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2017 Top Tens


Thrashman

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Mine:

01 Necrot - Blood Offerings
02 Soulskinner - Descent to Abaddon
03 Memoriam - For the Fallen
04 Purgatoire - Passé Décomposé
05 Krypts - Descending Era of Putrefaction
06 Immolation - Atonement
07 Devouring Star - Antihedron
08 Spectral Voice - Eroded Corridors of Unbeing
09 Kreator - Gods of Violence
10 Scour - Red

Yours?

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Hmmmm. What I've enjoyed the most so far, in no real order:

Akercocke - Renaissance In Extremis (my top pick)
Contrarian - To Perceive Is To Suffer
Artificial Brain - Infrared Horizon
Afterbirth - The Time Traveler's Dilemma
Fen - Winter
Suffering Hour - In Passing Ascension
Sutrah - Dunes
Krallice - Go Be Forgotten
Ulsect - Ulsect
Dodecahedron - Kwintessens

And albums I'd either call "honorable mentions" or enjoyed but need to spend more time with:


Suffocation - Of The Dark Light
Inanimate Existence - Underneath A Melting Sky
Fractal Universe - Engram Of Decline
Show Of Bedlam - Transfiguration
Cavernlight - As We Cup Our Hands And Drink From The Stream Of Our Ache
Ingurgitating Oblivion - Vision Wallows In Symphonies Of Light
Krallice - Loum
Altarage - Endighent
Immolation - Atonement
The Last Of Lucy - Ashvattha
Redemptor - Arthaneum
Sunless - Urraca
Gutslit - Amputheatre
Phrenelith - Desolate Endscape
 

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8 minutes ago, MacabreEternal said:

I will have a list but have spent much of the past few months filling gaps in my DM listening and generally not been too focused on this year.  Every year I find great music from years back that I usually enjoy ahead of any release from current.

I do the same, but I guess I've finally warmed up to the idea of taking an arbitrary snapshot of new releases I've enjoyed so far. There's nothing definitive about it. Time will tell if they stick around.

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I will have a list but have spent much of the past few months filling gaps in my DM listening and generally not been too focused on this year.  Every year I find great music from years back that I usually enjoy ahead of any release from current.
This is why I can't ever keep up with new releases. My attention is almost always on the past, so by the time the year ends, I usually only have a handful of releases from that year. Most of those are only because I caught the band live, or if it was a band that I'm crazy about or was otherwise on my radar before. I might have half a dozen 2017 albums now, and that number might get to 20 or 30 (enough to make a top 10 list) a couple of years from now.

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I was wondering how early was too early on this. I'm glad someone bit the bullet-belt and started the thread.

With mediocre to poor albums from Satyricon, Anathema, Taake, Enslaved, Ensiferum, and Jyrki 69 (from my beloved 69 Eyes) there were great bands who didn't make the list this year. However, here are the releases that rocked the halls of Castle Requiem this year: 

Requiem's Top 10 Albums of 2017

10. Paradise Lost - 'Medusa'

Ultimately a very disappointing album due to the sense that it feels deliberately engineered to sound retro, mixed with run-of-the-mill bland riffs. Yet, there are positive points here. Nick Holmes' voice, which has lulled me to sleep since adolescence, is engaging, and there is the Paradise Lost flavour that remains. Still, compared with 2015's 'The Plague Within' this really turned me to stone. 

9. Eluveitie - 'Evocation II'

I think this gets overlooked a lot. Chrigel and his band of interchangeable minstrels had lots of line-up dramas recently, but this is actually a great semi-acoustic/folk album. It's a lot better than 'Evocation I'. Anna Murphy's replacement singer sounds so uncannily like her that it's a bit creepy... Still, this is too long with too many tracks, like most of this band's albums. 

8. Eldamar - 'A Dark Forgotten Past'

Amazing Tolkien inspired one-man-band, this follow up album doesn't quite reach the heights of the glorious 'The Force of the Ancient Land', but it's not far off. The synth sounds are just incredible, and that synth female voice is straight out of Beleriand. Still, it gets a bit samey and it's a one trick pony for sure. It's just a great trick, though. Such atmosphere. 

7. God Dethroned - 'The World Ablaze'

True Belief got me into these guys, and this is my favourite album of theirs. The intro is so evocative with that melody and the radio/wartime voice. Oh man. The rest of this album has an excellent atmosphere that puts it up there as one of the great war themed albums in my opinion. I'm really impressed. I'm convinced. 

