Best of 2016

7) Katalepsy - Gravenous Hour

Tons of brutal/technical death metal this year and a lot of it was very good. Obscura, Wormed, Deviant Process, all had great albums and this was a tough call, but Gravenous Hour was the finest moment in 2016 for death metal to my ears. The brutality on display here is crushing, but amidst the requisite palm-muting majesty are some of the best guitar leads to come out of the genre since, well... the last Katalepsy record. What can I say, this band has never disappointed. Many will disagree and I'll readily admit Wormed was more brutal, Obscura more technical, but Katalepsy does both absurdly well and that takes a hell of a lot of talent and devotion to something inherently very ugly. Who needs sugar and shine when you can make ears bleed and necks break.

Best of 2016

8) Wormrot - Voices

Wormrot has been on my radar for a while, but for some reason I've never taken them that seriously. It's extremely possible I just wasn't angry or frustrated enough in the past to add them to the soundtrack of life. This year was at times dark and Voices was a bit of aural violence to give the burgeoning chaos a little context. Of all the records on my list this would be the last I'd recommend though because it is, after all, a grind record. You can't just get into this album without appreciating noisy, raucous music. If you're curious about it I'd gladly suggest a few punk records, then a few hardcore records, then a few grind records and then it might be a little more manageable of an experience, but until then, listeners beware.

Best of 2016

9) Spirit Adrift - Chained to Oblivion

I'm a sucker for classic bluesy doom, ask anybody. Spirit Adrift is the best doom of the year and almost unbelievably the whole thing is written and recorded by one guy. Listening to this is a true testament to how technology has enabled us to learn anything, to create anything as long as we have the requisite passion. I should subtract points because I value teamwork and compromise but this record is just too good to not cherish the vision of the one guy, Nate Garrett. There are hooks and riffs on here that easily rival the latest from Pallbearer, a group of gents at the absolute top of their game. As far as I know this record flew well under the radar of awareness this year and it's a damn shame because rolling down the road with Chained to Oblivion thundering was good fun.

Best of 2016

10) Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley

I've wanted to pay homage to synthwave for some time now, but this is the first time a major release from the genre really deserves it. The Uncanny Valley is a remarkable piece of period music. The period is most certainly 80's and this sounds authentically 80's, polished up and ready to be the soundtrack for quasi-futuristic dystopian cinema. Letting the imagination run while spinning this record brings images of blazing neon car chases, slick street fighting in leather, human v. technology quandaries, etc, etc. I really do think this is the high water mark of the synthwave movement so far, but there is a glaring opportunity for whoever wants to follow this record's lead. Two songs on here blow all other material away for the simple reason of having vocals, a narrative to follow. This record begs to be a cinematic experience and without the accompanying film it needs a story to keep us engaged. Tracks 5 and 8 are examples of how to make synthwave as effective as possible and I hope like-minded composers take note.

Postscript - I don't believe in censorship so the original cover art is presented. If it offends you feel free to find your PG rated, vanilla flavored life elsewhere.

Best of 2016

Introduction

Allow me to be contrarian for a brief moment in time. 2016 was a good year for one reason and it's a fairly objective one. Some of us have survived it to continue to experience life. It's really that simple. So many of our heroes died, so many poor choices were made, so many turbulent situations developed into the worst case scenario, but those still breathing, still able to read and write, still able to learn and grow, will look at the past year, examine the events, and try to be better, to do better in future. Many individuals will go down the same path, make the same poor decisions, bitch and moan about the same tired things, but as the pendulum has swung aggressively in one direction it is sure to swing back. The individual has the choice to hop on board or stay where they are and be swept away by the winds of change.

As far as music is concerned 2016 was appropriately difficult. Many of my favorite bands released some of the worst music of their careers. Who knows why, be it a lack of inspiration on their part or particularly specific tastes on mine. Even though my own personal disappointment will pollute memories of music this year, there were a few albums that still made this whole listing process a meaningful and important endeavor.

The following are my favorite albums of the year, some will be known, some unknown, but all worth a spin if you're open enough and patient enough as 2017 instills a fresh feeling of hope.