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So much music comes out now that it’s impossible to have a bad year in anything. Take metal, for example. Approximately 234,827,358 metal records (give or take several degrees of magnitude) came out in 2008. If you couldn’t find 10 to like among those 234,827,358, you weren’t trying hard enough.
Though 234,827,358 records negates the notion of a bad year (and perhaps the very notion of a year), it also means that year-end lists now have basically infinite variation. 20 years ago, things were a lot simpler. In 1988, your year-end Top 10 list probably included some of these records: Megadeth’s So Far, So Good…So What!, Metallica’s …And Justice for All, Slayer’s South of Heaven, Testament’s The New Order, Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Queensrÿche’s Operation: Mindcrime, and Voivod’s Dimension Hatröss.
Dead Congregation – Morbid Paroxysm
Now the sky’s the limit, as lists from various luminaries show below. (For more, see Pitchfork’s year-end column, which includes my Top 10 in the form of haikus; Phil Freeman (Metal Edge); Adrien Begrand (Decibel, Metal Edge); The Left Hand Path.) Still, patterns emerge. People really liked the Nachtmystium and Torche records, though neither made a dent on me. The latest Leviathan and Origin records also got deserved props. But the name that popped up the most was Dead Congregation: Athenians doing death metal right. If one aggregated metal year-end lists across the Internet, Dead Congregation might be the surprise winner.
What were your favorite records/things of 2008?
- – -
Aidan Baker (Nadja)
Andrew (Aversionline.com)
Chris Bruni (Profound Lore)
Cosmo Lee (Invisible Oranges, Decibel, Pitchfork)
Dave Adelson (20 Buck Spin)
Dave Haley (Psycroptic)
Dave Schalek (Metal Runs in My Veins, Live4Metal)
J. Bennett (Decibel)
Jess Blumensheid (Invisible Oranges)
Laurie Sue Shanaman (Ludicra)
Mel Mongeon (Fuck the Facts)
Nick Green (Decibel)
Rich Hoak (Brutal Truth, Total Fucking Destruction)
Rob Milley (Neuraxis)
Ryan Adams (from Filter magazine)
Wrath (Averse Sefira)
- – -
Aidan Baker (Nadja)
Sun Kil Moon – April
Wovenhand – 10 Stones
Boris – Smile
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Dig, Lazarus, Dig!
Thisquietarmy – Blackhaunter
Jesu – Pale Sketches
Pyramids – s/t
Evangelista – Hello, Voyager
Retribution Gospel Choir – s/t
Genghis Tron – Board Up The House
Top 5 people I’d like to collaborate with
Caspar Brotzmann
Stina Nordenstam
PJ Harvey
James Plotkin
Warren Ellis
- – -
ASRA “The Way of All Flesh” CD
22 minutes of totally pristine grindcore mayhem. This was their debut, and sadly they’ve already broken up. A damn shame!
Bison B.C. “Quiet Earth” CD
Incredibly energetic hardcore/punk-infused rock from a band that I had never heard of before. This one took me completely by surprise and really hooked me in. I love it when that happens…
Celestine “At the Borders of Arcadia” CD
Crushing debut from this Reykjav
Really enjoyed IO the past year, keep it up in 2009, cheers!
