I don't understand the reasoning for folks not liking Heritage. It's great listening, it's different, it's catchy, it's still true to Opeth, as in, if I heard it, I would know immediately that it were if I hadn't. Opeth has the amazing ability to do whatever the hell they want and it still comes out great. I can respect them a hell of a lot more than I already did, which was a lot already, for doing a snizzy snazzy jazz-ish whatever-you-want-to-call-it record.

A friend of mine also brought up the great point of when Damnation came out folks hated it. You just have to let it grow on you a little, I guess. Otherwise......there.

I've got to say, given the number of big bands releasing stuff this year, I thought it was going to be an amazing year, but it didn't end up quite as amazing as I hoped...there hasn't been enough great heavy stuff either

I'm agreeing, and also, it's a weird time for me because the legacy acts keep releasing stuff that isn't embarrassing (I'm talking Megadeth and Anthrax here) but I also don't really care, whereas a lot of the new shit is either faux-black metal or most of the technical stuff that I don't particularly care for.


I liked the two albums my roommates put out this year... I guess?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Partying with the Kim's. BAHAHAHAHAHA!

It's been a great year for metal imo. Flicking through my ipod which no doubt will miss some albums (it's only 30GB).

THE BEST
- Altar of Plagues - Mammal (my album of the year)
- Anathema - Falling Deeper (surprised at how good this is - sounded like a mess on paper; taking some of the best doom metal songs of all time and unplugging them)
- Blotted Science - The Animation Of Entomology (EP)
- Blut Aus Nord - 777 The Desanctication
- Burzum - Fallen (always reliable Varg)
- Burzum - From The Depths Of Darkness (like Anathema, another reworkings album I was expecting to be shit)
- Caina - 'Hands That Pluck' and 'Old Songs, New Chords' (Still getting into these albums as they're long and dense)
- Cynic - Carbon-Based Anatomy (EP)
- Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons Of Light 1 (not necessarily great but I've been listening to this a lot while writing etc)
- Lantlôs - Agape (these guys rarely go wrong)
- Mastodon - The Hunter (I've never liked/understood Mastodon until this album. Clicked first listen. The Sparrow is one of my favourite songs of the year)
- Nader Sadek - In The Flesh (Not much into death metal but this is a classical debut album)
- Necros Christos - Doom Of The Occult (black metal, organ music and middle-eastern music)
- Negative Plane - Stained Glass Revelations (wonderful black metal album)
- Opeth - Heritage (Get rid of the shitty and forced metal bits. Expand of the interesting and good folky bits. All good. Don't understand the problem!)
- Peste Noire - L'Ordure à l'état Pur (Crazy drunken French revolutionary music. It's the first I heard of them but turns out it's their weakest album.)
- Portrait - Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divin
- Primordial - Redemption At The Puritans Hand (a band who always delivers)
- *Shels - Plains Of The Purple Buffalo (probably my second favourite album of the year)
- Sólstafir - Svartir Sandar
- Thy Catafalque - Rengeteg (possibly third favourite)
- Tyr - The Lay Of Thrym (gets a bit weaker as it goes on but always have a soft-spot for them)
- Unexpect - Fables of the Sleepless Empire (can thank Devin for this one)
- Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage (another band who always deliver)
- Yes - Fly From Here (a nice pleasant album)

THE BAD
- Morbid Angel - Illud Divinum Insanus (absolute mess of an album)
- Metallica and Lou - Lulu (As per above but only marginally more excused as it was an experimental collaboration)
- My Dying Bride - The Barghest O‚ Whitby (one of my favourite bands and was expecting so much better)

THE GREY
- Devin Townsend - Ghost and Deconstruction (both peppered with genius but they're a bit too extreme in different directions. Prefer Ki and Addicted)
- Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events (seems weaker than their previous album at least. I honestly think the love for this album is really some hatred for Portnoy. I think it's quite bland.)
- Megadeth - Thirteen (much better than last two albums, and sounds better but so much of the album is recycled riffs.)
- Moonsorrow - Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa (usually their albums really grab me but this hasn't yet)
- Nightwish - Imaginaerum (Bar Ghost River which I love, the rest seems lost under the orchestra and there's way too many recycled riffs. But needs more time.)
- Old Silver Key - Tales Of Wanderings (members of Alcest and Drudkh surely could've produced something better)
- Shining - VII: Fodd Forlorare (a very 'meh' album. Was expecting something so much better after all the fanfare)
- Ulver - Wars of the Roses (not bad, but no Shadows of the Sun - nowhere remotely close)


THE BEST NON-METAL ALBUMS
- Radiohead - The King of Limbs
- Florence And The Machine - Ceremonials
- Lady Gaga - Born This Way (it took awhile but it's stronger than her debut)
- Ladytron - Gravity the Seducer (very Depeche Mode-y but good)

I've been mostly disappointed with all of the new stuff this year, but there are five albums which definitely stand out as excellent:
Hell - Human Remains
Amebix - Sonic Mass
The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
Merging Flare - Reverence
Warbringer - Worlds Torn Asunder

