Natrlhi's 2011 End of Year List Orgy

[illuminatus917]

[masterguy49]

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

So buckle up because here we go (again), bitches.

13. Disma - Towards the Megalith

Yeah, this is one of the heaviest death metal albums ever made. Period. It's fucking ridiculous, that's what it is. I mean, when an an album comes along in a genre that's already known for being ultra heavy almost all the time, and it's listened to by someone who has been listening to the heaviest of the genre for a quarter of a century, and it makes that person say, "holy fucking shitballs, that is heavy," then that's when you know you'retalking about some heavy ass shit. Seriously. Not sure what else to say here. This album scares me. I like it a lot. I would recommend it to you, but it would probably just make you cry for your mommy - so just move along.

You describe it perfectly, they were painful live, I felt like I was being crushed just by the sheer heaviness.

[slapguitarer]

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

Top ten time, you low-life scumbags.

10. Grayceon - All We Destroy

Before I launch into this first review of my top ten, I have to be honest. I fucking love this band, and I always have. So, while it's fair to say that it would be hard to imagine me not liking one of their releases, I have to admit that at first listen, I wasn't too sure about some of the songs on this album. I mean, certain tracks such as "Shellmounds" and "A Road Less Traveled" were instant hits in my book, but songs such as "Dreamer Deceived" and "Once a Shadow" took a bit longer to fully embrace. After spending sometime with this incredible album, however, I can honestly say I love every track. It's true, I love some more than others - for example, the ridiculously epic "We Can" is a stone cold fucking classic - but they're all fantastic in their own way. If you've never listened to this band, this album is as good a place to start as any, although I'd probably suggest starting at the beginning of their three-album catalog and moving forward, for the sake of listening to the band's progression over time if nothing else. For example, cellist Jackie Perez Gratz continues to challenge herself vocally with each new release, and she rises to the occasion every time. Drummer Zack Farwell continues to propel this excellent band forward rhythmically with his extremely precise skin work, and guitarist Max Doyle keeps making it look easy by blending seamlessly with Jackie's cello work in a way that's almost organic. In short, this album may only be the band's third, but on it, they demonstrate coherence, synergy and chemistry that bands with twice as many albums are still trying to achieve.

This album is fucking great. I also agree with your post on Disma.

[ravenheart]

Originally Posted by illuminatus917

Some of the albums that have yet to appear in this list are better than anything that came out this year.

Heavy Kingdom exists, so this statement is incorrect.

[illuminatus917]

Originally Posted by ravenheart

Heavy Kingdom exists, so this statement is incorrect.

Indeed.

[kalfitegrdan]

- Awesome (and completely true) review for Disma!

- If you haven't yet, you should check out White Tomb by Altar of Plagues. I personally think it's better than Mammal.

- That Grayceon album

[Natrlhi]

Originally Posted by illuminatus917

SHITTER WAS FULL!!!

[Natrlhi]

9. Cormorant - Dwellings

There is so much to love about this sophomore full-length album from this truly talented group of Bay Area progressive blackened trad-metallers. For one thing, the album art is just stunning. The copy I pre-ordered comes with a full-page poster of the painting which is the centerpiece of the album art, and it’s just fantastic. Sonically, the album is nearly perfect in terms of production – almost too close to perfect. Musically, the amount of talent on display here is incredible – all musicians are firing on all cylinders throughout, and the result is a collection of extremely tight compositions. The samples, which are mixed into the songs artfully, serve to add to the overall proceedings without becoming overstated. Even the lyrics, which complement (and are complemented by) the samples are topical without being pretentious. Perhaps the only flaw this otherwise perfect album has is that the vocal style seems a bit unimpressive at times compared to the high quality of the rest of the palette of sound, and also the style of the music itself – which tends to shift between trad rock, some thrashy bits and some light death metal here and there – just doesn’t seem to be consistently in my wheelhouse for preferred listening. This is a comment which has more to do with my musical preferences than with the quality of the record, and so I count it as a minor point. Otherwise, as has been mentioned, this album is of extremely high quality all around, and quite deserving of the lavish praise it has received in the months since its release.

[Dextrimental]

I have to admit, I laughed when I seen you had updated this!

That Cormorant is a serious grower. I'm STILL not huge on it, but with each listen I like it a little more!

[slapguitarer]

That right there is the best album of this decade by far.