The Rotting: 2009

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Top Albums Of 2009- No.1

Converge. That name says it all. I remember seeing their video for Concubine/Fault And Fracture and being blown away yeah, but at that point in time, my musical side was not mature enough to understand the advanced musicianship that was in these songs. Sure I was blown away by the fast pace, the ungodly screaching vocals, the guitar riffs that were out of this world, the gurgling bass, and the precision of the drums. But through time, and through another great video ( Eagles Become Vultures) I became a humongous fan of Converge and what they're doing. Now yeah, I stole my first Converge C.D. ( You Fail Me), but that album in itself brought me to realize the amount of expirimentation there was to bring into fruition in music of any genre. But not to review You Fail Me ( Which I recently picked up for $2.99) Axe to Fall is an album that sets the new standard of any extreme genre of music. Sure they have the punk influence, the hardcore influence, the grind influence, the expirmental side of each of the songs blazers, but this album I believe they finally perfected their experimental and , for lack of better words, "indie" side. Tracks 1-4 ( Dark Horse, Reap What You Sow, Axe To Fall, Effigy) stream together with no reason to believe they aren't one single song ( which would have been insane 7 minute song of everything that makes you love Converge) but it's when "Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast" that you get a hint of whats later to come in this album. This song is a beast of sludge, with bassist Nate Newton( Also of Doomriders fame) kills it on the chorus ( Left your throne in foreclosed homes/Claimed that crown of decay/Built castle walls with blood and bone/To shield your soul from wither and decay). The next songs push the boundaries for each song and take you to the full potential of Converge, leading up to the epic album closers " Cruel Bloom" and "Wretched World". I don't even want to start on these two songs because I'll never stop. Hands down, Best album of 2009, in my opinion. If there is any band to look forward to, it is Converge. I enjoy every album of theirs equally and enjoy it's affect on me, but this one is in my eyes, their best, though Jane Doe really set a new and high bar of music, and was one of their first Career defining drops, the same went for You Fail Me, and No Heroes, but this fucking album, sets a bar unattainable for any other band to reach.

Top 5 Albums Of 2009- No.2

Isis. I heard about them back in like 2004, they were in Revolver Magazine, in an article about the top new American Metal Bands that were up and coming. Now this is the funny part among this article included- Himsa, Pig Destroyer (who'd been around for awhile already...) Eighteen Visions, Shadows Fall, Bleeding Through, and All That Remains; So obviously Isis is way out of place here. And of course through reading this article, I assumed they were another metalcore sounding band ( although Pig Destroyer was way out of place in this article too). Fast-forward a year or so and I start listening to Isis, finally finding out that they are far from a metalcore band, and I think, safe to say, far away from being Metal. If anything this band is its own genre. No lets get into Wavering-Radiant. After many upon many listens to this fucking album, I think I have finally realized every piece of music that is involved in this album. I really at first only listend to two songs from this album ( Ghost Key and Stone To Wake A Serpent) mainly because I didn't think the album could get better than these two songs. I was extremely wrong. Every song on this album has many key points, many points where they introduce a sound or note or riff or lick or new bridge section, that makes the song even more enjoyable. Ontop of that I believe that withing their last 3 main releases, each was to build up to this album. They could have got lazy and just rewrote the same stuff they've been doing, but instead they pushed theirselves to release this amazing album. I look forward to anything else they do.

Top Albums Of 2009- No.3

I do not think I can say enough good things about this album. Me and Kevin discovered this band awhile ago, and I'm assuming he went ahead and started listening to them more than me. Eventually I re-discovered this band, and finally took in what their doing. This fucking album, is perfect, it mixes everything I love, and turns it into an musical assault were anything can happen. There aren't no solos, or freaking technical stops and gos and breakdowns. This to me is a fast passed sludgeish, freaking ambient, punk band. Singers vocals sound like Coliseums singer. And the music sounds as if Colisuem, Isis, and Kylesa formed a super-groud. Amazing album.

Top 5 Albums Of 2009- No.4

This album I just got into. And it blew me away. I go on download sprees were I just download as much music as I can in a short period of time, and then listen to all of it. I've heard of Magrudergrind, listened to 'em, and watched their videos but just wasn't digging it. Than I listened to this album, and holy-fuck. I'm used to many of hardcore bands now, trying to re-create a "power-violence" band, with small flashes of grind, but most of them keep to the "core" and stick to an overall punk/hardcore sound. This album strays from all the fakes. Pure pissed grind. You can only love a three-piece grind band who pushes the limits of grind infused punk, who relies more so on their grind roots to attract fans. This album in itself helped me get back into one of my favorite genres of music. GRIND!!!

Top 5 Albums Of 2009- No.5

Beyond probably being the only hardcore album this year that I actually liked, this was the only album I got a chance to listen to near the end of my 4 months in Fort Benning, Georgia, where I attended basic training. This album captures hardcore and what hardcore should sound like in 2009. Tons of sing-alongs, mosh-parts, the two steps, the fast parts, the sick-intros, slayer-esque breakdowns, and deep lyrics. Me and my bud Private Burzynski, had to sneak into our "locked" room to listen to this album on his Iphone to get away from all the loudness and be able to enjoy the music. Long story short we got our platoon in trouble cause we were un accounted for, but who cares, it was worth it.