My top 10 for 2008:
01 Sun Kil Moon – April
02 Leviathan – Massive Conspiracy Against All Life
03 Kathleen Edwards – Asking For Flowers
04 Marit Larsen – The Chase
05 Withered – Folie Circulaire
06 Grand Magus – Iron Will
07 Taylor Swift – Fearless
08 Dismember – Dismember
09 Miley Cyrus – Breakout
10 Bloodbath – The Fathomless Mastery
You could find good stuff, if you looked hard enough. My top 10:
1. Lugubrum – Albino de Congo
2. Urfaust – Dreis Rituales…
3. Prostitute Disfigurement – Descendants of Depravity
4. Acid Witch – Witchtanic Hellucinations
5. Dead Congregation – Graves of The Archangels
6. Hooded Menace – Fulfill The Curse
7. Blasphemophagher – Nuclear Empire of Apocalypse
8. Hail of Bullets – Of Frost and War
9. Forteresse – Les Hivers De Notre Epoque
10. Saviours – Into Abaddon
Oops, I forgot these two (honorable mention):
Thou – Peasant
Cough – Sigillum Luciferi
One more thing. There were a ton of great re-issues this year. One that I would absolutely recommend everyone seek out (and not destroy) is from a long dead Vegas thrash band named Papsmear. The album is called “Music To Kill By”, and it is an amazing compilation of their recorded demos and some live shows. Available from M-Theory Audio, which was started by the former president of Century Media, Marco Barbieri. He is also planning to re-issue the Horde of Torment compilation “Product of a Sick Mind” in 2009. Another lost classic. Peace in ‘09, everyone.
If you couldn’t find 10 to like among those 234,827,358, you weren’t trying hard enough.
That suggests someone had the patience to listen to a large selection of these 234,827,358 new records to find the 10 good ones. And why? Aren’t there enough records from the last 30 years of HM that have proved they reward deeper listening to get into more, who needs 234,827,358 listens (or a division of your choice of that number) of bad metal to get to 10 good records? I swear I’m topical, this ties in with your other post about how filtering all the new releases is difficult.
I can’t make top10 lists very easily, who knows what will stand the test of time? I can make you a 1989 top10 if you want!!
* Watchtower – Control and Resistance
* Psychotic Waltz – A Social Grace
* Voivod – Nothingface
* Fates Warning – Perfect Symmetry
* Autopsy – Severed Survival
* Warlord – Best of Warlord
* Rotting Christ – Satanas Tedeum
* Atheist – Piece of Time
* King Diamond – Conspiracy
* Believer – Extraction from Mortality
I can support this list. I can try to make a top10 for this record in 10 years from now.
Mine based on what I’ve been able to listen to this year:
1. Wetnurse – Invisible City
2. Nachtmystium – Black Meddle
3. 4. Plague Bringer – Life Songs In a Land of Death
4. Enslaved – Vertebrae
5. Bloodbath – The Fathomless Mastery
6. Blacklisted – Heavier Than Heaven, Lonlier Than God
7. Bison b.c. – Quiet Earth
8. Jesu – Why Are We Not Perfect
9. Landmine Marathon – Rusted Eyes Awake
10. Hank III – Damn Right, Rebel Proud
Live:
Tom Waits
im with Helm on this one. Im still listening to King Diamond’s “Conspiracy” with regularity today. I mean if a new album from 2008 is not as good as “Abigail”, why should i bother listening to it? i think a lot of bands get off easy because it seems their work is being compared to all the other stuff released that year, and not so much weighed against the all time greats. by that standard, most of these new bands are put to shame. maybe one reason why the industry is going down the tubes?
Very cool lists, everyone, keep ‘em coming. There is so much good music out there. Thanks for the recommendations, evanz. I’ve been meaning to check out that Hooded Menace.
PS. Helm and 18, I see where you’re coming from. I kind of think the same way, too, and my listening habits follow the pattern you describe. But hindsight is just one lens to look through. Back then, South of Heaven was probably underwhelming, …And Justice For All might have been confusing, and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son might have been slammed for its synths. People didn’t know that those records would have their present weight. I’d rather just tally up this year, put down some markers, and see where they stand later.
Here’s mine:
10. Russian Circles, Station
9. Fight Amp, Hungry for Nothing
8. Cynic, Traced in Air
7. Krisiun, Southern Storm
6. Enslaved, Vertebrae
5. Gigan, The Order of the False Eye
4. Torche, Meanderthal
3. Wetnurse, Invisible City
2. The Sword, Gods of the Earth
1. Lair of the Minotaur, War Metal Battle Master
Big ups to Cosmo for helping me to discover four of the bands on this list (Fight Amp, Krisiun, Wetnurse, and Lair of the Minotaur). If I went on into the rest of the top 20, there’d be at least 5 or 6 more that I could trace to my Invisible Oranges habit. Thanks for all your work on this great blog, Cosmo.
