THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2008 — TOO SOON?
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 5:01pm by Vince Neilstein
2008 isn’t even half over yet and I already know it’s going to be tough picking my top 10 favorite metal albums of the year. So far there have already been a bunch of excellent releases that could be top 10 contenders:
- Protest the Hero – Fortress
- Torche – Meanderthal
- Arsis – We are the Nightmare
- Textures – Silhouettes
- Scar Symmetry – Holographic Universe
- Nachtmystium – Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1
- Disturbed – Indestructible
PSYCH! But seriously folks, the first six in the list are the real deal.
I’m hoping for a slow second half of the year so I don’t have to make any hard choices. Actually, not. Keep ‘em comin’.
-VN
What? No Kataklysm? I’m ashamed in you.
We are going to have to do battle over this Arsis record I fear. Plus you forgot Ascend, Harvey Milk, Made Out Of Babies, Cursed III, Grave, etc.
What about Genghis Tron??
A few others to consider:
Opeth – Watershed
LOTM – War Metal Battle Master
Meshuggah – ObZen
Mats/Morgan Band – Heat Beats Live
Porcupine Tree – Nil Recurring
Cosign on Torche & Arsis, have yet to hear Nachtmystium.
I agree with ThrillHo, Genghis Tron is once of my favorite albums of all time and should definitely be on the list.
I also bought Protest the Hero’s FORTRESS, since you guys seemed to love it so much, and it seems more like a rock album than a metal album to me.
um, Origin yo.
C’mon guys. Meshuggah, Genghis Tron, Cursed all need to be up there.
Testament: The Formation of Damnation
Textures is on your list, but not Meshuggah? That’s funny, because every time I hear Textures, it reminds me of a crappy version of Meshuggah.
I also think the new Daylight Dies deserves to be on here.
Ohhh, I see what you did there, Mr. Tricky guy you!
@ Everyone: ok, MESHUGGAH, add that to my list.
I have yet to listen to the new Daylight Dies, but need to get on that ASAP.
As for Genghis, you’ve got an argument there. I’d support its inclusion in any top 10, but it probably won’t end up in mine.
@ Everyone else: fuck off!
So, if the terms “death”, “core”, “prog” or “technical” are not listed, it’s not “metal”, eh?
That’s right Sammy, this is an elitist metal site, not a general metal site.
@Original Post, u make’a me raugh wrong triiiime, oh ho ho! so wroooooong, wroooong triiiiime.
Wow.
Opeth = Watershed
literally
Rev,
Why the hell are you here? It’s obvious you don’t listen to any band still producing albums that resembles good music. So why come to a musical elitists website?
PS, Textures might be the most boring, derivative band I’ve heard in ages. Seriously, what is special about this band?
Meshuggah, Scar Symmetry, Kataklysm, PtH, Genghis Tron.
jaime: So I can be the sensible intelligent front to stupid fucks like you who wouldn’t know music if it pounced up and bit their nipples off and instead listen to “music” based instead on what all the sheep tell them is “hip” enough or “underground” enough.
Yeah, Jaime, we need to be enlightened to our foul ways come around to appreciate maestros such as Everclear and Smashmouth.
36Thoughtless: Careful, I was referring solely to her, I actually know her horrible taste in music is based on being a counter-culture sheep, I don’t fully know that about you or anyone else.
weak top 6. really weak. i can name 10 albums that are significantly better. have you guys heard ihsahn’s latest? if not, you definitely should cause imo that’s the best album of 2008 so far.
Rev,
the only thing you enlightened me on is the that you listen to very popular, easy to digest bands. As for “counter culture”, have you walked around in any city in America? We live in neon sewer, fucking A I’m counter culter. It don’t change the fact that you listen to shitty rock radio bands. Maybes it’s just because you are too lazy to find new bands you like? Or is is that the genre has passed you by and you’re bitter no one sounds like the bands you listened to while growing up?
Hey Vince, I have an idea, since all this douche nozzle does is defends Disturbed and list how every other band he doesn’t like is only liked by “elitists” or “counter culturalist” how bout a 3 month hiatus from Disturbed stories?
[...] can’t believe I forgot to include Byzantine’s Oblivion Beckons in my Early Top Albums of 2008 list, because finding out that it came out in 2008 (I had thought it was late 2007) was actually the [...]
