Now that everyone has posted their "year end" lists and moved on with their lives into the new year, I will post my "year end" list, proving that I'm a perennial slow draw. I'm doing things a little differently this time around. I don't get much mileage out of these posts, so I'm keeping the annotations to a bare minimum. Sure, I could jabber about cool records for 1,478 fortnights, but moderation is key. An impossibly thick block of text won't inspire anyone to listen to lo-fi black metal.
Honorable mentions! Basically, these albums are tied for the eleventh spot. Aquilus's Bellum I is a grand, stunning piece of orchestral black metal. If I had discovered it sooner, it would be on the list proper. Replicant's Malignant Reality kicked my sternum into shards. What is it? Death metal with riffs. Another acceptable classification would be riff metal with death. So good. And fucking Paranorm's Empyrean was my thrash pick of the year. Don't let the fact that I rarely listen to (modern) thrash deter you from experiencing this beast. The solos are flammable, and you know how much I love solos.
Oh, and Suffering Hour's The Cyclic Reckoning is sick. Let's get to the list already!
10) VOLA ~ Witness| Jagged djent crossed with pop? Somehow, it works. Beats me.
9) Lamp of Murmuur ~ Submission and Slavery| Raw black metal fused with inventive riffs that grope melody (ew) with rib-tickling strokes. The 80's new wave influences ensure that everything feels fresh. 90's Metallica meets Depeche Mode. Kinda.
8) The Ruins of Beverast ~ The Thule Grimoires| One of the best one-man projects going. His sixth long player pulls goth into his heaviness. If the first half was as captivating as the second, Thule would be flirting with the top spot.
7) Grima ~ Rotting Garden| Atmospheric black metal that places the listener in a tent, sequestered in an outlying forest, encircled by timber and frond. The owl hoots are a nice touch.
6) Mare Cognitum ~ Solar Paroxysm| When it comes to melodic black metal, this disc was unrivaled. I won't pretend to grasp the overarching concept (the sun is hot?), but I love losing myself in the mosaic compositions. The way that the tremolo streaks intertwine...it's righteous, man!
5) Cannibal Corpse ~ Violence Unimagined| It gives me an undue sense of pride to include the latest CC offering. I didn't write it, but it assures me that I go to bat for a credible group of sickophants (l'm too clever for my body) when they release music this threatening. These riffs are not fucking around.
4) Obscura ~ A Valediction| Most tech bands bounce off of my metal skin on account of there being too many notes. I don't care how fast you can play; if I can't remember a single passage of your blasted rhapsody, it's crummy. Obscura do not create crummy modulations. In actual fact, they create unbelievably harmonic music on a consistent basis. A Valediction is a victory.
3) Unto Others ~ Strength| I wasn't into this band when they were known as Idle Hands. Something clicked with the name change. It's purely arbitrary, but I'm glad that they were facing legal action. I do realize that this album would sound the same as an Idle Hands composite. Whatever. It's unique. The contoured clean vocals are catchy and there is an abundance of twin guitar bravado.
2) King Woman ~ Celestial Blues| I got the blues! This sucker came so close to nabbing the spoils of first place. It's eerily melodic, intensely personal, and thematically abstruse. The title track is my song of the year, if you're curious. Did I mention that this thing is fucking heavy? Because it is, and from an outside perspective, it doesn't ring as a record that would appeal to metalheads.
1) Khemmis ~ Deceiver| Simply put, I adore the grade of doom that Khemmis peddles. It's tailor-made for my earholes. You can expect to tune into sullen vocal lines, expressive leads, layered lyrics that can be interpreted in multiple ways. Fans cream their clam diggers over 2016's Hunted, and for good reason, but I rate Deceiver as the band's finest hour. Take a liberal dose of "Shroud of Lethe" and call me in the morning.