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EOTY Listmania Extravaganza 2022


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42 minutes ago, markm said:

Your situation is different. You walk to the beat of your own.....blast beat, you don't work a traditional 9-5,  you're a bachelor and it's your main hobby. Living the dream. 

 

True, I don't have a woman in my life with whom I have to justify my purchases or expenditures anymore. I remember the distro days of buying CD's through the mail a decade ago when my then old lady would freak out each month when she saw the credit card bill. She'd try to reason with me and thought she could put me on a budget that I wouldn't stick to anyway. Because I figured I worked very hard and I wasn't gonna deny myself the simple little things in life that I wanted. (within reason of course)

But now as a widower I'm flying solo, so I have no checks and balances on me. I can just run wild. I can't really go out and do anything in the evenings like many single people like to do because I'm the single parent of a little kid. So metal music is my one hobby, or my one vice depending on how you look at it. I don't kayak or ski or or play golf or spend thousands on audio gear, or buy an expensive car every few years, or have a boat to maintain anymore (talk about an expensive fucking hobby!) or drop hundreds at the local dive bar on Friday nights, or gamble, or do blow, or go out to eat at expensive restaurants anymore (I did used to quite enjoy going out to eat at nice restaurants as much as a few times a week back when I was married the 2nd time) or buy a lot of expensive clothes, nor do I engage in any of the other expensive hobbies a lot of middle aged dudes like us enjoy. I don't have any burning desire to travel anymore now that I'm single, it's not like I'm keen to drag a disinterested 8 year old around Europe with me to see the sights or anything.

So buying music is basically the one discretionary thing I spend my money on besides the basic necessities of life like: food, shelter, gas, utilities, new clothes for the constantly growing boy, the occasional trip to the bottle-O, and of course we can't forget I've still gotta pay my damn property taxes. And metal album buying is a relatively harmless hobby, it keeps me out of trouble as they say. Then when you add in a bit of inheritance money and some stocks I may have received after my mom died in 2015, this means I can now click at will basically and buy as much music as my evil black heart desires. 

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Thanks Navy for your thoughtful lists. Thanks Mark for dumping everything. Thanks Orca for promising but not delivering. And thanks in advance GG. Your list will be late and long but we know we can rely on you.

This is what Thatguy thinks this week.

 

THATGUY’S TOP 17.

METAL

In alphabetical order and not order of merit. I don’t think there will be too many surprises here. Don’t expect in depth analysis - that’s not Thatguy’s style - and you’ll see the word fun a lot. Good music is always fun. It may be other things too -  beautiful, challenging, thought provoking, sad, noisy, kind of annoying etc etc - but if it’s not fun then I probably won’t be listening, because in 2022 it was again - so much music, so little time.

ARTIFICIAL BRAIN - Artificial Brain. This is a fun album full of metal goodness. Fuck youse all for a miserable bunch of sad sacks if you can’t enjoy this.

ASHENSPIRE - Hostile Architecture. Angry Scots ranting and interesting music with saxophone. What’s not to love?

ASUNOJOKEI - Island. I just love this band and this album in particular. Smart-arse chords and high pitched shrieking. Get it into you.

DESOLATE SHRINE - Fires Of A Dying World. Dark, dense, angry. It’s everything I want from a metal album.

DRUDKH - All Belongs To The Night. I think I’ve heard some of these chord progressions before from this band, but I don’t care. I enjoy this more with each listen so that makes it list-worthy.

IMMOLATION - Acts Of God. Yep, I agree with everyone else that it is too long - but it rocks.

IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT - Spirit of Ecstasy. I know there isn’t much love for these guys around here, but on re-listening and reflection, I like this album quite a lot. It’s a lot less wanky than their previous one and is actually a metal album, dissonant and iconoclastic enough to amuse me and all in all a lot of quirky fun.

MALIGNANT AURA  - Abysmal Misfortune Is Draped On Me. Miserable. Miserable but in a good way.

MESHUGGAH - Immutable. The title sums it up. This is what it is, love it or hate it. There is so much happening here, and an instrumental track that is maybe the best track.

MOURNFUL CONGREGATION - The Exuviae of Gods - Part 1. This is what I’m talking about. Beautiful, miserable but, yep, fun. These guys can do no wrong in my book. I hope Part 2 appears in 2023.

