First off, I - for the most part - fuckin' HATE year-end (so-called) "BEST-OF" lists.
I myself do like to make lists of good music, but fuck if one record is really all that much better than the other - at least when you cull it down a bit, ya know? There's a soundtrack / music for every moment in life, correct?
This list will be in alphabetical order, but other than that, you probably will only agree with me on four or five things on it. It ain't gonna be anything fancy either, basically cuz I don't have the time to do that - I need to get cracking on this instead.
Shit that hella-slayed in 2011:
ABNORMITY - IRREVERSIBLE DISINTEGRATION.
There's some CRAZY / COOL shit going on in Moscow…
It's fucking ABSU, Bitches!!! ACEPHALIX - INTERMINABLE NIGHT.
Way too fucking awesome for a shit-label like Southern Lord, sadly. They won't do anything with them, watch. APOCRYPHON - 2011 EP.
Kick-ass death-grind from SF from the mind of Shelby. AUTOPSY - MACABRE ETERNAL.
*Legend Status* BIG END BOLT - MECHANICAL RACE CREATION.
More. Moscow. Madness… BRAIN FAMINE - S/T EP 2011.
These guys hit me up personally, and while I do NOT promote new bands on The L-R V, these (two) guys fucking KILL IT. CARLTON MELTON - COUNTRY WAYS.
My old pal Andy Zen Guerilla (drum-beast) churns out some early-Pink Floyd-isms for a new (de)generation… CITIZENS ARREST - SOAKED IN OTHERS BLOOD.
*Daryl Kahan Alert #1*. CLOUD RAT - S/T & FEVER DREAMS.
Young Michiganders who play the Powerviolence to my liking, indeed… CONDEMNED - REALMS OF THE UNGODLY.
This is INDEED one of THEE VERY BEST albums of the year, kid. DENIAL FIEND - HORROR HOLOCAUST.
Blaine Accused is on it. He ain't in the Accused no more. WTF!?! DESPISE YOU - SPLIT W/ ANB.
I could two shits about ANB (Love ya, Witte - really). Despise You is more powerful than ever. DISMA - TOWARDS THE MEGALITH.
Daryl Kahan makes the list TWICE!!! DORAID - DEATH LINE CITY.
The Japanese will always be inherently cooler than any of us… FINAL ASSAULT - DEAD BY DAWN.
Finlandia old-school thrash that certainly doesn't sound like it was made by a pack of 20-somethings… FUTUR SKULLZ - S/T.
Some S.F. (former) math-rock heavyweights quit fucking around & decide to stop denying the power of the riff… GOD HARVEST - 2011 DEMO.
One sheer ass-kicker of debut - this unit blows away their previous bands' legacies, etc. Wow! HAZZARD'S CURE - S/T.
The new "Best Kept Secret in S.F." SO. FUCKING. GOOD… IMMOLATION - PROVIDENCE.
Immo fucking KILLS. Always. LOW PLACES - SPIRITUAL TREATMENT.
I didn't want to like this - thought it would be some Converge / Integrity worship - but nope… A39 Records never disappoints… HC still exists, kids. LOW THREAT PROFILE - PRODUCT #2.
*Infest Alert! Infest Alert!* MACABRE - GRIM SCARY TALES.
*Legend Status* METH DRINKER - S/T.
Drug-Sludge from the lower colon of New Zealand. Don't forget to wipe! NUCLEAR CULT - BETTER NIGHTMARES.
The future of hardpowercrustviolencecore… ORIGIN - ENTITY.
I buy my strings from Paul Ryan at Guitar Center when he isn't on the road. He has (crazy) facial hair(s), etc. PULLING TEETH - FUNERARY.
A total cock-punch right here. Like eating a handful of vicodins while drinking Everclear & then getting naked in a bathtub full of jello followed up w/ a blow-job whilst sky-diving w/o a parachute, er… RAW RADAR WAR - WHITE DEATH EP.
*Shout out to my homie Jonah - the man does no wrong, ever. More RRW please!!! SATANIC BUTCHER - ANTI-HUMAN THEORY.
Really wrong but oh-so-right Mexican Blackened Death. Yum! SECTU - INUNDATE.
Cold Swedish tech-death that does not bore. Me. Anyways. SUFFERING LUNA - S/T.
From out of nowhere they arise once again… TOTAL FUCKING DESTRUCTION - UBI NIHIL VALES, IBI NIHIL VALES.
"Hater" was great - as is thier total output - but this short blast is the perfect size… TRIAC - ALWAYS MEANT TO HURT YOU.
Baltimore is a tough town, and these guys are proof of that. TROGLODYTE - WELCOME TO BOGGY CREEK.
Joke band or not, this record serves up some rippin' Yeti-metal. Kansas City BBQ is vastly underrated, by the way. VACCINE - CRIMES IN BLOOD.
Solid powerviolence - that means it sounds scary (like it should). VISCERAL DISGORGE - INGESTING PUTRIDITY.
Baltimore-meets-Moscow (on many different levels). Not just in the Death Metal department… VOID - SESSIONS '81-'83.
All you need, really. Fucking blow-away shit. You don't have it yet? Huh!?! WAR MASTER - PYRAMID OF THE NECROPOLIS.
Classic-sounding Death Metal from Texas. I'm a stickler about young bands that emulate the old-school sound, but this record stands completely on its own w/o sounding "retro". WARHEAD - NEVER GIVE UP.
Hardcore the way that only the Japanese can do it. Glad these guys are still slogging about…
So there you have it.
My list of the shit that came out in 2011 that struck a note in me.
I'm sure your picks are different - and that's ok, too.
FUCK 2011 - HAPPY NEW YEAR, ETC.
