the Top 10 Albums of 2017

So this list was complied by shifting through the albums at the top spots of all the other top ten lists. These are the albums that are the best  regardless of the genre. I will probably do a top 10 list for just metal. Anyway in most cases this just came down to what I listened to more. I can review albums and dissect them, but at the end of the day the deciding factor is what stands the test of time and begs to be listened to over and over again. This year I also offered brief explanations as to why each album placed where they did and how it is they beat out the album beneath them.

10- Igorrr- Savage Sinusoid

This project from France is collective that would like be beyond categorization, and while they can be broken down to the death metal sum of their parts they progress beyond metal and throw a collage of electronics and operatic vocals at you.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/10/igorrr-savage-sinusoid.html

9- Ride- "Weather Diaries "

 Robert Smith once refused to play a festival unless this band was added to the bill, so that has to factor into why they took the number one spot. I mean lets face it they are one of the forefathers of shoe gaze, they proved to be more versatile than other bands in the genre.The guitar tones on this album are incredible. The breathy vocals you are used to hearing on shoe gaze albums, come in but stronger than some of the breathy moans as they are able to harmonize and ride the groove with confidence. They beat out Igorrr by just being an album that commanded more plays over the course of the year so basically defaulted to Last Fm.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/07/ride-weather-diaries.html

8- Tombs- the Grand Annihilation" 

 Any questions regarding Tombs legitimacy as black metal is cleared the fuck up right from the first few notes. The guitar tone peels your faces off and leaves you a bloody stain on the all behind you.  Mike Hill's growl has a Neurosis like rasp to it when they song slows down as the lyrics are articulated. The songs are all respectable lengths rarely venturing over the seven minute mark.This is a more metallic effort than "All Empires Fall". The chords sometimes dip into the shadows , but darkness is not as pervading. If you thought the more post-punk elements were diluting the more metallic properties the front end of the album is up in you as metal as it gets. Then if your tastes fall more on the dark side as mine do than you have to hang on and your get that too. It beat out Ride as it is more of a fitting soundtrack to the apocalypse to come.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/06/tombs-grand-annihilation.html

7-Morbid Angel-"Kingdoms Disdained"

 This shows you that my initial response and review of an album sometimes needs time to soak in the full scope of what an album is about. With this one I had to get past the fact that this is not the classic line-up, but a line up that has made a new classic. While I have yet to go back and give the other Steve Tucker album's a second chance, I would find it hard to believe that they could come close to picking up where this album which is more bombastic than "Domination" picks up the torch. The post- "Domination" out put to me was hard to wrap my head around as being Morbid Angel, this album is clearly Morbid Angel, so when one of your favorite bands that your grew up with re-kindles the flame and takes you back to place in time, thus the sense of nostalgia beats out Tombs best effort.


 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/11/morbid-angel-kingdoms-of-disdain.html

6-Gwar - "Blood of Gods" 

 The elephant in the room becomes their strength. Blothar the new singer, is the old Beefcake the Mighty taking on a new mantel. So they promoted from within. I can deal with this better than if it was some new guy they just brought in.The new sound took getting used to even though, he did handle the vocals on the song "Nice Place to Park". So his voice is not totally alien. He has a more Blackie Lawless like metal quality. This album needed a few listens before I could connect the changes.  It with a much more straight ahead metal feel in the vein of mid 80s thrash. Each listen connected the dots a little more making it catchier than Morbid Angel.


 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/09/gwar-blood-of-gods.html



5- Halsey-Hopeless Fountain Kingdom

Another album like Gucci that I did not review for the blog, but got a ton of play on the ole iPod. I did write up something for it on Treblezine, in their top 50 songs of the year  for the song "Eyes Closed" and I did reference the fact when I reviewed Taylor Swift.I think the grooves on this album are more on point and she has some interesting perspectives lyrically, which put it over the dumb barbarian odes of Gwar.

 

4- Converge- "The Dusk In Us"

 20 years ago I got into this band called Converge. Someone told me they were like Sunny Day Real estate if they were a hard core band. In the 20 years that passed they haven't let me down, though things have changed. Guitarist Kurt Ballou is now an experienced producer. With the guitarist behind the mixing board , the guitars are warm and organic sitting in the mix with every thing else. The band's punk side is more invigorated here, yet this album does have a great deal of experimentation and sonic diversity.  The sonic power of this album overcame Halsey's pop hooks. 

