Beginners Guide to Black Metal

Want to get started in Black Metal and join the metal elite? Too intimidated by the kvlt purists and variety? I give you The Aculeus' Highly Comprehensive Guide to Black Metal. As far as I know, this is the most in depth guide there is just in terms of pure content. Listen to each album as directed and find your niche. Enjoy.

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Top 10 Albums of 2013

First of all, welcome to 2014!
It seems like just the other day when I was posting Top 10 Albums of 2012. Alas, another year has passed by and it's been a pretty good one for music so let's get started, shall we?

(Note: The albums here can be clicked on to be viewed in higher resolution.)

10. Shpongle - Museum of Consciousness

When it comes to anomalous trippiness, there are few artists who do it better than Shpongle. I would still consider the debut album, Are You Shpongled?, to be his undisputed best work, but Museum of Consciousness may just be the greatest since. This album is markedly brighter and smoother than most of Shpongle's previous works and it has more of a flow to it. This sound is created in part by the heavy implementation of flutes and other woodwind instruments and it makes this whole album very soothing in nature. While the usual gibberish vocals are commonplace here, there is plenty of clearly worded english as well, which is a bit unusual for Shpongle, but it works, just like everything else.

9. October Falls - The Plague of a Coming Age

The Opeth inspired ambient/folk/dark metal band, October Falls released their fourth studio album this year and it doesn't disappoint. Labeling this album as one specific genre would be difficult as it's mood is all over the place. It goes from folk to doom to progressive to black all in 51 beautifully ambient minutes. The usage of clean vocals are reminiscent of mid-period Katatonia while acoustic interludes bring to mind influential bands like Agalloch. The greater number of tracks in this release compared to their other works allow the band more experimentation with dynamics and tempo and it's just another thing that makes The Plague of a Coming Age unique and varied.

8. 8 - Uneven Structure

No, I'm not giving this album the number eight spot just so I can say eight is 8 (the eighth song is titled 8 and it's eight minutes so I can already say eight on 8 is 8 for eight minutes). Uneven Structure has such a strong progressive feel to it and 8, despite being a 25 minute EP, is an amazing work of djent that's deserved of much more recognition than it's currently getting. The Meshuggah inspired group is full of distorted screams and blends polyrhythmic-passages and low bass tunings with heavy layerings and ambience and the result is something you just have to sit back and listen to. 8 is a work that flows from beginning to end and if heard all at once, it can be difficult to guess where each song ends and the next begins. Well worth 25 minutes of your time.

7. In Vain - Ænigma

Norwegian, progressive death/black metal, sextuplet, In Vain released their third full-length album titled Ænigma this year. Equal parts melodic, abrasion and atmosphere; incredibly and surprisingly catchy hooks, brutal riffing and impressively tight tremolos are all amazing features of this work but they are not what make it a standout gem. Rather, the varied vocal working which transitions from core-inspired guttural growls, screams and shrieks that borrow from black metal, hauntingly beautiful clean vocal segments and musically complex more energetic singing and shouts make for an experience that can't help but captivate. The lyrical themes of war, inner-struggles for meaning, loss and questioning the future of humanity only make for an even darker ambience that gives me chills every time I hit replay.

6. Ulver - Messe I.X - VI.X

Experimental is a broad genre that the tenth studio album by Ulver, Messe, could be found under. I'm not sure there are too many albums that quite capture dark and mournful ethereality as Ulver does with this masterpiece. While Ulver is well known for their start in the black metal genre with legendary albums such as Bergtatt still holding a formidable title within the metal community, they have long since strayed from traditional music forms and Messe I.X-VI.X is an elaborately eerie work. With almost no vocals to speak of, all of them clean, Ulver has pulled a serious 180 since their days as black metal in the early and mid 90's. Messe is an atmospheric landscape that simply takes you somewhere else when you're listening to it. As one EM reviewer put it,

"This album is a great example (even for today's cynical and over-experienced standards) of contemporary academic music mixed with the very edges of the Ulver brand, post-industrial ambient."

It's a haunting work that I've found myself playing over and over again. It is stripped of rock and metal elements and remains only the bare and chilling soul. A modern classical masterwork.

