As usual, this list goes to 11.
11. Brutus - Burst
As is tradition, my #11 slot goes to a metal-adjacent album that grabbed me, and this year that would be the female-fronted Belgian post-hardcore band Brutus, with their infectiously raw debut album. Equal parts catchy, energetic, and dreamy, this record has me excited not only about the future of this band, but of the future of post-hardcore in general.
10. Incantation - Profane Nexus
The death metal legends are back with one of their strongest albums in years, the perfect combination of death/doom, full of crushing riffs, inhuman growls, and unholy filth. This record wallops you over the head and doesn’t let up.
9. Psudoku - Deep Space Psudokument
Of course, everyone’s (my) favorite space-y jazzsurfgrind band from the future was bound to make my list, back again with another truly insane mix of every genre you can think of and several you can’t. Frenetic and unrelenting, this album is worth unpacking.
8. Pallbearer - Heartless
Further honing their impeccable doom / hard rock / trad craft, the Arkansas quartet has delivered another classic that sees them expanding their instantly recognizable palette of soaring riffs, sludgy production, and primal feelings. Adding more synths to entice me even more just seems unfair at this point.
7. Mutoid Man - War Moans
Sometimes I just want a fun metal record, something upbeat and catchy with a snarling grin. This record, with its clean vocals, quick tempos, and kickass attitude, provides that in spades. I don’t really know how to skateboard (the closest I’ve come is when TWG kept one in our apartment in college, and we’d slowly roll around our urban loft’s cement style floors), but when I listen to this, it makes me want to learn.
6. Slagmaur - Thill Smitts Terror
Okay, so imagine if Blut Aus Nord wrote songs about Grimm’s fairy tales, or if Alice In Wonderland were about a trip to Hell’s blacksmith. Fully embracing the theatricality and performativity of the best black metal, this record is equal parts terrifying and entrancing. The production and tone is gorgeously, enormously infernal, like Phil Spector’s Wall Of Satan.
5. Wolves In The Throne Room - Thrice Woven
A return to form after a perhaps ill-advised sojourn into electronics, this record proves that the classic purveyors of “no, black metal can be pretty, too” can still make eerie, beautiful cultish music of dark forests with the best of them. The synths are much better incorporated here, and the songs burn with a ferocity that’s nice to see. For anyone in need of a soundtrack to some sort of pagan effigy burning, look no further.
4. Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper
This introspective, meditative, incredibly moving record, consisting of one 83-minute track, is more than just one of the best metal albums of the year; it’s a testament to the immense power of grief and loss. Former Bell Witch drummer and founding member Adrian Guerra died during the writing process on Mirror Reaper, and there’s a moment about halfway through where Guerra’s vocals from a previous album’s sessions appear, resulting in a powerful moment of grief, but also hope.
3. Krallice - Loüm / Go Be Forgotten
Krallice is truly on a hot streak as of late, releasing these two incredible records (and a third excellent one, Prelapsarian, in late 2016) in one calendar year. Endlessly inventive in exploring the limits and pushing the boundaries of extreme music, it certainly seems like Krallice can do no wrong right now. Loüm, released in October, features Neurosis bassist Dave Edwardson on lead vocals, and it’s perhaps the more chaotic and dynamic of the two. Go Be Forgotten, on the other hand, feels more icily propulsive, with its heavier emphasis on synths and a tighter focus overall. Releasing these two on a typical schedule would be impressive, but both in one year is unreal.
2. Power Trip - Nightmare Logic
The finest purveyors of throwback thrash revival, the Texas crossover group put out another classic full of speed, drive, and power (lol get it???). I honestly feel like this album could stand up to anything from the Big Four; its combination of catchiness, headbangability, and pure, raw attitude will have me listening for a long, long time.
1. Elder - Reflections of a Floating World
Sometimes you find a band that feels specifically designed in a lab to appeal exactly to your sensibilities. For me, Elder is one of those bands. The Boston trio explore stoner/doom heavily tinged with prog and hard rock. It’s clean singing, plenty of mellotron, and riffs for days. The songs are long and complex, but the album doesn’t really engage in typical 70s prog pompousness (not that I mind that—see: my endless collection of Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, etc.). Instead, it ebbs and flows naturally and dynamically, engaging in aural worldbuilding that evokes imaginary landscapes befitting the sublime album artwork. Elder captured my #1 metal spot two years ago with 2015′s Lore, and here they are again. Watch out folks, we’ve got a dynasty on our hands.
