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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. And what difference does it make, really? It’s just a matter of personal taste, and we’re all gonna die and be forgotten anyway.
So enough with the horseshit. Here’s what I spent my year listening to:
In my admittedly arrogant opinion, this was a year of extremes in the post/prog-rock/metal scene-o-verse. On one hand, there were several technically dazzling, inhumanly sickening feats of musical fury…and chillin’ at other end of the aggro-spectrum, we’ve seen a sizeable chunk of more straightforwardly-structured (as far as can be in the prog-anything world), super-solidly played and recorded achievements in the realm of upper-eschelon songwriting. I have been rather impressed across the board — so many killer bands really stepped it up a notch and made this an amazing year of powerful new music.
Holler.
The year in metal had plenty of bad and good in it, as does every year. While hipsters tried to co-opt black metal and death metal became something for Hatebreed fans to devour, as a whole, metal proved itself as still vital, perhaps one of the only outlets those disgusted with iPod-commercial indie rock and auto-tuned hip hop could escape to. In a year almost more plastic and contrived than others, metal’s best paid little attention to convention and trend, instead focusing on the unrelenting. It was a breath of fresh air before returning to the land of The Hills, Sarah Palin, and yet another Britney Spears comeback. There was plenty to be angry about in 2008; in fact, most of it was a cause for anger. Though maybe a good-not-great year for it, metal was still a vital commodity for those wishing to look past Deerhunter, She and Him, or TV on the Radio to something a little more… interesting. My top 10 for the year?
1. Nachtmystium – Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1
This was a masterpiece from the very first time it came out of the shrink-wrap and spun in my buddy’s car to right now when I can’t go a week without listening to the “Seasick” trilogy. From a combination of the growing maturity of the band and zealous label support this is an innovative piece of music that will stand as the new watermark for the possibilities of black metal. Assassins was an honest, organic approach at musical experimentation that became both a loving tribute to the heroic Pink Floyd and a ballsy transcendence of closed-minded scene thinking. The wide accessibility of the new Nachtmystium sound shows that they can only increase in popularity and esteem in the metal community and beyond it. My prediction is that by the time they’re ready to meddle again, everyone will know who the true kings of American black metal are.
Best Tracks: “Ghosts of Grace,” “Seasick” Parts 1 – 3
‘Cause sometimes, we like to watch shit, too. Click to read more…
In many ways, 2008 will be seen as The Year of the Old Fart. Of course, the big names that will be propped up by those who are blissfully unaware will be the longtime standard-bearers who shook off the dirt from their nearly submerged coffins: Metallica, AC/DC, and Guns ‘N Roses. A closer look, however, reveals something much more fascinating. The Robert Downey Jr.-like resurrection of such Old Fart acts as Testament and Metal Church. These old-timers cranked out two of the best albums of the year that respectfully looked back on their storied histories whilst always keeping an eye on the future. Throw in fellow Old Fart Pink Metallers Enslaved and their genre-stretching side project Trinacria; plus, several bands who have chosen their influences well, namely Quicksand, Voi Vod, and P.J. Harvey, and you come up with truly one of the better off-the-mainstream-radar years in metal in a long time. Not to mention that the ultimate Old Fart tour, Masters of Metal, which featured the aforementioned Testament, Motorhead, Heaven and Hell (Black Dio), and Judas Priest, blew away the other so-called quality metal package tours. Now to the Top 10 albums of 2008. My criteria is probably different than the majority of you MetalSucks Maniacs. I don’t give a rat’s ass about album sales, media attention, or hipster quotient. No, my criteria is much simpler. Will it make me want to play Grand Theft Auto on my fellow San Antonians and will it get me pumped up to write about human beings slaughtering one another? Enjoy. Click to read more…
We’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that if you read the internet, you also sometimes read off the internet, on these printed things called “pages” which are sometimes collected together in one convenient volume known as a “book.” To that end, here are four books about metal we greatly enjoyed this year.
Well, it’s sure been a nifty four months or so for Scraping Genius Off The Wheel, my infrequent but always essential noise rock column for this fine blog for jerks. Despite the fact that all I’ve been listening to lately is 70’s funk and Akon’s superb new album Freedom, try not to hold it against me as you review my list of my favorite heavy music releases of 2008.
1. Torche – Meanderthal (Hydra Head)
2. Septic Flesh – Communion (Candlelight)
3. Raconteurs – Consolers Of The Lonely (Warner Bros)
4. Foxy Shazam – Introducing (New Weatherman/Ferret)
5. 36 Crazyfists – The Tide and its Takers (Ferret Music)
6. Secret & Whisper – Great White Whale (Tooth & Nail)
7. Eluveitie – Slania (Nuclear Blast)
8. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Dig Lazarus Dig (Mute)
9. Opeth – Watershed (Roadrunner)
10. The Giraffes – Prime Motivator (Crustacean)
AFTER THE JUMP: Anton OyVey’s Top Christian Rock Bands of All Time
I loathe having to pare down every album I’ve listened to over the course of the year into a list of the “best 10.” I find it exceedingly difficult because there’s just no way to prevent great albums from being squeezed out. And while my list excludes phenomenal efforts by Meshuggah, Boris, Testament, Arsis and all the neo-Thrash acts who put out quality material in 2008, bear in mind that as a reviewer I’m always having to move on to the next writing deadline and don’t often get to revisit albums purely out of enjoyment. My ten picks represent the discs I have frequently fallen back on in those all too rare, carefree moments. Each of these inspired me to pull them back out for repeated spins when I should have been getting work done.
Well, it’s here: the time of year when we needlessly make lists so we can all intelligently debate argue about which albums were and were not the best releases of the year. Today all the inhabitants of the MetalSucks Mansion are gonna come out and publish their personal picks for the best of ‘08. We’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, but in the meantime, feel free to weigh in on our choices in the comments section.
As though you needed an invitation.
-Everyone at MetalSucks
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