Uncategorized – Page 6 – DISPATCHES FROM THE VOID

2018 Best of Metal: #4 The Sword-Used Future

Release Date: March 23, 2018

Personnel: John D. Cronise-vocals/guitar, Kyle Shutt-guitar, Bryan Richie-bass/synths, and Santiago “Jimmy” Vela III-drums

Origin: Austin, TX

The Sword is another band that seems to be in the midst of experimenting and trying to forge a new identity from the band they were at their beginning. Starting with their prior album, High Country (and companion piece Low Country), The Sword is branching more and more into a southern rock band than the Black Sabbath influence band of their early years. High Country was a bit of a curveball and, while their are some really strong moments on there, it didn’t quite result in a fully satisfying album. It seems as though the new direction the band has taken is starting to further gel with Used Future. Hell, the music just fits frontman J.D.’s twangy vocal style. It took a few listens to fully embrace it, but in the end, this one has a ton of songs that have wormed their way into my subconscious. This is going to be one of those albums that when I hear it a few years from now I’m going to think, “Yeah, that was 2018.”

4.5 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

4. The Sword-Used Future
5. Skeletonwitch-Devouring Radiant Light
6. The Atlas Moth-Coma Noir
7. Rivers of Nihil-Where Owls Know My Name
8. Sleep-The Sciences
9. Tomb Mold-Manor of Infinite Forms
10. Revocation-The Outer Ones
11. All Them Witches-ATW
12. Redemption-Long Night’s Journey Into Day
13. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-Wasteland
14. Panopticon-The Scars of Man Upon the Once Nameless Wilderness
15. Arkona-Khram
16. Agrimonia-Awaken
17. Between the Buried and Me-Automata I & II
18. Clutch-Book of Bad Decisions
19. Harakiri For the Sky-Arson
20. Behemoth-I Loved You At Your Darkest

2018 Best of Metal: #5 Skeletonwitch-Devouring Radiant Light

Release Date: July 20, 2018

Personnel: Adam Clemans-vocals, Nate Garnette-guitar, Scott Hendrick-guitar, Evan Linger-bass, Jon Rice-drums

Origin: Athens, OH

If there is a theme running through my year-end list, it may be the fact that a lot of the albums on here are ones that I really didn’t see coming. Throughout the year, there are always albums coming down the pike by bands I love and my expectations for those albums are always generally high. Then there are albums by bands who I know about, but for some reason have never fully warmed up to in the past. Skeletonwitch is one of those bands. I have seen them open up for other bands countless number of times over the years and I’ve thought that while they have always been capable and decent that they never really had that extra spark to fully grab my attention or want to delve into their catalog of albums all that deeply. Devouring Radiant Light came out mid-year and I decided to give it a shot. And holy shit! This is a completely different Skeletonwitch than the one we have dealt with in the past. This is an album full of depth and passion and just downright badassery. I don’t know where it came from, but it feels like the band truly found their place. Consider me a convert.

4.5 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

5. Skeletonwitch-Devouring Radiant Light
6. The Atlas Moth-Coma Noir
7. Rivers of Nihil-Where Owls Know My Name
8. Sleep-The Sciences
9. Tomb Mold-Manor of Infinite Forms
10. Revocation-The Outer Ones
11. All Them Witches-ATW
12. Redemption-Long Night’s Journey Into Day
13. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-Wasteland
14. Panopticon-The Scars of Man Upon the Once Nameless Wilderness
15. Arkona-Khram
16. Agrimonia-Awaken
17. Between the Buried and Me-Automata I & II
18. Clutch-Book of Bad Decisions
19. Harakiri For the Sky-Arson
20. Behemoth-I Loved You At Your Darkest

2018 Best of Metal: #6 The Atlas Moth-Coma Noir

Release Date: February 9, 2018

Personnel: Stavros Giannopoulos-guitar/vocals, David Kush-guitar/vocals, Andrew Ragin-guitar/synths, Alex Klein-bass, and Mike Miczek-drums

Origin: Chicago, IL

The Atlas Moth is one of those blue collar type bands that just seems destined to live out its life in the metal underground. This post-metal outfit is general pretty adventurous and gritty in its sound. The new album is really fairly polished for these guys and I think it might be the most accessible thing that they have produced so far. You’re never going to hear this one on the radio, but give it a listen. It’s darkly caustic tales and sounds will grip you and slowly drag you further down, down, down….

