Mastodon – Once More ‘Round The Sun
FUCK! This album is so damn good! Not to complain about Mastodon‘s previous albums, which are entirely badass in their own rights, but Once More ‘Round The Sun feels like it cut off all the fat and got right down to rocking your face off.
Behemoth – The Satanist
When an album starts off with the lyrics, “I saw the virgin’s cunt spawning forth the snake,” you know what you’re in for. But what I didn’t expect was how fascinating this album would end up being, the final track a gloriously powerful and triumphant epic. Blasphemy never sounded so good.
At The Gates – At War With Reality
The return of the progenitors of melodic death metal with At War With Reality was an album I was massively excited for and absolutely terrified to hear. Having loved Slaughter Of The Soul for over a decade, I prayed it would be, at the very least, decent. To say that I had my expectations blown away was an understatement. As I said in my review, this album, “…proves At The Gates are still the undisputed masters of their craft.”
Helms Alee – Sleepwalking Sailors
I had heard nothing of this band before this album and now it’s one of my absolute favorites of the year. It’s sludgy, it’s heavy, it’s beautiful, it’s diverse, and it’s an absolute delight to listen to from end to end.
Ne Obliviscaris – Citadel
Believe the hype. This album is a monster of a release. It’s that rare album that’s an actual journey, something you put on and don’t touch, letting it take you across peaks and valleys, through fire and ice, testing your mettle. If you emerge from the other side unscathed and unchanged, you didn’t listen closely enough.
