2016 Metal Releases

Mini-Reviews to Keep Track of New Metal Releases or Stuff Come Across in 2016

[2016shreds]

I’m not sure I have many active followers on this page, but if anyone wants to keep going, I’ve migrated to 2017shreds.tumblr.com

[2016shreds]

84) Ulcerate - Shrines of Paralysis

Best live show I saw all year. This doesn’t make any super substantial strides over Vermis but still has vibe, riffs, and (esp) drumming to spare.

[2016shreds]

83) Urfaust - Empty Space Meditation

Good atmoblack. Not Midnight Odyssey good but good.

[2016shreds]

82) Martröð - Transmutation of Wounds (EP)

Solid eerie noise-black metal for fans of Deathspell.

[2016shreds]

81) Vermin Womb - Decline

Just spent the last thirty mins getting the shit kicked out of me by this. Maybe the best death metal album of the year.

[2016shreds]

80) Dead Congregation - Sombre Doom

Awesome, multi-faceted death metal release. They can go fast, they can go slow, they can mid-pace. It’s nothing groundbreaking but really well put together.

[2016shreds]

79) Mithras - On Strange Loops

I wasn’t taken with any of the prerelease singles, but they function much better as parts of the whole here. At once Mithras’ most accessible and also, contradictorily(?), its most technical. But the formula is largely unchanged: hooky riffs with lots of delay-drenched guitar work. I think they’ve finally shed the Morbid Angel worship and are now on fully independent footing.

But I still wish they’d make an entire album of songs inspired by “Sloping Altars”

[2016shreds]

78) Black Citadel - Ancestral Shadows

Excellent, atmospheric lo-fi black metal that’s raw and kvlt enough but expansive and musically varied (with some smart use of syncopation from time to time).

[2016shreds]

77) Antaeus - Condemnation

This album will blast teh shit outta you!

[2016shreds]

76) Deathspell Omega - The Synarchy of Molten Bones (EP)

This surprise release from everyone’s fav dissonant black metal band continues on pace for the genre, but with DsO’s typical expertise in arrangement, pacing, and diversity between parts. I was done with it by track 4, but was surely impressed for tracks 1 and 2.

[2016shreds]

75) Iconoclasm - Out for Blood (EP)

Fast, riffy crossover thrash that doesn’t feel retro or like an exercise. Thank the maker!

[2016shreds]

74) Wode - Self-titled

There’s an interesting sub-genre of black metal that doesn’t push experimentation but instead crystallizes certain sonic trends in the genre toward a listener-friendly series of catchy riffs and bits. I don’t get the full meal from this album, but it’s always fun and enjoyable to throw on, which is certainly something I can’t say for most atmo or raw black metal releases.

[2016shreds]

73) Gatecreeper - Sonoran Depravation

I love all the death metal parts and can tolerate the chuggy tough-guy hardcore touches here and there. So a winner, in other words.

[2016shreds]

72) Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep of Reason

I’ve finally hit the point with this band where ceaseless repetition (since Chaosphere really, with a breath for air with I/Catch-33) has killed my interest. I’ve got a half dozen albums of chug riffs and Holdsworth-inspired leads.

In general, your time would be better spent re-listening to Contradictions Collapse.

[2016shreds]

71) Oathbreaker - Rheia

Another hodgepodge of black metal, post-rock, and post-hardcore, but this time with a smart sense of atmosphere and a singer who sometimes sounds like she should be in Cranes or something. 

[2016shreds]

70) Grave Miasma - Endless Pilgrimage 

Really solid death metal release that, like many of this year’s releases, can’t even sustain the 30 mins of the EP. Everything is good but there’s no variation or nuancing, just start ahead pounding bass/snare and decent same-y riffs.

[2016shreds]

69) Mare Cognitum/Aureole - Resonance: Crimson Void (split)

The Janus head of USBM. Mare Cognitum with the black metal tremolo riffing, melodic end of the spectrum. Vaguely atmo-black but with riffs and variation, meaning that it’s fairly soft, aimless but not terribly atmospheric music.

Then with Aureole, you get the creative use of dissonance, melodic breaks, strange song structures, some blasts, a lot of good stuff.