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/11/converge-dusk-in-us.html

3- Young Thug - Beautiful Thugger Girls

I never actually reviewed this album for this blog. It's not only a lot of fun with great declarations like how he is Bill Gates step-son or that he is the black Christian Gray and has 50 shades of Bae, but it is musical. There is real guitar on this. Does he mumble? yes. He also sings.Not the greatest voice ever and it's aided by auto tune, but he makes an effort to write songs that stand out from his peers. He made fools of Future, Gucci and 2Chainz who re-heated the same old same old.Why did it beat out Converge? The dumb fun of this album made me listen to it more than Converge.

 

2-KMFDM- "Hell Yeah"

 The legendary act who walks the line between electro and industrial returns like a drug against war, stronger than maybe not ever before, but certainly more powerful than most of the albums since Tohuvabohu. I am glad the guitar is receiving more focus on this album which makes songs like the opening track sound more like their classic work. The vocals work really well over the groove and the guitar accents the chorus. It's not until the more dancey Lucia track " Freak Flag" that we begin getting mixed messages from the band who was just telling us only the tough with survive. They begin wanting you to embrace individuality. This would not be a problem if their name didn't mean "no pity for the majority". This is the band that once instructed us to free our hate. Aside from this is pretty much a flawless album that earns repeat listens with ease and stands right behind their classic material. When KMFDM is on their A-game they prove even better than Young Thugs best hooks.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/08/kmfdm-hell-yeah.html

1- Queens of the Stoneage- "Villians"

. I needed them to quit playing around and rock out. While they did not return to the kind of aggression that kicks you face, they do rock out in more of a coked out 70s manner. In interviews Homme has called what they do a rock version of electronic music and I can hear that in some of the grooves n this album. It's clear years in the vocal booth have improved Homme's singing . He has always had a pleasant voice, but showcases his croon to a fuller extent on this one. The album grew on me to earn it's place here. Brand New could have been in this place to, I defaulting to Last Fm on this one to break the tie.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/08/queens-of-stoneage-villains.html

Morrow - " Fallow"

I like this while neo-crust thing as it is dark and sonic. The key to it is a careful balance of varied dynamics. First you have to take what Amebix did and do it better. Easy enough. However if you get to heavy with it you might end up sounded too much like Neurosis and turn into a sludge band . When this British band opens their album they do it in a big way with a sprawling 12 minute song.  The first song sounds like I am listening to three songs jammed into what is being called one song here. These songs all have cool parts , but I am trying to see how they connect. The second song is much more infused with punk and hits more like hardcore, the darker folkish sonics creep in more at the end of the song , but it is pretty much straight up in your face. They continue down this faster and furious path on "the Hunt" which follows and it is less effective since you have already heard them go there.

"A City Of Gristle" finds them wise to slow down and give the song room for the more powerful sonic to be summoned rather than rush through the song in a temper tantrum. The vocals stay in the more hard core throaty bark. This builds into a very effective dynamic. The more neo-folk is flirted with though not as heavily as some reviews of this album lead me to believe though I think the previous song which might not delve into this as deeply still does a better job in the over all balance of this feeling. It does default back into the more hard-core side of the band when the pace picks up, but as far as twelve minute songs go this one does a better job of holding it all together than the opening track.

I think these guys have a ton of potential and really like the more sonically intense dynamics some of these songs lead to. I think there are a few places where the song writing could be a little more refined in the transitions , but over all this is pretty solid and worth a listen if you are into this sort of thing. I like the darker sonic parts more than the hard core sections, but even those did have their moments. Don't go into this expecting the more dark folk side to be the driving force its the punk. I'll give it an 8.  Halo of Flies is putting this LP out in the spring though you can still check it out on their Bandcamp below.

 4.2

 

The Top 10 Goth / Industrial Albums of 2017

Goth is never just one genre so this is music too dark to fall into indie rock or punk. Industrial is too heavy to be electronica or edm. Over the years various artists have bounced from one list to another. Chelsea Wolfe focuses more on rocking out these day to fall here with her latest and the new Nine Inch Nails not being heavy enough. The old school legends continue to hold their claim to the genre, though six to four leaning in favor of newer acts. The ranking this year was determined by what I listened to the most. I defaulted to my LastFm page for this data. If you require further explanation I included a blip at the end of each entry to clarify why one album beat out the other. So lets get dark I am pressing publish to this baby at Midnight so we stay goth as fuck going into the Top 10 Goth and Industrial albums of 2017.

10-Glaare -"To Deaf and Day"

If you took some shoe gazing guitar and married to female fronted dark-wave it would result in something similar to the California band Glaare. I can appreciate the Siouxsie influence is there but it doesn't define the totality of their existence. At times this album is emotionally powerful and possesses some captivating beats with varied amounts of hypnosis mixed in with post-punk.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/12/glaare-to-deaf-and-day.html

9-Lock Howl -"Pareidolia"

 Driven by gothy crooned vocals have more of a Beastmilk feel to them. These guys ride the fence between goth and metal sometimes becoming more progressive with a neo-classical tone in play that works with the over all sound it is weird hearing this in the context of the more lo-fi production. More influenced by the revivalist bands than actually pulling from Sisters of Mercy or Bauhaus like some reviews might suggest. There is a more 80s metal guitar tone to "Into the Darkness, Into the Unknown" which sometimes flirt with an Emperor direction the chorus flirts with. 'Graveless" is the first song that really turns to older goth . It also collides with metal and it's that drive that powered this out over Glaare.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/02/lock-howl-pareidolia.html

8- Stoneburner - "the Agony Box"


 One half of Ego Likeness, this album often finds samples standing in the place of where vocals would normal be the focus is more on the beats and mood than Ego Likeness. This album is a tribute to Frank Herbert's Dune book series which is not horror , though dark for sci-fi. He keeps the spice flowing with the grooves and sometimes chanted vocals. I really like the middle eastern vibe that drives many of of the songs as the exotic nature of add a darker tone, like a techno version of Dead Can Dance.It's this dynamic range that propelled this album over Lock Howl.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/10/gothtober-stoneburner-agony-box.html

7-Death of Lovers- "the Acrobat "

 Their first album was darker falling somewhere between death rock and shoe-gaze. Their sophomore release finds the band now  growing up through the 80s into new wave. You can here touches of Flock of Seagulls on the opener, then on the second the synths take over. It bouncy and upbeat, detached but happy. The vocals show signs of improvement as the melodies slide smoother over the arrangements and they are singing out rather than allowing the vocals to lose themselves in the murky mix. Despite not being as dark as their previous album the songs are well written enough to put it over Stoneburner.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/11/death-of-lovers-acrobat.html

6- Night Sins-"Dancing Chrome"

 The first thing that hit me about the Philly act's new album is the depth and maturity. By the second song it's apparent there is more of an electronic thing going on here. It's less Sisters of Mercy then their previous releases though the vocals are still uttered from a coffin and mixed back behind the new wave synths. There is a more experimental edge to it. The album grew on me with repeat listens and will not disappoint any one who is already into them though they stick pretty true to who they are up to this point so I don't see it really wining over a larger audience either

. http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/04/night-sins-dancing-chrome.html

5-Black Mare- "Death Magick Mother"

 Despite the p/r around this project trying to give it a political slant, this is ethereal goth with an organic band behind it. This project is the work of Ides of Gemini member Sera Timms. It is less inclined towards metal than her other band. Imagine Switchblade Symphony with a dark indie rock band behind them rather than synths and drum machines. I am not sure that drum machines are not involved as it sounds like they certainly could be.I was fully prepared for this to be a Chelsea Wolfe knock off , but aside from being female singers with a ghostly approach to dark atmospheric music there is not much common ground.<

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/08/black-mare-death-magick-mother.html

6-Rope Sect -"Personae Ingratae"

 Lyrically this album carries a fair share of bleak death worship. For a trio they kick up a pretty big sound. Combining many different sonics from the grunge pound of the drums to a hollow guitar that cries out into the desert night. The vocals are too dead pan in their croon to strike me as death rock. this is dark enough overall to earn it's place on this list and it's the drugged attitude that strikes the loudest chord for it's the real life grit that put it over Black Mare.


 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/06/rope-sect-personae-ingratae.html

5-Godflesh -"Post Self"

 Justin Broadrick's flag-ship project has been many things over the years some heavier than other's . This time around should please fans of the earlier incarnation as it is heavier. The vocals have a snarl to them. Moving with more of a metallic stomp,this return to the more to industrial side of the based will induce an involuntary head bob with it's machine driven heaviness. These grooves are what powered it over Rope Sect.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/11/godflesh-post-self.html

4-Gary Numan - "Savage"


In many ways Numan is the forefather of the brand of dark wave/ future pop or whatever else you want to label what goth kids are dancing to these days. In his day it was a darker take on what was being called new wave. Numan did not go back and try to re-create the sounds that made his hits grace the radio. He has chosen to take a stark look at the world around him and translate it into his own vision of musical science fiction. Numan's voice sounds great At times this album shows what he learned from his time spent with Fear Factory as there is a more industrial slant to it.


 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/10/gary-numan-savage.html

 3-Street Sects-"Rat Jacket" 

 The first thing that stood out about this album was far the vocals have come. This puts it more in the realm of many of the industrial influenced bands from the 90s . The influences are all over the place though as some of the grooves even remind me Fugazi. The vocals to go into harsher yells and growls when the dynamics call for it. This is a more experimental turn for the band with the vocals holding it together as the arrangement oddly shifts in a very chaotic fashion. I think samples are used very well in this album, and add to the atmosphere, though I obviously have a soft spot when reminded of music from this era.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/09/street-sects-rat-jacket.html

2-Marilyn Manson-"Heaven Upside Down"

 I can celebrate the return of distorted guitar.It is a fact that this album is angrier than "Pale Emperor". Speaking of that album it's the same band that played on "Pale Emperor " which has returned for "Heaven Upside Down". The beats get a little more interesting as the album progresses. Some of the more bluesy undercurrents of the previous album begin to return. With Marilyn Manson  I want him to be as dark as possible but still have groove and melody. It seems like this is where he is going and when he does step back into the 90s it's some of the albums best moments.He is remembering who he is. It's his keen sense of songwriting that beats out the more avant garde Street Sects.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/09/marilyn-manson-heaven-upside-down.html

1-KMFDM- "Hell Yeah"

 The legendary act who walks the line between electro and industrial returns like a drug against war, stronger than maybe not ever before, but certainly more powerful than most of the albums since Tohuvabohu. I am glad the guitar is receiving more focus on this album which makes songs like the opening track sound more like their classic work. The vocals work really well over the groove and the guitar accents the chorus. It's not until the more dancey Lucia track " Freak Flag" that we begin getting mixed messages from the band who was just telling us only the tough with survive. They begin wanting you to embrace individuality. This would not be a problem if their name didn't mean "no pity for the majority". This is the band that once instructed us to free our hate. Aside from this is pretty much a flawless album that earns repeat listens with ease and stands right behind their classic material. When KMFDM is on their A-game, even Manson's best moments can't touch them.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/08/kmfdm-hell-yeah.html

Crucifyre : "Post Vulcanic Black"

From the first song this Swedish band makes it clear that they rule and you will bang your fucking head. Between this and the new Pestilence it seems like 2018 is going to be a good year for me. Granted the Watain is still growing on me. Where these won me over the the fact they are not trying to bull doze me over with blast beats. There is melody and hooks, not just thrown in , but they seem to be the essence of their sound. Going into this I assumed that they were going to be another Entombed rip off. There is a few shades of influence if we are talking about "Wolverine Blues: era , but there is a blend of Slayer like thrash with a more Sabbath like sound. They do pick up the pace on "Thrashing With Violence" which goes into the more punk side of early Slayer. Running more off feral energy than the first song, which works for what it is but I would not want an entire album of this as a little goes a long way. The vocals are not really sung, but more deliberate in a gruff Motorhead manner on "Mother Superior's Eyes".It more mid tempo with the dynamics dropping down into a more doom like dirge in places.

"War Chylde" finds them falling into a more Venom like place. "Hyper-realist" finds them continuing to bridge the gap between doom and thrash with great vigor. "200 Divisions" finds them getting closer to the Entombed place , before the chorus busts into power metal like clean vocals. Th.e tight Slayer like chugging continues to kill it. The song that follows finds the band returning to the more punk tinged side of thrash, with shouted vocals. They take this a step further on "Murder and Sex and Self-destruction". I think their take on thrash is more effective when they do it a way that incorporates a more classice metal feel like they do on "Copenhagen in the 70's " which has touches of Mercyful Fate to it.

The last song opens with piano. It evolves into a more My Dying Bride like place. It never accelerates into the more neck breaking thrash found earlier in the album, but I think that is a sign of good taste. I'll give this album a 9, aside from some of the more punk touched places which are not really my number one thing, I think this albums gives me most of what I want from metal. Oddly the only black metal on here is black metal in the vein of Venom or Mercyful Fate and not what kids today think of as black metal, but it still works well.

Pestilence - "Hadeon"

Bassist / vocalist Patrick Mameli is carrying the torch for this band that dates all the way back to 1986. Even with all of the new blood this takes you back to the early days of death metal when it met at the intersection of thrash. The riffs wind around themselves, the snarl of the vocals is the only thing that keeps this anchored in death metal on a song like "Manifestations". Mameli obviously takes most of the song writing credit here as the tightly palm muted guitar takes you back to the golden years of bands like Bolt Thrower and Sepultura. The bulk of the technical death metal bands pretty much owe the bulk of their careers to these guys who were doing this kind of thing before Death went into this direction. The experience is certainly felt in the song writing which balances keeping the uncompromising  aggression with catchy riffs .

