TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2003 (per Staff Writer)

[J.]

I have no idea who will make my list. I'm expecting an obscure 2003 release any day now, and expect it to have an impact on an end-of-year list (it's an independent release! That's integrity! )

I guess I'll list some disappointments:

Edge of Sanity - Crimson II
Zyklon - Aeon
Golden Dawn - Masquerade

to a lesser degree:

Aeternus - A Darker Monument
Enslaved - Below the Lights
Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

and the Biggest Disappointment of 2003 goes to:

*drum roll*


































The Haunted - One Kill Wonder
Seriously, what a piece of shit. The debut rules. Made Me Do It was pretty good, but this is just lackluster. The band sounds bored. I can only hope the return of Peter "Who Fucking Pissed in My Cheerios 'cause I'll Kill the Motherfucker" Dolving will bring back the energy and anger into this band.

 

[JayKeeley]

Also realized that most of the CD's in your lists were never reviewed on RC ... very frustrating when trying to find the bands > websites > song samples

I think it might depend on which list you look at. The albums I included that don't have reviews were probably late entries and for the last 3 months, we've all been overloaded with other/generic promos to be honest. We do try and keep up, and I think you'll find that we'll all fill in the blanks with reviews for our lists in the next few weeks.

NOTE: I wanted to review Moonsorrow the day I got it, but Markgugs insisted that he wanted to do it. Then he left, and that jury duty is now on BWD (if he would be so kind).

Otherwise, any particular band you're interested in lurch? In the interim, perhaps the respective writer can give you a brief summary here via a forum post?

 

[JayKeeley]

(it's an independent release! That's integrity! )

They better be on skid row.

When you guys eventually do your lists, can you start a new thread since this one is getting long and I guess focussed on the RC lists. It would be nice to have two threads - one for us, and one for forum users - just for convenience more than anything.

 

[NAD]

Also realized that most of the CD's in your lists were never reviewed on RC ... very frustrating when trying to find the bands > websites > song samples

9 out of 10 from my list and 9 out of 14 of my honorable mentions have reviews (not all by me).

With the promo flow slowing down I'm hoping to get back to reviewing "classics" on a regular basis once again. Better get off my ass and finish my pile I suppose...

 

[lurch70]

Otherwise, any particular band you're interested in lurch? In the interim, perhaps the respective writer can give you a brief summary here via a forum post?

I was just busting your balls about the reviews ... just forgot the smily

But in particular I am really interested in some of Erik's mentions ... NOKTURNAL MORTUM, Drukdh, XASTHUR, MÜTIILATION ... basically all the bands with the unpronouncable names

 

[General Zod]

Just because you listen to an album more doesn't necessarily make it a better album. I don't listen to Khanate every day, but because it is so original and all consuming, it will be placed very high on my list. Same goes for Curse of the Golden Vampire. Nevermore, on the other hand, is great fun to listen to, but it doesn't have that same originallity and atmospheric presence that a "years best" CD needs.

I find this to be a very strange perspective. It's almost as if your rankings are designed to impress others, rather than reflect what you actually enjoy.

If a CD doesn't inspire you to listen to it constantly, how good is it? I'm not sure what good "originallity and atmospheric presence" are if they don't hit home in a way that locks the disc into your player. Music is to be enjoyed, and can't be enjoyed if it's not being listened to.

Zod

 

[JayKeeley]

I was just busting your balls about the reviews ... just forgot the smily

Damn, I'm too keen to please! You're right though, we need those reviews...and then I'll set up links from the lists directly to the reviews. However, the reviews might be written by a different writer so you may get conflicting opinions....

But in particular I am really interested in some of Erik's mentions ... NOKTURNAL MORTUM, Drukdh, XASTHUR, MÜTIILATION ... basically all the bands with the unpronouncable names

OK I'll let Erik get to this once he's back, but in the meantime, check this thread out: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126211&highlight=ukraine

It's a thread he started about the Ukranian scene, and discusses Drudkh and Nokturnal Mortum.

Although Erik had the latest from Nokturnal Mortum in his top 10, I'm sure he wouldn't disagree in thinking that Goat Horns could be a good place to start. In fact, both Goat Horns and Lunar Poetry are milestones in Ukrainian BM (beautiful melodic BM drenched in elements of folk and key-symphony). They were also once on the The End Records roster until they became overt NSBM, and were quickly dropped.

Early NM is also slightly more "accessible" than Negura Bunget, so you should easily lap it up mate.

 

[Nate The Great]

I will actually end up listening to an album like Khanate more over a long period of time than I will Nevermore. The albums that challenge me are the ones I go back months and years later. It's kind of hard to explain I guess.

JayKeeley: We'll be sure to start our own thread for our top 2003 releases.

 

[SonOfNun]

and the Biggest Disappointment of 2003 goes to:

The Haunted - One Kill Wonder
Seriously, what a piece of shit. The debut rules. Made Me Do It was pretty good, but this is just lackluster. The band sounds bored. I can only hope the return of Peter "Who Fucking Pissed in My Cheerios 'cause I'll Kill the Motherfucker" Dolving will bring back the energy and anger into this band.

I better get their first two if they're THAT much better than "One Kill Wonder" which I thought was decent. Some of the songs like "Shadow World" and "D.O.A" were pretty good.

 

[JayKeeley]

One Kill Wonder is one of those albums that bored me so much, I had wiped it from memory. Needless to say, it's been sitting in Chief B's intray (he's a huge fan of "Made Me Do It") and he can't even be bothered to review it.

Love the front cover though.

 

[lurch70]

OK I'll let Erik get to this once he's back, but in the meantime, check this thread out: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...ghlight=ukraine

Thanks for that tip ... I like those Dub Buk samples ... will have to look further into this Ukranian scene

 

[J.]

I better get their first two if they're THAT much better than "One Kill Wonder" which I thought was decent. Some of the songs like "Shadow World" and "D.O.A" were pretty good.

Knowing some of your tastes, you'll enjoy Made Me Do It a lot. It has anger, speed, some melody, and much better songs (Bury Your Dead is the best here) than One Kill Wonder.

The debut is a totally different beast. This has very little melody, and is practically in hyper-speed the entire disc. But the vocalist (Dolving) fucking kills Marco Aro in every way. But a lot of people think Dolving sounds like a hardcore vocalist. Being into the hardcore scene, I can safely say that is a bunch of hooey. Listen to 'Hate Song' and tell me that song doesn't reek of pure murdering intent. God, I love it.

 

[Black Winter Day]

ah, the aborym... ya know, what would the point of the list be if you guys already knew what i would put at #1??? seriously though, i had planned on hearing the album much earlier, but the end ran out and i was SOL for hearing it before the year ended. so i did what any self-respecting pirate would do: i burned it. (yeah yeah yeah, it was a desperate act, and i will be sure to buy the album as soon as i get my hands on it). when i heard it for the first time, i thought it was extremely well-written. the musicianship is stunning (even the drum programming is great), the songs are eerie as hell (a massive achievement, since this is "post black-metal", whatever that means) and most of all: it is outstandingly original. just mind-blowingly good. listening to it over and over, i discovered that there was only one true #1 of the year, only one that SOUNDED like a #1, and this was it. is it perfect? no, but it is stellar and i'm extremely surprised that this one appeared NOWHERE on anyone else's lists! if emperor had released it, people would have gone apeshit (as this is much better than the last 2 emperors). and how can you not dig attila's vocals? i get nostalgic every time i hear them (remeinds me of friends and i listening to mayhem at night and going out to the graveyard). WNHI contains all those elements (kickass-ness, originality, musicianship, etc) that are mandatory for a #1.

and:
if i would have put "one kill wonder" into a category, it would have been: I DON'T GIVE A SHIT (PRACTICALLY FORGOT) ABOUT...

sometimes i think negura bunget should have made the list somewhere, as it has been wrapping it's tendrils around me lately... ehhhhh... nah...

i'm definitely going to check out drudkh and mithras

and i would like to change my BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT to jaykeeley and NAD for their BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT's

and i will review the moonsorrow and amorphis (and other 2 promos) as soon as i can get on a computer that lets me open word processor without freezing up!

 

[JayKeeley]

Heh, that's cool. The thing about the Top Ten lists is that you really have to base it on the material you like and know well. I had only heard Aborym once. Of course, had I owned a copy and listened to it lots and loved it, then it could have been a different story - but then the same can be said for 200 other CD's I'm sure...

I did want to give mention to code666 as a label, however, and I did that in my Manes paragraph.

ALSO, I forgot to include an album in my "Honorable Mentions". Can you guess which one?


























NAGLFAR - Sheol.
Absolutely brilliant album I thought, although not necessarily top 10 material, but excellent nevertheless. Certainly worthy of honorable mention.

 

[NAD]

But a lot of people think Dolving sounds like a hardcore vocalist.

Like me. I like the Haunted's first album, but the vocals... eeeeehhhhhhhhh. Still a good album though, I haven't heard the others.

I am disappointed in your disappointment BWD. Well, not really.

 

[J.]

Dolving is more a thrash vocalist like Tom Araya or Prong's vocalist than he is a hardcore vocalist like Converge's vocalist or even Dillinger Escape Plan.

 

[Black Winter Day]

NAGLFAR - Sheol.
Absolutely brilliant album I thought, although not necessarily top 10 material, but excellent nevertheless. Certainly worthy of honorable mention.

i know what you mean... at one point it was my #1 for the year! but it didn't make the cut, sadly...

2003 turned out to be a pretty damn good year for music

 

[Erik]

I didn't even know that EP's were disallowed. But if "Reign in Blood" is an album then fuxit, "The Taste of Victory" gets to be an album as well. The songs are quite long.

 

[J.]

yeah, I never quite understood that. Summoning's 'Nightshade Forests" is like 35 minutes long, yet it's considered an EP, whereas Slaughter of the Soul is the same length, and considered a full length album.

 

[J.]

I'd say EPs are allowed, because some Eps contain a bands best material.

I've always wondered if split CDs were allowed, because I've been thoroughly impressed with one this year.

I also wonder who makes up these rules.