Saturday, January 6, 2018

Beast of 2017

Another year another list of some unusual suspects.

10. Tau Cross Pillar of Fire



Sounding like Killing Joke with hella riffs...I'm down.

9. Ewigkeit Cosmic Man


A ramshackle true metal affair that dips into the eclectricism of Diabolical Masquerade and the original trash oddballs Blind Illusion...Neon Ghoul Ride is both a standout track and title.


8. Laster - Ons vrije fatum


Dutch black metal that lives up to that nation's heady contribution to the genre. I hear both modern flowing style black metal mixed with mid period Enslaved psychedelia (think Mardraum, Monumension). Great stuff!

7. Akercocke - Renaissance in Etremis


Even after a decade hiatus these boys still delivered the goods. Challenging, unique and inventive, this was a welcome resurrection.


6. The Chasm - A Conscious Creation from the Isolated Domain - Phase I


Another progressive death metal band that hasn't been heard of from a while, but came roaring back firing on all cylinders. Celestial, mystic, break-your-neck goodness from the godfathers of occult death/thrash.

5. Gigan - Undulating Waves of Rainbiotic Iridescence


Alien, weirdly cascading neural metal, like Luc Lemay in a back alley melee with Spastic Ink. Doing the Cosmos proud.


4. Expander - Endless Computer


Voivod by way of GBH plus the fucking raddest artwork of the year to boot.

3. Droid - Terrestrial Mutations


One of my fav newer bands delivers on their debut full length. This most reminds me of the airy spacey vibes of Voivod's The Outer Limits...only heavier.

2. Fleurety - The White Death


Another long-asss hiatus and no problem. Sounding like an off-kilter, dreamy version of their Stagnant Waters project. Still raw, but beautiful.


1. Trollech Kazdy strom ma svuj stin


The great Trollech deliver the album with the best riffs of the year. Tremendous atmosphere with those enviable Czech foresty vibes. Thanks Lord Morbivod, thanks.

Most Honorable Mentions
The Residents - The Ghost of Hope, Bedwetter Vol.1: Flick Your TongueOxbow - Thin Black DukeSlagmaur - Thill Smitts Terror, Nuit Noire - Sa Majeste La NuitMutation - III: Dark BlackComa Cluster Void - Thoughts From A StoneLimbonic Art - Spectre AbysmWay To End - Senestre, Nokturnal Mortum - VeritySuffering Hour - In Passing AscensionFreddie Gibbs - Crushed GlassNyn - Entropy: Of Chaos and SaltRope Sect - Personae Ingratae, Impure Wilhelmina - Radiation, Yellow Eyes - Immersion Trench Reverie, Selcouth - Heart is the Star of Chaos, Renaldo & The Loaf - Gurdy HurdingVulture Industries Stranger Times, John Frum A Stirring in the Noos, Ingurgitating Oblivion - Vision Wallows In Symphonies Of Light, Sol Iustitiae - Iam Christe Sol Iustitiae, Mouthgate - Fungal, Ides of Gemini - WomenAt The Drive In - Incurably Innocent, Lugubrum - Wakar Cartel, Misanthrope - Alpha X Omega, Dreaming Dead - Funeral Twilight, Acedia Mundi - Speculum Humanae Salvationis

Best eps/splits
Wolok/Rotting Heaven - The Anatomy of Madness, Howls ov Ebb/Kthoniik Cerviiks With Gangrene Edges/VoiidwarpTheory In Practice - Crescendo DezignFerrous Oxide - Wild Summer Nights, No Joy - CreepYeast Mother - An Electroacoustic Mass

Best electronica
Fhloston Paradigm - After..., Black Zone Myth Chant Feng ShenWe Plants Are Happy Plants - The Bohemian ImpulseArca - Arca, Bjork - UtopiaActress - AZDForest Swords Compassion, Laurel Halo DustRainforest Spiritual Enslavement - Ambient Black Magic, runescape斯凱利 - runescape.wav符文風景骨架, Blanck Mass World EaterZola Jesus OkoviFever Ray Plunge


Least of the year
The new Enslaved and Satyricon were flat out awful.