OLHAVA - Reborn. Lots of atmospherics but enough BM to keep me hanging on. The goats won’t like it.

OSSERP - Els nous cants de la Sibil-la. Like the Desolate Shrine, this just hits the spot.

PHARMACIST - Flourishing Extremities On Unspoiled Mental Grounds. Every time I listen to this I just think - wow.

TOADEATER - Bexadde. Almost worth listing just for the band name, but also for the mix. Bass, guitars and vocals about equal with supportive drums. A nice change from buried vocals and inaudible bass.

ULTHA - All That Has Never Been True. I hate the cover art - it reminds me of the Electric Callboy video ‘We Got The Moves’ (ear and eye worm of the year even if not released in 2022). But the music is dense yet lively, interesting and engaging with fine examples of NON-CHEESY SYNTH all the way through it. This should be on everyone’s list. And they released a very good B side/demo/live album for NYP this year too. Thanks Ultha.

WIEGEDOOD - There’s Always Blood At The End Of The Road. Excellent album by consistently good band. I think they would absolutely slay live.

WORM MANTLE - Worm Mantle. I raved about this early in the year then left it alone for a long time. On re-listening, yep, I still love it. Lots of metal and a good deal of atmospherics - all guitar I think and no synths to whinge about.

 

NON-METAL

AKKU QUINTET - Live.Jazz so chill and groovy that there ought to be a law against it.

BITCHIN BAJAS - Bajascillators. Radiant ambient/electronic/jazz. Check out the cover art. The music is just like the art.

BORIS - W. Boris albums are so diverse that you can’t really say you do or don’t like the band. This is an electronic art rock/pop album. Noice.

ELDER - Innate Passage. So musical, so engaging.

loscil - The Sails Pt. 2. Radiant beauty as all his albums.

Nils FRAHM - Music for Animals. Saw him live in 2022 and now I get him. Lovely and interesting electronics.

Valentina GONCHAROVA - Ocean - Symphony for Electric Violin and other instruments. This is one for the ‘modern classical’ lovers I guess, but it’s also noisy and annoying.

ŠIROM - The Liquified Throne of Simplicity. Long instrumental tracks of alternative folk/ambient with all sorts of weird instruments. Really very engaging.

SPOOK- Spook. Chill.

Midori TAKADA - You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana. Chanting, percussion and I think electronics. Ethereal and beautiful.

 

COLLECTIONS

ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO - The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Associated Ensembles (on ECM). As I wrote in the jazz thread, this anthology contains the essence of all of jazz and of life.

Olivier MESSIAEN - 100th Anniversary Box Set. So much Messiaen, so little time. I wish I had written this music, but I’m not a French, Catholic mystic organ virtuoso.

Steve TIBBETTS - Hellhound Train: An Anthology. Jazz/rock/ambient, whatever. This is really entertaining.

Anton WEBERN - Complete Works. Essential listening for the ‘modern classical’ lover and I’m glad I have this to listen to whenever I feel like it. I wish he had lived longer and widened his palette.

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21 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

Thanks Navy for your thoughtful lists. Thanks Mark for dumping everything. Thanks Orca for promising but not delivering. And thanks in advance GG. Your list will be late and long but we know we can rely on you.

This is what Thatguy thinks this week.

 

THATGUY’S TOP 17.

METAL

In alphabetical order and not order of merit. I don’t think there will be too many surprises here. Don’t expect in depth analysis - that’s not Thatguy’s style - and you’ll see the word fun a lot. Good music is always fun. It may be other things too -  beautiful, challenging, thought provoking, sad, noisy, kind of annoying etc etc - but if it’s not fun then I probably won’t be listening, because in 2022 it was again - so much music, so little time.

ARTIFICIAL BRAIN - Artificial Brain. This is a fun album full of metal goodness. Fuck youse all for a miserable bunch of sad sacks if you can’t enjoy this.

ASHENSPIRE - Hostile Architecture. Angry Scots ranting and interesting music with saxophone. What’s not to love?

ASUNOJOKEI - Island. I just love this band and this album in particular. Smart-arse chords and high pitched shrieking. Get it into you.

DESOLATE SHRINE - Fires Of A Dying World. Dark, dense, angry. It’s everything I want from a metal album.

DRUDKH - All Belongs To The Night. I think I’ve heard some of these chord progressions before from this band, but I don’t care. I enjoy this more with each listen so that makes it list-worthy.

IMMOLATION - Acts Of God. Yep, I agree with everyone else that it is too long - but it rocks.

IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT - Spirit of Ecstasy. I know there isn’t much love for these guys around here, but on re-listening and reflection, I like this album quite a lot. It’s a lot less wanky than their previous one and is actually a metal album, dissonant and iconoclastic enough to amuse me and all in all a lot of quirky fun.

MALIGNANT AURA  - Abysmal Misfortune Is Draped On Me. Miserable. Miserable but in a good way.

MESHUGGAH - Immutable. The title sums it up. This is what it is, love it or hate it. There is so much happening here, and an instrumental track that is maybe the best track.

MOURNFUL CONGREGATION - The Exuviae of Gods - Part 1. This is what I’m talking about. Beautiful, miserable but, yep, fun. These guys can do no wrong in my book. I hope Part 2 appears in 2023.

OLHAVA - Reborn. Lots of atmospherics but enough BM to keep me hanging on. The goats won’t like it.

OSSERP - Els nous cants de la Sibil-la. Like the Desolate Shrine, this just hits the spot.

PHARMACIST - Flourishing Extremities On Unspoiled Mental Grounds. Every time I listen to this I just think - wow.

TOADEATER - Bexadde. Almost worth listing just for the band name, but also for the mix. Bass, guitars and vocals about equal with supportive drums. A nice change from buried vocals and inaudible bass.

ULTHA - All That Has Never Been True. I hate the cover art - it reminds me of the Electric Callboy video ‘We Got The Moves’ (ear and eye worm of the year even if not released in 2022). But the music is dense yet lively, interesting and engaging with fine examples of NON-CHEESY SYNTH all the way through it. This should be on everyone’s list. And they released a very good B side/demo/live album for NYP this year too. Thanks Ultha.

WIEGEDOOD - There’s Always Blood At The End Of The Road. Excellent album by consistently good band. I think they would absolutely slay live.

WORM MANTLE - Worm Mantle. I raved about this early in the year then left it alone for a long time. On re-listening, yep, I still love it. Lots of metal and a good deal of atmospherics - all guitar I think and no synths to whinge about.

 

NON-METAL

AKKU QUINTET - Live.Jazz so chill and groovy that there ought to be a law against it.

BITCHIN BAJAS - Bajascillators. Radiant ambient/electronic/jazz. Check out the cover art. The music is just like the art.

BORIS - W. Boris albums are so diverse that you can’t really say you do or don’t like the band. This is an electronic art rock/pop album. Noice.

ELDER - Innate Passage. So musical, so engaging.

loscil - The Sails Pt. 2. Radiant beauty as all his albums.

Nils FRAHM - Music for Animals. Saw him live in 2022 and now I get him. Lovely and interesting electronics.

Valentina GONCHAROVA - Ocean - Symphony for Electric Violin and other instruments. This is one for the ‘modern classical’ lovers I guess, but it’s also noisy and annoying.

ŠIROM - The Liquified Throne of Simplicity. Long instrumental tracks of alternative folk/ambient with all sorts of weird instruments. Really very engaging.

SPOOK- Spook. Chill.

Midori TAKADA - You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana. Chanting, percussion and I think electronics. Ethereal and beautiful.

 

COLLECTIONS

ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO - The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Associated Ensembles (on ECM). As I wrote in the jazz thread, this anthology contains the essence of all of jazz and of life.

Olivier MESSIAEN - 100th Anniversary Box Set. So much Messiaen, so little time. I wish I had written this music, but I’m not a French, Catholic mystic organ virtuoso.

Steve TIBBETTS - Hellhound Train: An Anthology. Jazz/rock/ambient, whatever. This is really entertaining.

Anton WEBERN - Complete Works. Essential listening for the ‘modern classical’ lover and I’m glad I have this to listen to whenever I feel like it. I wish he had lived longer and widened his palette.

Great eclectic list as usual with some albums I've listened to but should revisit (Ultha) and others I need to check out (Pharmacist, Imperial Triumphant) . Indeed, W is a beautiful listen. 

Thanks for your write-up!

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Thanks to @Thatguy and his constant whinging I can no longer forget to add something here.

No genre breakdowns just the best 10 albums I bought this year with detailed write ups for each album

 

1. Dropkick Murphys - This Machine Still Kills Fascists

(I liked it)

2. Evil Invaders - Shattering Reflections

(I liked it)

3. Pillaging Villagers - Pillaging Villagers

(I liked it)

4. Ugly Kid Joe – Rad Wings of Destiny

(I liked it)

5. Devin Townsend – Lightwork

(I liked it)

6. King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard - Omnium Gatherum

(I liked it)

7. Schizophrenia - Recollections Of The Insane

(I liked it)

8. Sabaton - The War To End All Wars

(I liked it)

9. Extinction AD - Culture Of Violence

(I liked it)

10, Megadeth - The Sick The Dying And The Dead

(it was okay)

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11 records for me.

METAL (in alphabetical order) :

An Abstract Illusion - Woe
Arsena - Blood Rusted Mother Earth
Blind Illusion - Wrath Of The Gods
Force of Hell - Better Be Dead
Hellish - The Dance Of The Four Elemental Serpents
Les Enfants de Dagon - De Profundis
Sigh - Shiki
The Boneless Ones - Back To The Grind

NON METAL (in alphabetical order) :

Francis Décamps - Bien Au-Delà Du Délire
JPL - Sapiens, chapitre 3/3 : Actum
Nemo - Les nouveaux mondes 2022

The 3 non Metal albums are French progressive rock albums. It's a style I like a lot after I discovered by chance The Villa Strangiato (Rush) in 1984. In France, we have talented progressive rock bands, like Ange, Magma, Nemo, JPL, Gens de la Lune, Lazuli, ...

For the 8 Metal albums of my list for 2022, a lot of Thrash, but also albums that are out of the ordinary (An Asbtract Illusion, Sigh, Les Enfants de Dagon).

I love bands that try to invent something and at the moment, I notice that it's mostly in Black Metal that we find the most. Besides, the 3 bands mentioned above are part of it.

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Great lists @KillaKukumba, @Thatguy, & @Arioch

Lots to investigate there. Always enjoy the non-metal recs since I don't get a chance to check out those as much during the year. Surprised Makaya Mcraven didn't make your list T-guy. If the jazz stuff you have there is better than his latest, I'll definitely give them a whirl. And French prog rock? Name dropping Rush? You have my attention monsieur Arioch.

 

 

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5 hours ago, navybsn said:

And French prog rock? Name dropping Rush? You have my attention monsieur Arioch.

At your disposal, navybsn 😉

If singing in French doesn't scare you, I recommend these two albums to get an idea about French prog rock :

Sorry for the off-topic!

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16 hours ago, Thatguy said:

THATGUY’S TOP 17.

METAL

In alphabetical order and not order of merit. I don’t think there will be too many surprises here. Don’t expect in depth analysis - that’s not Thatguy’s style - and you’ll see the word fun a lot. Good music is always fun. It may be other things too -  beautiful, challenging, thought provoking, sad, noisy, kind of annoying etc etc - but if it’s not fun then I probably won’t be listening, because in 2022 it was again - so much music, so little time.

ARTIFICIAL BRAIN - Artificial Brain. This is a fun album full of metal goodness. Fuck youse all for a miserable bunch of sad sacks if you can’t enjoy this.

ASHENSPIRE - Hostile Architecture. Angry Scots ranting and interesting music with saxophone. What’s not to love?

ASUNOJOKEI - Island. I just love this band and this album in particular. Smart-arse chords and high pitched shrieking. Get it into you.

DESOLATE SHRINE - Fires Of A Dying World. Dark, dense, angry. It’s everything I want from a metal album.

DRUDKH - All Belongs To The Night. I think I’ve heard some of these chord progressions before from this band, but I don’t care. I enjoy this more with each listen so that makes it list-worthy.

IMMOLATION - Acts Of God. Yep, I agree with everyone else that it is too long - but it rocks.

IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT - Spirit of Ecstasy. I know there isn’t much love for these guys around here, but on re-listening and reflection, I like this album quite a lot. It’s a lot less wanky than their previous one and is actually a metal album, dissonant and iconoclastic enough to amuse me and all in all a lot of quirky fun.

