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.) 

Cauldron "New Gods"

   The evolution of Cauldron is quite fascinating and their new album, “New Gods,” is yet another strong effort from the Canadian power trio. From a young and hungry band offering blistering riffs of classic metal fury to a more melodic hard rock attitude, Cauldron is beginning to find the right blend of heaviness and melody to where the songs really standout.

   On their previous album, “In Ruin,” I definitely noticed the band focusing more on developing strong songs and the overall production of that album was simply amazing. The band's 2007 debut EP, “Into the Cauldron,” came out during a time when a lot of young metal bands were trying to emulate the classic acts by creating heavy riffs and throwing around lightening fast guitar parts. I am glad Cauldron never participated in the speed war by showing off how fast they could play and I think that the band’s focus on solid musicianship plus strong songwriting skills has led us to the current release, “New Gods.”

   As I said earlier, “In Ruin,” was exceptional in terms of production, so I was extremely impressed with how they carried that sound over onto the new album. The drums sounded great along with the guitar and bass sound which highlights the bands ability to craft some killer classic metal sounding music Also, I thought bassist and vocalist, Jason Decay, sounded great throughout the album and his vocal abilities do not disappoint.

   From the start of this album to the very end, Cauldron deals a strong selection of tracks. The album opens with the fierce hard rocking song, “Prisoner of the Past,” which I think sets the tone for the album by presenting a tight rhythm section and crushing main riff. Guitarist Ian Chains is an outstanding player who may not be the most flashy and overly technical guitarists around, but he gets the job done and knows how to construct heavy riffs that convey raw emotion. I thought the guitar solos on tracks like, “No Longer” and “Never Be Found,” were well executed and did not throw around random notes, or go off into pointless directions.

   Other tracks I wish to highlight are, “Save the Truth/Syracuse,” “Isolation” and “Together As None.” On, “Save the Truth/Syracuse,” the band hammers out a heavy dose of classic metal riffs and bold sounding drum parts. I feel like drummer, Myles Deck, provides a powerful punch on this song and throughout the album he is the beating pulse of this band when pertaining to rhythm. “Isolation,” is an instrumental composition stands out from the other tracks and in the end demonstrates the band’s musical creativity along with their ability to depart from what one would expect. Although I think the song on this album that vividly stood out for me was, “Together As None.” The song features a well built chorus section and the lyrics were extremely well written to compliment the instrumental composition. In this day and age I feel so many bands fail to capture the essence of their sound with solid lyrical content and this song was rather refreshing to hear.

   I believe Cauldron did a tremendous job on, “New Gods,” by conveying a classic metal sound, yet found a way to make the music sound distinct and strengthen their musical identity. Fans will enjoy the balance of classic metal riffs with a more melodic hard rock touch and compared to most of the music coming out, there is no real filler because each song is written with purpose and meaning. There is no slowing down for this band and I foresee them continuing to pour their die hard classic metal worshipping hearts and souls on future releases.

Cauldron "In Ruin"

    2016 really started off with a bang for the metal community and there were many strong releases that came out. Cauldron released, “In Ruin,” on January 8th, but I did not buy the album until about a month ago. Better late than never though, because this album is really impressive and I am already considering it one of the best metal albums of the year. 

    For their fourth full-length studio album, the traditional metal trio from Canada really hit a home run. I honestly felt after their debut full-length album, “Chained to the Nite,” the other previous albums were just continuing what the band had done on that album. “Chained to the Night,” is an epic release that pays homage to eighties metal bands. However, “In Ruin” demonstrates Cauldron’s ability to write catchy songs that captures the spirit of the eighties metal, but also take listeners into this well produced world that is Cauldron’s own sounding creation. From the lyrics, to how the album was recorded and to the guitar riffs, everything is just raised to a higher level of metal music quality. 

    To start, I cannot begin to stress how important songwriting is and the instrumental presentation needs to fit the songs. Cauldron shows a solid mastery of their instruments and they apply that to their songwriting by coming up with really good tracks on this release. The opening song, “No Return/ In Ruin,” starts out with a very old school thrash sounding guitar riff that develops into a chord punching verse part. Cauldron is able to transition from verse to chorus with great synergy. Ian Chains plays a fierce solo that gets the job done and does not contain unnecessary notes. Also, drummer Myles Deck and bassist/singer Jason Decay provide a strong rhythmic backbone throughout the song. 

    Track number two, “Empress,” is an enjoyable piece and begins with an acoustic guitar riff. The phrasing of the guitar riff helps amplify Jason’s lyrical presentation during the song. Following it up, “Burning at Both Ends,” hammers out a fast paced tempo that appropriately matches the song’s lyrical theme. “Hold Your Fire,” the fourth track on the album happens to be my favorite song. The main riff can stuck in your head for hours. It is not an extremely technical riff, but the simplistic hard rock chord progression is the perfect match for this song. Also, Jason’s vocals sound amazing to where I can hear how he has progressed as a vocalist. Overall, “Hold Your Fire,” is just a great simple classic metal style sounding song. 

    Even after a great song like, “Hold Your Fire,” Cauldron is not finished offering more killer tracks. “Come Not Hear,” begins with an isolated riff from Mr. Chains and then kicks off with a thunderous drum and bass build up. There is a very melodic chorus, which is interesting given the song’s dark subject matter. The next song, “Santa Mira,” has a more thrash bite to it and the guitar playing at times conveys such raw attitude. “Corridors of Dust,” reminded me of the Cauldron sound from the early albums, which I think is not bad at all. 

    For track number eight, “Delusive Serenade,” the band comes up with a very creative instrumental piece. They use acoustic guitars and cleverly construct diverse sounding sections. Ian sort of steals the show with his lead guitar playing and acoustic fills, but the band sounds super tight on this instrumental. Finishing up the album, “Outrance,” rips into a heavy jam of old school metal worship, yet contains that distinct Cauldron sound. For nine songs I swear you can’t find one out of place tune or filler track. 

    Yeah, the review for this album is a little bit late, but I really want more people to check out this album. Cauldron’s “In Ruin” took me by complete surprise, especially since the band has played it very safe and sort of released the same album in my opinion since “Chained to the Nite.” Honestly, talk about a band stepping up their game and putting together a phenomenal album. If you are a fan of traditional classic eighties metal and good melodic hard rock/metal music, you need to check this out. 

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