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The End Of The Year 2017 Part III: Top 20 Metal Albums Of 2017As I promised, the next list that I wanted to focus on is my top twenty favorite metal albums of the year. Metal is a genre that I’ve only been into for the last few years now, but the year has been so great for metal, I wanted to dedicate a separate list to it, so these are a ton of metal albums that I’ve been into all year.

20. Unleash The Archers – Apex 19. Iced Earth – Incorruptible 18. Kublai Khan – Nomad 17. Origin – Unparalleled Universe 16. ABHORRENT DECIMATION – The Pardoner 15. Suffocation - …Of The Darkest Light 14. Accept – The Rise Of Chaos 13. Thy Art Is Murder – Dear Desolation 12. Power Trip – Nightmare Logic 11. Aethere – Adrift

10. Through The Eyes Of The Dead – Disomus

Okay, I’m going to be honest, a lot of my favorite metal albums of this year, at least in the top ten, are death metal albums. I got a few exceptions, but death metal has my heart. If you looked, though, I’ve got power metal, hardcore, deathcore, metalcore, and stuff like that in the back half, but the top half has mainly death metal, because that’s what I love most. That’s what this album is, but it’s an interesting one. This is the comeback album from deathcore band Through The Eyes Of The Dead. I wonder if they got their name from Cannibal Corpse’s “Staring Through The Eyes Of The Dead,” off 1994’s The Bleeding, because that would make sense, and it’s a kickass album. Anyway, this is their first album, entitled Disomus, in about seven years. This LP took me slightly by surprise, because they went more into a melodic death metal sound here. From what I’ve heard, one of their albums went more into a melo-death sound, but the album I’ve heard, which is the one before this, 2010’s Skepsis, was a back to basics deathcore album, so it’s interesting that they’d throw more of a melo-death sound into the mix, but it works. The only issue I have with this record is that they do throw in some breakdowns here and there, and I don’t think it works 100% well, just because they could have easily just made the leap to a melo-death band again, but it’s only a nitpick, since this LP still kicks a lot of ass.

9. Arkaik – Nemethia

See what I mean? We got another death metal album here, and there’s not a whole lot that I have to say about this one, because Arkaik’s Nemethia, is merely a generic tech-death album that’s just pretty damn good. I picked this up after hearing about them, and I definitely am a fan of tech-death (I love these death metal bands that take things to the extreme even further than what was already perceived as the extreme; I feel like someone like Chuck Schuldiner from Death would be pleased at how technical and complex death metal has become over the years. Arkaik is another one of those bands, and while they’re not a super unique band, they do what they do well, and that’s why I put it here. If you’re expecting some insane and deep meaning as to why I love this album, you won’t get it, because this album just kicks a lot of ass.

8. Incendiary – Thousand Mile Stare

I mentioned that I have some other types of albums here, too, not just death metal, and metallic hardcore band Incendiary’s new album, Thousand Mile Stare is here. Yeah, I’m sure I’ll get some, “Well, this isn’t real metal” comments, but I didn’t feel right putting this, a metallic hardcore album, with the non-metal albums, because it’s heavy, brutal, and a pummeling assault of hardcore with metal riffage. This LP is great, regardless, because it’s the kind of metallic hardcore that I love. It’s energetic, pummeling, bone-crushing, and interesting, as well as poignant and relevant with its lyricism. This LP is more on the angry side of political lyricism, but with the music itself, I don’t mind that, because it works. This thing isn’t a unique album, either, but I’ll be damned if it’s not an album that’s executed perfectly. I absolutely love this thing, and if you want to get into metallic hardcore, this is a great album to start with, because you’ll be able to get the gist of what the genre has to offer. I can’t say this album is super amazing, or that it’s like the most unique or revolutionary on this list, but that’s not something I really, really look for anymore. A lot of those albums can definitely make the cut, but for me, it’s what I’ve been coming back to most. If an album kicks a lot of ass, and is awesome, no matter how unique the sound is, I’ll talk about it, and this is one of those albums. I loved when I first heard it, back in June, and I love it now.

7. GUTSLIT – Amputheatre

Talk about an album that just kicks ass. I came across GUTSLIT while looking on Facebook, because another band that I’m really into, deathgrind band Logistic Slaughter, talked about them, and their new LP, Amputheatre, so I had to check it out. Goddamn, I’m glad I did, because this is some top notch deathgrind. I got into deathgrind last year, thanks to the band Aborted, and how much I freaking loved their last LP, Retrogore, so I’ve definitely been more open to listening to some deathgrind, and this band really hits the spot for me. I absolutely love this record. It’s 28 minutes of blistering deathgrind of the highest caliber. Like I’ve said with a lot of these albums, it’s nothing unique. I’m not going to pretend this band does anything differently, but if you’re a fan of deathgrind, or you want to get into it, this is a perfect album to listen to, because fans of the genre will be insanely pleased by this thing, and newcomers will get a perfect idea as to what the album is all about. I’m absolutely in love with this album, and for good reason, because it’s a fantastic deathgrind album that does what it does insanely well.

