monotheist' is a staggering achievement. From the very first listen it is very clear that Fischer's soul is all over this album, as much of its darkness seems intensely personal. And there's plenty of darkness to go around here. Even though the opening one-two of 'Progeny' and 'Ground' pretty much picks up from 1985's 'To Mega Therion', with its doom-laden stomp, 'Monotheist' soon starts twisting itself into stranger, more obscure shapes. More than anything, Celtic Frost have gone down in history for their courage to take risks and innovate, and that tendency still remains. Third song 'A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh' is the first typical frost wtf? moment, with its gentle, vaguely foreboding start slowly building into a bleak, hopeless piece of nastiness, with such wild outside reference points such as Neurosis or even Xasthur. 'Drown In Ashes' follows this monolith, and introduces haunting female vocals to the mix. The rest of 'Monotheist' alternatively pounds you down with more bouts of heavy doom or freaks you out by metamorphosing into piercing blackness. The one prevalent theme throughout the album is its sinister feel. Never is 'Monotheist' comfortable, in a bad way, never is it conformist, never is it conventional.

As final confirmation of this triumphant return, if you had the luck of catching Celtic Frost live during the shows promoting this album, you will know that this is no strike of chance. The band is revitalized, hungry, alive and that much is obvious by the vortex that is a Celtic Frost concert, these new songs mingling perfectly with the timeless classics.

Celtic Frost's past is glorious, but the best compliment that can be paid to this new incarnation is that the present and the future seem to carry on that glory faultlessly.

song of the day:
'A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh'

top50 - #8

2007-01-29T11:03:00.001Z

8. sunn o))) & boris - 'altar'

Before I even start on the difficult task of trying to describe what this record sounds like, it's worth it to mention that this is how a collaboration album should be done. Much like the Richard Buckner & Jon Langford record, except in an entirely different musical genre, 'Altar' is much more than the sound of the two bands fused together. It's not Sunn o)))'s drones with Boris 'hazy, slowly unveiling riffing. 'Altar' is the sound of two already essential bands bringing their talents together and creating something new, something that is much, much more from a mere sum of two parts.

As if the joining of these two titans of weirdness wasn't enough, some other heavyweights join the fun too. Most notable among the gang are Kim Thayil, former Soundgarden guitar player (so good to hear from him!), who contributes guitar on 'Blood Swamp', the mighty Joe Preston (Melvins, High On Fire, Earth), who is actually responsible for the two bands meeting, vocalizing 'Akuma No Kuma', and finally Jesse Sykes contributing vocals to the album's centerpiece, the dreamy, otherworldy ballad of sorts 'The Sinking Belle (Blue Ship)'. This song is like nothing you would expect from anyone, let alone these two bands. It's strangely beautiful, immense in the sense of space that it invokes, and it's also the most accessible piece of the album, serving as a sort of halfway-through lynchpin that holds all the other pieces together. Which is important, because each and every one of these 6 songs (7 if you're lucky enough to own the vinyl version) inhabits a totally separate headspace.

'Etna' is the perfect opener, slithering slowly inside your skin, with rumbling bass dominating the whole sound before a grandiose guitar kicks in and takes it to another level... until a screeching Boris riff lifts it again and paves the way for the bleakest song of the album, 'N.L.T.'. 'Akuma No Kuma' is the strangest song of the bunch, no mean feat, as it would be equally at home on a MikePatton album or on the soundtrack to the Katamari video game (check it out, you won't regret it!). 'Fried Eagle Mind' will indeed fry your mind with its droning if you put it too loud, and the scary 'Blood Swamp' rounds off proceedings with 14 minutes of noisy dread.

An effort of this magnitude has consequences - it will surely establish Sunn o))) for good as darlings of the indie circles, as they already are a bit, inexplicable as that might be, and it confirms Boris as a very hot prospect too, after years of obscurity, especially in the same year as the tremendous 'Pink'.

In a recent interview, Atsuo from Boris declared that this album might be the end of the drone genre, as this is possibly as far as it can be taken. Tongue-in-cheek as it might have been, I find myself almost agreeing with that.

song of the day:
'The Sinking Belle (Blue Sheep)'

top50 - #9

2007-01-26T10:25:00.000Z

9. deicide - 'the stench of redemption'

If you read me going on about it at the time, you know I was pretty excited when this came out, and I had good reasons to. Deicide had been for so many years a frustrating band, churning out okay records when you knew they had it in them to do so much more. The Hoffman brothers, talented guitarists as they are, were settled in an uncomfortable animosity with mainman Glen Benton, which obviously did not do wonders for band chemistry. Exit Hoffmans, enter Ralph Santolla and Jack Owen, and these two axemen gave Deicide new life. Or new death, in this case.

A fired up Glen Benton is not someone you want to fuck with, really. His mighty roar in the cute-titled 'Death To Jesus', or his quasi-black metal screeches on the thundering, scary 'Walk With The Devil In Dreams You Behold', show a man with a sense of purpose once again. Backed up by some of the more twisted, squealing guitarwork of the year and a constant, brutal battery, this is really as intense as it gets. The furious thrash of closer 'The Lord's Sedition' is a mouth-watering taster of what can still come next from Deicide, who suddently become one of the names to watch very closely once again.

The importance of 'The Stench Of Redemption' is immense for death metal itself. Apart from a few luminous exceptions, the genre as a whole has been suffering from an overall lack of truly classic releases in the past decade or so, and to have a blast of this caliber come from one of the big names should be an inspiration for both young and veteran bands.

'The Stench Of Redemption' was the most blasphemous piece of truly extreme music in many a month, and, while not forgetting Suffocation's thundering return, it was the best death metal album of the year.

song of the day:
'Walk With The Devil In Dreams You Behold'

top50 - #15 to #11

2007-01-24T10:53:00.000Z

The last batch before the top 10, which will include a song from each album in .mp3 format.

