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2009 was a good year, certainly heavy in quantity, but what about quality? I'll note now that the order of items below are opinion and will most likely change. Disappointingly, it appears I listened to exactly 49 albums this year - one short of having a top 50. It should also be noted that some of the albums here I do not rate highly, such as albums #48 and #47, and they appear here to give a complete view of last year in music (for me).



49. Lamb of God - Wraith
48. Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague
47. Daath - The Concealers
46. Obscura - Cosmogenesis
45. Blindead - impulse
44. Vomitory - Carnage Euphoria
43. Absu - Absu
42. Samael - Above
41. Paradise Lost - Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us
40. Asphyx - Death... The Brutal Way
39. Slayer - World Painted Blood
38. God Dethroned - Passiondale
37. Altar of Plagues - White Tomb
36. Kylesa - Static Tensions
35. The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
34. Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans
33. 1349 - Revelations of the Black Flame
32. My Dying Bride - For The Lies I Sire
31. Nile - Those Whom The Gods Detest
30. Shining - IV: Klagopsalmer
29. Napalm Death - Time Waits For No Slave
28. Ulcerate - Everything is Fire
27. Nadja - Numbness
26. Ephel Duath - Through My Dog's Eyes
25. Lifelover - Dekadens
24. November's Doom - Into Night's Requiem Infernal
23. Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue with the Stars
22. A Storm of Light - Forgive Us Our Trespasses
21. Sunn O))) - Monoliths and dimensions
20. Heaven and Hell - The Devil You Know
19. Nadja - When I See The Sun Always Shines On TV
18. Gnaw Their Tongues - all the dread magnificence of perversity
17. Khanate - Clean Hands Go Foul
16. Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder
15. Swallow the Sun - New Moon
14. Pelican - What We All Come To Need
13. Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs
12. Fen - The Malediction Fields
11. OM - God Is Good

10. Cobalt - Gin
For any album, this is outstandingly composed. It's a very varied album, but one with strong black metal roots, which show mainly in the drums and vocals. It's hard to place a name of Cobalt's sound - a popular description on their shoutbox is 'Black metal Tool. Challenging music - and very worth picking up.

9. I Shalt Become - The Pendle Witch Trials
Criminally under-rated. To sum it up - it's very, very good depressive/atmospheric black metal from the UK. The album has no pretensions, just ample amounts of great black metal. Well worth finding, it has all the hallmarks of becoming a real gem.

8. Isis - Wavering Radiant
One of the earliest releases of 2009, and it set the right tone. It's a really great album, gives an excellent atmosphere and the vocals are very well done. My only comment is that the songs become slightly boring as the album wears on. Still, one of their best.

7. Baroness - Blue Record
The follow up to Red Album, this album serves as a showcase for Baroness's talent. The songs ooze with life, and the album carries a vein of vitality throughout that gives it a unique flow. The music is heavy, but not overly so - it forms a perfect back drop for John Baizley's grating vocals. There are some genuine moments of brilliance... Jake Leg!

6. The Axis of Perdition - Urfe
Where to start. It's a huge album - two discs (The Grief of The Unclean and The Great Unwashed). The content is mainly ambient soundscape, with spoken word from Leslie Simpson throughout. Very briefly, the album chronicles a man, lost in what seems to be a hellish, urban nightmare. This man runs, aware of demons at the edge of his reality. He relives memories of a hospital, or at least some sort of twisted experiment. What is the meaning? It is unclear - perhaps the demonic city was a dream, a side effect of the man's medical experiments. Maybe the city is a metaphor for the decay of our urban society. Who is Pylon? What is this 'axis'? Take from it what you will, maybe it's just a good story. This will disturb you. Ambitious certainly, but utterly excellent, hauntingly so. When you're out, we're in.

5. Jesu - Opiate Sun
More of an EP than an album, but as before, much of Justin's best music is hidden away on four-track releases. This effort has received flack for it's melodic, shoegaze like approach. Maybe people can't get over the Heartache EP just yet. Fuck them. This is genius. Can't wait for another full length.

4. Anaal Nathrakh -
Anaal Nathrakh have been a band of change recently - of their music, and their fans' opinions. ITCOTBW is an amalgamation of the sheer brutality of The Codex Necro era with the more structured songs and choruses of more recent albums. This album may fuck with your ears, but rest assured - you'll hum along too.


3. Candlemass - Death Magnetic Doom
Unbelievable effort - the songs are devastatingly simple, but hit you with the force of a tonne weight. Actually, this would get on the list simply for The Bleeding Baroness, but it's full of really iconic doom songs. If you're new to Candlemass or doom - look no further.