I like Helm’s idea, but he’s off by a year. Here’s my Top 11 (ok, couldn’t narrow it down to 10) from 1988 (in alphabetical order only):
Carcass – Reek of Putrefaction
Coroner – Punishment for Decadence
Death – Leprosy
Destruction – Release from Agony
Morbid Saint – Spectrum of Death
Nuclear Assault – Survive
Pestilence – Malleus Maleficarum
Razor – Violent Restitution
Rigor Mortis – Rigor Mortis
Sadus – Illusions (Chemical Exposure)
Vio-Lence – Eternal Nightmare
Now, compare this list to any current list from 2008. Is there even a comparison? Maybe in 20 years we’ll feel differently, and some of the 2008 albums will become all-time classics, but it’s hard to imagine. The golden age is over.
Right. But I’m not going by the list I made in 1988. I’ve got one list for all time. Yeah exactly, it sometimes takes years for albums to reveal their greatness. And those are the ones that are worth our time. Making a list for this year without the benefit of that test of time is just not for me. Its not about living in the past, its about engaging with this music in a way that is really personally meaningful over time, and not just as a spectator in the market of current products. Which is I think what this top ten kind of stuff leads to: passive acceptance of mediocre crap. If South Of Heaven looks like a work of genius 20 years later, maybe it should make the top ten list in 2008. That’s not nostalgia. That’s recognition for a dynamic work that keeps on giving.
I’ve done a pathetic job of keeping up with music this year, so this list is fairly uninformed; mostly this is just a shout-out to this blog for introducing me to ASG. Keep up the good work!
10. The Standard – Swimmer
9. Haust – Ride the Relapse
8. ASRA – The Way of All Flesh
7. This Et Al – The Figure Eight EP
6. The National – The Virginia EP
5. Harvey Milk – Life … The Best Game in Town
4. Gridlink – Amber Gray
3. ASG – Win Us Over
2. Dissolve – Caveman of the Future
1. Parlamentarisk Sodomi – Har du Sagt “A” F
Happy New Year y’all. I posted a “100 best acquisitions of 2008 list” on Cerebral Metalhead here.
Also, my “official” top 25 as codified at Prefixmag.com:
1. Torche – Meanderthal
2. Cynic – Traced In Air
3. Gabriel Kahane – Gabriel Kahane
4. Hour of the Shipwreck – The Hour Is Upon Us
5. Birushanah – Akai Yami
6. Obi Best – Capades
7. Opeth – Watershed
8. Harvey Milk – Life…The Best Game In Town
9. Capillary Action – So Embarrassing
10. TV On the Radio – Dear Science
11. Portishead – Third
12. Gojira – The Way of All Flesh
13. Intronaut – Prehistoricisms
14. Genghis Tron – Board Up the House
15. Beck – Modern Guilt
16. Ehnahre – The Man Closing Up
17. Septicflesh – Communion
18. Neuraxis – The Thin Line Between
19. Krallice – Krallice
20. Samothrace – Life’s Trade
21. Howlin Rain – Magnificent Fiend
22. Meshuggah – obZen
23. Gnaw Their Tongues – An Epiphanic Vomiting of Blood
24. Daylight Dies – Lost to the Living
25. Esoteric – The Maniacal Vale
Making a list for this year without the benefit of that test of time is just not for me. Its not about living in the past, its about engaging with this music in a way that is really personally meaningful over time, and not just as a spectator in the market of current products. Which is I think what this top ten kind of stuff leads to: passive acceptance of mediocre crap. If South Of Heaven looks like a work of genius 20 years later, maybe it should make the top ten list in 2008. That’s not nostalgia. That’s recognition for a dynamic work that keeps on giving.