5. Aborym - Dirty

Yet another album that I repeatedly find myself replaying over and over again, Dirty by industrial-black metalists, Aborym is just as the title says, quite dirty indeed. It's music that has been referred to as "jaundiced" but in a positive way. It's a sticky and thick sounding work that is plagued with rampant distortions and moments that almost sound like glitches. It's far from anything beautiful, rather it has a filthy luster to it that is sprawling and enticing to the ear. It may not be as unrelenting as some other harder black metal influences, but it's still a great album to play at full blast and it's catchiness makes up for that completely.

4. Deafheaven - Sunbather

Before you accuse me of jumping on the Deafheaven bandwagon, hear me out. Sunbather is probably one of, if not, the first and only black metal album to receive resounding acclaim and to almost be regarded as something close to popular. It has made it's way into to all sorts of praising including NPR's top 50 albums of 2013 (a remarkably unbiased list that's worth checking out, by the way) and rightfully so. Deafheaven have gone beyond the confines of stigma and genre to create a sound that is wholly theirs. It combines traditional and post-black metal elements with contemporary rock sounds and bright, romantic acoustics, interludes and choral progressions. The vocals are screeched and sound authentic and pure and what has generally been regarded as an aberrant and contrast works amazingly well in Sunbather. Deafheaven may very well have created an entirely new genre with this release, time will tell if it can garner a following.

3. Apocynthion - Sidereus Nuncius

For the atmospheric connoisseurs, Sidereus Nuncius is about as airy and ethereal as it gets. Drawing inspiration from other masters of the genre and even naming the group after a track by artist, Nhor, of the same name, Apocynthion is a dramatic post-black metal and post-rock fusion that while maintaining a strongly atmospheric tone manages to sound wholly raw when the metal actually kicks in. I've played this album probably more than a dozen times and I still feel as though there are pieces and meanings buried beneath it that I have yet to uncover. With a low production value, it's amazing that this album sounds as good as it does and if Apocynthion are ever picked up (and I do hope that they are) they could be putting out some seriously game-changing works that appeals to more than just the metal crowd but also branches out to the rock groupies as well. A great album that sounds like the music of nebulae in deep space and has a strongly off-earth feel to it.

2. Thrawsunblat - Wanderer on the Continent of Saplings

In stark contrast to the spacey, anything-but-here vibe that comes from Sidereus Nuncius, Thrawsunblat has a predominantly folk/black metal sound and is about as earthy as it gets. This as-of-yet unsigned Canadian trio has folk down pat but also manages to remain effectively melodic in nature. With songs such as Once Fireveined fleshing out the band's variability and utilizing both screams and clean vocals reminiscent of bands like Windir; others such as Maritime Shores that showcase the band's affluence with true, unbridled folk music, serving as a great break from the heavier material and also managing to be distinguished and not simply filler; and finally to heavier tracks like Borea that are unrelenting and almost thrashy; Thrawsunblat sounds very authentic and undistorted which perfectly accentuates the natural focus of the album. A captivating work and one of my favorite folk metal pieces.

1. Nhor - Within the Darkness Between the Starlight

In all of my purest honesty, my words cannot effectively describe this masterpiece of an album. It is dark and emotional, eerie and atmospheric, earthy and ethereal. This one man project, who is referred to only as Nhor, is as beautifully vibrant as it is devastatingly mournful. It seamlessly flows from soft, sorrowful scintillating piano pieces into anguished and echoed black metal passages. It's a patient work but requires your full attention the entire time. It's a very unpredictable album that's shrouded in a somber haze and the music feels distant as if it were a memory.
Tracks like the title song, along with it's intro piece, are intensely melancholy; their slow pace allowing for introspection and imagery to work their ways into the mind. After having listened to the intro track, A Forest Draped In Moonlight, hearing next song kick in with Nhor's reverberating screams is among the most chilling experiences I've ever had with metal. The following tracks are just as essential and the album keeps pace with itself, never losing that darkened tone or rushing itself. Piano interludes abound, the longest being on The Temple of Growth And Glimmer Ascends. Never do these seem boring or like filler; they set up the melody and give contrasting accent to the harsher parts making them all the more effective. It is in this way that Nhor has the incredible ability to utilize the silence as if it were an instrument of it's own and it's a beautifully somber work because of it.
That's what this work does so masterfully; it paints such vivid images into my mind. When I close my eyes, I can see the pinpricks of light in the velvet black of night, taste the faint bite of winter and feel the longing nostalgic breezes. It's comparable to stepping out of reality and into a dream. I cannot understate this album. From beginning to end, it utterly captivates me and I find myself so deeply enveloped in it's spell that any outside rousing seems jarring to me. There is no point that is any weaker than the last. It's poetry in a non-verbal form.

Honorable Mention

Imperium Dekadenz - Meadows of Nostalgia

October Tide - Tunnel of No Light

Impending Doom - Death Will Reign

Means End - The Didact

Entities - Aether

I would also like to point out that had I made the 2012 list now, it would look a bit different. Most notably Ashen Eidolon by Gallowbraid would be in the top slot as the best album of that year. It's amazing and you should check it out.

Top 10 Reasons To Hate Grindcore

When I wrote my article titled Unquantifiable, I talked about how music is not something that can be graded but rather something that varies from person to person; that it's an entirely taste-based thing. That being said, I also jokingly remarked that this doesn't change the fact that if you listen to grindcore, you're still a fucking idiot. I wanted to elaborate on what I was talking about when I said that. Grindcore is a genre of metal that utilizes guttural growling, pig squealing, overdriven basses and so much guitar distortion that it becomes almost unrecognizable as an instrument. Here's a prominent grindcore band for reference.

Since I didn't want to make a whole long rant about this, I'll make it easy. Here's top 10 reasons to hate grindcore.

10. Embarrassing Band Names

"Oh, what sort of bands are you into?"

"These days I'm really digging Anal Cunt, Sperm Swamp, Meat Shits and Cock and Ball Torture."

Grindcore is a genre that is built upon shock-value and attention-seeking. Thus, most bands give themselves repulsive titles that you can't even discuss in public without sounding like a necrophiliac. It's one thing to have a name that's edgy and badass sounding like Darkthrone or Beneath the Massacre but grindcore takes it to a whole new level of stupidity.

9. Disgusting Lyrics

I know I'm starting to sound more and more like a mother who's kid listens to metal but seriously the lyrics of the typical grindcore band ranges from outright disposition towards everything to the point of absurdity, to graphic descriptions of gore, to something that sounds like it was written by a dirty minded sixth grader who just learned what sex is.

For example:

Randomly Raped Rectum by Lividity:

Now, I apologize because that's downright abhorrent but it's only the icing on the cake that is grindcore lyrics. If you're curious enough, you can go searching for yourself.

The thing that most bothers me about this is not that it's just gross and stupid but that most metal lyrics are about deep topics ranging from human nature, to life and death, to debating religion and other times just being about mythology or the natural world around us. Grindcore is an absolute joke by comparison.

8. Gross-Out Artwork

I'm not going to post any pictures of the sort of shit that grindcore bands like to use for their album covers because not only is it way beyond NSFW, I hate looking at it and I don't want to search for it. Once again, if you're curious enough, go looking for yourself but I warn you, it's nasty shit.

Who would want to have that sort of garbage in their music library or have it staring at them whenever it shuffles up on their MP3 player? Furthermore, the artwork shown on the covers of these albums prevents them from being able to be sold anywhere that has any kind of standards. Knowing that almost makes it seem that these bands are begging to have their shit pirated.

It's commonplace for death meal bands to put all sorts of gore on their album covers, but even there it's fucking annoying.

7. Void Fanbase

Good God, there's nothing worse than an avid grindcore fan. If you thought typical metalheads were bad, you have no idea. Go check out some grindcore forums or read the comments underneath a grindcore video on Youtube.

The fans are the kind of person who is enthralled by this sort of edgy-goad that these bands are intentionally appealing towards. They listen to grindcore purely to "like" something that no one else can stand and to seem badass. They are not badass. They are annoying.

6. Poser Artists

And while we're on the subject of posing, let's take a look at the artists themselves. These guys sing about killing random people, hating everything, rape, burning shit and just general deviance. So who are these mentally unstable, and seriously dangerous individuals? Let's take a look.

Here's a picture of Goat Eater trying to look as badass as possible.

Look out! He's gonna get you!

Not convinced these characters are true threats everyone around them? Take a look at Brutal Dissection.

Oh fuck! Leather jackets!

So basically, they're those weird kids who sat at the table in the corner when you were in high-school. I'm not saying that I'm disappointed that they're not murdering and raping everyone who crosses them, I'm saying they should practice what they fucking preach. Black metal bands talk about burning churches and sacrificing animals but the artists actually do that shit.
Oh, and by the way, if you were thinking that I'm being unfair and that black metal bands are likely the same thing, here's Gorgoroth.

5. Those Vocals

The vocals of that music you heard above was probably the most standout thing to you. I shouldn't even have to say anything about it because it's the bloody elephant in the room. It's growly, pig-squealing to the point of almost being funny. I cannot imagine seriously listening to that shit all the time.

4. Kettle Drums

Why is it that every fucking grindcore band in existence has to have kettle drums? If you don't know what kettle drums are, listen to that song above again. Or if you want another example, try this and pay attention to the drumming.

It's just a kind of drum that happens to sound like popcorn on cocaine. Once you notice that it's there, it's so blisteringly annoying that you'll never be able to focus on anything else. Why can't they just use, oh I don't know, normal drums? Like everyone else?

3. No Variety

As long as I'm talking about things that every grind band does, I may as well just address the overall lack of variety in general. In any other sect of metal, you'd be looking at dozens of sub-genres within those encompassing titles. In black metal alone, you have Raw Black Metal, Folk Metal, Ambient Black Metal, Avant-Garde Black Metal, Post-Black Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal, Industrial Black Metal, Viking Metal, Experimental Black Metal, Depressive Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal and that's only scratching the surface.

When it comes to grind you've got, Grindcore (pure), Deathgrind (a combination of death and grind elements), Pornogrind (grindcore with lyrics about porn), Cybergrind (I honestly have no idea what that is) and Noisegrind (basically just noise). That is literally everything I found after searching dark grind forums.

2. No Respect Among The Metal Community

There's a reason that you'd have to look into strictly grindcore forums to find anything about grindcore. As far as the metal community is concerned, grindcore is not even considered metal. I am dead serious. If you've ever wanted to be laughed out of a metal thread, start talking about how much you love grind.

You will get shit on harder than a Torsofuk dream.

1. It Gives The Rest Of Us A Shitty Reputation

As much as almost every strongly held conception of metal and the metal community is largely false, people still consider it to be a kind of music dominated by freaks, killers and brain-dead headbangers. While bands like Cannibal Corpse have done nothing but reinforce that from day one, there's nothing that's holding that up to the extent that grindcore is.

With all of that absurd banging on kettle drums, extreme distortion, growls that are so guttural it's laughable, lyrics about gore and porn and names that are gross just to say, grindcore is almost a parody of the metal genre. If it were just that, a satyrical look at our community, not to be taken seriously (like the Weird-Al Yankovic of metal), that'd be fine with me. Unfortunately, that's not the case and people actually do take this music seriously.

Given all of that, it's no wonder metal is hated by everyone outside of it. You have to dig around all of that garbage to discover the poetic nature that encompasses the bulk of metal. So thank you cordially, grindcore, for not just making yourselves look like perverted teenagers going through a phase, but for making all of us look like that too.

Top 10 Black Metal Logos

One of the major staples of black metal, the leading paradigm of bad stereotypes and concerned mothers in music, is their flamboyant usage of often illegible artwork that they display as their logo. These artworks generally include the band's name and are often quite impressive and intricate works. Today I'll be counting down my top ten and believe me, it was difficult to choose out of the many runners up.

10. Xasthur

This depressive American one-man-band is known for the usage of topics of suicide, despair and other comforting emotions as musical basis. The name Xasthur is a combonation of the name Xastur and Xenaoth, two spirits from some pagan thing or another. Another fun tidbit, the original band name was going to be Xasthuriath but it was shortened to just Xasthur in 1997. But fuck, that logo, man. It's like an explosion of angst.

