Friends, I’d like to start this overlong EOY post intro with a definitive statement of fact:
Awards are fuckin’ stupid.
(I know; WHAT A SHOCK that sentiment is coming from moi, sworn enemy of all lists, listicles, shitsicles, pissquickles, and other useless devices that pit art and creators against each other.)
The idea for this rant came about early last month, after a friend of mine asked if I’d heard about who won at the Game Awards. Buddy, I had not, and you clearly don’t know me well enough if you asked. These constant moronic exercises — best this, most anticipated that, etc. etc. — do little other than shift the focus away from the simple miracle that is creativity itself.
And make no mistake, it is a miracle — particularly in this era where our shit-for-brain ruling class seems determined to disrupt all aspects of life with artificial “intelligence.” Like, have you seen what happens when those things attempt creativity? Fucking yikes.
But here we are, again, with blogger after blogger at site after click-hungry site all trying to argue, definitively, that this thing is better than that thing but not quite as good as the thing over there, rather than just appreciating the work that went into all of these things and marveling at how lucky we are to have them all. It’s stupid! Stop it! (Yes, I am aware that approximately, uh… almost all of my colleagues here at Nine Circles have just finished doing, uh… precisely this. Why do you ask?)
Here’s an idea: why not just like what you like and leave it at that? If you like a thing, that can be enough! It doesn’t have to be the best thing, or even the fifth-or-sixth-best thing; it can just be a thing that you liked! That’s fine!
Still… as much as I loathe the concept of awards — and even more, the idea of endorsing said concept through TV broadcasts — there is one merit to this sham that I’d like to highlight:
Nomination cutoffs! A deadline at a specific point in the year, after which a new release is ineligible for that year’s considerations. The Grammys do this — albeit with a completely ridiculous cutoff point of September fucking 15th — and it is the one thing that stupid committee does that makes even a single lick of sense.
Think about it! If you set a deadline, you don’t have to deal with any more late-breaking “list breakers.” You spare yourself the agony of rethinking and rethinking again — at the eleventh hour — whether you’ve got everything in the right order, what goes in and what comes out, after having (probably) spent hours doing so already.
(Mind you, this isn’t as much a problem for me, who doesn’t care for lists or awards. I’m just thinking of you plebs, who do.)
Anyway, I thought about this concept a whole lot this year. Austin Lunn dropped a new Panopticon record on November 29, and a whole lotta people liked it. I really, really wanted to really, really dig into it, but… I didn’t get to listen to it more than once. Now, that one listen was pretty terrific, and I will go back and listen to it some more. Eventually. This year.
But! Self-imposing a nomination cutoff — in my case, November 15 — meant I didn’t have to struggle over whether / where to include it. (Sorry, Austin!)
I ended up going even further with it: if I hadn’t heard an album by that point, regardless of release date, it wasn’t gonna feature here. (Sorry, Thantifaxath, Cruciamentum and Begravement, among others! This one’s my fault, not yours!)
Ultimately, the albums that entered and stayed in rotation throughout the year — rather than just at the last minute — are the ones I’ve chosen to include here. Something has to actually have had time to stick with me if I’m gonna declare it’s stuck with me. I dunno that it’s fair for me to just assume a near-the-end-of-year release — even a really good one! — is gonna have that kinda staying power.
All of this is to say: hey! I, once again, listened to some metal this year! I even liked some of it! Here are some of the things I liked: put together in no particular order other than alphabetically. Here’s a fun game: YOU get to guess which are my “favorites” and which are “honorable mentions” [projectile vomits]
Ugh. Anyway. Sometimes, these albums be accompanied by my own thoughts, and sometimes you’ll get other people’s (much more intelligible) takes because you’ve probably read enough from me already. Enjoy!
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Thy Catafalque — Alföld
From me, literally just now:
Fun fact: I had not actually listened to Thy Catafalque before I heard this album. Good news: I’ve since amended that several hundred times over. Thy Catafalque’s fuckin’ great! And so is this album.
[Album of the Month podcast – June 2023]
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Frozen Crown — Call of the North
From our end-of-year Power Metal wrap-up post:
“Throw on any of [Frozen Crown’s] previous three albums, and you’d hear 45-50 minutes of speedy, Scandinavian-styled power metal with occasional flourishes of melodeath — all of it, it should be noted, pretty good! But this year’s Call of the North ups the ante considerably, with a tremendous, spotlight performance from vocalist Giada Etro and more adventurous and dynamic song structures throughout…
“All told, Call of the North is a freaking terrific record, and with any luck, an exciting indicator of what’s to come from the band.”
—
Gravesend — Gowanus Death Stomp
From Ian’s review:
“From the mosh-pit-ready riffs of “11414” to the stompy, pounding thrash of the title track to the sludgefest of “Crown of Tar” and beyond, Gowanus Death Stomp brings the pain.”
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Hellripper — Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
From Chris’ review:
“Check out the title track. At over seven minutes Hellripper starts bringing in some of those new influences, letting the musical ideas breathe. And. They. Are. Fantastic. I found myself over and over again thinking about how much some of the musical ideas wouldn’t be out of place on an Iron Maiden album. Or a Mercyful Fate record.”
