January 2014 Best Metal Albums
2014 is underway, with our first monthly best albums list of the year. January is usually a pretty slow month, with fewer releases than any month other than December, and 2014 was no exception. Here are our choices for the month's best new metal albums.
Catharsis Absolute, Avichi's new album, continues where The Devil's Fractal left off, with another exploration of moody, melodic, dissonant black metal with Orthodox overtones. The primary focus of the music is the riffing, with lots of catchy tremolo picking and a soothing, almost droning feel and vibe.
"Voice Of Intuition," a standout track, captures the mood perfectly, an excellent example of Avichi's strengths. The drums are a nearly steady blastbeat that periodically downshift to a mid-paced tempo, a dynamic bass lurks in the background, and Aamonael's gruff, muted vocals complement the music.
Read the complete Avichi - Catharsis Absolute Review
It has been a long five years since Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep, the debut from this Canadian/Swedish collaboration. But Culted have put every moment of experience in that time into Oblique To All Paths. In doing so, they've created one monster of an album.
Culted build subterranean monuments of devastating tone mixed with crushing riffs, noise, and fearsome, grisly blackened vocals. They sound dirty and driven, pulling darkness and angst from deep in the Earth's core. As the title suggests, their doom sounds unique and forges their own way. It's massive, moody, monolithic; an organic manifestation of like minds.
The Final Revolution puts all the Pro-Pain pieces together. It's a straightforward audio affidavit of what a metal quartet can accomplish by stripping it down to the basics. Passion, energy, middle-fingers at attention as they protest the ills of society,
Pro-Pain pour out their disgust from every track of The Final Revolution. The album is a lean and mean, piss-on-you metal machine. It is above all an album centered on vocals. With a mix so skillfully scooped in the mids to give ample space to Meskil’s vocals, the intense messages spitting out from between the brace of bad-ass guitars are convincing and visceral at the same time.
Read the complete Pro-Pain - The Final Revolution ReviewMore »
Like a bomb detonating with no warning or disinclination, Condemned to the Systemblasts every inch of the eardrums and guts from the first song to the final blow. The first track “Freedom of Religion” will punch you right in the stomach. As your innards are being forced backwards in an aberrant position the catchy hooks will force your diaphragm to expel for air, making it difficult to breathe. The rest of the album repeats that process over and over, with songs like “Hate & Deception” and “F--k the World” standing out.
This is a band and an album for fans of old school/classic grindcore like Napalm Death, Repulsion, and Terrorizer. This is definitely one of those albums you don’t want to sit on…put the needle to the vinyl and let it ride. Side note: Nausea haven’t released a full-length album in 20 years and it was definitely time to break the silence.
Delivering the Black contains its fair share of uptempo power metal anthems. Songs like opener “King For a Day,” “Delivering the Black” and the superb closer “Inseminoid” are filled with a driving tempo, blazing double bass and grandiose vocals. The latter is one of the best speed metal songs of their career.
What makes the new record stand out is that the tempos are varied and they are slowed down on a lot of the tracks. This brings a variation to the flow and helps with the songwriting not being repetitive like on prior releases. Delivering the Black is Primal Fear’s best release in over a decade as it sits right along the best in their discography.
Read the complete Primal Fear - Delivering The Black Review
1. Avichi - 'Catharsis Absolute' (Profound Lore)
Catharsis Absolute, Avichi's new album, continues where The Devil's Fractal left off, with another exploration of moody, melodic, dissonant black metal with Orthodox overtones. The primary focus of the music is the riffing, with lots of catchy tremolo picking and a soothing, almost droning feel and vibe.
"Voice Of Intuition," a standout track, captures the mood perfectly, an excellent example of Avichi's strengths. The drums are a nearly steady blastbeat that periodically downshift to a mid-paced tempo, a dynamic bass lurks in the background, and Aamonael's gruff, muted vocals complement the music.
Read the complete Avichi - Catharsis Absolute Review
2. Culted – 'Oblique To All Paths' (Relapse)
It has been a long five years since Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep, the debut from this Canadian/Swedish collaboration. But Culted have put every moment of experience in that time into Oblique To All Paths. In doing so, they've created one monster of an album.
Culted build subterranean monuments of devastating tone mixed with crushing riffs, noise, and fearsome, grisly blackened vocals. They sound dirty and driven, pulling darkness and angst from deep in the Earth's core. As the title suggests, their doom sounds unique and forges their own way. It's massive, moody, monolithic; an organic manifestation of like minds.
3. Pro-Pain - 'The Final Revolution' (SPV)
The Final Revolution puts all the Pro-Pain pieces together. It's a straightforward audio affidavit of what a metal quartet can accomplish by stripping it down to the basics. Passion, energy, middle-fingers at attention as they protest the ills of society,
Pro-Pain pour out their disgust from every track of The Final Revolution. The album is a lean and mean, piss-on-you metal machine. It is above all an album centered on vocals. With a mix so skillfully scooped in the mids to give ample space to Meskil’s vocals, the intense messages spitting out from between the brace of bad-ass guitars are convincing and visceral at the same time.
Read the complete Pro-Pain - The Final Revolution ReviewMore »
4. Nausea – ‘Condemned to the System’ (Willowtip)
Like a bomb detonating with no warning or disinclination, Condemned to the Systemblasts every inch of the eardrums and guts from the first song to the final blow. The first track “Freedom of Religion” will punch you right in the stomach. As your innards are being forced backwards in an aberrant position the catchy hooks will force your diaphragm to expel for air, making it difficult to breathe. The rest of the album repeats that process over and over, with songs like “Hate & Deception” and “F--k the World” standing out.
This is a band and an album for fans of old school/classic grindcore like Napalm Death, Repulsion, and Terrorizer. This is definitely one of those albums you don’t want to sit on…put the needle to the vinyl and let it ride. Side note: Nausea haven’t released a full-length album in 20 years and it was definitely time to break the silence.
5. Primal Fear - 'Delivering The Black' (Frontiers)
Delivering the Black contains its fair share of uptempo power metal anthems. Songs like opener “King For a Day,” “Delivering the Black” and the superb closer “Inseminoid” are filled with a driving tempo, blazing double bass and grandiose vocals. The latter is one of the best speed metal songs of their career.
What makes the new record stand out is that the tempos are varied and they are slowed down on a lot of the tracks. This brings a variation to the flow and helps with the songwriting not being repetitive like on prior releases. Delivering the Black is Primal Fear’s best release in over a decade as it sits right along the best in their discography.
Read the complete Primal Fear - Delivering The Black Review
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