Will LotFP have a year-end "Top 10"?
- Thread starter jageorge72
- Start date
Jim LotFP
The Keeper of Metal
I don't know if I can, in good conscience, put out a top 10 this year considering my purchasing has been WAY down out of necessity and I'm not getting a pile of free stuff anymore... I could certainly detail top 10 of what I've heard, but that's basically meaningless as a cross-section of what's out there this year.
Or maybe I just got lucky and everything I haven't heard sucks anyway, haha.
It's probably a bad sign that my absolute favorite this year has been that Cathedral thing that Earache released... hearing Midnight Mountain in an odd-ass demo format with offbeat handclaps and flute just tickles me in ways that people just don't want to hear about.
The Katatonia best-of/EP compilation rocked as well.
Latest Ayreon is cool but it's something I'd never play in front of people because some of the lyrics are cchhheeeesssssssyyyyyyy.
Gathering's Sleepy Buildings made me happy because I was an old fan turned off by their latest direction, but this was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. Stripping down the songs put the old songs in a fresh perspective and removed all the shit I hated from the newer songs.
The coolest all-original thing I've heard all year is probably the Witchcraft album, but that's a total 70s retro thing. SHEEEEEEEEEE WILLLLLLLLLL DIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I hope Hunter gets that review in soon because he's so much better at writing reviews than I am.
The Lamented Souls album is as good as DOOOOOOMMMM can get, Simen Hestnaes going all Candlemass on us, but it's a compilation of unreleased demos from the mid 90s, not exactly new.
Latest Runemagick rocks, of course. Deathdoomdrone. Very bleak.
Cea Serin was great, but I heard a lot of that material two years ago on a demo so it's hard to think of it as 'new material'.
New Nightingale, Lilitu, Ancient Wisdom were all worthy purchases but failed to live up to their previous work.
Canvas Solaris and Orphaned Land both delivered excellence this year.
Not sure if they are this year or last (tells you how out of it I am), but Amaran is as good as straightforward melodic metal is going to get, Wolverine's Cold Light of Monday is great stuff in PoS/Anathema kinds of ways, and the Asmegin album is some of the best folk metal I've ever heard.
There have also been disappointments, like the latest Vintersorg and Borknagar albums (both bland as all hell and far removed from their glory days).
Trying to think of things I didn't get to hear that I really want to. Probably Sonata Arctica and Jag Panzer's latest, they're consistently excellent at what they do.
Certainly nothing has changed my musical landscape or loomed as gigantically as Hammers of Misfortune or Agalloch did in the previous couple of years.
Or maybe I just got lucky and everything I haven't heard sucks anyway, haha.
It's probably a bad sign that my absolute favorite this year has been that Cathedral thing that Earache released... hearing Midnight Mountain in an odd-ass demo format with offbeat handclaps and flute just tickles me in ways that people just don't want to hear about.
The Katatonia best-of/EP compilation rocked as well.
Latest Ayreon is cool but it's something I'd never play in front of people because some of the lyrics are cchhheeeesssssssyyyyyyy.
Gathering's Sleepy Buildings made me happy because I was an old fan turned off by their latest direction, but this was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. Stripping down the songs put the old songs in a fresh perspective and removed all the shit I hated from the newer songs.
The coolest all-original thing I've heard all year is probably the Witchcraft album, but that's a total 70s retro thing. SHEEEEEEEEEE WILLLLLLLLLL DIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I hope Hunter gets that review in soon because he's so much better at writing reviews than I am.
The Lamented Souls album is as good as DOOOOOOMMMM can get, Simen Hestnaes going all Candlemass on us, but it's a compilation of unreleased demos from the mid 90s, not exactly new.
Latest Runemagick rocks, of course. Deathdoomdrone. Very bleak.
Cea Serin was great, but I heard a lot of that material two years ago on a demo so it's hard to think of it as 'new material'.
New Nightingale, Lilitu, Ancient Wisdom were all worthy purchases but failed to live up to their previous work.
Canvas Solaris and Orphaned Land both delivered excellence this year.
Not sure if they are this year or last (tells you how out of it I am), but Amaran is as good as straightforward melodic metal is going to get, Wolverine's Cold Light of Monday is great stuff in PoS/Anathema kinds of ways, and the Asmegin album is some of the best folk metal I've ever heard.
There have also been disappointments, like the latest Vintersorg and Borknagar albums (both bland as all hell and far removed from their glory days).
Trying to think of things I didn't get to hear that I really want to. Probably Sonata Arctica and Jag Panzer's latest, they're consistently excellent at what they do.
Certainly nothing has changed my musical landscape or loomed as gigantically as Hammers of Misfortune or Agalloch did in the previous couple of years.
