Metal Awards

Jaime's Top 15 albums of 2010

  1. Celeste - Morte(s) Nee(s)
    Unrelelenting, heavy, viscious. Everything black metal should be by a band that aren't exactly in that genre. I will never tire of praising this band.
  2. Mar de Grises - Streams Inwards
    Absolutely stunning album that a huge number of bands should take hints from.
  3. Ihsahn - After
    His last two solo albums were just "alright" for me. This one though just hit the nail on the head straight away.
  4. 11 As In Adversaries - The Full Intrepid Experience of Light
    It was a good year for French bands without question. Another left-field and hard to define album but works in so many ways.
  5. Shining (Nor) - Blackjazz
    It's just mindboggling. A tough listen for the unprepared but once you get into it it'll stay stuck in your head. Blackjazz Deathtrance is just fantastic.
  6. Les Discrets - Septembre et Ses Dernières Pensées
    Another French band. I put this higher than Alcest due to the fact that it struck a chord with me a lot quicker than Alcest did. It's easier to get into but has the same sort of listening experience.
  7. The Ocean - Anthropocentric
    As far as concept albums go then this is a doozy. Epic in all the right ways and overshadows the band's other album of the year completely.
  8. Cloudkicker - Beacons
    Talking of epic concept albums, Cloudkicker hit the mark as well. The man knows no bounds and just gets better and better with each release.
  9. Alcest - Écailles De Lune
    Kinda commented about this when talking about Les Discrets as all the same things apply. An excellent album
  10. Tesseract - Concealing Fate EP
    It took them bloody long enough to bring something out! But it was well worth the wait, and their full length will definitely be on this list next year.
  11. Canopy - Menhir
    Proving that Sweden can still innovate when it comes to death metal. These just so many things right with this album and hopefully the masses (and labels) will pick up on it soon.
  12. Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini
    While not as good as their previous albums Enslaved still manage to deliver the goods as always.
  13. Mantric - The Descent
    Formed from the ashes of Extol, they pick up most, if not all of the bands good parts and lots more. Deep and intricate at points, heavy at others, soaring everywhere else.
  14. Mose Giganticus - Gift Horse
    It's just a fun, short album that's filled to the brim with energy that you can either casually nod your head to or just go nuts with.
  15. Winterfylleth - The Mercian Sphere
    Proving that good black metal doesn't just come from the mainland of the continent.
Jaime's Top 5 surprises of 2010

  1. Vit - -
    This came straight out of nowhere. An USBM album that screams atmosphere and fulfils that black metal vibe that a huge number of those bands seem to miss when I'm listening to them.
  2. Drudkh - Handful Of Stars
    Got to be honest, this was my first Drudkh album and I was pleasantly surprised with it. The vocals didn't exactly fit the music, but the latter was undoubtedly the star here.
  3. Salome - Terminal
    Ball crushingly heavy and utterly menacing to boot.
  4. Howl - Full of Hell
    This band play the whole "stoner doom" (what a horrible phrase...) like monsterous veterans of the genre on their first album. The follow up will hopefully continue on from here.
  5. Fejd - Eifur
    Because, quite frankly, it's a ballsy move to put out something like this. It's metal that's not metal, go figure.
Jaime's Disappointment(s) of 2010

  1. Agalloch - Marrow of The Spirit
    The moment an Agalloch album fails to hook me within the first minute it the moment that something isn't right. It may just need more time to settle in, but for now this is a pretty painful let down from a band that I expect so much from.
  2. Orphaned Land - The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR
    Compared to Ocean Land it's just lacking and didn't sink in at all.
  3. Ludicra - The Tenant
    I really don't get all the praise this band are getting. Nothing here really seems all that special compared to other bands out there in the genre.
  4. Slough Feg - The Animal Spirits
    As with Agalloch, I expected something from this band and they just didn't deliver it. A real shame too as it's not a bad album.
  5. Periphery - Periphery
    When you listen to the instrumental tracks that were created under Misha Mansoor's Bulb banner you think they're fantastic. It's amazing how much damage the vocals have done to mute that feeling of awe. Again, not a bad album but given a choice between this and the instrumental versions then it's an easy pick.
Jaime's Joke(s) 2010

  1. Jaldaboath - Rise of the Heraldic Beasts
    Just no. Not funny in the slightest. Not good in any real way.
  2. WIVE - PVLL
    Yea... it suffers from the one thing that no music should be labeled with. It's fucking boring. And that violin, Jesus H. Christ in a wheelbarrow race.
  3. Therion - Sitra Ahra
    Sadly Therion have stuck to the same route they chose on that... thing Gothic Kabbalah. Seems like there's now way back now.
  4. Nachtmystium - Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. 2
    To put it bluntly, I've taken shits that have more depth than this band and were far more evil to boot. Don't bother with the "oh they're trying something different so it must be your fault for not getting it" lines. This is The Emperor's New Clothes in musical form.
  5. Symphorce - Unrestricted
    Just bad. I'm glad that this isn't going to be the future for power metal, but the sad fact that people still put out albums like this under that banner will keep dragging the genre down.
Jaime's words about 2010
  1. Sadly there were a few albums I had to leave of the list such as Kylesa, Triptykon, Star One, Chimp Spanner, Powerglove, Anathema even a proclaimed album of the year in Haken. I honestly didn't expect the list to be so difficult to pick but the last five were a struggle. A noticeable poor showing from power metal this year but hopefully Stratovarius's new album will remedy that next year. A good year for French bands as well it seems and, finally, some decent British (or English, if you're really picky) bands breaking through in the form of Tesseract and Winterfylleth. Naturally, one can't go without mentioning the number of deaths that have rocked the scene this year. It has been a bad year to lose the likes of Dio and Pete Steele, even Paul Gray. Regardless of how you view Slipknot, for a large number of people they served as a gateway into our choice of music and such a thing cannot be overlooked. Hopefully the next year will be better in that regard if nothing else. A thanks is in order towards my writing colleagues for allowing me to join the team and all that in entails. I don't really have much else to say, I kind of suck at these sort of things. So aye, to 2011!