Top 10 Metal Albums of 2016

[no country for old wainds]

8) The Violent Sleep of Reason by Meshuggah
If you only knew how your way of life sustains me...

"New Meshuggah is great, definitely does some new things for them, but a lot of people here won't recognize that because a couple of trend-setters here once criticized them for being too "negro"." - HamburgerBoy

Chosen by:
EspaDa
The Ozzman
HamburgerBoy
Qth

 

[no country for old wainds]

7) Arctic Thunder by Darkthrone
Once again roaming those plains of mine...

"If a person has not liked their work between the The Cult Is Alive and now, then it's a bit unrealistic for those people to expect to hear something that takes a big step away from that sound. This album has a great deal in common with more mid-era stuff like Ravishing Grimness or Sardonic Wrath as well as their later era stuff (just cut way down on the more upbeat punkier black/thrash feel). It's not earthshattering or brilliant, but so far after a day of listening I enjoyed it. I neither would say that it's somehow undignified. I guess to me as long as the band isn't just pandering to expectations and is out to do what they love to do, then there's nothing undignified about it. And that's the thing as well, Darkthrone music no matter the sub-genre, influences, or quality has always been a reflection of where Fenriz and Nocturno have been in life. From interviews and some comments made in the booklet, this at least seems a continuation of that trend. I think they should be respected for that even if a person doesn't particularly care for their recent output." - Norrmania, Metal Archives

Chosen by:
Krow
dwellerINTHEdark
CASSETTEISGOD
HamburgerBoy
EspaDa

 

[no country for old wainds]

6) Sumerlands by Sumerlands
A great stampede to crush the bones of all the fallen...

"The riffs from guitar duo Arthur Rizk and John Powers chug and gallop along with glee; a blend of old Sabbath's big, fat distorted blues and old Priest's exciting, propulsive hard rock theatrics. The production really accentuates this, as it is gloriously warm, full and retro sounding. The songwriting is short and to the point, and the songs all between three and four minutes, and they're intense and kinetic enough that they start to remind of Mercyful Fate when they pick up speed. Swanson's occasional King Diamond-esque shrieks don't hurt that comparison at all, either. Swanson, by the way, sounds excellent on here – maybe better than he ever has. His deep, nasal whine has always fit over music about demons and sorcery and ancient times, and this is no different. He works like a charm with this material." - Empyreal, Metal Archives

Chosen by:
Master_Yoda77
Krow
Talos of Atmora
Elric of Melniboné

 

[no country for old wainds]

heading to work shortly so the top five will be posted later!

 

[The Ozzman]

lol at the HBB quote on the Meshuggah

 

[Master_Yoda77]

10) Church of Misery - And Then There Were None...
9) Blizaro - Cornucopia Della Morte
8) Wretch - Wretch
7) Angel Sword - Rebels Beyond the Pale
6) R.I.P. - In the Wind
5) Eternal Champion - The Armor of Ire
4) High Spirits - Motivator
3) Tarot - Reflections
2) Sumerlands - Sumerlands
1) Wytch Hazel - Prelude

 

[no country for old wainds]

that was p much the exact list i used from the other thread iirc

 

[no country for old wainds]

5) Wildfire by Destroyer 666
And every time I kill, I get a strange thrill...

"Filth hounds and BM dorks had to look elsewhere, for this ludicrous genresplicing concoction was pure heavy metal porn at heart, shallow as hell but intentionally and flamboyantly so, a runaway train of stirring melody and righteous riffage." - some cunt on RYM

Chosen by:
Krow
H.P. Lovecraft
zerostatic
Elric of Melniboné
no country for old wainds
EspaDa
AlienZombie

 

[no country for old wainds]

4) Starspawn by Blood Incantation
Cosmic seas of fire traverse the void of space...

"Psychedelic, lurching death metal with the atmosphere of "Gateways to Annihilation" and the precision of "Here in After". There are tons of thrashy moments with wailing noise guitar solos and booming tribal drums over angular riffs that surprise and entertain my ears throughout. It feels like what Gorguts tried to do in the early 00's minus the groove-shuggah riffs and such. The long, structured songs and spacious production creates an atmospheric but urgent death metal record full of ominous Mithras-ish space tones and chaotic builds (minus the triggered drums, thankfully). An excellent album from start to finish. Liquid outer space death metal." - terraasymmetry, RYM

Chosen by:
Slayed Necros
EspaDa
Dazed and Brutal
Jimmy... Dead.
Talos of Atmora
The Ozzman
paul545
dwellerINTHEdark
CASSETTEISGOD

 

[no country for old wainds]

3) Terminal Redux by Vektor
Blasting forward through a filamentous sky...

