Top 10 Metal Albums of 2016

[Talos of Atmora]

I'm not familiar with that, will look it up.

You should. Dan Swano's name is on it therefore you should look it up. That's how this works.

 

[Draehl]

Edit: I lied. Gave Uada another spin. A good album for sure, but not top 10.

This was by far the year I've stayed most current in (ever) and I have a little more variety than past years. Still, I pretty clearly show my sub-genre biases so this is in practice a list of the year's strong atmospheric/melodic BM releases with a splash of other stuff. In 2017 I'm going to try to delve into Stoner/Sludge, Dungeonsynth and Neofolk more as they're all genres I enjoy greatly but admit my exposure is lacking.

Top 10

Cobalt - Slow Forever
Fyrnask - Fórn
Hyperion - Seraphical Euphony
Kvalvaag - Malum (bizarre symph-ish BM, check it out!)
Mare Cognitum - Luminiferous Aether
Moonsorrow - Jumalten Aika
Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä
Sunnata - Zorya
Urfaust - Empty Space Meditation
Vektor - Terminal Redux

Honorable Mentions (tags for less known stuff)

Ash Borer
Astral Path (atmo/ambient BM)
Cult of Luna/Julie Christmas
Desaster (BM/Thrash)
Destroyer 666
Eternal Champion
Frozen Forest (BM, more harsh/lo-fi than my standard)
Forteresse
Forndom (neofolk)
Galdur (dungeonsynth)
Grand Magus
Latitudes
Sig:ar:tyr
Spaceslug (stoner/psych)
Uada
Wardruna (neofolk)
Witherscape
Yith (black/doom)

Letdowns

Bolzer - I dig the title track but compared to the last two EPs...
Opeth - Meh. The worst since Watershed.
Saor - It just felt less than inspired, if not forced.
Zaum - Way too ambient compared to the GODLY 'Oracles' prior. Good background music maybe.
Zhrine - It loses its effect greatly with more listens, but I was in love on the first listen.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

Moonsorrow - Jumalten Aika
Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä

Both of these are in my honorable mentions.

Letdowns

Bolzer, Opeth, Saor, Zaum, Zhrine

Fucking hell, no kidding. Especially with prog metal like Terminal Redux and The Northern Sanctuary having come out this year. Sorceress, especially, was an absolute bore. This is coming from the same band that released Still Life, Ghost Reveries, Blackwater Park, Morningrise, Deliverance, Damnation (which was pure prog rock but actually had great songwriting and sound unlike Sorceress), etc.

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

Haven't heard the new Bel'akor yet, thanks for reminding me to check it out

This is a very good record. These guys continue to improve with each release. Vessels has the best guitar riff of the year @ 4:36(ish) in "The smoke of many fires." I still think Stones Reach is their best though.

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

Letdowns



Saor - It just felt less than inspired, if not forced.

I actually agree. I don't see the appeal of this record really. Grainy, thin production and the melodies are decent at best. Not really impressed but need to listen more. Perhaps with headphones.

 

[The Ozzman]

I'm finished early. No way I have the patience to comb through the 43 regular full lengths I bought in time for end of month.

Here is the Top 10 of what I got completed. Some of these were going to end up on my Top 10 after hearing them initially.

In no particular order:

Megadeth - Dystopia
Devin Townsend Project - Transcendence
Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep of Reason
Opeth - Sorceress
Inhereit Disease - Ephemeral
Metal Church - XI
Revocation - Great Is Our Sin
Defeated Sanity - Disposal of the Dead/Dharmata
Blood Incantation - Starspawn
Abnormality - Mechanisms of Omniscience

Honorable Mentions:
Warfather - The Grey Eminence (Huge improvement over the debut. Sounds like Tucker-era MA...I wonder why?)
Anthrax - For All Kings
Serpentine Dominion - S/T
Striker - Stand in the Fire

Disappointments:
Brutality - Sea of Ignorance (really guys? This is some of the blandest shit and unexpected considering how solid your past material is)
Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts (after how strong DEK was, this was a step backward. Probably as bad as NITND.)
Abbath - S/T (Go back to Immortal)
Zakk Wylde - Book of Shadows II (Boring af considering the first Book of Shadows is phenomenal)

Best local album:
Stagecoach Inferno - A Town Called Atonement (wild west themed trad. Check it out on Spotify.)

 

[nizzon]

What did you think of The Northern Sanctuary?

I think Its an OK album. Nothing like Moontower or EoS but..

 

[infrablack]

Top 10

1. Mutant - Pleiades
2. Substratum - s/t
3. Bewitcher - s/t
4. Nukem - The Unholy Trinity
5. Existance - Breaking The Rock
6. Anger As Art - Ad Mortem Festinamus
7. Flotsam & Jetsam - s/t
8. Sanktuary - Winter's Doom
9. Exumer - The Raging Tides
10. Olyphant - Expedition To The Barrier Peaks

Letdowns

Metal Church
Kryptos

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

How is the new Meshuggah? Although im not really a fan, I thought Koloss was a pretty solid outing from them.

 

[EspaDa]

How is the new Meshuggah? Although im not really a fan, I thought Koloss was a pretty solid outing from them.

It's definitely their best album in the entire career. Fucking mindblowing, I was so fucking blown away after listening to it for the first time. It doesn't get better than that.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

.... nice, looking forward to hearing it.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Not sure if I'd say its the absolute best album of their career this soon but it really is a monster of an album, even more massive sounding than Koloss. I've heard some people complain about the supposed "lack" of groove but the grooves are still there, they're just a bit more subtle than on the last few albums. It might take a few listens for everything to sink in as its certainty one of their most dense and challenging albums but once it all clicks you'll be addicted.

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

Snore at your own risk

last thing I enjoyed from them was Nothing

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Much better than Koloss imo.

 

[EspaDa]

Much better than anything of theirs.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Hopefully it is ... because i tried listening to Koloss again today and it did almost nothing for me this time around. Kind of made me remember why i'm not much of a fan of theirs. Listening to their vocalist for more than a track or two is not possible for me, does that guy ever shut the fuck up?

 

[nizzon]

Not as good as Koloss and not even close to the greatness of ObZen.

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

I respect Jens just because of the talent it takes to sing over that music. That shit is HARD. I always liked DEI/Nothing/Chaosphere.

 

[nizzon]

And also because he makes awesome faces.

 

[EspaDa]

I've always enjoyed his vocals. They suit the music very well.