11. amorphis - 'eclipse'
Also given the too.many.records. treatment several months ago when it came out, 'Eclipse' has been a huge grower, especially after seeing these songs played live and managing to sound even more engaging than the older classics. An astonishing interpretation of a Finnish traditional tale, 'Eclipse' is a rainbow of moods, expertly coloured by terrific keyboard work, traditional instrumentation and memorable guitar leads in that typical Amorphis tone. And the voice. Tomi Joutsen was an unbelievable find and it feels as if he's been in the band for years. Amorphis are currently in the studio recording the follow-up to 'Eclipse', and it they manage to top it, you can bet they'll be on this list next year again, but a few positions higher even.

12. jesu - 'silver'
As you might have noticed from my desperate attempts to convey what Jesu sound like, this isn't a band whose sound you can describe easily. To make matters harder (but so exciting, too) for the reviewer, Justin Broadrick's writing takes an almost caleidoscopic quality, with songs shapeshifting and twisting withing their grey-mood framework. This time the variation is more evident, with a song like 'Star' almost sounding like a shoegazing, depressed pop song, and 'Dead Eyes' going all electronic in a way that Trent Reznor must have often dreamed about. This is 'only' an EP, but who cares - 'Silver' is a staggering and entirely out-there work. Unmissable.

13. samiam - 'whatever's got you down'
It's so good to see this vastly underrated band return. One of the best indie rock/punk bands of the 90s, they never got one fraction of the recognition they deserve, putting out brilliant album after brilliant album, with the 'You Are Freaking Me Out' 1997 release their top highlight. If you don't know them, hunt back for those albums and you'll know where the Alkaline Trio, Hot Water Music and other similar bands came from. After 2000's 'Astray', they took a rest for a couple of years, during which their loyal fans feared the worst, but 6 years later here they are, and seem ready to get the ball rolling again, in style. They have intelligently avoided to directly continue their old style, opting instead for a more direct, rawer approach (check out Jason's vocals on 'When We're Together'!), which actually suits them very well. With no hint of the sugary, sickly emo-ness that ruins other melodic punk bands, Samiam come across as very real - a few likeable real guys singing about real things. Welcome back.

14. the black heart procession - 'the spell'
Looking back on my review of it a few months ago, all I can say is that 'The Spell' has gotten even better in these five months that have passed since. The eerie creepiness is counterpointed by beautiful, lush, slowly-developing melodies and makes this a very replayable album, even more so when you begin knowing all its twists and turns by heart. You'll feel either in a haunted cabaret or a melancholic graveyard, often in the same song, and you'll love every minute of it.

15. transmission0 - 'memory of a dream'
One of the biggest surprises of the year. A rather unknown Dutch band, with only a rather straightforward hardcore-ish album to their name, on a small New York punk label, wouldn't be your first bet to put out a sprawling Neurosis-like opus, but that's exactly what Dave Van Beek and friends did with 'Memory Of A Dream'. It sounds just like its artwork suggests - a night out in dark and choppy seas, frightening and intense, but as the artwork also suggests, otherwordly and strangely welcoming. Transmission0 are the latest competitor in the ever-growing Neurosis/Isis arena, but they're much better and much more innovative than most. Unusually mature and distinctive for such a young band, Transmission0 are more than a promise already, and their potential is huge.

top50 - #20 to #16

2007-01-23T10:59:00.000Z

16. enslaved - 'ruun'
The towering expectations that previous album 'Isa' created could have been a problem, but not so with Enslaved. their progression seems unstoppable and 'Ruun' is, incredibly, another major step forward in the refining of their by now trademark sound. Enslaved have that rare ability to keep adding elements to their music, which started out in the early 90s as high quality but nevertheless rather straightforward viking black metal. These additions don't just augment their compositions, they seemingly fuse together, creating an immense soundscape to which you'll be irresistibly drawn to. Closer to Neurosis than to black metal as such these days in their all-encompassing scope, on 'Ruun' Enslaved give you roars, rasps and clean vocals, furious riffing and atmospheric passages, orchestral elements and straight-ahead intensity, progressive influences, middle eastern-sounding melodies and tons of standing-on-windswept-cliffs moments. Not so much pushing the envelope as bursting it, Enslaved are one of the most shining examples of creativity and innovation in unconventional music today.

17. iron maiden - 'a matter of life and death'
So 'Brave New World' and 'Dance Of Death' were okay and the live shows have been fantastic as ever, but this is what we were waiting for ever since Bruce re-joined Maiden. A complex, mature and surprisingly deep album, it's so chock-full of potential classics (like the long epics 'These Colours Don't Run' or 'Brighter Than A Thousand Suns') that the boys have taken the risky decision of playing it in its entirety on the subsequent tour. Introducing a dark and brooding side to the band that hadn't been seen for a long time, if ever, 'A Matter Of Life And Death' is the sound of a band at its peak. Keeping in mind that Maiden is nearing their 30th anniversary, this is a remarkable and unique achievement.

18. i - 'between two worlds'
As if getting Immortal back together wasn't enough, Abbath decided to shed the makeup and rock out like there's no tomorrow. Employing the talents of some other known Norwegian musicians (including original Immortal drummer Armagedda), Abbath managed an unlikely combination - maintaining the glacial iciness of his usual immortal compositions, but injecting it with mighty doses of pure rock'n'roll, in the true spirit of Motörhead and Kiss. Odd as it sounds, it works like a charm and provides plenty of possibilities for original sounding songs based on very well known inspirations. From the charging 'The Storm I Ride' to the Bathory homage of 'Far Beyond The Quiet', 'Between Two Worlds' is one of the most exhilarating musical experiences of the year.

19. gorgoroth - 'ad majorem sathanas gloriam'
Already reviewed in these pages, this nasty piece of black work has withstood the passing of the several months since its release, and it remains firmly in rotation when I feel like some evil. The inhuman battery (courtesy of the mighty Frost), the monstrous vocal assault and the buzzsaw guitarwork all combine to exhale an atmosphere of abject fear that few other releases have been able to match, and which puts Gorgoroth very near the top of the black metal hierarchy. If the devil has an iPod, you can bet 'Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam' is on his every playlist.

