Top Ten Albums of 2018 / Rob "The Metal Guy Awards"

If someone was to tell me that 2018 was a poor year for hard rock and heavy metal music I would consider tying them to one of Elon Musks' SpaceX rockets and sending them off into space. In reality 2018 was another strong year for rock and metal music with plenty of impressive sounding releases. I know that moron from Maroon 5 says rock is "nowhere" but then again, his music is equal to that of horse manure, so what does he really know. I was pleased with the albums that came out this year and I do not think rock and metal are going "nowhere." People just need to pull their heads out of their asses, or do more goddamn research before opening their douche crusted hipster mouths. Here are my top ten picks of 2018 from some exceptional artists in the rock and metal world...

10. Skeletal Remains - Devouring Mortality

Skeletal Remains is a death metal band that knows how to craft some bombastic sounding old school death metal music, while also providing some solid elements of technicality. I feel like, “Devouring Mortality,” was definitely a step into more of a technical world compared to their previous releases, and I think the musicianship is becoming really impressive. Skeletal Remains is a strong act with more left to offer, so I am looking forward to how they can top this album.

9. Exmortus - The Sound of Steel

The shredding assault of Exmortus is still going strong and their new album. “The Sound of Steel,” does not disappoint. Exmortus is a band full of talented musicians and the guitar playing always stands out on each release. Their mixture of neoclassical shredding with thrash and death metal make for some epic and exciting cuts of metal. Plus, I always enjoy hearing battle themed lyrics accompanied by blistering lead guitar playing.

8. Petrification - Hollow of the Void

Gruesome, terrifying and paying homage too old school death metal, Petrification delivered a sinister sounding release this year with “Hollow of the Void.” These Portland, Oregon death metal musicians are exceptional players and wrote some really vicious tracks. I think they are definitely one of the strongest up and coming death metal acts to come out within the last couple years and a force to be reckoned with in the future.

7. Summoning - With Doom We Come

One of the most important bands in the world of atmospheric black metal, Summoning, is such an iconic force that when news of their new album came out fans were highly anticipating this new album. The bands 1995 release, “Minus Morgul,” is quite possibly the blue-print for atmospheric black metal and is an album that has inspired so many current artists within the sub-genre. “With Doom We Come,” features long epic pieces with lyrical content inspired by the works of Tolkien that pulls you into a world of cinematic musical fantasy. I think fans will be pleased to hear the band maintain a very epic atmospheric black metal sound.

6. Vargrav - Netherstorm

When I first heard Vargrav I was quickly reminded of Emperor and all those black metal bands who are able to successfully incorporate keyboards into their black metal sound. “Netherstorm,” is stellar blizzard of raw black metal, yet has these moments of cosmic melodic atmosphere. You can’t write this band off as another typical black metal band, because the riffs and song structures are very well crafted. There are no recycled riffs, or poorly written compositions. Each song flows with great synergy on this album, so you never lose interest when listening to it.

5. Abstracter - Cinereous Incarnate 

Another band from the Sentient Ruin roster, Abstracter did a tremendous job creating what could possibly be the soundtrack for the apocalyptic demise of humanity. The music is unbelievably heavy to where seismic shocks are sent out each time a chord is struck, or a cymbal smashed. Overall, these musicians are a solid unit and keep offering some wicked sounding tunes of destructive blackened sludge. 

4. Barren Altar - Entrenched in the Faults of the Earth 

I have seen Barren Altar a fair amount of times over the last few years and have interviewed the band on a couple occasions. To finally hear this Sonoma County based band release a devastating full-length album really made 2018 a solid year for extreme music. The dynamics and unique blend of black metal, death metal and doom metal sends chills down your spine, while also obliterating your speakers. The vocals on this album present tales of pure agony and inner anguish, which compliments the abysmal sounding instrumental compositions. 

3. Atrament - Scum Sect 

One of the most brutal sounding releases to come out this year, Atrament’s “Scum Sect” is a pulverizing assault of blackened death crust spewing hatred from the dark depths of the Bay Area. I thought the songwriting on this album was extremely well done and there were no throw away tracks throughout the album. Plus the overall production quality added a malevolent punch of musical insanity to your ears. When pertaining to underground extreme music, Atrament is one of the top up and coming acts around.

2. Cauldron - New Gods

Cauldron’s last album, “In Ruin,” was an impressive release from top to bottom in my opinion. The production and songwriting was flawless, so I looked forward to what they would do on their next album. “New Gods,” definitely maintains that same essence which can be heard on “In Ruin,” while taking a more melodic hard rock/classic metal approach at times. There are plenty of catchy riffs on this album along with very melodic song structures. The lyrics are well written and can get stuck in your head for hours. What is it about Canada and great rock and metal power trios? They just seem to know how to make them. 