Some of my favorites this year have been more "mainstream" metal, like the new Megadeth, Soulfly, and Fear Factory releases. Some other good stuff....... Orphaned Land, Woods Of Ypres (although it isn't as amazing as everyone on the BWBK board makes it out to be), and the new Lake of Tears was pretty cool.
Probably my best discovery of the year was Lord Weird Slough Feg - Traveller. I don't know if it was 2003 or 2004, but it rocks. Gotta pick up something else by them.
Crap of the year: Mithras - Worlds Beyond the Veil. Although it got massive amounts of praise from S. Craig Zahler, it is nothing more than a huge Morbid Angel ripoff, with a horrible production. Textures - Polars got great reviews also, but does nothing for me.
Curious about:
Skyclad - A Semblance of Normality. ....love all of the Skyclad releases I have, but am worried about how they sound after Martin's departure.
Isis - Panopticon .....like Oceanic a lot. If this is better, I'll definitely buy it.
Also........ the new 3 Inches of Blood is on the way. :Spin:
Probably my best discovery of the year was Lord Weird Slough Feg - Traveller. I don't know if it was 2003 or 2004, but it rocks. Gotta pick up something else by them.
Crap of the year: Mithras - Worlds Beyond the Veil. Although it got massive amounts of praise from S. Craig Zahler, it is nothing more than a huge Morbid Angel ripoff, with a horrible production. Textures - Polars got great reviews also, but does nothing for me.
Curious about:
Skyclad - A Semblance of Normality. ....love all of the Skyclad releases I have, but am worried about how they sound after Martin's departure.
Isis - Panopticon .....like Oceanic a lot. If this is better, I'll definitely buy it.
Also........ the new 3 Inches of Blood is on the way. :Spin:
Jim LotFP
The Keeper of Metal
jageorge72 said:
2003. I just got the original Traveller rulebooks, it's so cool. High passage, low passage, any way, I'm out of here!
Down Among the Deadmen is an awesome, awesome album too, and also has a Traveller song... Traders and Gunboats, name ripped off of a Traveller supplement... with a spoken word segment read right out of the Spinward Marches supplement. "The sword worlds are a loose confederation of worlds..."
Slough Feg rules because they just don't give a fuck.
jageorge72 said:
After that CD where they raped the old versions of Skyclad songs, I like to pretend the band doesn't exist.
The Clan Destined's business model of asking people to donate money for something they've never heard (ex-Skyclad and Immortal members with female vocals... yeah, that gives me a good idea of NOTHING) seems pretty weird too, although they've apparently put up a sound clip of a demo song now.
Jim LotFP
The Keeper of Metal
jageorge72 said:Dammit........ I can't find Down Among the Deadmen anywhere
I'd point and laugh but my copy is in Finland already.
SANNA! When you read this, go home and play Traders and Gunboats!
DOWN AND OUT ON THE SOLOMANI RIM!
Now the Spinward Marches don't look so grim!
Erik
New Metal Member
It was a really poor year for Metal, if you ask me. I was not really disappointed by anything, but it just didn't blow me away what I heard...Ayreon, Into Eternity, Death Angel - all quite decent, but nothing outstanding. Skyclad are struggling, but the magic is gone.
Grip Inc really surprised me and I still put that on from time to time. That's the natural production all those Metal core bands are not capable of...come on, Shadows Fall...happy triggering...
Pain of Salvation was OK, but really overambitious!
I got more into the old stuff recently and into the totally different direction of Jeff Buckley re-releases, old Comus, Gentle Giant and finally - I got a hold on the complete Led Zep recordings.
Well...
Grip Inc really surprised me and I still put that on from time to time. That's the natural production all those Metal core bands are not capable of...come on, Shadows Fall...happy triggering...
Pain of Salvation was OK, but really overambitious!
I got more into the old stuff recently and into the totally different direction of Jeff Buckley re-releases, old Comus, Gentle Giant and finally - I got a hold on the complete Led Zep recordings.
Well...
Oh, and I forgot the more rocky stuff: great Witchcraft, Hidden Hand, Shepherd plus two really really promising bands from Germany you should pay attention to:
The Ocean ("Fluxion") + Disillusion ("Back To Times Of Splendour"), the latter being more than the Opeth-worship the press wants to see in it - and definitely no Metalcore, though on Metal Blade...
The Ocean ("Fluxion") + Disillusion ("Back To Times Of Splendour"), the latter being more than the Opeth-worship the press wants to see in it - and definitely no Metalcore, though on Metal Blade...
JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
So let's see...
The new Hidden Hand is great. I would have liked Witchcraft a lot more had they not sung every line through that telephone voice box thingy.
The new Borknagar is the worst thing that could have happened to me in the last few months, because with it sinks all my interest in "prog black" metal because I just cannot listen to the latest Solefald or Arcturus albums anymore. With that said, the new Woods of Ypres stays pagan-esque enough for me to enjoy, and Enslaved's latest shows off their enormous talent but still dips a toe (or leg) into prog for the sake of being proggy.
