Author: dev88

Derek’s Note: Since it’s The Brother’s birthday week, I’m letting him choose the track.

I am feeling shifty at 44 and so I bring you a mashup of Behemoth’s Ov Fire and the Void and Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance.

> I’ve asked The Brother to do another year in review.

Gonna be honest, this year there was a lot of good music, but nothing really caught me and kept me coming back to it over and over again. Still some excellent music, though.

Album of the Year

Ehrling – Tropical Confessions 5

My Album of the Year is an EP from an artist I discovered this year through a Minecraft YouTuber who uses it during building timelapses.

The Heavy Stuff

There was good music this year, despite nothing really hijacking my brain. Here is the heavier stuff I got my groove on to. These are listed in alphabetical order. I care not for ranking!

• Dark Tranquillity – Moment
• Fires in the Distance – Echoes from Deep November
• Noumena – Anima
• Slow Fall – Beneath the Endless Rains
• Ulcerate – Stare into Death and Be Still

No Death

And in the more rocking, but slightly less aggressive cohort, we have the following.

• 10 Years – Violent Allies
• Amaranthe – Manifest
• Garmarna – Forbundet
• Andy James – C.S.I.L.
• Katatonia – City Burials

EPs

There were other excellent EPs besides my Album of the Year and I really recommend them. They are all pretty heavy.

• Dawn of Dissolution – Divine
• Hinayana – Death of the Cosmic
• Soilwork – A Whisp of the Atlantic

In this age of lockdown, there are a lot of bands doing online concerts. Though you need to buy a ticket for some, some bands are doing theirs for free and hoping for donations.

One of my favorite bands is Disillusion, and they did a free concert a couple of weeks ago and have also released it on YouTube:

I have also purchased tickets to another show (Insomnium/Omnium Gatherum) and am looking forward to buying more if I hear of more bands I am interested in.

Check in on artist you like and see if they are doing the same. If you can afford it kick them some cash – either through Patreon or other channels (buy some of their music on Bandcamp or merchandise).

With everything closed down, we still need to support the arts if we can.

Editor’s Comments:

For the end of the year, I have asked The Brother to compile his favorites for 2019. As you can see, his tastes run a little bit different than mine.

Again, I bring lists of musics for everyone to enjoy. This year I have tried to supply Bandcamp links where possible so you can listen to each album. In the case that the album is not on Bandcamp I have provided a link to Apple Music (because that’s what I use).

Album of the Year

Disillusion – The Liberation

I love Disillusion. Their album Back to Times of Splendor is one of my favorite albums of all time and The Liberation sits right up there as well. I am elated that after a long hiatus, Disillusion return with an amazing album.

The Heavy Stuff

Lots of death metal here… pretty much all forms of death metal, really. I like death metal.

1. Soilwork – Verkligheten – Melodic Death Metal
2. Insomnium – Heart Like a Grave – Melodic Death Metal
3. In Mourning – Garden of Storms – Melodic Death Metal
4. Damnation Defaced – The Devourer – Death Metal
5. Whitechapel – The Valley – Deathcore

No Death

As per last year, I have a second list of great albums that are not death metal, though several of them are still quite heavy (and the Lacuna Coil album has some vocals that come very close to deathy-growls).

1. Lacuna Coil – Black Anima – Metal
2. Pray for Sound – Waves – Post Rock
3. Sabaton – The Great War – Metal
4. Daddy Rock – Daddy Rock 2 – Rock
5. We Lost the Sea – Triumph & Disaster – Instrumental Rock

Honorable Mentions

These are the albums that were in the running for the other lists but did not make it. These are still really good albums, but the lists have to be capped somewhere.

• Arch Echo – You Won’t Believe What Happens Next! – Instrumental Rock
• Belzebubs – Pantheon of the Nightside Gods – Melodic Death Metal
• Black Therapy – Echoes of Dying Memories – Melodic Death Metal
• Crepuscle – Heavenly Skies – Melodic Death Metal
• Pelican – Nighttime Stories – Post Rock
• Russian Circles – Blood Year – Post Rock
• Tomydeepestego – FEARS – Post Rock
• Valence – Cognitive Dissidents – Instrumental Rock

GO FORTH AND ROCK

So my dearest brother got himself happily married last weekend and asked if I could supply a Metal Tuesday for him. I, of course, agreed. To mark such a momentous occasion, I decided to go with a momentous song: Winter’s Gate by Insomnium.

The album Winter’s Gate is a single, 40-minute song (though if you look at it on iTunes or Spotify or where-ever it is frequently broken up into “tracks”).

Based on a short story written by vocalist Niilo Sevänen, Winter’s Gate tells the story of a group of Vikings who set out to find a fabled island west of Ireland, despite the treacherous winter drawing near. The song/album wanders through multiple styles, from soothing, Anathema-like passages to raging black-metal-style riffs and drumming; but always with an Insomnium sensibility and style.

Winter’s Gate, despite being the band’s seventh album, may be their best work.

Editor’s Comments:

For this week’s Metal Tuesday, The Brother asked if he could write up his favorite albums of 2018. Although his tastes run a bit differently than mine, he knows his music.

I have so much music for y’all. This year I decided to do two versions of my Top Albums list; one without any death metal and one with the heavy stuff. I’m considerate like that. For each album, I list the general genre and links to Apple Music, Spotify, or YouTube (some sources more official than others on YouTube).

I also call out a couple of EPs that I really liked and at the end are a list of honorable mentions (in no particular order).

The Heavy Stuff

1. Rivers of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name – Technical Death Metal: or or
2. Omnium Gatherum – The Burning Cold – Melodic Death Metal: or or
3. Psycroptic – As the Kingdom Drowns – Technical Death Metal: or or
4. Amorphis – Queen of Time – Metal: or or
5. Slugdge – Esoteric Malacology – Death Metal: or or

No Death!

Now, I also understand that a lot of people are not, shall we say, fans of death metal. This is for y’all.

1. Clutch – Book of Bad Decisions – Rock: or or
2. Good Tiger – We Will All Be Gone – Rock: or or
3. Andy James – Arrival – Instrumental Rock: or or
4. Paul Wardingham – Electromancer – Instrumental Rock: or or
5. Set and Setting – Tabula Rasa – Post Rock: or or

The EPs

I also want to call out a couple of EPs that came out this year that I though were really good.

• Hespera – In Absence – Melodic Death Metal: or or
• Plini – Sunhead – Instrumental Rock: or or

Honorable Mentions

These are the albums that were in the running for the other lists but did not make it. These are still really good albums, but the lists have to be capped somewhere.

• Alkaloid – Liquid Anatomy – Death Metal: or or
• Beyond Creation – Algorythm – Technical Death Metal: or or
• Harakiri for the Sky – Arson – Metal: or or
• Moonshade – Sun Dethroned – Melodic Death Metal: or or
• Nita Strauss – Controlled Chaos – Instrumental Rock: or or
• The Ocean – Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic – Post Rock: or or
• The Ocean – Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic (Instrumental Version) – Post Rock: or or
• Parasite, Inc. – Dead and Alive – Metal: or or
• Zeal & Ardor – Stranger Fruit – Metal/Soul/Experimental: or or