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01. Peste Noire - Ballade cuntre lo Anemi Francor

02. Njiqahdda - Yrg Alms

03. Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars

04. Arghoslent - Send Forth the Best Ye Breed*

05. Portal - Swarth

06. Firebird - Grand Union

07. Fen - The Malediction Fields

08. The Ruins of Beverast - Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite

09. dälek - Gutter Tactics

10. Avulsed - Nullo (The Pleasure Of Self-Mutilation)

11. The Chasm - Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm

12. Thy Catafalque - Róka hasa rádió

13. Anaal Nathrakh - In the Constellation of the Black Widow

14. Carcariass - E-Xtinction

15. Voivod - Infini

16. Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions

17. West Wall - Conquest or Death

18. Big Business - Mind the Drift

19. Pelican - Ephemeral

20. Borgne - IV

21. Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs

22. Isole - Silent Ruins

23. The Lord Weird Slough Feg - Ape Uprising

24. Panopticon - Collapse

25. Unholy Matrimony - Croire, Décroître

26. Vektor - Black Future

27. Khanate - Clean Hands Go Foul

28. Funebrarum - The Sleep Of Morbid Dreams

29. KTL - IV

30. Immortal - All Shall Fall





THE SHIT LIST

01. Job for a Cowboy - Ruination

02. Lamb of God - Wrath

03. Shadows Fall - Retribution

04. Divine Heresy - Bringer Of Plagues

05. Nile - Those Whom The Gods Detest

06. Behemoth - Evangelion

07. Sepultura - A-Lex

08. Chimaira - The Infection

09. Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague

10. Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings



The list is susceptible to change as I'm waiting for a few releases that are due in December.




*this release is actually a split with Martial Barrage, but it was too good not to be put on the list

Outstanding:

Kylesa - Static Tensions
(two very effective drummers, two great shouters, awesome guitar work = my favourite "metal" release in a long time)
Soap & Skin - Lovetune for Vacuum
(Hauting debut between piano & electronic, deserves all the hype it gets and more!)
Isis - Wavering Radiant
(Not quite as good as Panopticon or Oceanic, overall better than In the Absence of truth and still miles ahead of almost every band in that area...)
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Fall of Efrafa - Inlé
Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist


Also great this Year:

Celeste - misantrope(s)
(Darkest music of the year, almost painful to listen to...in a good way)
Converge - Axe to Fall
(The first 4 tracks are unbelievable, the rest is the most diverse record from them yet)
Balmorhea - All is wild, all is silent
(Folk + Post Rock = pure beauty)
Sunn O))) - Monliths & Dimensions
From Monument to Masses - On little known Frequencies
(the record i hoped maybeshewill could pull of after their debut...)
August Burns Red - Constellations
Baroness - Blue Record
Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
Kickback - No Surrender
(Finally Kickback get a production that matches their sonic fury...as hateful as it gets)
Long Distance Calling - Avoid the Light
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
A Storm of Light - Forgive us our Trespasses
Everlovely Lightningheart - Sien Weal Tallion Rue



Still good:

Graf Orlock - Destination Time Today
Heirs - Alchera
Jeniferever - Spring Tides
Loom - Selva Molhalda
Minsk - With Echoes In The Movement Of Stone
Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs
Punch - Punch
The Gossip - Music for Men
Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade


Disappointing:

dredg - The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion
(I'm fine with pop, but most of the songs get old really fast or even really annoying)
Pelican - What we all come to need
The Fall of Troy - In the unlikely Event
Alexisonfire - Old Crows/ Young Cardinals
Callisto - Providence
(In Session is great, but the rest often sounds like Khoma with more monotonous songwriting)
Neaera - Omnicide - Creation Unleashed
Porcupine Tree - The incident
(For some reason I just can't get into this, although everyone praises it)
The Black Dahlia Murder - Deflorate


Still not really sure, if I like it or should be disappointed:

Maybeshewill - Sing the Word Hope in Four Part Harmony
(Sadly misses the diversity of the debut)
Brand New - Daisy
Evergreen Terrace - Almost Home
Captain Planet - Inselwissen


Other great Stuff this Year :

Defeater - Lost Ground EP
Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP
Nadja - When I see the Sun always shines on TV
Kodiak / Nadja - Split
Pyramids with Nadja - Pyramids with Nadja
Clint Mansell - Moon Soundtrack

Best Concerts:

- Fall of Efrafa
- Soap & Skin
- Joshua Radin
- Isis

Best Of 2009 in alphabetical order:
Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs
A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
Caspian - Tertia
Converge - Axe To Fall
Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe
Editors - In This Light And On This Evening
Fall of Efrafa - Inlé
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Katatonia - Night Is The New Day
Katharsis - Fourth Reich
Mastodon - Crack The Skye
Mono - Hymn To The Immortal Wind
Narrows - New Distances
Riverside - Anno Domini High Definition
White Lies - To Lose My Life...

