I know this is very late, but at the very end of the year some very important albums came out that I needed time to get a handle on. Everyone does top ten lists right at the end of the year, so I know nobody is going to read this. Hell, nobody reads my blog anyway so who cares. I might as well write it out anyway just for the hell of it. I prefer doing my list from number 10 and then working all the way down to number 1 at the end. Starting with your favorite album is lame and boring. So without further ado, here is my top ten list for 2019 (if I ever get really bored, I could do a top ten for the entire decade but that's for later).
After some lineup changes, Shellshock comes back for their fifth album, Unpredictable. To be quite honest, I wasn't really expecting much. I'm part of the (apparently) rare crowd of people that absolutely digs the hell out of the 4th album. It's a work of extremely strange, rhythmically complex experimental thrash metal. Everything about that album was brilliant, and it is still my favorite Shellshock release to this day. Unfortunately, it seems like a significant amount of people absolutely loathe that album just judging from some comments around the internet. With both Pazz (drums) and Die Chiba (fretless bass) out of the band, everything indicated that this one was going to dumb everything down.
And everything did get dumbed down, but not nearly as much as I expected. In fact, this album surprisingly has quite a few twisty rhythms on it while being dramatically more accessible. Unpredictable is basically just Shellshock's usual style of thrash with some extra crossover sprinkled in, but it's highly enjoyable. Yeah, I like my experimental/technical/progressive/noodly garbage as much as everyone else, but I can appreciate quality, straight-up thrash as well. Pretty good stuff, all Shellshock fans should be happy with this.
This album was a nice surprise for sure. Gyze always seemed to be harmed by some issue that prevented me from truly enjoying them. Whether it was godawful metalcore, unlistenable production, or mediocre songwriting, I still rooted for them since Ryoji was clearly a very talented guitarist. Finally, this is the Gyze album that resonates with me. The originality factor gets cranked up a couple of notches with some incorporation of folk elements plus some slightly proggy leanings. Ryoji's flashy neoclassical leads are as fun as ever to listen to, and the runtime on Asian Chaos is just right. The title song is easily my favorite track here, but there are other moments of pure gold like the solo on Dragon Calling. Very fun and enjoyable neoclassical melodeath.
Another year, another quality Galneryus album that completely destroys most other power metal bands with ease. Galneryus albums are usually "more of the same" but with a little something new sprinkled in. On Into the Purgatory, Syu picks up his 7 string guitar and incorporates some heavier, darker sounding riffs that haven't been heard since Reincarnation. The usual proggy leanings, flashy guitar solos, and soaring vocals are all there and as splendid as ever. This one doesn't top Under the Force of Courage (and possibly nothing ever will given how that album is so genius), but I definitely think this is a good step up over the previous one. For one thing, Fumiya's drum sound is much better here, and overall the songs seem more interesting and original to me on Into the Purgatory.
How the hell are you supposed to pronounce their name again? VLTIMAS came out of nowhere as a supergroup of Flo Mounier, Blasphemer, and David Vincent. Given that the last thing David Vincent was involved in that graced the metal world was the infamous Illud album, it was only natural to be skeptical. However, VLTIMAS's debut album is quite a smashing hit. The album is blackened death metal, but its executed in an excellent. The death metal and black metal elements seem perfectly balanced together. Blasphemer has a ton of super catchy riffs, Mounier is excellent behind the kit, and Vincent isn't telling us to kill cops. It's a really good record, and I guess maybe I'll make fun of Vincent less now (only a little bit though).
Out of all the various "dissonant metal" bands out there, I feel like Drottnar is incredibly overlooked. They were doing well before it was trendy, are excellent at this style, and yet seem to have little internet acclaim. Perhaps because they were Christian or something? Anyways, Monolith is the band's 3rd album after a long 7 year wait. There was some lineup turmoil in that timeframe. The vocalist left and one of the guitarists left so they became a three piece now. Guitarist Lind took over on vocals which turns out to be no problem since he's pretty good at those black metal rasps. If you are familiar with their previous works, Drottnar was sort of super spastic, technical black metal. Unlike Deathspell Omega, their sound was more clinical and calculated as opposed to chaotic and atmospheric.
Monolilth marks a rather big shift in their sound though. Most of the start/stop riffs are gone. Instead, the band goes for a more cold, harsh feel. The music still certainly uses those dissonant chords, but it's much more focused on atmosphere this time around instead of technical acrobatics. While I do prefer the flashy technical stuff, this approached turned out quite well. The riffs are still plenty good even if the music isn't as spastic as before. It'll be nice if they ever go back to the sound on their first two albums, but this isn't bad at all.
It feels like cheating to put what is basically a compilation of old 90s technical thrash metal recordings on here, but technically the band calls it an album and who am I to doubt an artist's vision. Hidden never got past the split stage before disappearing in the 90s, but they did record a lot of stuff. This album finally compiles it all together for listeners. This features the vocalist of Vigilante (progressive metal) who belongs to the school of high pitched wailing. What you have here is highly competent and very enjoyable old school technical thrash of the high pitched vocal variety. Every song is pretty long and the solo sections are pretty insane. Special shoutout goes to Lunatic Theater whose neoclassical inspired shredding is mindblowing.
This was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. I certainly respected Iron-Chino's ability as a guitarist, but I've never heard Iron Attack put a consistent release together that I liked from start to finish before. Of course, they do release a million albums a year, so I probably missed quite a few in there. Needless to say, the dude just release way, way too much stuff and it's pretty much impossible to get a handle on it. Discovering Japonism's album trailer was a pure accident, but after giving it a chance I was instantly impressed. This has to be one of Iron Attack's best releases to date. Yes, it's Touhou arranges that everyone's heard a million times before, but I don't care.
Iron Attack's hyper-octane power metal style is on full display as always, but everything just magically works better on this album. There's some folk elements which helps spice things up. There's also the usual plethora of guest vocalists (too bad Yama-B didn't get a song on here; that would have made it even better). But what really makes this one hit home is just the really good guitar riffs and soloing. The album gets surprisingly atmospheric at times with very melancholic-sounding solo spots. It's a very nostalgic-sounding and enjoyable listen.
This is the biggest surprise of the year for me and quite the sleeper hit. Out of nowhere, power metal band Tenrin awakened from their silence and released a new album. I was not too familiar with the band. I thought they had some solid songs, but nothing enticed me to grab their albums. However, I quickly changed my tune upon hearing the trailer for Shura. After actually giving the full album a listen, I was not disappointed. This is exactly the high quality kind of power metal that I like. No flower or tryhard epic crap. Instead, the focus is very much on the riffing and damn it is really good riffing. The vocals are another nice point with Yossy belting out some surprisingly powerful rough yells at times. It clocks in at a little over an hour, but it feels much shorter than that. A surprisingly excellent album. It's likely the band's best album to date.
Ningen-Isu are my favorite Japanese jii-san band. Just three guys playing high quality, 70s style hard rock/heavy metal with plenty of original touches of their own. What's not to love? This one is their 21st album and was released to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Not only does it not disappoint, it's easily one of the best albums they've released to date. How many grandpa bands can still release albums that sound as fresh and good as this? The band's diverse template is the same as ever. You have the doomy, sabbath-inspired riffs. There's the fuzzy, bluesy solos. Also there's some thrashy, double bass stuff. Oh yeah and prog elements crop up at times too. It's just that the songwriting this go around is extremely impressive and the album from top to bottom is incredible. Truly an admirable effort all around and something that every Ningen-Isu fan will dig.
Yes, it's okay to believe the hype. I like old school death metal. I especially like old school technical/progressive metal. So I gave this album a try given all the buzz and you know what, it's fucking amazing. Unlike a lot of modern metal albums, this was recorded completely analog. Not that there's anything wrong with digital recording (the problem is when you trigger the shit out of everything and abuse protools), but this gives the album a very organic, natural sound that most metal these days just doesn't have. It's only 4 songs long but each one is excellent. The first two are death metal numbers, the third one is a spacey pseudo-post rock instrumental, and the final track is the 18 minute epic. If you like old school death metal in general, this one is a must. Blood Incantation didn't just copy their heroes here. They made an authentic, organic album. This is their best work for sure and something I've constantly, constantly put on since I got my copy of the CD. If that's not proof of a great album, what is?