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Horrendous — Ontological Mysterium
From me, literally just now:
Genuinely did not even know I needed this from Horrendous. The rest of their discography, obviously, fucks. (Idol made this very list of mine in 2018, just as Anareta had done in 2015) But this? This goes places I wouldn’t have even expected from the already-pretty-forward-thinking Philly quartet. It’s heavy as fuck, but also progressive in ways late-era Chuck Schuldiner might tip his cap to. And it all slays.
You might not think Horrendous needed to put this album out, in the same way that, like… the Zelda series may not have needed its 2017 magnum opus / best-game-ever-made Breath of the Wild. But similarly, now that we have it, I think it’s all I ever want going forward? (And look forward to the band shattering those anticipations even further next time out.)
[Interview] [Album of the Month podcast – August 2023]
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In Flames — Foregone
From me, literally just now:
Alright n00bs, gather around. It’s time for you to hear MY contribution to the #discourse and you WILL like it. It’s not a COLD take, it’s not a HOT take, it’s not even an even-COLDER take on a COLD take. It’s just MY take. Got it? Here goes:
Hi, I liked this album a whole lot. Kbye.
—
Katatonia — Sky Void of Stars
From our Album RAMBLE:
DRINK EVERY TIME A KATATONIA SONG IS GREAT.
—
LOVEBITES — Judgement Day
From our end-of-year Power Metal wrap-up post:
“From opener “We Are the Resurrection” to the closing moments of “Soldier Stands Solitary” the band is utterly ruthless in their execution: frenetic riffs that run at freight train speed, and dual solos that hit the heavens.”
—
Moonlight Sorcery — Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle
From Colin’s review:
“Moonlight Sorcery step outside the boundaries of their own genre with all the talent of veteran musicians, while effectively harnessing the bombast of classic heavy metal. Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle is a triumphant full-length, and hopefully just the first step in a long journey.”
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Nuclear Power Trio — Wet Ass Plutonium
From me, literally just now:
Inarguably the most pure fun I had with any album this year. What if shred guitars and Latin fusion had a Coloradan baby? What if said Coloradan baby wrote songs whose titles were all geopolitical conflict puns? What if said baby’s three members dressed up as disgraced world leaders?
Well, then, friends, you’d have Wet Ass Plutonium. Count me in for anything and everything Nuclear Power Trio does from here on out.
—
The Ocean — Holocene
From Corey’s Best of 2023 post:
“At this point it’s pretty obvious that there is no limit to what The Ocean are willing to try, so while I continue to explore Holocene, I also can’t wait for what comes next. Whatever that may be.”
—
Rotten Sound — Apocalypse
From me, literally just now:
Where Finland’s grindcore masters go, I follow. That’s generally been a good and rewarding approach thus far, and guess what? Apocalypse allows it to continue being so! 18 songs and 21 minutes of absolute pummeling.
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Sacred Outcry — Towers of Gold
From my review:
“Whether in its nimbler moments or its grander, more elaborate gestures, Towers of Gold sweeps you up into its world and makes you feel like a central character in the saga.”
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Svalbard — The Weight of the Mask
From Chris’ 2023 Honorable Mentions post:
“The versatility of Serena Cherry’s vocals are majestic to hear: check out the way she effortlessly shifts on “Eternal Spirits”, trading off with the more hardcore screeching of Liam Phelan. ”Defiance” continues pushing the gorgeous dream pop element in a terrific chorus, even as drummer Mark Lilley puts his stamp everywhere, showing just how essential having a killer drummer is to your overall sound.”
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Tomb Mold — The Enduring Spirit
From me, literally just now:
It feels like every time Tomb Mold drops an album, they’re everyone’s favorite young death metal band… until another band drops a high profile album. In 2019, Planetary Clairvoyance got usurped by Hidden History of the Human Race. The year before that, Manor of Infinite Forms was a pretty big deal… until Idol or Cosmovore came along and people just, like… forgot about it. Y’all take Tomb Mold for granted and you really, really shouldn’t do that!
Thankfully, it seems shit has been gotten together in the general populous this time around, because with The Enduring Spirit, the band deservedly (and *finally*) seems to be getting the love it deserves. We did not deserve such a captivating, forward thinking album. We do not deserve Tomb Mold.
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Twilight Force — At the Heart of Wintervale
From our end-of-year Power Metal wrap-up post:
“One of the best-put-together metal albums I heard all year. Guitarist Lynd and keyboardist Blackwald put on an absolute masterclass behind the desk, with nimble, colorful arrangements — joint guitar/keyboard solos! choir parts! — that bring the band’s fantastical compositions to life. Even in a genre known for going “over the top”, Wintervale feels like a standout.”
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Wayfarer — American Gothic
From Chris’ review:
“By the time we come to slower drawls of ‘Black Plumes Over God’s Country’ and the mighty closer ‘False Constellation’… it’s readily apparent the three years Wayfarer spent crafting American Gothic were put to great use. This is evolution and refinement of the highest order.”
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Woe — Legacies of Frailty
From Vincent’s review:
“I wish an album this full of condemnation and vitriol didn’t continue to be relevant in our current day, but until such time I’m glad that the fury Woe display here is righteous. May it serve as a wake-up call to those who seek to inhibit the road to a better future for their own perceived personal gain.”
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Phew, I’m tired. That’ll do it for this post, and that’ll just about do it for EOY season here at Nine Circles! (There’s still a certain podcast left to come, but you’ll see that in your earholes soon enough.) Thanks for reading, thanks to the bands for makin’ good metals, and have a great 2024, y’all!
Keep it heavy,
—Dan
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