Four songs in and I am pretty fucking impressed. I mean if you have been doing this shit since 1986, then you should be skilled, I think the catch is being able to keep the flame going for this kind of metal. Another way the old school metal breeding of this project wins out is the fact that the songs are all under five minutes. They manage to cover a ton of ground in this time frame even including weird angular robotic interludes on "Astral Projection". The atmosphere added to the songs keeps things interesting, they prove they can shred as needed. "Dis-incarnate Entity" goes into a riff with an almost Morbid Angel like groove. Keeping with the 80's there is a great thrash like bass tone that brings bands like Anthrax and Overkill to mind in the way the pick attacks the strings. The riffs are taunt and in the pocket to make it hard not to head bang to. This is where they get it right and modern tech-death fails.

"Ultra-Demons" is pretty straight forward and aggressive with the production on the vocals making the difference. The robotic effects return. The guitar solos have enough flash and class to make them work and the more proggy time changes work and don't lose the momentum. They don't lose me when the pace picks up which is where many bands fall off. I think they have written songs that hooked me in more than "Layers of Reality". They use a similar rushed speed on "Electro Magnetic" that employs sparse blast beats as accents. Overall this album won me over and if this is any indication 2018 might be a good year for death metal I'll round this up to a 9. This album comes out March 5th.

The Top 10 Black Metal Albums of 2017

Black metal is one of my favorite sub-genres of music, metal or otherwise. But blast beats alone don't do it for me. Like most other forms of intense music my ears ingest I need it to be as heavy sonically as is it metal. Black metal is capable of doing this when it's done right. It's more emotionally expressive and dynamic than death metal. So the bar is held high. I don't want Darkthrone imitators. I don't want something that sounds like it was recorded inside a trash can. The albums that made this list gave me what I do want. Rather than torture myself trying to figure out which album should go where I defaulted to my Last Fm page and ranked them by what I actually listened to the most. I frequently say that I'll see how an album grows on me , well this is proof of that theory. In order to make sense of why one band beats out another I have included brief explanations. So here are my top 10 black metal albums of 2017.

10- Goatmoon-"Stella Polaris"


Capable of creating groove rather than just blast beats making this Finnish band is no stranger to Dissection records. There is a little more of a pagan metal folk swing to the gallop of the next song, but even though it is not as dark as prefer my black metal, it is refreshing they are not relying on momentum alone to numb you into submission. Folk metal melodies frolic over their Northern Euro stomp with an often brisk punk energy that shows this album has yet another color to it.


 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/02/black-metal-history-month-goatmoon.html

9-Taake - "Kong Vinter"

 Things are more polished in some ways.The vocals are what you call expect from Hoest who once again is also taking on every thing else in a way that makes this one man band sound very organic like it's four guys jamming in a room, which is a feat in and of itself. Like the other albums released in the past ten years there is some rock n roll influence mixed in with the trappings you now expect of black metal. This album show the kind of change you have come to expect from this project. It's this experimentation that gives this album more momentum than Goatmoon, who can get mired into the blast beats.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/11/taake-kong-vinter.html

8-Kval-s/t 

 Where these guys set them selves part from other Finnish black metal bands is how the hate sits over the more thoughtful gloom of the chords. Not the first thing I think of when it comes to Finnish black metal, but that is thankfully what these guys are bringing to the table. Now if Horna puts out a new album I'll review it , but I don't need other bands to sound like them. These guys care about the quality of their guitars the only thing that is lo-fi are the vocals which are mixed into the background which is the only Burzum like quality this music has. Aside from the fact it's black metal. They are also able to shift tempos , into riffs more languid and fluid as it flows gracefully over the cold landscape they paint with renewed atmosphere. This fluid nature to the sound is why they beat out Taake.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/08/kval-st.html

7-Buioingola-"Il nuovo mare"

This is an interesting project sometimes reminding me of Tombs older albums. They balance out the post rock parts rather than get lost in it. Some times the heaviness is done in a more typical blast beaten way and sometimes  they are handled with a darker creepiness. If you have read this blog before then you know which side I prefer. The vocals are more of a hoarse death metal roar. This band out of Italy does even on first listen get a few things right. The songs are fairly compact, though they could have turned into mammoth drone fests. It works really well and often finds itself entrenched in a very solid atmosphere. While black metal is one of the predominant metal ingredients this has a whole lot more going on.This is why it beat out Kval.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/04/buioingola-il-nuovo-mare.html

