Top 20 of 2008

The year 2008 gave us some really great music. No, really. There were great records by great bands and a good number of newer bands that put out extremely good LP's. 36 Crazyfists killed it this year with a flawless album, while Zozobra and Cult of Luna had a serious go at it for the #1 spot. Buy these records. All of them. Now.There's a lot of great stuff in here. Check it out!

TOP 20 of 2008:

1. 36 Crazyfists- The Tide and its Takers (Ferret)
2. Zozobra- Birds of Prey (Hydra Head)
3. Cult of Luna- Eternal Kingdom (Earache)
4. In Flames- A Sense of Purpose (Koch)
5. Amon Amarth- Twilight of the Thunder God (Metal Blade)
6. Meshuggah- obZen (Nuclear Blast)
7. Opeth- Watershed (Roadrunner)
8. Intronaut- Prehistoricisms (Century Media)
9. Clouds- We Are Above You (Hydra Head)
10. King's X- IV (Inside Out)
11. Gojira- The Way of All Flesh (Prosthetic)
12. Jeff Ament- Tone (Monkeywrench)
13. Totimoshi- Milagrosa (Volcom)
14. Young Widows- Old Wounds (Temporary Residence)
15. Protest The Hero- Fortress (Vagrant)
16. Dub Trio- Another Sound Is Dying (Ipecac)
17. Burning Brides- Anhedonia (self-released)
18. Metallica- Death Magnetic (Warner Bros.)
19. Candiria- Kiss The Lie (unmastered) (Type A)
20. Torche- Meanderthal (Hydra Head)

Best EP's:

1. The Company Band- Sign Here, Here and Here (self-released)
2. Jesu- Why Are We Not Perfect? (Hydra Head)
3. Incisor- Trendshitter (Saw Her Ghost)
4. Swallow The Sun- Plague of Butterflies (Spinefarm)
5. Red Sparrowes- Aphorisms (self-released)

Best Live LP:

Matthew Good- Live at Massey Hall (UMusic Canada)

Other Great 2008 Releases:

Testament- The Formation of Damnation (Nuclear Blast)
Mouth of The Architect- Quietly (Translation Loss)
Burst- Lazarus Bird (Relapse)
Shawn Smith- The Diamond Hand (Sound vs. Silence)
Trap Them- Seizures In Barren Praise (Deathwish)
Rotten Sound- Cycles (Spinefarm)
Pro-Pain- No End In Sight (Regain)
Saviours- Into Abaddon (Kemado)
Sevendust- Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow (7Bros/Asylum)
Ours- Mercy...Dancing With Death of an Imaginary Enemy (American)
Warship- Supply and Depend (Vagrant)
Candlebox- Into The Sun (Silent Majority)
Thrice- The Alchemy Index Vol. 3 & 4 (Vagrant)
Cavalera Conspiracy- Inflikted (Roadrunner)
Mudcrutch- Mudcrutch (Warner Bros)
Unearth- The March (Metal Blade)
Brant Bjork- Punk Rock Guilt (Low Desert Punk)
The Sword- Gods of the Earth (Kemado)
Scars on Broadway- Scars on Broadway (Interscope)
Kingdom of Sorrow- Kingdom of Sorrow (Relapse)
Dead To Fall- Are You Serious? (Victory)
The Melvins- Nude With Boots (Ipecac)
The Famine- The Raven and The Reaping (Solid State)
From The North- From The North (Wammybox)
Liam Finn- I'll Be Lightning (Yep Roc)
Ligeia- Bad News (Ferret)
The Bronx- III (White Drugs)
Trivium- Shogun (Roadrunner)

Best Shows of 2008:

Pearl Jam- Hartford, CT
Crudo- San Francisco
Clouds- Berkeley, CA
36 Crazyfists/In Flames/Gojira/All The Remains- San Francisco
Eddie Vedder/Liam Finn- Santa Cruz, CA

Looking Forward To These In 2009...

Pearl Jam, Cave In, Converge, Zao, Earth Crisis, Lamb of God, Wino, ISIS, Mastodon, Dredg, Glassjaw, Deftones, Burnt By The Sun, Coalesce, Killswitch Engage, Poison The Well, Stuck Mojo, Chimaira, Katatonia, Clutch, Helmet, Crudo, Mondo Cane, Dream Theater, Anthrax and Sepultura.

