For an explanation of how we determined our Top 50 albums of 2011 (and for a look at
albums 75 to 51), see our first post in the series, Top Albums of 2011, 75 to 51.
10. 40 Watt Sun – The Inside Room (Cyclone Empire, England)
Even as it’s drowning in gauzy, self-indulgent gloom, The Inside Room envelops the listener with a warm blanket of hope; a sliver of silver-lining sunshine poking through on a miserable day. It’s impossible to come away from the album without a bright-and-shiny-eyed view after wallowing in its sublime saturninity. Patrick Walker has crafted an album of supreme beauty, lachrymose cheer masquerading as caterwauling dejection. Song after heart-wrenching song, The Inside Room provides a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel–or a light-switch to turn it off, if you’d prefer to wallow just a little longer. —Kyle Harcott
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40 Watt Sun – “Carry Me Home”
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9. Bosse-de-Nage – II (The Flenser, USA)
To call Bosse-de-Nage “unknown” prior to 2011 would be an understatement. The project had languished in abject obscurity since its 2006 inception and was only recently inflicted upon a larger audience thanks to the efforts of Aesop Dekker (who released their two demos via his tape label Funeral Agency) and The Flenser, who released their debut LP last year. The follow-up, II, is a bizarre journey through sadism and filth, complete with unnerving, harrowing, howled vocals and dense, crisp guitar harmonies. Taking musical cues as well as depraved inspiration from the French–Mortifera, Celestia–as well as from post-punk architects Slint, Bosse-de-Nage embrace minimalism and madness, creating dense layers of fragile melody and shuddering heaviness. This is warped black metal borne of syphilitic lust, gleeful perversion, eccentric genius, decadence, and decay.—Kim Kelly
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Bosse-de-Nage – “Chapter 1″
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Read the Invisible Oranges review of Bosse-de-Nage’s II.
8. Krallice – Diotima (Profound Lore, USA)
My metal BFF recently told me, “Krallice should be preserved in museums for future generations”. Considering how much metal gets released in a year, there aren’t many bands lucky enough to be labeled “epic” without some doubt applied to the term. Even if a group achieves greatness for an album or two, it’s exceedingly difficult to remain consistent in such a dynamic genre, a trait which separates the good from the great. On their third full-length, Diotima, Krallice continue their string of progressive releases worthy of the term “epic” and solidify themselves as one of the greatest forces in black-metal history. They don’t write songs in the simple sense of the word; they write compositions with enormous hooks and developed melodies that reflect classical music as much as black metal. Both Mick Barr and Colin Marston continue to dazzle listeners with musical ideas that speak volumes; and much like with classical music, your intelligence increases the more you absorb their language . . . or at least, it feels that way. What Krallice creates exceeds talent alone and instead crosses over into a new form of speech that will presumably continue to develop with every ensuing album. —Aaron Maltz
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Krallice – “The Clearing”
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7. Altar Of Plagues – Mammal (Profound Lore, Ireland)
Mammal is a perfect title. The album is warm-blooded, a deceptive predator. The more you listen, the more you realize that it doesn’t seek to render you numb but rather to make you feel. It’s moving because it speaks to what makes us human. Altar of Plagues is frequently compared to Wolves in the Throne Room. There’s a palpable difference. Wolves compress every possible note into songs. It’s like running through a dense forest with brambles hitting your face. Mammal offers an opening into that forest. Many rewards await those willing to spend time with Mammal. Listening to it is like walking down an empty street with a friend after a blizzard. It looks like the end of the world, but there is an anchor to keep you connected to humanity. —Justin M. Norton
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Altar Of Plagues – “Feather and Bone”
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Read the Invisible Oranges review of Altar Of Plagues’s Mammal.