9. Anataeus

This one has all kinds of shit going on in it. Look, for instance, to the top of the logo, you should be able to make out a 6-6-6. Anataeus is a classic, straight-up satanist band that is every bit as cliche as you've heard black metal is. That's all fine and dandy for some but the rhetoric is a bit tired and it's good to see the genre taking new strides in the past decade.

8. Wolves In The Throne Room

Good fucking luck reading that one. Every time I think I see the words lining up, they always manage to disappear on me. WITTR is a black metal duo of brothers who've been around since 2004. They fancy themselves with subjects such as mysticism and the natural world which gives them a less angry vibe than a lot of other black metal bands. I like that.

7. Agalloch

Still one of my all-time favorite metal bands, the Oregon band, Agalloch, has been going strong since 1997 and hopefully won't be stopping any time soon. Delivering music that is both calming as well as hellish seems impossible but is pulled off flawlessly by the foursome. I like that the logo looks wooden and gnarled like dead trees.

6. Nhor

And speaking of bands that are just as serene as they are deathy, the one-man-artist, who simply goes by Nhor, is my personal favorite ambient black metal band and is right up there with Agalloch for all-time best black metal. Nhor has all his artwork done by an artist who goes by Sin-Eater. Sin-Eater designs the many monochromatic and bleak as well as beautiful and inspiring works that accompany Nhor's music. It's a great compliment considering Nhor's heavy emphasis on nature within his works.

5. Ayat

This one has clearly crossed the line between trying to make out the words and simply trying to make out any letters at all. The band is called Ayat and yes, if you look hard enough, the letters are all there. This Lebanese, straight-black band pretty much just hates all of humanity. Fun stuff.

4. Aifur

This is one of those bands that obnoxiously refer to themselves as nihilists which is basically a fancy word for atheist. If you're not a theist you're an atheist, you don't have to pretty it all up. Regardless, just look at that fucking logo. The way the roots make up the letters is just awesome.

3. Exiled From Light

Now that is what I call a fucking black metal band. This is complete with a forest of long, gnarled tendrils; dark, silhouetted birds; a callous sliver of a shrouded moon and ominous, stygian shadows. Another lone artist, this guy likes to refer to himself as Mort... He should hang out with Gort, the giant robot cyclops from The Day The Earth Stood Still.

2. Forestfather

Yes. Here we can see the obscure, international, atmospheric/folk metal band, Forestfather, taking the formula from Exiled From Light and perfecting it. While it's true there isn't any crescent moons involved, the way the words form a tree, complete with crows alighting upon it's branches; the way the letters are wispy and include tiny details such as the dozens upon dozens of minuscule branches and twigs reaching off of it... this logo is just beautiful. Bravo.

So what could possibly beat this one?

1. Coldworld

I'm not really sure why, but I really love this one. It's so simple but at the same time, imposing. Coldworld is yet another one-man project that has released two albums since 2006. The logo is minimalist in black metal terms. It's design perfectly compliments the gray, austerity of it's artworks. Truly awesome design, well-done.

Runners up:

Unsurprisingly, there were several bands who didn't quite make the cut, however, I'd like to pay them homage as well.

Korgonthurus

Darkthrone

Addaura

Bosque                                                     Triste

Senthil

October Falls

Woods of Pestilence                                                        Dark Fortress

Austere

Those were just my top favorites. This was a hard list to make because even discluding the logos above, there are dozens of other bands I could've chosen. Did I miss any good ones?

Then and Now: Three Bands That Became Sellouts and Three That Didn't

Twenty years is a long time and there's a lot that can happen to a person within two decades. That being said, we often hold musicians to a higher standard and for some reason expect them to be eternal, unwavering monuments. That's really not that fair, all things considered but it's something we come to expect from the artists we've known and loved year after year. So, when they start going through changes, altering their music style or trying to appeal to a different audience; that tends to piss off the fanbase.

Often times the case is that originally the band started out doing their own thing before they became widely popular and their evil record companies stepped in and tried to get them to sensationalize in order to sell more records! So here, I'll give a few examples of some bands that admirably stuck it out all these years and a few who gave in to the money.

First, the failures.

In Flames

This is In Flames in 1994:

And this is them in now:

This one is a bit upsetting to me because I love In Flames. While some people would say that Lunar Strain, the '94 album, was when they were at their best, while others, like me, would say that Clayman and Come Clarity was the high point. Whichever you think, the band has been going downhill ever since and I'm getting more and more sure that they're not going to return.

Katatonia

Here we have Katatonia in 1993:

And here they are now:

Now don't get me wrong, I do like the song My Twin but it's a hell of a drastic change no matter how you slice it. I think the strangest part of this case is that for Katatonia, much unlike In Flames, it wasn't a gradual change that happened over the course of twenty years, it was all at once. Seriously, in 1997 they put out an EP called Sounds of Decay and then in '98 they give us Saw You Drown. If you're curious enough, you can look those songs up.

Skillet

I had to pick at least one non-metal band. They've been around since 1996 and they've made a name for switching their style constantly. For awhile, they were in a hard rock phase and sounded like this:

And this is them now:

I'm not really sure what happened.

And now...

Just in case you were thinking that I'm holding these artists to an unfair standard, check out these artists who have remained strong for a long time.

Opeth

Here they are in 1995:

And this is them now:

Darkthrone

Darkthrone in 1991:

Darkthrone now:

Tool

Tool as they were on their first EP in 1992:

Them now:

So there it is. Three bands that succumbed and three that didn't.

Unquantifiable

Why I think music can't be rated

You may have noticed that I've been talking about music a little more lately. I try to shake up the variety by doing that sort of thing. As this is primarily a reviewal page, you might be weirded out by the fact that I never attach any finite numbers to songs, albums, whatever. As I touched on during my rant over the Grammys a few months back, I'm against the whole idea of deciding how good or how bad music is.
There's really no established criteria for rating music. I have no idea how those ass-clowns over at the Grammys decide which songs are better and which are worse but they apparently have some sort of secret formula that they input the music into which produces an answer.

This isn't fun! This is science!

Now, obviously, I know that that's not what they do but in all honesty, how they choose the winners is a complete mystery to me. I think that it's immoral to stamp numbers onto music based on how "good" it is. Why? Because music is an art.
They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that couldn't be more accurate when you're talking about music. Testament to this is the fact that music itself is so diverse. How does one even compare two totally different genres and pick the better song?

Decide which is better. Start by comparing and contrasting.

However insanely different those two songs are, they're both music no matter how you look at it. You may not be crazy about Daft Punk (because I know there's no way you don't dig some Goregrind), but there's no denying that simply it's existence goes to show that someone out there is, otherwise the music wouldn't exist.

While it's true, however, the way you were raised has a direct effect on the music you enjoy, your taste is generally out of your conscientious control. It's a bit like fetishes in that you don't choose 'em, they choose you.

Weirdos.

But to digress, music is an art and I don't think DiVinci ever competed with anyone to make the prettiest canvas. Furthermore, rating music takes away from the creative ocean that is music. You have a group of famous, respected judges take a bunch of songs and say, "Yes, this is good. We like that." what do you think everyone is going to try and do?

Make that happen again so they can get a big shiny sticker on their latest single.

Art isn't a contest, it's a form of take-it-or-leave-it expression and music is no different. Even though genres like pop are based on doing the exact opposite of what I'm talking about here, it still applies. Giving music a rigid this-is-good outline is what made the Baroque period an imaginative wasteland. With music, you have to be willing to create and experiment and try things that have never been done before. Music is the penultimate of creativity.

Therefore, saying "You like things I don't like. Your music sucks." is bullshit and makes no sense in my brain. It's one thing to joke about that sort of thing over the internet but it's another to act that way in anything official and I'm looking at you again, Grammys.

Because this is what music is all about.

Music is an art. An unquantifiable idea that cultures have created and personalized over all of human history and while I still think that you're a fucking idiot for listening to Grindcore, you can do what you want because, hey, it's your fetish. In music there are no laws, no truths and no right and wrong. There are only opinions and ambiguity.