6-Pillorian- Obsidian Arc"

 Vocally it still has the trade mark sneer we heard in Agalloch though he might be screaming out with even more anguish here. I like the fact there is plenty of room to be melodic and they are not pounding you with blast beats. The drummer uses double bass to bring the thunder right from the opener. Its more bombastic drumming that was used in Agalloch. When the blast beats do come they are made more tolerable by the fact that the guitar doesn't feel the need to fall in line behind them.This is however more overtly metal than the bulk of what Agalloch did. This is not to say there is not clean vocals or guitar tones, they are just less frequent that what commonly comes to mind when I think of Agalloch.The polish of this album is why it trumps Buioingola.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/09/pillorian-obsidian-arc.html

5-Ragana- "You Take Nothing"

This two piece out of Oakland has returned with a moodier yet more feral vision of black metal mixed with crust. One thing they have going for them is their songs are very concise and streamlined never feeling like bloated drones. The two longest songs are six and a half minutes.These gals prove they are capable of hitting you with varied colors and tempos. Lyrically I had heard they were angry about the state of politics.This presented with a haze of metaphors rather than going the more punk route of shoving their bitching down your throat. There used to be more of a neo-folk element, that is gone though there are some clean vocals going into the song "Winter's Light". This is interrupted by a blast of black metal that races into the song.The heart put into these songs is why it trumps Pillorian.





http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/04/ragana-you-take-nothing.html

4-Eye of Nix - "Black Somnia"

 They have returned, this time with an even thicker atmosphere of darkness coating what they do.The production is not as dense as the previous album creating more room for a melancholy atmosphere to permeate the songs. Their ritualistic creep reminds me of Diamanda Galas in the exotic explosion of chaotic sound.It's a darker, heavier and more confrontational feel. The paint the sky black with the apocalyptic tone of these songs that never fit neatly into one sub-genre. Where their previous album hooked you in on first listen this one grew on me with it's intense density, but continues to earn repeat listens which is why it beats Ragana.


 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/12/eye-of-nix-black-somnia.html

3-Satyricon- "Deep Calleth Upon Deep"


 In the past I had not really taken these guys seriously, but they won me over with how this album throbs with darkness . It has a disdain more than an anger to it. There is a groove and hints of melody. The drums are less produced than I expected.When I get into the winding riffs of This album does have a rawer element than their more recent stuff. The guitar gets adventurous in their use of melody.The drumming begins to really take off in this song. Some of the more angular mathematical riffs clutter up the energy . The drums do work best in some of the more groove oriented sections of dissonance. The hooky riffs are why it beat Eye of Nix.


 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/08/satyricon-deep-calleth-upon-deep.html

2-Wolves in the Throne Room- "Thrice Woven" 

 Wolves in the Throne Room is back to a more unabashed embracing of black metal. In doing so this doesn't mean that are being enslaved to blast beats or ignoring some of the things from their more experimental leanings that have made them who they are . Six albums and fourteen years invested in this , they have a clear understanding as to who they want to be in the present moment and continue to invoked the feeling of their surroundings.This album owes more to Ulver and Darkthrone than it does Godspeedyoublackemperor!,I think it's solid triumph in the band returning to old stomping grounds in a way that is not mired in nostalgia for what was 14 years ago while still giving their early fans what they have been wanting. The big sonic scope of this album is why it beat out Satyricon.


http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/09/wolves-in-throne-room-thrice-woven.html

1- Tombs- the Grand Annihilation" 

 Any questions regarding Tombs legitimacy as black metal is cleared the fuck up right from the first few notes. The guitar tone peels your faces off and leaves you a bloody stain on the all behind you.  Mike Hill's growl has a Neurosis like rasp to it when they song slows down as the lyrics are articulated. The songs are all respectable lengths rarely venturing over the seven minute mark.This is a more metallic effort than "All Empires Fall". The chords sometimes dip into the shadows , but darkness is not as pervading. If you thought the more post-punk elements were diluting the more metallic properties the front end of the album is up in you as metal as it gets. Then if your tastes fall more on the dark side as mine do than you have to hang on and your get that too. I like both elements so in the end I am happy, it's the weight of the album's darkness that puts this at number one.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/06/tombs-grand-annihilation.html

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Watain : "Trident Wolf Eclipse"