So there it is. 2009 has some serious promise. Of course, Chris Cornell plans to unleash his abomination Scream on the world in February, so who knows.

Eternal Fucking Awesomeness

The new Cult of Luna is a skullcrusher. An amazing journey of an album, based on the writings in a journal of a mental patient from the 1930's. They actually recorded the new disc, Eternal Kingdom in the abandoned hospital where he once resided and ultimately passed on.

I've talked about the merits of this band endlessly but they have really blown me away with this one. Salvation was unarguably the best album either Isis or Neurosis never made and the follow-up, Somewhere Along The Highway made newer Isis and Mogwai sound like little bitches. What I'm trying to say is that you can't compete with eight Swedes no matter how you slice it. I love me some Isis, but they've clearly been run through.

I'd love to point out some highlights or favorite songs but they all lay motherfuckers to waste in their own unique way, so just buy this thing and find out for yourself. They now have two drummers alongside their three guitarists. It works.

This is an early candidate for Record of the Year. Something is going to have to come along and step out of my stereo and start punching me in the face to top this. New Amon Amarth next month, but I just can't see that even in the same league as this.

Watch this. It would do you no good to not do so. "Eternal Kingdom" Live in Warsaw (2008)
"Owlwood" Live in Warsaw (2008)

Sweden Rules

Fuck it. They rule. The whole country. Metal is cosistently in the Top 20 over there. Must be the cold winters or something...I don't know. In Flames: Awesome. Amon Amarth: Fucking Ridiculous. Cult of Luna: Owns you. Katatonia: GODS. And my new favorite export, Swallow The Sun. They opened for Katatonia in Poughkeepsie last month and I know it's not kosher, but they were the best band on the bill. Katatonia was killer and Insomnium was impressive, but Swallow The Sun just brought it...And it is fucking metal.

I picked up their latest release, Hope, after their set. So did 2 dudes I came to the show with. It's one of those records that feels like home. It feels like you know all the songs from years ago, but it's new and fresh at the same time. The riffs are thunderous and the vocals range from whispers (ala Jonas from Katatonia) to the deathiest of death metal rumbles. The cool thing is, it never becomes undecipherable or gets lost in the mix. I mean, their track "Don't Fall Asleep" is a single...A death metal band with a HIT single AND video! See, Sweden is so cool. Told ya.

Whatever. Pick this up. They have three LP's. The first two are a bit harder to find (try Amazon), but the new one is out on Candlelight and should be in your local metal store. Easily a Top 20 record this year. Easily.

Oh yeah, and the keyboardist looks just like James Hetfield. Not so much in the photo above, but at the show he had the whole 1992 Hetfield thing down. It was creepy because he's 5 feet tall (I imagine) and speaks little to no English.

Don't say I didn't warn you. Catchy death metal doom rock. Only in Sweden...

You Are Owned By Cult of Luna

You might not know it yet, but Cult Of Luna owns you. Like Isis? How about Burst? Does Neurosis tickle your fancy? Meet Cult of Luna. They range from 6-8 dudes live and clock in a solid 7 on disc. A wall of guitars, Bonham-like drums, and vocals that could make a bear shit himself.

Now 4 records into their career (plus a few 7"s that are now out of print), COL have made quite a name for themselves everywhere except North America (where else?). They have released all 4 albums on Earache Records in the US, but none of them have really received proper promotion or distribution. It's really a shame because they are better than any other band in their genre. Purists will call out Neurosis for that title, but something about them just doesn't do it for me. Isis is another one. An awesome band but sadly getting crappier with each release. They're also a big sleeping pill live. Cult of Luna rarely tour the states and sell very little here (under 10K scanned for 4 releases) but sales don't mean shit when discussing music quality.

Their latest, 2006's "Somewhere Along The Highway" sees the band branching out and incorporating more melody than before, but fear not, the 16+ minute destroyers are still here. In fact, most of the discs' 7 tracks clock in well over 10 minutes. The track "Finland" is pure sludgy bliss. While nothing on this record tops the best cuts of 2004's "Salvation", the album as a whole is far more enjoyable. Unlike other bands in the same circles, COL are getting better with each LP.

Do yourself a favor and check out the video for "Back To Chapel Town" below. It destroys...