BEST of 2009

Well, since it is the end of the year and a shit ton of great records came out in many genres, I've decided to create a few Best of 2009 lists by genre (sort of). I tried to pick the best albums from both established bands and newer groups that have a growing underground buzz. Some of the bands are a mixture of styles so they really could be on multiple lists. For instance, the new Thrice record should really be considered post-hardcore or alt rock, but I threw them into the Punk list. They are listed in no particular order and it was very difficult to narrow the lists down. I will continue to listen to all these albums well into 2010 and beyond. You should too if you know what's good for you. Plese talk shit to me if you disagree or think I left an epic album out.

Best of Punk Rock/Pop-Punk:

Brand New - Daisy
Thrice - Beggars
NOFX - Coaster
New Found Glory - Not Without A Fight
Saosin - In Search of Solid Ground
Dead to Me - African Elephants
Strike Anywhere - Iron Front
Propagandhi - Supporting Caste
Set Your Goals - This Will Be the Death of Us
Polar Bear Club - Chasing Hamburg

Best EP: A Wilhelm Scream - A Wilhelm Scream


Best of Hardcore Punk:

Gallows - Grey Britain
Horse the Band - Desperate Living
Fear Before - Fear Before (2008)
Paint It Black - Amnesia/Surrender
Blacklisted - No One Deserves to Be Here More Than Me
Defeater - Solid Ground (EP)
Evergreen Terrace - Almost Home
Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic
Rise and Fall - Our Circle Is Vicious
Alexisonfire - Old Crows / Young Cardinals


Best of (Extreme) Metal:

Poison the Well - The Tropic Rot
The Black Dahlia Murder - Deflorate
Winds of Plague - The Great Stone War
Converge - Axe to Fall
Broadcast the Nightmare - Twenty Twelve
God Forbid - Earthsblood
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect
August Burns Red - Constellations
After the Burial - Rareform (Reissue)


Best of Rock/Alternative:

Marilyn Manson - The High End of Low
He is Legend - It Hates You
Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing
Dave Matthews Band - The Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
Muse - The Resistance
311 - Uplifter
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (2007)
Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next (EP)
Emery - In Shallow Seas We Sail
Animals As Leaders - Animals As Leaders

Some Honorable Mentions:

Shadows Fall - Retribution
Dethklok - The Dethalbum II
Castevet - Summer Fences
Banner Pilot - Collapser
AFI - Crash Love

WTF is Deathcore?

I’ve been hearing people who know about music and people who don’t dropping this relatively new term in reference to a lot of metal bands. It has certainly become a trendy way to describe Metalcore bands that are heavier and more extreme in their approach. I think it is pretty cool that these types of bands have achieved a firm degree of popularity in the metal scene, especially at a time when post-hardcore and so-called screamo bands are taking over. Today, I decided to comment on three bands that perfectly exemplify this style, Suicide Silence, Carnifex, and Whitechapel. Beware that these bands are not for the weak stomached and you may experience symptoms such as bleeding ears, bulging eyes or uncontrollable defecation. I will create another blog post of three bands that are on the experimental side of Deathcore in the future.

Deathcore is, as its name implies, a mixture between death metal and hardcore punk but it is far more extreme than this simple definition. These bands breakdown their breakdowns while utilizing very heavy (and dark in tone) death metal and even black metal guitar riffs. The emphasis on the breakdown, which is specifically created for brutal mosh pits and highly energetic atmospheres during live shows, is very classic in the subgenre. Most bands avoid clean vocals all together and stray from melodic elements (as this would place them closer to the Metalcore subgenre). These bands are the essence of what “extreme” music has come to mean in contemporary times. The drumbeats are very very fast and riddled with typical death metal blast beats that can make anyone want to shake their fist at the sky. Suicide Silence, Carnifex, and Whitechapel have a lot in common, namely they are heavier than uranium and will blow your face off with their intensity.

Suicide Silence has built up quite a following in the last few years by constantly touring with more popular Metalcore bands and securing spots on festivals such as Mayhem. They have explosive performances and truly rock out and their mosh pits are borderline dangerous, its like being in a battle scene from Braveheart. When I first began listening to them a couple years ago, I didn’t really like the vocals and found them a bit monotonous. Seeing them live quickly changed my mind and their breakthrough album The Cleansing is ridiculously intense. Their latest album, No Time to Bleed is even better and features a richer depth of style, more interesting song structures as well as cleaner production. For a lot of people it is difficult to get used to their mainly shrieking vocals, but they utilize deeper growls also and their vocalist is ridiculously passionate. My favorite tracks right now are Wake Up, Suffer and Lifted and I like the increased presence of keyboard and sound effects; it is certainly more interesting than their last album.

