Here are Nathan’s 30 reasons why 2014 was a good year for metal
01) Insomnium-Shadows of the Dying Sun; Insomnium have long been a favorite of mine, and they certainly don’t disappoint here. Their mix of melodic death and doom continues to shine and this may be their catchiest album to date. I’m a sucker for darkly melodic, catchy songs and that’s exactly what this album delivers.
Standout Tracks: Nearly all of them, but especially “Lose to Night” and “While we Sleep”
02) Primordial-Where Greater Men Have Fallen; Another excellent album from a band that’s been on an impressive career arc for a while now. In my opinion it doesn’t quite rise to the heights of To the Nameless Dead, but is certainly a high quality release in its own right.
Standout Track: Another highly consistent album, but especially “Where Greater Men Have Fallen”
03) Bloodbath-Grand Morbid Funeral; When Nick Holmes was announced as the new vocalist for Bloodbath a lot of people were skeptical, but he delivers here. He sounds diseased in the best way, and the band continues to churn out excellent old school death metal.
Standout Tracks: “Unite in Pain” and “Let the Stillborn Come to Me”
04) Panopticon-Roads to the North; Melodic, atmospheric, and haunting, Roads to the North is another winner for Panopticon. The banjo is critical to this album’s atmosphere and is incorporated in a meaningful, personal way.
Standout Tracks: “The Echoes of a Disharmonic Evensong” and “Where Mountains Pierce the Sky.”
05) Yob-Clearing the Path to Ascend; At the risk of sounding redundant, Yob is another band that’s been on fire for a while now. Clearing the Path to Ascend is a massive, thunderous album from one of the heaviest bands around.
Standout Tracks: “In our Blood” and “Marrow”
06) Blut Aus Nord-Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry; Saturnian Poetry is another excellent entry in a series of albums almost 20 years in the making. They excel at being experimental yet retain the cold, raw feel of more traditional black metal.
Standout Track: “Paien”
07) Pallbearer-Foundations of Burden; Few releases were as hyped as Foundations of Burden after the incredible Sorrow and Extinction. Personally, I still prefer the debut but this was still one of the year’s best doom releases.
Standout Tracks: “The Ghost I Used to Be” and “Worlds Apart”
08) The Great Old Ones-Tekeli-Li; A fitting soundtrack to Lovecraft, Tekeli-Li is is a creeping, otherworldly album. It’s also an improvement on Al Azif and establishes the band as one of the finest post-black metal bands around.
Standout Tracks-“Antarctica” and “Awakening”
09) Vallenfyre-Splinters; While it was sad to hear Hamish Glencross left My Dying Bride, at least he still has Gregor Mackintosh’s (Paradise Lost) project Vallenfyre. Splinters is a punishing doom/death album.
Standout Tracks: “Scabs” and “Splinters”
10) Nightbringer-Ego Dominus Tuus; Nightbringer continue their dense, ritualistic assault on Ego Dominus Tuus. This album is grating, creepy, and has a pitch black soul.
Standout Track-“Lantern of Eden’s Night”
11) The Crown-Death is not Dead; After far too long of a break, The Crown returned with a pretty spectacular album. With Johan Lindstrand returning, the band hasn’t missed a beat. The Crown’s mix of death and thrash works extremely well here.
Standout Tracks: “Headhunter” and “Godeater”
12) Temple of Void-Of Terror and the Supernatural; This was my favorite new band of 2014. Of Terror and the Supernatural is the best debut I’ve heard in some time and this extremely heavy, horror-themed doom/death band is a band to watch for.
Standout Tracks: “Savage Howl” and “The Embalmer’s Art”
13) Winterfylleth-The Divination of Antiquity; Winterfylleth is perhaps the UK’s leading export when it comes to atmospheric black metal, and The Divination of Antiquity shows why. It’s rousing and majestic, with an impeccable sense of melody.
Standout Track: “The Divination of Antiquity”
14) Indian-From All Purity; This is an extremely dense, challenging listen. It’s as grating and abrasive as it gets; the year’s ugliest sounding release in my opinion.
Standout Tracks: “Rape” and “Rhetoric of No”
15) Ghost Brigade-IV: One with the Storm; Ghost Brigade’s highly accessible mix of doom, melodic death, and depressive rock is on full display here. A must listen for fans of Rapture, Katatonia, Swallow the Sun, and Insomnium.
