AmebixIt's that time of the year to blindly assume that people whom I don't know even remotely give a shit about the records from the past year on which I've damn near overdosed...ah, can't help but love the self-important satisfaction that these practically useless lists evoke.
The Good:
Mr. Elvrum has taken an already gorgeous indie folk sound and packed with a tone infinitely more overwhelming and unsettling than a horde of corpse painted Moribund rejects.
A few steps made towards the more electric end of the sarcastic folk punk and yet another near perfect blast of smarmy, manic depressive, toe-tapping goodness.
This is the sort of epic, almost religious black metal record that reminds you exactly why you get so damn irritated at the sight of a Wolves in the Throne Room t-shirt.
Past the obligatory "their best since 'Jane Doe'" comment, you can apply whichever brand of generic messianic praise as heard from every magazine, website, and lips of "jaded" ex-hardcore-kid-gone-hipster.
You know those holes you used to leave in the drywall of your buddy's studio apartment after a night of cheap beer and Slap-a-Ham 7"s? They're about to get bigger and more frequent.6. Diamatregon 'Crossroad'
7. Marduk 'Wormwood'
8. Stabat Mater 'Stabat Mater'
9. Black Vomit 'Jungle Death'
10. HAT 'The Demise Of Mankind'
11. Teitanblood 'Seven Chalices'
12. Cobalt 'Gin'
13. The Catalyst 'Swallow your Teeth'
14. Fell Voices 'Untitled'
15. The Wild 'The Wild'
16. Grave Miasma 'Exalted Emanation'
17. Proclamation 'Execration of Cruel Bestiality'
18. The Mountain Goats 'The Life of the World to Come'
19. Marissa Nadler 'Little Hells'
20. Past Lives 'Strange Symmetry'
21. Skagos 'Ást'
22. Peste Noire 'Ballade Cuntre lo Anemi Francor'
23. Dear Landlord 'Dream Homes'
24. Ithdabquth Qliphoth 'Funeral Spirit of Holy, Holy, Holy Tranceformation'
25. Altar of Plagues 'White Tomb'
26. Matt & Kim 'Grand'
27. Battletorn 'Reflect the Filth'
28. The Devin Townsend Project 'Addicted'
29. L'Acephale 'Stahlhartes Gehause'
30. Amesoeurs 'Amesoeurs'
31. Beherit 'Engram'
32. Morrissey 'Years of Rufusal'
33. The Ruins of Beverast 'Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite'
34. Ad Hominem 'Dicatator - A Monument of Glory'
35. Wizard Smoke 'Live Rock in Hell'
36. Rome 'Flowers from Exile'
37. Asobi Seksu 'Hush'
38. Nurse With Wound 'The Surveillance Lounge'
39. Yoga 'Megafauna'
40. Big Business 'Mind the Drift'
The Bad:
1. Brokencyde 'I'm Not a Fan, But the Kids Like It!'
Less fun than reliving the death of my father to an Attack Attack! soundtrack...I could vent for hours on end about the depths to which this rancid chunk of plastic sinks, but I'll skip the hyperbole and simply sum it as quite possibly the worst album ever released.
2. Emmure 'Felony'
The "br00tal" breakdowns and vocals serve as fantastic thought fodder for when you're trying not to get an erection in the locker room after football practice...you jock asshole.
3. Mastodon 'Crack the Skye'
What was once the future of heavy metal is now the past of mediocre alternarock.
The Demo:
Like Bats 'Demo'
It's rare that I wish my eyesight was bad enough to require me to don a loose, gray t-shirt found in a thrift store dollar bin, ride my baby blue spray painted fixed gear bike down to Lens Crafters to pick up my thick, black rimmed glasses, all in order to make sure the fresh Jawbreaker tribute tattoo looks as badass as I imagined.
The Reissue:
The Jesus Lizard 'Goat'
Amongst a sea of the usual countless unknown out of print Japanese psych / krautrock / prog masterworks pressed to plastic for either the first time or first time in years to the glee of ubernerd collectors and genre freaks (myself included somewhere between) floats one of the most important (and one of my favorite) albums ever record - which has most definitely recieve it's much due praise. The minor sounds tweaks to 'Goat' are noticable enough to flesh out the album quite nicely - giving it a more rounded sound - but subtle enough to not destroy the hectic not-quite-lo-fi freakout tone that make the album so damn listenable.
The Sight:
Lady GaGa "Bad Romance"
Infintely more interesting than anything that's been released in theaters over the past decade, the video plays out like some Stanley Kubrick techno-hallucination captured in high definition.
The Shows:
1. The Jesus Lizard / All the Saints (Atlanta, GA)
2. The Mountain Goats / John Vanderslice (Durham, NC)
3. Woven Hand (Denver, CO)
4. Amebix / Poison Idea (Portland, OR)
5. Primordial / Korpiklaani / Swashbuckle (San Francisco, CA)
6. Joe Jack Talcum (Chicago, IL)
7. Gogol Bordello (Atlanta, GA)
8. Fear (Atlanta, GA)
9. Phobia / Municipal Waste / Cauldron (Atlanta, GA)
10. Leech / Hail / Fauna (Olympia, WA)
The Split:
Ashdautas / Volahn / Arizmenda / Kallathon / Axeman / Unknown 'Worship Black Twilight'
Remember those days when USBM was little more than a nod to Von in a conversation about Sweden and Norway? Neither can I.