6. The Gates of Slumber – The Wretch (Rise Above Records, USA)
This Indiana trio has been keeping what Fenriz would refer as “the Church of Real Metal” alive and well for almost 15 years, not once descending into self-parody in the way lesser bands might have. On the grueling The Wretch, GOS lay testament to their down-to-earth nature with an album of unease and uncertainty, supported by some insanely massive riffage. Frontman Karl Simon almost seems to be one of the few individuals to actually get what Black Sabbath was about: both gnarly licks and dour doomsaying. Songs about alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide temper the obligatory “metal” tracks, thus proving that GOS have a substance beyond mere metallic throwback. Previous albums of theirs have tended to the more fantastical, but with The Wretch GOS demonstrate the ability to rock out while still remaining grounded in the real world, a quality that lesser bands would do well to emulate. —Rhys Williams
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The Gates of Slumber – “Coven of Cain”
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Read the Invisible Oranges review of The Gates of Slumber’s The Wretch.
5. Ulcerate – The Destroyers of All (Willowtip, New Zealand)
There isn’t much middle ground between brutal death and atmospheric post metal, but whatever there is has been claimed and colonized by New Zealand’s Ulcerate. Their looming riffage–sometimes droning, sometimes fractured, often, amazingly, both–is pushed along by hyperactive, hyperdetailed drum work. The blasting will cease for a moment, reprieved by a melody, only for it to be shattered and the chaos returned. But The Destroyers of All’s distinct style isn’t new, having already been explored on 2009’s Everything is Fire. What separates the two albums is that, while Everything Is Fire delineated Ulcerate’s two tendencies–brutal and atmospheric–The Destroyers of All embraces the contradictions and merges them. It helps that the band has become much better songwriters over the past two years, evidenced by the monolithic climaxes of “Cold Becoming” and the titular track, moments that might feel triumphant were it not for the enveloping bleakness (both lyrical and musical) that surrounds them. In a year of death metal dominated by the two poles of old-school throwback and the self-conscious avant-garde, Ulcerate is a singular voice. Yes, they’re experimental. Yes, they’re harsh and uncompromising. But these traits aren’t the result of a willful attempt to sound like something; they’re the result of a slow refinement, and an authentic vision. All of the overused comparisons (so overused they do not bear mention here) that get thrown in Ulcerate’s direction should finally be discarded. The only thing they sound like now is themselves. —Michael Cacciatore
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Ulcerate- “The Hollow Idols”
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4. YOB – Atma (Profound Lore, USA)
Metal too often revels in destruction, death, and chaos. YOB instead revels in the act of creation, the search for insight, and the spiritual mysteries that bind us. Atma pulls off the seemingly contradictory goals of unrelenting heaviness paired with introspection. “Prepare The Ground” ask listeners to hold each individual moment sacred with a mantra-like riff. “Before We Dreamed Of Two” adds to the mystical feel with a Middle Eastern-flavored opening and abrasive vocals from Neurosis’ Scott Kelly trading with Mike Scheidt’s nasal voice. Decades of meditation and studying Eastern mysticism have equipped Scheidt with the ability to write riffs that seem to have existed for thousands of years. He unearths them like a scientist finding ancient artifacts in hardened amber. Unlike museum pieces, though, they are living, breathing things, signposts to find solace through heaviness. You don’t listen to the riffs as much as you inhabit them. Atma shows that you don’t need a chiming bell to answer the call to meditation; the search within can start with distorted guitars. —Justin M. Norton
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YOB – “Prepare the Ground”
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Read the Invisible Oranges review of YOB’s Atma.
3. Amebix – Sonic Mass (Easy Action Records, UK)
Amebix returned, and returned in a big way with Sonic Mass. The Baron spent over two decades in the Scottish hills tempering steel blades, and with Sonic Mass as the sonic proof, the Baron learned how to sharpen Amebix’s steel as well. No Gods, No Masters? More like No Rust and No Filler.
Some have claimed Amebix drew inspiration from Killing Joke and went alt-metal, but I don’t hear it. What I do hear is Amebix’s best album to date, a chugging assault tempered with subtlety, melody, and even greater intelligence than before. Some whined about the production, but the Baron is on record that the classics sounded thin due to circumstances beyond artistic control. Prior Amebix albums were collections of songs. Most of the songs were great, but there was never a sense of total cohesion or linear flow. Sonic Mass is truly heavy metal mass, a series of events, each song indelibly linked to the one before it and after it. “I.C.B.M.” and “Arise” were self-contained messages. Sonic Mass is the message.