2. Mastodon - Crack The Skye
An album that has appeared, and has won many lists and polls this year, and it will come second here. I wasn't a fan of Mastodon before this year, and the sheer craft and ambition of this album swayed me. Great riffs, great vocals, and great songs.



1. Katatonia - Night Is The New Day
Perhaps I'm biased; this year was the year that Katatonia really grew on me, and that they released a new album this year only added to it. It is with an air of predictability for myself that I give Night Is The New Day the top spot, but it is an incredible album. Full of melodies, highs and lows, gloom and renewal. It's a less polished, but much more emotional Katatonia album. To quote a magazine feature on this album - 'Lets hope they never cheer up'.

So, overall a good year. Some great new bands, and some old masters returning in style. I still have a few albums to obtain, such as Moss 'Tomb of The Blind Drugged' etc. Lets see...

Best EP: Jesu - Opiate Sun
Biggest disappointment: Shining - IV: Klagopsalmer
Worst album: Lamb of God - Wraith
Over-hyped: Absu - Absu

Now, I'll leave you with the best song of 2009.


A belated happy new year to all.


DarkthroneDeathspell OmegaMetallicaMegadethTriviumCarcassIron MaidenOpethSanctitySatyriconStonesourStone SourTestamentVenomAnthraxDevilDriverXasthurMossMardukDarkspaceAgallochElectric WizardBlack SabbathDark TranquillityPanic CellDownGodfleshLeviathanDeicideMorbid AngelCarpathian ForestEarthFear FactorySlipknotCoilPainDivine HeresyHead Control SystemMeshuggahThornsCynic

Earthly Delights - Lightning Bolt
The Divinity of Oceans - Ahab
The Surveillance Lounge - Nurse With Wound
Get Color - HEALTH
Static Tensions - Kylesa
Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective
Actor - St. Vincent
The Strange Dreams of Paul White - Paul White
Behavioural Decline - Iron Fist Of The Sun
Folding Space- cages

Note: These are in no particular order. This list was hastily written and is subject to change. I haven't listen to nearly enough albums to be properly informed. Inb4 entry level.

*According to me.

If i've realised one thing this year it's that i'm a little too obsessed with music. Not necessarily a bad thing, but i know it's got to simmer down at some point. This year takes the cake for sure…, as i think this stupidly long list will prove.

Decided not to include a section of albums i didn't like… theres already too many to mention of the good stuff, so what's the point.

In alphabetical order...

THE STANDOUTS (My absolute favourite albums of 2009)

Artist: Alexisonfire
Album: Old Crows/Young Cardinals

Alexisonfire are the quintessential hipster emo/screamo scene kid band-of-choice, and as such i have generally avoided them for years. Was given the album and didn't really give it much play, but the heavy rotation of the 'Young Cardinals' single on the radio eventually hooked me and made me listen again, and this is a great album. I think its funny that the scene kids will have to share their now mainstream band with noobs like me. Ah, i remember when noobs started listening to my bands….






Artist: Alice in Chains
Album: Black Gives Way To Blue

Alice in Chains and Smashing Pumpkins were my two fave grunge-era bands, so i was more than willing to accept this no matter how average… but it turned out to be exceptionally good, which pushes it up into my standouts. The new singer doesn't add much apart from sounding like Layne Staley, which doesn't interfere with the band's original sound, so they haven't tarnished the band's name in my books, which is always my greatest fear with comebacks like these.






Artist: The Avett Brothers
Album: I And Love And You

These are the kind of albums i love finding… alt-country gems like this that get overlooked. This album isn't overly serious, consists of beautiful folky melodies and the second half almost breaks into party mode with a few indie rock moments, which for me, gives it a bit of an edge over other alt-country releases this year.






Artist: Baroness
Album: Blue Record

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than Red Album. If they improve again over this, holy shit.






Artist: Black Math Horseman
Album: Wyllt

Melodic stoner/doom with female vocals…. yes please. Apart from that, its also really, really, really good.






Artist: Converge
Album: Axe To Fall

Hardcore+Punk+Metal… sounds like the usual recipe for disaster, but this is so far above average its not even funny. The final two tracks on this album show they could probably make any genre of music and still be exceptional.






Artist: Dark Castle
Album: Spirited Migration

Awesome female metal vocals for this exceptional sludge metal album, a winner with me.






Artist: Dinosaur Jr.
Album: Farm

Aware of the slew of highly rated reviews for this, i decided to check it out. Definitely deserves the acclaim. Fantastic guitar record.






