2011's music; Ranked & Rated

1. Moonsorrow - Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa 5/5

As epic in scope as any past album; Moonsorrow, to me, are like Robert Bresson; anything they touch will be at least a 4/5, so that the new album is beyond phenomenal is no surprise. Fanboy? Nah, just an admirer of brilliantly crafted anthems.

2. Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will 4.5/5

Not as simultaneously blissful & devastating as Happy Songs for Happy People its still a top notch album; beautiful sweeping guitars, haunting piano & some highly memorable bass lines make for yet another absolutely magnificent album from Scottish boys.


3. Rotten Sound - Cursed 4.25/5

Nasum is gone and they're never coming back, so with Cursed Rotten Sound seem like they're the forerunners for their replacement (Granted RS came to be only one year after Nasum's inception.) Ferocious, fierce and relentless grindcore of the angriest order.

4. Crowbar - Sever the Wicked Hand 4.25/5

More of a devoted EYEHATEGOD fan in the past few years I've clung more to Crowbar on account of EHG's indefinite absence from the scene. The best description of the band came form Beavis & Butt-Head where one of them said "This music is slow and fat." If by fat they mean heavy then certainly the band hasn't let up in the 10 + years they've been together. Some thrashier moments find their way in a few of the songs, but they're still churning out sincere songs of isolation and heartbreak.

5. Defiled - In Crisis 4.25/5

We're only in the middle of March but I can guarantee that in terms of sheer brutality no album will come close let alone match the newest effort by these Japanese death metal masters. My mouth fell open and my eyes bugged out on numerous occasions in reaction to just how brilliantly brutal this album is.

6. Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising 4.25/5

Initially this was more of a 3.5 album, but it gets an extra .75 after a few more listens. It starts off with enough ferocity to get one excited for the proceeding tracks, but by the time the last 2 tracks come along, not to neglect the System of a Down cover, its sort of petered out. Where as "...And Soon the World Will Cease to Be" was a phenomenal closer to what I consider to be their best album "Doom Over Dead Man" just doesn't have the same epic impact.

7. Screeching Weasel - First World Manifesto 4/5

 I'm completely unfamiliar with Ben Weasel's output between Anthem for a New Tomorrow and his latest release I'm willing to bet that this is probably one of his best most fresh sounding outputs in those 18 years. The speed found on My Brain Hurts hasn't really held its place, but the sense of melody and a knack for hilariously bitter and biting lyrics is still in full force.

8. Burzum - Fallen 3.5/5

Eh, it's Varg, big deal. Not as entrancing as 2010's Belus it isn't a bad album but there really isn't anything remarkable here, folks.

9. Deicide - To Hell With God 2.75/5

Deicide. One of the most inconsistent bands in the history of American death metal hasn't released a genuinely phenomenal or important album in almost 2 decades. With To Hell With God, yet again, there's no new ground and at this point Benton is such a joke that its almost embarrassing to know that he A.) exists and B.) takes himself with complete and unflinching seriousness. There are some decent moments, and some good songs, but nothing great or above good can be found on this album.

 10. Weedeater - Jason...the Dragon 2.5/5

When did Bongzilla start writing shorter songs? Waaaiiit a minute, this isn't Bongzilla, its their little brother Weedeater. Their 2002 album Sixteen Tons was pretty much completely forgettable but 2011's Jason... the Dragon is a slight improvement. Its heavy, there's no doubting that, but there isn't really anything memorable going on here. In a world full of bands like this what makes them different or special? Nothing, really.

11. Decoder - Decoder 2/5

Is this supposed to be a concept album or something? Either way, I don't really care. It starts off promisingly enough but then sinks into total mediocrity. I keep debating whether or not they'd be decent as an instrumental band as both vocalists are subpar and unoriginal but even without vocals this would still be bottom rung stuff. I'm sure chicks dig this shit, though.