The Good:
Mr. Elvrum has taken an already gorgeous indie folk sound and packed with a tone infinitely more overwhelming and unsettling than a horde of corpse painted Moribund rejects.
A few steps made towards the more electric end of the sarcastic folk punk and yet another near perfect blast of smarmy, manic depressive, toe-tapping goodness.
This is the sort of epic, almost religious black metal record that reminds you exactly why you get so damn irritated at the sight of a Wolves in the Throne Room t-shirt.
Past the obligatory "their best since 'Jane Doe'" comment, you can apply whichever brand of generic messianic praise as heard from every magazine, website, and lips of "jaded" ex-hardcore-kid-gone-hipster.
You know those holes you used to leave in the drywall of your buddy's studio apartment after a night of cheap beer and Slap-a-Ham 7"s? They're about to get bigger and more frequent.6. Diamatregon 'Crossroad'
7. Marduk 'Wormwood'
8. Stabat Mater 'Stabat Mater'
9. Black Vomit 'Jungle Death'
10. HAT 'The Demise Of Mankind'
11. Teitanblood 'Seven Chalices'
12. Cobalt 'Gin'
13. The Catalyst 'Swallow your Teeth'
14. Fell Voices 'Untitled'
15. The Wild 'The Wild'
16. Grave Miasma 'Exalted Emanation'
17. Proclamation 'Execration of Cruel Bestiality'
18. The Mountain Goats 'The Life of the World to Come'
19. Marissa Nadler 'Little Hells'
20. Past Lives 'Strange Symmetry'
21. Skagos 'Ást'
22. Peste Noire 'Ballade Cuntre lo Anemi Francor'
23. Dear Landlord 'Dream Homes'
24. Ithdabquth Qliphoth 'Funeral Spirit of Holy, Holy, Holy Tranceformation'
25. Altar of Plagues 'White Tomb'
26. Matt & Kim 'Grand'
27. Battletorn 'Reflect the Filth'
28. The Devin Townsend Project 'Addicted'
29. L'Acephale 'Stahlhartes Gehause'
30. Amesoeurs 'Amesoeurs'
31. Beherit 'Engram'
32. Morrissey 'Years of Rufusal'
33. The Ruins of Beverast 'Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite'
34. Ad Hominem 'Dicatator - A Monument of Glory'
35. Wizard Smoke 'Live Rock in Hell'
36. Rome 'Flowers from Exile'
37. Asobi Seksu 'Hush'
38. Nurse With Wound 'The Surveillance Lounge'
39. Yoga 'Megafauna'
40. Big Business 'Mind the Drift'
The Bad:
1. Brokencyde 'I'm Not a Fan, But the Kids Like It!'
Less fun than reliving the death of my father to an Attack Attack! soundtrack...I could vent for hours on end about the depths to which this rancid chunk of plastic sinks, but I'll skip the hyperbole and simply sum it as quite possibly the worst album ever released.
2. Emmure 'Felony'
The "br00tal" breakdowns and vocals serve as fantastic thought fodder for when you're trying not to get an erection in the locker room after football practice...you jock asshole.
3. Mastodon 'Crack the Skye'
What was once the future of heavy metal is now the past of mediocre alternarock.
The Demo:
Like Bats 'Demo'
It's rare that I wish my eyesight was bad enough to require me to don a loose, gray t-shirt found in a thrift store dollar bin, ride my baby blue spray painted fixed gear bike down to Lens Crafters to pick up my thick, black rimmed glasses, all in order to make sure the fresh Jawbreaker tribute tattoo looks as badass as I imagined.
The Reissue:
The Jesus Lizard 'Goat'
Amongst a sea of the usual countless unknown out of print Japanese psych / krautrock / prog masterworks pressed to plastic for either the first time or first time in years to the glee of ubernerd collectors and genre freaks (myself included somewhere between) floats one of the most important (and one of my favorite) albums ever record - which has most definitely recieve it's much due praise. The minor sounds tweaks to 'Goat' are noticable enough to flesh out the album quite nicely - giving it a more rounded sound - but subtle enough to not destroy the hectic not-quite-lo-fi freakout tone that make the album so damn listenable.
The Sight:
Lady GaGa "Bad Romance"
Infintely more interesting than anything that's been released in theaters over the past decade, the video plays out like some Stanley Kubrick techno-hallucination captured in high definition.
The Shows:
1. The Jesus Lizard / All the Saints (Atlanta, GA)
2. The Mountain Goats / John Vanderslice (Durham, NC)
3. Woven Hand (Denver, CO)
4. Amebix / Poison Idea (Portland, OR)
5. Primordial / Korpiklaani / Swashbuckle (San Francisco, CA)
6. Joe Jack Talcum (Chicago, IL)
7. Gogol Bordello (Atlanta, GA)
8. Fear (Atlanta, GA)
9. Phobia / Municipal Waste / Cauldron (Atlanta, GA)
10. Leech / Hail / Fauna (Olympia, WA)
The Split:
Ashdautas / Volahn / Arizmenda / Kallathon / Axeman / Unknown 'Worship Black Twilight'
Remember those days when USBM was little more than a nod to Von in a conversation about Sweden and Norway? Neither can I.
