Matt Bacon's Top 5 Albums Of 2017 (Thus Far)
Alestorm – No Grave But The Sea
Any album that has a song called “Fucked With An Anchor” is a shoe in for any list I write, but Alestorm go above and beyond mere silliness on this release. This is a band who understand the power of good songwriting and there is something totally entrancing about their ballsy dedication to the high seas, partying and of course the rage of the pentahook. As much as they might be tongue in cheek this is a band who smash all of their peers in terms of sheer talent. Also there is a version of this record with dog barks instead of vocals and it's amazing.
White Ward – Futility Report
One of my favorite discoveries of 2017 thus far, White Ward are a black metal band who fearlessly incorporate a jazzy saxophone into their Ulver inspired black metal sound. There is something totally fascinating about the way that this band creates music with a very real ebb and flow. The drops into pure jazz after moments of raw black metal are delicious and have me coming back and constantly begging for more.
Ecstatic Vision – Raw Rock Fury
When Bob Seger talks about his love for “Old time rock and roll” this is what he's talking about. On their thrilling debut Sonic Praise we heard the band channeling their inner MC5. Raw Rock Fury pushes the envelope even further with jaw dropping sounds, powerful explorations and a dedication to the sides of rock and roll that are far too often ignored by modern fans. Ecstatic Vision will mesmerize you, whether you like it or not.
Crypt Rot – Embryonic Devils
“OOGH” is perhaps the only term which can properly describe this band. With monolithic chugs, DIY intro tracks, an obsession with gore and of course corpse paint Crypt Rot blew me away for a band who randomly stumbled into my apartment at 9AM on a Thursday looking for a place to shower. THIS is death metal done right, they are part of this new wave of bands who understand the swaggering might of the genre and you can't help but to fall in love.
Pallbearer – Heartless
I mean – was there ever any contest? If I was told that Heartless was the last metal, or hell, last rock record of all time I would be happy. Sure Pallbearer can keep growing and they probably will somehow crank out something even better than this masterpiece, but right now it feels like Heartless is the greatest thing to ever come out of the doom metal genre that wasn't written by Black Sabbath. Utterly monolithic, stately and destined to take over the world, this is an album that will awaken you to a brave new world.
