Skeletonwitch might have shit the bed this year, but Kingdom of Blood's Anthropocene is a decent (if slightly underproduced) alternative that delivers the goods. Directly I'd compare it to a blast heavy At One With the Shadows with some Destroyer 666 and Aura Noir influence thrown in for good measure.

https://kingdom-of-blood.bandcamp.com/releases

I’m want to check that new Finnr’s Cane album as their previous two are two of the best atmospheric bm records, but alas have not yet. Any thoughts? Similarly I’m tempted to try the new Melvins, but I haven’t followed them in years. Can’t really consider my 2018 listening caught up yet until I’ve heard those.

Until then...

That Ulthar album is my most spun of the year and probably aoty choice, though Ion probably more rightfully deserves the title. Personally I’ve been really digging the new Craft album though it may not measure up to older stuff by them. Hate Eternal’s Upon Desolate Sands is fucking awesome. Necrophobic’s was cool, Sigh’s is so fucking good. Also I secretly love the new Deafheaven shh.

Heavy Blog is Heavy's top 25 albums of the year. Worth reading for the descriptions but otherwise the list is:

I agree with you but that album came out last year.

D’oh! Thank you!

Rough top 10 since my overall list has a good bit of non-metal. I'm normally more into plodding/atmospheric shit but there was some great death metal in 2018. Altogether a great year for music overall.

10 Yith
9 Onirism
8 Spaceslug
7 Thy Catafalque
6 Satan
5 Alkaloid
4 Necrophobic
3 Entropia
2 Beyond Creation
1 Urfaust

Lots of other good shit too. Morag Tong, Sunnata, Drudkh/Windswept, Depths Above, Ataraxy, Untamed Land, Ihsahn, Ascension, Uada, Varathron, Elysian Blaze, Druid Lord, Kalmah, Absent and URSA. Couple of downright amazing songs on the Glorior Belli album if only the rest were even close...

Non-metal has Somali Yacht Club, RLYR, Mythic Sunship, Danheim, TORULF, Ulvesang, Winterfylleth, Wardruna, and Gaetir The Mountainkeeper. Somali/Ulvesang/Winterfylleth are of particular note here.

Nice list, mate. A couple of those are really awesome.

I feel like Destroyer 666 comparisons get dropped too often. This sounds more like a mix of new Skeletonwitch and Dissection to me. Not bad but not what I was hoping for.

Some of my top albums from different genres:

Gatekeeper
Harakiri for the Sky
Ungfell
Panphage
Wulkanaz
Thaurorod
Wytch Hazel
Phrenelith
Outer Heaven
Skeletal Remains
Sargeist
Blood Red Fog

There's a ton of albums I need to listen to more (Svartidoody, Tomb Mold, Hyperdontia, Obliteration, Infernal Coil, Innumerable Forms, Deceased, Zealotry, Moenen of Xezbeth, Aorlhac, Sigh, Kriegsmaschine, Necropole, Sulphur Aeon, Sepulcher, Outre, Chapel of Disease, Chthe'ilist, Ripped to Shreds, Manticora, Riot V, Judicator, The Skull, Sacral Rage, Haken, Knelt Rote, Cosmic Atrophy, Siege Column, Svrm, Ulvegr, A Sound of Thunder, Dire Peril, Vomitor, etc).

But these have been great.

Well, the Svartidaudi has finally clicked with me. Takes quite a few listens, it turns out, but some parts are really just mesmerizing. For those interested, they also finally uploaded Flesh Cathedral to bandcamp for digital download.

That Manticora record absolutely slays. They delivered the goods this year. Outre also crushed it as did Deceased and Sulphur Aeon BIG TIME.

Off the top of my head my list will more than likely include the following:

Summoning
Aorlhac
Bloodbark
Varathron
Wallachia
Runespell
Akitsa
Panphage
Harakiri For The Sky
Elffor

Still have a ton of stuff to go through before finalizing, and will probably do a EPs/splits list as well as there were some good ones.

For this year I think there are more non-metal albums which would go in my overall top 10 than metal albums. Fedrespor, Ulvesang, and Nytt Land are probably my top 3 overall.

Pitchfork list came out as well. Hmm. Opinions? I still need to give Horrendous, Deafheaven and Portal a deep proper listen under the influence of alcohol as I am big fans of all 3 but have somehow never found time to hear them. Cutting a bit close for my list here.

Glad to see Ghastly and Black Viper getting some love, but the rest is the same as every other list. I'm not understanding how Horrendous' most boring record by a mile is getting so much praise. They got rid of everything that made them unique and decided to just sound like 1993.

Shit, that's part of the reason it didn't catch my attention the first time
My favorite will always be Ecdysis.

Since I can't vote yet for BastardHead's AOTY 2018 poll, I might as well post here some of my AOTY contenders!

Shining - X: Varg Utan Flock
I've been following Shining since V: Halmstad; however, their eighth and ninth album didn't do much for me for some reason. X: Varg Utan Flock is easily their best one since a while, comparable to the album that got me into them (I might need to revisit Halmstad for that) and for some reason, even (slightly) better than my personal favorite (Klagopsalmer).

