The Top 50 Albums of 2011 - 30-21

21. Dumbo Gets Mad – Elephants at the Door
This experimental music project is reminiscent of the restless beat merchants in Black Moth Super Rainbow, particularly when it comes to their mutual affinity for textural variety. Dumbo Gets Mad is more song based however, with less of a focus on abstract sound collages. Elephants at the Door is packed with winning tunes like “Electric Prawn,” which are catchy and danceable without coming anywhere close to being dance music. The record contains all manner of digitized cutups mixed with warm bubbling synths and skittering beats, which should please all sorts of fans of the kind of stuff I refer to by the very specific label, “weird electronic music.” A heart-warmingly strange record like this that isn’t difficult in the least is hard to come by. Don’t miss it.

22. Skeletonwitch – Forever Abomination
Ohio’s awesomely-named Skeletonwitch returned once again this year with another furious collection of blackened thrash, and it might just be their best yet. As with their last few records, Forever Abomination is crammed full of classic dual leads and full speed ragers, but this time out things are a little heavier thanks to a dense but clean production job by big time producer Hyde of Slayer and Hatebreed fame. The guitars are given a little more space to breathe between the hyper-speed thrash sections this time out, and there is a little more room for the chilly atmosphere this group is known for to envelop the listener. There is absolutely zero fat on this record. With 11 unstoppable metal assaults clocking in at just a shade over 32 minutes, Forever Abomination might fly by a few times before it fully reveals its charms to you, but given time to sink in, the mix of crushing saw-toothed grooves and epic NWOBHM-style hooks on tracks like “Cleaver of Souls” and “Erased and Forgotten” will please plenty of fans old and new.

23. Machine Head – Unto the Locust
These neo-thrash godheads have released a multiheaded suite that tempers powerful groove metal riffs with substantial ambition. This record reaches back to the days of classic Metallica with each of its songs including substantial shifts in mood and abrupt, unexpected changes in direction. Machine Head brings in all sorts of non-metal elements like violin interludes and a children’s choir to spice up its sound on various tracks, but it’s always done in the service of the song and never seems gimmicky. Lest you worry these guys have gone all progressive on you, “I Am Hell” is a sludge trudge as heavy as anything in the Machine Head catalog, while “Who We Are” is an epic shout along that should get fists in the air and beers chugged the world over. Each listen revels new details and twists, but the record is never dense or difficult. Once again these veterans have proven they are a vital, relevant force in the heavy metal world.

24. Tycho – Dive
Dive is like sitting in a hot tub. It’s warm and relaxing, and sometimes the bubbles tickle you in just the right places. Tycho is an ambient producer from San Francisco, and this is his first LP since 2006’s excellent Past is Prologue. Dive has a little bit more forward momentum, but like its predecessor this record is still dominated by blissful textural experiments. Tycho’s work here is reminiscent of Boards of Canada, but the warm analog synths found here seem far less clinical. Luxuriate in this whirlpool long enough and you might not want to leave.

25. HULL - Beyond The Lightless Sky
Beyond The Lightless Sky opens with a surging epic called "Earth From Water" that exceeds 11 minutes in length and goes from full throttle thrashing to a doomy sludge crawl, to something resembling a gregorian chant, to a psychedelic feedback squall and back again before climaxing with a bloody apogee of crashing riffs and hoarse screams. There are harmonic, manly bellows and epic guitar leads weaving around one another throughout. HULL aren't a band that settle for half measures. Of the bands continuing to mine the Neurosis school of espic post metal, HULL have shown a particular aptitude for multipart suites and dynamic shifts. There is a ton of variety here, combined with some interesting melodic ideas and serious musical ability along with occasional use of non-metal instrumentation to craft a glorious collossus of a record.

