Mastodon421's Big, Overblown, Overlong, End Of The Year Thread

[hellawaits77ny]

I agree w/ some of your points about Phoenix Amongst The Ashes. I like the record quite a bit, but I agree it's overrated. Definately a solid album, but even after the several times I've listened to the album, it's all so similar IMO.

[mastodon421]

34.Atmosphere-The Family Sign


It's show how special of a group Atmosphere is when they release the worst full-length of their career and it's still very good. Slug is such a passionate storyteller with his lyrics. This is easily their most dreary and depressing release to date and he puts raw and real emotion into every single verse on the album. The addition of a full band contributing to the album make for some interesting arrangements that weren't previously possible. As usual, Ant shows he is the best producer in the rap game. He comes up with some of the most diverse and amazing beats in all of hip-hop on a consistent basis. There are some misfires ("She's Enough" and "Bad Bad Daddy" are probably the two worst songs of Atmosphere's career), but there is enough quality stuff on here to make this another worthwhile album from Atmosphere.
Standout Tracks
1.Millennium Dodo
2.My Notes
3.The Last To Say

33.Anthrax-Worship Music


Words can't express how excited I was that Joey Belladonna was back on vocals for Worship Music. He has always been my favorite Anthrax vocalist (by far) and it had been WAY too long since he did vocals for them. Clearly I wasn't expecting another Among The Living or Spreading The Disease and I'm glad I didn't because Worship Music has very little in common with either of those records. This is a record much more rooted in traditional heavy metal than thrash and it works pretty fucking well for Anthrax. Belladonna sounds as good as ever as he tears through every track with the same manic energy he had in the 80's. Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano do a great job with the guitarwork, Charlie Benante is still a monster on the drums, and the production is top-notch. A very welcome return from Anthrax and I hope Belladonna stays with Anthrax on a permanent basis.
Standout Tracks
1.Earth On Hell
2.Fight Em' Till You Can't
3.I'm Alive

[DethMaiden]

Fucking HATE The Family Sign. Worst hip hop record of the year. Half of it sounds like Everlast's "What It's Like." Milennium Dodo is the best track, you got that right, but on the whole I can't abide that album one bit.

[mastodon421]

32.Origin-Entity


Origin is a band that I didn't like a few years when I checked them out, but Entity clicked right off the bat. It might be the new vocalist or maybe my taste has changed drastically, but this is some great tech-death that finally clicks with me. It does get a little stale at times which brings it down a few notches, but when it's on it's very good stuff.
Standout Tracks
1.Expulsion Of Fury
2.Saliga
3.Banishing Illusion

31.Arsonists Get All The Girls-Motherland


Here comes the first pick I expect to get a fair bit of shit for. Arsonists Get All The Girls has come so far from their early records it's scary. The strength of the strongwriting and new vocalist Jared Monette (who joined them on their last record Portals) are the big reasons why they have improved so much. Motherland retains the spastic sound they are known for while adding melodic riffing, great hooks, and some of the best keyboard use in all of metal. I hope people look over their stupid band name and song titles and actually check this record out. One of the most pleasant surprises of the whole year I really hope they keep up the sound on this record on their next record (which they just started writing).
Standout Tracks
1.Will Someone Please Turn Down The Ocean?
2.Tempest
3.Dr.Teeth

[street_burial]

Originally Posted by mastodon421

31.Arsonists Get All The Girls-Motherland


Here comes the first pick I expect to get a fair bit of shit for. Arsonists Get All The Girls has come so far from their early records it's scary. The strength of the strongwriting and new vocalist Jared Monette (who joined them on their last record Portals) are the big reasons why they have improved so much. Motherland retains the spastic sound they are known for while adding melodic riffing, great hooks, and some of the best keyboard use in all of metal. I hope people look over their stupid band name and song titles and actually check this record out. One of the most pleasant surprises of the whole year I really hope they keep up the sound on this record on their next record (which they just started writing).
Standout Tracks
1.Will Someone Please Turn Down The Ocean?
2.Tempest
3.Dr.Teeth

[jd091]

waitwaitwaitwaitwait

wait

you had Arsonists Get All The Girls above Origin?

And it's all the way down in #32?!

[mastodon421]

Originally Posted by jd091

waitwaitwaitwaitwait

wait

you had Arsonists Get All The Girls above Origin?

And it's all the way down in #32?!

God damn right I am actually surprised you were the only want to comment on that. I was expecting to get flamed really hard for that one.

Next post is coming in a few minutes.

[treghet]

I didn't realize Arsonists Get All the Girls still existed.

[mastodon421]

30.Children Of Bodom-Relentless Reckless Forever


I know I was one of the 12 people that really enjoyed this album. It might be because my expectations were so low or the fact that's it's 1000x better than Blooddrunk. I think this record brought back some of the fire that was missing from the past couple Bodom records. "Not My Funeral" put my worries about this album to rest very early on. I found myself surprised my how good most of the songs on the album were (with the exception of the subar "Was It Worth It?" and "Pussyfoot Miss Suicide"). Alexi Laiho sounds (and plays) a lot better due to his cutdown in partying. It's defintiely Bodom's best record since Hate Crew Death Roll (thought it's still not even close to as good as that record) and a step in the right direction to getting back to the glory days of the band.
Standout Tracks
1.Not My Funeral
2.Northpole Throwdown
3.Roundtrip to Hell and Back

29.Decapitated-Carnival Is Forever


Note to Morbid Angel: This is how you make a comeback album. After 5 long years filled with trauma and hardship, Varg reformed Decapitated and made Carnival Is Forever. New vocalist Rasta and drummer Krimh do a great job at their respective positions. Rasta has been getting a fair bit of criticism for his vocals, but I thought he was a beyond serviceable replacement for Covan. You can't expect him to be exactly like Covan, those are big shoes to fill and he does a damn fine job. Varg does what he does best, write a bunch of killer riffs that range from very heavy ("United" "Pest") to utterly haunting ("A View From A Hole", "Carnival Is Forever"). Decapitated has returned in pretty great fashion. I am happy that two iconic death metal bands didn't let me down with their comeback albums this year.
Standout Tracks
1.United
2.A View From A Hole
3.Pest

[treghet]

bleh to both of those.