2017 was a difficult year for the United States, in that it
felt like it was in a constant flux and almost a battle for good and evil.
Standing by the sidelines may be tough to do but getting distracted in your own
life may be the best medicine for the darkest annals of an ever present
society. Having a 2nd child is also a welcome distraction and hell there was
music too; oh boy there was much music to be had.
2017 was markedly stronger overall next to 2016 both in
quantity and in quality. Sincerely it felt that cutting an album from this list
felt as though a piece of what made 2017 so unique went by the wayside. Alas
that is the nature of this very arduous process which allotted exactly zero
dollars in my pocket. Now in no particular order here are my honorable
mentions.
Mastodon– Emperor of Sand (Reprise, USA)
Municipal Waste – Slime and Punishment (Nuclear
Blast, USA)
Immolation– Atonement (Nuclear Blast, USA)
Artificial Brain - Infrared Horizon (Profound Lore, USA)
Pyrrhon– What Passes For Survival (Willowtip,
USA)
15. Jag Panzer – The Deviant Chord (SPV/Steamhammer,
USA)
14. Dying Fetus – Wrong One To Fuck With (Relapse,
USA)
Listen here
13. Primitive Man – Caustic (Relapse, USA)
Listen here
12. Code Orange - Forever (Roadrunner, USA)
Pittsburgh's Code Orange were a revelation to me as a new wave of American metalcore. Making wave for any other metalcore band during a year when Converge is releasing a new album is a statement in and of itself, a Grammy nomination doesn't hurt them in this regard, although that can help the band get on the list of very many detractors too. The band separate themselves from the pack with various electronic elements which are expertly woven into the fabric of their songs. A fun and inspired listen.
Listen here
Listen here
11. Unsane - Sterilize (Southern Lord, USA)
Listen here
10. Unleash The Archers - Apex (Napalm Records, Canada)
Color me a bit surprised that this Canadian power metal was
a relative unknown to me in 2017; coming from the metal hotbed of Vancouver,
British Columbia where I cut my metal teeth on 3 Inches of Blood back in the
day and more recently Anciients and the inimitable Archspire. Unleash the
Archers are a well oiled machine that toes the line of cheesy power metal but
really sounds like a female fronted Judas Priest or 3IOB; vocalist Brittney
Slayes is an absolutely force to be reckoned with; that rhythm section is
wonderful too. Fans of traditional metal would be hard pressed to miss this new
classic.
9. Spectral Voice – Eroded Corridors of Unbeing (Dark
Descent, USA)
Coming from one of the strongest scenes in the US today;
Spectral Voice calls Denver Colorado home. Khemmis and Primitive Man have
staked their claim here and half of this band is also in Blood Incantation but
Spectral Voice trade in interstellar space for straight up death doom. The
world really feels like it is going to crash into you at some point; there
really haven’t been too many death doom albums that feel this genuine in quite
a long time and that isn’t to say that Loss and Bell Witch didn’t put out
quality albums of their own; however these Colorado crushers really brought the
correct amount of oppressiveness to their doom within traditional death metal
song structures. FFO Winter and Autopsy.
8. Royal Thunder – Wick (Spinefarm, USA)
Here are the wonderful Royal Thunder yet again gracing a
list of mine. They just seem to mature with each release and they seemingly get
better each and every time out. Mliny Parsons is a powerful vocalist who is
surrounded by a hard rock and emotive atmosphere. Josh Weaver and Will Fiore’s
guitars build the platform for Parsons to truly shine, much like how Fleetwood
Mac did with Stevie Nicks. The band really seems primed to take more and more
huge steps towards greatness and Wick will only garner more and more attention
that this band well deserves.
7. Exhumed – Death Revenge (Relapse, USA)
Exhumed return with Death Revenge, their first album in four
years. The band finds themselves in the cross between Carcass’ Necroticism and Heartwork
as the mix of vile and virtuosity goes hand in hand. Matt Harvey and crew make
this effort a fine one with bassist Ross Sewage making his presence felt here
as he did with Ghoul’s latest effort; a veritable Bill Steer to Harvey’s Jeff
Walker. This brand of self-proclaimed gore metal is all the more wrapped up in
a delightful package which includes album artwork that would make Lucio Fulci
blush. The album also follows a loose concept of a series of murders in
Scotland during the 1820’s. Why not traverse history to find more inspiration?
What more do you need to know? Exhumed have delivered during a year chock full
of amazing death metal, showing their decomposing grip on the genre is as
strong as ever.