Standout Tracks: “Long Way to the Graves” and “Wretched Blues”
16) Wolvhammer-Clawing into Black Sun; An eclectic mix of black metal, doom, and sludge, Clawing into Black Sun is an impressive release. It’s mostly slow, caked in grime, and possesses excellent songs. Fun fact, it’s also the first review I wrote for TMO.
Standout Tracks: “A Light that doesn’t Yield” and “Clawing into Black Sun”
17) Coffinworm-IV.I.VIII; Speaking of filthy blackened sludge, fellow Midwestern act Coffinworm put out another bruising effort with IV.I.VIII. I’m torn on whether it’s better than When All Became None, but it’s good nonetheless.
Standout Track: “Black Tears”
18) Dawnbringer-Night of the Hammer; I loved Dawnbringer’s previous releases, particularly Nucleus and Into the Lair of the Sun God. Night of the Hammer isn’t as good as those albums, but a misstep for Dawnbringer is still pretty good. I miss the smoky vocals though.
Standout Track: “One Eyed Sister” and “Damn You”
19) The Dead-Deathsteps to Oblivion; Australian trio The Dead put out an excellent dirty death/sludge album. If Incantation experimented with longer, almost stoner passages, it’d sound a lot like The Dead.
Standout Tracks: “Disturbing the Dead” and “The God Beyond”
20) Novembers Doom-Bled White; Between Temple of Void, Vallenfyre, and Novembers Doom, it’s been an excellent year for doom/death. Novembers Doom are nothing if not consistent and Bled White is another solid release.
Standout Tracks: “Bled White” and “Clear”
21) Khold-Til Endes; Khold have been churning out mid-paced, groovy black metal for a while. And yet, despite being formulaic, they still sound fresh.
Standout Tracks: “Myr” and “Hengitt”
22) Einherjer-Av Oss, For Oss; Einherjer have often been overlooked in their career, but hopefully Av Oss, For Oss changes that. It’s a solid viking metal album, and although perhaps a bit more simplistic than the band’s past releases, is a rewarding experience.
Standout Tracks: “Nornene” and “Av Oss, For Oss”
23) Satanic Warmaster-Fimbulwinter; This is easily my favorite Satanic Warmaster album, whose discography hasn’t really done much for me over the years. But the grim, iciness of Fimbulwinter, combined with its emphasis on melody, creates something memorable.
Standout Track: “Funeral Wolves”
24) Darkest Era-Severance; Darkest Era are another up-and-coming band who put out a pretty good album in Severance. It’s highly diverse, pulling from traditional metal, Celtic melodies (while not quite being a folk metal album) and I even hear bits of black and doom metal in the guitars.
Standout Tracks: “Sorrow’s Boundless Realm” and “A Thousand Screaming Souls”
25) Bloody Hammers-Under Satan’s Sun; Fan of horror-themed metal that I am, I really enjoyed Under Satan’s Sun. The band’s psychedelic doom makes for a good soundtrack to the classic horror films of the 70s.
Standout Tracks; “The Town that Dreaded Sundown” and “The Moon Eyed People”
26) Acheron-Kult Des Hasses; Much like The Crown, Acheron returned from the dead with an unexpectedly good album. The long-running act still knows how to write a quality old school death metal song.
Standout Tracks; “Satan Holds Dominion” and “Jesus Wept (Again and Again)”
27) Hands of Orlac-Figli del Crepuscolo; Much like Bloody Hammers, Hands of Orlac play a version of psychedelic doom. However, Hands of Orlac also are female-fronted and incorporate a flute into their songs. It’s a weird mix, but they make it work.
Standout Track: “Last Fatal Drop”
28) Necrophagia-Whiteworm Cathedral; I enjoy a good mid-paced, groovy death metal band. Killjoy is once again accompanied by Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima, who provides a nice touch with his keyboard work.
Standout Track: “Reborn through Black Mass”
29) Humiliation-Battalion; Humiliation play simple, no-frills death metal. Battalion is a mid-paced, chunky affair. It’s as straightforward as it gets, but done well.
Standout Tracks: “No Land Rights to Speak Of”
30) Mastodon-Once More ‘Round the Sun; Mastodon continue to reinvent themselves. Less proggy and much more straightforward, Once More ‘Round the Sun is Mastodon’s version of arena rock.
Standout Tracks: “The Motherload” and “High Road”
