2011 in Review: Best of 2010 I Did Not Hear Until 2011

For the first 2011 in Review post, I have listed five great albums from 2010 that I did not hear until 2011.

5. INQUISITION: OMINOUS DOCTRINES OF THE PERPETUAL MYSTICAL MACROCOSM
The album title and song titles are definitely a mouthful and Colombia's finest black metal band put out an album as monstrous as their vocabulary. With a sound similar to Norway's Immortal, Inquisition is easily one of the better pure black metal bands currently going. The band is clearly modeled after the aforementioned Immortal through their vocal style and riffing.

4. GHOST: OPUS EPONYMOUS
This album was not released in the U.S. until early in 2011 so it is not really my fault I missed it. This album blew my mind. Ghost sound similar to Blue Oyster Cult, but with blatantly Satanic and Anti-Christian lyrics. The lyrics contrasted stunningly with the often surprisingly beautiful music and the dry vocals. It was absolutely shocking. Unfortunately, I have a feeling this is a novelty and the next album will not be met with as much adulation.

3. DENOUNCEMENT PYRE: WORLD CREMATION
After years of releasing singles, demos, and EPs, Australia's Denouncement Pyre finally released their debut full-length album in 2010, which I promptly missed out on until 2011. The band is made up of well-seasoned veterans of Australia's underground metal scene, so there was never any doubt that they knew what they were doing. This album was absolutely crushing.

2. GRAND MAGUS: HAMMER OF THE NORTH
Grand Magus released my Album of the Year in 2008, so it was surprising that it took me nearly seven months from the release of this album to finally track it down. Once I did, obviously I was not disappointed. Grand Magus has found a way to make 1980's traditional metal sound as fresh and vital as it did back then. Grand Magus is easily one of the more interesting bands going right now.

1. WITHERED: DUALITAS
Withered took blackened death and combined it with sludge and post metal to release an album that could have easily competed for the Album of the Year last year. This album still takes my breath away every time I hear it now almost a full year later. This is a mindfuck of an album.

Year in Metal: 2010

I have finally come to the final post in this series. Go here for the larger post. As usual, here are five more albums that I missed covering in that post.

DENOUNCEMENT PYRE: WORLD CREMATION
Denouncement Pyre was covered just a couple of days ago in an Initial Impressions post. The Australian band possesses a sound similar to other groups in the scene such as Abominator, Destroyer 666, and others. With good reason too as both of the current members and all of the band's previous members have been in a number of other Australian bands. That is one of the more interesting parts of that particular scene. This is a particularly brutal album, even for the scene.

GHOST: OPUS EPONYMOUS
Subject to a ton of hype in the latter couple of months of 2010, this album actually released in the U.S. early in 2011 but was released in Europe well before that. Ghost takes 1970's hard rock groups like Blue Oyster Cult and combines them with early doom metal for a surprisingly infectious sound. At this time, there is still no information out there about who the members of Ghost are or what the band is really trying to accomplish, but it is a fun ride.

GRAND MAGUS: HAMMER OF THE NORTH
I was just not able to get my hands on Grand Magus's 2010 release during the calendar year. That is a shame too because their 2008 album was my Album of the Year so I was definitely looking forward to this one. Grand Magus did not alter their approach too much. This is still a 1980's heavy metal-inspired album with some truly catchy tracks and the amazing vocals of JB. Grand Magus should be the next big thing in metal, but nothing ever seems to work out the way it should.

INQUISITION: OMINOUS DOCTRINES OF THE PERPETUAL MYSTICAL MACROCOSM
Inquisition has become known for long album and song titles, this one certainly takes first prize in that. What we have here is good old South American black metal. Inquisition's sound is rooted in second wave Norwegian black metal with sonic ties to groups like Immortal. This is true black metal at its best. Inquisition takes the black metal torch and runs with it here. Initial Impressions to come soon.

WITHERED: DUALITAS
This album could easily have been my Album of the Year if I had found it during the calendar year. That is how freaking good it is. I had missed out on this band for a long time but when I discovered how great this album was, I realized my mistake. Withered plays black/death metal but with some droning and post-metal qualities. All of that thrown together creates a harrowing and suffocating album that is cold and miserable. What a great album.

Initial Impressions: Withered: Dualitas

Withered is part of an influx of newer, up and coming blackened whatever bands from the United States that for some reason, I can never keep straight. I keep getting them confused with Lightning Swords of Death and Black Anvil for some reason. That is not to say that they sound like the other bands, they really do not, just that I have a hard time remembering which band is which sometimes. After hearing the album though, I think I will have an easier time with Withered.

Withered is a blackened death metal band with occasional leanings toward sludge or even drone doom. The album opens with the hard-charging "Extinguished with the Weary" which eventually segues into a more atmospheric sludgy sound. This is not necessarily an album for those looking for punishing and brutal black/death metal. Withered is more reserved and contemplative. Opting for deep, sonic soundscapes over blackened brutality, yet retaining a cold and hostile atmosphere. Withered can still bring the pain on occasion though, just look at "Residue in the Void".

The sound of the album is rich and full, but dark and abyss-like at the same time. There is a lot going on, but it is very foreboding and intimidating. The drums attack like jackhammers and the guitar riffs are sharp and heavy. The vocals are delivered in an ominous roar, like a Lovecraftian monster warning a human of oncoming danger.

My favorite track on the album is "Seek the Shrouded" due to the swirling guitar riffs, pounding drums, and grotesque vocal delivery. It is one of the rare punishing tracks from start to finish on the album. That is not to say that the more atmospheric, droning parts in other songs are bad, just that this was the track to stick with me after the album was over.

This is not a long album, only about 43 minutes, but it feels like a lot longer. Not to say it is tedious or anything. Quite the opposite in fact. This is such an engrossing album that it leaves the listener weary. It is not so much an album, as it is an event. A dark and hostile, suffocating event. But is that not what we look for in certain types of metal?

I am emotionally drained after having heard this album for the first time. It is a bewildering album, one which I wish I would have discovered just weeks earlier as it would have ranked very high on my Top 10 list for the year. This is simply, an incredible listening experience.