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Best of 2018

Chris Luedtke's Top 10 Albums Of 2018

The Monday Grind's Chris Luedtke picks his favorite albums from the year!

The Monday Grind's Chris Luedtke picks his favorite albums from the year!

Well. This was an… odd year. At least for me, it was. But is there a decent way to describe this year in one word? Hmm… Let’s see, how about polarizing? Yeah, to call this year polarizing would be accurate.

I spent about half of it dead, and half of it learning how to live again. Most doctors would tell you that dropping 65lbs in one month isn’t healthy. That was my January. But hey, I maintained a steady diet of almost exclusively whiskey until May. Left Facebook early April and by the time June rolled around, removed one of the most toxic people I’ve ever met from my life.

Come July as the West Coast burned to the ground and horizon view was under two miles, everything did a 180 and it’s like I traded a massive waste of space, for the greatest person. Which to me is interesting because that’s when the quality releases starting really picking up (as they usually do). But upon reflection, as it’s been for me my whole life, the music is always there for you. Now I drink whiskey from my Hello Kitty mug and write this list like the incredibly buff metal meathead that I am.

I’m sure that was all very interesting to you. So, let’s talk releases: I usually do a top 15 for my year end. This year was a weird one though. I reached a point mulling over and over this list where the bottom five of a top 15 felt too interchangeable in terms of quality. So, it’s ten this year.

And here’s my usual disclaimer concerning lists I do for you kids that like to cry, “Why isn’t [insert band here] on the list?” Because it’s not. You want a personally superior list that has everyone you love on it that justifies your enjoyment of a record? Go make one yourself. DIY just like those artists you love so much do. Someone somewhere out there agrees with you. Maybe.

Finally, a big congratulations to the hardcore scene this year for putting out some top-notch releases. I know that death metal has made an incredible comeback but, goddamn, once it got to swinging its releases were crowd-killing just about everything in sight.

Chris Luedtke's Top 10 Albums Of 201810. Tomb MoldManor of Infinite Forms

When it comes to modern death metal, it’d be hard to not bring up the likes of Tomb Mold in a conversation. Their filthy sound, their name, the artwork—everything about this band so drenched in disgust and darkness. Tomb Mold lean a little on doom metal to really bring out an ominous vibe within their sound, but the death metal remains at the foreground. Riff after riff after filthy riff, Manor of Infinite Forms is a death metal record that you need in your library. Even if you don’t like death metal.


Chris Luedtke's Top 10 Albums Of 20189. American NightmareAmerican Nightmare

By the time you read this blurb, the album will be half over. American Nightmare is almost like an antithesis of We’re Down ‘Til We’re Underground. It’s melodic and catchy, yeah, but its only interest is in brief romanticisms with what the band was. What they are now, what this is now, is an interesting mishmash of 80's 7 Seconds-esque burners with the melodic, stripped down flair of the Year One EPs/Demos. It’s memorable, brief, punk as hell, and probably could have been pressed on a 78.


Chris Luedtke's Top 10 Albums Of 20188. Imperial TriumphantVile Luxury

Imperial Triumphant almost defies description, and actually, it’s probably better you just listen to them than read anything about this record. But if you’re gonna keep reading this blurb, well, listen to it a few more times after you’re done here. If there was a 1920s cult-esque black metal band that celebrated decadence and filth, Imperial Triumphant would be it. Vile Luxury is an apocalyptic, seething, experimental album steeped in brass and raw nerves.


Chris Luedtke's Top 10 Albums Of 20187. The Sound That Ends CreationRoses and Thorns and Dead Unicorns

Grind is my go-to genre. Hell, I have an entire column dedicated to it. When I heard that Chris Dearing’s The Sound That Ends Creation (thanks for the kind words on the t-shirt order, dude) was releasing Roses and Thorns and Dead Unicorns, I knew I had to a feature on it. Jazz grind, deathgrind, death metal, tech—this album was Christmas come early to me. Political, humorous, inventive, fast and addictive, Roses and Thorns and Dead Unicorns is a grind album gone wild.


Chris Luedtke's Top 10 Albums Of 20186. Jesus PieceOnly Self

I am probably one of the pickiest bitches in the world about breakdowns and heavier hardcore. To a point, that breakdown hardcore or bands that utilize it too much like Code Orange are the fastest way to put my ass to sleep. Jesus Piece is murderously good at heavy as hell hardcore, with breakdowns that are like dynamite to brick and mortar. It’s hardcore for hardcore, for the hardest moshers on the planet. If you like your hardcore heavy, with a lot of fight, some industrial flair, and no compromises, then Only Self is an album you should already be into.


