Our staff has shifted quite a bit since we posted our first aggregate AOTY list back in 2014. From refocusing our content to implementing The Brooklyn Plan™ to publishing our

6 years ago

Our staff has shifted quite a bit since we posted our first aggregate AOTY list back in 2014. From refocusing our content to implementing The Brooklyn Plan™ to publishing our 2017 AOTY list, our roster of contributors has fluctuated substantially in terms of numbers and genre preferences. This ebb and flow hasn’t always been fortuitous; we’ve gained some of our strongest writers in this time frame while also losing key players to various life commitments. Yet, despite these shifts, we’ve continued to grow the scope and diversity of our coverage, as evidenced by our staff’s eclectic top 10 picks for the year. While you’ll obviously see the albums included in our larger top 25 among these individual lists, but alongside these choices are countless albums from across the musical spectrum, both in terms of genre and visibility in the general blogosphere. Perhaps even more so than our aggregate list, you’ll likely find at least a few albums worth your time from this post, and more importantly, you’ll get a better idea of how deep our writers dig throughout the year to find the best the year has to offer, regardless of genre oir stature.

Ahmed Hasan

  1. Archspire – Relentless Mutation
  2. Ulver – The Assassination of Julius Caesar
  3. Artificial Brain – Infrared Horizon
  4. NYN – Enropy: Of Chaos and Salt
  5. Dodecahedron – kwintessens
  6. Kamasi Washington – Harmony of Difference
  7. Leprous – Malina
  8. Ex Eye – Ex Eye
  9. Zeta – Zeta
  10. Ne Obliviscaris – Urn

[bandcamp video=1525143028 width=560 height=435 bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]

Andrew Hatch

  1. Battle Hag – Tongue of the Earth
  2. Dauthuz – Die Grubenmahre
  3. Craven Idol – The Shackles of Mammon
  4. Lor – In Forgotten Sleep
  5. Atragon – I, Necromancer
  6. Esargoth – The River Running
  7. Taiga Woods – Taiga Woods
  8. Fides Inversa – Rites of Inverse Incantation
  9. The Neptune Power Federation – Neath a Shin Ei Sun
  10. Elder – Reflections of a Floating World

Brandon Klemets

  1. The Black Dahlia Murder – Nightbringers
  2. Persefone – Aathma
  3. Ne Obliviscaris – Urn
  4. Archspire – Relentless Mutation
  5. Xanthochroid – Of Erthe and Axen: Acts I & II
  6. Trivium – The Sin and the Sentence
  7. The Contortionist – Clairvoyant
  8. SikTh – The Future In Whose Eyes?
  9. Perturbator – New Model
  10. Loss – Horizonless

Cody Dilullo

  1. Archspire – Relentless Mutation
  2. Trivium – The Sin and the Sentence
  3. Mastodon – Emperor of Sand
  4. NYN – Enropy: Of Chaos and Salt
  5. Cannibal Corpse – Red Before Black
  6. Leprous – Malina
  7. Dyscarnate – With All Their Might
  8. John Frum – A Stirring in the Noos
  9. Elder – Reflections of a Floating World
  10. Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas – New Horizon

Colin Kauffman

  1. Caligula’s Horse – In Contact
  2. Dreadnought – A Wake in Sacred Waves
  3. Elder – Reflections of a Floating World
  4. Enslaved – E
  5. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy
  6. Pyrrhon – What Passes For Survival
  7. The Body & Full of Hell – Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light
  8. Ulver – The Assassination of Julius Caesar
  9. Converge – The Dusk In Us
  10. Artificial Brain – Infrared Horizon

Dan Wieten

  1. Endur – American Parasite
  2. Code Orange – Forever
  3. Analepsy – Atrocities From Beyond
  4. Perturbator – New Model
  5. Artificial Brain – Infrared Horizon
  6. Zeta – Zeta
  7. Chaos Moon – Eschaton Memoire
  8. Nightbringer – Terra Damnata
  9. Cradle of Filth – Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay
  10. The Black Dahlia Murder – Nightbringers

Eden Kupermintz

  1. Caligula’s Horse – In Contact
  2. Dreadnought – A Wake in Sacred Waves
  3. Elder – Reflections of a Floating World
  4. Pallbearer – Heartless
  5. Ulver – The Assassination of Julius Caesar
  6. Bent Knee – Land Animal
  7. Open Mike Eagle – Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
  8. The Flight of Sleipnir – Skadi
  9. Dvne – Asheran
  10. Archspire – Relentless Mutation

Jimmy Rowe

  1. Mastodon – Emperor of Sand
  2. The Contortionist – Clairvoyant
  3. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy
  4. Ulver – The Assassination of Julius Caesar
  5. The Body & Full of Hell – Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light
  6. Zeta – Zeta
  7. The Faceless – In Becoming a Ghost
  8. Dodecahedron – kwintessens
  9. Xanthochroid – Of Erthe and Axen: Acts I & II
  10. Fit For An Autopsy – The Great Collapse

Jonathan Adams

  1. Pyrrhon – What Passes For Survival
  2. Ingurgitating Oblivion – Vision Wallows In Symphonies of Light
  3. Bell Witch – Mirror Reaper
  4. The National – Sleep Well Beast
  5. Bestia Arcana – Holókauston
  6. Spectral Voice – Eroded Corridors of Unbeing
  7. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy
  8. Caligula’s Horse – In Contact
  9. Cormorant – Diaspora
  10. Elder – Reflections of a Floating World

[bandcamp video=863366820 width=560 height=435 bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]