Watain are back with a renewed venom as their 6th album kicks into malicious fury with "Nuclear Alchemy" which was also the first video released a few weeks ago. It is very thundering with the combative thrashing dialed way up.Stay in a blasting fury with equally feral rawness of "Sacred Damnation". This song does carry some more nuanced accents, the overall tone in comparison to  but  to "the Wild Hunt" proves this to be a much more straightforward black metal album, as they return  to their more mean spirited roots. They band could have easily said "This album is going to be a return to our heavier more punishing sound, and they would not have been lying.  It's not until things slow down into the more Dissection inspired throb of "Teufelsreich" that it connects with me a feeling the band's personality really bleed into the song.There is a more fiendish rasp to Erik's voice on this song. This brings them back to a place much closer to "Lawless Darkness".


 The trio which has been together since "Death's Rabid Darkness" has a chemistry firmly intact, so there is no compromise of their sound.The riff to "Furor Diabolicus" has  more of a Marduk like organic rawness to it. This is one of the album's more jack hammering songs, but they still find their way into a gallop as needed. Slicker production value isn't heard until the midway point of this song as more melodic elements are slowly slipped in. The bass is heard as the attack of the guitar gives the song more breathing room. They step on the speed and keep up this album's brisk pace with " A Throne Below" that I had to give a few listens to so it would not blow right by me. Repeat listens uncover some more sinister sonics hidden in the blur our tempestuous riffing. While equally intense and in your face there is enough of a groove to the less blast beaten "Ultra" that makes it stand out from the pack.

There is more density to the thrash of " Towards the Sanctuary". This song gets darker , the vocals on the verses slither with effects to bring a shift of color. This album slowly becomes more dynamic, straying from the more straight up blast beats. "The Fire Of Power" returns to a marginally slower pulse though the song retain it's rougher early Bathory like rough edges. This sounds like what most fans of this band including myself are going to want. There are some big classic metal moments that recall back when Metallica was metal in a few places.It's fairly typical for these guys to close the album with the longest song, this time it's only seven minutes. The first minute is spent droning on the opening riff. The song itself is very dark and apocalyptic, thanks in part to the sample of what sounds like a radio playing a Nazi speech or some type of sermon in the background. Weirdly it is also ponderous instrumental. No blazing guitar solos to dazzle you with they just soak you in the mood. br />
If you were waiting on these guys to pull a Behemoth like sell out, then keep waiting.I'll give this one a 9.5 though I have a feeling it will grow on me, however the instrumental sounds good, but I think still keeps it from being a perfect album, which I think both "Lawless Darkness" and "Sworn to the Dark" are. It's a dense well produced album that sounds great even if at first listen it sounded like a lateral move. I think these songs sit along side their exsisting body of work well and the more I listen to it the more in fits into their legacy.

The Top 10 Mainstream Metal Albums of 2017

Mainstream is not to imply that these bands sold out, in most cases, but rather they fall some where in the middle of the road. Genres that are not extreme enough to get their own list. So things like the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Hair Metal, Power Metal, Pagan Metal all fall within this . Most of the albums were ranked due in accordance to how much I actually listened to them. In order to obtain this I referred to my Last Fm page after synching it to my iPod over the course of the year. This year I added a brief blip to help explain what factored into the ranking that might have inspired me to listen to one band more than another.

10-Beastmaker - "Inside the Skull"

On their first album it didn't feel like there was a much Sabbath worship as what goes down here. The slight Dax Riggs inflection in the vocals is now more of a Ozzy like whine. Not in the same tenor register as Ozzy, but the phrasing is similar . This time around there is more weight in the Sabbath like punch they are packing.Seems like the guitar solos have been dialed up on this album as the band gets more adventurous. I did not like this one as much as their previous album, but it is certainly good enough to make this list.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/05/beastmaker-inside-skull.html

9-Hanging Garden - "I Am Become"


Goth metal is a term that makes you think of either Type O Negative or something like Theater of Tragedy. There are a few shades lighter and darker than are romantic or elegant enough to warrant that title. This gloomy band from Helsinki has returned to create some sounds that come closer to the Theater of Tragedy side of the coin. Finland seems to be the breeding ground for goth inflected metal. So these guys might be named after a Cure song , but they are less flowery than most. I suppose an ex-death metal band who now mainly works with melody like November's Doom might be a good reference point, as they do lapse back into the death metal vocals, though are more often more melodic than not when doing so. These guys offered up more solid songs than the almost disappointing Beastmaker album.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/10/gothtober-hanging-garden-i-am-become.html

