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Last Active 12-15-14 7:43 pm
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| Cmaitland421's Top 20 Albums Of 2014
My top 20 LP's of 2014. | | 20 |  | Son of Aurelius
Under a Western Sun
Son of Aurelius returned from their mini-hiatus armed with a new vocalist and a new sound on their second LP Under a Western Sun. After listening to Under a Western Sun, it's hard to believe that this is the same band that released The Farthest Reaches in 2010. Aside from the occasional death growl and chug riff, there's no traces of the technical death metal that ruled their debut on this record. Instead, the listener is treated to a sprawling and highly rewarding prog record with melo-death undertones. The operatic vocals of Riley McShane perfectly complement the constantly shifting arrangements from the wildly underrated guitarist/bassist duo of Carey Greare and Max Zigman. The chops this band is possesses is amongst the finest in the genre and their abundance of talent is a large part of why this record is so intriguing to listen to. Son of Aurelius covers a lot of new ground on Under a Western Sun and they're better for it. If you're a fan of progressive metal of any kind, you need to check out this record as soon as possible.
Standout Tracks 1.Long Ago 2.The Stoic Speaks 3.Under a Western Sun | | 19 |  | Darkest Hour
Darkest Hour
Darkest Hour's turn to straight metalcore on their eight LP was met with a lot of resistance from their fans and the metal community on the whole. Personally, I didn't see what all the bitching was about. Prominent use of clean vocals and breakdowns may have entered the fold for the first time in their career, but the same level of excellent musicianship and dedication to decimating the listener with catchy riffs and pure, unadulterated fury is still very much present. The new elements are all used quite well and there's still quite a few gritty, face-melting vintage Darkest Hour tunes to go alongside the more melodic, accessible ones. This may not be the next Deliver Us or Undoing Ruin, but it's a nice change-of-pace for Darkest Hour as a band and yet another worthy entry into their highly underrated discography.
Standout Tracks 1.Rapture in Exile 2.By the Starlight 3.Futurist | | 18 |  | Machine Head
Bloodstone and Diamonds
The mighty Machine Head has continued their run of excellence with Bloodstone & Diamonds. It may not be as consistent or groundbreaking as The Blackening or Unto the Locust, but there's still plenty of excellent tracks along the way that showcase their trademark groove metal sound and increasingly improving melodic side. Robb Flynn and co. are in the midst of their finest years as a band, and Bloodstone & Diamonds only adds to their recent reign of dominance.
Standout Tracks 1.Eyes of the Dead 2.Now We Die 3.Ghosts Will Haunt My Bones | | 17 |  | Archspire
The Lucid Collective
2014 has been a PHENOMENAL year for technical death metal and this wave of standout releases started with Archspire's The Lucid Collective back in April. The Lucid Collective isn't the epitome of creativity in the genre, but for what it lacks in innovation, it makes up for in earth-shattering musical precision. The guitars are strikingly fast without ever drifting into full-blown wankery, the drums are thunderous and the bass is an understated delight throughout. Beyond Creation and Augury may forever be considered the kings of Canadian tech-death, but Archspire 100% deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as those genre darlings.
Standout Tracks 1.Fathom Infinite Depth 2.Scream Feeding 3.Join Us Beyond | | 16 |  | Lana Del Rey
Ultraviolence
Wildly popular yet incredibly polarizing art pop songbird Lana Del Rey traveled outside of her established comfort zone for the first time in her career on Ultraviolence. The breezy trip-hop soundscapes of Born to Die and Paradise have been replaced with somber string arrangements and faint guitars on Ultraviolence. While the music itself couldn't be more different than her previous material, Del Rey's uncanny ability to create a hauntingly beautiful and hypnotic atmosphere remains in tact. The raw vocals and stirring hooks that Del Rey offers up in droves on Ultraviolence manage to get under your skin in ways that other pop/indie artists simply can't. With its minimalist and generally gloomy nature, it's much more of a grower than Born to Die. However, once Ultraviolence starts clicking, it's every bit as memorable as its predecessor.