20. amon amarth - 'with oden on our side'
The torch of viking metal, first lit by Bathory and kept alive by countless other bands, has a major carrier these days - Amon Amarth. These Swedes have been perfecting their typical sound for over a decade now, always avoiding the pitfalls of over-cheesiness and repetition, always going for stronger and more ambitious albums. 'With Oden On Our Side' is no exception and it represents the band's best work so far. Crushing opener 'Valhall Awaits Me' lays to waste any fears that the band would over-use the mid-paced tempo they had employed on 'Fate Of Norns' - it storms out of the gates pounding you as if it was Thor's own hammer Mjolnir bashing your head in. Not only heavy as a really heavy thing, it's also an inspiringly epic song and will undoubtedly raise many a fist in a live setting. From then on, they never look back and embark on a journey replete with intensity, majesty and even the odd bit of beauty now and then ('Under The Northern Star'). Get your horned helmet ready.

top50 - #25 to #21

2007-01-22T00:18:00.000Z

21. agalloch - 'ashes against the grain'

One of the most important and unclassifiable bands in the United States right now, Agalloch continue to define their own sound while striding confidently into the pantheon of the great unclassifiables of every genre, like Neurosis or Mogwai or even Godspeed You Black Emperor!. What makes every Agalloch release increasingly essential is not a specific, look-this-is-it factor. it is the sheer scale that their intricate compositions hold within themselves. Steer well clear if you want immediate music - 'Ashes Against The Grain' will start to click around the 15 or so listens, but when it does, each and every song will feel like an entire universe where you can explore and discover new details every day.

22. ljå - 'til avsky for livet'

It is unusual, at least in my lists, for an album that has a very low level of originality to be placed this high. 'Til Avsky For Livet' doesn't have many things that haven't been done before similarly, at least superficially, but it is so well written and performed that the sheer amount of quality has turned it into one of the most powerful albums of the year in the black metal front. Cold, raw and utterly grim, it injects, a bit like countrymen Taake, almost subconscious melodies that you find yourself humming after the shrieking carnage is over. Equal parts Gorgoroth, for the intensity and underlying menace, and (old) Ulver, for unpredictability and variation, Ljå position themselves as a band to follow with very close attention in the future. Oh, and don't be fooled by those acoustic guitars on the last song. A quiet outro it most definitely turns out not to be...

23. johnny cash - 'american v: a hundred highways'

The final farewell from one of the most iconic musical figures of the 20th century. 'American V' is constituted by the songs that the man in black recorded in the final days of his life, when music was almost all he had left to live for. The most stripped-down album of his career, it doesn't even have the rock covers that made Johnny famous for a whole new generation with his American Recordings albums. A few Cash songs, a few discreet covers, and that's it. Until its magic starts working on you. Maybe surprisingly, it's not a dark or angry record, and it's not even depressing. The age and the illness show, yes, and the voice falters every now and then, but that only makes the contrast to the more booming moments more intense. The album is, more than anything, a window into the soul of a man accepting his mortality, the end of his path, with dignity and class.

24. she said destroy - 'time like vines'

An extremely mouth-watering debut from these Norwegians - 'Time Like Vines' sways, swings and bashes its way through nine of the most agile, versatile and explosive modern metal you can expect to hear. Take a song like 'Shapeshifter', which does just that, shapeshifting through slow-burning brooding and speeding passages of incredible intensity. The drum patterns alone are twistingly complex enough for them to be object of study at a math class. This is a surprising album, veteran-sounding and consistent, that just keeps throwing curveballs at you, with its jazzed-up everything-metal, razor-sharp melodies and above all immense style. 'Armageddon, Anyone?' might be the coolest song title of the year.

25. borknagar - 'origin'
Borknagar aren't exactly the most conformist or predictable of bands, but on their last few releases they had settled for a kind of symphonic black metal style of very high quality, not to mention very suitable for the characteristics of the musicians in the band. Well, 'Origin' is nothing like that. In a way, it represents a sort of respite for this band, and a turning point that will surely open many creative doors in the future. Entirely acoustic, with extra instrumentation in the form of cello and violin among others, it delves into the roots of folk music, with added touches of 70s symphonic prog rock. Think Opeth's 'Damnation' set in the middle of a norwegian forest. Written and played with a disarming simplicity, these songs are sensitive, beautiful and also extremely powerful. And if you still think black metal has no melody, check out the remake of 'Oceans Rise' off their second album. A serene, quiet masterpiece.

top50 - #30 to #26

2007-01-20T01:09:00.000Z

26. tool - '10,000 days'
Epitomizing the 'progressive' tag while avoiding what bands-who-really-want-to-be 'progressive' do, Tool just keep evolving, mutating, rooting themselves deeper. They progress, in fact. No need here to indulge in pointless 15-minute songs that could easily have been written for 5 and do note scale acrobatics. Tool's music is deep and complex, and at the same time incredibly primal and intuitive - it has the ability to move you at whatever level you choose to take it. At times retrospective ('Vicarious' as a 'Stinkfist' for the new generation), at times introspective and challenging (the two 'Wings' songs), '10,000' days, like the band itself, is always interesting, always exciting and it always matters.

27. krux - 'krux ii'
The great Leif Edling, doom grandfather extraordinaire, probably seeking a bit of rest from the current problems of Candlemass, re-activated his other band in 2006 to present every doom aficionado with a true modern classic of the genre. 'Krux II' sounds ancient and modern at the same time - this album is clearly the product of matured, experienced, classic songwriting talent, but the fire and the passion with which it's played feels like it's being played by a bunch of hungry newcomers. The riffs pile on, thick and dense but also rocking while Mats Levén howls his heart out and proves himself as one of the best vocalists around in the process. When someone asks you what doom is, put 'Krux II' on. And when it reaches the third song, the gargantuan 'Sea Of Doom', tell them that's not only doom, that's doooooooom.

28. red sparowes - 'every red heart shines towards the red sun'
Unbelievably, especially if you think of the utter desert of ideas in the instrumental rock/metal field just a few years back, it's a genre growing into the next big thing. Suddenly a lot of people have realized that applying Neurosis atmospherics together with metallized Slint-like dynamics and shutting up the vocalist sounds really really great. The best thing is that in most cases it does, and the most fascinating case (also probably the one most responsible for this wave) is RedSparowes. This sophomore album is not a huge departure from the genre in general or from their debut in particular, but it is still an evolution, especially in scope. 'Every Red Heart...' sounds huge, not only in the soaring expansive parts but also in the more introspective, emotional parts. When it ends, a vocalist will be the furthest thing from your mind.

29. the haunted - 'the dead eye'
Probably realizing that they (or anyone else, for that matter) could never out-thrash the bone-crushing urgency of their 1997 self-titled debut, The Haunted, fortunately reunited with their original frontman Peter Dolving, embarked on something new with 'The Dead Eye'. The first few songs are conventional enough (for The Haunted standards), but soon the record starts to mutate into something much more interesting. From 'The Reflection' and its Tool (more on them in a bit) feel to the near-doom of 'The Medusa', The Haunted create a thick miasma that is both creepy and brutal. Dolving's voice is much too versatile for him to shout all the time, and he finally uses that versatility to spine-chilling effect, with singing, screaming and speaking all being used. All this while the Björler/Jensen pair riff dissonantly away like Coivod-on-steroids. If they keep this up, brace yourselves for the next one!

30. stuart a. staples - 'leaving songs'
As it is usual in this kind of situation, the Tindersticks vocalist's first foray into solo waters had a shadow of doubt cast over it. Could Stuart shake off enough of his band's influence and produce his own work, able to stand on its own and not on past indie glories of its creator? The answer is, fortunately, a very vocal yes. Given the minimalism of the Tindersticks, it's hard for solo-Stuart to totally escape sounding a bit like them, but these melancholic, heartbroken songs have enough of a hushed country influence coupled with a few Al Green-isms to become fully-formed individual entities. A remarkable singer-songwriter album.

top50 - round two!

2007-01-18T22:28:00.000Z

31. m.ward - 'post-war'
The constant M.Ward metamorphosis continues. This man can easily sing from either 1906 or 2006, always with the same passion, the same subtlety and the same relevance. On 'Post-War' he has fast-forwarded a bit in time from 'Transistor Radio' (who made my list last year too) while still maintaining a traditional bluesy folk ambiance, making this record comparable to both Neil Young's latest and Springsteen's Seeger Sessions up there. Above all, Matt is a prodigious musical talent. Check out the song 'Chinese Translation' for the most clear piece of evidence.

32. stolen babies - 'there be squabbles ahead'
The End Records seems to be a safe haven for the oddball bands that don't really fit anywhere these days, and its output in 2006 has been of an unusual standard of quality. From Unexpect to Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (both previously mentioned on this list) to Estradasphere (who barely just missed it), and the best of all, Stolen Babies. Your head hurts just trying to categorize it. There is a guitar, yes, but that's where the rock conventionality ends. Then you have an abandoned music shop from the 19th century - accordion, glockenspiel, mandolin, tuba, trumpet, you name it. The songs plink-plonk their way along some demented circus ride, giving exactly the feeling that the album cover suggests, the demonic/childish killer-clown mood that fits strange music so well. Dominique Persi's voice is the glue that holds everything together - a highly versatile voice, she can shriek, croon, whisper, speak and creep out just about anything you can ask her. Creepy, creative and enormous fun, you can't miss this record.

33. darkthrone - 'the cult is alive'
A lot of people still haven't gotten the Darkthrone joke, and this album must annoy the hell out of them, all the tr00 kvlt obsessives. A song like 'Graveyard Slut', with its dirty Motörhead groove, suggests that they're taking the piss - and they are. As, if you've been paying attention, they've always been. That's the (ugly) beauty of Darkthrone - they take themselves only reasonably seriously, and this fuck-it spirit should be the true black metal spirit. 'The Cult Is Alive' is one massive, blasphemous and noisy rock-out, and anyone with an interest in extreme music should love it.

34. bruce springsteen - 'we shall overcome: the seeger sessions'
Armed only with a bunch of traditional and folk songs, as they were performed by folk icon Pete Seeger, Springsteen invited a bunch of NYC musicians and their traditional instruments to his country house for a few days, where the tape was rolling freely. The spontaneity and the joy that shines through this musician collective makes the result one of the best homages to folk music in recent memory. It’s also amazing how most of these protest songs are still very relevant today, like the Irish ballad ‘Mrs. McGrath’, in which Springsteen alters a lyric to read I'd rather have my son as he used to be/than the king of America and his whole navy, mirroring his well-known feelings towards his country's government. The rest of the album goes from the beautiful to the frantic, never wavering in quality. Raise your voices with him - we shall overcome indeed.

35. ron sexsmith - 'time being'
Ron is a mystery to me, because he has everything one could want from a musician in his genre, and yet he remains in semi-obscurity. A model for any aspiring singer-songwriter, his songs have beauty, melancholy, character, variety and most of all they show immense honesty, as if the man is really pouring his heart out to you in every one of them. 'Time Being' is yet another brilliant chapter in the Canadian's career, slightly more sombre than his previous records but with a songwriting maturity that borders on the brilliant. 'Snow Angel' is one of the saddest and most beautiful songs of the year.

36. isis - 'in the absence of truth'
Having basically taken the Neurosis blueprint and added different atmospheres to it, Isis have become more or less the face of the current post-rock boom. Therefore, a lot of people have been exposed to them, and ever since 'Celestial' there have been the usual gang of shortsighted critics picking at them for evolving too much, for not evolving, you name it. The fact is that Isis are one of the bands pushing musical boundaries today, and the fact that they are reaching wider audiences is mostly a good thing. 'In The Absence Of Truth' takes the general formula for 'Oceanic' and 'Panopticon' and adds some very Neurosis-like tribal drumming, lots of atmospheric passages and an overall more esoteric feel. As usual it'll take you a while to get into it, but once you do, it will be a vastly rewarding experience.