6. Ex Deo - 'The Immortal Wars'

Speaking of wars. These Ancient Rome loving loons have put out their best album so far. 'The Rise of Hannibal' is the anthem to end all anthems. I love Ancient Rome, I love songs about Ancient Rome, and I love Maurizio Iacono. Stirring material that brings to life the grandiosity and tragedy of the Roman Empire. Hail Caesar. 

5. Hallatar - 'No Stars Upon the Bridge'

With the tragic death of Aleah Stanbridge after the release of Trees of Eternity's only album, Swallow the Sun mastermind Juha Raivio, together with Tomi Joutsen from Amorphis and Gas Lipstick from HIM, created a dark and authentic expression of his grief. It still has many secrets to reveal to me at this point - and I don't own this yet - but this is shaping up to be one of those moments in time where art and the tragedy of life merge to transcend mere music. 

4. Cradle of Filth - 'Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness of Decay'

The second Cradle album with the two new guitarists, this doesn't quite meet 'Hammer of the Witches' for me, but it's close. It's really guitar based, with riffs and solos all over the place - it's genuinely breathtaking on that front. As a lifelong fan of Dani's lyrical excursions, I tend to find the narrative here a little vague and undefined, which annoys me a little bit considering how amazing his lyrics are on last year's Devilment album. The title is pretty shite too. I wish he would avoid these silly plays-on-words ('Thornography' anyone?). For a Victorian themed album there's precious little to do with the Victorian era or the atmosphere I associate with it. Overall, though, this is in the top 50% of Cradle albums, which makes it pretty special to my gothic ears. 

3. Septicflesh - 'Codex Omega'

My favourite band of the last five years and in my top 5 bands of all time, but I have to admit this album hasn't done it for me like the last four have. In fact, this is the first Septicflesh album since 'Sumerian Daemons' to not top my end of year list. All the ingredients are here and sonically it sounds amazing, but there are some 'b grade' riffs here that shouldn't have passed muster. The first two tracks need to go, and for me the album only kicks into gear with track 3: 'Portrait of a Headless Man'. Other songs like 'Faceless Queen' and 'Our Church Below the Sea' are brilliant (for the most part). It's definitely their weakest album since 'Revolution DNA'. I don't say all these things lightly, and I've played this album to death. It still makes number 3, but this band should be at number 1 for me. 2014's 'Titan' absolutely slays this album. 

2. Wintersun - 'The Forest Seasons'

A-mazing. I pointed and laughed at Jari and Wintersun like everyone else. Even though I own the debut and 'Time 1', I never really loved them, but I love this album. I LOVE this album. The production is perfect, and the development of the songs - anthems more like - is staggering. Track 2 'The Forest That Weeps (Summer)' is my song of the year. It brings my fist to the air, tears to my eyes, and fills my heart with glory. That Tolkien-epic choir!! The whole album is stunning. Brilliant lyrics too, and I encourage everyone to read their booklets as the songs play through. I didn't think Jari could do it, but he's the real deal. This was my album of the year until I heard...

1. Moonspell - '1755'

As for this album. Their last release, 'Extinct', was good, but not great, and I wasn't sure what to expect with this. As it turns out, it sounds like the follow-up to their demo collection 'Under Satanae'. It has energy, groove, melody and a bit of ferocity that just transcends. The theme of the Lisbon earthquake that levelled the city in 1755 is present in the lyrics (all Portuguese with English booklet translations) and the music (with that Portuguese combination of European sounds with Ottoman inspired melodies). This band HAS NEVER SOUNDED BETTER. "The day rises in Portugal". Every song is a hit. 10/10. Album of the year. 

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8 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

A mediocre Enslaved Album? That would be a first...
 

Everyone's getting Enslaved tattooed across their foreheads, but I've never really been convinced with their post 'Below the Lights' material. It's too clever by half, if you ask me. 

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Just now, Requiem said:

Everyone's getting Enslaved tattooed across their foreheads, but I've never really been convinced with their post 'Below the Lights' material. It's too clever by half, if you ask me. 

I'm surprised that Isa doesn't get you going at the very least. A step up in production, Cato Bekkevold's drumming, energetic and catchy songwriting, seems like it should appeal to your sensibilities. It's my second favorite of theirs after Below The Lights, if I'm forced to pick.