Top 10 Albums of 2012

Yeah, I know it's a little late.

But I haven't been posting enough about music and I've been thinking about the best albums released in 2012. I've said before that how "good" music is is an entirely taste-based thing, so this is in my opinion. Also, note that I don't listen to every single album that gets released so if you think I missed something substantial, I probably didn't ever listen to it.

Okay. Let's begin.

10. True Defiance by Demon Hunter

Demon Hunter has been around since the early 2000's and their one of the bands that got me into the metal scene. Demon Hunter made a full recovery since their slight disappointment of the previous title, The World is a Thorn.

9. Sedition by Hour of Penance

Demon Hunter is certainly a bit lighter on the spectrum of metal which makes this album a near 180. Hour of Penance has never been better with last year's Sedition; a raging explosion of some of the heaviest metal there is with tracks like Decimate the Ancestry sounding like the band was trying to find out just how heavy a song can be. It's vehemently anti-religion stance may be obnoxiously cliche, but it doesn't detract from the album's brutality.

8. The Royal Thousand by Glass Cloud

This band's debut album, The Royal Thousand is a just solid from beginning to end (insert dick joke here). With every song on it's track listings being memorable, save for maybe two of them, it's great. It has heavy usage of clean vocals, which may be a turn off for some listeners, but they sound nice without being too whiney so it works.

7. Abnegate by Signal the Firing Squad

This is STFS's second album and actually was the first I'd ever heard of the band. While tracks like Abominator and Into the Mouth of the Leviathan stand out to me, Abnegate doesn't have a single weak point. It's growling, earth shattering brutality through and through.

6. Emerald Forest and the Blackbird by Swallow the Sun

Swallow the Sun is one of the best names in Doom these days and their most recent album, Emerald Forest and the Blackbird, is among, if not, their finest work. It starts off with it's title song which is rather beautiful in my opinion and it keeps it's mood throughout which is, rather surprisingly, less melancholy as one would think, the telltale sign of a Doom band being gloomy and bleakness but it works and I like it. Furthermore, I really like the name of the album, Emerald Forest and the Blackbird. Puts a nice image in my head.

5. Throes of Absolution by 7 Horns 7 Eyes

You may notice that the top few slots are largely dominated by Prog metal, which is what I consider to be my favorite genre. The unknown seattle band, 7 Horns 7 Eyes debuted their first EP back in 2006. In 2012 they finally release their first full record, Throes of Absolution, a beast of an album that thrives heavily on it's atmospheric tones that are surprisingly uplifting at times. The growls are among the best I've heard and the guitars are fast and beautiful.

4. The Weight of Oceans by In Mourning

Just barely beating out 7 Horns 7 Eyes and equally unkown, The Weight of Oceans is by far In Mourning's best work. Taking heavy influence from both Prog and Melodic Death Metal, it's an amazing blend of melodies and growls. It's opening song, Colossus is only the icing on the cake that is The Weight of Oceans. Every song feels very connected, almost as if they tell a story which may not be far from the truth because every song is has the same subject matter: sailing. Don't confuse this with that dreaded Pirate Metal though, because that's not what this album is about. A fantastic work that deserves more recognition than it's getting.

3. Neverbloom by Make Them Suffer

Another debut, Neverbloom is such a flawless masterpiece that calling it deathcore is an insult. The album is relentlessly attacking and with tracks like Maelstrom and Weeping Wastelands barely gives you time to breathe. It's heavy usage of atmospheric tones make for a dark, dramatic experience and fully orchestrated sections and some of the best lyrics in metal only heighten that. Every song is a standout song. A pulse-pounding blast of in your face metal that goes way above and beyond deathcore's dreary standard. Can't wait to see more from this group.

2. Other Slices by Slice the Cake

If there was ever perfection in a metal band, it is the international trio with an unassuming name, Slice the Cake. The Prog metal band released it's first and second full album in 2012, the latter of which being Other Slices. This incredible symphony of music is everything it's been hyped up to be by other reviewals. It's practically perfection with multiple structured and creative instrumental interludes that add a great deal to the album rather than just existing for taking up space. The full songs are just as brutal as they are beautiful. A few songs have some clean vocals mixed in which work nicely with the rest of the music that transitions frequently, as is typical of Prog metal. An amazing work of art.