Lamented Souls is good....for about 20 minutes. And then Simen's vocals become 'too much of a good thing'. The new Runemagick rules muchly.
Orphaned Land is outstanding. Hope to see that in many top 5 lists this year, it's more than worthy compared to what else we had on offer.
I don't normally delve into the Neurosis market, but I have to admit, the new Isis is phenomenal. The new Mastodon just annoys me - I should give it a few more spins just because EVERYONE seems to love it except me, but I really cannot muster the strength to put on what sounds like -core to me.
The new Jag Panzer is very, very cool - they've finally managed to write something memorable with a tune here or there. The new Angra is fantastic, but of course everyone slated it after hearing the Kai Hansen track that was leaked early, although I cannot deny I love that song too, heh. So sue me.
Morgion rules. Uaral rules. Into Eternity is great, but slipped down in ranking. They seem to have a short shelf life, and live performances don't do them any favors as was witnessed at ProgPower (shame though that they lost most of the band members 5 minutes before taking to the stage).
Drudkh is outstanding. Everyone should check out "Autumn Aurora". The new Graveland is really good too, and I haven't really liked anything from them since "Immortal Pride". It's scary just how good NS-related bands are becoming, and yet generally ignored for obvious reasons.
Mar de Grises is probably one of the best albums of the year. "The Tatterdemalion Express" is easily top 3 material for me.
Anything by Slough Feg is great, except they didn't release anything this year. They've already got a slot opening for my top 10 of 2005, along with Primordial, Summoning, Nokturnal Mortum, and obviously Hammers of Misfortune. Not sure if Blind Guardian have anything in the works...?
The new Hidden Hand is great. I would have liked Witchcraft a lot more had they not sung every line through that telephone voice box thingy.
The new Borknagar is the worst thing that could have happened to me in the last few months, because with it sinks all my interest in "prog black" metal because I just cannot listen to the latest Solefald or Arcturus albums anymore. With that said, the new Woods of Ypres stays pagan-esque enough for me to enjoy, and Enslaved's latest shows off their enormous talent but still dips a toe (or leg) into prog for the sake of being proggy.
Lamented Souls is good....for about 20 minutes. And then Simen's vocals become 'too much of a good thing'. The new Runemagick rules muchly.
Orphaned Land is outstanding. Hope to see that in many top 5 lists this year, it's more than worthy compared to what else we had on offer.
I don't normally delve into the Neurosis market, but I have to admit, the new Isis is phenomenal. The new Mastodon just annoys me - I should give it a few more spins just because EVERYONE seems to love it except me, but I really cannot muster the strength to put on what sounds like -core to me.
The new Jag Panzer is very, very cool - they've finally managed to write something memorable with a tune here or there. The new Angra is fantastic, but of course everyone slated it after hearing the Kai Hansen track that was leaked early, although I cannot deny I love that song too, heh. So sue me.
Morgion rules. Uaral rules. Into Eternity is great, but slipped down in ranking. They seem to have a short shelf life, and live performances don't do them any favors as was witnessed at ProgPower (shame though that they lost most of the band members 5 minutes before taking to the stage).
Drudkh is outstanding. Everyone should check out "Autumn Aurora". The new Graveland is really good too, and I haven't really liked anything from them since "Immortal Pride". It's scary just how good NS-related bands are becoming, and yet generally ignored for obvious reasons.
Mar de Grises is probably one of the best albums of the year. "The Tatterdemalion Express" is easily top 3 material for me.
Anything by Slough Feg is great, except they didn't release anything this year. They've already got a slot opening for my top 10 of 2005, along with Primordial, Summoning, Nokturnal Mortum, and obviously Hammers of Misfortune. Not sure if Blind Guardian have anything in the works...?
Blind Guardian are really blowing it up at the moment, planning to do something orchestral, yet something noone has done before - well, what's that supposed to be.
Graveland should just be boycotted - Nazi-crap, however nice the music might be!
And somehow it's true, HoM was the best album also in 2004, because I pulled that out just recently and had the same good time with it as last winter!
Anyway, good to have some life in this forum again...check out some more reviews from my side soon.
Graveland should just be boycotted - Nazi-crap, however nice the music might be!
And somehow it's true, HoM was the best album also in 2004, because I pulled that out just recently and had the same good time with it as last winter!
Anyway, good to have some life in this forum again...check out some more reviews from my side soon.
JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
If anyone's interested, RC just published their lists (one per writer, plus an 'overall' list which means diddly but fun nevertheless).
Jay....... good site.... not sure I've ever been to RC, but I bookmarked it & plan on stopping back again.JayKeeley said:
