85 incredible metal albums of 2017

METAL: 

Fucking hell. It was a ridiculous for metal and all its hyphenated, nerd arguing, split genres.  This is no order. And i didn't want to split hairs in comparing genres - but then did not want to pick 5 from each.... Basically this is 100 awesome metal albums of 2017. maybe more. i lost count.

I even broke up the spoitfy lists: Part A and Part B

NOTE: if forced to choose a top 10 or 50, I’d have to whittle down and that would leave some great shit out. Also – I am not a musician – sometimes ‘best’ to me means impact and energy; not technical proficiency.

DIRTY BLACK N ROLL:  8

Craven Idol The Shackels of Mammon Dark Descent (next level noise evil gritty metal)

Malleus Storm of Witchcraft Blood Harvest - Boston madness! Probably my #3 of the year.

Midnight Sweet Death and Ecstasy Hells Headbangers -  little different, slower songs, still amazing

Goatwhore Vengeful Ascension Metal Blade - another banger from them! Just flawless

Tombstalker Chaotic Devotion Boris 7” - only wish there was more. Black metal foundation with Thrash Rock – well produced. could be my #2!

Implore Subjugate Century Media - drums are like if Jerrys Kids played satanic metal. Caustic delivery, BM riffs.

Moral Void Deprive Translation Loss - straight forward, no frills. Stripped down brutal ugly metal. Fast as fuck. Songs like “Bereft” and “Dust”: clear black metal, but its thicker and more captivating to me

Wormwitch Strike Mortal Soil Prosthetic – again just such a great blend of styles. Punches hard

THRASH – Dbeat and Misc...whatever i can't keep up with all these distinctions: 10

Kreator Gods of Violence Nuclear Blast *brutal from the best

Power Trip Nightmare Logic Daymare - #1 with Loudwire, MetalSucks Readers + Writers, BangerTV Viewers; #37 Decibel – below Converge, Integrity and some others. I have loved these dudes from day one. Cuz i love hardcore and metal and all in between.

Iron Reagan Crossover Ministry Relapse – infectious and energetic after many listens – simple formula that works. Momre hardcore than thrash. Took a friend who hadn't heard them yet. He's 43 and said "this is the new DRI! This is perfect." I prefer this to new MW.

Lurking Fear Out of the Voiceless Grave Century Media played this frequently. Swedish supergroup (holy fucking line up) that grabs its opportunities and nails it.

Vallenfyre Fear Those Who Fear Him Century Media side project get d-beat/swede Death fusion – loved it all year.

Blood Feast The Future State of Wicked dirty underground – blackened thrash stood out to me Love this album after repeated listens

All Out War Give Us Extinction Organized Records - Decades ago, hardcore guys unabashedly made a Slayer record. No one matched their ferocity. They are back. Classic line up delivers best LP in years.

Wilderness Dream Paralysis Rise Creator Destructor -  raw sludge USDM with vocals llike Human Fuirnmace of RIngworm - i listen to this a lot. Great band.  2-3 min songs. Probably one of my favorties, i just know it is not technically superb or whatever. But actually it is rather fucking sick! Good hardcore feel like Ringworm or All Out War.

HON MEN: 

Odious Icon Planet of Immense Decay Negative Vibe - new thrash but not too clean, little darker smoking tracks. I love the tuning and tone. Just uh, again, not ground breaking. Maybe it's not thrqash and I want it to be more thrash. It's not polished enough or guitar focused to be 'pure thrash' which IS WHY I LIKE IT. Still worth a listen or five. @ - 3.5 min songs and a heavy hardcore sound, just with death metal vocals.

Havok Conformicide Century Media - little choppy for me – but when the go forward, they do it well. Been a band I liked for awhile

Warbringer Woe to the Vanquished Napalm

Witchery I Am Legion Century Media -- very like a Skeletonwitch – just blends thrash and black metal so well.  Produced clean and fierce.

DOOM:  14

With the Dead From Love Rise Above - droned out cavernous despair, Lee Dorrian‘s nihilistic perfection. Triumphant!

Spirit Adrift Curse of Conception 20 Buck Spin - glorious. Better than Pallbearer to me. Clean Vocals; spot on 70s riffs with crafted intentional doom

Loss Horizonless Profound Lore - painstakingly slow – but gorgeous. Epitome of melancholic funeral doom

Paradise Lost Medusa Nuclear Blast - back. True doom, growled lyrics. Continue their upswing of the last few years.

Beast Maker Inside the Skull Rise Above - from the look to the hook; riffs and lyrics and aesthetic make this one the best records in years on a stellar label. 

DOOM Hon Men:

Demon Eye Lies and Prophecies Soulseller Records - NC's finest hit the target with their third brilliant LP.

Elder Reflections of a Floating World Stickman 4x 11 min songs then 2 9 min. Crafte dwell – great rhythms and guitars. Bluesy at times – like early Graveyard… Lots of layers of sounds. Smart men

Bell Witch Mirror Reaper – always liked these dudes – and now a 83 minute one track. Epic (a duo) – with drummer/vox guy died – Adrian Guerra and got a new, first time drum/vox guy Jesse Shreibman

Temple of Void Lords of Death Shadow Kingdom - monolithic plodding but death metal riffs

Unearthly Trance Stalking the Ghost Relapse - another staggering return.

Northless Last Bastion of Cowardice

Tongues Hreilia I, Voidhanger Records

Omotai A Ruined Oak Ruined Carnage - AZ trio of dirgy punk-doom; rebellious, smart, weighty

Ditch and The Delta Hives in Decline Battleground Records – killer sludge doom – about to tour w/ 

Conan

DEATH:   12

Cannibal Corpse Black Before Red Metal Blade - a fuckin monster. thank you, CC

Necrot Blood Offerings Tankcrimes - yep. nailed it. Dark and evil.

Acephalix Decreation 20 Buck Spin - another great one from all these Necrot and Vastum related people.

Dying Fetus Wrong One to Fuck With - Relapse Nasty. Powerful. Genre defining; heavy but clean production with the weird guitars (not a musician but that high pitched noodling)

Obituary s/t Relapse - mid-paced, hardcore like - and fucking great. Listen to it a bunch.

Exhumed Death Revenge Relapse *Concept album of drunken serial murders. Great LP

Cannabis Corpse Left Hand Pass Season of Mist - call them a joke or whatever. But as ecibel review said - other bands lauded as genius rehash (pun intended) subjects of war or Satan again and again. SO their thing is weed. The music is bonkers.

Incantation Profane Nexus Relapse - just a personal favorite. so grimt, just down and dirty death metal. More on thick riffs and loos production than tech wonder.

DEATH Honorable Mentions:

Decapitated Anticult Mystic *tops Blood Mantra, killer record overshadowed by horrific claims - now vindicated.

Extremity Extremely Fucking Dead 20 Buck Spin 3 chicks & a dude; member of Vastum (Shelby); Swedish style. 

Entrails World Inferno Metal Blade  - down to the logo, this is intentional Entombed worship – handled flawlessly. (Gruesome: Death / Entrails: Entombed)

Black Dahlia Murder Nightbringers Metal Blade – Death Metal that the HC kids love

GRIND:   6

Haemorrhage We are Gore Relapse - From Japan. Been around awhile but this is their most realized release.

Friendship Hatred Southern Lord - scary shit from Japan

Expulsion Nightmare Future Relapse *literally Exhumed Matt Harvey + Repulsion Matt Olivo. Add Danny Walker of Exhumed, Intronaut, and Phobia. Damn find grind.

Phobia Lifeless God Willowtip - classic road dawgs snuck in the under radar to gift us this gem

Lock-Up Demonization Lifeless  - All Star line up (Nicholas barker, drums, Shane Napalm, Kevin Sharp – brutal Truth, VC) this is when Death/grind gets fun and invigorating. Angry and political. Big death metal stomps and breakdowns.

HON MEN:

Complete Failure Crossburner Season of Mist - sludgy dark spazz grindcore. Nasty

SLUDGEY/NOISE: 5

Ledge Cold Hard Concrete Translation Loss - Heavy Chicago shit, tough plodding like Harms Way – dude from Spine/Weekend Nachos – doom/industrial hardcore. Heavy and ugly and depressing suicidal shit.

Primitive Man Caustic Relapse. Sometimes I am in the mood – sometimes it’s unlistenable. Ugliest doom out there.  Misanthropic

Iron Monkey 9-13 Relapse - reconstituted with new/old members as a trio – but captures the spirit and sound. Gnarly.

Livid Beneath Shroud The Earth Erodes Prosthetic - oomph. slow as molasses. and fucking good.

HON MEN:

Rig Time! War Innerstrength - pretty much straight hardcore (like this year's great Left Behind) but they like Eyehategod too. Smart social lyrics.

Blackish:  Note the "ish" 5

Low Estate Covert Cult of Death Flenser – best new surprise for me. Chaotic metal + splashes of AmRep/NY noise. Unsane meets black metal; rough n tough and low-fi.

Cloak A Venomous Concept Season of Mist - this split a lot of people this year, but most endorsed and gave at least a 7/10. I enjoyed this immensely and they are getting big tours now. Well deserved on a well crafted album. Good production. Not first wave black metal, but not that symphonic shit. Thick riffs still played with well rounded production. But structure is often black with a classic metal feel. I like it much.

Chaos Moon Eschaton Memoire Blood Music/Fallen Empire - 6 - 10 minute tracks, produced not tinny but still with early black metal aesthetics. Grandiose atmosphere with muted production, i guess. Ebbing and flowing song structures. Dandy. Double bass insanity with high tones meandering - i have it as background music and i suddenly realize how depressed I feel.

Tombs The Grand Annihilation Metal Blade - another bomb ass record by these Brooklyn dudes. SO full. It takes many listens to appreciate, I feel they are one of those bands who set the bar so high early - that in their 4th and 5th LP you're like "yeah, of course it's awesome". But then you don't dive into it. I need to dive into this again.

Scour Red Housecore - I don't really know if the TRVE KVLT BM scene poo poo these cats as tourists - but i think it's amazing musicians killing black metal. Phil Anselmo [Vocals] (Ex-Pantera, Superjoint, Down, Arson Anthem), John Jarvis [Bass] (Fulgora, Pig Destroyer), Chase Fraser [Guitar] (Animosity, Continuum), Derek Engemann [Guitar] (Cattle Decapitation, Unmerciful, Covenance) and Adam Jarvis (Misery Index, Pig Destroyer) on drums. Jarvis is one of my favorite drummers. I think its big and focused and fucking dark.

SPLITS:  3

Livid/No Funeral Live Fast Die Recordings - ugly satanic doom

BLK OPS/Cave Bastard accident prone - black metal doom noise

Hands of Orlac/Wandering Midget Cruz Del Sur - 15 min doom songs but super good)

STONER ROCK: 4

Summoner Beyond the Realm of Light Magnetic Eye - dudes can write. Big bendy riffs with thundering delivery. Witness the madness. 4 - 6 minutes tracks with clean vocals mixed evenly. It ain't pop. It ain't Mastodon or Sword - but hella approachable. Solemn and heavy shit.

Here Lies Man Here Lies Man Riding Easy – riffs, fuzz; stoner rock with afro-beat rhythms. One of the most original albums this year. Thin Brown Sabbath doing original tunes.

Atomic Bitchwax Force Field Tee Pee Records Stoner Rock per se but done on hyperspeed in 2- 3 min songs. Killer riffs, guitars blazing leads, spaced out 70s jamming.

Duel Fears of the Dead Heavy Psych Sounds - dusty desert tunes for muscle cars and Harleys. Love it. One of my faves this year. More 70s rocking than others in this list. If Earthride didn't growl or tune as low at times; then they switch to boogie a la Trouble / The Skull. Dark and occulty.

Honorable mentions:  16

Integrity Howling… Relapse expanding their sound. Solid LP, love the addition of Dom Romeo. I loved it. Then I was bored. Some straight USBM stuff, some hardcore, then the slow and 'profounbd' spoken shit. Metallic. Felt like a collection of songs rather than one cohesive album. But ya know, divebombs.

Unsane Sterilize Southern Lord - what an album! great stuff. could use slight more variety - but still a crusher. This sits in this list more becauseit does not have peers, less than its quality.

Darkthrone Arctic Thunder - pretty good. I'd like better production. I like their classics of course. But I also love FOAD, Sardonic Wrath, Cult is Alive, Dark Thrones and Black Flags. I like variety and their experimenting. So with this, i just wish it packed more of a punch. But I will certainly throw it on.

Taake Kong Vinter Karisma - its hard to top Striden Hus

Pallbearer Heartless Profound Lore - a damn fine record. may be i am just have a stick in my craw over the hipster hype. But i also get kind of bored. and it's super polished music and clean singing. Again, i am not a musician so maybe i miss the genius.

Ufomammut 8 + Godlike Snake Neurot – Italian doom guys; psych mind expanders. Samples, electro, noise static and riffs. I know it's amazing but after 7 LPs of this (and EPS) you have to be in the right space. And again. more elctro shit in this one. Still brilliant.

Rope Sect Personae Ingratae + Proselytes Caligari Records / Iron Bonehead – dark, macabre rock

Godflesh post self Avalanche - I loved the return last year with Lit - but i just didn't get tiime for this. Still growing on me.

Sepultura Machine Messiah Nuclear Blast - best Derek Green yet; trashy, gnarly. I just wish they would just change their fucking name. But Machine Messiah is a great album. I definitely appreciate the cerebral lyrical shit; I liked A-Lex and Dante concepts. This is cool too. Often i just want them to play faster - like it needs to move forward, sometimes they reside in the stale bounce too frequently ("Alathea"). But i do like the layered percussion on "Resistant Parasites". Andreas and Paulo still kill. New kid on drums is nasty. Green's voice is commanding.

Cavalera Conspiracy Psychotic Napalm surprisingly good – old tight chaotic thrash – better than average – better than expected still a 3/5. Max's lyrics are still that of a ten year old tho. I love him in Sepultura - never git into SOulfly - i liked Nailbomb - i liked last CC and this one.

Converge The Dusk In Us Epitaph - meh, another genre challenging, boundary pushed milestone. meh.

Full of Hell Trumpeting Ecstasy Profound Lore - aggressive. and different. sometimes just too abrasive for me. And i was on that early bandwagon, i ain't fronting. It's good as fuck.

Old Iron Lupus Metallorum Good To Die Records - Bad Ass sludge. Really good, just not ground breaking

Belphegor Totenritual Nuclear Blast -  Love these guys. Back again. satanic thick Blackened Death Metal; super fast drums with staccato plodding riffs on the opener. Then others are just thick USDM.

Shambles (Thailand) Primitive Death Trance Blood Harvest 

MISC:

Quicksand ? not for me... yawn... 25 years later and it's an indie shoegaze album. Best part of QS was the dense tension, the pressure  and frustration. I would not expect them to make  QS part III. Use a new name!

Electric Wizard Wizard Bloody Wizard Spinefarm  - fine 60s rock but decidedly average

Melvins A Walk with Death & Love Ipecac - I will always love the Melvins. Best part is if you don't like this one, next year will be another installment in their supreme legacy. Still rocking this as i work once in awhile. But doesn't grab my nuts. I'll try again and maybe change my opinion. Again - just did not give it enough time yet.