1. The Man With No Face by Slice the Cake

That's right, this band gets both the 1 and 2 slots because that's just how fucking badass they are. The Man With No Face is a masterpiece of music. It goes from angry to emotional to dark to emotional along with other dips and dives showing that this band can do more than the same thing over and over. It starts off strong with Rational Thinking and gets better and better from there with titles like Of Gallows which features some clean vocals being the more emotional part and As Written in Pnakotus being the darker side. It all crescendos flawlessly in the twenty-one-minute title song, The Man With No Face. This isn't some cheap five minute song with fifteen-minutes of silence and then a short joke track, it's a full arrangement that sports six movements and never does it disappoint. An amazing work of art.

This album stands at a daunting full hour but I guarantee that every minute is worth it. Barely a year old and I already know it backwards. The Man With No Face is nothing short of the best album of 2012.

Changing Tastes

I think most people would say that they haven't always liked the same genre of music they're entire life. We have transitions through our preferences, they never really stay the same. That being said, it's rare for taste to pull a complete 180. Generally it's specific albums or artists that guide the listener through their phases.

The same goes for me. I've said before that I fancy myself an elitist metal fan. I try not to be; I try to be open to other genres, but I often just can't adapt; I like to stick close to my music. And by stick close, I mean if I go more than a few days without listening to my music, it'll have adverse effects on my mood. Really, I actually put that to the test once ( I was in a pretty shitty mood after the third day).

What can I say? I love music and even despite my elitism, I have not always been a full-on metal fan. Only for the past seven years or so. I've decided to talk about the three albums that got me into metal and thus, where I am today. I'll order them according to how much they influenced me.

Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies

This is an album that has diminished in my eyes slightly over the years, but only because my personal taste changed, it's still a great album from beginning to end. Every single song is solid. Great complicated and light guitars and very unique sounding clean vocals. It's metalcore, sure, but it remains as a great album to blast at full volume, especially when My Curse rolls around.

I listened to this album so many times that had every riff memorized. Great stuff. While I did like the following album, End of Heartache, I don't think it truly topped As Daylight Dies and I know I'm probably alone in that opinion, but hell, my opinion is my own.

In Flames - Come Clarity

Here's one that the elitists on forums wouldn't scold me for listening to. Interestingly, the only reason I ever found this band was because I liked the artwork and clicked on it while browsing music on Youtube all those years ago. Everyone can agree, In Flames is one of the greatest metal bands to grace the ears of mankind and Come Clarity is their indisputable best work. Some people prefer their earlier stuff, but to me, it's a no brainer. It has to be Come Clarity. Every single song is distinguished and exceptional.

The tunes are melodic and complex, the vocals are, again, quite unique as is the screaming. This is an album that I still cherish. It's certainly nothing short of a "God-tier" album.

Demon Hunter - The Triptych

This was an album that I found on the shelf of a record and CD store and the album artwork was so rad that I had no choice but to purchase it right then and there. I was blown away by this album. It was probably the first real metal I had taken the time to listen to. I was already dabbling in the areas of hard rock like Godsmack, but was ultimately bored by the genre. This album opened my eyes.

At first, I was utterly mystified by the album title, The Triptych. I did some research on this topic and found that a triptych is piece of art that features three panels next to each other. That didn't really help much until I finally realized that this album had alternate artworks.

And if that weren't enough...

The last one puts all three together. Spiders, snakes and crows. It's some amazing artwork that was done just for this one album. When I eventually started looking at their other albums, I found that every single one was like this, with the same logo but with a different design and no words anywhere. I thought and still think that that's really cool. I also discovered during my exploration of their discography that as amazing as I thought The Triptych was,  it's actually one of the weaker albums this band has put out. So, fuck it, what I'm getting at here is that Demon Hunter is an amazing band and may actually be of my favorite band of all time. Maybe.

Well, that's all I have to say on the subject. Try thinking about this yourself; what albums got you to where you are today? Not like anyone actually comments on anything here, but I'd love to hear about it if you feel like sharing.