FEATURING MEMBERS OF ARCH ENEMY, SUNN O))), MADBALL, FUCK THE FACTS, DOMMIN, DARK CASTLE, IMBROGLIO, EXHUMED, AND THAT METAL SHOW

For 2010, we decided to do something special as part of our regular end-of-year festivities here at MetalSucks — namely, ask musicians from across the vast spectrum of the metalsphere (or, in a few cases, the almost-metalsphere) what their favorite albums of the year were. Death metallers, thrash metallers, black metallers, stoners, grinders, and djenters alike graciously contributed lists to MS, and we’ll be running them in groups of ten to eleven musicians at a time twice a day for the rest of the week.

After the jump, check out the first group… we hope you enjoy seeing what some of metal’s heaviest hitters were into this year as much as we have!

(And please note that these are musicians and that they, um, have a lot on their minds. So some of ‘em named albums that actually came out last year. Please don’t freak out.)

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James Plotkin is that rare extreme music creator that denies no creative impulse. His back catalog matches the industrial sonic terrorism of OLD with the hollowed-out doom of Khanate, the Lotus Eaters’ cavernous, electro-acoustic drones with Phantomsmasher’s calculated digital brutality. Not to mention his dozens of solo guitar and ambient releases. The thin grey thread that runs through all of Plotkin’s projects? Restless experimentation, a trait that’s found him dissolving and expanding the boundaries of extreme music for two decades. Experimentation is at the heart of Plotkin’s newest group Jodis, an open-ended collaboration with vocalist Aaron Turner (Isis/Old Man Gloom) and drummer Tim Wyskida (Khanate/Khlyst). Plotkin recently sat down with MetalSucks to talk about Jodis’s new Hydra Head release Secret House. As you’ll read, his reflections on his own creative process are just as wide-ranging and thoughtful as his discography.
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Salome, who just might be our favorite modern doom metal band on the planet, are about to hit the road with Hull and Batillus as part of the Beard Destroyer Tour 2009 (Best tour moniker ever? We think so!). The band also recently completed a split with Thou (cover art above), which is being mastered by James Plotkin (Khanate, OLD, Sunn O))), Isis, etc.) and should be out on Vendetta Records in the next couple of months.

But why wait a couple of months when you can hear some new shit right this very second? The band has been cool enough to graciously allow us to debut a brand new track, “With Hell for a Mouth,” as a free download. Like all Salome, the song is slow like honey and crushing like an anvil, with Kat’s inimitable vocals from the bowels of hell bolstering the performance of guitarist Rob Moore and drummer Aaron Deal. It also marks the next evolutionary step for Salome, as it features slightly brighter production than their EP and even has – gasp! – some sections that are kinda bouncy. It is, in a word, awesome.

Download the song, absolutely free, below. Then, after the jump, get dates for the Beard Destroyer Tour 2009. You need to see Salome live; they are truly otherworldly.

Salome, “With Hell for a Mouth”

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