Sonic Mass is Amebix growing and progressing without becoming prog or leaving its roots behind. Amebix’ hallmark is the contradiction, the diametrically opposed: depressing yet hopeful. Angry, yet positive. Horrified, repulsed, sad, and disappointed in Humanity, yet finding solace in our collective embrace. Amebix still bring The Contradiction. Intelligent, affecting, unique. That is Amebix in 1987, and that is Amebix in 2011. —Richard Street-Jammer
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Amebix – “The Messenger”
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Read the Invisible Oranges review of Amebix’ Sonic Mass.
2.Tombs – Path of Totality (Relapse Records, USA)
Metal becomes more heterogeneous with each passing year. The days of discreet subgenres and cloistered scenes are long gone. Many of metal’s most exciting current bands are exciting precisely because they defy convention.
Tombs are such a band. This New York City trio culls from across the metal spectrum to craft their music. Black metal, doom, and Neurosis-style crescendos all figure prominently here. So do non-metal influences, like hardcore and ’80s postpunk/goth rock.
But to focus on Tombs’ influences is to miss the forest for the trees. On Path of Totality, their second album, they cement the identity that they began to codify on their debut. They’re as individual as metal bands get. At first, Tombs seem to deal with familiar metal themes: biblical plagues, social decay, and cosmic retribution. But beneath the apocalyptic imagery lies resignation and even vulnerability. Mike Hill, the band’s imposing frontman, hints at his anxieties in sere, McCarthy-esque terms: “Black iron cell isolates the beast inside / The body dies, yet the soul remains.”
This tension manifests in Tombs’ music as well. Path of Totality is violent and volatile; you can feel its John Congleton production pounding in your chest even at low volumes. But for every rhythmic drubbing, there’s a delicate guitar layer or emotive vocal. Tombs are grim and gorgeous all at once. Theirs is the kind of fusion that really matters.—Doug Moore
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Tombs – “Vermillion”
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1. Wolves in the Throne Room – Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord, USA)
The appearance of authenticity in black metal is often awarded a higher value than, say, the actual merits of the music itself. No, not every black metal fan is so . . . stuck up, I guess, as to reject certain bands due to some perceived falseness, but even at its largest, the black metal community is small enough that the voice of pretty much every faction is heard. Outside of Liturgy, in 2011, no band heard it louder or more frequently than Wolves in the Throne Room. The band’s fourth LP, Celestial Lineage, earned them a 1,400-word profile in The New Yorker, a Best New Music nod on Pitchfork, and the animosity of a sub-subculture constantly hunting darker, more obscure corners for some increasingly elusive, rarer form of purity.
But as Søren Kierkegaard said, “Tr00th is subjective”. Here’s how I see it: Wolves in the Throne Room—comprising brothers Aaron and Nathan Weaver (who respectively play drums, synth, bass, guitar; and guitar, lead vocals)—have made some amazing music over the course of their career but they had never released a truly great album . . . until this year. Celestial Lineage was a galaxy of sounds all somehow in perfect alignment. Its opening track alone, the 12-minute “Thuja Magus Imperium”, had more textures and tones than some bands employ in their entire career. The track opens with bells and chimes and the ethereal, Middle Eastern-influenced female vocals of Jessika Kenney. It’s gorgeous and spacious, and it builds momentum slowly, until the guitars and drums tear through the serenity like a swarm of locusts filling a cloudless sky with a buzzing, predatory darkness. At the center of the song is a simple cascading (Cascadian?) riff, which is presented a few times, altered slightly each time. The song swells and sighs and roars like Kurosawa’s Ran, almost operatic in its swaying grandeur.
Not every song here is so ambitious, but Celestial Lineage is definitely an epic work. Its smaller pieces fit into the massive whole to build the mood or slow the pace, and all of the longer songs have numerous digressions built into their structures. Like much of the very best black metal, from Filosofem and Nattens Madrigal to Marrow of the Spirit and Mammal, Lineage connects deeply with the natural world, presenting sound with a scale and wonderment matched only by the wilderness: sound that feels like a forest floor dappled by sunlight, like the sudden wind before a hard rain, like an endless black sky lit by moonlight and stars.
