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.
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30. The Atlas Moth – An Ache for the Distance (Profound Lore, USA)
In their rookie season, Windy City sludge slingers The Atlas Moth wowed the crowd with starry-eyed highs and lows murkier than Lake Michigan. An Ache for the Distance saw the quintet reach the next level, obliterating the sophomore slump as they broke bones like Urlacher on “Horse Thieves”, swung like Sosa on the infectious title track and scraped the stratosphere like Air Jordan on “Holes In the Desert”’s cosmic excursions. It’s easy to visualize guitarist/co-vocalist David Kush doing his best dunk face as he belts hook after stellar hook, massaging those aches into sweet relaxation. —Greg Majewski
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The Atlas Moth – “Gemini”
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Read the Invisible Oranges review of The Atlas Moth’s An Ache for the Distance.
29. Kvelertak – Kvelertak (Indie Recordings, Norway)
A critical darling two years in a row (released in the States in 2011, hence its inclusion on this list), Kvelertak’s self-titled debut has the intellectual depth of a biscuit… but that’s half the fun. How can any 11 songs meet the hype of a debut record mixed by Kurt Ballou, illustrated by John Dyer Baizley, and backed by nearly the entire blogosphere? With hooks. More hooks than there are fish left in the oceans. These Norse party rockers drag listeners through the catchiest aspects of black metal, hardcore, thrash, and classic rock for 50 moonshine-soaked minutes. It’s the closest thing metal has to Girl Talk, except Kvelertak write their own music (until they decide to play “Foxy Lady” for no reason). Kvelertak is both a reason to celebrate, and the soundtrack to any celebration. —Joseph Schafer
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Kvelertak – “Sultans of Satan”
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28. Autopsy – Macabre Eternal (Peaceville, USA)
Macabre Eternal makes good on the promise of a worthwhile comeback, hinted at on Autopsy’s The Tomb Within EP. The band sound crisper, and take more time with songs than in the past. Macabre Eternal doesn’t steamroll you; it spreads out the pain. You can’t expect Chris Reifert and co.’s long tenure in Abscess not to change their delivery. But the things that make Autopsy a death metal cornerstone remain. Macabre Eternal merges the best of vintage Autopsy with hard-learned musical lessons. Reifert and guitarist Eric Cutler are like crazed scientist Herbert West in Re-Animator – they’ve sewn together body parts and created a monster. —Justin M. Norton
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Autopsy – “Sadistic Gratification”
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27. Blut Aus Nord – 777: Sect(s) (Candlelight Records, France)
Blut Aus Nord are many things to many people. I like them best when they torture their instruments to the point of screaming, as they did on The Work Which Transforms God. 777: Sect(s) is a return to that form. BAN’s industrial vibe is thick here. Guitars clatter endlessly through steel corridors, and the compositions are painfully knotted. Sect(s) oppresses the listener with the best of ’em. But at times, this album blooms into nigh-improvisational openness; witness the bent vamping of “Epitome IV”. 777: The Desanctification, a companion album which didn’t make this feature, takes this tactic to its logical conclusion. It seems we prefer the torture and screaming. —Doug Moore
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Blut Aus Nord – “Epitome 6″
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Read the Invisible Oranges review of Blut Aus Nord’s 777: Sect(s).
26. Crowbar – Sever the Wicked Hand (E1 Entertainment, USA)
New Orleans breeds two things: metal and perseverance. Sludge vets Crowbar embody both on Sever the Wicked Hand, their first LP in six years. It’s been the soundtrack to shitty days and new beginnings, a go-to album for light at the end of some very dark tunnels. Kirk Windstein bellowed from his blackened heart with painful truths, something everyone can relate to. Why reinvent the wheel when you can drive it through endless fields of drop-tuned, monolithic muddy riffs? Crowbar have kept the bar set high whilst plumbing the lows. —Chris Rowella
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Crowbar – “Cemetery Angels”
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Read the Invisible Oranges review of Crowbar’s Sever the Wicked Hand.
25. Seidr – For Winter Fire (Flenser Records, USA)
With their debut full-length, Kentucky’s Seidr craft a perfect melding of Old World and New World doom tropes. The funereal, yet somehow ethereal weight of Euro-style funeral doom comes crashing down amongst burly American sludge riffs, as the band’s Norse heritage and lyrical content blend with their Southern environs to craft a singular vision. There are elements of Neurosis-style post metal, “ambient” black metal, and sparse neofolk, but throughout it all the power of doom carries through. That slow, crawling beat, those hefty open chords: Seidr expands the sonic template of doom while carrying with them the legacy of doom bands past. Their sound can be as expansive as the night sky and as heavy as a standing stone – or, for that matter, as claustrophobic as a summer night. To hear this record is to hear the march of glaciers: inexorable, terrible, slow, yet strangely beautiful and purifying, a true blast of winter’s flame. —Rhys Williams
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Seidr – “A Gaze At The Stars”
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Read the Invisible Oranges review of Seidr’s For Winter Fire.
24. Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats – Blood Lust (Killer Candy Records, UK)
Lo-fi invocations of proto-metal horror rock haven’t sounded this good in a long time. With a sonic aesthetic that recalls early ’70s grindhouse flicks, Cambridge’s Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats brought the spooky devil jams hard. Tracks like “I’ll Cut You Down”, “Death’s Door” and “13 Candles” hammer home the effect, layering heavy buzz-saw psych riffs over paint-peeling vocal yowls. And, just for that added tinge of subversive ‘authenticity’, the album’s mixed just barely to redline, bringing forth the slightest of clips that evoke the feeling of listening to some long-lost, randomly-found occult-rock show on your AM dial. —Kyle Harcott
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Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – “Death’s Door”
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Read the Invisible Oranges review of Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats’s Blood Lust.
23. Ash Borer – Ash Borer (Psychic Violence, USA)
While Southern California has its Black Twilight rituals, and the Pacific Northwest has settled gently into Cascadian bliss, the northern half of California has developed a bitingly potent, wonderfully innovative black metal circle of its own. In league with like-minded peers Fell Voices, Necrite, and Bosse-de-Nage, Arcata four-piece Ash Borer have smashed genre conventions and created one of the most epic releases of the year. Cathartic, hypnotic, and achingly honest, the three songs contained within this self-titled recording take the blueprints of black metal’s second wave, gently break and tear away the most desolate, atmospheric moments, wrap them up tightly in a shroud of Burzum-esque despair, and leave them to the elements. The result marries primitive thrashing with refined clarity, twisted chords with furious tremolo, gossamer melodies with guttural cries, giving rise to – above all – an atmosphere of overwhelming urgency. —Kim Kelly
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Ash Borer – “My Curse Was Raised In the Darkness Against A Doomsday Silence”
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22. Liturgy – Aesthethica (Thrill Jockey, USA)
Isn’t it odd that people tear Liturgy a new asshole over frontman Hunter Hunt-Hendrix’s “transcendent black-metal” manifesto, while NSBM bands are constantly defended on the basis of their musicianship? It’s revealing when ideas that are intended to spark discussion are met with such hostility, possibly exposing an unspoken insecurity. Liturgy play undeniably progressive black metal, and, subsequently, have some academic beliefs about their role in the genre; how is that any more pretentious than wearing corpse paint and cutting yourself? So they’re from Brooklyn, they look a little hipster, and they cross over into Pitchfork territory; what’s any of that got to do with their music? If anything, that reaction reflects a degree of anti-intellectualism within the metal community and ignores the explosive power of Aesthethica. —Aaron Maltz
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Liturgy – “Veins of God”
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21. Woods of Desolation – Torn Beyond Reason (Northern Silence Productions, Australia)
When it came out in February, Torn Beyond Reason cut through me like a gust of winter wind. Its sweeping, melancholic and majestic riffing, laid over furious drumming and tortured screams, was just what I needed to hear as I dodged ice-crusted puddles on the streets of New York. Melancholic black metal albums are a dime-a-dozen these days, but the enraged passion and beauty of Torn Beyond Reason sets it apart from the pack. The Australian firepower behind Woods of Desolation, D., weaves into Torn Beyond Reason’s mid-length songs an inescapable sense of despair and sadness. While the playing isn’t exactly mathematically tight, the slippery, not sloppy, quality to the album has an impressionistic feel that undulates from one memorable measure to the next. —Wyatt Marshall
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Woods of Desolation – “The Inevitable End”
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And now we wait for another round of Liturgy-induced frenzy in the comments…
Ya ya Liturgy suck. I categorize their music as shit because I honestly think it sounds like shit. I hated them before their manifesto – and music aside, the manifesto was fucking stupid too. Fuel for the fire I guess.
And now … wait for it
wait for it …
KRALLICE FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I find Aesthetica “explosive” too, IO. Great post. Inspiring read.
That Liturgy is doing a tour with Sleigh Bells and Diplo is cooler than any given moment of music on Aesthetica. Take that how you will.