Standout Tracks 1.Shades of Cool 2.West Coast 3.Brooklyn Baby | | 15 |  | Body Count
Manslaughter
On the surface, Body Count's Manslaughter appears to be a complete joke. Body Count is fronted by Ice-T-who hasn't put out any music since 2006, and in recent years has become more known for his acting on Law & Order: SVU than his musical endeavors- and the lead single of the album is called ?Talk Shit, Get Shot?. In reality, it's a shockingly well-written, darkly hilarious and absurdly fun record. Ice-T and guitarist Ernie C make for a nu-metal dream team. Ice-T delivers each song with just as much as venom as he did on Body Count's debut 22 years ago and proves to be quite the sharp comedic mind on hysterical jams like ?Get a Job? and ?Institutionalized 2014? while Ernie C lays down a barrage of excellent riffs and chaotic solos that would make Kerry King proud. If nu-metal suddenly gets revived in the near future, it will be because of records like Manslaughter.
Standout Tracks 1.Institutionalized 2014 2.Get a Job 3.Back to Rehab | | 14 |  | Beartooth
Disgusting
Who would've thought the new band of one of the founding members of the infamous Attack Attack! would be so damn good? Beartooth's Disgusting is a raw, infectious metalcore album that serves as a perfect showcase for Caleb Shomo's talent. Shomo wrote this entire album (save for ?In Between? which he co-wrote with Goldfinger guitarist and Disgusting producer John Feldmann) himself and there is a not moment on this record where his immense passion doesn't bleed through. On Disgusting, Shomo shows an introspective side and a serious skill for writing ridiculously catchy choruses that's been noticeably absent from his previous musical ventures. Shomo spends most of the this record singing with candor about his struggles with depression and addiction. The openness Shomo displays in the lyrics are reenforced by his near-perfect vocal performance and well-timed breakdowns that emphasize the album's emotional power. There was no bigger surprise in 2014 than Disgusting and I expect big things out of Shomo and co. in the future.
Standout Tracks 1.Body Bag 2.The Lines 3.One More | | 13 |  | Monuments
The Amanuensis
I don't know what it is with British prog bands and their ability to make gigantic strides on an album-to-album basis. Last year it was The Safety Fire, who followed a wholly forgettable album in Grind the Ocean with a truly excellent one in Mouth of Swords. This year it's Monuments- who manages to eviscerate their decent albeit entirely forgettable debut Gnosis with their second LP The Amanuensis. Monuments improvement on The Amanuensis can largely be tied to the addition of vocalist Chris Barretto (Ever Forthright, ex-Periphery) to their ranks. Barretto's wide vocal capabilities that range from beautiful falsetto cleans to borderline death metal screams allow the band to be much more confident and take more risks in their songwriting. Barretto can tackle just about anything you throw at him vocally, and his knack for soaring hooks and using punishing screams to punctuate the heaviness of the rest of the music is showcased at length on this record. The instrumentation is certainly improved as well with more headbang-worthy grooves and richer melodies, but they wouldn't be nearly as good without Baretto leading the ship. Monuments made some serious waves with The Amanuensis and as long as Barretto is on board, these guys will be in the top-tier of modern prog metal acts.
Standout Tracks 1.Quasimodo 2.Saga City 3.Garden of Sankhara | | 12 |  | Goatwhore
Constricting Rage of the Merciless
Goatwhore is the modern extreme metal equivalent of Motorhead. They've been making the same album for the entirety of their career, but it doesn't grow stale because they're so damn good at what they do. Goatwhore's latest blast of grimy, Bayou-bred blackened death thrash is one of their most consistent, riff-heavy, energetic and just plain best releases of their decade-plus career. As long as Goatwhore continues to put out material that's as strong as Constricting Rage of the Merciless, they'll be no calls from any of their fans to switch up their time-tested formula.
Standout Tracks 1.Baring Teeth for Revolt 2.Schadenfreude 3.FBS | | 11 |  | Alterbeast
Immortal
In a year where loads of technical death metal albums were heavily praised, Alterbeast's Immortal managed to all but completely avoid the hype train. The lack of attention for Immortal is a serious shame because it's easily one of the best releases the genre has seen in a long time. This California quintet sounds like if Trevor Strnad was the frontman Necrophagist. While fast-riffing, blast beats and shrieked vocals are the backbone of Alterbeast's music, they use plenty of subtle guitar work and occasional brief spurts of melody to set them part. Don't get it twisted, these guys aren't another prog/tech death hybrid a la Fallujah or The Faceless. They are a straight-up sinister tech-death act who just happen to throw some well-calculated melodies in the mix from time to time to keep their song structures fresh. Immortal is a serious hidden gem and far and away, the best debut album in all of metal this year.
