Wednesday, September 23, 2009

A GOOD YEAR FOR THE METAL

It's almost October, which means some editors out there are already asking for year-end lists. (The first one I was asked to contribute was for Jazziz, but that's a quarterly now, so that's kinda understandable. Still, since turning it in I've heard almost as many excellent records for a whole second list. Oh, well.)

Anyway, knowing that the end of the year is nigh, I've gone through my iPod and hard drive and come up with the following list of decent-to-excellent 2009 metal releases, from which I will be culling my year-end Top Ten, barring the release of something totally awesome between now and list-making time (for example, I got the new Portal in today's mail, but haven't listened to it yet).

The list (particular favorites in bold, links to reviews where available):

3 Inches of Blood, Here Waits Thy Doom
Ambassador Gun, When in Hell
Ancestors, Of Sound Mind
The Answer, Everyday Demons
Antigama, Warning
Anvil, This is Thirteen
Artillery, When Death Comes
Augury, Fragmentary Evidence
Baroness, Blue Record
Behemoth, Evangelion
Bergraven, Till Makabert Väsen
Born Of Osiris, A Higher Place

Brutal Truth, Evolution Through Revolution
Canis Dirus, A Somber Wind from a Distant Shore
Cannibal Corpse, Evisceration Plague
Cauldron, Chained to the Nite
Converge, Axe To Fall

Crucifist, Demon-Haunted World
Darkest Hour, The Eternal Return
Defeatist, Sharp Blade Sinks Deep Into Dull Minds
Divine Heresy, Bringer of Plagues
Dodsferd, Suicide and the Rest of Your Kind Will Follow
Evile, Infected Nations

The Fall Of Troy, In the Unlikely Event
Fleshgod Apocalypse, Oracles
Funeral Mist, Maranatha
The Gates Of Slumber, Hymns of Blood and Thunder

God Forbid, Earthsblood
Gorod, Process of a New Decline
Graves Of Valor, Salarian Gate
Greymachine, Disconnected
Grief Of War, Worship
Hacride, Lazarus
Heaven And Hell, The Devil You Know
I See Stars, 3D

Insect Warfare, World Extermination (reissue)
Iron Age, The Sleeping Eye
Isis, Wavering Radiant
Job For A Cowboy, Ruination
Judas Priest, A Touch of Evil - Live

Kylesa, Static Tensions
Lamb of God, Wrath
Laudanum, The Coronation
Lazarus A.D., The Onslaught
Liturgy, Renihilation
Magrudergrind, s/t
Man Must Die, No Tolerance for Imperfection
Manowar, Thunder in the Sky
Marduk, Wormwood
Mastodon, Crack the Skye
Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, III
Megadeth, Endgame

Memphis May Fire, Sleepwalking
Minsk, With Echoes in the Movement of Stone
Mumakil, Behold the Failure
Municipal Waste, Massive Aggressive
Obituary, Darkest Day
Obscura, Cosmogenesis
Orthodox, Sentencia
Revocation, Existence is Futile
Saviours, Accelerated Living

Shadows Fall, Retribution
Showbread, The Fear of God
Shrinebuilder, s/t
Skeletonwitch, Breathing the Fire
Slayer, World Painted Blood
Suffocation, Blood Oath
Sunn O))), Monoliths & Dimensions

Tenet, Sovereign
Ulcerate, Everything is Fire
Vader, Necropolis

War From A Harlots Mouth, In Shoals
Warbringer, Waking Into Nightmares
White Wizzard, High Speed GTO
Wino, Punctuated Equilibrium
Wolf, Ravenous

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