Natrlhi's 2011 End of Year List Orgy

[slapguitarer]

I'm no too sure I agree with that, but The Money Store is the tits.

[w00tasaurus]

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

Ummm...have you looked at my avatar (which hasn't changed in about three years)?

haha, no I didn't notice

[Natrlhi]

Originally Posted by mastodon421

If you thought Exmillitary was good, check out The Money Store ASAP (If you haven't already). Blows Exmillitary out of the water and hopefully their second album of this year will be just as good.

I have checked out The Money Store, and hell yeah, it is good.

[Natrlhi]

39. deafheaven - Roads to Judah

Does anybody remember that old Reese's commercial where they go "hey, you got your chocolate in my peanut butter!"? Well, speaking of two great tastes that taste great together, I just love they way bands like deafheaven are fusing black metal with post-metal nowadays. Now don't get me wrong - just because I like stuff from both genres doesn't mean I'm gonna rubber stamp anything that combines the two - in fact, quite the contrary. Combining genres like this can spell disaster when it's not done well, but in this case, the result is damn decent. It definitely doesn't hurt that I got a chance to meet their frontman George Clark at their show with Russian Circles last year, and he's quite the well-spoken, intelligent guy. So in short, everything about this band has impressed me so far. I'm interested to see what they do next.

[Natrlhi]

38. Jungle Rot - Kill on Command

Now in keeping with the hint that I gave, I will stipulate that I haven't listened to any of this band's previous material in earnest, but I have tried some of it out, and I just don't seem to remember being that impressed. It was good, but it sounded like so much other death metal I'd heard before, that I just filed it under "more of the same". However, that all changed with this album. I can't really say what it was - whether the production was just a touch better, or the riffs were just a little bit catchier, or the overall tone of the album was just a bit more intense, or what (probably a little bit of "all of the above") - but these guys got my attention for sure with this one. It's the first Jungle Rot album that not only made me want to listen to it again, but I even started watching out for them on tour so I could check them out live. Speaking of which, I don't remember the reason I had to miss their show with Deicide in Cleveland a few months ago, but I can tell you that they were definitely the primary reason I wanted to go. Plus, how could you not love an album with such awesome cover art?

[Natrlhi]

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

#37 is another death metal album that, while being very similar to the band's previous work, is still ridiculously good in spite of its predictability (which isn't always a bad thing).

Originally Posted by smearCampaign

Vader?

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

37. Vader - Welcome to the Morbid Reich

Yeah, the man nailed it - and quite frankly, so did Vader. Again. It's almost getting to the point that you can predict exactly what the next Vader album is going to sound like - all you have to do is listen to the one before it (or the one before that). Yet, while this syndrome is the kiss of death for a great many bands, it is the crown jewel for others (bands such as Bolt Thrower, Amon Amarth, Unleashed and Entombed come to mind). I don't really know why some bands get away with it and others don't - and I'm as guilty as anyone at being "inconsistent" in this regard - but all I know is that as I listened to this album for the first time, I sat there and nodded my head and I remember thinking two things: "yup, it sounds pretty much like the last one", and "I can't wait to press play again when it's over". What else can one say?

[Natrlhi]

36. Weedeater - Jason...The Dragon

Now in keeping with the hint that I gave, I will stipulate that I haven't listened to much of this band's previous material in earnest, but I have tried some of it out, and I just don't seem to remember being that impressed. It was good, but it sounded like so much other stoner metal I'd heard before, that I just filed it under "more of the same". However, that all changed with this album. I can't really say what it was - whether the production was just a touch better, or the riffs were just a little bit catchier, or the overall tone of the album was just a bit more compelling, or what (probably a little bit of "all of the above") - but these guys got my attention for sure with this one. It's the first Weedeater album that not only made me want to listen to it again, but I even started watching out for them on tour so I could check them out live. Speaking of which, I don't remember the reason I had to miss their show with ASG and Cough in Pittsburgh a few months ago, but I can tell you that they were definitely the primary reason I wanted to go.

Does the above look familiar? Well that's because I quoted it verbatim (almost), because it fits. But seriously, this is the album that really got me interested in Weedeater. Everything they did before this was mildly interesting to me at best (granted, I hadn't spent much time with their material, but I'd like to think there was a reason for that) - but this one grabbed my attention like a motherfucker. It's a bit short, but it's fantastic. If I knew their previous material more, I might be willing to hazard a guess that this is their best album yet.

[Natrlhi]

Some hints for the next batch:

#35 is a black metal album by a band who hasn't stood out from the crowd for me...until now.

#34 is a post-metal / post-rock album that may not be as legendary as the band's previous work (yet), but was still extremely good IMO.

#33 is an excellent album from a band whom many refer to as a post-metal outfit, and while I might debate that, I can't totally disagree.

#32 technical black metal, anyone?

#31 is an album that's just barely metal, and few folks on this site have even heard of (much less listened to), but more's the pity because it fucking rules.

[GarageMetal468]

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

Some hints for the next batch:

#35 is a black metal album by a band who hasn't stood out from the crowd for me...until now.

Taake?

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

#32 technical black metal, anyone?

When I think technical black metal I think Direwolf, but I'm gonna guess it's Taake again? I dunno, that's all I can think of.

[Natrlhi]

No, but I have a fun idea - you should keep guessing Taake for every one and see if it eventually ends up being the correct answer.