Natrlhi's 2010 Year-End Best-of List Orgy

[illuminatus917]

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

I gotta figure out a different way of doing it this year - this April shit is just embarrassing.

If it takes 'til April, it takes 'til April. Better to do it late than not do it at all. I've really enjoyed your list... it's given me some new stuff to check out. Snake My Charms is great.

[Natrlhi]

Originally Posted by jhdeity

I saw them as an Opening act...

Well, that's better than nothing, but knowing what you know now about their body of work as a whole and their awesomeness as a band, I'm sure you can appreciate that seeing them live as a headliner would be fucking tits (and it is).

I have faith you'll make it happen soon enough - and let's just say you're more than likely gonna be in for a real treat. Something to look forward to...

Originally Posted by illuminatus917

If it takes 'til April, it takes 'til April. Better to do it late than not do it at all. I've really enjoyed your list... it's given me some new stuff to check out. Snake My Charms is great.

Sincerest thanks for that comment - you've completely validated the fact that even though I was somewhat embarrassed by how long it took, I kept at it and cranked it out. As I said a few posts earlier - it's about recognizing great music to me, and it sounds like that's what happened. I'm especially stoked that you picked up on one of the most obscure albums on my list...those No Hawaii dudes are the shit. Helluva debut album, eh? I suspect next to no one knows who they are, but if I can get a few folks interested, and they tell a few folks, who knows what might happen? Regardless if the word spreads or not, I'm damn glad someone else got to enjoy that awesome album.

You just made my day, brother! :brofist:

[jhdeity]

Yeah I think I'd appreciate it more now too. I was a bigger Sleep fan than High on Fire back then but HoF finally clicked with me on a way higher level.

Snakes still gets better with every listen and recently I've found myself jamming Surrounded by Thieves more than usual. Why this band isn't way bigger than they are is a shock to me.

[JRA]

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

1. High On Fire – Snakes For The Divine
Typically, my criteria for Album of the Year are simple. The album has to be perfect (or at least, closer to perfect than all other releases I heard that year). The reasons I feel comfortable labeling this album as “perfect” (or close enough), are primarily that all of the tracks are essential (the only “filler” track is “Path”, which is actually an intro for the following track “Fire, Flood and Plague”), the production value of the album is not only very good but well-suited to the music, and that every song on the album makes me want to bang my head fiercely. The fact that the version of the album I own also includes bonus tracks “Mystery of Helm” as well as live versions of perennial favorites “Eyes and Teeth” and “Cometh Down Hessian” are just a bonus.

As I stated above, many other excellent albums finally did emerge as 2010 marched on, but none of them managed to supplant “Snakes for the Divine” in my listening queue for very long. This album was a stalwart companion for me on many a long car ride as well as a personal trainer of sorts for many a workout in the gym. The songs on this album are some of the best – and most experimental as well, in some cases – that High on Fire has ever written, and that’s saying a lot. The title track is a monster, with a killer intro such as High on Fire have never written or performed before, and many tasty riffs / solos galore. “Frost Hammer” is another beast, with some of the best vocals and drumming of Pike’s and Kensel’s careers thus far. The appeal of the experimental (at least by High on Fire standards) track “Bastard Samurai” is only surpassed by its sublime presence when played live. The point is, this album is the total package, and it may ultimately prove to be High on Fire’s finest album to date.

When a band this good releases a collection of songs that are this solid, it’s awfully difficult – and in this case, impossible – to keep from elevating the collection it to sublime status – and so, for the above reasons as well as many others still left unstated, High on Fire’s “Snakes for the Divine” is simply my favorite metal album of 2010.

Fuck yeah! Nice to know that as little as I listen to new music my favorite album of last year is also the favorite of someone whose considerably more well versed.

Now I know I'm right when I include this in my 100 greatest metal albums of all time.

[Natrlhi]

Originally Posted by JRA

Fuck yeah! Nice to know that as little as I listen to new music my favorite album of last year is also the favorite of someone whose considerably more well versed.

Now I know I'm right when I include this in my 100 greatest metal albums of all time.

It really is worthy of a list like that. I'll be the first to admit that I get a thrill from having something like Cobalt's "Gin" in my number one spot at the end of the year - because not everybody knows about it, and I feel like I'm sharing something special (or something like that).

But the more I thought about how often I played "Snakes" during 2010, and the way I felt before pressing play, the way I felt when it was on, and so forth...there was just no more compelling album than that for me in 2010. The staying power of that album is phenomenal. People will be talking about it for years, if not decades.