Artist: dredg
Album: The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion

My first impressions of this were a mixed bag. On one hand there were some amazing songs with amazing lyrics, like 'Pariah', or 'I Don't Know' - and then there were some others that sound straight up top 40 punk-pop, particularly 'Information' that really put me off. But it was one of those albums i just had to keep listening to, now i really love the whole thing.






Artist: Ha Ha Tonka
Album: Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South

So damn good.






Artist: The Handsome Family
Album: Honey Moon

Aw mah gaaaawd yeh.






Artist: Kylesa
Album: Static Tensions

Fuck me, this is fucking killer. One of my favourite albums ever!






Artist: Little Birdy
Album: Confetti

I've got a soft spot for Little Birdy, they write great pop songs and they've thankfully returned to their original country inspired sound, and mixed in a bit of white R&B for good measure. There's not a bad song on the album.






Artist: Mastodon
Album: Crack The Skye

One of my favourite bands. Crack The Skye is definitely their most cohesive, focussed album, resulting in less tracks and longer songs. I don't think i could choose a favourite album of theirs, they're all different and excellent.






Artist: Metric
Album: Fantasies

These songs really stood out to me this year, amongst all the other indie pop… fun songs.






Artist: Neko Case
Album: Middle Cyclone

Neko Case rules my world. I LOVE HER!







Artist: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Album: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Album: Higher Than the Stars [EP]

Another totally perfect record, quickly became one of my favourites ever. Totally my exact kind of pop-rock record. Elements of My Bloody Valentine, The Strokes, The Stone Roses, The Smiths and Silversun Pickups all come to mind when listening to it. Pure bliss.

They also released an EP, Higher Than the Stars, which was a bit disappointing only because the songs on it all sound kinda similar to other songs on the eponymous LP.






Artist: Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses
Album: Roadhouse Sun

Another amazing alt-country discovery.






Artist: Scale The Summit
Album: Carving Desert Canyons

Instrumental, post-rock, progressive, with elements of metal… i think this is my favourite instrumental album ever. I don't really enjoy instrumental albums that much. There are a lot of amazing bands out there who choose this path, but my main complaint is that, for me, it just gets boring after awhile. This album never get boring and is a total blast to listen to.






Artist: Silversun Pickups
Album: Swoon

Carnavas is up there with my most favourite perfect albums ever, and i knew it would be a hard act to follow. No, its not as good as Carnavas. But this is still really, really good. I really love this album and it's still miles better than most stuff around at the moment, it's just that Carnavas set the bar too high and i find it hard to get too excited about this.






Artist: a textbook tragedy
Album: Rain City State Of Mind [EP]

I have absolutely listened the dog shit out of their EP this year. I can't get enough. Something about this EP clicks with me more than the 2008 Intimidator LP did, i can't put my finger on it. It totally obliterates anything in its path, and makes it hard to downgrade to other similar hardcore technical math-metalcore bands out there… this is as good as it gets.






Artist: Those Darlins
Album: Those Darlins

Country + Punk + Girls = win.






Artist: Tucker B's
Album: Nightmares In The Key Of (((((Wow)))))

Well, finally an Aussie band that totally delivered. These guys are so slept on, its criminal. I guess that's how they can manage to produce yet another album of such sheer brilliance, because there's absolutely no pressure. I thought 2005's Chubby LP was amazing, and now this, the songs are still as punchy, catchy, unpretentious and bizarre as ever. I've always kinda thought they sound like Pixies meets Radiohead sans thom yorke. I dunno, they're just the Tucker B's. Fucking legends.






Album: True Blood - Music From The HBO Original Series [Soundtrack]

One of the best soundtracks ever! Perfect for any mood or occasion. Try it out!




LOVED (awesome albums! - just not quite the standouts)

Artist: Ahab
Album: The Divinity of Oceans






Artist: Ancestors
Album: Of Sound Mind






Artist: The Armed
Album: These Are Lights






Artist: Between the Buried and Me
Album: The Great Misdirect






Artist: The Black Dahlia Murder
Album: Deflorate






Artist: Bloodhorse
Album: Horizoner






Artist: Buried Inside
Album: Spoils of Failure






Artist: Callisto
Album: Providence






Artist: Chevelle
Album: Sci-Fi Crimes






Artist: Drive-By Truckers
Album: The Fine Print (A Collection of Oddities and Rarities) 2003-2008






Artist: Gallows
Album: Grey Britain






Artist: Gifts From Enola
Album: from fathoms






Artist: He Is Legend
Album: It Hates You






Artist: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
Album: Through The Devil Softly






