Top Albums Of 2010, #50-41

41. Woods – At Echo Lake
A sprightly little record that sports some first-rate Neil Young-inspired roots rock. The songs are more consistent this time out and the production is brighter. Personally, I preferred the darker material on last year’s Songs Of Shame, not to mention a nice heady psych jam mid-record, but At Echo Lake is chock full of solid tunes, and it’s brief 27 minute run-time will keep you wanting more.

42. Over-Gain Optimal Death – Over-Gain Optimal Death
These guys do heavy, acid spiked jammin’ like nobody’s business. Like Earhtless, Comets On Fire and Electric Wizard all rolled into one. “Aurora” sports a riff that is absolutely planet-sized, and they take a full 15 minutes to ground that bitch into dust. Sounds like an interplanetary rocket in perpetual liftoff.

43. Emeralds – Does It Look Like I’m Here?
Maybe the fact that the songs are somewhat closer to what normal people would actually think of as such means that Emeralds have tired of touring the cosmos. If so, that would be a shame because few make spacey drone music as compelling as they do. Be that as it may, Does It Look Like I’m Here is an accessible record for a band which really does not play accessible music at all. With most drone music, melody is almost non-existent. It is texture and sound which become the focal points, and the shift in focus can be off-putting for a neophyte. As an entry point to their already massive discography, it fits the bill perfectly. When the cadets have earned their wings on this training flight, they can then try the far more expansive opuses like What Happened and Allegory Of Allergies and find out what these guys are really about.

44. Purple Rhinestone Eagle – The Great Return
This outfit out of Birmingham by way of Portland has harnessed the smoky, ritualistic vibes which originate directly from Black Sabbath. Like contemporaries Blood Ceremony and Witchcraft, these Eagles have managed to tap into the seam of ceremonial proto-doom metal that runs somewhere between Mercyful Fate and Witchfinder General all the way back to the masters themselves. On their sophomore release, the band has sprinkled mosh-pit dynamics into their sound, but their forte remains the suffocating riff crushers and Jethro Tull/Master Of Reality style renaissance faire guitar interludes that made their debut so resonant. “Burn It Down” is my personal favourite, even sporting a wah-fuzz bass solo.

45. Harvey Milk – A Small Turn Of Human Kindness
Apparently the blown-out Motörhead impressions on Death Goes To The Winner upset some long-time fans, so Harvey Milk turned around and made one of the most gut-churningly heavy albums of the year. There are no rave-ups here, just bleak, oppressive sludgy doom from a band that has been doing it right for almost two decades now. Even the best could risk monotony when pursuing so single-mindedly the goal of crushing the life out of the universe. At 35 minutes however, it’s positively bite-sized for these guys.

46. Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier
Iron Maiden have once again defied father time and released an excellent heavy metal album. Not much more to be said here, you should know by now what that means. Opener “Satellite 15...The Final Frontier” is the most overtly sci-fi song on the album and it’s surprisingly heavy intro reminds me of Voivod. The troubling tendency on 2006’s otherwise solid A Matter Of Life And Death was for the songs to get stuck in a midtempo march rather than the exhilarating full speed gallop that has defined so many of the band’s best work. Fortunately first single “Eldorado” puts any fears to rest as it comes charging out of the gate in fifth gear and sports the kind of arena-ready chorus that Maiden has spent the last three and a half decades perfecting. They haven’t slowed down a bit. Elsewhere The Final Frontier is exactly what you’d expect from a band releasing its 15th studio album and still selling out stadiums the world over. You get Bruce in fine form bellowing for all he’s worth, the triple lead guitar attack of Smith, Murray & Gers supplying copious shredding and wailing solos, heavy triplet riffage and dueling guitarmonies. Steve Harris’ aggressive basslines supply the unstoppable musical base while ever-inventive Nicko Mcbrain hammers it down behind the kit. Lots of lengthy epic songs, the best of which is the nine minute “Isle Of Avalon.” Like A Matter Of Life And Death, the long run time (77 minutes!) and relative lack of short punchy anthems like “Aces High” or “Run To The Hills” means the album can be a somewhat intimidating listen, but it is a grower as far as Maiden albums go. Yet at an age that most begin to ponder retirement, Maiden has released an ambitious, powerful record, proof that they still have the strength to swing the hammer of the gods with authority.

47. Quest For Fire – Lights From Paradise
Opener “Greatest Hits From God” is an absolutely massive psychedelic monster. Slowly it rumbles to life and begins laying waste to everything in its path with that gloriously triumphant main theme. The rest of the album is good psychedelic rock from a band to who sound and tone take precedence over songwriting. Quest For Fire do a cool, bongwater-soaked jam thing and they basically only have one gear, but Lights From Paradise is somewhat less anonymous than their debut due to an improved songwriting sense which emphasizes sonic space and a lush, reverb-heavy mix that envelops the listener in gooey globules of guitar.

48. The Dead Weather – Sea Of Cowards
Jack White can simply do no wrong. Although there is no track on Sea of Cowards as immediate as the best tracks on the band’s debut, this album is more consistently solid all the way through. The guitars slash, stab and dart like rabid hyenas throughout, as these players simply attack their instruments. There are very few bands who have managed to succeed on a mass level in the past decade, and fewer still who did it while making rock music this raw and uncompromising. Now how about a new White Stripes album?


49. Cough – Ritual Abuse
Clearly Cough know all the doom metal moves. They wallow in feedback and let their doomy dirges march past the ten minute mark through tar pits of sludge. They have songs with names like “Crippled Wizard” and “A Year In Suffering.” But Cough also have done a fair bit of time listening to some of the more out-there acid-damaged strains of heavy music. The malevolence level is turned down somewhat compared to some other bands of this ilk, although if a straight sludge trudge is what you’re after, the title track will do just fine. The result is a very heavy album that often coats its attack in a syrupy fog of reverb, making the band sound more like an even slower Dead Meadow than Burning Witch. The variety of textures used makes the album stand out from the crowd of sub-Boris and Electric Wizard imitators like Moss, Thou and Ocean Chief. The track “Crooked Spine” is perhaps best gateway drug here, but surprisingly there are some fully resolved melodic ideas running through many of these songs, similar to vintage Saint Vitus, and Cough know how to ramp up the tempos and rock when necessary. A young heavy band worth paying attention to.

50. Year Of No Light – Ausserwelt
You’d think that this style would be pretty much exhausted by, now but Year Of No Light figures it’s better to be late than never. French post-metal outfit clearly worships at the shrine of Isis, but you can tell that some of these guys have been imbibing some classic black metal on the side. It works to their advantage, the cathedral-ceiling grandiosity recalls late period Emperor. You’ll find lots of dense, suffocating riffs and gigantic crescendos here. Year Of No Light wins the final ranking on my list for their harsh and ornate sound which sets them apart from the pack.