According to the band, Celestial Lineage is the conclusion of a trilogy that began with their second album, Two Hunters. After 2011, if the intimations of the Brothers Weaver are to be taken at face value, Wolves in the Throne Room will break up, or stop touring, or something. They are going to be something different. Not black metal anymore, maybe. Maybe they never were. And people are free to say whatever they want about whatever, but I can’t see how you can question the authenticity of these sounds, this music.—Mike Nelson
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Wolves in the Throne Room – “Astral Blood”
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Read the Invisible Oranges review of Wolves in the Throne Room’s Celestial Lineage.
Thank you for putting WITTR above Brooklyn “Black” Metal.
Also, thanks for being one of the few places on the web that’s given Amebix such a high vote for Sonic Mass. It’s certainly one of my favorites of the year.
Great list! I’m really stoked to use the holidays to catch up on all the great music I seem to have missed in 2011.
While for me personally WITTR didn’t quite cut it, I can see their merit and why they’re a serious contender for No 1. Ulcerate’s »The Destroyers of All« was definitely one of my top albums this year, amazing how they managed to make mayhem and destruction sound so sublimely beautiful. A feat that puts them on par with Deathspell Omega. And really too bad that Dragged Into Sunlight’s »Hatred for Mankind« is a reissue that album truly blew me away again and again!
Two of these were in my own top 10 (link), and two more were in my top 25 (link). Overall there was quite a bit of my top 25 in your top 75.
But I really can’t believe your number 1 pick. Really odd that it was chosen in such a democratic way, because I thought most people consider it good, but not as good as their last couple albums.
I think I’ll probably always have more affection for Two Hunters, just because it meant a lot to me at a certain time of my life, but Celestial Lineage is possibly a better album, technically speaking.
Baring Teeth’s “Atrophy” didn’t even make the top 75? it would have been near the top of my list.
Nice top 10 – I would place Krallice higher than most though. And thanks for the new bands to listen to. I love these lists.
BRKFST SNDWCHS should win commenter name of the year.
Hmm, I still can’t “click” with Wolves In The Throne Room. I can see objectively what people love/worship about them, but truly find Altar Of Plagues to be the superior entity. AoP’s music just screams conviction in a way that I don’t find with WITTR.
Acronyms are great.
Especially when you consider that “AoP” also stands for “Axis of Perdition”!
Weirdly I’ve just realised that. Thanks.
“Tenements” was a horrible record… in the good way. In the way that the kids say “bad” to mean “good”.
Hmmm well although I dont agree with WITTR being the best album of 2011 the list was pretty good ! Kind of upset Lantlos didnt make it up there
The surprise here was Bosse-de-Nage. I checked it out when it was reviewed here a while back, but I really need to give it another listen. Also really need to listen to that 40 Watt Sun album. I’ve seen it on a couple of year-end lists, but it wasn’t on my radar at all for whatever reason.
Thanks for all the work it took to put this together. It’s been fun following along this week.
This is maybe the best Top 10 for heavy music that I’ve seen yet. As far as catering to my tastes go. I think each of these 10 bands share a singular, very real, or human, feeling. Nothing feels contrived. Nothing feels forced. These albums and songs feel like they unwind and connect very naturally. This is something that’s been unfolding and developing in heavy music a lot more over the past couple of years and it’s made looking forward so much more exciting.
@Poopfist McGee: As a fan of both Talk Talk and Amesoeurs, I love that Lantlos album and recommend it without reservation, but as far as I know, it’s a 2012 release. (It was originally pretty high on my ballot, and removed it for that reason.)
@FMA: The system we used rewarded passion and ubiquity in more or less equal measure. Remember, we had 20 voters ranking 20 albums apiece, and we still saw votes cast for 229 albums. WITTR edged out Tombs by a fraction of a point; all told, Tombs appeared on more ballots than WITTR, but WITTR received higher individual scores (while still appearing on a relatively high percentage of ballots, considering the size of the voter pool). If it means anything, I’m not sure any one album received two 1st place votes: WITTR received one 1st and one 2nd; it was 6th on my own ballot. (If you’re curious: I had Mournful Congregation at 1, and @Andy Synn, I had AoP at 4.)
None of this is intended to downplay the achievement of Celestial Lineage, which I truly feel is a great album (as I stated in my blurb above) and a very deserving winner here.
