2007 was a good year for music. It wasn't an incredible year that makes me believe that music just can't get any better than it is now (probably because Kayo Dot didn't release anything, hehe), but it was just a really good, solid year. That being said, here are my 20 favorites, in order from good to greatest.

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20. Deathspell Omega - Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum

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This is probably some of the most toneless and heavy black metal that I have ever heard. At all the blasting parts, it seems so busy, chaotic, jumbled, and…

Ion Dissonance is easily my favorite mathcore band of all time. I very much enjoy the older days of The Dillinger Escape Plan, The End, and other such monikers…but frankly, Ion Dissonance just pummels me with the power that few other bands have. The slew of blisteringly heavy and dissonant guitars with technical flare is something I absolutely could not get enough of on their first two releases…so I couldn't wait for their third release due out this year…

Ion Dissonance - Minus the Herd (2007)

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Well, first of all, our post-Solace relationship got off on…

2006 saw a lot of new things for me. New music, new tastes, and the fall of my pirating habits (hats off, Lucas!) I swore that I wouldn't make a top ten list this year, mainly because making seven dollars an hour for about twelve or less hours a week gives me only enough new cd's that I can count them on my fingers and toes. However, when I was trying to write about this year in music (it was so excellent I had to do something), I couldn't help but start comparing the albums against each other, until this…

mewithoutYou is probably one of my favorite bands at this moment, and possibly of all-time. This is easily understandable; their catchy minimalistic riffs/melodies and their atmospheric, yet energy filled punk/post-rock/post-hardcore/experimental sound, with Aaron's unique speak/sing vocals over top of it all, and the most deep and thoughtful lyrics I've ever heard to boot.

I've already missed them three times before that I was aware of…twice at Purple Door (one time because my group had to leave early to play a show, the other because I couldn't find anywhere to sleep Friday night and was forced to go up Saturday morning),…

If you look at my recent events section, you'll notice something unlikely…the band Crossfade, in particular. Personally, I don't like Crossfade. I don't really consider them remotely original in any sense. They're alright at what they do…and what they do is a radio-friendly "hard rock" sound similar to that of Three Doors Down, Creed, and other uninspiring bands.

However, after my band (Sickness Unto Death) played the Chameleon Club in Lancaster thrice, the guy that hooks us up with shows there told us that he wants to get us in with bigger bands than just…

On Friday, my preorder for the latest installment of mewithoutYou goodness arrived. I've been looking forward to this album for as long as I can remember (which somehow dates back to when I had practically all the songs on "Catch for Us the Foxes" memorized), and I was pretty psyched when it finally arrived. Anyways, here's the meat and potatoes of it.

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The album art is nothing different than their previous two releases…an artistic painting (or, this one looks almost more like a pastel sketch, but I have no clue what I'm talking about) that slightly depicts the main…

If you haven't seen it already…look here.

I can't really imagine how this isn't just a big data screw up with these websites. mewithoutYou's lyrics are so spiritual and religious that it really would shock me to hear one offensive word in any of their songs, and the fact that tooth and nail would release an album with a parental advisory is completely unheard of. I'm sure that there's nothing to worry about, and I'm positive that their lyrics are just as spiritual and poetic as they were before, but this still seems really strange.

I'm nearly positive that…

The other night I ripped my mother off of the sofa and sat her down at the computer in order to purchase some tunes for me.

Three of them should be no surprise to you, as I just made a post a week or two ago concerning the four albums this fall I am most excited about. That's right, I ordered three of them. mewithoutYou's "Brother, Sister" appears to be a promising album for fans of the previous (raises hand), Into Eternity's "The Scattering of Ashes" sounds awesome, even based on one preview song, and He Is Legend…

To be completely honest, I was pretty disappointed with 2006 in terms of good music releases. There's only been a few releases out so far this year that really caught my ear (notably Protest the Hero's "Kezia" and Anathallo's "Floating World"), and after expecting so much in the beginning of this year and finding next to nothing as quality music releases goes, I was pretty upset. However, this fall is looking to be insanely excellent. There are so many good releases soon to come that I can't even keep track of them. Let me explain further…in order of…

As many of you who are familiar with me personally know…which is only a few people on last.fm, in that case…I'm not the biggest music buyer, right? Most of the music I listen to is either downloaded or burned from some of my good buddies who like to spoil me with illegal goods. I mean, I don't even purchase music from my favorite bands, even though I know how hard it is to get support and make it in the music industry. I've bought, like…what…one CD this year? Right?

WRONG! It's time for a change! A reform! A practice of…