6. Grave Pleasures – Motherblood (Century Media, Finland)
Certainly the album that feels like the real oddity on this
list. A deathrock dystopia all the way from Finland with British vocalist
Kvohst (also of Hexvessel). Grave Pleasures formed from the ashes of Beastmilk
and also features powerful guitarist Juho Vanhanen of Oranssi Pazuzu who really
finds himself being a driving force behind the haunting vocal performance at the
forefront. Guitars chug and or play a few dissonant chords while the drums
absolutely dance in perfect time with the rest of the rhythm. Just a real
spooky rocker of an album that isn’t really metal, but who gives a shit; this
flat out rocks and you need to hear it.
5. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy (Profound Lore, USA)
At first glance,
Full of Hell are nothing more than cacophonous noise. But upon deeper
examination this under 25 minute dirge is a powerful statement to how concise
an album can be in 2017 and still get their point across. Trumpeting Ecstasy is
the first exclusively Full Of Hell full length (following collaborations with
Merzbow in 2014 and The Body in 2016) in nearly four years and it feels like
they have truly honed their craft. Whether it be the powerful opener
“Deluminate,” scorcher “Crawling Back to God” or the particularly ominous
guitar tone on the title track; the violence has variety and Full of Hell have
delivered what is easily their best release yet and have set the bar very high
for grind and powerviolence in 2017.
4. Cormorant – Diaspora (Independent, USA)
Cormorant have been around for a while but things have been
seemingly quiet since original frontman Arthur Von Nagel left following the
critical acclaim for Dwellings. They did put out an album in between but I
can’t remember much about it; however Diaspora is quite something else. It is
quite possibly their magnum opus with 4 tracks, the last of which is a shade
over 26 minutes; this album checks all of the boxes for a progressive death
metal album and even throws in some riffs that feel like they were modeled
around some Trouble songs with progressive elements akin to Opeth and Enslaved.
This album is a deep dive and quite complex with many different movements
and dynamics contained within. It’s hard in short form to describe the music,
if I was to use one word it would be, epic.
3. Pallbearer – Heartless (Profound Lore, USA)
Pallbearer return with what is their most fully realized
effort to date and large improvement from Foundations of Burden. Their core
love of a band like Solstice is very present in the grand scale of their music
and the heartfelt riffs hit harder on each successive listen. The music is
heavy, riff driven doom metal with long form songs as the album is as short as
5 and a half minutes to album closer ‘A Plea For Understanding’ which is nearly
13 itself. Heartless might seem more streamlined than previous Pallbearer
efforts and that is an understandable critique you have seen bands like
Mastodon and Baroness make similar moves; whether that comes in conjunction
with critical praise is ultimately a band to band decision. This altered
direction from their debut 2 albums ago is a welcome change and progression for
this Arkansas band that helped put that scene on the map. Heartless is a
beautiful album worthy of all the wonderful things that have been said about
it.
2. Power Trip – Nightmare Logic (Southern Lord, USA)
The angriest album of the year has had a long time to be
usurped by albums from All Pigs Must Die, Converge, Pyrrhon and even the
aforementioned Full of Hell; it was a February release after all. Riley Gale
and his titanic Texan thrash troop have barely left the tour cycle this year;
touring with fellow crossover thrashers, Iron Reagan and currently with
Gatecreeper and Cannibal Corpse; Nightmare Logic is getting heard more and more
as it should. This is the thrash metal album we all needed in 2017 with the
political machine rolling along near a swamp that is now overfilled, not
drained. I even had a lovely chat with Riley during a stop at Webster Hall
earlier this year. One listen of ‘Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe’ or
‘Firing Squad’ should get you really pissed off, and that is by design.
1. Spirit Adrift – Curse of Conception (20 Buck Spin, USA)
Speaking of Gatecreeper, how does Nate Garrett release a
powerful death metal album in Sonoran Deprivation a year ago and then put out a
bonafide classically styled traditional doom metal album out only a year later?
Granted they did release their debut in 2016 as well, but Curse of Conception
really put the band on the collective map. The opening riff sounds like
something you would hear screaming from Psalm 9 to Run to the Light. The title
track on this album could include the riff of the year and that year might well
be 1985. Critical comparisons to Khemmis and Pallbearer are likely out there so
I am excited to see plenty of people hate on a talented band that somebody said
something good about once, so kudos Nate. I hope to see you at Metal and Beer
Fest on 3/31 in Philly. Spirit Adrift is the time capsule I didn’t know I
needed in 2017 but surely the one I’m glad I got.
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