Artist: The Horrors
Album: Primary Colours






Artist: HORSE the band
Album: Desperate Living






Artist: Hull
Album: Sole Lord






Artist: Irepress
Album: Sol Eye Sea I






Artist: Isis
Album: Wavering Radiant







Artist: Jesu
Album: Infinity
Album: Opiate Sun [EP]






Artist: John Frusciante
Album: The Empyrean






Artist: Karnivool
Album: Sound Awake






Artist: Kongh
Album: Shadows Of The Shapeless






Artist: The Low Anthem
Album: Oh My God, Charlie Darwin






Artist: Minsk
Album: With Echoes in the Movement of Stone






Artist: The Number Twelve Looks Like You
Album: Worse Than Alone






Artist: OM
Album: God Is Good






Artist: Patterson Hood
Album: Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)






Artist: Reverend Horton Heat
Album: Laughin' & Cryin' With The Reverend Horton Heat






Artist: The Scare
Album: Oozevoodoo






Artist: Shrinebuilder
Album: Shrinebuilder






Artist: The Temper Trap
Album: Conditions






Artist: Thrice
Album: Beggars






Artist: Wilco
Album: Wilco (The Album)






Artist: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Album: It's Blitz!






Artist: YOB
Album: The Great Cessation




NOT BAD, NOT GREAT (disappointing, but worth a mention...)

Artist: Alela Diane
Album: To Be Still






Artist: Among the Oak & Ash
Album: Among The Oak & Ash






Artist: Bury Your Dead
Album: It's Nothing Personal






Artist: Coalesce
Album: OX






Artist: Dead Man's Bones
Album: Dead Man's Bones






Artist: Disappearer
Album: The Clearing






Artist: The Gossip
Album: Music For Men






Artist: Heaven & Hell
Album: The Devil You Know






Artist: Howling Bells
Album: Radio Wars






Artist: Manatees
Album: Icarus, The Sunclimber






Artist: Maserati
Album: Passages






Artist: Megadeth
Album: Endgame






Artist: Narrows
Album: New Distances






Artist: Peaches
Album: I Feel Cream






Artist: Pelican
Album: Ephemeral [EP]






Artist: Poison the Well
Album: The Tropic Rot






Artist: Q-Tip
Album: Kamaal The Abstract






Artist: Riverside
Album: Anno Domini High Definition






Artist: Russian Circles
Album: Geneva






Artist: Slayer
Album: Son Volt






Artist: Son Volt
Album: American Central Dust




OTHER ALBUMS I wanted to check out - for future referenceA Storm of Light - Forgive Us Our Trespasses
A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
Across Tundras - Herds of the Fathomless Valleys
And Then There Were None - Who Speaks For Planet Earth?
Arbouretum - Song Of The Pearl
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
Blitzen Trapper - Black River Killer [EP]
Black Cobra - Chronomega
The Bottle Rockets - Lean Forward
Bridezilla - The First Dance
Chali 2na - Fish Outta Water
Children - Hard Times Hanging At The End Of The World
The Church - Untitled #23
Clan of Xymox - In Love We Trust
Dappled Cities - Zounds
Dave Alvin - Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women
Dexter Romweber Duo - Ruins of Berlin
Double Dagger - More
Echoes Of Yul - Echoes of Yul
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below
Fall of Efrafa - Inlé
Five Finger Death Punch - War Is The Answer
Florence + The Machine - Lungs
Gaza - He Is Never Coming Back
Guy Clark - Somedays The Song Writes You
Heavy Trash - Midnight Soul Serenade
Hot Panda - Volcano… Bloody Volcano
I Was A King - I Was A King
Iron Age - The Sleeping Eye
James Hand - Shadow on the Ground
Javelina - Beasts Among Sheep
Jets Overhead - No Nations
Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies
Kieran Kane - Somewhere Beyond The Roses
Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy
Langhorne Slim - Be Set Free
Latitudes - Agonist
Litmus - Aurora
Living Things - Habeas Corpus
Loney Dear - Dear John
Lucero - 1372 Overton Park
Lullabye Arkestra - Threats/Worship
Mac McAnally - Down By The River
Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People… Lazers Do
Maplewood - Yeti Boombox
Mariachi El Bronx - Mariachi El Bronx
Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
N.A.S.A. - The Spirit of Apollo
Naam - Naam
New Keepers of the Water Towers - The Chronicles
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Speed of Life
Oceansize - Home & Minor [EP]
Oh Mercy - Privileged Woes
Oneida - Rated O
Paul Burch and The Wpa Ballclub - Still Your Man
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Pelican - What We All Come To Need
Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans
Porcupine Tree - The Incident
Shadows Fall - Retribution
Sights & Sounds - Monolith
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Starlight Mints - Change Remains
Sugar Army - The Parallels Amongst Ourselves
Taint - All Bees To The Sea [EP]
The Psyke Project - Dead Storm
Tift Merritt - Buckingham Solo
To a Skylark - To A Skylark
To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie - Marlone
Two Tongues - Two Tongues
Weird Owl - Ever The Silver Cord Be Loosed