Very Good:
Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans
Architects - Hollow Crown
Archive - Controlling Crowds
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
Baroness - Blue Album
Ben Frost - By The Throat
Blockhead - The Music Scene
Blueneck - The Fallen Host
Drudkh - Microcosmos
Echo and the Bunnymen - The Fountain
Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetics
Funeral Mist - Maranatha
Gifts From Enola - Fathoms
Glorior Belli - Meet Us at the Southern Sign
If These Trees Could Talk - Above the Earth, Below the Sky
Jay-Jay Johanson - Self-Portrait
Marduk - Wormwood
Microfilm - The Bay of Future Passed
Pelican - What We All Come To Need
pg.lost - In never out
Rise and Fall - Our Circle Is Vicious
RJD2 - Tin Foil Hat (EP)
Saxon Shore - It Doesn't Matter
Scarlet Youth - Breaking the Patterns (EP)
Suicide Silence - No Time to Bleed
Swallow the Sun - New Moon
The Horrors - Primary Colours
Tides From Nebula - Aura

Best Video:

Thirdstryker1's Top 15 2009

Enjoy.

1. Sybreed - The Pulse of Awakening


2. Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs


3. Hacride - Lazarus


4. Pure Reason Revolution - Amor Vincit Omnia


5. Katatonia - Night Is The New Day


6. Gigantic Brain - World


7. Stendeck - Sonnambula


8. Devin Townsend Project - Addicted


9. I Will Never Be The Same - Standby


10. Abysmalia - Quid Humanum Est


11. Mistaken Element - Mind Over Matter


12. Seven - Cymatics


13. Miseration - The Mirroring Shadow


14. En Declin - Domino / Consequence


15. Scar Symmetry - Dark Matter Dimensions


Song of 2009

Hacride - To Walk Among Them

Worthy Mentions

Faunts - Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.
Gigantic Brain - Betelgeuse (EP)
Gigantic Brain - I swallow 16 red planets
Hi-Tech - Annihilation
Karnivool - Sound Awake
Lo-Pro - Letting Go (EP)
Porcupine Tree - The Incident
Threat Signal - Vigilance

Disappointments

Arkaea - Years In The Darkness
Lacuna Coil - Shallow Life
Riverside - Anno Domino High Definition

Changed it a bit

10.) Blut aus Nord-Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue with the Stars
9.) Oranssi Pazuzu-Muukalainen Puhuu
8.) Sun of the Blind-Skullreader
7.) Fen-The Malediction Fields
6.) Wodensthrone-Loss
5.) Drudkh-Microcosmos
4.) Cobalt-Gin
3.) The Ruins of Beverast-Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite
2.) Altar of Plagues-White Tomb
1.) Absu-Absu

I almost included Amesoeurs, but I don't consider them Black Metal. They did make my best rock albums list though.

Until Today Becomes Yesterday - Three Steps to the Ocean [2009]
Emotional, instrumental, post-metal. They were definitely influenced by Pelican; I might like it better than Pelican's latest, actually. Portions of the last track remind me of classic Tortoise.

It's All About Our Silence EP - Black Sea [2009]
Post-metal with heavy post-rock leanings. Features death metal vocals from a singer with a distinct voice. It's somewhat disjointed, but still a very good EP.

Fall Be Kind EP - Animal Collective[2009]
Similar to Merriweather Post Pavilion and almost as enjoyable.

Got Nuffin EP - Spoon [2009]
The rapping on the last track is embarrassing. I really hope this isn't a taste of things to come. Even the title track is disappointing and forgettable.

Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs [2009]
French band that switches between black metal, post metal, and shoegaze-pop. The lead singer is a woman who switches between clean vocals and death metal vocals. It's a mess; not my thing.

Post-Nothing - Japandroids [2009]
Indie/emo/punk vocals.
Little messy in parts, w.r.t. vocals and instrumentals; it's still very enjoyable.
The last three songs have some stoner rock vibes to them. Crazy/Forever, in particular, reminds me of Kyuss's Gardenia, only slower.