Immortal - Northern Chaos Gods
While their previous effort All Shall Fall fell flat, Northern Chaos Gods shreds every ounce of relevance left on Abbath's S/T, proving that Immortal are indeed (one of) the northern chaos gods.

Behemoth - I Loved You at Your Darkest
Weird album title, that's for sure, but Nergal and Co's post-Satanist follow-up introduced A LOT to the Behemoth sound. The change is a welcome one for me, that's for sure, as it forms a cohesive album without diluting their base sound. Last two or three tracks are filler though...

Lovebites - Clockwork Immortality
Seeing this album's cover while I was streaming on Spotify gave me a wrong impression of the band being a female-fronted modern metal band under the vein of Butcher Babies. Guess what, I only got the first part right! While their debut album, having no filler at all, is undoubtedly superior to their sophomore effort, Clockwork Immortality is no slouch, being equal parts thrash, power metal, and goddamn catchy hooks. Plus I'm a sucker for all-girl Japanese power metal bands, so... there.

Other 2018 albums that I have also enjoyed:
Anaal Nathrakh - A New Kind of Horror
Deicide - Overtures of Blasphemy
Boss De Nage - Further Still
Outre Tombe - Necrovortex
Obscura - Diluvium

So far, those are the only ones that I could think out of my head at the moment. I'm sure I missed something (especially for thrash and power metal), so recommendations are absolutely appreciated!

While I agree the new album is their worst (though still great), I think the small factor that distinguishes it from the usual Death-derived prog death stuff is that they give the Death riffs kinda the "Horrendous rhthym" that is a bit distinctive. There's kind of a swing to it that makes their music feel more alive.

Thanks.

https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-best-metal-albums-of-2018/

Give it some more listens. It's their most intricate and unique one yet, actually. To me it sounds like they just tightened up what was working on Anareta - not hearing what you are at all, really.

same here. i was hoping the new one would be as much of a grower as anareta was, but it hasn't really done much growing for me...
it's still a very good album, just not as good their previous stuff

If it's Pitchfork I won't even click on it.

I really don't like those assholes.

Akitsa's 'Credo' is fucking destroying me right now. These guys have the "it" factor for riff-writing. Just raw, hungry, primal shit and it's awesome.

It's funny, I never understood the hype behind Horrendous until this new album, their debut was boring and generic and their second and third album just sounded really bland to me. Idol was the first time it felt to me like the band had anything to say. Maybe I should go back and relisten to those early albums and see if my opinion has changed now that I "get" the band.

I still don't love the first one, but I think Ecdysis and Anareta are both great. Idol as well, I think if you like it you're sure to like the last two.

All three of their last ones are just continuations, evolutions and permutations of that style they started on Ecdysis - I think they've got a good identity, writing style, etc. One of my favorite new acts. Constantly surprising me.

Ecdysis is actually the only horrendous album i dont like

I don't understand all the love for Portal. Their album is one big noisy mess. When I first listened to one of the tracks on YouTube, I seriously thought maybe I was hearing a corrupted file, and sought out the track elsewhere. Nope, whole thing sounds like that, like a fork stuck in a garbage disposal.

Aorlhac is fucking awesome though. Reminds me of Quintessence, in case anyone remembers them.

Just an FYI there are more songs on the new Portal album than "Spores."

I think Horrendous is terribly over rated, all their albums.

Haha yeah, "Spores" is the most "corrupted file" song on the album. I disagree with GTog, though - I quite like this album, and all their albums to various degrees.

the whole appeal of portal is that they sound like that. In a way they are kinda like fast drone or noise with normal instruments.

^ Well that explains it a bit. If it's just their style, I can at least respect that, but move on. Doesn't appeal to me.

I started digging Portal once I heard "Black Houses" and picked up Swarth. I gave Ion a proper listen and it's probably their best work they've ever done. Absolutely incredible. It might help if you guys read the interview the guitarist did on Bardo Methodology.



you fool, not even The Chills?

You should listen to Burial Invocation and Wombripper man!

re: portal - i like everything they've done to various degrees, but i don't think ion will end up in my top 10, tho' i can't be sure, since the whole thing is totally up in the air still. swarth is still the album i like most from them

Come on, guys. Portal has clearly identifiable riffs, even on "Transcending a Mere Multiverse." In fact they're quite a riffy band most of the time.

+1.


Must listen to those again.

Ion has some of the most nightmarish riffwork of the year on it, if you’ve got the ears to discern it. Horrendous really don’t do anything for me. I’ve tried to like their albums but always end up trying too hard.

This Wald Krypta album is pretty fucking dope.

I didn't think too much of Wald Krypta. Ion was a very good album, but the riffwork wasn't great enough to put it in the higher echelon of 2018 albums, though "Spores" is a really cool song imo. Abigor was good. Quality songcraft that intelligently uses free-form song structures without getting too lost in improv. I think the album is one of those artistic works that is intended to be uncomfortable, so whether it is uncomfortable in a good or bad way is contingent on individual taste, as I suppose such things usually are.

Burial Invocation sounds monolithic and very dense; unfortunately it didn't do much to me. Maybe I'd give it another spin or two.

As for Wombripper... oh that shit rips! Listening to it while at work and I can't stop myself headbanging. Production sounds obviously dirtier than the usual, but I don't mind.