As far as Lantlos being a 2012 release, only as far as a release in the States, it was already released in Europe and has been available through Prophecy’s website (vinyl is already sold out). In this day and age, I think you have to go with Worldwide releases and not just what’s available Statewide. Otherwise could you really include bands like Peste Noire?
We sort of had this argument yesterday (link), and while I’m always up for discussing the most pedantic bylaws and vagaries of list-making, I’m afraid there’s just no real solution. I didn’t make Lantlos ineligible, I just chose to delete it from my own ballot, because I believe its true impact will be felt by me and the community at large in 2012 (I first heard it only a month or so ago). Peste Noire, though, was released worldwide over the summer of 2011, as far as I know.
@FMA (again): I can’t comment on feelings of WITTR’s fanbase or the metal community at large, but Celestial Lineage has received superlative praise in some quarters: Brandon Stosuy called it “the contemporary American scene’s defining statement” and Adrien Begrand said, “For the first time the Weaver brothers, guitarist Nathan and drummer Aaron, have taken [their] influences and created something they can truly call their own.”
The passion and ubiquity phrase makes a lot of sense. I’m really just glad to see Ulcerate and Amebix here.
It really is a fantastic album. Dare I say that it is a little more old school, at least on two of the tracks, then their previous works — the drumming gets really, really aggressive at times, and the album reminds me in places of early Immortal, but they definitely make the sound their own. I’m looking forward to seeing them play next month.
I think I still connect more with their last two albums, but I’ll keep giving Celestial Lineage time to sink in. It always takes awhile with them, at least for me.
Glad to see Gates of Slumber on the list. I think that was one of the most underrated releases of the year.
I loved the list, but WITTR @ number 1??? There are far better records on the list!! I have liked some of their past releases, bust Celestial is just sub-par!! I even enjoyed Liturgy more than that!! Otherwise a fantastic list!!
Wait, no Vektor in the top 75? Really surprised, it was my favourite 2011 release along with Blood Ceremony’s sophomore album.
I’ve been listening to Vektor on repeat since I got it, but it dropped after Thanksgiving and IO had already cast ballots by then. Hopefully it gets recognized on a 2012 list.
Didn’t know about that. Makes sense now.
Read my mind. Nobody’s dropping props for Vektor and Blood Ceremony. It makes sense that Vektor’s late release scuttled their chances. But apparently Blood Ceremony wasn’t a worldwide hit like it was a hit in my world. These two records definitely in my top 10.
Also, every year, it seems none of the cool kids ever ever ever tip a hat for Isole.
wait, so no Leviathan?
Leviathan got votes but not enough to place it in the top 75. If that album had been released without the attendant controversy and distraction, I think it would have done very well. Of course, the attendant controversy and distraction were the result of the album’s inspiration, and without that, it would likely never have been written, so it’s impossible to say. I honestly think a lot of dust has to clear before that album can be put into perspective.
My rule is, “If I can’t understand the lyrics, there aren’t any, even if they’re included in the packaging (which I usually barely look at).” I have only the vaguest idea what the dude—or pretty much any black or death or grind vocalist—is yelling about.
As pure aural material, it’s the metal record I’ve enjoyed most this year. It’s like a really mad Ved Buens Ende album…without words. That’s awesome.
Krallice and YOB win this round. Hands down.
Ulcerate sure had a good year. I have seen them in more or less the top five of nearly every single year end list out there. And it is a spectacular album. I get something new out of it every time I listen to it.
Trolling year end lists is a huge waste of time, but I still have to express my surprise that Swedish Shining’s VII album didn’t make a single list that I read this year. Did no one like it? I’ve been listening to it nonstop, and I think it is probably their best work yet, but is everyone sick of Shining? I thought it was an odd omission, but it has been consistent. They didn’t make a single list that I’ve seen.
re Ulcerate: I’m gonna go ahead and call it now that their next album, which is coming out on Relapse, is gonna be huge.
Don’t worry man. I loved the Shining album and I certainly think it’ll wind up on my top 10 of the year (holding off till at least Jan. 1st to post it).
@haeser, alex c: I’m doing a post on technical music from this year. Vektor will get a mention.