8-Steel Panther- "Lower the Bar" 


These guys are more of a parody, but in the process make some good music by mistake. It opens with a some what subtle ode to anal sex. There have more similarities of Bon Jovi  and Van Halen's more metal moments than anyone else. While they are a parody of the big hair school of metal I listened to in adolescent they are still clever song writers. The lyrics to "Anything Goes" are funny, but I am not sure this is the same level of songwriting that they show on the first song. They were fun and clever enough to beat out Hanging Garden's more morose approach when it comes to song writing and I typical go for more morose.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/03/steel-panther-lower-bar.html

7-Corrosion of Conformity- No Cross No Crown


Pepper Keenan is not the original vocalist, but sang on their first full blown metal album "Blind" . It Open with a bigger sound than they had on "Blind" which lets be fair, has to be the album we weight this against. They do have more of a Metallica sound now. "Cast the First Stone" brings this to a more aggressive rock place, with blues tinged guitar solos.this album exceeded my expectations. It might not be  "Blind" , but it is still  pretty solid.and has enough soul to it's grooves to beat out Steel Panther.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/12/corrosion-of-conformity-no-cross-no.html

6-Dool -There Then


This  album that carries the torch of the Devil's Blood in a much different way than expected, It features the former drummer and bassist from the Devils Blood, so why no buzz? Not really trying to replicate the sound of the Devils Blood. The ten minute opener is certainly less retro. It also feels a little darker and their singer has more of a modern rock radio friendly voice. The guitars don't sound like they are running through Orange Amps.Of all the albums on the list this might be the least heavy , but it makes up for it in dynamic songwriting which is why it beats out

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/12/catching-up-with-2017-dool-here-now.html

5-L.A. Guns- the Missing Peace"

 In the early metal years, LA Guns was one of the few hair metal bands that was actually metal instead of pop with guitars. Their first two albums are awesome, and they have been hit or miss from there. This album surprised me with the fact that they sound better than Guns N Roses these days. Phil Lewis' voice sounds terrific.The opening track is more aggressive than expected. This renewed fire to their sound is why they beat out Dool.


 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/10/la-guns-missing-peace.html

4-Enslaved- "M"

These guys used to be one of my favorite metal bands then they drifted too far out into Opeth territory and lost some of their bite. This doesn't change the fact they are great musicians and slayed it when I saw them live. They meander into the opener, with granted cool guitar tones , but it goes to show some off the fat could have been trimmed off it. Clean vocals are the first two show. Though the scowling growl does chime in to remind you they are metal. This album is great because it finds them forgetting about the Opeth aspirations and moving back into the kind of epic heaviness that beats out C.O.C.

http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/10/enslaved-e.html

3- Myrkur -"Mareridt"


t first blast beat you might expect this just to be same kind of black metal that we heard on her debut full length, this is not the case. There is an even greater blending of folk and ambiance in the songs ebb and flow. There is a darker tone to "the Serpent" that builds tension , with her singing with a more sultry manner that holds a sexuality not explored in her previous work. Production wise the vocals are going through a distorted filter, but this more spacious, without feeling pretentious and overblown, however not the kind of lo-fi affair fans of black metal might prefer. This is not always black metal. Get ready for this,  sometimes this album is not metal at all.It is heavy enough to be on this list and while it is not as heavy as the new Enslaved it does have a wider range which is why I got more play time out of it and it beat out Enslaved.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/09/myrkur-mareridt.html

2-Spirit Adrift- "Curse of Conception"

 When this album started in reminded me more of In Solitude, than the band's previous work as there seemed to be more of a longing in the wail of the vocals. Typical this album gallops along at much more of an uptempo charge than doom to lead them more in the direction of NWOBHM bands. The twin guitar harmonies further enforce this.The guitar tones are incredibly produced and make this sound like it is a lost classic from the 80s which vaults them over Myrkur.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/09/spirit-adrift-curse-of-conception.html

1-Gwar - "Blood of Gods" 

 The elephant in the room becomes their strength. Blothar the new singer, is the old Beefcake the Mighty taking on a new mantel. So they promoted from within. I can deal with this better than if it was some new guy they just brought in.The new sound took getting used to even though, he did handle the vocals on the song "Nice Place to Park". So his voice is not totally alien. He has a more Blackie Lawless like metal quality. This album needed a few listens before I could connect the changes.  It with a much more straight ahead metal feel in the vein of mid 80s thrash. Each listen connected the dot a little more until it raised it sword in victory over bands like Spirit Adrift.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/09/gwar-blood-of-gods.html