MALIGNANT AURA  - Abysmal Misfortune Is Draped On Me. Miserable. Miserable but in a good way.

MESHUGGAH - Immutable. The title sums it up. This is what it is, love it or hate it. There is so much happening here, and an instrumental track that is maybe the best track.

MOURNFUL CONGREGATION - The Exuviae of Gods - Part 1. This is what I’m talking about. Beautiful, miserable but, yep, fun. These guys can do no wrong in my book. I hope Part 2 appears in 2023.

OLHAVA - Reborn. Lots of atmospherics but enough BM to keep me hanging on. The goats won’t like it.

OSSERP - Els nous cants de la Sibil-la. Like the Desolate Shrine, this just hits the spot.

PHARMACIST - Flourishing Extremities On Unspoiled Mental Grounds. Every time I listen to this I just think - wow.

TOADEATER - Bexadde. Almost worth listing just for the band name, but also for the mix. Bass, guitars and vocals about equal with supportive drums. A nice change from buried vocals and inaudible bass.

ULTHA - All That Has Never Been True. I hate the cover art - it reminds me of the Electric Callboy video ‘We Got The Moves’ (ear and eye worm of the year even if not released in 2022). But the music is dense yet lively, interesting and engaging with fine examples of NON-CHEESY SYNTH all the way through it. This should be on everyone’s list. And they released a very good B side/demo/live album for NYP this year too. Thanks Ultha.

WIEGEDOOD - There’s Always Blood At The End Of The Road. Excellent album by consistently good band. I think they would absolutely slay live.

WORM MANTLE - Worm Mantle. I raved about this early in the year then left it alone for a long time. On re-listening, yep, I still love it. Lots of metal and a good deal of atmospherics - all guitar I think and no synths to whinge about.

 

NON-METAL

AKKU QUINTET - Live.Jazz so chill and groovy that there ought to be a law against it.

BITCHIN BAJAS - Bajascillators. Radiant ambient/electronic/jazz. Check out the cover art. The music is just like the art.

BORIS - W. Boris albums are so diverse that you can’t really say you do or don’t like the band. This is an electronic art rock/pop album. Noice.

ELDER - Innate Passage. So musical, so engaging.

loscil - The Sails Pt. 2. Radiant beauty as all his albums.

Nils FRAHM - Music for Animals. Saw him live in 2022 and now I get him. Lovely and interesting electronics.

Valentina GONCHAROVA - Ocean - Symphony for Electric Violin and other instruments. This is one for the ‘modern classical’ lovers I guess, but it’s also noisy and annoying.

ŠIROM - The Liquified Throne of Simplicity. Long instrumental tracks of alternative folk/ambient with all sorts of weird instruments. Really very engaging.

SPOOK- Spook. Chill.

Midori TAKADA - You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana. Chanting, percussion and I think electronics. Ethereal and beautiful.

 

COLLECTIONS

ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO - The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Associated Ensembles (on ECM). As I wrote in the jazz thread, this anthology contains the essence of all of jazz and of life.

Olivier MESSIAEN - 100th Anniversary Box Set. So much Messiaen, so little time. I wish I had written this music, but I’m not a French, Catholic mystic organ virtuoso.

Steve TIBBETTS - Hellhound Train: An Anthology. Jazz/rock/ambient, whatever. This is really entertaining.

Anton WEBERN - Complete Works. Essential listening for the ‘modern classical’ lover and I’m glad I have this to listen to whenever I feel like it. I wish he had lived longer and widened his palette.

Thank you for your service mate. I remember the year your list had 3 albums on it. And I remember thinking "Fuck you Doc" but I'm now prepared to take that back. Haven't heard much on your list here besides Wiegedood and Pharmacist, (both of which I bought, but neither of which will make the final grade for my list) and maybe just 5 or 10 minutes of Drudkh. But it does remind me I've been meaning to check out that new Desolate Shrine. And maybe that Osserp too. I have also enjoyed Ultha in the past so maybe I'll check out their new one as well. Cheers! 🍻

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For anyone who missed my write ups on 2022 releases in the "What are you listening to?" thread this was my top 9:

