This's just like... my opinion, man.



10. Enslaved [NOR] - Vertebrae

Amazing that this is the same band that put out Vikingligr Veldi. Over their last handful of albums, dating back to Monumension, Enslaved have gradually phased out the black metal elements from their sound, and on Vertebrae they're completely gone, outside of Grutle's increasingly comical shrieks [which will likely be the next to go]. It took me a while to come around on this disc, largely because it's not as 'riffy' as past Enslaved discs, and has a weird production - almost watery... like floating face-down over a submerged city. But the composition is typically excellent and the atmosphere is more convincing than ever, even if it is bizarre even by Enslaved's standards. In other words, it's no Monumension or Mardraum, but it'll do.

09. Mouth of the Architect [USA] - Quietly

There are plenty of bands playing this sort of atmospheric post-rock/sludge hybrid nowadays, but few do it nearly as well as MOTA. This record is a pretty major step up from 2005's The Ties That Blind, both in terms of musical maturity and songwriting. "A Generation of Ghosts" is a hands-down pick for song of the year.

08. Cosmic Atrophy [USA] - Codex Incubo

Copypaste from my last journal...

THE death metal album of 2008. Cosmic Atrophy are a duo out of Houston that does what nobody truly ventured to do - pick up where Demilich left off with their legendary Nespithe album. Codex Incubo is a bit on the short side [just under 34 minutes if you count the outro track] but it does an amazing job of expanding on the ideas Demilich put forth 15 years earlier. Don't worry, though, it's not a clone by any means. These guys are already hard at work on their next album, so there will more than likely be plenty more where that came from.


07. Hammers of Misfortune [USA] - Fields/Church Of Broken Glass

To be perfectly honest, I thought these guys were finished after Mike Scalzi left to focus on Slough-Feg, but John Cobbett managed to put a new lineup together and soon have not one but two albums ready. This is a definite step up from The Locust Years, which, while fun and memorable, lacked the complex riffage and instrumental interplay of the first two albums. The melodies here are much stronger and a number of the songs recall that epic scope of The Bastard and The August Engine. The only thing holding the double-disc back is the fact that the new male vocalist, though competent, simply doesn't lend the personality to the band's sound that Scalzi did. He doesn't own the scenery, so to speak, but rather fades into the background.

06. Ruins [AUS] - Cauldron

Not many bands playing black metal nowadays are of interest to me, but this album is definitely pretty special. Tasmanian BM including but not featuring the Haley brothers of Psycroptic. The music, however, is more like a mixture of The Chasm and Deathspell Omega, so clearly it's nothing at all like Psycroptic, which is a good thing nowadays.

05. Cynic [USA] - Traced In Air

Every time I listen to this album, I question my sexuality. Only Queen's early work is capable of that same feat. This is arguably the best post-reunion record ever. Every bit as unique and masterfully composed/arranged as Focus, but with a much stronger production and vocals that don't sound like Max Headroom. Granted, there's room for improvement in the vocal department [a pipe dream of mine is for Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree/Blackfield to have performed them], but they fit the music like a glove. It sounds homoerotic as hell, but it's still another masterpiece of fusion/prog/metal/whatever from these guys.

04. Secret Chiefs 3/John Zorn [USA] - Xaphan: Book of Angels Vol. 9

I was on pins & needles waiting for this album, after 4 long years since Book of Horizons. I was definitely not disappointed. The music here is basically Masada compositions, written by John Zorn, with arrangements done by Trey Spruance and SC3. It's every bit as intriguing and diverse as previous SC3 albums. Though one has to wonder when there will be an actual SC3 album, composed by Spruance & co.

03. Pharaoh [USA] - Be Gone

Being a traditional metal band from the U.S. is about as thankless a job as you'll find. you work your ass off both perfecting your instrumental skills and writing riff after awesome riff, and what do you get for it? Maybe move about 1500 units domestically? A couple dozen people show up to your gigs? Unless you're Iced Earth, in which case you've been on cruise control for almost a decade, knowing that you can put out any old piece of shit with your logo on it and hundreds of thousands will gobble it up like the unwitting guttersluts they are.
Regardless, Be Gone is the third and arguably best effort yet from Pharaoh - AKA: Tim Aymar's band after Control Denied. There's oodles of brilliant riffs here, with less blatant Iron Maiden influence than in the past. The songs are also more succinct than on 2006's The Longest Night. My only complaint is that there's not enough low end to the mix. Arghoslent fans should appreciate this... unless they're part of Arghoslent's 'target audience'.

