Best of 2011

#1 - Death - Human (Remastered)

Ok, ok... I phoned this one in. But seriously what did you expect? Death is my favorite band, the reason I picked up guitar. And Human was originally released with a terrible production job. So in 2011, I spun this masterpiece a lot and loved the shit out of every moment. That's it for 2011, time to bring on 2012, which is already promising to be a good year, even though those pesky Mayans say it'll be our last.

Best of 2011

#2 - Valborg - Barbarian

I've been following Valborg since they started out noting each of their releases as having potential but not being fully realized. This is weird stuff with no discernible influences that I can tell, which automatically earns my attention, but it wasn't until Barbarian that I was really impressed. This album is so fucking moody, so hypnotic and atmospheric, at moments you could call it minimalist with it's apparent simple song structures, but there's a lot between the lines here. On Barbarian, Valborg painted a picture of a hulking, lumbering soldier, battle-ax in hand, on a journey. During some tracks he lays waste to small villages, bludgeoning peasants into muddy battlefields. On others he wanders, he reflects, he regrets. And on the second to last track (I like to think when he meets a special lady) he sings a rock ballad that if played with a different guitar, through a different amp, in a different country, could have easily made it onto a Scorpions album. What the fuck you might say. What the fuck indeed.

Best of 2011

#3 - Shining - VI - Fodd Forlorare

I love black metal that doesn't sound quite like black metal. I like my black metal to have acoustic guitars, parts that don't blast, I like it to have hooks to remember and atmosphere. Shining's motivation is pretty simple. They write songs about killing yourself; a message that's been done a million times before. Luckily the lyrics aren't in English and every other aspect of this album is fucking awesome. Each track has a pulse strongly rooted in rock structure with groovy rhythms and blasts used sparingly with great effect. And even though the lyrical theme is recycled from youthful rebellion, the lyrics are delivered with passion. There are moments on this album where the words seem to come out of the vocal's throat like razor blades, shredding the poor guy to pieces. He's obviously a god damn lunatic, but most great artists are.