Metal Monday: Best albums of '09

posted in: Features • Rock

It’s about that time, folks. Everyone and their dog are making their year-end top album lists then checking it twice, and I’m following suit. This has been a quality year in the metal world thanks to releases from three of the biggest acts in thrash metal (Slayer, Metallica and Megadeth), many a  breakthrough releases, not to mention some newcomer juggernauts.

So, here it goes.  My top 10 metal albums of 2009, starting at number 10:

10. God Forbid – Earthsblood

This year God Forbid released their best effort thus far with little noise. This very solid release flew under the radar for the latter half of 2009. It’s their first release since their critically-acclaimed 2005 album IV: The Constitution of Treason, and a great follow-up.

9. Swallow the Sun – New Moon

November 9th saw yet another very good release (number 4 if you’re counting) from the Doom/Death Metal outfit Swallow the Sun. This is a band that makes the Top 10 every single year they release an album. Swallow the Sun are surely the pinnacle of death doom in recent years.

8. Despised Icon – Day of Mourning

Despised Icon are revered in the deathcore scene, and Day of Mourning further distances them from the rest ofthe pack. Taking a departure from overused breakdowns and generic pig squeals, Day of Mourning takes everything Despised Icon does to a new level, and now features more intricate guitar and drum work  (all of which is presented in the sonically best metal record of 2009).

7. Between the Buried and Me – The Great Misdirect

It seems that every album that Between the Buried and Me release, there are less and less songs (which is almost true). The Great Misdirect is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2007’s Colors. The Great Misdirect is not nearly as groundbreaking as Colors, but is nearly as good. Between the Buried and Me are another band that perennially appear in metal Top 10s every year, and deservedly so.

6. Behemoth – Evangelion

Behemoth are a band that do not stray far from standard death metal, and surely do not introduce anything new to the scene, but Evangelion has ripped the band out of mediocrity (though many reviewers give all their studio albums great ratings) and finally into the ranks of the metal elite. Behemoth had one of the best singles/videos of the year with “Ov Fire and the Void” (a video that was censored by YouTube).

5. Shrinebuilder – Shrinebuilder

I wrote about this band in my metal supergroups post. Shrinebuilder have truly brought back the glory of stoner/sludge metal with their self-titled release. Considering the band is filled with members at the forefront of stoner metal, it’s not a big surprise they pulled it off flawlessly.

4. The Black Dahlia Murder – Deflorate

The Black Dahlia Murder are one of the top metal bands to emerge since 2000 (one of the most distinctive as well), and Deflorate may be their best effort yet. A perfect follow-up to 2007’s Nocturnal, Deflorate capitalizes on the few areas that Nocturnal fell short on.

3. Revocation – Existence is Futile

Boston-based Revoaction are fairly new to the metal scene, Existence is Futile being their second release after the band formed in 2006 (and were recently signed to Relapse Records). A flawless mix of thrash metal and technical death metal, Revocation are undeniably one of the best metal bands out there right now.

2. Skeletonwitch – Breathing the Fire

Another band making big waves with their second full-length release, Skeletonwitch are a “blackened thrash metal” band with some serious chops. Take raw black metal vocals and ripping thrash riffs, then add some killer solos and some NWOBHM style, and you have the Number 2 metal album of 2009. From start to finish, this album delivers on all fronts.

1. Converge – Axe to Fall

Boston metalcore legends Converge have done it again: released a killer album that redefinestheir sound. Axe to Fall sits in the fantastically awkward realm of familiar and unfamiliar for Converge, taking more cues from music other than hardcore than ever before. Perhaps the most emotionally-charged and vitriol-filled album of the last few years, Axe to Fall goes above and beyond the call of duty.

So there you have it, folks. For an added bonus, here are a couple honorable mentions:

Nile – Those Whom the Gods Detest

Egyptian-influenced death metal. Nile stand amoung the elite metal bands out there, but Those Whom the Gods Detest is a small step back from the band’s pior release, Ithyphallic.

Obscura – Cosmogenesis

An overly-talented technical death metal band out of Germany, Obscura have surely found a way to sound unique, but in the end, Cosmogenesis is just another technical death metal album (albeit a good one) that falls short of my Top 10 (last year The Faceless was this band on the outside looking in).

Ensiferum – From Afar

From Viking metal to melodic death metal to folk metal, Ensiferum has had a lot of labels attached to them. Another solid release from these guys, but in the end it got edged out.

Now, for the bottom of the pile:

Queensrhí¿che – American Soldier

It breaks my heard to hear the band who spawned the masterpiece Operation: Mindcrime to be making such bland hard rock.

Killswitch Engage – Killswitch Engage (let it be noted, this is their second self-titled album)

Since Howard Jones joined the band, they have become less and less extreme with each album. Though their cover of Dio’s “Holy Diver” showed some promise, the band recorded too many ballad songs.

Lacuna Coil – Shallow Life

Perhaps I just don’t get it. Every Lacuna Coil album seems to be bland, overproduced and uninspiring. Shallow Life is justmore of the same. If it weren’t for Christina Scabbia, no one would care about this band (Evanescence anyone?)