Didn’t believe it until I saw it.
http://pitchfork.com/news/44831-sleigh-bells-reveal-reign-of-terror-album-details-florida-tour-with-diplo/
I didn’t know anything about HHH before I realized I hated Liturgy. However, you have made a pretty good point about it. I’m just not sure how much hate is directed at the music and how much is directed at the man.
And, oh yeah, this is a good list so far. Not that I necessarily agree with a lot of the choices, but I like your methodology and the defenses you’ve written of each choice.
It’s Aesthethica, not Aesthetica. Where are the copyeditors/fact checkers on this?
Also, isn’t it strange how many best of 2011 metal lists that Aesthethica has appeared on yet the most vocal part of the internet metal community consistently shits on the band It seems when you cut through the bullshit that surrounds Liturgy, people really do like what they’re doing musically.
Bah! Fixed. Thanks for the heads up.
Bugger. My bad. Sorry.
If I may steer things toward the lowbrow for a second, if you want a good chuckle, try searching for Ash Borer on Spotify.
I just can’t help myself, I have to jump on the Liturgy hatewagon. There’s a lot of stuff on the IO lists that i don’t like, but also don’t consider ‘bad’ music. Liturgy is the exception: they are just bad. The vocals are beyond awful, the ‘riffs’ are at best boring, and Hunter Hunt-Huntington’s philosophy has nothing to do with that.
Since I’m making fun of his name, you can guess how I feel about his philosophy, too, but I’m not getting into that now. We’re here to celebrate the best and discover stuff we missed.
In the interest of steering the conversation away from Liturgy (as if that were possible), I’d like to point out that this segment of the Top 50 contains the two albums I was most excited to discover upon compiling and editing this list: Seidr and Woods of Desolation, both of which would have surely cracked my own top 10 if I’d been aware of them earlier.
really liking the woods of desolation selection here.
the uncle acid album is also top-notch. i’m still unsure as to whether the singer is male or female.
Seidr was one of my favorite albums this year and I’m not even that into Doom. This has been a great list so far, I bought the Ravencult album yesterday and have been blasting it nonstop.
I’ve been looking for the Woods of Desolation album forever! Can’t find it anywhere other than Australian import prices
Andy O: http://www.mediafire.com/?glhr6a7cc9dje33
Fuck you and your kind. I support artists I like, not steal from them.
Thank you and your kind. I’m 100x more likely to see this band on tour and seek out their merch (where THEY make their real money) now that I’ve had a chance to listen to the album without paying insane import prices that the band would have never benefited from in the first place.
Just as The One True Street-Jammer stated below, Ominous Domain has it on CD and vinyl. They’re a very reliable distro in the Midwest. I order from them often.
And, the next time you can’t find something, try The Metal Detektor.
And if you’re into vinyl, Northern Silence is the place. The last few copies are still in stock. Make friends with ze Germans: http://www.northern-silence.de/shop/
Butthurt, Andy? I think there’s a cream for that. I’m afraid there’s no cure for being a self-righteous prick though. Sorry. Good luck with that,
Yeah, that seems pretty harsh. To each his own.
Personally, as an artist myself, I could give a shit who steals my albums online.
Crowbar might be my most listened-to album of the year. Admittedly, that’s in part because I bought it on CD and not LP (and thus can listen to it in my car). But it’s also because it’s a muscular, honest album that chases the blues away (or, more accurately, kicks the blues’ ass).
As for Liturgy, I personally find the backlash against them as overblown as the band itself. We metalheads tolerate (and sometimes even celebrate) all sorts of pretentiousness in the form of esoteric and obscurantist occult philosophies, and I’m not sure what makes liturgy’s aesthetic philosophy that much worse. Musically, I think they’re kind of forgettable. I saw them at the Scion fest ( on the same stage as Black Anvil, Ludicra, and Absu) and I thought they were just kind of boring: each song a tremelo-picked crescendo to nowhere. It reminded me of seeing Mick Barr’s Orthrelm: an interesting formal experiment, but not anything I’d necessarily want to see again or listen to on record. I was happy when Black Anvil went on after them and I could hoist a beer and bang my head to some actual riffs.
And I don’t think that makes me an anti-intellectual either. Ludicra, Krallice, and others ate also experimenting with black metal conventions, but they’re doing so in the service of songs I enjoy.
I hadn’t bothered listening to Crowbar until today because they didn’t sound like my thing from the way people described them. But damn, I was missing out.
The new Blut Aus Nord just can’t be praised enough, in my view. I think that Sects may be his best work yet, and that is saying a lot, considering what he accomplished with The Work Which Transforms God etc. However, while my initial impression was that Sects was superior to Desanctification, I’ve come around to listening to them as an equal pair. They certainly are different, but there are some moments on Desanctification that are transcendent. Anyway, not taking exception to leaving that off the list, just saying, love ‘em both!
