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Stereogum's 40 best Metal Albums of 2016.

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H

Hero_of_the_Day

Member
HammerOfThor said:
His justification for not including Metallica seems...weird? Its fine if he doesn't think the album should be there, but why even justify it? Megadeth and Testament don't get any justification.
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Yeah, that's an odd tangent he goes off on. They are millionaires, so they can't muster up actual feelings? And the whole thing about James and Lars not talking about politics privately, just... what the fuck are you talking about? Apparently a lot of baggage is supposed to come along with listening to Metallica.

EDIT: The actual article is even weirder. He heard the record in September and loved it. He gushes about it and calls it their best since Justice. But, then says he didn't hear it again until after Trump was elected:

If Hardwired had come out at just about any other time in history, my feelings would have been different. But at that moment, it didn’t really matter much to me that Metallica were back. I couldn’t get excited about them flexing, much less pretend their rejuvenation meant anything. The world in which this music had been created was fucking gone.
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Just, odd.
 
T

Tetra-9

Member
I agree that 2016 was lackluster for metal. But fear not for the future, Rings of Saturn will be releasing a new album in 2017!
 
R

RangerX

Banned
Gorguts and Blood Incantation are deservedly high but I definitely would have had Meshuggah in the top five. Their new album is killer. Metallica shouldn't have been excluded either. It was a bizarre justification.
 
EYEL1NER

EYEL1NER

Member
No Borknagar - Winter Thrice?
Could the album be suffering from the same thing a lot of GotY awards do, things that come out at the beginning of the year get forgotten? That one did come out right after the New Year.
 
M

Merkunt

Member
EYEL1NER said:
No Borknagar - Winter Thrice?
Could the album be suffering from the same thing a lot of GotY awards do, things that come out at the beginning of the year get forgotten? That one did come out right after the New Year.
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It can't be because they put Batushka in their list, and that came out in 2015 :/
 
V

vatstep

This poster pulses with an appeal so broad the typical restraints of our societies fall by the wayside.
Hmm, I guess Ash Borer just released a new record this month; missed that one. Anyone hear it yet?
 
Ristifer

Ristifer

Member
Hm, no Anciients, Sumac, or Aenaon? I guess Aenaon just released theirs, but where the fuck is Moonsorrow? Really? I mean, Inter Arma's album is good, but it's hardly better than a chunk of metal released this year.

And that argument against Metallica's latest is laughable. It's such a try hard justification. Nothing about their new album screamed "angst" to me. Hardwired would be the only song that comes close, and it's a song they wrote in a week to just slap on to the beginning of the album. Whenever someone mentions Metallica's "millionaire status" while calling Lulu a Metallica album, I lose interest pretty quickly. At least know your shit.

Also, why does every American publication have to begin a '2016 Best Of' list with some kind of bull about Trump? Just stick to the music. Metal didn't have some lackluster year because some orange blob became president-elect. Move on, and stick to the music. Such a twisted way to insert some kind of commentary.

Oh, and put Meshuggah higher, please. There. I'm done ranting. Looking forward to some good metal in 2017.
 
G

Gentleman Jack

Member
Bruce Springsteen said:
I'm so out of touch with metal I didn't recognize one band name on the list
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Yeah I've felt out of touch with metal for a rather long time, even though I do try to give the albums that cross my amazon music playlist from time to time I think I only have 3 albums I'd describe as 'metal' on my playlist
Russian Circles - Guidance, The DOOM Soundtrack and Babymetal - Metal Resistance
and chances are none of them were even considered for this top 40 list. Metal just doesn't land on my radar enough and it's possible I gave up on it too soon, I usually peek into GAF music threads to aid my discovery and I probably missed every single one about a metal album. I think my tastes have just drifted away from metal that features a lot of vocals, given what's left on my current playlist...
 
Ristifer

Ristifer

Member
Wait a second. No Fates Warning either? Theories of Flight is a mammoth album. Man, this list blows. Okay, rant actually done now.
 
S

sgjackson

Member
i've done a shit job of keeping up with metal this year but what i did make the time to listen to didn't really blow me away. i've got a few weeks off so i'm going to use this thread (plus the decibel list) to catch up on shit i missed and reengage next year.

i did think anciients - lord of the void was great, and gojira softening their sound a smidge on magma worked really well.
 
E

evilromero

Member
Without listening to everything on the list, if I love the new Meshuggah, what would you recommend? I've listened to the top 3 so far but not my thing.
 
H

hobblygobbly

Member
Yeah Batushka was late last year but worth putting it on this year's list, they're great and I love the East Orthodoxy aesthetic, been listening to the album so much this year and they should be top 10 at minimum. They're also playing in two days in Berlin!
 
S

Subway Diet

Member
Boo! That list doesn't align with my tastes.

Personal top five:

5. Inquisition - Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith
4. King Goat - Conduit
3. Twilight Force - Heroes of Mighty Magic
2. Mistur - In Memoriam
1. Anaal Nathrakh - The Whole of the Law

That's the best/worst thing about Metal. There's just so much of it.

Edit: Wait, they ranked Batushka? Not 2015, sure, but slightly-redeemed.
Truthfully, I don't know who is even making this list. Any excuse to post my own top five, really.
 
P

parrotbeak

Member
Oh ya, I just bought Mesarthim's .- -​.​.​. .​.​. . -. -​.​-​. . a couple weeks ago along with the EPs that came out this year. I really enjoy their music.

Spektr's Art to Disappear should be on there.
 
B

blahness

Member
These are my top 5 of the year:
Vektor - Terminal Redux https://vektor.bandcamp.com/album/terminal-redux
Cadaveric Fumes - Dimensions Obscure https://cadavericfumes.bandcamp.com/album/dimensions-obscure
Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä http://oranssipazuzu.bandcamp.com/
Blood Incantation - Starspawn https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/starspawn
Neurosis - Fires Within Fires https://neurosis.bandcamp.com/album/fires-within-fires


These are some of the other albums I really enjoyed and listened to a lot:
Void Omnia - Dying Light https://voidomnia.bandcamp.com/album/dying-light
Forteresse - Thèmes pour la Rébellion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwdFqCnF8io
Mesarthim - .- -​.​.​. .​.​. . -. -​.​-​. . https://mesarthim.bandcamp.com/album/-
Cantique Lépreux - Cendres Célestes http://records.eisenton.de/album/cendres-c-lestes
Ripper - Experiment of Existence https://unspeakableaxerecords.bandcamp.com/album/experiment-of-existence
Wormrot - Voices https://wormrot.bandcamp.com/album/voices
Grave Miasma - Endless Pilgramage https://gravemiasma.bandcamp.com/album/endless-pilgrimage
Ghoul - Dungeon Bastards https://maniaxe.bandcamp.com/album/dungeon-bastards
Anciients - Voice of the Void https://anciientriffs.bandcamp.com/
Nucleus - Sentient https://nucleus.bandcamp.com/album/sentient
Zeal and Ardor - Devil Is Fine https://zealandardor.bandcamp.com
Urfaust - Empty Space Meditation https://urfaust.bandcamp.com/album/empty-space-meditation
Moonsorrow - Jumalten Aika https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_mg9GgujS4
Mare Cognitum - An Extraconscious Lucidity https://marecognitum.bandcamp.com/album/an-extraconscious-lucidity
Wędrujący Wiatr - O turniach, jeziorach i nocnych szlakach https://wedrujacywiatr.bandcamp.com/album/o-turniach-jeziorach-i-nocnych-szlakach

There are a lot of other albums I enjoyed this year, but I forget them at the moment :) I encourage anyone not familiar with these albums to take a listen at the links I provided.

*Batushka was on my list last year. I can't wait to see them at MDF next year!
 
E

-Eddman-

Member
Solid list, I'll try to catch up with many albums mentioned there.

