2008 Rewind: The Year in Metal
Featured Album
The decreasing cost of recording and distribution (on the Internet, anyway) has resulted in a tsunami of new metal releases. Like restaurants in New York City, you could try out a new one every day for the rest of your life. But remember: dipping your toes in the ocean is much more enjoyable than trying to drink it. Use, then, this roundup of 2008s best metal releases as leads, not as permanent destinations.
The Grind Goes On
Grindcore had a banner year. Pittsburgh’s Complete Failure belched forth a delightfully raw debut, Perversions of Guilt. Italy’s Cripple Bastards gained international notice with the ragingly violent Variante alla morte. Orange County mainstays Phobia returned on 22 Random Acts of Violence with more concise, pissed-off grindcore, albeit with surprisingly professional production. On Cycles, Finland’s Rotten Sound likewise updated an older style — Scandinavian grind — with modern sound and punishing results.
Faster and Furiouser
Fans of finger-twiddling also found 2008 fruitful. West Virginia prog/thrash/death metal outfit Byzantine issued a powerful swan song in Oblivion Beckons. Influential jazz fusion/death metallers Cynic rose from the grave with the lovely Traced in Air — lots of jazz fusion, almost no death metal. Nevermore guitarist Jeff Loomis went solo with Zero Order Phase, which harkened back to ’80s instrumental shred. Measuring the Abstract, Terminal Function‘s spine-tingling debut, updated Cynic with tough riffs and bright synths. Their Swedish compatriots Meshuggah delivered their trademark cold, steely math metal on ObZen. On Ob(servant), Tasmanians Pyscroptic streamlined and added hooks to their technical death metal.
Stuck in the Sludge
Slow and heavy won the race this year. Southern Lord reissued Burning Witch‘s output in Crippled Lucifer, a lavish yet essential package. Seattle’s Earth continued their ongoing Americana experiment with The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull. UK doomsters Esoteric made a mammoth comeback with the two-disc The Maniacal Vale. Canadian doom/drone duo Nadja put out music seemingly without filter — over 10 releases in 2008! Fortunately, most were worthwhile, especially Desire in Uneasiness and II: Points at Infinity, a collaboration with UK avant-doom outfit Atavist. Portland’s Trees unfurled a two-track, 27-minute funeral doom landscape in Light’s Bane. The Roller‘s self-titled debut had this year’s most creative packaging, which included paintings and a short story book created specifically for the project.
Back to the Future
Retro sounds also haunted 2008. Dutch outfit The Devil’s Blood conjured up psychedelic, occult-flavored classic rock on Come, Reap. The UK’s Diagonal evoked acid-soaked flashbacks on their self-titled debut. San Francisco’s Hammers of Misfortune unveiled two albums at once, Fields and Church of Broken Glass. The epic endeavor looked back to ’70s psychedelia, yet looked forward with a progressive lyrical outlook. The UK’s Viking Skull, once a joke band, delivered a serious hammer blow with the Black Sabbath-inspired Doom, Gloom, Heartache & Whiskey.
A Fine Time to Die
Straight-ahead death metal held its own in 2008. Tokyo’s Coffins created quite a buzz with the ten-ton, old-school stylings of Buried Death. Krisiun further cemented their status as Brazil’s top metallers with the focused and pummeling Southern Storm. Greece’s Septic Flesh returned from a five-year hiatus with the massive, imperial Communion. Fellow countrymen Terrordrome made an eponymous debut of state-of-the-art brutal death metal. Sweden’s Those Who Bring the Torture channeled Bolt Thrower on their war-themed Tank Gasmask Ammo.
None More Black
Black metal was in a state of flux, with no paradigm shifts or game-changing releases. Instead, the genre mainly looked back with reissues and retro retreads, or took tentative steps forward. Two of the choicest reissues came from Sweden’s Watain, Rabid Death’s Curse and Casus Luciferi. Leviathan‘s legendary Lurker of Chalice guise also got a much-needed reissue. As for new music, Norway’s ever-improving Helheim stepped up on Kaoskult with a sturdy blend of Viking and black metal. Also literately exploring issues of nationalism was the UK’s Winterfylleth, on The Ghost of Heritage. The year’s most forward-looking black metal came from North America. New York City’s Krallice spun a dizzyingly technical, abstract web on their eponymous debut. Montreal’s Menace Ruine crushed drum machines and shoegaze textures into a blackened powder on Cult of Ruins. Finally, Virginia’s Wrnlrd gnarled black metal with dark ambience and backwoods Americana on one of the year’s most idiosyncratic releases, Oneiromantical War.
Stuck Between Stations
Some of the year’s best sounds had many slashes between descriptors. Sweden’s Crowpath entwined death metal, grindcore, and all-around abrasion on the aptly-titled One with Filth. Florida’s Gigan, formed from Hate Eternal alumni, added a curiously psychedelic touch to technical death metal on The Order of the False Eye. On War Metal Battle Master, Chicago’s Lair of the Minotaur forged sludge, doom, and thrash into a rusty, deadly blade of metal. Trap Them unloaded yet another document of their feral live show on Seizures in Barren Praise. Crust punk, grindcore, and bottomless doom metal — the record had it all.
