Enjoy!
01. Igorrr/Ruby My Dear – Maigre
Haven’t heard more than Barbeque as of yet, but it’s a Gautier Serre release, so honestly I didn’t even have to listen to that one song to know this would be my favourite thing ever this year. Ruby My Dear needs more love.
Recommended song: “Barbeque”
02. Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 2
You can find my review here.
Recommended song: “Blockbuster Night, Part 1”
03. Rings of Saturn – Lugal Ki En
I don’t care if ROS record their songs at half-speed or with a toaster, Lugal Ki En is fantastic and heaps of fun. The whole album is peppered with so many interesting guitar effects it’s insane. The intro riff in track three Lalassu Xul is so delightfully dissonant (apparently a harpsichord). Both the vocals and the production are much better than they were on Dingir. In fact, the opening vocals of Infused are ridiculously enjoyable. Despite the drums (which sound pretty gross), the only thing I can criticise is the sample of some guy I don’t care about sucking ROS’ collective dick at the end of the album’s closing/bonus track, No Pity For A Coward. It completely ruins the entire tone of the album for me.
Recommended song: “Senseless Massacre”
04. The Kindred – Life in Lucidity
While most of the vocals on this album are cleans, they eschew the nasally whine of emocore and the pseudo-operatic pomposity pervasive in prog metal. They have an abrasive, throaty quality to them that is particularly unique and ear-pleasing. At times the high notes the vocalist hits are chill inducing. The instrumentals are fantastic (horns on opening track and some very tasteful synth-work). The production is great. Song-writing is rather straight-forward, but never boring. Dat riff at 1:30 in Everbound. So many feels.
Recommended track: “Dreambender”.
05. Rob Cantor – Not a Trampoline
The first solo album of Tally Hall’s “Yellow Tie” is an eclectic mix of styles and other nice things that I’m too lazy to mention. While Garden of Eden and La Telenova are both catchy as Hell, my favourite songs are the more stripped-back, introspective, and “intimate” songs Perfect and Lonely.
Recommended song: “I’m Gonna Win”
06. Dysphoria – The Apogee
The Apogee basically takes what Ion Dissonance was going for with Cursed and makes nicer.
Dysphoria have expounded upon their signature mix of groove and tech, and added in cleans, “dubstep” and other sexy influences. Sounds horrible, but it isn’t. They channel their inner PsyOpus at the end of Nemesis Shores and Danza II: Electric Boogaloo is also a very obvious influence on the band, with all the atonal guitar runs between chugs. The bass break at 1:08 in Discretion Leak is super tasty, and the lead-in at 2:00 reminds me of a Journal lick. Oh yeah, the droning synth that sounds like a mournful sigh at 01:41 in Creatures is a nice touch.
Holy fuck, dat low-end doe. This shit is crushing.
07. Verse Vica – Endeavor
You can find my review here.
Recommended song: “Verdugo”
08. Adebisi Shank – This is the Third Album by a Band Called Adebisi Shank
This album literally sounds like rainbows and unicorns. So much happiness. So therapeutic it’s almost spiritual. The vocoder on opening track World in Harmony reminds me of Daft Punk, especially The Discovery.
But yeah. This album is pretty much auditory MDMA.
09. Serdce – Timelessness
Between the Cynic and Me’s instrumentals are fucking phenomenal. The jazzy, interplay between the synth and guitar midway through the second track Samadhi reminds me (rather bizarrely) of early Arsonists Get All the Girls. I fucking love synths in my metal. The classical piani outro is delightful, too.
The first few minutes of the cheesily-named (but enjoyable so) Loss of Feelings or Feeling of Loss sounds like it could have been a Between the Buried and Me album-opener.
Vocal performance is somewhat lacklustre. The harsh vox lack balls. That raspy, breathy, style is my least favourite thing in the world. The cleans are serviceable, but nothing to write home about. In all honesty, I wouldn’t have really minded if the album were entirely bereft of vocals.
Recommended song: “Quasar”
10. Killitorous – Party. Grind.
The album title is pretty much says it all. Witness the resurrection of the mid-2000’s trend of long, and irrelevant pop-culture reference-laden song-titles (potential song title?). Nothing particularly mind-blowing to be found here. But a fun one to blast in da car.