The Metallica rant is laughable though, sounds like a hipster teenager who is angry because some old, rich dudes are invading his "deep, angry music" space.
 
P

parrotbeak

Member
I would have mentioned Zeal and Ardor but wasn't sure I'd classify it as metal.

The album is also not on bandcamp anymore unless you bought it and then it's a hidden link via your purchases. I was trying to show it to someone the other week and couldn't do it.
 
B

blahness

Member
parrotbeak said:
I would have mentioned Zeal and Ardor but wasn't sure I'd classify it as metal.

The album is also not on bandcamp anymore unless you bought it and then it's a hidden link via your purchases. I was trying to show it to someone the other week and couldn't do it.
Click to expand...

Weird that it is not available online anymore. Even on Google Play music, there are only the two songs on the bandcamp page.
 
T

TheLastCandle

Member
Yeah, this stuff isn't really in my wheelhouse. Abbath, Moonsorrow, and Borknagar would be as close to something on that list that I listen to that came this year.

Album of the year for me this year was probably Avantasia - Ghostlights, Delain - Lunar Prelude, or any of the 3 I mentioned above.
 
P

parrotbeak

Member
blahness said:
Weird that it is not available online anymore. Even on Google Play music, there are only the two songs on the bandcamp page.
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It is weird, it's like he doesn't want it out there anymore. I think I'll save the flac from bandcamp just in case it disappears.
 
S

Switch Back 9

a lot of my threads involve me fucking up somehow. Perhaps I'm a moron?
Calderc said:
No Be'lakor - Vessels? Can't take it seriously then.
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Ah yes, loving this album. I didn't know 'Straya was capable of anything other than metalcore so this band was a huge and welcome surprise.
 
O

Obscura

Member
Though they are not metal it's nice to see Virus get some recognition. Terrific band.

Not a terrible list but not very adventurous. And any year end metal list should have:

Howls of Ebb - Cursus Impasse: The Pendlomic Vows. My favorite release in any genre in years.

Cultes des Ghoules - Coven. A monumental Black Metal release.

Deathspell Omega - The Synarchy of Molten Bones. It's DsO. Need I say more?

Hail Spirit Noir - Mayhem in Blue. Wonderful psychedelic black magick.
 
O

OniBarubary

Banned
RDreamer said:
A lot of my top metal albums aren't on here, unfortunately, but I'll probably go through and check these out, too.

My favorites from the year:

Fallujah - Dreamless
Black Crown Initiate - Selves We Cannot Forgive
Astronoid - Air
Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas - Mariner
Alcest - Kodama
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation
Ihsahn - Arktis
In Flames - Battles
Metallica - Hardwired to Self Destruct
Devin Townsend - Transcendence
Mouth of the Architect - Path of Eight
Haken - Affinity
Opeth - Sorceress
Zeal and Ardor - Devil is Fine
Devin Townsend - Holding Patterns
Anciients - Voice of the Void
Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts
Vipassi - Sunyata
Insomnium - Winter’s Gate

Edit: Whoops, copied from a bigger not-just-metal list and missed taking off a few non-metal :p
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*blinks at list, looks at his music library*

...what the fuck is my alt account doing posting?

myco666 said:
Martyrdöd is metal?
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I dunno. I just know it's awesome.
 
F

faridmon

Member
No Dark Tranquility is a crime. That album was amazing and certainly better the ones I have listened to that is on the list.

Fuck there is no insomnium or Omnium Gathreium too.

and the article is complaining about Metal having a rough year...

and no Be'lakor...
 
Indelible

Indelible

Member
The new Meshuggah should'nt be on any best of list and the exclusion of Haken and Katatonia's new albums is a travesty.
 
R

RMI

Banned
BackLogJoe said:
The Gojira album is kinda low on the ranking. :(
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a lot of people don't like it compared to their previous albums. It is my favorite album this year by far (but I don't listen to a lot of metal).

Looking forward to checking out some of the recommendations in this thread.
 
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