DARK FORTRESS – “Ylem” German melodic black metal. Ylem is a pitch black masterpiece with invocations of the death principle; this album signifies the end of everything that exists now; slow, very heavy with insane blastbeats and orchestral darkness. V. Santura also in Triptykon plays some of the best guitar I’ve heard in years.
HOUR OF 13 – “The Ritualist” Occult doom metal from North Carolina. This album is a true doom masterpiece that delves into themes of the macabre, darkness, satanic panic, cold atmospheres and complete bleakness.
TRIPTYKON – “Eparistera Daimones” Thomas G. Fischer legendary frontman of Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, unleashes this beautiful black/gothic/avant-garde masterpiece. It’s darker, heavier and more experimantal than anything he’s done before. V. Santura does another impressive job on guitar.
DANZIG – “Deth Red Sabaoth” The master of death blues metal is back with his best work this decade, memories of black magic rituals and satanic sacrifices.
HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS – Mr. and Mrs. Reznor create beautiful industrial/electronic noise with the help of Atticus Ross and Rob Sheridan.
SWANS – “My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky” First Swans album from Michael Gira in 14 years, different than his previous experimental/industrial rock lp’s but equally as good.
ZOROASTER – “Matador” Psychedelic/sludge/doom metal from the swamps of Atlanta, a good trip when your high.
THE FUNERAL PYRE – “Vultures At Dawn” Melodic blackened death metal from CA. One of the best extreme metal albums this year, very dark, eerie and doom laden.
KYLESA – “Spiral Shadow” Psychedelic/sludge metal from Savannah. This album is very early 90’s indie rock influenced, with two vocalists and two drummers, it gives it a unique touch.
INTERPOL – “Interpol” Creepy, morose and sinister dark indie rock with touches of post-punk and shoegaze from a great band from NYC.
FEAR FACTORY – “Mechanize” A cold, menacing mass of mechanical precision with industrialized depth, it hits harder than a truckful of tungsten. Industrial metal from L.A. their best since their 1st album.
DEFTONES – “Diamond Eyes” An album with crushing density, heavy crunchy guitars, soulful and blazing vocals, Deftones at their best.
INTRONAUT – “Valley Of Smoke” A progressive/sludge/jazz metal album, with clean vocals, fluid bass lines, long instrumental passages and excellent percussions.
THE HIGH CONFESSIONS – “Turning Led Into Gold With…” Psychedelic/industrial rock noise from 4 great artists. Anything that Chris Conelly sings in is great.
TWILIGHT – “Monument To Time End” Blake Judd (Nachtmystium) and Aaron Turner (Isis) creating black metal, enuff said.
CIRCLE OF ANIMALS – “Destroy The Light” A dark and hypnotic industrial album brought to you by Sanford Parker (Minsk) and Bruce Lamont (Yakuza).
HIGH ON FIRE – “Snakes Of The Divine” Thunderous, abrasive roaring blasts, colossal riffs and grim metal with a brute force approach from Mike Pike and the boys.
GRINDERMAN – “Grinderman 2” Nick Cave’s psychedelic/garage rock album, hypnotic at times, it doesn’t get better.
THE TEAR GARDEN – “Have A Nice Trip” Edward Ka-Spel and Cevin Key take us through another great trip into their warp minds.
NACHTMYSTIUM – “Addicts: Black Meddle Part 2” Blake Judd creates another black metal masterpiece that is not black metal.
UNEARTHLY TRANCE – “V” The soundtrack of your soul’s descent into the pits ov hell, pure evil sludge/doom.
“Man’s done, Babylon, eat the fruit divine, wasted labyrinth, Snake’s toungue, lies sung, master of disguise, poison conqueror, War torn, plague born, live in ancient wrath, executioners, Shapeshift, lives sift, pain in the child’s eyes, last rite spoken – Devilution”