How do you feel about men kissing you on the mouth? Because I want to. We can chalk it up to the festive season and then you can not call me next week and feel guilty. Uh, I mean to say, I agree completely with your above statement.
But yeah, I have no idea how I made a top 1989 list and not a 1988 list. Here goes!
I echo loudly from evanz’s selection
* Coroner – Punishment from Decadence
* Vio-lence – Eternal Nightmare
and I add:
* King Diamond – Them
* Deathrow – Deception Ignored
* Manilla Road – Out of the Abyss
* Brocas Helm – Black Death
* Fates Warning – No Exit
* Anacrusis – Suffering Hour
* Sanctuary – Refuge Denied
* Metallica – …And Justice For All
I tend to think that besides the consumerist mindset in top10 lists, there is also this more innocent direction towards surveying the cultural landscape for outstanding artifacts, not simply or exactly because they’re amazing music that will hold up to time and resonate 10 years later but because we are invested in HM on the anthropological and historical level. For example, that deicide record that everybody loved, not the new one, the one before it? It featured on a lot of top10 lists but I bet nobody really listens to it anymore (especially since the new one apparently sucked) but it was notable or perhaps noteworthy because it was good despite what people expected. It was a curiosity or an anomaly, a cultural artifact. There’s a lot of that in top10 year-end lists because either the music hasn’t had the time to settle in the listeners so they can’t take a solid stance or because simply, there will not be 10 records out of a 23,567 or however many you want that could resonate that deeply. If we love HM we must be strict with it, and quantity doesn’t mean there’ll also be quality. For this year for example, of all the things I listened to the only thing I can wholeheartedly suggest is Mayfair’s debut “Behind”. It’s a record that will accompany me for the rest of my life, so, that’s a recommendation. The record came out in 1994. Listen to that instead of whatever I could suggest to you from this year.
Not to say that I don’t have suspicions. It seems to me the latest Esoteric, this year, and the latest Skepticism will settle as being the Esoteric and Skepticism records that I’ll keep closeby as time goes by. Perhaps the new Aarni, too! Much like ‘Voidwards’ by Dolorian back in 2006 still is the record I reach for when I need them. But, ask me again 5 years from now.
I respectfully disagree with the developing consensus that annual Top 10s are of no value.
As far as arriving at an ultimate judgment on records, I agree that time is necessary. But for a first draft of history, reviewing the things that jumped up and grabbed hold of your ears, an annual Top 10 serves a valuable purpose.
I enjoy making my own, saving it, then reviewing it several years later to see how I feel about things. Whether or not a record stands the test of time is an important, but entirely separate matter that can be sorted out later.
Finally, I find other peoples’ lists to be a great way to peruse good stuff that I may have missed. In this post alone, I learned about 4 new bands that I want to check out. Those of you listing things from 20 years ago have yet to tell me anything I didn’t already know.
Just sayin…
loutibbs, I guess you’ve heard Mayfair’s “Behind” record then? If so, congrats!
Ok Helm, you got me – I have not heard Mayfair and your initial post has had me out searching around for it (no luck yet!).
Nevertheless, I stand by the main point I was trying to make – it’s worthwhile to review the current year and learn about interesting stuff I’ve missed. By the same token, it’s also worth learning about older stuff that I’ve missed – it’s just that I know most of the records that people are talking about from my formative years during salad days of thrash and death metal.
Mayfair is an exception…any suggestions on where I might get my paws on it? I’ve been trolling around looking for it today with no luck. Thanks for the suggestion.
To the point where the band is defunct, the label is defunct and the album is out of print and can only be gotten second hand, I think I can supply this link: http://rapidshare.com/files/59480429/1993_-_Behind.rar password is ‘www.thrashmageddon.com’ probably, it’s been a while.
If Cosmo is against this he can delete my comment but I really doubt there’s anyone who put money into making this record that would complain about people listening to it in 2009. I bought it second-hand and besides the beautiful cover, there are really no lyrics – which is why I usually buy old CDs. It’s still in my top10 records ever and that’s just by going through what I’ve caught from the lyrics by ear.