1. Old Tower - Stellary Wisdom 

Old Tower, “Stellary Wisdom,” was without a doubt one of the most fascinating and most brilliant sounding releases to come out this year, hence why I have it as my number one pick of 2018. The artist behind this project known only as, The Specter, continues to demonstrate amazing composition skills by taking dungeon synth music and creating worlds of tranquil sounding darkness. The overall atmosphere on, “Stellary Wisdom,” is truly phenomenal and the consideration to detail and recording quality is so well done. For those who are looking for a great dungeon synth release I can tell you “Stellary Wisdom” is the album you should be checking out. 

Rob “The Metal Guy” Awards :

Best EP of the Year: Mournful Cries “Vices” 

Best Split Release of the Year: Putrid and Pathetic “Devorando Carne Divina” 

Best Live Album: Night Demon “Live Darkness” 

Label of the Year: Sentient Ruin

Best Live Performance: Trecelence (March 23 at the Phoenix Theater / Opening for Act of Defiance)

Up and Coming Artist of the Year: Blood Star

Most Metal Movie of 2018: Terrifier (First premiered in 2016 but I saw it in 2018)

Most Metal WWE Wrestler: Becky Lynch 

Most Obnoxious Group of People on the Planet: ANTIFA (For cancelling the Taake tour. Hoping they don't cancel any shows or tours in 2019...fucking dicks)

Biggest Douche Award: The dumbass from Maroon 5 with Gene Simmons as runner up (Surprisingly Gene wasn't as big of a douche this year as the previous year.) 

Concert Review: Barren Altar, Ion, Battle Hag, Hemotoxin

    Saturday night at the Phoenix Theater was the place to be in Sonoma County for metal fans. Four bands put on one hell of a show and demonstrated tremendous local metal talent.

    The bands billed for this performance were: Barren Altar, Ion, Battle Hag, Hemotoxin. Also, the ticket sales for this show would be given to the Wounded Warrior Project. This was a really awesome event and I wish more metal fan would have shown up in support of the bands. Although the turnout was not the most favorable, there was a decent crowd who from what I observed appreciated each band that played.

    Taking the stage first with a ritualistic shrine of candles and skulls, was Sonoma County’s Barren Altar. The band had a creative stage set up and the intro audio clip they used of a hysterical woman crying was the perfect touch to begin their blackened death doom assault. Their two guitar players slammed away at some monstrous distorted chords while the bassist and drummer feverishly provided the explosive backbone. Their singer was in another world while the band performed and his vocal delivery was vicious. A couple times when the drummer would crash down on his kit, the singer would take the mic and hit his head to copy the destructive beat. Barren Altar definitely did a powerful job kicking the show off since my ears are still ringing from those heavy riffs.

    Following Barren Altar was the San Francisco Bay Area trio, Ion. These guys were extremely talented musicians and had a dynamic sound. Each member offered something different to the band’s overall presentation. Their bass player was playing some killer technical fills and tapping with precision to create this progressive mellow atmosphere in between songs. The singer/guitarist paid great attention to his tone and the riffs he played took on a variety of styles. He would pick through different chords using a clear guitar tone and then press the distortion pedal to deliver a black metal speed picking attack. Their drummer who also provided some vocals, was unbelievable and reminded me a bit of Mike Browning from Nocturnus. He feverishly maneuvered his way around the kit and was locked into the rhythms the whole time. Overall, Ion seemed to have won the crowd over, because people after their set kept saying that the band’s sound and performance was an unbelievable musical experience.

    The third act, Battle Hag, actually made their way from Sacramento, CA. They played a brand of death doom that really put emphasis on the doom. Their riffs took on a Sleep like quality and the band sounded bombastically sinister. They put some thought into their stage show by using a fog/smoke machine to cover the stage while they hammered away at brutal distorted cuts. I thought the band’s two guitar attack injected some more bite into their sound. Battle Hag seemed like solid players and I do believe they provided fans with plenty of headbanging opportunities to follow along to their behemoth sounding riffs.

    The final act of the night was, Hemotoxin. This quartet of Pittsburg, CA musicians are known to play a style of technical death/thrash. I have seen them before about two years back when they opened up for Havok. I was impressed by their skill then and could not believe how much they improved over the course of two years. Their twin guitar attack is insane, especially when the two players trade solos. Hemotoxin’s drummer is still a double bass blasting machine behind the kit. The bassist always seemed to be having a good old time on stage and his playing is right up their along side the other members. Unfortunately, the band did not get to play more songs since the venue seemed to be adhering to a time limit. If not for the venue telling the band they could only do one more song, hell, I think Hemotoxin could have kept going for another twenty minutes. They are definitely a band to look out for among the Bay Area Metal scene. 

    All four acts did a tremendous job and have vast amounts of talent. Even though there was not a massive turnout, the people who did show up were really supportive. Again, support your local scenes and always keep headbanging so this music never dies. \m/