37. unexpect - 'in a flesh aquarium'
For all the doors opened by Arcturus' 'La Masquerade Infernale', for all its underlying influence in most of the wildly creative music that has been created for the past decade, there have been few records to actually attempt something remotely similar to it. 'In A Flesh Aquarium' is the first one to do so in some time, and while it won't have the historical significance of that record, it is a worthy spiritual son. One of those albums that induce some head-scratching when you're first subjected to its vaudeville-on-acid approach, it's also very engaging and even amusing at times. It would be easy to take classical music, spoken word, death and black metal and theatrical female vocals, mix it all in a big mess and call it avant-garde, but these Canadians blend it all into their characteristic brand of craziness and, somehow, everything makes sense. Come on, be adventurous.

38. virgin steele - 'visions of eden'
David DeFeis and his gang usually take their time between releases, but it's understandable why, given the care, the attention to detail and the sheer dimension of the metal operas they create. Six years after the conclusion of the massive 2-act epic 'The House Of Atreus', they are back with yet another ambitious offer, this time a one-CD only affair which nevertheless lasts for 79 minutes. It is, fortunately, business as usual for Virgin Steele - sweeping choruses, melodic, intricate guitar leads, beautiful melodies and brilliant songwriting that will appeal to anyone with a weakness for grand storytelling. The wealth of detail in 'Visions Of Eden' ensures you will get a lot from it for a long time to come.

39. various artists - 'rogue's gallery: pirate ballads, sea songs and chanteys'
Yes, the purists will tell you that there are better sea song compilations, and there are a few glaring omissions that would have lifted this collection to greater heights (Tom Waits, Flogging Molly, you name it). But the thrill of hearing well known and established artists like Nick Cave, Antony, Ed Harcourt, Loudon Wainwright III, Bono or Sting going all out for drunken piratey fun is unrivaled, and that's what makes 'Rogue's Gallery' so compelling. As all compilations, some things work less well (Sting, ye shall walk the plank), but most of them are lots of fun, like Nick Cave's contributions, Baby Gramps' songs (you have to listen to this old man, and his real name happens to be, yes, Baby Gramps) or The Three Pruned Men's (before you ask, members of the Virgin Prunes) piss up. The traditional songs are actually better chosen than what you might think, offering a good representation of the tunes that you could hear on ships back in the day.

40. voivod - 'katorz'
It's impossible to start listening to 'Katorz' without a heavy heart. The tragic loss of 45 year old Denis 'Piggy' D'amour, one of the finest, most passionate and truly creative guitar players of the last two decades, to cancer, was one of the biggest musical tragedies of the last few years. He hid the disease from his bandmates until very late, and then he revealed to them not only the sad truth, but also that they could find on his computer material for a few Voivod albums still, and his last wish was for Denis 'Snake' Belanger, Michel 'Away' Langevin and Jason Newsted to go ahead with them. 'Katorz' is the first of these 'legacy' albums, and the best compliment that can be paid to it is that it does clear your head of the unfortunate circumstances right after the first few moments. 'Katorz' is probably their best effort since the classic 80s albums, without which a great deal of bands would not even exist. The typical Voivod spaced-out feeling is constant, and the album is inventive and unpredictable, as Voivod always was. Rest in peace, Piggy.

top50 - the first batch

2007-01-17T22:18:00.000Z

To re-activate the long-dormant too.many.records., nothing better than a list, for all you geeks like me out there.

In the next few weeks, I'll be telling you about my 50 favourite records of 2006. I hope you like it, and contribute with your agreements and disagreements, as well as your own lists!

Without further ado, the first 10:

41. sleepytime gorilla museum - 'grand opening and closing!'
Delightfully and endearingly oddball - if rock bands were boxes stored in the big rock warehouse, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum would be a grinning jack-in-the-box springing at you as soon as you open it. Inhabiting a warped mindspace similar to that of Fantômas, Mr Bungle or Primus, the music (not to mention the complex web of serious/jokey -you never know- lyrics!) in 'Grand Opening And Closing!' twitches its way from head-blowing heaviness ('1997') to creepy lullabies to gentle acoustic passages. Hell, they're even capable of belting out a potential radio hit, with the terribly catchy 'Sleep Is Wrong'. You never know what's next, but after a while you realize that whatever it is you're going to love it, because there is an underlying mazy structure to all this madness that makes it utterly compelling.

42. johnny cash - 'personal file'
Even though the 49 songs on this double-CD album were recorded between 1973 and 1982, they had been locked away in the man in black's House of Cash studio, in some boxes marked 'Personal File', and were only unearthed, as it were, in 2006, 3 years after his passing. Predating the spirit found in his Rick Rubin-produced final albums by over a decade, this personal file is a collection of hauntingly intimate songs, just the great man's voice and his guitar, complete with a few spoken introductions that make clear why some of these songs meant so much to him. An irresistible glimpse into the heart of Johnny Cash's immortal musical legacy.

43. god dethroned - 'the toxic touch'
After several years of good-to-excellent Slayer-like intense thrash, with a couple of essential records along the way (like 'Bloody Blasphemy'), these Dutch blasphemers have decided to shake it up a bit. In 'The Toxic Touch', they injected a lot more melody and a few changes in their writing style, with a less blastbeats and much more variety. While this kind of thing is usually a recipe for disaster if not thought out well, God Dethroned have pulled it off in great style. 'The Toxic Touch' exhales a miasma comparable to records like Kalmah's 'Swampsong' or Aura Noir's 'Deep Tracts Of Hell', punctuated all the way with infectiously melodic guitar leads for some really appealing dynamics. A resounding success.