6. Lady Beast – Vicious Breed

Okay, here’s something a bit different, at least something that’s not as brutal or heavy as death metal, tech-death, or death grind – traditional metal! Well, more so in the vein of the NWOBHM, because that’s where PA metal band Lady Beast falls into. I talked about this band last year, before they released 2016’s Metal Immortal EP, and they’re a great “throwback”-ish band to the days of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Dio, just to name a few. I always love hearing stuff from this band, because they’re also a female-fronted band. Vocalist Deborah Levine is a great vocalist, and she’s got some killer pipes that work with this kind of music. Unsurprisingly, yeah, their new album, Vicious Breed, kicks a ton of ass. It’s a great traditional / NWOBHM album that captures that spirit perfectly. Now they didn’t do anything that other bands haven’t done before, and this album is really nothing different for them, either, but at the same time, I really like this album. They’re one of those bands that I could never get sick of hearing. They just have this sound that I can’t get enough of. If you enjoy 80s power metal, traditional heavy metal, speed metal, or the NWOBHM, definitely check out Lady Beast’s Vicious Breed. It’s easily one of the best metal albums of the year, as well as just one of the best albums of the year period.

5. Bind The Sacrifice – The Desecration Of Existence

Deathcore’s had a pretty good year. Albums from Thy Art Is Murder, Lorna Shore, Enterprise Earth, Shadow Of Intent, and tons more bands out there have been putting out some pretty good albums, but one album really struck me by surprise. That would be Bind The Sacrifice’s debut LP, The Desecration Of Existence. This band is awesome, because they remind me one of my favorite (former) deathcore bands, Veil Of Maya. Their new album, False Idol, is pretty good, but it doesn’t quite hold a candle to their first couple of albums. My favorite album from them is 2008’s The Common Man’s Collapse. I can’t believe that turns ten next year, because I first listened to that maybe a year after it came out. Yeah, I’m kind of old, but whatever. I’ve liked the direction that they’ve been going in, but I’m not super huge into djent-y kind of stuff, so I personally prefer their first couple of albums, where they were more of a tech-death band. Well, what if I told you that there’s a band that has that kind of sound. That would be Bind The Sacrifice, and their new LP, The Desecration Of Existence, which has a prog-deathcore sound that sounds like if The Common Man’s Collapse era Veil Of Maya combined itself with their current stuff. Well, their djent-y material, anyway, not necessarily adding clean vocals. Yeah, if you took Veil Of Maya’s classic tech-death sound and you combined it with prog-metal, you’d get this. This is some sick stuff, folks. This band, and this record, are some of the best deathcore you’ll hear all year. Personally, it’s my favorite deathcore album all year, because nothing has really been able top this.

4. Archspire – Relentless Mutation

If I had to pick a favorite tech-death album, well, that would go to Archspire’s Relentless Mutation. I decided to pick this LP up, just because I’ve been seeing their name around, but I had no idea what I was in for. This thing is amazing. It’s an album that really took me by surprise in the best ways. Relentless Mutation is what it says it is – relentless. This album manages to go above and beyond a lot of tech-death bands and albums that I’ve heard, because this album has a lot going for it. For starters, I was really surprised at how the vocals of this record were more percussive, versus going with the guitarwork. The vocals actually sync with the drums and percussion of the album, making for an even more intense listen. It’s not all the time they do that, but it’s still really cool. The instrumentation on this thing is absolutely nuts, too, and I love that there are a lot of slower moments on this album, because instead of annoying and pointless interlude songs, they use slower breaks in the same song to transition to another one. Not to mention, and the thing that I like most about this LP, is that it’s only half an hour long. This is one of those albums that I want to listen to again the moment I’m done, and what’s great about that is how intense, brutal, and technical this album is. It’s clear that these guys care a lot about the math behind the music, but they also deliver a technically brutal album. The album never becomes pretentious, exhausting, or starts to drag, because of how short it is. That also helps with the slower and breathing moments, as I call them, on the record, so you get a break here and there, but this is an album that I can’t get enough of. It’s absolutely awesome, and it’s an essential for every death metal fan, or tech-death fan.