Recommended song: “Fecal Fellatio”
Honorable mentions:
Cynic – Kindly Bent to Free Us (missed out by that much *indicates with forefinger and thumb*)
Schizoid Lloyd – The Last Note in God’s Magnum Opus (don’t let the name fool you. This is pretty great. Didn’t get a chance to listen to this enough)
Orbs – These People are Animals
Toothgrinder - Schizophrenic Jubilee
Aversions Crown – Tyrant
The Algorithm – Octopus4
Hail Mary Mallon – Bestiary
Things I should have loved, but didn’t:
Thomas Giles – Modern Noise (more cohesive than “Pulse” as an album, but nothing stands out)
The Contortionist – Language
Dog Fashion Disco – Sweet Nothings (“Greta”, “Tastes so Sweet” and “Struck by Lightning” are all gems, however)
Trioscapes – Digital Dream Sequence (enjoyable, but didn’t find myself dying to give it another spin)
Animals as Leaders – The Joy of Motion
The Helix Nebula – Meridian
Pretty Mouth – The Endless Mistake (too Daughersy for its own good, I think. Not enough experimentation)
Can't put this list in order so I'll just put it in alphabetic order, all of these are fantastic albums that got a lot of spins from me this year. There are quite a few I need to listen to a bit more before deciding whether or not I made a mistake on this list but it'll all become clear in the new year.
Alaya - Thrones
When Inside came out a couple of years ago I fell in love with it instantly so of course when the album finally came out I was sure it was going to disappoint. It didn't.
It's catchy, intense at times but always melodic. Rhythmically interesting, vocally engaging and surprisingly tight when played live. Live review here.
Anathema - Distant Satellites
While this doesn't top Weather Systems I'm going to quote my friend Jóhann and say "Not as great as Weather Systems leaves a whole lot of room to be a fucking amazing album." Anathema always fail to disappoint.
Create To Inspire - Halfway Home
While the first two were albums I was already anticipating this one came out of nowhere for me. I was going to Bournemouth to meet my girlfriend and attend the Burn Out Festival so I checked out the bands playing there. One of them was Create To Inspire whose debut album Halfway Home has gotten a ridiculous amount of plays since then. Melodic hardcore at it's best and they pull it off live perfectly. Live review here.
The Contortionist - Language/Cynic - Kindly Bent to Free Us
Cheating? Most definitely but I couldn't decide which Cynic-core album to feature here so I'm throwing in both. Cynic are the originals and definitely have something The Contortionist don't but The Contortionist have Mike Lessard who trumps most vocalists in the game today. Contortionist review here.
Destrage - Are You Kidding Me? No.
Almost forgot this came out in 2014 because I've listened to this so many times since release I feel like it's a childhood friend. Tech metal that has tons of fun while shredding zombies and guitars alike. Live review and interview here.
Devil Sold His Soul - Belong =/= Betray
With a new vocalist Devil Sold His Soul had a lot to prove to long-time fans. For me all the proof I needed came with the release of Time but this album was surely enough to convince any naysayers. On the day of release I pressed the play button about five times after each finished playthrough as this is a short but oh so sweet EP.
Full Code - Telescapes
I reviewed this album a couple of months back, still love it. Review here.
Igorrr & Ruby My Dear - Maigre
Gautier Serre, nuff said.
Invalids - Strengths
Pete Davis pulls some of his Pottsville magic into his math rock project and creates the best Invalids album so far. Interview here.
Look What I Did - Zansibar III
Look What I Did made a full blown rock opera to continue their Zansibar tale of war between moonmen, horsemen and men who are actually men. Interview with Barry (vox) here.
Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
While I feel like NeO have gotten the short end of the stick with the whole Unexpect comparison they really have a great style about them and Citadel delivers that style fully formed and now with more melodic/clean vocal content.
Nero Di Marte - Derivae
Took me a while to get into it but it's really, really good. Review here.
Pretty Mouth - The Endless Mistake
While I partly agree with Troy's assessment of Pretty Mouth being a bit too Daughtersy for their own good I can't deny that I've listened to, and enjoyed, this album way too many times to ignore it on this list. Feature here.
Schizoid Lloyd - The Last Note in God's Magnum Opus
A late entry (came out in November) but boy did it pack a punch. It has promptly distracted me from giving a lot of other albums the attention they probably deserved. Review here.
Septa - Destroyer
Last but most certainly not least comes Septa's Destroyer. One of two (three if you count the cover "EP" they released in the end of the year) releases Septa unleashed this year Destroyer has been stuck in my head and, more often than not, my ears since I first heard it. Review here.
Albums that I need to listen to a few more times before seeing if I made a mistake in the list/Honorable mentions:
Anaal Nathrakh - Desiderata
Black Crown Initiate - The Wreckage of Stars
Dysphoria - The Apogee
Rings Of Saturn - Lugal Ki En
Rob Cantor - Not a Trampoline
The new year has brought new opportunities already and this means Daedric Influence will hibernate for now. I have been asked to write for The Monolith about music, film and do a regular podcast with them so I hope most of you follow me over there.
The Monolith - Facebook
I'll keep you updated through the DI Facebook as well and thank you all for making this year such a great one.
Jón Þór