44. callisto - 'noir'
If the likes of Isis or Neurosis are too oppressive for you but you'd still like to sample some quality post-rock, or whatever the term happens to be this week to define this kind of band, give these Finn boys a try. A bit like Pelican with vocals, 'Noir' builds on the wonderful 'True Nature Unfolds' with added chill-out bits, showing a jazzy side to Callisto's music hitherto unknown, while still maintaining the big riffs that they're capable of pulling out. Given their tender age, they are a great hope for the future.

45. lair of the minotaur - 'the ultimate destroyer'
'The Ultimate Destroyer' more or less embodies the true spirit of metal. By combining death metal, old thrash and doom in a powerful and tight cocktail, Lair Of The Minotaur are one of those bands that will make you headbang until your head falls off, but also whistle the groovy riffs afterwards in the shower. Their unashamed love for metal (the first song is called 'Juggernaut Of Metal', for god's sake) and the passion that was surely present in the making of this record shine through all the way.

46. dragonforce - 'inhuman rampage'
The London-based band (because it's hard to call a South Africa-Hong Kong-New Zealand-Ukraine-England collective 'British') is now suffering, from the rock and metal community, a bit of the backlash for all the unexpected success they have had in the past few years, but in this case it's totally unfair. Dragonforce deserve to be big. 'Inhuman Rampage' isn't as essential as their first two albums, but the excitement you can get from it is undeniable. The frantic speed, the rousing choruses and those impossible-looking Herman Li solos might not constitute the deepest, most meaningful music you've ever heard, but in terms of pure entertainment Dragonforce are basically unrivaled.

47. suffocation - 'suffocation'
It's always a great feeling when a band that has helped spawn an entire genre returns with good results, instead of just trying to re-hash old ideas and capturing long gone glory days. Such was the case with Suffocation. The death metal pioneers showed up again in 2006 as though they had never left. The self-title is a sign of how they don't need any frills or big fanfares, as long as they deliver what a death metal fan expects from them - crushing savagery. The insane speed, the inhuman precision and those vocals are still as essential to the more brutal-minded music fans as they have ever been.

48. boy omega - 'the grey rainbow'
From the bombast of the previous album to the diametrically opposite feeling - 'The Grey Rainbow' is an apparently unassuming little EP, which might remind you of what Bright Eyes used to sound like or what The Notwist sound like today. Martin Henrik Gustafsson (the man behind Boy Omega) is somewhat of a wizard, though, and his sparse and uncluttered melodies, with their gentle guitar pluckings and loose-feeling electronic bits, will soon find their way into both your brain and your heart.

49. bal-sagoth - 'the chtonic chronicles'
Age doesn't seem to fade away the bombast and dramatic sense of these brits, and this is as grandiose as any of their previous efforts. Famous for their mile-length song titles, they should be famous instead for some of the most epic sounding music ever to grace the ears of those more inclined to all things Lord of the Rings (and suchlike). the swirling keyboards, the theatrical recitations of vocalist Byron, the galloping charges - it's all there. Might be cheesy, but it's great fun too.

50. the mars volta - 'amputechture'
Chapter three in Cedric and Omar's post-At The Drive-In life is where The Mars Volta finally feel like a real band, instead of little schizophrenic snips of potential brilliance. On the contrary - the songs here are huge, not only in length but in scope, with an almost Isis-like sense of space but more jazzy and quirky. Or, horror of horrors, even poppy sometimes. The most charming thing about The Mars Volta is their ability to morph together different times, as if they're updating Yes, Led Zeppelin and King Crimson to the noughties. Maybe they really are.

with wings

2006-10-21T21:59:00.000+01:00

falconer - 'northwind'
released: october 2006
metal blade records

songs:
1. northwind 2. waltz with the dead 3. spirit of the hawk 4. legend and the lore 5. catch the shadows 6. tower of the queen 7. long gone by 8. perjury and sanctity 9. fairyland fanfare 10. himmel så trind 11. blinded 12. delusion 13. home of the knave 14. black tarn

bonus cd:
1. kristallen den finda 2. ridom, ridom 3. liten vätte 4. värfindar riska

Falconer is one of those permanently underrated bands that make their fans wonder what more will it take to get them more noticed by the metal-or-otherwise musical communities. Their self-titled debut album was a surprisingly brilliant effort (especially considering the very different, more musically extreme past of composer/guitarist/leader Stefan Weinerhall in Mithotyn), and they have followed it with strong and consistent successors.

'Northwind' is the fifth album by these Swedes and nothing better to start off this little analysis of it than claiming straight away that this is their best album yet.

The most important boost is that it features once again the vocal talents of Mathias Blad, who left the band after the second album. Despite having been well replaced by Kristoffer Göbel on 'The Sceptre Of Deception' and 'Grime Vs. Grandeur', there really is no substitute for Mathias. He is the final piece in the puzzle that sets Falconer apart within the power/classic metal world - his voice is not the traditional high pitch of the genre, he performs in a rich, full and beautiful low register which fits the compositions in a perfect manner. Falconer's particular brand of classic metal simply oozes class and avoids many of the pitfalls of the genre, getting close to the best quality hard rock sometimes, such is the melodic richness.

The songs are soberly played, almost understated in places, so everything sounds serious and meaningful. The folk elements are very well blended in and could in fact be more used, because they would add even more distinction to the songs, and they would be appropriate given the overall mood of the lyrics, which draw heavily on traditional themes. The guitar leads are another of the record's strong points, they soar, shred and enchant in equal measure as if they were the very wings of the animal that names the band.

'Northwind' is not, like many albums of the genre, immediate - it might sound a bit samey on first spins, but give it time and the subtle songs will unfurl and will reveal themselves as the true epics they are, and with splendid dynamics too, from the quiet melancholy of 'Long Gone By' to the charging 'Perjury And Sanctity'. Not that there's much filler, but a little less than 14 songs might have helped in the solidifying of the moods within the listener's mind. The patient will be rewarded, however.