As good as the Crowbar album is, Sourvein’s new album set the standard this year for sludge, IMO. Nothing in the sludge realm rivaled the filthy, primal and pissed off vibe of that album. I’m surprised it’s not showing up on more lists.
Complaining about how Liturgy sucks and is not black metal is kinda like ripping on Urban Outfitters sucks for peddling the thrift store look, or ranting about how the food at Chili’s sucks and is not authentic. I don’t like Liturgy either, but shouldn’t we be worrying about more important things?
I’ve been listening to Saxon – “Denim and Leather” all week!
Liturgy apologists are much worse than NSBM apologists. Forgetting about the overwrought manifesto for a minute Aesthetica is just a slightly above mediocre black metal album. HHH has some interesting ideas but they aren’t really anything that someone else hasn’t already done before or better. I don’t really give a shit about them being hipster or not, I love plenty of Pitchfork-approved indie bands and I couldn’t possibly care less about the way they dress. Hopefully one of the best things about 2012 will be no longer having to hear, see, or read a single word about Liturgy
@Dhex ominous domain has it torn beyond reason for $13. My phone is having trouble with the site so i don’t know shipping cost or where they ship from.
Discogs.com says they are in the U.S. and a comment in nuclear war now’s boards says the Midwest. Hope this helps!
Whoops, my comment was meant for andy o!
Oh man, fuck Liturgy. Let’s listen to Graveland and Leviathan.
I won’t lie, I was disconcerted all day while IO was offline or suspended or whatever… I just really wanted to keep reading this list!
I’m a little bummed Blut Aus Nord didn’t come in higher (and that the Desanctification didn’t make it), but whatcha gonna do. I think I can safely lump both albums together and call it my favorite record of the year, albeith with two slightly different personalities. Fantastic stuff.
Ash Borer is fucking fantastic too. And Seidr. For a year that was supposedly all about death metal, as the months wore on all I was listening to was black metal tinged weirdness from bands like these. I’m just hearing Woods of Desolation now, and it’s rad.
Atlas Moth were insane live last month. “Holes in the Desert” might be another contender for song of the year (though “The Grain” is still better), and seeing them crush it live hammered that point home.
“Atlas Moth were insane live last month. “Holes in the Desert” might be another contender for song of the year (though “The Grain” is still better), and seeing them crush it live hammered that point home.”
I can’t believe I missed that tour! They better hit the West Coast again next year. How did the guitar harmonies sound in the live setting?
The guitars were pure power. The venue was basically a living room with an attached kitchen, so with three guitarists rocking full stacks it was fucking deafening. But with earplugs the harmonies were apparent and the layered compositions shone through admirably.
Stavros was playing some kind of custom baritone Jazzmaster looking thing (definitely longer than standard scale, no headstock markings — Warmoth maybe?) and screaming full bore, David was rocking a strat looking thing and singing a lot of the clean parts, and Andrew was alternating between a Les Paul (if I remember correctly) and a synth. There was a lot going on, and it was awesome. Paired with Batillus, Kowloon Walled City, and -16-, it was a helluva show.
I’ll just say that Liturgy didn’t do anything for me. Not much beyond that, except I don’t believe it should be @ 21.
That Girl Talk comparison went completely over my head, but I concur with the overall assessment: Kvelertak = FUN
Atlas Moth, Blut, Ash Borer, and Woods are all in my personal top 10 for the year. Disappointed to see they didn’t place higher. Having said that, so far so good with this list. Bought Oskoreien yesterday after hearing about them in the 50-41 block.
I’m really hoping to see Grayceon’s all we destroy on here. I love that band/album, but they haven’t gotten very much attention.
I actually love that band’s previous work, but All We Destroy disappointed me. The emphasis on ‘crushing’ riffs and on Jackie’s vocals distract them from their real strengths, I think. I’ve ranked Grayceon highly in the past, but they didn’t get my vote this year.
Just another chime in w/ how great this list is for finding things I missed. Favorite so far is bar none Nader Sadek. Graveyard is surprisingly enjoyable too, I wouldn’t have thought given the premise.
I found the Crowbar album to be a little disappointing, I just wasn’t as taken with it as I was expecting to be. That Woods of Desolation record seems great though, I’ll be picking it up at some point.
Anyone else a little confused to see The Atlas Moth this low in the list? They seem to have landed in quite a few #1-5 spots this year.
>Liturgy “Aesthetics” @ #22
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Oh wow, you guys really are fucking clueless.
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA