Daniel Cordova's Top 6 Albums Of 2017 (Thus Far)
Galactic Empire – Galactic Empire
I’ve probably listened to this record more than anything else this year, and I feel like I have to include it based on that fact alone. Star Wars metal has been done before, but not this well. These guys shred through parts of the the most important score to my childhood, and it gives me feelings in a whole new way.
Mastodon – Emperor of Sand
Once More ‘Round The Sun had to grow on me. The Hunter had to grow on me. Emperor of Sand had be from the get go. I haven’t loved a Mastodon record this much since Crack The Skye. This one is already one of my favorites from their catalog.
Brutus – Burst
This is an album that came out of nowhere for me. They’re a Belgian trio that plays mix of sorta-math rock, sorta-stoner metal, sorta-hardcore punk. Regardless of label there is so much emotional weight in this album.
Gone is Gone – Ecolocation/Arcadea – Arcadea
Grouping these is cheating right? It totally is. Anyway, these are both Mastodon off-shoots Gone is Gone is the heavy atmospheric project of Troy and Arcadea is the electronic experimental madness of Brann. They both show entirely different sides of tremendous musicians, and I hope for more from both of these.
Without Waves – Lunar
I've clearly got a thing for eclectic prog bands, and Without Waves may be the most eclectic I've encountered this year. Sometimes they sound like Deftones, other times like Rush, other times like East of the Wall, and other times like Chon.