Last but by no means least, make absolutely sure that you get the double-CD digipak version of 'Northwind'. The bonus CD consists of four traditional songs, in Swedish, and show a different and fascinating side to the band, finally using the folk elements to great effect. If you know the first record, imagine four worthy follow-ups to 'Per Turssons Döttrar I Vänge' from there.

Classy, consistent and passionately put together - this band should be playing stadiums.

the good: the return of the unique mathias blad, compositions that show the maturing of the band, great bonus cd with traditional songs
the bad: folk elements could be more explored, perhaps a tad too long

...and a bottle of rum!

2006-10-05T22:47:00.000+01:00

various artists - 'rogue's gallery - pirate ballads, sea songs & chanteys'
released: august 22, 2006
anti-

songs:
disc 1
1. baby gramps - cape cod girls 2. richard thompson - mingulay boat song 3. john c. reilly - my son john 4. nick cave - fire down below 5. loudon wainwright iii - turkish revelry 6. three pruned men - bully in the alley 7. bryan ferry - the cruel ship's captain 8. robin holcomb - dead horse 9. bill frisell - spanish ladies 10. joseph arthur - coast of high barbary 11. mark anthony thompson - haul away joe 12. david thomas - dan dan 13. sting - blood red roses 14. teddy thompson - sally brown 15. rufus wainwright & kate mcgarrigle - lowlands away 16. gavin friday - baltimore whores 17. eliza carthy - rolling sea 18. martin carthy & the uk group - the mermaid 19. bob neuwirth - haul on the bowline 20. bono - a dying sailor to his shipmates 21. lucinda williams - bonnie portmore 22. richard greene & jack shit - shenandoah 23. mary margaret o'hara - the cry of man

disc 2
1. jack shit - boney was a warrior 2. loudon wainwright iii - good ship venus 3. white magic - long time ago 4. nick cave - pinery boy 5. bryan ferry & antony - lowlands low 6. akron/family - one spring morning 7. martin carthy & family - hog-eye man 8. ricky jay & richard greene - the fiddler 9. andrea corr - caroline and her young sailor bold 10. john c. reilly - fathom the bowl 11. david thomas - what do we do with a drunken sailor 12. ed harcourt - farewell nancy 13. stan ridgway - hanging johnny 14. baby gramps - old man of the sea 15. van dyke parks - greenland whale fisheries 16. sting - shallow brown 17. jolie holland - the grey funnel line 18. jarvis cocker - a drop of nelson's blood 19. lou reed - leave her johnny 20. ralph steadman - little boy billee

I must admit I have a thing for pirates. Maybe it's cheesy, but I do love all the harrrr-ing and the bottles of rum-ing and whatnot. Therefore, it was with great excitement that I received this tip from Aino, who has already contributed some spiffing recommendations to this blog before (and while we're on recommendations, she also had this wonderful thing to share, which totally goes with the spirit of this review), and went and got the thing.

First of all, it has to be said that 'Rogue's Gallery' is not entirely constituted of 'pirate' songs. It is indeed the main focus of the 43 songs spread over the two CDs, but there are also other not-really-piratey sea chanteys that nevertheless fit the overall feel of the record. That's an important thing - the overall feel. It would be quite easy for this to not have one. 'Rogue's Gallery' is a huge mix of contributions ranging from very big names (Bono, Sting, Lou Reed, NickCave) to more cult names (Antony, Ed Harcourt, Akron/Family), to oddball names (Baby Gramps) to the downright unthinkable (John C. Reilly, the actor!). Add to that the fact that this is a Hal Willner production and you've got all the ingredients for haphazard cake. Yet, strangely, despite some slight inconsistencies that are usual on a 43-song record, it's not, and don't think that it's because the interpretations are in some way standartized, on the contrary.

From the sweet to the furious to the raging drunk, there's all sorts of moods here. The glue holding all this together is the best one there is - quality. The quality in the songs chosen, the quality in the nearly spontaneous, relaxed, natural way in which this was put together, and most of all the quality of the musicians themselves. This quality is visible in the fact that that no one tried to fake things that would not be natural to them. Depending on how you want to take this record, that can be a good thing or a bad thing. If you'd like everyone to sing coarsely going harrr!, you'll be sorely disappointed. If, on the other hand, you want to see a bunch of great musicians taking several traditional sea songs and making them their own, in their own style and interpretation (the correct way to do a cover song, in my humble opinion), then this is the record for you.

That said, nothing like a little bit of contradiction on my part - the best, most rousing songs are indeed the more piratey ones, maybe because they capture better the rowdy image we have of seamen in general, and pirates in particular. Baby Gramps is the absolute highlight, his unique modulations of voice are perfect for his two songs, especially the opener 'Cape Cod Girls', go check out his own records if you don't know him. Incidentally, his name really is Baby Gramps. Then there are the Three Pruned Men (which are members of the Virgin Prunes, surprisingly enough) with a contender for drunk-song-of-the-year in 'Bully In The Alley'. Nick Cave is his usual genius self with an intense 'Fire Down Below', while Loudon Wainwright III puts in the surprise performance with the utterly filthy 'Good Ship Venus' (google for the lyrics, I'm trying to keep this a vaguely family-friendly blog). Also surprisingly, John C. Reilly putting in two great performances with 'My Son John' (which Bruce Springsteen also did a version of on his last album) and 'Fathom The Bowl'.

The calmer songs, or the ones with a calmer interpretation, feel less like what one would expect of a sea song, but nevertheless still manage to work very well. Sting and Bono, think what you might of them otherwise (and I do think some things), do a fine job of their songs, apart from Sting's 'Blood Red Roses' which could have remained hidden, while Andrea Corr, of all people, has a lovely 'Caroline And Her Young Sailor Bold', as does Richard Thompson with an eye-watering 'Mingulay Boat Song'.