Standout Tracks 1.Throne of Maggots 2.Ancient's Retribution 3.Flesh Bound Text | | 10 |  | Animals as Leaders
The Joy of Motion
Instrumental virtuosos Animals as Leaders managed to step their game up even further on their third LP, The Joy of Motion. The technical prowess that has driven all their releases is more restrained this go-round as the band decides to focus more on diverse songwriting that experiments with as many different genre as possible over the 54-minute runtime. This melody-based, heavily experimental approach is a welcome refrain from the strictly technically-dazzling progressive metal they've made in the past. Previously, Animals as Leaders has kind of felt like they only exist as a showcase for Tosin Abasi's guitar playing. On The Joy of Motion, they finally feel like a full, cohesive band and that pays off majorly in the quality of their music. The Joy of Motion is by far the heaviest, layered and well-rounded album Animals as Leaders has released thus far.
Standout Tracks 1.Another Year 2.Mind-Spun 3.The Woven Web | | 9 |  | Job for a Cowboy
Sun Eater
Job for a Cowboy has been fighting an onslaught of criticism from the metal community since their inception and with their latest LP, Sun Eater, they can finally silence those critics once and for all. If Jonny Davy wasn't still the vocalist, you wouldn't even be able to tell that this was the same band that burst onto the scene with the pig-squealing, breakdown-laden deathcore opus Doom in 2005. Sun Eater has been more in common with European atmospheric death metal a la Obscura and Morbus Chron than the various types of American death metal they've played on their past few releases. There's prominent bass throughout, the guitars are often restrained and there's a strong aura of gloom running through the entire record. If you don't believe me that this an entirely different band, take a listen to the opening 1-2 punch of "Eating the Visions of God" and "Sun of Nihility". At the very least, you'll be shocked that this is the same band that made songs like "Knee Deep" and "Embedded" back in the day. Sun Eater is a brilliantly constructed record full of striking musicianship and chilling atmosphere that blows the doors off of anything Job for a Cowboy has done in the past.
Standout Tracks 1.Buried Monuments 2.The Synthetic Sea 3.Eating the Visions of God | | 8 |  | Royal Blood
Royal Blood
Earlier this year, Kiss frontman Gene Simmons said that ?Rock was finally dead?. With their self-titled debut LP, British duo Royal Blood prove that Simmons is full of shit. Royal Blood is loaded with an unfathomable amount of killer riffs, big hooks and vintage rock energy. The best part about Royal Blood? They manage to do all of this without a guitarist. Royal Blood consists of just a bassist and drummer, which makes the massive sound they achieve on this record that much more impressive. As long as bands like Royal Blood exist, Simmons' stupid, hyperbolic statement will never become true.
Standout Tracks 1.Blood Hands 2.Figure It Out 3.Loose Change | | 7 |  | Behemoth
The Satanist
Behemoth's first record since vocalist/guitarist Adam ?Nergal? Darski successfully defeated stage 3 leukemia is a monster. Nergal's brush with death didn't make him any cheerier, as The Satanist is the darkest album Behemoth has ever crafted. The Satanist sees Behemoth combining the haunting black metal of their early records with the death metal fury of their newer albums for a record that takes the band in an epic and sinisterly beautiful direction. The Satanist marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Behemoth and given the fact that Nergal was close to death just a few years ago, it's a chapter that the metal community is very fortunate to see play out.
Standout Tracks 1.Ora Noa Probis Lucifer 2.Messe Noire 3. O Father! O Satan! Sun! | | 6 |  | Freddie Gibbs and Madlib
Pinata
Enter hip-hop's new odd couple. The pairing of hardcore gangsta rapper Freddie Gibbs and producer Madlib, who specializes in laid-back, jazzy production may sound like an extreme mismatch, but their two vastly different styles converge beautifully on this record. Pinata sees these two artists simultaneously playing to their established strengths and switching up their styles to adapt to each others' biggest assets. It's awesome to see Madlib throw down some aggressive beats on ?Shitsville? and ?Harold's? and Gibbs rap over mellow beats on tracks like ?Deeper?, "Robes" and ?Shame?. With this record, Gibbs finally gets the consistent, high-quality production that's prevented him from breaking out in the past while Madlib finally gets to work with an artist that allows to him stray from his comfort zone and cover a ton of new musical territory with his beats. Pinata is a fiery yet chill hip-hop record with plenty of great lyrics and guest spots that I won't be forgetting about anytime soon.
