User
Reviews 36 Approval 84%
Soundoffs 108 News Articles 13 Band Edits + Tags 22 Album Edits 52
Album Ratings 3129 Objectivity 69%
Last Active 12-04-14 4:21 am Joined 02-03-07
Review Comments 19,174
| 2011 Yazz Fluting
Delayed as I sporadically restored my itunes. This feels about right
though. Not as strong a year as the past few were in my opinion. | 25 | | Kidcrash Naps
This was a really good year for EPs. This didn't get repped as much as I would
have liked though. The songs here are every bit as good as those featured on
"Jokes." | 24 | | Deafheaven Roads to Judah
Black metal for people who don't like black metal. Not sure if that's good or bad
in the long run, but I really enjoy this. | 23 | | Huldra Signals From the Void
Not many have heard this (I think I'm the only one who's rated it here
actually). That should change. They sound a good deal like Isis do, maybe not
quite as varied in instrumentation. | 22 | | Cave In White Silence
I still think the psychedelic-acoustic last three songs are a bit of an odd way to
close the album after the first six songs are fantastic cuts of sludgy
hardcore/metalcore but most of the material here still rules, and it's easily their
best album since "Jupiter." I feel like it could have been better though, it feels
short and incomplete to me. | 21 | | Colin Stetson New History Warfare, Vol 2: Judges
If you haven't seen this guy perform, I suggest you do so now. New History
Warfare is a challenging listen, but my god, I'm not sure I've ever heard
anything quite like it. A man and his various saxophones basically. | 20 | | Maybeshewill I Was Here For a Moment, Then I Was Gone
IWHFAMTIWG (that looks hilarious now that I took the time to type the
anagram) isn't quite as emotional or moving as Sing the Word Hope In Four-
Part Harmony (fuck their long album titles) was. Nor does it get as
instrumentally heavy or "metal" in its climaxes. Maybeshewill create accessible,
standard instrumental post-rock better than any of their contemporaries
though. The highs on this album, however, come from the little, subdued
nuances. The repeated dweedly guitar motif in the middle of "Red Paper
Lanterns," for example. | 19 | | Ash Borer Ash Borer
Atmospheric Black Metal? Atmospheric Black Metal! Album cover rules also. | 18 | | Beyond Creation The Aura
Tech-death? Tech-death! | 17 | | Uneven Structure Februus
Post-metal/Ambient/. Februus focuses less on blowing their listeners' mind with
their technicality than they do at crushing their heads under a monolith of
sound. Februus is a massive wall of sound. It's like a djenty Rosetta with the
vocalist from Textures. Fewer albums have aurally hit harder this year than
Februus has. | 16 | | Esoteric Paragon of Dissonance
I would have placed this album higher, but with its immense nearly 100-minute
run-time and its constant doom-metalness, I'm rarely in the mood to listen to
it. You'd be unlikely to find a doom album better-constructed and more gripping
than this, however. | 15 | | Submotion Orchestra Finest Hour
Fuck yeah trip-hop with female vocals. Album is sexy. | 14 | | Iselia Life From Dead Limbs
The token post-rock/screamo album that I seem to have had one of on each of
my previous year-end lists. Life From Dead Limbs is very well-executed, and a
gorgeous emotional album. | 13 | | Pulling Teeth Funerary
It's all thrashy and hardcore and grindy and even black metally for the first half
but then it's a fucking sludgy doom metal album. And the transition works. | 12 | | Symphony X Iconoclast
I seem to enjoy this album much more than most other users here do. There's
little variety compared to their past-works, especially when considering its two-
disc run time. On Iconoclast, much of the neoclassical/power metal that
Symphony X became known for have been dropped for a much heavier, prog-
thrash sound. Yet, where on past albums the heavier tracks were bogged down
by their general cheesiness, the sound here is completely natural. Symphony X
pull off heavy music incredibly well. | 11 | | Between the Buried and Me The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues
Despite the uber-pretentious title, Parallax is probably the least pretentious-
sounding BTBAM release since Alaska. As such, it is their most enjoyable, at
scarcely 30 minutes in length. "Augment of Rebirth" drags slightly, but both
"Specular Reflection" and "Lunar Wilderness" are very well-written.