"The last two tracks of the new Vektor are really like one big 17 minute plus extreme progressive metal masterpiece. The rest of the album seems somewhat disjointed on the first three listens. I'll give them another couple listens before passing judgement however, progressive music takes some time to digest. I've been playing tracks 9 and 10 on repeat during my commute though. Amazing music. The transition between them is seamless." - Baroque

Chosen by:
Baroque
Nuno Patrao
Dazed and Brutal
zerostatic
Talos of Atmora
Sirjack
Elric of Melniboné
HamburgerBoy
Draehl
EspaDa

 

[no country for old wainds]

2) Dystopia by Megadeth
You must destroy the cancer at its root...

"In contrast to Megadeth's last exemplary offering Endgame, this album comes closer to matching the compact yet elaborate and hard-hitting character of the old days, often echoing some of the old classics through a darker medium. Perhaps the most overt examples of this trend towards revisiting the past with an eye to the future is the title song "Dystopia", which sounds pretty close to an unofficial third installment of "Hanger 18" with Kiko perfectly impersonating the blinding stream of notes approach of Marty Friedman, and "Post American World" which has a fairly similar character to that of "Symphony Of Destruction" mixed with a bit of "Trust" at times, though at times faster and more agitated sounding. In fact, the overall trading of leads throughout this album between Dave and Kiko is probably the most successful recreation of the old Dave and Marty trade-offs that occurred during Megadeth's early 90s era." - hells_unicorn, Metal Archives

Chosen by:
Baroque
Systematic Riffage
Nuno Patrao
H.P. Lovecraft
Qth
The Ozzman
paul545

 

[no country for old wainds]

1) The Armor of Ire by Eternal Champion
Seven times seven, the Grey Lord will return...

"Man, I would not wish to meet this bunch of barbarian bushwhackers. Luckily, the band’s bellicose tendencies are balanced with a narrative flair. The lyrics tell tales of the Eternal Champion (duh!), a fictional character created by English fantasy and science fiction writer Michael Moorcock. In a “multiverse” torn apart by the perennial struggle between the forces of Law and Chaos, our hero is destined to fight for Cosmic Balance. He is often a reluctant leader, however, not always conscious of his higher calling. If you are now thinking about Hegel’s “irony of history”, you are too much a nerd, so the Eternal Champion may arrive and kick you in the face." - past_prologue, Metal Archives

Chosen by:
Master_Yoda77
Krow
Talos of Atmora
Elric of Melniboné
paul545
CASSETTEISGOD
H.P. Lovecraft

 

[Talos of Atmora]

@no country for old wainds

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Megadeth at 2? Jesus Christ. Good list otherwise though.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Great job with the presentation @no country for old wainds . Definitely need to check out the Blood Incantation based on the description. It looks like a few of these are pure name recognition (Megadeth).

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Megadeth at 2? Jesus Christ. Good list otherwise though.

pure name recognition (Megadeth).

@Master_Yoda77 oh yeah, because some 3rd rate Incantation knock off band or average ho-hum doom album who only fanbase is like 4-45 people form these forums are more deserving of the #2 spoot than one of the best comeback albums in years, amirite? Retards commenting on albums that they have almost surely have not even listened to, ugh.

And as far as "pure name recognition" goes, almost every single person that voted for that album will also tell you how much of a steaming pile of shit their previous album was.

 

[CiG]

3rd rate Incantation knock off

If Blood Incantation are third rate (I assume that's who you meant), first rate must be literally God-like.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

why in the world would you assume that? I've never even heard of that band. This place has a few people hwo basically circle-jerk each other to every Incantation style knock off band you can think of. Its been like that ever since ive been here(as far as that select group of people goes).

@crimsonfloyd More people here hate on bands like Megadeth due to "name recognition", not the other way around.

 

[Phylactery]

Sad to see Panphage not make it. I've not listened to too much this year, but that album is great.

Can't wait for you to do an older year so then I can actually post a list. Any ideas what year you will do first?

 

[HamburgerBoy]

That Blood Incantation album is pretty much garbage. Death metal for atmoshitters that liked 90s Death in their teens.