1. Mastodon - Crack The Skye
2. Argus - Argus
3. YOB - The Great Cessation
4. The Chasm - Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm
5. Cobalt - Gin
6. Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars
7. Razor of Occam - Homage To Martyrs
8. Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder
9. Absu - Absu
10. Slough Feg - Ape Uprising
11. Revelation - For The Sake Of No One
12. Drudkh - Microcosmos
13. Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans
14. Suffocation - Blood Oath
15. Altar Of Oblivion - Sinews of Anguish
16. Megadeth - Endgame
17. Destroyer 666 - Defiance
18. Iron Man - I Have Returned
19. Heaven and Hell - The Devil You Know
20. Napalm Death - Time Waits For No Slave

Also in the running: Wodensthrone, Kylesa, Memory Driven, Isole, Giant Squid, While Heaven Wept, Isis, Nile, Clutch, Novembers Doom

Read about these albums at www.metalreview.com

1 Solstafir - Köld 9,0
2 While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose 9,0
3 Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II 9,0
4 Austere To Lay Like Old Ashes - 8,5
5 When Mine Eyes Blacken - When Mine Eyes Blacken 8,5
6 Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted To Sin 8,5
7 Shining - Klagopsalmer 8,5
8 Asphyx - Death...the Brutal Way 8,5
9 VULVARK - Vulvark 8,0
10 Regina Spektor - Far 8,0
11 Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs 8,0
12 Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans 8,0
13 Florence & The Machine - Lungs 8,0
14 Happy Days - Happiness Stops Here 8,0
15 Black Sun Aeon - Darkness walks beside me 8,0
16 Emilie Simon - The Big Machine 8,0
17 Absu - Absu 8,0
18 Sun of the Blind - Skullreader 7,5
19 Dead - Hanging Illussions 7,5
20 Megadeth - Endgame 7,5
21 Bat for Lashes - Two Suns 7,5
22 Drudkh - Microcosmos 7,5
23 Slayer - World Painted Blood 7,5
24 Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult - Saldorian Spell 7,5
25 Count Raven - Mammons of War 7,5
26 Altar of Plagues - White Tomb 7,5
27 Isole - Silent Ruins 7,5
28 I Shalt Become - The Pendle Witch Trails 7,5
29 Endstille - Verführer 7,5
30 My Dying Bride - For Lies I Sire 7,0
31 Griftegard - Solemn, Sacred, Severe 7,0
32 W.A.S.P. - Babylon 7,5
33 Tori Amos - Midwinter Graces 7,0
34 Smerte - To Mars And Beyond 7,0
35 Soap&Skin - Lovetune for Vacuum 7,0
36 Posthum - Posthum 7,0
37 Naxzul - Iconlast 7,0
38 Vreid - Milorg 7,0
39 Self-Inflicted Violence - A Perception of Matter and Energy 7,0
40 Monarque - Ad Nauseam 7,0
41 The Ruins of Beverast - Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite 7,0
42 Throne of Katarsis - Helvete 7,0
43 Urgehal Ikonoklast - 7,0
44 Bitterness - Genociety 7,0
45 Dusk - Örök Halalban 7,0
46 Porcupine Tree - The Incident 7,0
47 Barnaby Bright - Wake The Hero 6,5
48 Glorior Belli - Meet us at the Southern Sign 6,5
49 Forsaken - After The Fall 6,5
50 Thesyre - Résistance 6,5
51 Cobalt - Gin 6,5
52 PJ Harvey & John Parish - A Man A Woman Walked By 6,5
53 Saxon - Into The Labyrinth 6,5
54 Gorgoroth - Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt 6,5
55 Sepultura - A-Lex 6,5
56 Grimorium Verum - Rehearsal 666 6,5
57 Skaldic Curse - World Suicide Machine 6,5
58 Hellsaw Cold - 6,5
59 Code - Resplendent Grotesque 6,5
60 Paganizer - Scandinavian Warmachine 6,5
61 Licht Erlischt - The Narrow Path 6,5
62 Fever Ray - Fever Ray 6,0
63 Novembers Doom - Into Night's Requiem Infernal 6,0
64 From the Sunset, Forest and Grief - Empty, Cold & Forgotten 6,0
65 A Fine Frenzy - Bomb in a Birdcage 6,0
66 Xasthur - All Reflections Drained 6,0
67 Swallow the Sun - New Moon 6,0
68 Rachael Yamagata - Elephants 6,0
69 Grimlair - Au Commencement d l'ombre 6,0
70 Dark Funeral - Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus 6,0
71 Beyond Light - The Scars of Daylight 6,0
72 Hypocrisy - A Taste of Extreme Divinity 6,0
73 The 11th Hour - Burden of Grief 6,0
74 Amorphis - Skyforger 6,0
75 Neige et Noirceur - Philosophie des Arts Occultes 6,0
76 Vienna Teng - Inland Terrotory 6,0
77 Through the Pain - Time Heals Nothing 5,5
78 Powerwolf - Bible of the Beast 5,5
79 Jenny Owen Youngs - Transmitter Failure 5,5
80 Empty - The House of Funerary Hymns 5,5
81 Drowning The Light - A Pact With Madness 5,5
82 The Gates of Slumber - Hymns of Blood and Thunder 5,5
83 Sworn - Bastards & Conqueror 5,0
84 Marduk - Wormwood 5,0
85 Sacred Oath - Sacred Oath 5,0
86 Katatonia - Night is the New Day 5,0
87 Den Saakaldte - All Hail Pessimism 5,0
88 Sunn o))) - Monoliths & Dimensions 5,0
89 Velvet Cacoon - Paa Opal Poere Pr.33 5,0
90 Kreator - Hordes of Chaos 5,0
91 Peste Noire - La Ballade Contre Lo Anemi Francor 4,5
92 Kratornas - The Corroding Age of Wounds 4,5
93 Shever - A Dialogue with the Dimensions 4,5
94 Wino - Punctuated Equilibrium 4,5
95 Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague 4,0
96 Lenka - Lenka 4,0
97 Azarath - Praise The Beast 4,0
98 Napalm Death - Time Waits For No Slave 3,5
99 Voqkrre - Palans in Pestilens 3,0
100 Suidakra - Crogacht 3,0