Instrumentally, of course, they shred. | 10 | | An Isle Ate Her Phrenia
Album is fucking mess. Tech-grind that doesn't let up. Slays. | 9 | | The Speed of Sound in Seawater Underwater Tell Each Other Secrets
Each of TSOSIS's three LPs are all 5-6 tracks of less than 30 minutes of
material. They do not ever feel the need to be any longer though. TSOSIS craft
mathy indie-rock similar to bands like Minus the Bear or old Tera Melos. The
vocal stylings are as close to the insane high-pitched saccharinity of Coheed
and Cambria. Bands needs more love. This will be my next review most likely. | 8 | | Corelia Nostalgia
Corelia sound like if Protest the Hero weren't so perpetually drunk. Nostalgia is
technically only an EP, but at 30 minutes of length, it doesn't need to be any
longer. The "djent" genre-title (which I'm not at all a fan of) gets thrown
around by those describing this band, but unlike bands such as Periphery, After
the Burial, Animals as Leaders or Vildhjarta, Nostalgia doesn't needlessly chug,
wank, or shove tech as fvck polyrhythms into your ass. No, Corelia are actually
fun and unpretentious. The instrumentation is highly impressive, but the song-
writing doesn't take a backseat to endless noodling. | 7 | | Laura Stevenson and the cans Sit Resist
Laura is just so goddamn adorable and charming and I just want to hug her and
gah. | 6 | | Thrice Major/Minor
The transition Thrice made from "Beggars" to "Major/Minor" is the least drastic
they've made on any of their albums. However, Thrice are now so good at
creating their own brand of art-fag alternative rock that it doesn't matter at all.
Major/Minor is dripping with passion, and I quickly latched onto as it became one
of the major relatable musical records to my summer. Anthology is their
greatest song since For Miles in my opinion, though it may have to do with how
personally I relate it to my summer and the ensuing months. | 5 | | Sylosis Edge of the Earth
This pseudo-thrash is going to look lol compared to the next album that follows,
but ever since this dropped, I've dug the hell out of it. I didn't really expect to
like it as much as I did either: Conclusions of an Age was an undeniably good
album but was bogged down by it's lame core-ish moments. On Edge of the
Earth, the core-moments have been cut to a minimum. The 72-minute run
time is a bit much more sure, but I enjoy all the material here. Procession,
Dystopia, Apparations, and the title-track especially. | 4 | | Vektor Outer Isolation
This was a late addition to my list, but in a year where no metal album really
blew me away, this was pretty damn refreshing. I'm not even much of a thrash
fan, but this is an impressive album. It sounds like if Atheist were less technical
and more thrash or Voivoid if they were interesting now. And it has sci-fi
concept lyrics. Essentially, \m/ | 3 | | Glassjaw Coloring Book
I'm really going to combine both Coloring Book, and the Our Color Green EP as
one release. I always listen to the two simultaneously anyway, liking to pretend
that Glassjaw finally released their third fucking full-length. But alas. Needless
to say, the material on Coloring Book is the most interesting material Glassjaw
have ever recorded. Long-gone are their days of simple melodic hardcore and
violent misogyny. While "Our Color Green" does feature tracks more akin to
Glassjaw's original hardcore aesthetic, the material on "Coloring Book" is much
more difficult for me to classify to a single genre. Fuzzy-soul-trance-sludge-
altcore? Fuck descriptions I'm tired already. Daytona White has probably
become my favorite Glassjaw song though, the rhythm section grooves so
sexily. | 2 | | Bomb the Music Industry! Vacation
All of BTMI!'s releases have been growers for me, but Vacation fulfills this term
to its highest extent. It is, per say, their most "normal-sounding" rock album.
It's not as immediately satisfying or catchy as an album like "Goodbye, Cool
World" or as experimental and chaotically fucked like "Scrambles." In the seven-
eight months since Vacation has been out, it has become the BTMI! album that
I've become most personally attached to. BTMI!, and this album in particular,
were the soundtrack my summer of 2011 and Rosenstock's song-writing
maturity and lyrical themes are as empathetic and relatable as they ever have
been. Less angry than they are accepting and heartstring-tugging, Vacation will
have something for any young person frustrated and worn by society. | 1 | | Fair to Midland Arrows and Anchors
While I was underwhelmed for the first few listens, Arrows and Anchors really
improved with age. The general sound isn't necessarily unique or ground-
breaking, but the energy and variety emitted throughout every single track is
astounding. Fables From a Mayfly was immediately satisfying, but lacked the
edginess in production and identity which is so poignantly displayed on Arrows.
The Greener Grass is likely my song of the year. | |
Yazz_Flute
01.10.12 | 100 Percent album art without any edits fuggyeeeeah. | foxblood
01.11.12 | i heard Huldra, it was alright. it didn't really grab me though. good list, still need to hear 10 | Hawks
01.11.12 | 1, 7, 14, 16, 22, and 24 all rule. 22 was pretty good too, but I thought (still think) 5 sucked. | Yazz_Flute
01.11.12 | Most of the metal guys here seem to not like 5 much but I can't deny how much I do. | Ending
01.11.12 | Sylosis?
Esoteric?
SYMPHONY X?!
PULLING TEETH?!?!
Currently trying to understand why we aren't musical neighbours Yazz... we even share the same all-time favourite album. | Ire
01.11.12 | a little too much btbam not enough female singer songwriter | Deviant.
01.11.12 | Have a feature | MO
01.11.12 | Good stuff yazz | Days of Future Passed
01.11.12 | Cool list. Gonna check out 23. | Yazz_Flute
01.11.12 | YAY! | YetAnotherBrick
01.11.12 | "The repeated dweedly guitar motif in the middle of "Red Paper Lanterns," for example."