Jordan Jerabek

  1. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy
  2. Necrot – Blood Offerings
  3. All Them Witches – Sleeping Through the War
  4. Couch Slut – Contempt
  5. Converge – The Dusk In Us
  6. Elder – Reflections of a Floating World
  7. Norska – Too Many Winters
  8. Ulver – The Assassination of Julius Caesar
  9. NYN – Enropy: Of Chaos and Salt
  10. Hexis – Tando Ashanti

Joshua Bulleid

  1. Persefone – Aathma
  2. SikTh – The Future In Whose Eyes?
  3. While She Sleeps – You Are We
  4. Darkest Hour – Godless Prohpets & The Migrant Flora
  5. The King Is Blind – We Are The Parasite, We Are The Cancer
  6. Trivium – The Sin and the Sentence
  7. Fit For An Autopsy – The Great Collapse
  8. Enslaved – E
  9. Thy Art Is Murder – Dear Desolation
  10. Septic Flesh – Codex Omega

Karlo Doroc

  1. Trivium – The Sin and the Sentence
  2. Caligula’s Horse – In Contact
  3. Mashrou’ Leila – Ibn el Leil (Deluxe Edition)
  4. Archspire – Relentless Mutation
  5. Ne Obliviscaris – Urn
  6. NYN – Enropy: Of Chaos and Salt
  7. Dvne – Asheran
  8. Mastodon – Emperor of Sand
  9. White Ward – Futility Report
  10. Impureza – La Caida de Tonatiuh

Lincoln Jones

  1. Primitive Man – Caustic
  2. Artificial Brain – Infrared Horizon
  3. Couch Slut – Contempt
  4. Elder – Reflections of a Floating World
  5. Contrarian – To Perceive is to Suffer
  6. Pallbearer – Heartless
  7. Dopelord – Children of the Haze
  8. Propagandhi – Victory Lap
  9. Wolves in the Throne Room – Thrice Woven
  10. Monolord – Rust

[bandcamp video=1656677753 width=560 height=435 bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]

Mark Valentino

  1. Morbid Angel – Kingdoms Disdained
  2. Converge – The Dusk In Us
  3. Godflesh – Post Self
  4. Undergang – Misantropologi
  5. Planning for Burial – Below the House
  6. Cryptodira – The Devil’s Despair
  7. Artificial Brain – Infrared Horizon
  8. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy
  9. Bell Witch – Mirror Reaper
  10. All Pigs Must Die – Hostage Animal

Matt MacLennan

  1. Sunlight’s Bane – The Blackest Volume: Like All The Earth Was Buried
  2. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy
  3. Employed To Serve – The Warmth Of A Dying Sun
  4. Piss Vortex – Soft Reboot
  5. Artificial Brain – Infrared Horizon
  6. Pyrrhon – What Passes For Survival
  7. Prisoner – Beyond The Infinite
  8. Analepsy – Atrocities From Beyond
  9. The Drip – The Haunting Fear of Inevitability
  10. Converge – The Dusk In Us

Nick Cusworth

  1. Grizzly Bear – Painted Ruins
  2. Grails – Chalice Hymnal
  3. Dreadnought – A Wake in Sacred Waves
  4. Portico Quartet – Art in the Age of Automation
  5. SEIMS – 3
  6. Colin Stetson – All This I Do For Glory
  7. Ulver – The Assassination of Julius Caesar
  8. Do Make Say Think – Stubborn Persistent Illusions
  9. Ex Eye – Ex Eye
  10. Bent Knee – Land Animal

Noyan

  1. Trivium – The Sin and the Sentence
  2. Archspire – Relentless Mutation
  3. Impureza – La Caida de Tonatiuh
  4. Artificial Brain – Infrared Horizon
  5. The Faceless – In Becoming a Ghost
  6. Igorr – Savage Sinusoid
  7. Chaos Moon – Eschaton Memoire
  8. Mastodon – Emperor of Sand
  9. Ingurgitating Oblivion – Vision Wallows In Symphonies of Light
  10. Kartikeya – Samudra

Ryan Castrati

  1. Giraffage – Too Real
  2. Disperse – Foreword
  3. Archspire – Relentless Mutation
  4. Tyler, The Creator – Scum Fuck Flower Boy
  5. Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory
  6. Fit For An Autopsy – The Great Collapse
  7. The Contortionist – Clairvoyant
  8. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy
  9. Dodecahedron – kwintessens
  10. Deadspace – The Liquid Sky

Scott Murphy

  1. St. Vincent – Masseduction
  2. Forest Swords – Compassion
  3. Ex Eye – Ex Eye
  4. Colin Stetson – All This I Do For Glory
  5. Converge – The Dusk In Us
  6. Bell Witch – Mirror Reaper
  7. Úlfur – Arborescence
  8. Bestia Arcana – Holókauston
  9. Område – Nåde
  10. Yazz Ahmed – La Saboteuse

Simon Handmaker

  1. Elder – Reflections of a Floating World
  2. Lunar Shadow – Far From Light
  3. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy
  4. BROCKHAMPTION – Saturation II
  5. Open Mike Eagle – Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
  6. Tera Melos – Trash Generator
  7. Pyrrhon – What Passes For Survival
  8. 21 Savage, Offset, Metro Boomin – Without Warning
  9. The National – Sleep Well Beast
  10. Pallbearer – Heartless

William France

  1. Ulver – The Assassination of Julius Caesar
  2. Artificial Brain – Infrared Horizon
  3. Colin Stetson – All This I Do For Glory
  4. Uneven Structure – La Partition
  5. The Black Dahlia Murder – Nightbringers
  6. Leprous – Malina
  7. Suffocation – Of the Dark Light
  8. Pyrrhon – What Passes For Survival
  9. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy
  10. Thundercat – Drunk
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Published 6 years ago