@voerking: regarding baring teeth, see above.
@mike the ed: i promised, just don’t hit me
I’m glad to see a more traditional style band like gates of slumber making this and other lists, but i just cannot get into their music. That’s a shame, cause they seem like cool ppls.
#s 9,8,7,4,2 are definitely top-10 worthy and glad to see them here.
ultimately I’m a bit disappointed to not see the likes of Dark Castle anywhere on the full list (I understand the methodology so can’t complain too much; wouldn’t have put them top-10 anyway).
however, I’m very happy at the diversity represented. a bunch of these records sound, frankly, awful to my ears, but I’ve also added at least 10 bands to my need-to-get pile.
many thanks for all the work put into this!
Regardless of the order… this list from #75 to #1 gave me multiple new bands to check out… thanks for the posts, enjoyed this list very much.
as I listened my way through my top 40, WITTR started at 26, then 20, now 13. I just keep bumping it up each time I listen to it. I have no doubt it could eventually crack the top 10. My top 5 are cemented though.
Funny. The top 3, for me, were all kinda disappointing albums in general. Amebix was fine, if a bit uneven. Tombs was solid, but some of the clean singing undermined the power of the songs, I felt. And it’s stunning how bad the drums sounded, especially with production from John Congleton. It’s a good album overall but there’s enough wrong with it to bug the shit out of me. And Wolves in the Bathrooom… still boring. Oh well.
Gates of Slumber killed it on The Wretch. Their show with Orange Goblin was easily my favorite gig of the year (admittedly mostly because of Orange Goblin, but still). Good stuff. Also 40 Watt Sun: awesome. Almost as good as Warning, which is monumental praise.
Yob’s album was a grower too, mainly due to the grungy, blasted production… but they’re still the best in the game. Seeing them live with Dark Castle was revelatory. Getting a post-show bear hug from Mike Scheidt made my year.
Bosse-de-Nage: awesome album that I only heard about via this site — fuck yeah! And Ulcerate are so perfect it’s terrifying: best drumming this year, and did they just invent their own genre?
Outstanding list overall. I’d love to see some of the individual writer’s lists to see what else snuck through the cracks, and also to get a better sense of all the new writers.
I’d also love to see some individuals’ lists.
Just realized this morning that I don’t recall Gigan’s Quasi Hallucinogenic… being anywhere in the top-75, but I keep coming back to it. I do recall Morbus Chron being on this list somewhere.
I think maybe my favorite record of the whole year may be a non-metal one: Helms Alee’s Weatherhead. And they were so much fun live.
yeah, that Gigan LP is pretty god damned great. Came to it late, but I’m loving it. I haven’t noticed it on any lists anywhere….and I’m a bit surprised.
Wash—you didn’t like the drum sound on the Tombs album? I’ve heard that complaint before, but I don’t understand it at all. I love the drum production on that’un. It’s pummeling!
Alex and Gerry—my personal top 20 is over at Metalreview.com, if you’re interested. Gigan is on it: http://community2.metalreview.com/blogs/editorials/archive/2011/12/21/doug-moore-s-top-20-of-2011.aspx
nice, thanks, Doug.
in checking your list I was reminded that Aosoth came out this year, too. and now I definitely need to check out Axis of Perdition after your description of them.
Yeah, the drum performance itself is good, its just so blown out sounding that I find it distracting. The kick gets this muddy, muffled blurred thing going on, and the cymbals are just a washed out mess. I don’t know enough about drum production to pinpoint it more than that, but I know its enough to distract from the otherwise sweet tunes.
That and the clean vocals don’t sit right with me, but that’s my own taste fucking me up.
So who’s spiking their eggnog with moonshine? Party!
You know, if you make your eggnog with bourbon like you’re supposed to, then you don’t have to spike it with anything. And if you’re spiking bourbon egg nog with moonshine, then God help you.
I once went to someone’s “eggnog party”, which turned out to be the worst idea. They followed a traditional recipe which involved whipping raw eggs and using brandy — gross enough on its own — but then the concoction was left out on the counter to be served from like a punch bowl for the next few hours.
And then we got the gift of diarrhea.
Joke of the year, bro!