3. Warbringer – Woe To The Vanquished

It’s kind of funny how things work, because I was in the process of getting my list almost finalized when I decided to pick up Warbringer’s newest LP, Woe To The Vanquished, which was released earlier this year. I heard about this LP, and it seemed like a thrash album that I might be into. Now that I’m getting more into thrash metal, I wanted to give some modern bands a go. Warbringer is a band that I’ve wanted to listen to for awhile, and holy shit, this album is awesome. This is thrash metal that is right up my alley, especially now that I know what I like. This band reminds me a lot of Exodus, Slayer, and Kreator. Those bands have a heavier, brutal, and more death metal-ly sound to their brand of thrash. Warbringer not only has a heavier, and more brutal sound, but they have some insane and intense guitarwork on this LP. The soloing, the riffs, and the overall speed and energy of this record is top notch. Not to mention, they make longer songs work, too, because the 11-minute closing track is a banger, too. This LP isn’t anything new, or really, really unique, but if anything, they’re similar to Power Trip (if you recall, I actually didn’t like Power Trip’s new album, Nightmare Logic, but I’ve been re-listening to that, too, and as you can see, it’s on my list now; it’s a really great album, but not quite great enough to be in the top, unfortunately), because they harken back to the classic days of thrash metal. Power Trip pay homage to bands that utilized more hardcore punk into their sound, whereas Warbringer brings to mind bands like Kreator and Slayer. In other words, bands that were heavier, more extreme, and that could easily be mistaken for a death metal band. Regardless, Woe To The Vanquished really took me by surprised, because goddamn, this album is awesome.

2. Cannibal Corpse – Red Before Black

This album might cause a bit of “controversy,” but not because it’s a bad album, just more so because Cannibal Corpse isn’t the most unique, revolutionary, or mindblowing band. I would say they weren’t influential, either, but mainly in terms of their music. They were influential, just how death metal could be kind of mainstream, and how insane a fanbase could be. I mean, okay, you had a band like Slayer with a devout fanbase, but Cannibal Corpse had a cult following behind them, and I think it was because death metal was beginning to really blossom around the time they formed. Red Before Black, their fourteenth album, is an impressive one for a couple of reasons. It’s impressive, because they’re almost 30 years in, and they’re still delivering great material, even though it’s essentially what we’ve already heard before, but they do bring some new ideas to the table. For starters, this thing is a bit catchy. I mean, listen to some of the guitar riffs, and tell me that it’s not catchy in the slightest, and it almost feels like frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher is at the top of his game, because his vocals on this thing are nasty, but in the best ways. The reason I say this LP might be controversial to put at a high place in this list is because they’re a band that’s not known for diversity or even variation, and yeah, I can admit that. This sounds pretty similar to 2014’s A Skeletal Domain, which is the album that got me into them, but at the same time, I don’t mind it. Cannibal Corpse is meat and potatoes death metal, but that’s okay, because sometimes you need something like that. You’re not looking for fancy tech-death, which I would equate to a five-star restaurant, and in that case, Cannibal Corpse, and bands like them, give you exactly what you want. I’ve been coming back to this album a lot, and it’s because Cannibal Corpse is perfect for what I like. They’re just solid, awesome, gory, bloody, and brutal death metal.

1. The Black Dahlia Murder – Nightbringers

Like I said for my favorite non-metal album yesterday, this one shouldn’t be a shock to some people that have known my tastes for the last few years, as well as the last few months, because The Black Dahlia Murder’s Nightbringers, well, it’s my favorite metal album of the year. The Black Dahlia Murder was one of the first death metal bands I got introduced to, but when I picked up 2013’s Everblack, I knew I had to listen to more of their stuff, so I picked up everything they put out up to that point. I bought all of their music, and I was really excited for 2015’s Abysmal, and I really liked that album, too, but there’s just something about Nightbringers that makes me place this LP at the top of their discography. Well, among the top, I should say. This LP seems to bridge a lot of ideas together from their past work. You’ve got their classic melo-death sound, a lot of tech-death influence, some black metal influence, and even a lot of hardcore / thrash influence. The latter of all of those is something the band used to make themselves stand out, and it makes sense, because they’re awesome. According to Metal Blade CEO, Brian Slagel, he signed the band after hearing a song they put up on MySpace. How awesome is that? He must not be regretting that whatsoever, because The Black Dahlia Murder is one of the most important and revered metal bands in the death metal landscape today. This LP merely continues that, and it’s not like they’re rehashing themselves totally here. They kind of are, as a lot of death metal bands do, but they’re adding some new ideas here, all within the span of about a half hour. That’s the best part, because this album is only around a half hour, so it’s not very long whatsoever, and it’s an album that I’ve just wanted to keep coming back to over and over again.

#unleash the archers #iced earth #the black dahlia murder #lady beast #origin #suffocation #cannibal corpse #warbringer #bind the sacrifice #archspire #arkaik #accept #gutslit #kublai khan #thy art is murder #power trip #aethere #abhorrent decimation

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