Until I get to my Top 5 or 10, I'll be doing the Top 50 list in increments of five.
50) Old Silver Key – Tales of Wanderings
Neige sure is one busy guy. I’ve only heard his names circulating the intrawebs for maybe a year, but this is the third project I’ve heard him in. Like Lantlos, Neige only provides vocals for Old Silver Key. The band really is the guys from Drudkh. Unlike Lantlos, Old Silver Key features little to no elements of black metal. Sure, they throw in some tremolo picking and blast beats every blue moon, but it’s never distorted and Neige never uses his black metal shrieks on this album. Essentially, this album is a post-rock/shoegaze album. It’s in no way a metal album, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The only problem I have with the album is that it is pretty much just Alcest sans the black metal. There are some really cool tracks on the album, but I’d rather just listen to Alcest. But if you like Alcest, but wanna hear something similar to it without the whole black metal thing, I highly recommend it.
November Nights Insomnia
49) Thomas Giles – Pulse
Although I wasn’t there to experience the reactions to Thomas Giles Rogers’ first solo effort, Giles, I know for a fact it wasn’t pretty. And when Tommy Rogers announced that he’d be releasing another solo album, I knew a lot of people weren’t looking forward to it. Neither was I at first. I had listened to some of the material on Giles, and to be frank, it sucks. But I then heard the single off the album, Sleep Shake, and fear I did not. For the most part, Tommy Rogers abandon’s all the elements of the putrid Giles on Pulse. Pulse is full of different colors, emotions, and moods. You can’t really fit this album into one genre. On Pulse, you hear alt-rock, electronica, acoustic singer/song writer, metal, and much more. I like the album a lot for that reason, but it’s also why it’s this low on the list. Pulse doesn’t really feel like an album, but a random collection of songs. That may be because that’s precisely what it is, but still. You have your good moments and your shit moments, but the good outweighs the shit. If you like alternative/experimental rock music, I’d recommend giving Pulse a shot.
Hamilton Anxiety Scale
48) Witch Mountain – South of Salem
With South of Salem, Oregon doom-metallers Witch Mountain takes us down to the crossroads in the Mississippi delta. Their style of doom metal is very bluesy and of course, slow. Their combination of slow riffs and high-range female vocals is an approach to doom that I haven’t heard and is pretty solid. Now, the reason this album is low on the list is because I don’t feel that album really progresses over time or really goes anywhere. Most of the songs sound a little too similar for my taste. Considering this album was a decade in the making, you’d think they could write more concentrated songs that progress and evolve, but that didn’t happen here. If you’re into groove oriented metal, or wanna hear some modern metal with a bluesy twang, go for it, but other wise you aren’t missing anything great by skipping South of Salem, just something fairly good.
South Sugar
47) The Gates of Slumber – The Wretch
The Gates of Slumber are a time machine. Their form of traditional doom metal is similar to any doom metal album you would hear in the 80’s; being equal part Vitus, Pentagram, and Candlemass. The singer/guitarist, Karl Simon, sounds a lot like Ozzy too. The Gates of Slumber door a good job of writing awesome riffs and bitchin’ solos. All the songs here are good. They guys do nothing wrong. The reason they are at this place on my list is because I feel that I could be listening to another band, such as Vitus, Sabbath, or Candlemass, and get the same, if not better satisfaction than I do while listening to The Gates Of Slumber. But if you’re a fan of retro doom metal, and want to get your hands on something newer, check these guys out.
Day of Farewell
46) Amon Amarth – Surtur Rising
It’s hard to hate Amon Amarth. Their strain of melodic death metal is well written, catchy, and brutal. You can always rely on Amon Amarth to release solid melodic death metal for all of us to enjoy, and that is just what they did with Surtur Rising. Not much has changed this time around. But that is to be expected. People often call Amon Amarth the most consistent band in death metal, which is both good and bad. It is good because if you like Amon Amarth, you never have to worry about them writing a shitty album, but it’s bad because when a band is so formulaic, you never get to see how the band could grow and evolve. You get the same product as last time, just newer and a little shinier. So like I said, it’s hard to hate Amon Amarth, but it’s also hard to love them.
Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery, Part II