Natrlhi's 2011 End of Year List Orgy

[Seventhzealot]

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

[*]Hammers of Misfortune - 17th Street
[*]Crowbar - Sever the Wicked Hand

I feel the same about these two. I mean I liked them when they came out but sadly neither have any replay value for me

[Epidemic Reign]

I had no idea Gallhammer even released new material last year. I'll have to check it out, I enjoyed the first two albums.

I'm a bit disappointed to hear about Pestilence, that's one that I've been meaning to get around to. I actually really enjoyed Resurrection Macabre and hoped that the new one would be as good or better.

[moobys37]

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

[*]Top Ten Live Shows [*]Top Ten Live Performances

If you don't mention we saw a Cobalt song I'm going to punch you next time I see you

[SomewhereInTime72]

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

• Deicide - To Hell with God
• Boris - New Album
• Boris - Heavy Rocks
• Boris - Attention Please

you fool

[treghet]

Originally Posted by SomewhereInTime72

you fool

I have to say, although the new Deicide album was good, there were much better death metal releases in 2011.

[SomewhereInTime72]

Originally Posted by treghet

I have to say, although the new Deicide album was good, there were much better death metal releases in 2011.

Well while it definitely wasn't one of my favorites I certainly consider it a better album than "skippable." I just saw that and felt it wasn't something someone should have missed out on.

[hellawaits77ny]

Yep, 'To Hell w/ God' is one you should definately check out. I ranked it much higher than most. It was my #2 album of 2011.

[illuminatus917]

Originally Posted by treghet

there were much better death metal releases in 2011.

Execration, for instance.

[Natrlhi]

Thanks for all the comments, fellers.

@moobs: Not to worry - I shan't skip an opportunity to mention that awesome fact.

Re: Boris - yeah, I was bummed to have had to skip those. It wasn't a conscious choice based on some sort of logic - it just happened. I did listen to "Attention Please" (that was the pop album, right?). It was interesting, but to be honest it probably would have just moved from the list it was on to the one I posted afterward (i.e. "not my thing"). Just being honest. I enjoyed Boris live, though. They are a real hoot, and talented as fuck.

Re: Deicide - same kind of comment there. Not a conscious choice, but I've never been more than a casual fan of theirs if I'm honest. I'd definitely be willing to check their latest album out and be proven wrong, though.

[Natrlhi]

So. This next list might result in a few comments as well. These were albums that I felt were basically decent, but for the most part, I would label almost everything on here as "good, but should have been better". For the record, I liked all of these albums to some extent, but in general the few tracks or moments that appealed to me were not enough to give the albums in question much repeat listening value for me.


Fifteen Metal Albums That Were Just OK

Darkest Hour - The Human Romance
Not a bad effort from a metalcore band I can actually tolerate, but I thought Unearth's 2011 album was much better than this.

Mastodon - The Hunter
Come at me, Mastofans. I love this band, and this album definitely had its moments, but the experimental tracks on here just ruined it for me because I didn't like them and it made the album seem like it was somewhat slapped together.

Sourvein - Black Fangs
I just feel like I should have liked this more, considering how much I like this genre. It didn't suck, but it didn't wow me either.

Revocation - Chaos of Forms
I loved their previous album. I'm either over these guys already, or this album was inferior to "Existence Is Futile". The problem is, I don't care enough about them to figure it out anymore. Damn shame, that - but at the end of the day I just felt I had better music to spend my time on in 2011 than this.

Decapitated - Carnival Is Forever
Good death metal. At times, VERY good death metal. Somewhere from beginning to end, though, I just lost interest.

Exhumed - All Guts, No Glory
See "Decapitated - Carnival is Forever".

Destruction - Day of Reckoning
Way, way, way, WAY fucking better than D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N. - the problem is, that's not saying much. This album definitely brought back some memories of past albums of theirs that I liked, but in the end I still find myself wanting another album like "Release from Agony.", and it's never gonna happen.

Skeletonwitch - Forever Abomination
Better than their last, but failed to excite me the way "Beyond the Permafrost" did. These guys were surprisingly "meh" when I saw them open for Obscura last summer, too.

Vile - Metamorphosis
Again, no "wow". Just OK.

Warbringer - Worlds Torn Asunder
I might be done with these guys on album. They were loads of fun live, but their studio stuff just doesn't get my rocks off the way it should.

Black Tusk - Set the Dial
I loved their last release. This one was just OK. It had some great moments, but the awesome factor was only present from time to time on this one.

Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising
Not a bad album, but definitely this was way weaker than their previous two. It felt pretty much phoned in to me (with a few exceptions, but still).

Braveyoung - We Are Lonely Animals
I guess I just like these guys' material as Giant better. This is OK stuff, but I found it somewhat boring to be honest.

Gates of Slumber - The Wretch
I've never been more than a casual fan of this band, and this album failed to convince me to change my mind about that.

Maim - Deceased to Exist
This album had some moments that made me sit up and take notice, but in the end, they were too few and far between to make me care enough to check it out past a few partial listens.


So that's it. A bunch of bubble albums. I don't hate them enough to rail on them, but I don't like them enough to struggle with how to rank them against one another, so they ended up here...in limbo. If you feel strongly about one of these, state your case and maybe I'll give it another shot. I have been known to have a short attention span from time to time, so I may have missed something in this group of albums.