Beacons Of Ancestorship - Tortoise [2009]
This was their first LP since 2006. Such a disappointing album. I expected more from one of the pioneers of post-rock. Stylistically, it is all over the place and extremely disjointed.
track 1 - synthy blend; something almost hip-hop about. Yet, it sorta reminds me of Boredoms' longer tracks
track 2 - 70's somewhat Can-like; very dated sounding
track 3 and 9 - dubstep mixed in
track 4 - mid-eastern influences
track 6 - messy, noise rock
track 7 and 8 - typical Tortoise tracks, and they sound like they would be at home in a James Bond soundtrack.
track 5 and 10 - short, filler tracks

Two Fingers - Two Fingers [2009]
Collab between Brazilians Amon Tobin and Joe "Doubleclick" Chapman.
A much better collaboration than Moderat.
Most of the songs feature a rapper, and Sway is that rapper 50% of the time.

The Clearing - disappearer [2009]
Several of the tracks are instrumental.
Kinda reminds me of softer/later Godflesh or less shoegazey Jesu (same thing) mixed with new Pelican (obsidian is especially Pelican-like).

1. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
2. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
3. Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
4. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
5. JJ - jj n° 2
6. The xx - xx
7. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
8. Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
9. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
10. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
11. The Dodos - Time To Die
12. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
13. Dan Deacon - Bromst
14. Brand New - Daisy
15. The Antlers - Hospice
16. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
17. Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter
18. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
19. The Legends - Over and over
20. The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
21. Bill Callahan Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
22. A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
23. Girls - Album
24. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
25. YACHT - See Mystery Lights
26. El Goodo - Coyote
27. Passion Pit - Manners
28. The Horrors - Primary Colours
29. Tiny Vipers - Life on Earth
30. Doves - Kingdom Of Rust
31. Ian Brown - My Way
32. Karl Blau - Zebra
33. Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
34. We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls
35. The Thermals - Now We Can See
36. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
37. HEALTH - Get Color
38. The Mary Onettes - Islands
39. Black Cab - Call Signs
40. The Very Best - The Warm Heart of Africa
41. God Help The Girl - God Help The Girl
42. Fanfarlo - Reservoir
43. Wavves - Wavvves
44. The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
45. Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose
46. Sonic Youth - The Eternal
47. Atlas Sound - Logos
48. Woods - Songs of Shame
49. Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy
50. It Hugs Back - Inside Your Guitar
51. Akron/Family - Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free
52. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
53. Telekinesis - Telekinesis!
54. Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People -- Lazers Do
55. All Smiles - Oh For The Getting And Not Letting Go
56. Julie Doiron - I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
57. Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers
58. M. Ward - Hold Time
59. Sky Larkin - The Golden Spike
60. Malakai - Ugly Side Of Love
61. The Fresh & Onlys - Grey-Eyed Girls
62. Thee Oh Sees - Help
63. Iran - Dissolver
64. Real Estate - Real Estate
65. Asobi Seksu - Hush
66. I Was A King - I was a King
67. Vetiver - Tight Knit
68. Aidan Moffat and the Best-Ofs How To Get To Heaven From Scotland
69. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
70. Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
71. Foreign Born - Person to Person
72. Workers - Workers
73. Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall
74. Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs
75. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

