 |
A final kiss-off to 2008 – my favorite metal songs that year. As I hear these for the umpteenth time, I can’t help but wonder: why can’t albums now be this wall-to-wall awesome? All these bands with all these chops – is it so hard to write a song? One with shape, meaning, and identity? Metallica did not become #1 by being the most intense or dexterous band. They just wrote the best songs. Good albums are around, but good songs are rare. Here are 14, totaling under an hour. They got me through 2008, that bear of a year.
Invisible Oranges Best of 2008 [125.04MB .zip]
1. War of Ages – The Deception of Strongholds
2. Grand Magus – Like the Oar Strikes the Water
3. ASG – Low End Insight
4. Viking Skull – Doom, Gloom, Heartache & Whiskey
5. In Flames – The Mirror’s Truth
6. Meshuggah – Bleed
7. Terminal Function – Spawn
8. Austrian Death Machine – Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers
9. The Rotted – Get Dead or Die Trying
10. Amon Amarth – Twilight of the Thunder God
11. Lord Belial – Trumpets of Doom
12. Khold – Mester Og Trell
13. Lifelover – Brand
14. Brave – Something to This
Nice call on “Bleed”. I found myself hitting repeat on that song. Great riff that never gets old.
Missing The Unforgiven III. Best of 2008 = False. Nevertheless, I’ll check this out later when I get home.
Did you ever get around to listening to Lugubrum?
I put up a Top 10 list on my blog over the weekend with selected mp3’s from each album. I welcome people to check it out – you may find something you didn’t hear in ‘08 (like Lugubrum or that Hooded Menace album):
http://twophoton.wordpress.com/2009/01/01/top-10-of-2008/
evanz – I gave Lugubrum a cursory listen and was surprised to find it hardly as exotic as I’d expected. Initial impressions: fantastic guitars, annoying vocals, incompetent sound engineer. I’ll have to give it more time.
Your list looks cool. I look forward to sampling the sounds.
I always look forward to these Best Of mixtapes. Actually I’ve loved more or less all of your mixtapes. Big hits for me are Grand Magus, ASG, Meshuggah, Terminal Function, and Lifelover. Thanks.
Great mix Cosmo. Here’s mine for 2008.
1. Assassins of the Cursed Mist, Lair of the Minotaur
2. Across the Shields, Torche
3. Massacre Under the Sun, Krisiun
4. Altars in Gore, Coffins
5. New Dawn, Enslaved
6. Chant for Ezkaton 2000 e.v., Behemoth
7. Iron Will, Grand Magus
8. Life at Stake, Wetnurse
9. Chrysalis, Gigan
10. Superstition Aimed at One?s Skull, Soilent Green
11. All Nightmare Long, Metallica
12. Must Kill, Cavalera Conspiracy
13. Stone Evil, Jex Thoth
14. Code Negative, Nachtmystium
15. Big Sea, 5ive
lou – I went back and listened to Behemoth’s Ezkaton EP, and rather enjoyed it. And thank you also for the Gigan recommendation. I heard early demos that were cool, but the actual record is even more interesting.