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I'm surprised that Isa doesn't get you going at the very least. A step up in production, Cato Bekkevold's drumming, energetic and catchy songwriting, seems like it should appeal to your sensibilities. It's my second favorite of theirs after Below The Lights, if I'm forced to pick.
Isa, Axioma Ethica Odini, and In Times are all killer new releases from the band. The albums in between were still good, but they seemed to reinvent themselves with this albums, while always distinctly sounding like Enslaved. Few bands can pull that or their consistency off, especially not over such a lengthy discography.

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57 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

Isa, Axioma Ethica Odini, and In Times are all killer new releases from the band. The albums in between were still good, but they seemed to reinvent themselves with this albums, while always distinctly sounding like Enslaved. Few bands can pull that or their consistency off, especially not over such a lengthy discography.

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I have yet to really dig into In Times and I haven't even heard all of the newest one yet. I think Axioma is pretty great. Isa seems to me like it should tick all the boxes for @Requiem as far as newer Enslaved goes, but the fact that I think that leads me to doubt that it's actually true... :D

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1 hour ago, FatherAlabaster said:

I have yet to really dig into In Times and I haven't even heard all of the newest one yet. I think Axioma is pretty great. Isa seems to me like it should tick all the boxes for @Requiem as far as newer Enslaved goes, but the fact that I think that leads me to doubt that it's actually true... :D

I have ‘Isa’. It’s cool. The title track in particular is a favourite. I think I find the majority of it a bit less compelling but I haven’t heard it in years so maybe I’ll give it another spin. 

As Deathstorm would say, get back on topic. ;)

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I have yet to really dig into In Times and I haven't even heard all of the newest one yet. I think Axioma is pretty great. Isa seems to me like it should tick all the boxes for [mention=10660]Requiem[/mention] as far as newer Enslaved goes, but the fact that I think that leads me to doubt that it's actually true... [emoji3]
I heard half of In Times live before I bought the album and loves what I heard. RiiTiiR was great, but kind of like Axioma part II, and In Times was another reinvention. A reinvention that was a bit different because it both hardened back to heavier times and pushed their progressive agenda forward, almost like an amalgamation of a few of their earlier eras with a new sheen. I have yet to hear the new one, but Enslaved is my favorite band, I would be surprised if I didn't love it.

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‘Vikingligr Veldi’, ‘Frost’ and ‘Eld’ slay nowadays artistic wannabe Enslaved albums exclusively.
Now make with the 2017 lists you landlubbers.
Eld is easily their weakest old album, their first try at becoming a bit more progressive with a drummer that didn't belong wasn't very successful. They rebelled against it with the furious Blodhemn, and then were much more successful taking the progressive route on Mardraum. Frost is sick and Vikingligr Veldi is great (though I prefer the Yggdrasill demo), but many of their later albums can very easily contend with them, especially Below the Lights, Isa, Axioma, and In Times.

Again, I don't have anything to contribute to a 2017 discussion yet, so I fear this won't get back on topic any time soon.

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my top ten of 2017 is

10 virulent depravity fruit from the poisoned tree 

9 artificial brain infrazed horizon 

8  the haunted strength in numbers

7 suffocation of dark light

6 rings of saturn ulta ulla 

5 eluveitie evocation 2

4 septicflesh codex omaga

3 trivium the sin and the sentence 

Tied for 2 Dying Fetus wrong one to fuck with   arch enemy will to power 

1 cannibal corpse red before black  

Kinda surprised that you guys never check out the new haunted album strength in numbers that’s a really good record

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I'm in a similar predicament to BAN and Macabre, I have between 10 and 20 releases from this year but a good chunk of them are from bands that I've seen live (most of which are solid but few are top 10 worthy).

 

I think if I were to make a list it would possibly contain (from the stuff I own).

 

Sutrah - Dunes

Pyrrhon - What Passes for Survival

Halal Maw - Olm

Black Harvest - Atrittion

 

There is still a lot of stuff that I need to check out.

 

On 09/12/2017 at 9:36 AM, Thrashman said:

09 Kreator - Gods of Violence

I never really got into this one, I guess I'll give it another relisten.

 

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14 hours ago, Will said:

I'm in a similar predicament to BAN and Macabre, I have between 10 and 20 releases from this year but a good chunk of them are from bands that I've seen live (most of which are solid but few are top 10 worthy).

 

I think if I were to make a list it would possibly contain (from the stuff I own).

 

Sutrah - Dunes

Pyrrhon - What Passes for Survival

Halal Maw - Olm

Black Harvest - Atrittion

Thanks for the mention, dude, I'm glad you've enjoyed that recording.

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