The new Scar Symmetry is unreal, as soon as I finished listening to it last night I had to repeat the process. So damn good. Can’t wait for IRON MAIDEN TONIGHT!!!
People like what they like for whatever reasons they have. But liking something just because it’s not “easy to digest” is fucking retarded. It’s like eating staples just to prove you can do it.
I don’t find Vince or Axl or the contributors via comments here to be elitist. I do, however, find many of them to be extremely narrow minded. Brutal (br00tal) for brutal’s sake is just as bad as sappy for sappy’s sake.
Some of the commenters here seem to have the belief that the second a band goes from selling 10,000 copies to 10,001 they’re immediately mainstream and therefore shit, just because they appeal to a wider audience.
I guess with the internet we could have bands writing to an audience of one. That un-mainstream and counter-culture enough for ya?
jaime: I can tell I right pissed you off, you couldn’t hardly type or form coherent sentences, I get the feeling you’ve been called a counter-culture sheep before, you had a pretty wild defense for it.
I’m not going to bother replying to all of it, just to summarize: I like plenty of stuff that isn’t “mainstream” and that may in fact be liked by “elitists”, but as Sammy said, I see no reason to eat staples just to prove I can eat staples like you.
I like to call it at least attempting to be an individual, you know, liking things because you find them appealing for what they are, not because other people find them appealing?
Cult of Luna: Eternal Kingdom.
Disturbed? come on what about Nile, The Sword, Unleashed, Testament or Kataklysm you must be to busy listening to nu metal
Torche and Nachtmystium, along with Meshuggah, make up my top 3 so far. Bring on Made Out of Babies, Mastodon, Metallica, and Gojira!
so many albums come out every year nobody is going to be happy. I’ve bought PTH’s album and Arsis’s and they both rock. Good list, think of all the bands that are coming out with stuff later this year though. Trivium, Slipknot, Dragonforce, Metallica (will probably suck but o well) and so many other underground and main stream bands.
Dragonforce? GTFO now! This site is for metal, now video game music. Obzen HAS to be at the the top of any true metal fan’s list. Seriously, come on now.
Norther – N ? It’s my favourite album of the year! Bodom’s Blooddrunk isn’t too bad either. In Flames’ A Sense of Purpose is alright as well.
Scar Symmetry is just pure awesome – Holographic Universe just kicks ass. I was actually surprised at Trivium’s Shogun, I don’t like the band too much but the album is quite good. Amon Amarth’s recent release of Twilight of The Thunder God is just epic. Disturbed’s album is pretty kick ass too. Kalmah’s For The Revolution is awesome as well!
One Way Mirror maybe a new band, but their self-titled album is actually pretty good – at least I think so.
Rock N Roll Devil by Helltrain
Killing Season by Death Angel
In Hatred’s Flame by Exmortus
Time Insults the Mind by Black Anvil
Angl by Ihsahn
Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt.1 by Nachtmystium
There Will Be Blood by Vindicator
The Fathomless Mastery by Bloodbath
Descendants Of Depravity by Prostitute Disfigurment
Vertebrae by Enslaved
Burst – Lazarus Bird
Cult of Luna – Eternal Kingdom
A Secret Death – S/T (Awesome Aussie band)
Torche – Meanderthal
Gojira – The Way of All Flesh
Messhugah – Obzen
Testament: The Formation of Damnation
I thought 2008 was a pretty weak year for metal in general. I wasnt enthralled by any of the releases by the bigger names.
Textures wasn’t as good as good as latter albums, although still much better than the yawn inducing chuggfest of Meshuggah, anyone who cant tell the difference between the pair needs their hearing checked, I liked Textures more when their sound was clearer and less beefy though.
Opeth was weak, too many cleans and not enough Åkerfeldt layrnx torturing growls for my liking. Not dark enough. All That Remains just turned into rubbish, as did In Flames, weak melodies – which both bands are usually excel at. Trivium and Unearth were the same standard middle of the road that I’ve come to expect.
My picks for this year would be After The Burial’s Rareform, a terrific album, great guitar work, although the drums sounded fake and the bass needed turned up. Gojira’s The Way of All Flesh, not as good as FMTS I thought, but still a very solid album and finally Psycroptic and PTH’s offerings.
Still a very very weak year.
Textures “former” albums rather.
Protest the Hero ftw.
Protest the Hero Rocks! \m/
Yes im going to have to agree PTH does rock.