Best of 2016

1) Vektor - Terminal Redux

I don't like thrash. It's always sounded like music for denim-clad speed freaks with a police record. Megadeth is the worst and Metallica was only good when they were crying about the atrocities of war. I just have no interest in listening to that same god damn galloping beat and the forgettable riffs played on top with no merit other than speed. Yet here I am picking a thrash album for my number one of 2016. Terminal Redux transcends what I perceived thrash to be in every way imaginable. The riffs and leads aren't only played at tremendous speed, they're memorable and moving. The drumming is excellently articulate, twisting and churning, creating tension and release. The vocals are gritty and wonderfully dynamic while still being very thrashy. And this is a science fiction concept album which is just icing on top of a genre leveling cake. Terminal Redux is thrash for people who think, people who need substance with their speed and it should be the new benchmark for what thrash strives to be going forward.

Best of 2016

2) Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

It only took one spin for me to be absolutely sure this was going to be very high on my year end list. Among all the metal it may come as a surprise, but I still contend I'm not a metalhead really. The music just has to be so god damn challenging and absurd to get my attention and the loud, weird stuff is like hard drugs. This isn't loud, though it is a little weird, as all Radiohead albums are. The reason this album made my list while others in past years haven't sounds so obvious to me, although it may be a subtle difference to someone not living within my skull. A Moon Shaped Pool sounds like Radiohead in their purest form. Each song seems very simple on the surface and yet so affecting, more and more with subsequent spins. There are melodies on display here that instantly wormed their way into the deepest parts of my memory. I imagine hearing them during important events involving death and love. I find myself humming them during my quieter moments. It's that sort of emotional response that secures my number two spot in 2016. Go ahead and listen to it if you haven't already.

Best of 2016

3) Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts

Just when I thought Katatonia was leaning toward crowd pleasing, paint by numbers albums they release this enigmatic gem. The Fall of Hearts begins abruptly and in the brief moment of that false start they create an environment of music that sounds somehow alien. All the hallmark Katatonia trademarks are there, but this time they're arranged in a dizzying way, intoxicating and seductive. The entire album follows in the same way and due to the consistent caliber of songwriting, no one song stands out as a possible single. It's all just a lovely experience beginning to end. To say this is my favorite Katatonia album would be doing disservice to the emotional toll this band has taken on me over the years, but it's certainly one of their best. It's oddness reminds me of Still Life by Opeth. Still Life was unquestionably Opethian, but listen after listen it felt like it was composed in a slightly alternative universe. I experience the same feeling here and it's infinitely enjoyable.

Best of 2016

4) Deathspell Omega - The Synarchy of Molten Bones

While Départe represents a fresh take on modern black metal, Deathspell Omega represent the sophisticated veteran. They have been holding themselves to a higher standard since they started out and at this point their sound, their approach to music, is undeniably recognizable. This album is, however, different from previous efforts. Just to create a timeline, Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum released in 2007 had a considerable amount of space primarily in the form of cavernous interludes of haunting atmosphere between blasts. The follow-up Paracletus used space in a different way, mixing it into the compositions, slowing down the momentum of certain tracks, giving the record the opportunity for a bludgeoning, heart-rending finale. The Synarchy of Molten Bones has no space. It distills a signature sound down to the purest essence of horror. The album taken all it once may leave the memory of one long dissonant blast, but given patience and repeated listens there are themes here to hold on to. It certainly takes effort to dissect, to access the finer details, but those who do will be rewarded with the best black metal experience of 2016.

Best of 2016

5) Ihsahn - Arktis.

Ihsahn never quite left my radar, but he was getting damn close to making sure my expectations were low. I haven't been on board with his output since After in 2010, but I'm glad to say he's back writing compelling music. The primary difference between this record and the last couple seems to be something intangible and only a perceived projection of what I feel. Forced to describe it I would say he had a lot of fun writing this record because I have so much fun listening to it. The songs contained run the gamut of influences from black metal to classic rock to a lost Paul Gilbert record so the final product is a little unfocused and unwieldy, yet no less enjoyable. Arktis. sounds like a great guitarist writing great memorable tunes in tribute to the music he loved growing up and learned to love as he got older. I hope he continues to have this much fun going forward.

Best of 2016

6) Départe - Failure, Subside

I feign patience in the face of myriad young gents claiming to be so much more evil and cult than the greats of the black metal canon, but it's all for show. Tremolo picking, cheesy shrieking, and poems in worship of the dark lord are just too common and it bores me to tears to see yet another album cover with some gnarled dude looking as nekro as he possibly can. That's why if asked I can't say I love black metal anymore. I have to qualify it by saying, "I only like black metal that stands apart from the heard." It can come with adjectives like progressive or avant-garde, but what's important is that it stirs up some new emotion or capitalizes on some new idea. Failure, Subside is exactly what I look for in a black metal album. They take influence from the veterans while crafting something fresh and haunting. As a debut, this album represents a brief glimmer of hope in a near impenetrable murk of stagnation and I'll be keeping an eye out for the sophomore effort.

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.