As you could probably guess, this week is all about discussing our favorite albums from 2015. However, we decided to have a few special guests also discuss their top 10 albums from the year, and why they placed where they did. This week, we have Chad from Frontierer and A Dark Orbit, who’s latest record with the former made it onto our top 50, and rightfully so! Check out his picks below!
This is an amazing and powerful release by a trio. It has everything and really makes for a very interesting listen. It has the intensity of Burnt By The Sun and The Red Chord mixed with Neurosis and Across Tundras in a sludge capsule of Will Haven. It’s great!
This was another late addition to my list, since I had no clue a new album had dropped. It is just as great as I figured it would be. It is full of haunting sludge and chilling melodies, but the songs, although longer on average, really seem to tell a story. It’s a very strong listen that builds on new discoveries with each spin.
This is a band that not a lot of people know about and that’s a shame. There are definitely strong influences of Meshuggah and Tool here, with a ton of emotion that helps the tracks to grab onto you more. All of their releases are attention getters and I was excited to hear that this record was finally seeing the light of day. Trust me, it doesn’t disappoint. It has just as much intensity as it does melody.
Once again, Intronaut can seem to do no wrong. They have blended the best from all their albums and EP’s to compile the great sound of this new record. The melody’s here remind me of current Mastodon and the groove riffs give me that single note Will Haven sludge feel. This album feels more like it follows the path of what should have followed Prehistoricisms, and I really like that.
VOD have found their voice again…and it sounds amazing! Very glad to hear that they have blended the elements of both Imprint and From Bliss To Devastation to make RTTG. I love the riffs and vocally it has so much energy. Glad to see they are killing it once again.
This was a complete diamond in the rough that I just very recently stumbled upon the last couple of days. I had briefly heard their last release, but had no clue that this was out. I completely love this album and it reminds me a ton of Neurosis. The organics and clarity of the numerical soundscape tracks are unreal and really make this album special. If I would have found this earlier, it would for sure be at the top of the list. Their sound is blackened progressive doom with a beautiful atmosphere. It’s unique.
This album is so crushing and sludgy that it hurts my insides. From the first listen, even for as noisy as it can be, it has a groove to it that you can latch onto as it beats you over the head with angst. This type of sound is hard to perfect without seeming overdone, but CL have figured it out on this release.
Once again, WHVN always seem to make something that keeps them close to my heart. They have taken their sound and somehow made it much darker and murkier than ever, and while keeping it simpler than most, have made something so much heavier than most. Their atmosphere on this is more prominent and comes across like a dense dark fog. Its haunting, disturbing, and yet beautiful as well.
Now this album hasn’t hit the streets yet, but being a close friend to Corey Bennett helps a ton. We always share our musical creations from the time they are born with each other, so I have been listening to this for months, and let me just say this, it’s incredible and their best work to date. When I listen to this from front to back, I get the same feeling that I get from a Deftones record. It has it all and it’s perfection that stays on repeat. The difference is is that this is the demonic version of the Deftones fighting their way out of a tar pit…and they are pissed!
This album blew me away from the first listen and it hasn’t left. I don’t think I have heard an album in years that vocally commands you to shut-up and listen with its presence. It literally scolds you. As a whole, it is relentless and punishing from start to finish with even a more dark overtone than their previous work. It’s almost chilling on how evil this album sounds. The song “Light Bearer” and its ending epic breakdown sold me and will sell you too…need I say no more.
Honorable Mentions:
Failure – The Heart Is A Monster
Anakin – Celestial Frequency Shifter
Slayer – Repentless
Marilyn Manson – The Pale Emperor
Black Tongue – The Unconquerable Dark
Ghost – Meliora
Yüth Forever – Freudian Slip
Dark Sermon – The Oracle
Fear Factory – Genexus
Fit For An Autopsy – Absolute Hope Absolute Hell
No Consequence – Vimana
Murdock – Dead Lung
Sumac – The Deal
Zombi – Shape Shift
Witch Of The Waste – Made Of Teeth
That’s all folks! Thanks for tuning in, and thanks to everyone who kindly organized their thoughts into some awesome lists for us!
-HB