Carnifex has also been causing many people to soil their pants for the last few years that they have been in the extreme metal scene. I actually dig their vocalist, Scott Lewis, more than Suicide Silence’s Mitch Lucker because he does more deep growls in the vein of death metal (I find this more soothing). Some people have argued that this band is more of a death metal band but the prevalence of breakdowns as well as their popularity in the hardcore scene places them in the ranks of quintessential Deathcore bands. They are much less popular than Suicide Silence (who debuted at #32 on the billboard chart) but I think their death metal riffs are catchier. I have yet to see them live but I think we can all assume that the mosh pit would churn with the thickness of molasses. Check them out if you are into Deathcore, they are a very solid band despite some early on line-up changes. Their latest album, which was released last year, The Diseased and The Poisoned will probably cause your ears to bleed profusely.

Of these three bands, Whitechapel is my current favorite and I have been listening to them a lot more the past few weeks. They actually come from Tennessee, instead of Southern California like the other two, and they have a very intriguing sound, yet they are heavier than Michael Moore. Their name is actually not religious at all and references the district in London where Jack the Ripper carried out his gruesome murders (if that isn’t metal, I don’t know what is). I think their vocalist has the greatest range of the three bands and he does a great job balancing deep growls with higher screams. Unfortunately, I missed their performance at the Mayhem Festival because they were one of the first bands and I arrived about an hour late. I noticed that tons of people were wearing their shirts so they are creating quite a stir in the scene. They have brutal breakdowns, delicious death metal riffs and tremendous drumbeats that are not for the faint of heart. Their album is titled This Is Exile and deals with typical death metal themes lyrically and is very dark in tone. All of these bands seem to have anti-religious messages embedded in their lyrics but I don’t listen to them for the lyrics, since you can barely understand them even after a dozen listens. My favorite tracks are Father of Lies, Possession and This is Exile.

All three of the bands are certified Nasty! Whitechapel’s album gets a 9/10 since it is the most interesting in my humble opinion, while Suicide Silence receives an 8.5/10 since it is better than their last album and Carnifex gets an 8/10 because I said so. My non-metal moment today is about electronic group Pendulum who utilize mainly drum and bass style to create some catchy and very fast dance tunes. They hail from Australia, check out their albums In Silico and Hold Your Colour.

Gallows – Grey Britain

This is probably the best hardcore punk album released in the past few years and this band will certainly be going somewhere. Every time that I listen to this album, I like it more and its highly motivational sound makes it great to listen to when you want to get pumped up. I think it is much better than their first release, Orchestra of Wolves, which I loved but lacked the outstanding musicianship of Grey Britain. I think the reason is pretty simple: Gallows got better at playing their instruments and being a band. This is certainly evidenced by the intensity of their live show that I recently described in the Warped Tour Part 2 entry.

Gallows hail from the UK and formed in 2004 out of the ashes of a couple of punk bands. Their first album got the attention of Bad Religion’s guitarist, Brett Gurewitz, who helped get it released in the U.S. on Epitaph Records. They turned some heads and knocked some socks off at the 2007 Warped Tour and began to get some serious attention (I saw them at Warped and loved them). I think this album is what is really going to propel this band into a hardcore scene legend.

I want to talk briefly on what hardcore punk is for those who may not know (most people outside the scene don’t have a clue). When I use the word hardcore or say “hardcore band” I am not using it as the commonly used adjective. I am making a reference to the genre of hardcore punk, which most people simply refer to as hardcore or hXc. Of course, it is a more hardcore version of punk rock, but it has a very specific style that has evolved dramatically over the years. I consider Black Flag and Bad Brains to be the first hardcore bands and their styles along with the genre itself has influenced nearly every punk or heavy band. In contemporary music the most obvious nod to hardcore is the breakdown, which powers the mosh pit! Find out more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcore_punk

Grey Britain is one of those albums that stands out in the hardcore genre, especially during this time period. Some believed that hardcore would not progress anymore and would simply be abandoned for newer forms like post-hardcore or metal-core. This is simply not the case and Gallows is the reason! They are a band that isn’t afraid to utilize classical elements like symphonic samples and piano, yet nearly every track can make a mosh pit churn. The album’s intro opens up with a slow build of an orchestral sample, then pounding drums and the shriek of Frank Carter’s vocals. The next track is f*cking nasty! It is one of my favorites on the album and really moved the pit at the Warped Tour. It exemplifies their tough-guy, we don’t give a damn attitude, yet it is uniquely British and reminds me of pub fights and football hooligans. Lyrically Carter attempts to expose the deep-seated political issues in Britain but his dark tone is fueled by anger (very much a hardcore punk element). Sometimes the songs do not seem to go as deep but simply conjure up images of fighting in dark alleys in London’s rain soaked streets (listen to “Black Eye”). “I Dread The Night” follows a similar theme but the lyrics are much better and it is a standout track on the album, absolutely amazing live. The Vulture is perhaps the most stylistically different on the album and Carter actually sings, but it is a haunting and melancholy track. I would talk about every track but I honestly think they are all incredible and it is an album that is meant to be listened to from front to back.

So please check out this album, it is incredible and even if you’re not into hardcore it will probably grow on you. I am certifying this album as 10/10 Deliciously Nasty! It is a great achievement in hardcore punk rock and is only Gallows second album. This band will be huge, at least in the punk and hxc scene.