The Top 50 Albums of 2011 - 20-11

11. Krallice – Diotima
I more or less stopped paying attention to black metal about ten years ago. Sure I liked the dense atmosphere and raw, primitive power of Mayhem and Darkthrone, the chilly sweep of Immortal and the epic reach of Emperor, but it was all too rarefied and exclusive for me to feel much of an affinity for. I was turned off by the silly scene politics and extra-curricular activity that went along with the Norwegian scene, from corpse paint to gay-bashings to church burnings to Nazism, not to mention the legions of closed-minded provincial fans that turned on bands for doing something as heinous as make a record that actually sounded good. As a result I missed out on virtually the entire USBM movement, which has been responsible for some of the best metal of the last decade. New York’s Krallice finally brought me back with their intense hybrid of chilling black metal atmospherics and death metal technicality. A supergroup of sorts featuring members of ultra-technical progressive metal bands Dysrhythmia and Behold… The Arctopus! as well as the chaotic experimental extreme metal outfit Orthrelm, Krallice have a style that is utterly unique. Their third album Diotima is a relentless long-form exercise in sensory overload. There is very little respite anywhere on the album from its unstoppable momentum, and with the last five songs each clocking in at nine and a half minutes or more, it can be difficult to digest. At over 68 mostly devastatingly brutal minutes, this is not for the faint of heart. Keep listening though. Eventually you’ll be able to pick out the strange shapes that the guitars cut, intersecting with one another at odd angles even while the rhythm section’s inexhaustible energy drives the band onward. Yes, it can all sound like ice in a blender at first, but if you pay close attention and you can manage to keep up, you’ll be richly rewarded.

12. Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972
Montreal’s Tim Hecker has been making adventurous drone music for over a decade now, and Ravedeath, 1972 might just be his strongest work to date. Everything here sounds vaguely fatalistic, invoking feelings of dread, decay, and inevitability. Still, there’s something redemptive about it as well. The tones here are deep and rich, invoking a sense of gravity. Unlike some drone records that are content to drift on formless texture, there is real expressive emotion to be found here. That emotion might be depressive and claustrophobic, but if you stay long enough to get comfortable with Hecker’s spare compositions, you might just grow to like it in the dark.

13. Lumerians – Transmalinnia
This record has been referred to as “Intergalactic cruisin’ music.” Since I don’t think I’ll be able to top that description, I’m going to move right along. Take a ride on the Longwave.

14. Tombs – Path Of Totality
This record is one hell of a pounding. Brutal, uncompromising and relentless, Paths of Totality is one of the most devastating metal releases of the year. Tombs are hard to pigeonhole with regards to any one type of metal. There are harsh vocals and icy atmospherics that clearly are clearly influenced by black metal, but there are straight ahead thrash and hardcore influences going on here too. If you aren’t ready for a pounding, you’d best stand back, because Tombs are here to get medieval on your ass. The musicians’ performances here are technically spot on, but these guys never let their chops get in the way of the primitive power of the songs themselves. Tracks like “To Cross The Land” and “Cold Dark Eyes” are unremittingly bleak and ferocious, and boast an appropriately crusty production to match their chilly mood. This full measure band is making up its own rules as it goes, and they 'aint done yet. Keep an ear open.

15. Blood Ceremony – Living With The Ancients
This doomy occult rock band’s second album is a consolidation of all the strengths that made their eponymous debut so enjoyable. Fluttering flutes and soaring vocals duel with thunderous riffs. This is heavy prog along the lines of what Tony Iommi had in mind while jamming with Jethro Tull. “The Great God Pan” gets things off to a suitably enormous start, all head banging riffs and mighty refrains. Mystical songs like “Coven Tree” and “Morning Of The Magicians” show plenty of influence from similarly smoky touchstones like Graveyard and Witchcraft and of course, their spiritual forefathers in Pentagram. The closing number, “Daughter of the Sun” runs past ten minutes in length, but the song’s excellent construction allows it to sustain interest throughout and being the album to a strong finish. Light some candles for this one.