I wanted to post this on New Year's Eve but I'm running out of time so I thought I'd just get it out of the way...

Before anything I have to post this warning: These are not ACTUALLY the "best" albums of the year but rather just my favorites. It's my opinion, etc, etc, etc...

So... Another year has passed. To be honest 2009 was a fairly mediocre year for music and was filled with a multitude of disappointments. There is not a SINGLE album that was released this year that I would consider a true masterpiece. '08 was a much better year for music with some fairly amazing albums and '07 was even beyond that... 2010 should make up for it, however, as there are a gargantuan amount of amazing releases scheduled.

Overall some genres that stood out for doing well this year were indie folk/rock (Mumford & Sons, The Decemberists, etc.), and doom metal (Stabat Mater, Mournful Congregation, etc.)

Best overall album: Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

Best album cover: Baroness - The Blue Record

Biggest Disappointment(s): Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade, Riverside - Anno Domini High Definition, Porcupine Tree - The Incident, Muse - Resistance, Drudkh - Microcosmos, Funeral Mist - Maranatha, and Ruins of Beverest - The Foulest Semen of the Sheltered Elite... There were more but I need not list them. This year was extremely disappointing. All of these bands have released AMAZING material and the past and these 2009 albums are not even close to up to par.

Best debut album(s): Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More, and Gungfly - Please Be Quiet

Album(s) that climbed my chart the quickest: Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More (which literally climbed my charts the quickest out of any other album in my life...), and Les Descrits/Alcest Split

Biggest Surprise: The Decemberists - The Hazards Of Love. I don't like any of their past albums at all but I just LOVE this album. Originally I didn't think I'd like it and I bought it on impulse.

Album most worth waiting for: maudlin of the Well - Part the Second (8 years)

Most underrated album: Siena Root - Different Realities. No one has ever even heard of this one. It's a great album!

Most overrated album: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion. A good record, most definitely, but not an "awe-inspiring masterpiece" by ANY means! I've heard that description tossed around a bit...

Best Reissue(s): The King Crimson remasters/remixes by Steven Wilson, and The Beatles' remasters.

Best Demo: Ascension - With Burning Tongues. That being said, I didn't listen to many demos this year.