9 - "Kruller" by Author & Punisher

8 - "Acts of God" by Immolation

7 - "The God Machine" by Blind Guardian

6 - "Pain Is Forever and This is the End" by Mantar

5 - "There's Always Blood and the End of the Road" by Wiegedood

4 - "The Death of Piece of Mind" by Bad Omens

3 - "Gnosis" by Russian Circles

2 - "Mirage" by Gaerea

1 - "Close" by Messa

Close But No Cigar list:

Tribal Gaze "The Nine Choirs"

Thornhill "Heroine"

Critical Defiance "No Life Forms"

Inanna "Void of Unending Depths"

Autonoesis "Moon of Foul Magics"

Looney Tunes Thats All Folks GIF - Looney Tunes Thats All Folks The End -  Discover & Share GIFs

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56 minutes ago, SurgicalBrute said:

*List subject to change depending on the day of the week

 

As predicted I have the most overlap with Surge's list, but our lists are hardly mirror images of each other. I see 10 or 12 of his 35 titles that I at least have under consideration for my list. Blood Chalice, Serpentfyre and Wampyrinacht are locks. New York's Fellwinter would've probably been a lock as well (I liked it more than Gauntlet Ring) except that it seems to be cassette only with no digital option so fuck those guys, that keeps them off my list.

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Since I was writing a rare facebook post, may as well copy over what amounts to faves of 2022. I likely forgot several, but here goes....

Volume III: Satan In His Original Glory | The Antichrist Imperium | Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings (bandcamp.com)

Far and away the album I've enjoyed most this year. The ANTICHRIST IMPERIUM is an Akercocke side project and if you can't get new 'cocke, this is the next best thing.

It's Time...To Rise From the Grave | Undeath (bandcamp.com)

Undeath seem to be this year's death metal darlings. Its meat and potatoes and from the first riffs you'll be thinking "oh, that sounds like Cannibal Corpse" but it is still good though. Solid and enjoyable all the way through.

Regenerator | King Buffalo (bandcamp.com)

King Buffalo were on my list last year and they're already back with another. The quality doesn't let up even if its not ground breaking. I noted they are at Desertfest London this year with INTER ARMA. So will be going to that.

From the Fathomless Deep | Behold! The Monolith | Ripple Music (bandcamp.com)

Behold! The Monolith was an interesting find because I thought it sounded spookily similar to something I was working on. Anyway, it is what I'd describe as "organic death" in sound, Lovecraft in theme. Can't lose with that combination.

Heavy Pendulum | Cave In (bandcamp.com)

I'd never heard Cave In before, despite their pedigree. They've produced a solid high performance rock album. A good one for the car stereo!

The Long Road North | Cult of Luna (bandcamp.com)

Totally reliable. I enjoyed A Dawn to Fear a bit better, but can't fault it.

Acts Of God | Immolation (bandcamp.com)

Highly enjoyable. Such a consistent veteran band.

Where Myth Becomes Memory | Rolo Tomassi (bandcamp.com)

The only female fronted band on this list. Just unfortunate that less estrogen has filtered through this year, although I will be picking up The Harvest | MWWB | Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (bandcamp.com) this Friday, which is worthy of being on the list even if I didn't hear it properly until yesterday.

Succumb to Rot | Corpsessed | Dark Descent Records (bandcamp.com)

Not breaking any records or moulds, but solid and I keep coming back to it.

Unmaker | LLNN (bandcamp.com)

I saw LLNN open for The Ocean a few months back, and they were the better band on the night if for no other reason than they use proper valve amps moving air on stage, as opposed to sterile DI. Just so much more powerful in a live environment.

There might have been a few bands not on bandcamp that I listened to this year but the only one I can think of is Clutch. For some unfathomable reason, despite being the epitome of DIY and owning their own record label, they do not make at least a digital download available through BC. Weird.

As a result, while I did buy the download direct from them at Weathermaker, it is a FLAC that obviously does not play through bandcamp so I forget to listen to it. 

Even IMPERA | Ghost (bandcamp.com) is available through BC. I suppose that could make the list because I did listen to it a number of times. I just don't think it's that good. Meliora remains the pinnacle of Ghost and if the next album doesn't start climbing toward that then I won't bother again.

EDIT: I forgot Bloodbath.

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      3/5
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    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/52-vltimas-something-wicked-marches-in/
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    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/48-candlemass-the-door-to-doom/
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    • Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
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