Dude! Yes! I'm glad someone noticed that part as much as I did haha | Yazz_Flute
01.11.12 | It sounds so peaceful and ethereal, doesn't it? | iambandersnatch
01.11.12 | one of the first lists i've seen that has 1 at 1. even tho most people like it. weird | YetAnotherBrick
01.11.12 | It's freaking fantastic, man! | Yazz_Flute
01.11.12 | Yeah, you're right. I don't think I've seen any lists with Arrows & Anchors first. I couldn't put any other album there though. Vacation ended up coming closer towards the last few months of the year but once I started really enjoying A&A it was wire to wire. | Yazz_Flute
01.11.12 | You can get all of TSOSIS's music for free on their bandcamp:
http://thespeedofsoundinseawater.bandcamp.com/album/underwater-tell-each-other-secrets | climactic
01.11.12 | hey sexy | climactic
01.11.12 | john petrucci is sad that u did not even include his newest piece of audible jizz | Yazz_Flute
01.11.12 | If I added a few more albums it probably would have been here honestly. It's pretty solid. | kount
01.11.12 | 2011 bodominflamin | pizzamachine
01.11.12 | Some good stuff! | Emim
01.11.12 | i need to hear all of the top eight | Yazz_Flute
01.11.12 | I used bodominflames in last year's list Kount MOVEONBRO
You haven't even heard Vacation? Go listen.
| Emim
01.11.12 | I will have to.
Last album I heard from them was Scrambles | Thane
01.11.12 | 10 is so good | fulgrim
01.11.12 | A lot of cool stuff here, especially 2, 7, 15 and 19. | seedofnothing
01.11.12 | First list with 12 I've seen. | Yazz_Flute
01.12.12 | Electric Messiah and Light Up the Night rule so hard. Not to mention the three epic-length tracks. | scissorlocked
01.12.12 | i like this list
it's different | Yazz_Flute
01.12.12 | Half of my top 10 are pretty general sputnik albums I think =p
But thanks, I do like hearing that. | seedofnothing
01.12.12 | Yeah there were some very decent tracks off the album. I found it overall enjoyable too, plus heavier approach fit quite well. | jimmykidd
01.12.12 | 8 is so fucking good. | Poet
01.12.12 | list sucks | Yazz_Flute
01.12.12 | hey fuk u | PurpleDino
01.12.12 | 8 looks interesting, as does 24, will have to check them out | WeepingBanana
01.12.12 | AND I KNOW THAT IT'S DARKEST BEEEEFOOOORE DAWWWWWWWWWN | seedofnothing
01.12.12 | Yeah purps 8 and 24 ARE good. | PurpleDino
01.12.12 | downloaded 8 but 24 took commitment that I just do not have, although I did enjoy what I heard | seedofnothing
01.12.12 | Check out fell voices newest lp, its better. way better. | PurpleDino
01.12.12 | I'll check it out but I'm not too hot on BM | seedofnothing
01.12.12 | Oh ok, well the deafheaven album is kinda post black metal, so you might like
Cold Body Radiation - The Great White Emptiness
Alcest - Ecailles De Lune | PurpleDino
01.12.12 | I listened to an Alcest song the other day and I found it okay, didn't really grab me
I'll check out Cold Body Radiation | seedofnothing
01.12.12 | Yeah I'm not really into the post Bm myself either, some like it though, and I'll jam it now and then to switch up everything else I listen to. | PurpleDino
01.12.12 | I like stuff that's instantly gratifying, like Corelia for example, sure I like some more subtle stuff as well but it takes me longer to get into | iswimfast
01.12.12 | Your 1 is my 1. Yay. | seedofnothing
01.12.12 | Yeah I'm the same way, I like my music upfront and in my face for the most part. If you see my rating list, there's a ton of metal. Some people compare Corelia to Protest the Hero, and I feel their way better. I listen to more of the death metal type of metal then the ones with clean sung vocals however. | PurpleDino
01.12.12 | I hate Protest The Hero, those vocals are just unbearable and because of their relentless guitar wanking all their songs are so unmemorable.
I can't get into straight up DM, all that riffing, I just can't take it. I like my songs to have a climax or a lot of melody | seedofnothing
01.12.12 | Yeah I don't care for them either.
Then you should really like these albums:
Redemption - The Fullness of Time[clean vox]
Fates Warning - Perfect Symmetry[clean vox]
Serpent - Cradle of Insanity[tons of melody]
Garden of Shadows - Oracle Moon[tons of melody again]
Sacrilege - The Fifth Season[melody!!]
| PurpleDino
01.12.12 | I'll check them out, thanks for the recs :) | seedofnothing
01.12.12 | Anytime bro. I've heard most of the rated albums under your list so I figured there's a good chance you'de like these albums. Their highly regarded in the metal community. :) | afergusonart
01.14.12 | f yeah Arrows and Anchors at #1
good list | Destructerator
01.14.12 | BTBAM did good this year, they're starting to mature a bit. |
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