The Be(a)st of 2018 – J’s List

 

EOY 2018 Header 9C

Every year is an interesting trip around the sun.  New music comes and goes like the ebb and flow of time, and some albums hit us harder than others.  2018 for me was a very rich year in metal, yielding tons of great material from all over the heavy landscape.  There was a lot I enjoyed, so sorting the wheat from the chaff for this year has been enjoyable and fairly difficult, which is a testament to all the bands putting out great albums this year.  Below is my top 15 list for this year with a brief explanation with each album as to why I picked them.  Feel the misery (wait, that wasn’t this year?!).  Continue reading

Album Review: Realm of Wolves – “Oblivion”

Realm of Wolves - Oblivion

Every so often an album comes along seemingly out of nowhere so that its mark is made even more indelible because of its previous anonymity to a particular listener. For me, Oblivion is one of those albums.  I would encourage anyone reading this review to stop, go listen to the embed below, and then return for the remaining synopsis.  Okay, now that you’ve heard what I’m talking about, lets continue with the review.  Realm of Wolves are a Hungarian band that formed this year.  Even though that’s what the bio indicates and based on what I’m hearing, they must have been doing their black metal woodshedding for some time now. Earlier this year they released an EP, Shores of Nothingness, and now follow it with this debut full length. Continue reading