26. Vastum - Carnal Law
There is something charming about Vastum’s putrid brand of old school death metal. Everything here sounds like it’s been exhumed, caked with maggots and filth. There are no technical gymnastics here, and very few hyperspeed breaks. Even when they do thrash out a little, they never seem to exceed midtempo. Vastum would rather crush everything like a bulldozer. Lest you think this is some Obiturary knockoff, Vastum have a few more tricks up their sleeves than that. There are also some tasty NWOBHM-style licks here and there, and the vocals take on a harsher, more black metal influenced rasp. That being said, this is the rawest, filthiest, most disgusting extreme metal record I’ve heard this year. Keep on rotting in the free world.

27. The Atlas Moth - An Ache For The Distance
These guys have the potential to be a very big name in the hard rock world. Their second album, An Ache For The Distance has substantially increasred their profile and established the Chicago act as a force in the underground scene, and for good reason. The record is progressive (as opposed to prog) in the truest sense of the word. The Atlas Moth have incorporated a diverse set of influences that reaches beyond the Neurosis/Isis template of post metal to craft an album that is wildly experimental and textured without sacrificing tunefulness or sheer power. There are bluesey shuffles, country twang, hefty riffs, psychedelic mindwarping sonics, pools of sludge, droney textural jams, white noise, hardcore shoutalongs, melodic earworms, mighty choruses, straight-ahead thrashing and folky acoustic breakdowns. All this could add up to one giant fucking mess, but instead its a veritable cournucopia of stylistic flourishes and a triumphant new benchmark for the post-metal genre.

28. Fucked Up – David Comes To Life
For a band that has always played by its own rules even while adhearing to the loud-fast rules DIY ethic of punk rock, Fucked Up have been displaying some serious stadium-sized ambition the last few years. Here they attempt that most excessive of grand gestures, the double album. Unfortunately and as is always the case with these things, the album is too long by at least a handful of songs, but when it works David Comes To Life is a ferocious triumph of human creativity. “Queen of Hearts” is magnificent, a bracing jolt of candy-coated rock and roll that’s so immediate and hummable and flat out awesome that it’s impossible not to get swept along. The sound here is slicker than even their huge-sounding 2008 release The Chemistry of Common Life, and a bevy of guests stars drop in to help out. With their media profile as high now as it’s ever been, this is Fucked Up’s bid for mass success. This is a band that is still unafraid to tinker with punk formulas and doctrine, as evidenced by them number of punks crying sell-out to a band that has gained success entirely on its own terms though hard work and craftsmanship for over a decade. It’s the biggest, shiniest, poppiest release of their career by far, and has enough great songs to keep bringing people back for more while converting new fans along the way.

29. Disma – Towards the Megalith
Disma is hardly the first death metal band to combine extremely downtuned riffs with highly technical double kicks and growled vocals. Like Vastum’s more primitive Carnal Law, Towards The Megalith is the work of a band that is addicted to sheer power. The sound here is fantastic, retaining just enough dirt and grime to mark this album as a throwback to the early ‘90s glory days of death metal. The songs here sound suitably like they've been partially decompopsed, dug up and had horrific experimental surgery performed on them, just the way great death metal should be. Megalith is no mere retread though. What makes Towards the Megalith such a compelling listen is the presence of real songcraft; there is no melodically unresolved thrashing about or pointless floor-punching here. Disma know how to pull you in, to make you wait for that explosive riff or crushing groove. Aside from that, there is a hugeness to this album that belies the brutality that is the band’s most immediate feature. Listening is like embarking on a quest, there is a feeling of triumph as the album builds to its powerful climaxes. Make no mistake, this album can rip your face off if you let it, but there is more going on here than just blast beats and random tapping.

30. The Psychic Paramount - The Psychic Paramount II
The album opens with about 50 seconds of pure sonic terror, palls of white noise and screeching feedback assaulting the listener. This isn't a listen for the faint of heart. Calling their music psychedelic doesn't begin to do justice to the racket these noise terrorists whip up. Free jazz drumming and searing, sustained lead lines call to mind prime King Crimson, but the whole mess is shot though a Pan Sonic filter. Over time the songs underneath the chaos become audible, and you'll even come to appreciate the cool zones scattered thoughout that provide some respite from the chaos. Everything here sounds huge and uncontrolled, the vast majority of the album sounding like the needles are in the red. File this one under complete sonic overload.