Complaints? Well, a few. Most glaringly, this being on the label Anti- and everything, WHERE THE HELL IS TOM WAITS? Also, being a huge fan of Antony And The Johnsons, I was expecting a bit more of him than just singing (beautifully, granted) the words 'lowlands low' overBryan Ferry's verses on the song of the same name. There will be, however, a volume two sometime in 2007 on which Antony is said to have a proper song, so there is hope there.

More consistent than your usual compilation and with an unbeatably cool concept, 'Rogue's Gallery' is highly recommended for the more pirate-minded among you. Shiver me timbers!

the good: great idea, stellar cast of musicians with a few good surprises, good personal interpretations, a good way to start your discovery of ancient sea music and have lots of fun at the same time
the bad: some musicians could have been better 'used', while a few perfect-for-the-job ones are missing, some of the calmer songs don't feel so much in place as the others

the main character

2006-09-20T11:01:00.000+01:00

dark tranquillity - 'character'
released: january 25, 2005
century media

songs: 1. the new build 2. through smudged lenses 3. out of nothing 4. the endless feed 5. lost to apathy 6. mind matters 7. one thought 8. dry run 9. am i 1? 10. senses tied 11. my negation

If you want to quickly define this band, you could do far worse than calling them the thinking man's quintessential metal band. In the last decade they have proven themselves to be quite far ahead of mostly everyone else, and consistently so. There is a sense of purpose, of meaning, at every Dark Tranquillity release. Not that there's anything (thematically) wrong with demons or drugs or death, to namecheck just a few examples of overused topics, but Dark Tranquillity go at it the hard way, and you get chaos theory, philosophy, art, psychology and if you read one of their obviously fascinated-with-language-like lyric sheets you will get an idea without me going on about it. The hardest thing about this approach is that you come across as horribly po-faced if the music itself doesn't match up to it.

It should come as no surprise, if you have paid attention these last few years, that 'Character', once again, more than matches the quality of their lyrical concept. More like another refining step than a departure from 'Damage Done', the album's main change is in the sound itself - it's huge. So huge you get the feeling Niklas Sundin and Martin Henriksson have made a few clones of themselves to help out with the guitarwork. Martin Brändström's electronic work is also remarkable and much more present than before, giving highlight songs like 'Lost To Apathy' or 'The New Build' a whole new dimension. Finally there is that roar, that unmistakable vocal presence of the great Mikael Stanne.

Powerful, amazingly written and produced, oozing class from every pore, the only niggle that you can pick at 'Character' is that Dark Tranquillity haven't really done that quantum leap in evolution that 'Projector' hinted at. For all the greatness of 'Character', there is the feeling that, given the skyrocketing talent available here, they could go a bit further. Despite the more proeminent use of electronics, it's pretty much a Dark Tranquillity album still. by no means stagnating (not by a long shot), the Swedes have nevertheless towering standards to meet. Still, 'Character' has just what its title suggests and it is obviously essential.

the good: huge sound, powerful compositions, untouchable musicianship on every level
the bad: given the talent involved, it could be more adventurous

farewell

2006-09-18T09:24:00.000+01:00

sentenced - 'the funeral album'
released: april 2003
century media

songs: 1. may today become the day 2. ever-frost 3. we are but falling leaves 4. her last 5 minutes 5. where waters fall frozen 6. despair-ridden hearts 7. vengeance is mine 8. a long way to nowhere 9. consider us dead 10. lower the flags 11. drain me 12. karu 13. end of the road

Now that the long-awaited DVD 'Buried Alive', containing a host of extras and the entire farewell concert of this illustrious Finnish band (on which, according to reports, there are several shots of yours truly in the front row...), is finally upon us, it's worth remembering their final album, relevant in the context of their influential career.

The two short instrumentals present in this record, the savage 'Where Waters Fall Frozen' and the soft acoustic 'Karu', are perhaps the best symbolic summary of Sentenced's musical career, particularly after the change of vocalist, after the album 'Amok'. Since then, their tales of sadness, sorrow and bitterness bled out through a dynamic and modern rock/metal framework, filled with harmonies but also brutal riffs, a duality that has maintained the levels of intensity and depth very high for a decade now, particularly for those lucky enough to have seen them live.

Sentenced are also, and most essentially, one of the very few bands of the last few years able to not take themselves too seriously, something that is crucial within a genre that can easily fall into silly melodrama. For each suicidal line, there is always a dab of self-deprecating black humour to spice things up. In this final album, their integrity shines through - realizing this musical format could hardly be further developed without going into a repetition of what has already been done, the five members have decided to end the band, calmly and sensibly, giving it the right to a worthy funeral.

Of course, all this 'final' ambient around the album doesn't hurt its promotion at all. But one listen is enough to understand that this isn't a gimmick. The five Finns left their souls in these thirteen songs, down to the the smallest details, like the elegant design of the booklet, consisting of quotes from Finnish poets accompanied by staggeringly beautiful photographs. The music itself shows that, from the more immediately memorable songs like 'May Today Become The Day' or the first single 'Ever-Frost', to the usual hate manifestos like 'Vengeance Is Mine' (a sort of 21st century version of 'I'll Throw The First Rock'), this is the most balanced and complete album of their career. the touch of genius comes from the profoundly touching 'Her Last 5 Minutes' and 'We Are But Fallen Leaves', which are sung and played with a conviction that goes as far as making you worry about the actual possibility of any of those lyrics having a background of truth.

Being Sentenced, the end, in whatever form, has always been the main theme, but the last songs of this record seem to allude even more clearly to the end of the band, particularly 'Consider Us Dead' or the song that closes in the best possible way the recording career of a band that will not be forgotten easily - there really is no better way to say goodbye than with 'End Of The Road', the best song the band has ever written, with church bells, choirs and a downward spiral of melancholy-dripping guitars finishing it all, a chilling mix of bitterness and hope, in which Ville Laihiala asks it wasn't all that bad, was it now?.

No, no it wasn't. It was some of the best things we've had in our stereos in the last decade, and we only have to thank them for that.

May they rest in peace.

the good: a true goodbye record, with heart, soul and memorable, varied songs
the bad: it's the end