About your point of the years records being worth listed sure, perhaps, if you like buying a lot of records. But if I buy a top10 of records every year and I’ve been listening to HM for 20 years I’ve got 200 records now that might have been good for their year but possibly not good against the Mayfairs or the Fate Warnings… so why did I buy them? Do I need 200 more alright records? This is why I don’t understand yearly top10 lists, because they look like Christmas buy lists to me. Even if these records are above average, that’s still not enough reason to pick them up yet. They must have something that can only be noted when time has passed and they have settled. But if you just look at top10 lists as ‘what to download’ I guess it’s not as big a problem to end up with 200 downloads that you no longer care about perhaps. Still, it encourages a consumerist mindset I’m not sure I want to apply to my favorite music anymore. I did it when I was younger and I listened to everything but it’s alright, I’ve bought enough records for two lifetimes now… I don’t have to have 10 favourite new releases each year.
The good thing about Top 10 lists is that you can see if you missed anything potentially great. If I see an album highly rated on many lists that I haven’t heard, I usually try to check it out.
Hi Cosmo. Sorry, kinda late, been binge drinking since the 30th, just recovered yesterday after 2 PBR’s and a Mayhem burger @ Kuma’s Corner. Happy new yearz!
Anyways, here’s my top 10 albums.
1. Nachtmystium-Assassins Part 1: Black Meddle
2. Disfear-Live the Storm
3. Coffins-Buried Death
4. Trinacria-Travel Now, Journey Infinitely
5. The Gates of Slumber-Conqueror
6. Torche-Meanderthal
7. Boris-Smile
8. Enslaved-Vertebrae
9. Plague Bringer-Life Songs in a Land of Death
10. Toxic Holocaust-An Overdose of Death
top 5 shows:
1. Maryland Deathfest + Dudefest (tie)
2. At The Gates/Darkest Hour/Municipal Waste/Toxic Holocaust
3. Watain/Withered/Book of Black Earth
4. Judas Priest/Heaven and Hell/Motorhead/Testament
5. Boris/Torche/Nachtmystium
top 5 yummiest 2008 burgers of the month @ Kuma’s Corner:
1. Insect Warfare
2. Brujeria
3. Testament
4. Nachtmystium
5. Morbid Angel
Damn, bacon, you live up to your name. Kuma’s should have some sort of frequent eater program, if only for you.
Here is a top five of mine. I had too much of a hard time coming up with a top ten when many bands I thought released albums in 2008 were actually earlier.
1) Tyr – Land
2) Korpiklaani – Keep on Galloping
3) Origin – Antithesis
4) Samothrace – Life’s Trade
5) Ancestors ? Neptune With Fire
Is it too late to mention Aeon’s “Rise to Dominate”?
I wish someone would do a top 10 worst records of 2008….
Cosmo, the only evidence of my frequent metal burger eating is my increased waistline and clogged up arteries… it will be well worth it though! *~*
I wish those burgers I mentioned would’ve made it on the regular menu, but I guess they’re like limited edition hand numbered vinyl…once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.
Watson – I’ll have to check out that Tyr record. The previous one was solid. Aeon’s Rise to Dominate was one of my favorite records of last year.
Stew – That’s a great idea. Step up if you feel so inclined.
Cryptopsy’s The Unspoken King would top of that worst 10 list. And them taking the critics seriously and waging war against the intarwebs=epic fail.
OK. Worst of 2008: http://apophania.blogspot.com/2009/01/wurst-of-08.html
Nice writing on the list, Stew. But it actually has some decent music on it. If that’s your worst of last year, you couldn’t have heard that much bad music…unlike me.
Man, I heard tons of bad music. But those were the records that annoyed me the most, partly because some of them (Motorhead, Darkthrone, N’mystium) were bands I admire(d), and partly because lots of critics got all wet in the seat over them.
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Sarah
http://www.thetreadmillguide.com
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