Best Packaging: Teitanblood - Sevan Challices DGFLP IS SICK but the pressing error on Side A was a bummer... Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions DLP was pretty sexy... Also the Die Hard edition of Sixx - Sister Devil and I'm NOT just saying that because it features my artwork. :P

Top 'tron: Wobbler - Afterglow, Astra - The Weirding (Memotron...), and Gösta Berlings Saga - Detta Har Hänt

Most pretentious album title: Mew - No More Stories / Are Told Today / I'm Sorry / They Washed Away // No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I'm Tired / Let's Wash Away. [ Hahaha... I made this category just so I could bash this title. :P ]

Without further ado... The list:

1. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
2. Mono - Hymn To The Immortal Wind
3. maudlin of the Well - Part the Second
4. The Decemberists - The Hazards Of Love
5. Katatonia - Night is the New Day
6. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
7. Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs
8. Les Discrets/Alcest Split
9. Siena Root - Different Realities
10. Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
11. Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars
12. Gungfly - Please Be Quiet
13. Magma - Ëmëhntëhtt-Rê
14. Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect
15. Gösta Berlings Saga - Detta Har Hänt
16. Ulcerate - Everything Is Fire
17. Wobbler - Afterglow
18. Stabat Mater - Stabat Mater
19. Skagos - Ást
20. Astra - The Weirding
21. Koi - In Tomorrow Hid Yesterday
22. Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue
23. Teitanblood - Seven Chalices
24. Porcupine Tree - The Incident
25. Katharsis - 4th Reich
26. Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
27. Cobalt - Gin
28. Isis - Wavering Radiant
29. dälek - Gutter Tactics
30. Jónsi & Alex - Riceboy Sleeps
31. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
32. Bon Iver - Blood Bank
33. Mournful Congregation - The June Frost
34. Portal - Swarth
35. Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans
36. Sólstafir - Köld
37. John Zorn - O'o
38. The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Here Be Dragons
39. The Ruins of Beverast - The Foulest Semen of the Sheltered Elite
40. YOB - The Great Cessation
41. Ancestors - Of Sound Mind
42. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
43. Kongh - Shadows of the Shapeless
44. Urna - Iter Ad Lucem
45. Sun of the Blind - Skullreader
46. Merrimack - Grey Rigorism
47. Baroness - Blue Record
48. Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist
49. Jacaszek - Pentral
50. Russian Circles - Geneva
51. The Life and Times - Tragic Boogie
52. Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder
53. Devin Townsend - Ki
54. Whitetree - Cloudland
55. Be'lakor - Stone's Reach
56. Gazpacho - Tick Tock
57. Impetuous Ritual - Relentless Execution of Ceremonial Excrescence
58. The Devil's Blood - The Time of No Time Evermore
59. The Mars Volta - Octahedron
60. Devin Townsend - Addicted
61. BeardFish - Destined Solitaire
62. Sarah Blasko - As Day Follows Night
63. Altar of Plagues - White Tomb
64. Drudkh - Microcosmos
65. Animals as Leaders - Animals as Leaders
66. Thy Catafalque - Róka Hasa Rádió
67. Caïna - Caïna
68. Shining - VI
69. Riverside - Anno Domini High Definition
70. Exivious - Exivious
71. The xx - XX
72. Phideaux - Number Seven
73. Long Distance Calling - Avoid The Light
74. Oceansize - Home & Minor EP
75. Natural Snow Buildings - Shadow Kingdom
76. Massive Attack - Splitting the Atom
77. Wolves in the Throne Room - Malevolent Grain EP
78. OM - God is Good
79. Callisto - Providences
80. Peste Noire - Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor
81. Secrets of the Moon - Privilegivm
82. Hazards Of Swimming Naked - Our Lines Are Down
83. Krallice - Dimensional Bleedthrough
84. Funeral Mist - Maranatha
85. Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know
86. Muse - The Resistance
87. Mew - No More Stories / Are Told Today / I'm Sorry / They Washed Away // No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I'm Tired / Let's Wash Away
88. Blakroc - Blakroc
89. Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring
90. Absu - Absu
91. Obscura - Cosmogenesis
92. Liturgy - Renihilation
93. OSI - Blood
94. Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons of Bad Luck
95. Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist
96. Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade
97. The Axis of Perdition - Urfe
98. Kylesa - Static Tensions
99. Ephel Duath - Through My Dog's Eyes
100. <code> - Resplendent Grotesque


If one of your favorites of the year isn't on this list it's because I either didn't listen to it, forgot about it, or didn't quite like it...

- Jake

p.s. Albums that may be considered 2009 albums but not to me are Steven Wilson - Insurgentes, and Fen - The Malediction Fields. Both are great, especially Insurgentes.

Here's a list of my 100 favorite releases of 2009. Every single one of them is (in my opinion) at least very good and I recommend giving them a try.


