Well my fellow metal heads, it’s that time of year again. No, I’m not talking about Christmas or Hanukkah or any other “controversial” holiday. I’m talking about the top ten albums of the year. Specifically, those of the headbanging kind. I’ve listed my first 5 choices below. You’ll have to wait in eager anticipation for the top 5, which will be up on December 23rd. First, here are the honorable mentions:

Honorable Mention:
Machine Head – The Locust
Children of Bodom – Relentless Reckless Forever
Textures – Dualism
Cynic – Carbon-Based Anatomy
Amogh Symphony – Quantum Hack Code

If you know your music like the back of your penis like I do, then you’ll notice that Quantum Hack Code actually came out last year. But it was so close to 2011 (December 25th) and so awesomely djent that I decided to put it up anyway. Because I don’t give a fuck and that’s how I roll. Now, without further ado, here are my 10th to 6th favorite albums of the year.

10. Opeth – Heritage [Tracks: 2, 5, 6, 7, 8] One of Opeth’s most ambitious, and risky, albums to date. It’s also the one that has gained the most respect from me. Heritage shows that they want to make the music they want, not what their fans what. Because of this, Heritage has become a very polarizing album, but I’m sure, just like Damnation, it’ll be regarded as an Opeth classic 5 years from now.

9. Obscura – Omnivium [Tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8] Christian Muenzner said it perfectly when I spoke to him at their show in San Francisco: Everyone’s got musical chops, but only a few can actually execute it to perfection. Obscura is the definition of Technical Death Metal, and Omnivium showcases their musical talent to near-perfection.

8. Scale the Summit – The Collective [Tracks: 2, 5, 6, 9] Saw these guys play with Cynic and 3, and while Cynic was awesome, Scale the Summit stole the show. They sounded phenomenal live, which is even more impressive considering just how much thought and effort their music takes to play. Also, Chris Letchford is one of my favorite 8-string guitarists. There. I said it.

7. Unexpect – Fables of the Sleepless Empire [Tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8] Unfortunately, Unexpect is probably the most obscure band on this list. Since they’ve mainly released their albums independently, they don’t get too much publicity. However, don’t let that fact stray you from their music. These guys are awesome. If you listened to their last album, know this: this album is still sporadic but in a more focused fashion as opposed to In a Flesh Aquarium. If you’re into avant-garde extreme metal, or 9-stringed basses, listen to this album now. Dammit.

6. Mastodon – The Hunter [Tracks: 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 13] Following an album as big as Crack the Skye is definitely a worthy task, but Mastodon pulled it off. While I was a bit disappointed that The Hunter didn’t feature any new epics (their longest song is just over 5 and a half minutes), that doesn’t mean the songs don’t have any depth. Also, The Sparrow is by far the best outro of the year. Oh, and this is the greatest thing ever.

Credit goes to my man James Marchetti for the awesome artwork above

Brootalisk’s Top 10 Loud Rock Albums of 2011 (#10-6) is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Leviathin’s List of 2009′s Most Epic Albums Part 1

10. Porcupine Tree – The Incident (Roadrunner)
This is a 2-disc album, with the first disc being a straight 55 minute epic. Leave it to Steven Wilson. The only complaint I would have is that pretty much none of the tracks can really stand alone but as a whole its an epic song. If you want to hear just a part, check out the edited version of ‘Time Flies’ on their lastfm page.

9. Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays (Nuclear Blast)
My favorite power metal band. They haven’t lost their touch at all. I love listening to them in the winter… They just seem like a winter band. This album is one of their best so far. Tony Kakko can sing the shit out of anything. Not as many epic super high screams as I would like but that doesn’t hurt it too much.

8. Animals as Leaders – Animals as Leaders (Prosthetic)
I wanted to put ALL of the instrumental metal bands I discovered this year into my list, but that would have taken up half the list and most of them don’t even have labels yet (see: Exivious and Cloudkicker, seriously, check them out) so I decided to put up the one I listened to the most. Animals as Leaders is like a more hardcore Scale the Summit, which is great. This is the album for someone trying to move into metal without words I think. It’s not all weird and introspective, its just metal, its easy to get.

7. Dream Theater – Black Clouds and Silver Linings (Roadrunner)
This album is Dream Theater, the Dream Theater you know and respect, which isn’t a bad thing, but that’s why it isn’t higher on my list. It’s a good overview of what they can do, but they didn’t really go anywhere new. I was expecting something a little more groundbreaking from them. That being said, if you like Dream Theater, then you will still like this album, but if you don’t this one won’t change your mind about them.

6. Scar Symmetry – Dark Matter Dimensions (Nuclear Blast)
This band comes out with some of the catchiest songs. In that sense, they are like the opposite of Scale the Summit, I can’t focus on anything else when I listen to them, I just want to sing along. One of my favorite Melodic bands, I always love listening to the whole album. If you like this one, go back and check out the rest of their discography.

Leviathin’s Top 10 Part 1 is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz