Top 20 of 2010

Well after much delay, I release my year end list here. I have to tell ya, even though there really wasn't one standout, better than the rest album this year there were a lot of really god damn awesome albums this year and boy was it hard to choose which was best, but here they are.

20. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis --  There was a lot of hype leading up to this album's release this year and boy did it deliver. There was just a great flow listening to this album throughout and that's something  I think their 2007 release of Ire Works lacked.

19. Woe - Unquietly, Undramatically --  An artistic and stimulating black metal album, very interested in seeing where Chris Griggs goes next with this project.

18. Nachtmystium - Addicts: Black Meddle Part 2 --   After 2008's release of Assassins we were all interested in where Blake Judd would take Nachtmystium next. Well he took it beyond what we thought into what he calls Disco Metal. What works best on this album is the stuff that is non-traditional BM and can't wait to see where he takes it next.

17. East of the Wall - Ressentiment --  Musically this is high grade musicianship. Singing wise I almost could do without the heavy vocals, but everything in this album is so good that it is really, really easy to overlook it.

16. No Hawaii - Snake My Charms -- Album starts out making you think uh oh, NeurIsis again. Nope, I like to describe No Hawaii like a donut. A Neurosis chocolate donut, with a Poison the Well custard filling, Mastodon vanilla frosting, and Botch sprinkles. A delicious combination.

15. Torche - Songs for Singles -- Steve Brooks writes some of the most catchiest riffs today. On this album they took part of what made "Meanderthal" so successful and then added some more sludgier songs too. They really coincide together on this album really well.

14. Thou - Summit --  Lots of detail to pay attention to when listening I like to compare it to a Quentin Tarantino movie. You really have to pay attention to what's going on, so if you walk away from it for 10 seconds you're going to miss something important and each and every time you watch it there is something new to find in it.

13. The Austerity Progam - Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn --  A very original and interesting album created by Justin Foley. The best part of this here album is the lyrics that Foley comes up with. They are outstanding and they get stuck in your head. 

12. Salome - Terminal  --  You MUST see Salome live to get the best effect of what they are about. A great album to listen to but their live show is phenomenal.

11. Castevet - Mounds of Ash --  Delicious drumming is the mold that keeps these guys running at a high MPH. A quite different take on American Black Metal as you don't get that depressing mood from it, but rather feel rather high on life whilst listening.

10. Ghost - Opus Eponymous --  Mercyful Fate? Nope, these anonymous dudes sure took a lot of their stuff out of their playbook and boy did they deliver.

9. Black Breath - Heavy Breathing --  Fast-paced with tons of energy, great riffs, love the voice. One of the best headbangers of 2010.

8. Kvelertak - S/T --  Best party album to come out since Andrew W.K. came out with "I Get Wet". I may not be able to understand what the lyrics are since it is spoke in their native tongue, but I won't be damned if it's not fun to get drunk to.

7. Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini --  Every time Enslaved puts out a new album, I am impressed. Every time I wait to get disappointed and realize that they just don't have "it" anymore and every time they prove me wrong. Album after album, song after song, riff after riff these guys prove to everyone that they are like fine wine. To get better with age and progress as a band as well as they do is just miraculous to me.

6. Intronaut - Valley of Smoke --  These guys sure know how to play their instruments and they are some of the best at writing actual songs. With "Valley of Smoke" these guys take you on an acid-tripped journey through the city of Los Angeles.

5. Yakuza - Of Seismic Consequence -- Bruce Lamont is one hell of a vocalist and musician. The way that he goes from singing to picking up the saxophone and laying down some beautiful music is exceptional.

4. Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones --  Thomas Fischer is one hell of an artist and great musical mind. This, basicially being a Celtic Frost album without the rest of Celtic Frost, is one heavy and thick album. That guitar tone that Fischer uses is one of the all-time best. Period. "Goetia" and "A Thousand Lies" are a couple of the best tracks released this year and the rest of this album doesn't disappoint.

3. Electric Wizard - Black Masses -- This may be a little higher than it should have been, but you know what I have a raging hard-on for anything Electric Wizard puts out. Time and Time again they seem to amaze me with whatever they release. I do have a good reason for putting them this high though and here it is, when you listen to an album and then go off to work and you constantly have those riffs in your head, its a pretty god damn awesome album. If you are listening to another album and one of those riffs or songs gets stuck in your head and you have to put that album in again, its pretty god damn awesome. This album has basically been on repeat in my car for the last two months and I can't help it and I don't have one problem with that.

2. Integrity - The Blackest Curse -- After disappearing off the map for a while these guys are back and  holy shit did they bring their A-game. In their best effort since "Seasons in the Size of Days" they bless us with ""The Blackest Curse". Fast-paced, full of life, full of rage, and quite possible full of shit they really pounded out some great tracks. "Through the Shadows of Forever", "Learn to Love the Lie", and "Process of Illumination" all have that classic Integrity sound, but its their other tracks that mix it up is what really gives this album its cojones. "When the VVorld VVas Young" is quite the slow jam for them and they pull it off well and "Spiderwoven" is really thrashy for these guys.

1. Nails - Unsilent Death -- Pure. Fucking. Energy. That would be the best way to describe this album. In only 14 minutes these guys manage to kick your ass through music. With Kurt Ballou turning the knobs on this one you kind of get a Converge moment on their closing song, and my song of the year, Depths and that is not a bad thing. Aside from Depths, the rest of the albums is unrelenting even though the songs aren't long. These guys are basically a straight to the fucking point band and for that you get album of the year.



Honorable Mentions:
Hayaino Dausuki - The Invisible Gate Mind of the Infernal Fire Hell, Or Do You Mean Hawaii Daisuki?
Starkweather - This Sheltering Night
Coffinworm - When All Became None
Landmine Marathon - Sovereign Descent