1. Furia - Płoń 10/10
2. Twiztid - W.I.C.K.E.D. V 9,5/10 V
3. Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars
4. Secrets of the Moon - Privilegivm
5. Furia - Grudzień Za Grudniem
6. Urgehal – Ikonoklast
7. Vomitory - Carnage Euphoria
8. Funeral Mist - Maranatha
9. Sathanas - Nightrealm Apocalypse
10. Anaal Nathrakh - In the Constellation of the Black Widow
11. Teitanblood - Seven Chalices
12. Fejd – Storm V 9/10 V
13. Mastodon - Crack The Skye
14. Fen - The Malediction Fields
15. MYRKRAVERK - Nordvegen
16. Arktau Eos - Ai Ma Ra
17. Blaze Of Perdition - In Void And Serpent The Spirit Is One
18. Pendulum – Live At Brixton Academy
19. Rome - Flowers From Exile
20. Urfaust - Einsiedler
21. Słoń - Chore Melodie
22. Unanimated - In The Light Of Darkness
23. Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
24. Dope Stars Inc. - 21st Century Slave
25. Bloodthirst – Sanctity Denied
26. L'Effet C'Est Moi - Les Voix De L' Apocalypse
27. Skeletal Spectre - Tomb Coven
28. raison d'être - The Stains Of The Embodied Sacrifice
29. Peste Noire - Ballade Cuntre Lo Anemi Francor
30. Gregorian – Masters Of Chant VII
31. CSSABA - Toxic CSSABA
32. Funebrarum - The Sleep Of Morbid Dreams
33. Nokturnal Mortum - The Voice of Steel
34. Diary of Dreams - (if)
35. Tribulation - The Horror
36. Artillery - When Death Comes
37. Inferno - Black Devotion
38. REV 16:8 - Grand Tidal Rave
39. Bone Gnawer - Feast of Flesh
40. Стары Ольса - Drygula V 8,5/10 V
41. The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
42. Infernal War - Conflagrator
43. Drudkh - Microcosmos
44. Armagedon - Death Then Nothing
45. Blue Sky Black Death - The Razah's Ladder: Instrumentals
46. Count Raven - Mammons War
47. Grave Miasma - Exalted Emanation
48. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
49. Novembers Doom - Into Night's Requiem Infernal
50. Jesu - Infinity
51. Lost Soul - Immerse In Infinity
52. Asphyx - Death... The Brutal Way
53. Impetuous Ritual - Relentless Execution Of Ceremonial Excrescence
54. Nachtreich – Sturmgang
55. Desiderii Marginis - Years Lend A Golden Charm
56. Hetzer - Fall Of The Holy Cult
57. Brighter Death Now – Breaking Down Nihil
58. Dying Fetus - Descend into Depravity
59. Temple Of Baal – Lightslaying Rituals
60. Lifelover – Dekadens
61. Max Richter - Henry May Long
62. Shining - VI: Klagopsalmer
63. Njiqahdda - Taegnuub - Ishnji Angma
64. Verivala - Kalliolle, Kukkulalle
65. Demonical - Hellsworn
66. The Ruins of Beverast - Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite
67. Ulcerate - Everything Is Fire
68. Megadeth - Endgame V 8/10 V
69. Marduk - Wormwood
70. Necrophobic - Death To All
71. dälek - Gutter Tactics
72. Archgoat - The Light-Devouring Darkness
73. Pagan Blood - The last Empire
74. L.U.C - Zrozumieć Polskę 39/89
75. Masachist - Death March Fury
76. The Cinematic Orchestra - Les Ailes Pourpres
77. Cannabis Corpse – The Weeding
78. M8L8TH - Nepokolebimaja Vera
79. Invection - Demented Perception
80. Glorior Belli - Meet Us at the Southern Sign
81. Witchmaster - Trucizna
82. Von Thronstahl - Germanium Metallicum
83. Nocturnal - Violent Revenge
84. Pensées Nocturnes - Vacuum
85. Pseudogod - In Void And Serpent The Spirit Is One
86. Nin Kuji - Vision Kuest
87. Minsk - With Echoes In The Movement Of Stone
88. Reverence - Inactive Theocracy
89. Strandhogg - Ritualistic Plague (Evangelical Death Apotheosis)
90. Der Blutharsch - Flying High
91. Morbifer - Moroi
92. Portal - Swarth
93. Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans
94. Steve Jablonsky - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – The Score
95. last days of s.e.x. - Great Irony And The Politically S.E.X.plosive
96. Code - Resplendent Grotesque
97. Arckanum - ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ
98. Nordvargr – Evolution
99. Velvet Cacoon - P aa Opal Poere Pr. 33 8
100. Jóhann Jóhannsson - And in the Endless Pause There Came the Sound of Bees