16. Moon Duo – Mazes
Moon Duo is the more pop-oriented side project of Wooden Shjips' guitarist Erik “Ripley” Johnson, and he brings plenty of his other band’s tendency to ride tasty psych grooves to this record as well. Songs like “Mazes” and “When You Cut” though are much more concise and catchy than anything those zoned out shamans have ever made. This is not to say that the jams have been cut out, they’ve simply been reigned in somewhat, as demonstrated on spacey opener “The Seer.” This makes the record hit a little harder rather than dissipating its energy on trance inducing head-nodders. This is an easily digestible psych rock record that manages to be accessible and out there at the same time, a most difficult balance to strike.

17. Grails – Deep Politics
Grails has continued to evolve their restless sound on Deep Politics. Emil Amos now is the drummer for trance-inducing duo Om, so he has an outlet for the heavier impulses which were apparent on more recent Grails albums. Deep Politics is much more atmospheric and subtle. The songs here are sometimes spooky, but rarely menacing the way they were on Doomsdayer’s Holiday. Instead, treated violins and bowed and distorted bass are used to craft intricate rhythmic pieces which lay a solid foundation for some acidic exploratory guitar work. Amos of course anchors the sound with his typically inventive patterns and rock solid beats. Another great record from a unique band.

18. Robedoor – Too Down To Die
Robedoor’s newest album feels a little bit less dark and noisy than previous efforts. The influence of Sunn O))) that was felt so heavily on earlier albums has receded somewhat, leaving a sound that is more distinctive and spacey. Opener “Parallel Wanderer” is a finely crafted drone effort which builds in depth and detail throughout its 22 minutes, adding different shades and voices to the sound. This is a mind-expanding collection of jams that works well when lifting off and coming back down. For a group that has built its career on these sorts of long-form pieces, it’s comforting to see them still reaching for the outer limits.

19. Bong – Beyond Ancient Space
Time-stretched doom bass rumble marching onwards towards infinity. The drums here sound like they were recorded in another room, while galactically heavy ur-riffs distend space and time. The evil walking dead atmosphere here recalls prime era Electric Wizard or Om on Quaaludes, while the endless feedback palls and distorted bass tones are reminiscent of early Earth and Sunn O))), maybe even something like Jesu if Justin Broadrick had decided to form that project fresh out of his totally decimating stint with Napalm Death. There is no melody and no up-tempo breaks here to cut the gloom, just endless planet-sized riffs crushing the universe into oblivion. Beyond Ancient Space marks a new landmark in extreme doom metal.

20. Liturgy – Aesthetica
This album is one of the most strenuous listens you’ll come across this year. It’s a fucking chore, absolutely arduous. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but the album is just such a relentless pummeling that it can be exhausting. There are strange, abrasive textures here I’ve never heard in a black metal song (or any metal song) before, and lots of weird samples, chants and non-metal experimentation. Even with all that, it’s almost uniformly brutal. The blastbeats and tremolo picking are still here in abundance. Aesthetica won’t be for everybody, and I’m sure many people will hate it. That being said, it breaks new barriers for black metal, and the record sounds absolutely colossal. The ambition and creativity and musicianship and song craft that went into this album is undeniable. It’s the sound of a band thinking huge and raging against the constraints of any scene or sound. It might piss some kvltists off, but the experimentalists in Liturgy, like contemporaries Wolves in the Throne Room, Baroness, Kylesa, Cormorant, HULL, Baptists, Esoteric, Avichi, Nachtmystium, Krallice, Dirge, Solstavir, Primordial, Year of no Light, Indian, Ulcerate, Altar of Plagues, 40 Watt Sun, The Atlas Moth, Griever, Thou, Decapitated, Tombs, Blut Aus Nord and others are leading the way towards the future of metal.