Still can’t get into the new WITTR fully. That said, “Thuja Magus Imperium” really is one of the most amazing tracks of the year.
Great list overall.
The avoidance of mainstream bands in this top 75 list seems a bit childish to me.
Which bands do you have in mind?
WOW this is the worst list I’ve read all year. Really, Fags in the Men’s Room had the best record this year. This fucking godawful fifth rate indiepop / shoegaze band that does nothing but rip off Burzum’s Filosofem, had the best metal album of the year.
You guys are completely clueless.
Come on, man. You can’t unleash the bile without offering up your own list. Let’s see ‘em, otherwise it’s all talk.
Here’s mine:
1.) Opeth – “Heritage”
2.) PJ Harvey – “Let England Shake”
3.) M83 – “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming”
4.) The Joy Formidable – “The Big Roar”
5.) Hammers of Misfortune – “17th Street”
6.) YOB – “Atma”
7.) Julianna Barwick – “The Magic Place”
8.) The War on Drugs – “Slave Ambient”
9.) Amon Amarth –“Surtur Rising”
10.) Austra – “ Feel It Break”
I wouldn’t let it bother you…
Are you really interested in the opinions of someone who still thinks a Kerrang-like level of wit like “Fags In The Mens Room” is a good way to make any argument?
I so thought we’d got past that level of childish name calling.
Damn, just realized two of my favorites completely missed the list: Nightbringer and Negative Plane. Considering this site’s demographic, that’s really surprising. I guess I haven’t seen much talk about the new Nightbringer, but Negative Plane was generating some chatter for a while. Oh well, killer records, both.
It is weird that Negative Plane didn’t show up anywhere on here. It’s also rather peculiar that Morbus Chron and Negative Plane showed up on EVERY list at Left Hand Path.
Its probably cuz the Left Hand Path guys only listen to “certain bands.”
“Krallice should be preserved in museums for future generations” – this is truth. And this album shall not be in the 8th place. This is No. 1 for sure not only for 2011, but for the whole 21st century so far.
The later any metal top will be gathered the higher Diotima will be. It’s like Mozart, Beatles – I have put them intobox of geniuses and whatever Krallice will create in future, they are here to stay
Krallice gives me migraine headaches. The only cure being Wolves in the Throne Room.
Krallice by a long shot.
I used to dislike Krallice, but I’ve come to accept them. WITTR have always been ace in my mind.
I’ve grown to love Krallice, with my only reservation being the length and repetition of the songs. I’m pretty sure that’s the point — to weed out the weak — but it’s a lot to handle if you’re not in the right mood.
I like this site. Some quite clever people comment and occasionally point me towards something I may have missed but jeez they really know they are clever.
Thanks for the adding the youtube links. If I can’t press a button to hear it right away, I might never remember. Me a simple monkey.
Since so many IO readers have clever and eclectic tastes, there should be a non-metal faves thread.
With the exception of Bosse-De-Nage, this is completely redundant.
I have no idea why metal blogs continue to proliferate the same lists again and again as if there take on the reasons behind their choices are every any different.
I have to say, it was very ambitious of you guys to attempt a top list like this for one year. While I don’t agree with some of it, I have to give you folks credit. I love Wolves in the Throne Room, but as for a number one? Nah. Celestial Lineage was great but it had way too much in common with Two Hunters for me to give it a number one vote. Personally, my top five would have consisted of 1. Decapitated – Carnival is Forver 2. Hate Eternal – Phoenix Amongst the Ashes 3. Immolation – Providence 4. Absu – Abzu, and 5. Wolves in the Throne Room – Celestial Lineage.
Also, I have to say, this list has put Encoffination on my radar. This band is grim and awful in such a wonderful way. I love it.
Of the several bands I discovered thanks to this countdown, Peste Noire is easily my favorite. I’m enjoying the hell out of L’Ordure A L’etat Pur. It’s rare for such an eclectic album to feel so organic and right.
I loved the track Mike linked to (part one of “J’avais Reve du Nord”), but from the writeup I expected to be put off by the quirkiness. Yet for whatever reason, it all just works.
all this shit is fucking weak. amebix is old and lame now. wittr are bunch of stupid fucking hippie idiots and so is that brooklyn crap.