4.5 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

6. The Atlas Moth-Coma Noir
7. Rivers of Nihil-Where Owls Know My Name
8. Sleep-The Sciences
9. Tomb Mold-Manor of Infinite Forms
10. Revocation-The Outer Ones
11. All Them Witches-ATW
12. Redemption-Long Night’s Journey Into Day
13. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-Wasteland
14. Panopticon-The Scars of Man Upon the Once Nameless Wilderness
15. Arkona-Khram
16. Agrimonia-Awaken
17. Between the Buried and Me-Automata I & II
18. Clutch-Book of Bad Decisions
19. Harakiri For the Sky-Arson
20. Behemoth-I Loved You At Your Darkest

2018 Best of Metal: #7 Rivers of Nihil-Where Owls Know My Name

Release Date: March 16, 2018

Personnel: Jake Dieffenbach-vocals, Brody Uttley-guitar/keyboards, Jonathan Topore-guitar, Adam Biggs-bass/vocals, Jared Klein-drums

Origin: Reading, PA

Damn. This one came out and, I have to be honest, I didn’t really know what to think at first. This was about as hard of a left turn a band has taken since Opeth went full on 70s prog a few years back. Rivers of Nihil was one of these up-and-coming technical death metal bands. They released two previous albums, both of which were phenomenal and entrenched these guys as one of the powers of this sub-genre. For album number three, I guess they decided that they couldn’t write another album in the same exact vein as the previous two and just said, “Fuck it. Let’s see if we can push this thing into a new direction.” Ballsy, ballsy move. These are the exciting records. Fuck the formula and throw caution to the wind. Sometimes these things work and sometimes they flame out spectacularly. Rivers of Nihil was able to pull this gambit off and we are left with one ambitiously stellar album. What they have done is keep the technical death metal foundation, but push it into a weird progressive metal dimension that has elements of psychedelic and atmospheric music. It’s a jarring listen the first time through, especially if you’re familiar with their previous work. Give this album enough time and it truly comes out how special of an album it is. I can’t give these guys kudos enough for taking this big of a risk because death metal fans ain’t the biggest fans of change. That saxophone alone is sure to scare many a cro-mag headbanger away.

4.5 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

7. Rivers of Nihil-Where Owls Know My Name
8. Sleep-The Sciences
9. Tomb Mold-Manor of Infinite Forms
10. Revocation-The Outer Ones
11. All Them Witches-ATW
12. Redemption-Long Night’s Journey Into Day
13. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-Wasteland
14. Panopticon-The Scars of Man Upon the Once Nameless Wilderness
15. Arkona-Khram
16. Agrimonia-Awaken
17. Between the Buried and Me-Automata I & II
18. Clutch-Book of Bad Decisions
19. Harakiri For the Sky-Arson
20. Behemoth-I Loved You At Your Darkest

2018 Best of Metal: #8 Sleep-The Sciences

Release Date: April 20, 2018

Personnel: Al Cisneros-vocals/bass, Matt Pike-guitar, and Jason Roeder-drums

Origin: San Jose, CA

So, 19 years in between album releases. Yeah, I’m not really sure where the old trope about weed sapping your ambition comes from. At any rate, it turns out that when the old stoners decide to finally pull their shit together, they can still manage to create something really magical. This record is just tight. And that’s not something I really didn’t quite expect from the kings of stoner metal. I kind of expect Sleep to just kind of meander around, bump into things and take their sweet damn time getting to the point of things. And, there is some of that on this album, but overall this is a really focused album. Matt Pike has laid down some of the more tasty leads of his career on this thing. Bravo, stoner dudes! Let’s not wait nearly two decades for the next one.

4.5 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

8. Sleep-The Sciences
9. Tomb Mold-Manor of Infinite Forms
10. Revocation-The Outer Ones
11. All Them Witches-ATW
12. Redemption-Long Night’s Journey Into Day
13. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-Wasteland
14. Panopticon-The Scars of Man Upon the Once Nameless Wilderness
15. Arkona-Khram
16. Agrimonia-Awaken
17. Between the Buried and Me-Automata I & II
18. Clutch-Book of Bad Decisions
19. Harakiri For the Sky-Arson
20. Behemoth-I Loved You At Your Darkest

2018 Best of Metal: #9 Tomb Mold-Manor of Infinite Forms

Release Date: June 8, 2018

Personnel: Payson Power-guitar, Derrick Vella-guitar, Steve Musgrave-bass, and Max Klebanoff-drums/vocals

Origin: Toronto, Canada

This is damn near a perfect death metal album. It’s aggressive, but not monotonously so. So many death metal albums that are on the grittier side such as this one tend to get bogged down by a repetitive formula and it ends up being a little too much grind for the album to fully breathe. This guys get it. There are so many creative parts on this thing. This is one of those albums in which I really had a hard time not listening to over and over. The true mark of a really amazing album.

4.5 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

9. Tomb Mold-Manor of Infinite Forms
10. Revocation-The Outer Ones
11. All Them Witches-ATW
12. Redemption-Long Night’s Journey Into Day
13. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-Wasteland
14. Panopticon-The Scars of Man Upon the Once Nameless Wilderness
15. Arkona-Khram
16. Agrimonia-Awaken
17. Between the Buried and Me-Automata I & II
18. Clutch-Book of Bad Decisions
19. Harakiri For the Sky-Arson
20. Behemoth-I Loved You At Your Darkest

2018 Best of Metal: #10 Revocation-The Outer Ones

Release Date: September 28, 2018

Personnel: David Davidson-vocals/guitar, Dan Gargiulo-guitar, Brett Bamberger-bass, and Ash Pearson-drums

Origin: Boston, MA

The first ten we have visited so far have been fantastic. So, you’re in store for a treat with the remaining albums. We enter the Top 10 of 2018 with Revocation’s new one. Revocation is another band that has been a model of consistency since their inception. They have perfected their trademark sound of thrash/death metal hybrid. To me, these guys will always seem like this generation’s Megadeth. Leader David Davidson is one of the true guitar heroes going today. He combines a great deal of technical wizardry with some very uncanny guitar riffs that form the structures of their songs. These aren’t your ordinary run-of-the-mill guitar riffs. They’re creative and it leads to some really interesting directions.

4.5 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

10. Revocation-The Outer Ones
11. All Them Witches-ATW
12. Redemption-Long Night’s Journey Into Day
13. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-Wasteland
14. Panopticon-The Scars of Man Upon the Once Nameless Wilderness
15. Arkona-Khram
16. Agrimonia-Awaken
17. Between the Buried and Me-Automata I & II
18. Clutch-Book of Bad Decisions
19. Harakiri For the Sky-Arson
20. Behemoth-I Loved You At Your Darkest

2018 Best of Metal: #11 All Them Witches-ATW

Release Date: September 28, 2018

Personnel: Charles Michael Parks, Jr.-vocals/bass, Ben McLeod-guitar, and Robby Staebler-drums

Origin: Nashville, TN

This one is just a flat out rock-n-roll album with splashes of grunge, southern rock, indie rock and classic rock. All Them Witches just falls into that category of band that provides a little something for everyone. This is an album that I really found myself returning to time and again since it came out.

The list so far:

11. All Them Witches-ATW
12. Redemption-Long Night’s Journey Into Day
13. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-Wasteland
14. Panopticon-The Scars of Man On The Once Nameless Wilderness
15. Arkona-Khram
16. Agrimonia-Awaken
17. Between the Buried and Me-Automata I & II
18. Clutch-Book of Bad Decisions
19. Harakiri For The Sky-Arson
20. Behemoth-I Loved You At Your Darkest

2018 Best of Metal: #12 Redemption-Long Night’s Journey Into Day

Release Date: July 27, 2018

Personnel: Tom Englund-vocals, Nick van Dyk-guitar, Sean Andrews-bass, Chris Quirarte-drums, Vikram Shankar-keyboards

Origin: Los Angeles, CA

Redemption saw a switcheroo in the vocalist department in 2018 with former frontman Ray Alder (Fates Warning) stepping aside and Tom Englund (Evergrey) now manning the mic. Overall, the switch was fairly painless with Englund providing a similar delivery to that provided by Alder. Musically, this latest album just flat out smokes. If you are a geek for flashy guitar leads, this one should scratch that itch for you. And it’s not all flash. The songs are really put together well and this is definitely a bounce-back album for Redemption, who seemed to be in a bit of a rut over there past couple of albums.

4.5 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

12. Redemption-Long Night’s Journey Into Day
13. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-Wasteland
14. Panopticon-The Scars of Man Upon the Once Nameless Wilderness
15. Arkona-Khram
16. Agrimonia-Awaken
17. Between the Buried and Me-Automata I & II
18. Clutch-Book of Bad Decisions
19. Harakiri For The Sky-Arson
20. Behemoth-I Loved You At Your Darkest

2018 Best of Metal: #13 Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-Wasteland

Release Date: October 12, 2018

Personnel: Kevin R. Starrs-vocals/guitar/organ, Vaughn Stokes-guitar, Justin Smith-bass, John Rice-drums

Origin: Cambridge, England

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats saw some personnel changes recently, but main man Kevin R. Starrs is still at the helm and is steering the 2018 incarnation of the band with the same steady hand he has always used. Wasteland just continues Uncle Acid’s consistent level of quality albums put out since their inception. They are one of the keystones in the retro/psychedelic metal movement. Wasteland is just a joy.

The list so far:

13. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-Wasteland
14. Panopticon-The Scars of Man Upon the Once Nameless Wilderness
15. Arkona-Khram
16. Agrimonia-Awaken
17. Between the Buried and Me-Automata I & II
18. Clutch-Book of Bad Decisions
19. Harakiri For The Sky-Arson
20. Behemoth-I Loved You At Your Darkest