Standout Tracks 1.Harold's 2.Shitsville 3.Uno | | 5 |  | Run the Jewels
Run the Jewels 2
Killer Mike and El-P are not human beings. That's the only logical explanation I can up with for how they were able to release yet another modern hip-hop classic less than 18 months after their last release. Run the Jewels' second LP manages to be even more monstrous than their debut thanks to the inclusion of more subdued serious material to go alongside the duo's trademark bangers. No matter what the lyrical content or production style is, Run the Jewels kills it and their stranglehold on the throne of modern hip-hop has only strengthened after this release.
Standout Tracks 1.Lie, Cheat, Steal 2.Oh My Darling Don't Cry 3.Early | | 4 |  | Every Time I Die
From Parts Unknown
It didn't even take one full listen to figure out that From Parts Unknown wasn't your average record for Every Time I Die. As soon as album opener,?The Great Secret? kicks in, there's an overwhelming sense of chaos that hasn't been present in any of the music they've put out in the past decade. From Parts Unknown marks a return to the raw, relentlessly heavy metalcore that band mastered on their 2003 breakout LP Hot Damn! With Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou behind the boards, the band just runs wild and creates the most gritty and rewarding music of their entire career. These grizzled metal veterans have been simply unstoppable of late and unless something drastic happens, that isn't going to change anytime soon.
Standout Tracks 1.El Dorado 2.Moor 3.Decayin' with the Boys | | 3 |  | Unearth
Watchers of Rule
Someone needs to give the guys in Unearth a hug. Their sixth LP is the single most relentless and pissed-off record I heard all year. Unearth has always been an abrasive band, but there's normally some melody and sporadic clean vocals to offer the listener a reprieve from the heavy sections. There's not even an ounce of room to breathe on Watchers of Rule and that all heavy, all the time mentality makes this one of, if not the best release Unearth has ever put together. The enhanced aura of intensity hammers home the impact of their usual onslaught of riffs, blistering solos and perfectly-timed breakdowns, and allows them to hit levels of heaviness I didn't think they were previously capable of. Watchers of Rule is proof that the allegedly dead genre of metalcore is alive and well.
Standout Tracks 1.Never Cease 2.From the Tombs of Five Below 3.Trail of Fire | | 2 |  | Fallujah
The Flesh Prevails
If the extreme metal world wasn't already paying attention to San Francisco technical/progressive death metal act Fallujah, they will be now. Their second LP, The Flesh Prevails, is a dense, heavily nuanced record that handsomely rewards patient listeners who are willing to soak in all of the album's many layers. Fallujah is the rare technical death metal act that favors subtlety over constant balls-out shredding. Every song on the album, whether it be a traditional song or an instrumental, features moments of stunning ambiance that builds into sheer death metal chaos or vice versa. The way Fallujah seamlessly combines these two radically different styles is staggering and shows an immense level of songwriting talent that the modern death metal world desperately needs. The Flesh Prevails is yet another punishing, gorgeous and expertly crafted record from a band that I consider to be the torchbearers for the next generation of American death metal.
Standout Tracks 1.The Night Reveals 2.Sapphire 3.Levitation | | 1 |  | Revocation
Deathless
14 months after dropping their self-titled album- which was previously their best work- Revocation manages to top it pretty handily with Deathless. What makes Deathless standout from the rest of their discography is the sheer strength of the songwriting. This is the record Revocation has been striving to make since their inception. The tech-death/thrash hybrid that first got them noticed back in 2009 with Existence is Futile is still very much at the heart of their sound, they just experiment with it more than ever before. From the Gothenburg melo-death of ?A Debt Owed to the Grave? to the straight-up prog of ?The Blackest Reaches? to the pummeling grooves of ?Labyrinth of Eyes?, this record is a constantly shifting and exciting musical adventure that never lets up in quality at any point. Deathless is quite simply extreme metal perfection and helps Revocation further solidify their place at the top of the modern metal heap.
Standout Tracks 1.Scorched Earth Policy 2.A Debt Owed to the Grave 3.Madness Opus | |
CapnJizz
01.06.15 | I dig 6, 5, 4 and 2. 10 was a huge letdown for me but just my opinion. | Artuma
01.06.15 | meh | Lord(e)Po)))ts
01.06.15 | list gags on balls | tempest--
01.06.15 | wow u have really shit taste in metal | Gameofmetal
01.06.15 | Great list cmait | cmaitland421
01.06.15 | Thank you I try to have the worst taste humanly possible. |
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