02. Opeth [SWE] - Watershed

Right up until late October, I thought for sure that this was a lock for #1, but something unseated it. This is the best and freshest-sounding Opeth album since 1999's Still Life. Not only are they finally introducing some new ideas to what was one of the most firmly entrenched sounds in all of music, but they're also cutting down on the excessive repetition that plagued the last few records.

01. Virus [NOR] - The Black Flux

Remember how hard your dick got when Ved Buens Ende announced a reunion? Remember how quickly you turned flaccid when it ended up falling apart? Well, fortunately some of the songs written by Czral & Co. for that were used instead on Virus' 2nd album, along with several more songs written shortly afterward. The whole record is absolutely stellar. The riffs are even quirkier than on Carheart without sacrificing any of the infectiousness. The vocals are a point of contention, but I can't imagine anything better or more fitting for this music. Not even Snake from Voivod [another obviously major influence]. This is a seriously addictive album that's going to have a lot of staying power.

======================

Honorable mentions:
Revocation - Empire Of The Obscene

Intronaut - Prehistoricisms

Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale

Dismember - Dismember

Keep of Kalessin - Kolossus

Severed Savior - Servile Insurrection

Bloodbath - The Fathomless Mastery

Dead Congregation - Graves Of The Archangels

Testament - The Formation Of Damnation

Oh, and I reserve the right to revise this list at any time, without prior notice. :)

==========================

ImmolationOpethRunemagickPharaoh
VoivodBlind GuardianIniquityDeceased
Secret Chiefs 3Edge of SanityBolt ThrowerDeathevocationGorgutsSleepytime Gorilla MuseumSolefaldFates WarningKing CrimsonAnataDark TranquillityThe Book of KnotsPorcupine TreeIron MaidenMorbid AngelThe Angels of LightZealotryOxbowAdramelechDismemberPrimordialSodomKeep of KalessinSighAlchemistNileManilla RoadAtheistSotajumalaDeathSwansNick Cave and the Bad SeedsThe Lord Weird Slough FegNegură BungetHammers of MisfortuneAtrocitySuffocationDemilichKreatorSlayerTestamentStargazerThe ChasmSoundgardenIncantationThe FirstbornRed SparowesLeviathanNecrophobicEnslavedCatacombsGrailsOriginKatatoniaBauhausPortalMonstrosityAbramelinBlut aus Nord
Samael!T.O.O.H.!DissectionNevermoreBruce DickinsonMeshuggahThinking PlagueAutopsyCandlemassThe Jesus LizardOctober TideQueenDefeated SanityIntestine BaalismOphiolatrySolitude AeturnusOrphaned LandDisillusionEntombedCaspianGustav HolstConvulseDeathevokatioNThe GriftersColdworkerDeathspell OmegaDawnbringerVoid of SilenceDark AngelIgor StravinskyGregor SamsaToolPig DestroyerNecrophagistTelevisionCrypticusAgallochThe CrownCerberus ShoalAncient RitesRotting ChristThe Birthday PartyLudwig Van BeethovenLiarsRootFaith No MorePurtenanceDemons & Wizards
CadaverCorpus MortaleFleshlessWatchmakerJudas PriestKaamosSatyriconCarnageDuobetic Homunkulus光田康典Melt-BananaNifelheimCryptopsyEvokenArghoslentDisgraceCannibal Corpse
MartyrImmortalSentencedEmperorBehemothBig BlackSummoningVed Buens Ende
HorslipsIndukti
ArcturusdiSEMBOWELMENTMetallicaEsotericThe Fucking ChampsArt Bears
MotörheadExodusRadioheadHail of BulletsHypocrisyBlackfieldMr. BungleNeurosisSkycladAfflictedRottrevoreCarpathian ForestNokturnal MortumDead CongregationBrodequinHour of PenanceNegurã BungetSargeistDies IraeDe Lirium's Order
RavenousGospel Of The Horns
VintersorgForgotten TombMortuary DrapeKing DiamondSeptic FleshYatteringSkyforgerKrisiunShellac
AmorphisLove HistoryCarcassMortemThou Art LordLed ZeppelinLudicraAbigorAbaddon IncarnateFunebrarumAppalling SpawnLoudblastUsurperAxis of AdvancePere UbuAnathemaVirusMorgionBelphegorResurrection
Internal SufferingSlintRevenantPossessed