The new Cynic is great too, though, but I feel I can't really count it as it's an EP. Alright, ok, the albums by The Haunted, KYPCK, Pentagram, Solstafir, Mastodon, Primordial, and Novembers Doom certainly were quite enjoyable as well

honourable mentions

uncle acid & the deadbeats - blood lust (black sabbath meets the grooviest shit on the planet)
burzum - fallen + from the depths of darkness

still have some shit to check out though

20 good to excellent releases right here:

1. Cynthesis - DeEvolution
2. Anathema - Falling Deeper
3. Primordial - Redemption at the Puritan's Hand
4. Moonsorrow - Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa
5. Lunatic Soul - Impressions
6. Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
7. Tenhi - Saivo
8. Tori Amos - Night of Hunters
9. Devin Townsend Project - Ghost
10. Anna Järvinen - Anna Själv Tredje
11. Boris - New album
12. Falloch - Where Distant Spirits Remain
13. Other Lives - Tamer Animals
14. Leprous - Bilateral
15. Eyes - Dust
16. Mastodon - The Hunter
17. Ulver - Wars of the Roses
18. Riverside - Memories in My Head (EP)
19. Cynic - Carbon Based Lifeforms (EP)
20. Heather Findlay - Phoneix Suite (EP)

- Opeth - Heritage (Get rid of the shitty and forced metal bits. Expand of the interesting and good folky bits. All good. Don't understand the problem!)

Sounds good on paper. Execution is lacking, aimless and dulls at parts. Terrible lyrics. There are good moments, but as a complete album it leaves a lot to be desired.

THE BEST
...

THE BAD
...

THE TABLE
Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu

I'm still sorting out my picks for an "official" list, as some releases fell through the cracks for me this year, just due to busy-ness and lack of time. Once I give those ones in the cracks a listen I'll return with my list. I gots some listenin' ta do.

Without reading prior posts, here are my major highlights (in no order as yet & subject to change, as I'm still deciding a top 11):

DTP - Deconstruction & Ghost
Hate Eternal - Phoenix Amongst the Ashes
Loss - Despond
Novembers Doom - Aphotic
Alestorm - Back Through Time
In Malice's Wake - The Thrashening
Demonaz - March of the Norse
Blut Aus Nord - 777 Sects(s) & The Desanctification
Týr - The Lay of Thrym
Macabre - Grim Scary Tales
Vader - Welcome to the Morbid Reich
Benighted - Asylum Cave
Tsjuder - Legion Helvete
Shining - VII: Född Förlorare
Deicide - To Hell With God

Disappointments were Battlelore's Doombound and Anthrax's Worship Music. Not bad albums by any means (new Anthrax would be a slow burner, actually), but didn't quite live up to what I'd hoped for. Ah well, better than the following dishonorable mentions:
Loutallica's Lulu and Morbid Angel's Illud Divinum InsANUS for being proof that streaming/downloading for free can be a good thing. I listened to both in full once each, and will never do so again, at least not willingly.

No denying this was an epic year for metal.

Demonaz - March of the Norse

Forgot about this album - I really like it.

My favourite ten albums from this year have been:

Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Dev - Unplugged
DTP - Ghost
Falloch - Where Distant Spirits Remain
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Nils Frahm - Felt
Ólafur Arnalds - Living Room Songs
Pale Sketcher - Seventh Heaven
The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh
The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow

Don't think there's anything coming out this month that's likely to disturb that lot either...

[EphelDuath666]

I have bought and checked out surprisingly few Albums this year. I blame that on the fact that I'm not downloading anything anymore. I used to download stuff and then bought everything that I enjoyed. Yeah, so much for the 'downloading hurts the industry' theory. Take that and stick it up your Bieber, music biz.

Anyways, the few Albums I loved are

Bon Iver
Fleet Foxes
Opeth
The stuff from that Devon Townshend guy...no, wait. Devyn Brownscent, that's what his name is.
Mastodon
The latest Bohren & der Club of Gore EP (if that's even from 2011, don't remember)
Macabre
Shining (the swedish emo black metal band)
Wolves in the Throne Room

stuff I still need to check out/buy:
Tori Anus
Björk
Feist
Steven Wilson
Sólstafir

[swervedriver]

Most of my year is pretty much overshadowed by Deconstruction/Ghost.

Runners-up would include:
Dev - Unplugged
Mastodon - The Hunter
Cloudkicker - Let Yourself Be Huge
Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Trivium - In Waves
The Omega Experiment EP
(If DVDs count I'll put Rush's Time Machine Tour here as well.)

Disappointments include:
Opeth - Heritage; has its moments, but they're too far and few between for me to say it's a really solid album.
Textures - Dualism; hasn't grabbed me at all. If anything, it has made me like Silhouettes even more.
Simius - Overture "Essence"; don't know what that crap is all about. Just awful.

Textures - Dualism; hasn't grabbed me at all. If anything, it has made me like Silhouettes even more.

i have been trying to find the proper adjective to describe dualism, i dunno.. horribly fucking weak?

Simius - Overture "Essence"; don't know what that crap is all about. Just awful.

Now if you make sure I have a copy of that by year's end it can still make it to the list

Nils Frahm - Felt
Ólafur Arnalds - Living Room Songs

Share the Erased Tapes love Check out A Winged Victory For The Sullen, it's getting rave reviews but hasn't really grabbed me. And I still need to check out a bunch of the stuff Peter Broderick put out this year.