Greg's Top 5 of 2016 (So Far)
I wrote that whole top bit, so let that serve as a good portion of my introduction. Essentially, my choices are based on albums I feel not only outdo their peers, but ones I can see myself listening to years down the road and still being blown away by.
These are in no particular order.
Vektor – Terminal Redux
When you take five years between records, your comeback essentially has to be nothing short of an absolute masterpiece. So Vektor kept that in mind, went the extra mile, and wrote arguable one of the best albums I've heard in a long time when it comes to progressive metal. Terminal Redux is a thrash-drenched sci-fi thriller that deserves nothing less than to be etched in every metal fans' mind as a lesson on how to craft a concept record. Despite insane song lengths, the songs are varied and memorable, the solos are incredible, and David DiSanto's voice is just something else all together.
Buy Terminal Redux via Earache here.
Katatonia – The Fall Of Hearts
To me, following up Dead End Kings seemed like one hell of a task. Much like Vektor, Katatonia had taken some time off from proper studio albums to do a variation on the aforementioned album, as well as a live album, before sitting down to generate some new material… but they did, and it's beautiful. The Fall Of Hearts capitalizes on the somber moods of Dethroned and Uncrowned, but throws a plethora of keyboards at it and then covers the whole thing in a down-trodden heaviness that'll leave you breathless. Just like Terminal Redux, it's an album for the ages that you'll find something new to love (or mourn) on every single listen through.
Buy/hear The Fall of Hearts through various outlets here.
God Body Disconnect – Dredge Portals
God Body Disconnect belongs to the genre of dark ambient, though my forages into the genre have never turned up something quite like this. God Body Disconnect, the project of ex-NJ death metal unit Dripping's Bruce Moallem, is an exercise in everything from reverberating, spacious beauty to claustrophobic scenes of unease and abject horror. If anything, Dredge Portals falls comfortably into the realm of post-metal and drone, though boasting a relevant genre label or not, I guarantee that the album will take you on an incredibly vivid journey. Go get a pair of headphones and lose yourself in the narrations. Now.
Buy/hear Dredge Portals via Cryo Chamber here.
Haken – Affinity
Every single time Haken puts out an album, I think to myself "okay. This is definitely the album I will look back on and wonder if they'll ever be this good again." Then Haken puts out another one and the cycle repeats, though honestly, I haven't a single clue as to how Affinity could ever be topped. The whole progressive rock genre could be stopped right here and it would be an extremely solid end to it all. Affinity is just perfect, from its song writing, to wonky instrumentation, to genre/time period jumping ("1985," anyone?), even down to the vocal inflections and little nuances in each and every solo… it's just unfair, man.
Buy/hear Affinity through various outlets here.
After The Burial – Dig Deep
All I have to say about Dig Deep can be summed up with two words – holy shit. This is the record After The Burial has been building up to its whole career. The musicianship in the writing is nailed down to a science, the riffs drift from tendinitis-inducing to downright groovy, and the production lets nothing go unheard. This is After The Burial at its absolute finest hour, albeit simultaneously it's most somber considering the passing of Justin Lowe… though this is his legacy, and what a legacy to leave.