1349 - Revelations of the Black Flame - 3/10
Absu - Absu - 1/10
Ad Hominem - Dictator - A Monument of Glory - 8/10
Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse - 5/10
Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs - 3/10
Anaal Nathrakh - In the Constellation of the Black Widow - 7/10
Antaeus & Katharsis - split - 9/10 & 7/10
Aosoth - Ashes of Angels - 10/10
Archgoat - The Light-Devouring Darkness - 8/10
Arckanum - ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ - 9/10
Armaggedon - I.N.R.I. (I, Nazarene, Recognize my Impurity) 5/10
Arkha Sva & Woods of Infinity - Old Ugly Trees - 6/10 & 5/10
Asphyx - Death... The Brutal Way - 8/10
Azarath - Praise the Beast - 8/10
Beherit - Engram - 10/10
Belphegor - Walpurgis Rites: Hexenwahn - 5/10
Bethlehem - A Sacrificial Offering... - 3/10
Bloodline - Hate Procession - 9/10
Beyond Ye Grave - Raping the creation of god - 8/10
Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars - 9/10
Cryfemal - Increibles Tormentos - 2/10
Convent - Abandon Your Lord - 9/10
CSSABA - toxic CSSABA - 9/10
Dark Fury - The Price of Treason - 5/10
Dark Managarm - Victorious March - 8/10
Dark Funeral - Angelus Exuro pro Eternus - 5/10
Dead? - Dead? - 2/10
Demonic Slaughter - Cold Desease of Reality - 8/10
Den Saakaldte - All Hail Pessimism - 7/10
Diocletian - Doom Cult - 9/10
Deströyer 666 - Defiance - 5/10
Dodsengel - Visionary - 8/10
Drowning the Light - The Blood of the Ancients - 6/10
Epitome - SupeROTic Experience - 9/10
Endstille - Verfuehrer - 5/10
Nattefrost & Fenriz' Red Planet - split - 2/10 & 1/10
Fukpig - Spewings from a Selfish Nation - 9/10
Furia - Płoń 6/10
Furia - Grudzień za Grudniem - 10/10
Funeral Mist - Maranatha - 8/10
Glorior Belli - Meet Us at the Southern Sign - 7/10
Gorgoroth - Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt - 2/10
Grigori - Principivm Et Finis - 5/10
Hellewacht - Euvele Daeden - 3/10
Hellveto - Od południa na północ - 8/10
Hell-Born - Darkness - 9/10
Hetzer - Fall Of The Holy Cult - 6/10
Hjarnidaudi - Psyko-Stare-Void - 7/10
Horde of Hel - Blodskam 6/10
Horncrowned - Casus Belli Antichristianus - 3/10
Horned Almighty - Contaminating the Divine - 7/10
Hypocrisy - A Taste Of Extreme Divinity - 4/10
Immortal - All Shall Fall - 5/10
Illness - Necroterror 5/10
Impiety - Terroreign - 8/10
Infidel - Ejaculating Chaos - 7/10
Infernal War - Conflagrator 6/10
IXXI - Elect Darkness - 6/10
IC Rex - Vedenjakaja - 8/10
Katharsis - Fourth Reich - 9/10
Koltum - Funeral of Flesh - 4/10
Kult ov Azazel - Destroying The Sacred - 2/10
Leichengott - Cyrograf - 7/10
Liturgy - Renihilation - 5/10
Lifelover - Dekadens - 8/10
Marduk - Wormwood - 6/10
Merrimack - Grey Rigorism - 10/10
Mord'A'Stigmata - Uberrealistic - 6/10
Mortuus Infradaemoni - Imis Avernis - 9/10
Myrkr - Black Illumination - 10/10
Nachtmystium - Doomsday Derelicts - 4/10
Nazxul - Iconoclast - 9/10
Nefandus - Death Holy Death - 10/10
Neuropathia - Neuropathia - 8/10
Noctiferum - Serenades of the Impure
Obitus - The March of the Dragons - 7/10
Ojciec Dyktator - Heresy is Fun - 8/10
Om Mani - Apology - 8/10
Onheil - Razor - 1/10
Oranssi Pazuzu - Muukalainen Puhuu - 9/10
Orcustus - Orcustus - 7/10
Order of Orias - Offering - 5/10
Orthodox Divinity - The Deity - 0/10
Otargos - Fuck Your God - 7/1/0
Pest - Tenebris Obortis - 3/10
Peste Noire - Ballade cuntre lo Anemi Francor - 5/10
Portal - Swarth - 10/10
Reaktor 4 - Reaktor 4 - 4/10
Repvblika - Amerika Vendetta - 9/10
Retra - Retra - 3/10
REV 16:8 - Grand Tidal Rave - 7/10
Sadistic Grimness - Asteni - 9+/10
Secrets of the Moon - Privilegivm - 8/10
Selbstmord - Dawn of a New Era - 9/10
Shining - Klagopsalmer - 5/10
Skaldic Curse - World Suicide Machine- 8/10
Sol Axis - ...To Mark the Ages - 9/10
Stormnatt - The Crimson Sacrament - 10/10
Strandhogg - Ritualistic Plague - 8/10
Stworz - Po Czasu Kres - 2/10
Suffering Mind - At War With Mankind - 7/10
Suffocation - Blood Oath - 9/10
Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions - 10/10
Sun of the Blind - Skullreader - 10/10
Svarttjern - Misanthropic Path of Madness - 9/10
Temple Of Baal - Lightslaying Ritual - 7/10
Teitanblood - Seven Chalices - 10/10
The Legion - A Bliss to Suffer - 2/10
The Lucifer Principle - Welcome to Bloodshed - 9/10
The Stone - Umro - 9/10
Throneum - Deathcult Conspiracy - 8/10
Thronum Vrondor - Vrondor II - 10/10
Ulcerate - Everything is Fire - 8/10
Urfaust - Einsiedler - 10/10
Urgehal - Ikonoklast - 9/10
Varathron - Stygian Forces of Scorn - 7/10
Vatican - Shotgun Evangelium - 8/10
Villains - Lifecode Of Decadence - 6/10
Vulturine - Ossos... Odio & Angustia - 9/10
Wisdom - Sacra Privata - 6/10
Witchmaster - Trucizna - 10/10
Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade - 7/10
Xaos Oblivion - Antithesis of Creation - 8/10
Xasthur - A Reflections Drained - 5/10
Zmierzch - Wicher - 1/10