Chris Luedtke's Top 10 Albums Of 20185. DaughtersYou Won’t Get What You Want

I had to chuckle to myself this year once I saw this get announced. I had finally tracked down a reasonably priced Daughters LP, and suddenly You Won’t Get What You Want gets announced. And I’d say I got exactly what I wanted. Daughters remains my favorite heavy album, but You Won’t Get What You Want is exactly what its follow-up should be. It’s The Jesus Lizard having a really bad day after listening to a little too much Have A Nice Life or The Body. Probably both. It’s adventurous, gloomy and humorous. Alexis S.F. Marshall’s lyrics are as biting and sarcastic as ever. Meanwhile, the combined efforts of guitarist Nick Sadler, bassist Samuel Walker, and drummer Jon Syverson craft some of the eeriest, most rambunctious songs you’re going to hear in a long time.


Chris Luedtke's Top 10 Albums Of 2018 4. portrayal of guilt Let Pain Be Your Guide

There was some hype surrounding portrayal of guilt, in case you missed out on that leading up to this release. A 2017 self-titled EP that saw three pressings totaling 1500 copies, a split with Street Sects, as well as a release with the mighty Gilead Media all in a year should tip you off that there’s something special about this band. And on this debut, these guys sound like they’ve been honing their craft for a long, long time. Let Pain Be Your Guide doesn’t so much as start as it erupts with “Daymare” and never truly fluctuates from there. Aggressive and melancholy, yes, but even when the band is letting this slowdown, they’re still slamming forth. A healthy dose of modern hardcore, metal, screamo (ala City of the Caterpillar or pageninetynine) are thrown on the chopping block and stitched back together with ferocity.


Chris Luedtke's Top 10 Albums Of 20183. Outer HeavenRealms of Eternal Decay

To me, death metal hasn’t had a finer moment this year than with Realms of Eternal Decay. This old-school slab has some of the slickest, sickest songs death metal has to offer. Opener “Vortex of Thought” sets everything up perfectly. A pummeling of riffs and then a plunge into the sewage drenched depths. Start to finish, every aspect of this record is damn near perfect and ripe with decay. I’ve been listening to this album almost daily since I got the promo and it’s not coming out of rotation anytime soon.


Chris Luedtke's Top 10 Albums Of 20182. SectionedAnnihilated

It’s late April at my garbage day job, my roommate comes into work, sets down his Sony speaker and puts on this album. And as the title track opens, it feels like humanity is rapidly dissolving before my eyes. My veins and teeth clench and it’s like extinction is just around the corner. To which I say, bring it on. The momentum and chaos Sectioned have channeled here is almost unprecedented. Annihilated is 42-minutes of rampant hardcore and never once does it feel rehashed, worn out or uninspired. Chaos is law, elimination is likely, and you’re probably going to lose some hearing if you crank this sucker up in your car as I did. But I keep coming back for another beating.


Chris Luedtke's Top 10 Albums Of 20181. VeinErrorzone

Since I first heard the Terror’s Realm EP back in 2015, I thought of Vein as the future of hardcore. Needless to say, with that sort of thinking, my expectations were soaring for the Boston five-piece. And goddamn did they transcend them. Yeah, you can call it the best album of 1999. You can bask in its nu-metal influences. It’s not like they’re denying it. But goddamn does this album tear it up. Hardcore at heart with plenty of metal, nu-metal and screamo experimentation. Errorzone is an amalgamation of destruction and devastation. Go to a live show and see for yourself.

HONORABLE MENTIONS (no order)

Convulsing – Grievous

Horrendous – Idol

Cult Leader – A Patient Man

Yob – Our Raw Heart

Wake – Misery Rites

Author & Punisher – Beastland

Infernal Coil – Within A World Forgotten

Ulthar – Cosmovore

Behemoth – I Loved You At Your Darkest

Endless Swarm – Imprisoned In Skin

The Body – I Have Fought Against It, But I Can’t Any Longer

Pig Destroyer – Head Cage

Portal – Ion

Fister – No Spirit Within

Hissing – Permanent Destitution

Languish – Unworthy

Jesus Ain’t In Poland – No Man’s Land

Attan – End Of

LLNN – Deads

Gnaw Their Tongues – Genocidal Majesty

Panopticon – The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness (I & II)

KEN Mode – Loved

Hot Snakes – Jehrico Sirens

Stimulant/Water Torture – Split

Parius – The Eldritch Realm

Grave Upheavel –

Thou – Magus

Fucked Up – Dose Your Dreams

Cripple Bastards – La Fine Cresce Da Dentro

Human Cull – Revenant

Bongripper – Terminal

Flešš – Frenzied Bloodlust Underneath A Black Moon

Occelensbrigg – The Quest of Star Mountain

夢遊病者 – 一期一会

Negativa – 03

GREAT NON-METAL/NON-HARDCORE ALBUMS

Tomberlin – At Weddings

Self Defense Family – Have You Considered Punk Music?

Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog

American Pleasure Club – A Whole Fucking Lifetime of This

Cold Cave – You & Me & Infinity

 

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