A heaping helping of awesome records were released this year and because I write for almost as many press outlets (OK, not quite…), I ended up offering a metric pant-load of my thoughts and opinions to saps and suckers all around the world over the course of the past 365 days. I’m not really feeling the need to devise a whole host of new reasons as to why these fifteen albums made my personal cut of favourites, so I’m gonna do the lazy thing and quote myself.
15. Feral Where Dead Dreams Dwell
“…there is a metric shit-ton of NWOSDM coming from all corners of the globe these days, but there’s still something special about motherlanders doing it and doing it well, complete with the appropriate buzzsaw guitars, punky drums, bleak melodies and thick, banging (almost danceable) grooves…” (Terrorizer #261)
14. Enabler Fail to Feel Safe
“…where Enabler demonstrate an aptitude is in how they’re able to make these movements and include these disparate additions, making them seem so seamless, with an impeccable flow while still retaining all the power and crunch that gets fat dudes colliding their shirtless jelly bellies in mosh pits everywhere. Praise be to those bands that can their keep fingers dipped in their roots while incorporating new ideas and still sounding like their roots remain of vital importance to them. Praise be to Fail to Feel Safe…” (puregrainaudio.com, 7/27/15)
13. Torche Restarter
“…as likely as they are to be crushing tibias and putting hair on the chests of super models with monolithic sludgy doom and their should-be-patented bomb-string tuning, the quartet can be found pouring sugar on a Black Sabbath-owned confection warehouse with the result being some seriously trigger-happy pop metal…” (Outburn #77)
12. Napalm Death Apex Predator – Easy Meat
“…it’s not supposed to be this way. As people get older, conventional wisdom and societal railroading dictates we’re all supposed to gradually get more conservative with our views, mellow out our attitudes as we settle into a cushy life of non-confrontation and – god forbid you’re still playing in a band – velvety-smooth rock of the ‘classic’ and ‘yacht’ variety. Well, let’s impart an uproarious round of applause upon Napalm Death for not only swinging the political pendulum further to the left on album number fifteen, but also for their transgressive force fucking of post-punk, industrial, drone and noise rock into the usually unwelcoming arms of death-infused grindcore. (Terrorizer #266)
11. Pyogenesis A Century in the Curse of Time
I direct you to my review elsewhere on this site already detailing my thoughts on this release.
10. Vattnet Viskar Settler
I direct you to my review elsewhere on this site already detailing my thoughts on this release.
9. Ironsword None But the Brave
…waves were made amongst those segments of metal fans who love their metal strong as steel with an undying allegiance to the 80s and fantastical locales where every dude has washboard abs, 24-inch pythons and a deer skin loincloth; where no woman suffers from back and/or shoulder pain despite sporting a micro-waisted, pneumatically-breasted hourglass figure, and cleaning the blood of one’s enemies off swords and spears is considered housekeeping…” (Iron Fist #15)
8. Killing Joke Pylon
“…not only does the diversity of his attack make Pylon a tremendously epic sounding album, but Coleman’s excellent vocal phrasing, along with the dynamic transitions into infectious sing-a-long choruses make this an album that will worm its way into the listener’s head. And because EVERY SINGLE FUCKING SONG here possesses an award-winning refrain, this will be a collection of tracks that both the suspecting and unsuspecting will be able to embrace…” (puregrainaudio.com 10/13/15)
7. Lightning Bolt Phantom Empire
“…if history sees all of the above as beginning of the end of Lightning Bolt, then so be it. But judging by the vitality and purpose pumped into the band and Fantasy Empire, we don’t think that’ll be the case…” (Terrorizer #258)
6. Envy Atheist's Cornea
“…what initially stands out are the spots where the veteran Tokyo quintet flirt with an aggression not unlike its early, straight-up hardcore days. There are still plenty of elegiac melodies, dramatically morose native tongue poetry and swaths of 90s screamo, but they’re tempered by the furious fire of ‘Blue Moonlight’ and ‘Two Isolated Souls.’ Also, at 43 minutes, Atheist's Cornea is the shortest of the Envy discography, which has already taken those who love their long-form cinematic builds, dramatic layers and expansive dynamics aback…” (Decibel #131)
5. Hate Eternal Infernus
“…talk about throwing down the gauntlet: the best producer in death metal ups the ante to helm one of the most powerfully adventurous and adventurously powerful (read: best) albums of the genre’s recent history…” (Metal Hammer #277)
4. Christian Mistress To Your Death
I direct you to my review elsewhere on this site already detailing my thoughts on this release
3. Beaten to Death Unplugged
“…when you forge a path that has people taking strong stances for or against your creative output, you know what you’re doing is making an impact. In the case of Norway’s Beaten to Death, we’re on their side. Their sense of humour and playfulness, along with their deliberate willingness to rewrite grindcore’s rules is something we can’t get enough of…” (Terrorizer #264)
2. Vhol Deeper Than Sky
“…that mission was firmly accomplished with the skittering intensity, ragged orchestration and soaring uniqueness of their self-titled debut which shone bright lights of excitement into the metal underground’s moldy corners. Deeper Than Sky unfolds the blueprint ever further with direct and indirect homages to Metallica, punk pianist DJ Lebowitz and full-on hardcore contributing ingredients to their singular sounding mix….” (Decibel #133)
1. Satan Atom By Atom
“…we’re sure we can count many of our readership’s greybeard contingent as fans going back to the days of their 1983 debut, Court in the Act. There are probably just as many, if not more, members of younger generations who’ve discovered the band via the magic clicks of the internet. And we can say we were definitely impressed when we’ve witnessed them live over the past year or so, but this latest album blows any and all expectation out of the water…” (Terrorizer #265)
