‘Tis the season yet again! While many massive magazines and websites have been dishing out their year-end lists there are many of us that wait for the very end of the year to gather our favorites and gush over records that were some of our favorites. This is a fun time of year for me that’s filled with looking back with an equal amount of looking forward. For many of us, 2018 was yet another flagship year for metal with so many massive albums coming out in droves to stun us time after time.
While I, regrettably, didn’t fall in love with many large acts like many have it’s with the underground yet again that delivered more excellence yet again for me. Many new bands, as well as familiar names, stunned me this year, and the number of amazing albums was simply staggering. It made me increase my original number of favorite albums to make it the most I’ve done thus far, and the number of Honorable Mentions for this year is also higher than any previous list of mine! For truly, 2018 had so much to offer that it was impossible to let great underground works such as these go unnoticed, unheard, and unrepresented.
For now, though, this is but a prelude as you might imagine. My Top 35 Albums of 2018 will be released on tomorrow, New Years, but don’t this palette cleanser let these albums be seen as no less than fabulous. These are all albums that I enjoy and wholeheartedly recommend but don’t love. Like every year, these lists were akin to splitting hairs, but it’s a fun and invigorating process nonetheless.
Note: to listen to the album or a song from it click the band and album name but if you wish to read my review of the album simply click the cover art. Whatever floats your fucking boat.
Note 2: These are ordered in no particular order. I enjoy all these albums as I said, but not enough to put them in a descending list. I find all these records deserving of more attention, fans, and recognition in the wider scene, and I truly hope some of these impress you enough to support them.
“..an absolute devastator of a record that has got to be heard by anyone who’s ever been entranced by the multi-faceted nature of tech-death or even by anyone who likes flashy guitar work”
“…an absolute joy to listen to that really sucks you into a powerful vortex that fucking gets better and better with every single listen without fail.”
“…a being that is to be marveled at, feared of, and listened to as it is an absolute juggernaut of a single track…”
“It takes us through all the layers of pagan black metal by two fairly underappreciated acts that have demanded more attention for years”
“…what if we simply explored the vacuum without getting too atmospheric and instead went with some always classy, vicious black metal with a tinge of thrash for good measure?”
“…a very unexpected experience, but one that’s just unique enough that you should behold its power just to see what the underground is still very capable of.”
“This album is perfect for a drive, perfect for meditation, and an overall great heavy record that has so many flavors and is so diverse…”
“Sojourner’s debut album gave them quite the name and a devoted following upon its release, and “The Shadowed Road” will only bring greater praise…”
“…the very thing that the underground fans of death metal have needed with the sheer craftsmanship and the tasty treats that are in every corner of this album making it something truly wondrous to behold in all of its bloody splendor.”
“My only lament: the album ends.”
“…one of those wonders that even if you don’t know what the fuck is even going on it’s still a fantastic fucking thing to behold.”
“…the epitome of modern stoner rock with that psychedelic edge and instrumental weaponry that has allowed The Re-Stoned to be such a revered act…”
“…the most intoxicating I’ve seen since both Whispered and Downfall of Nur which is extremely welcomed for me…”
“…the entirety of this record will surely be hailed as one of the greatest slabs of unrelenting brutal death metal we’ll see all year. If it isn’t, it fucking should be.”
“…immaculate blackened funeral doom that truly knows how to bring things up a notch and that allows Great Cold Emptiness to put themselves away from the main crowd of black metal…”
“…not at all for the weak-willed as “Dor” is depressing, it’s sad, it’s the shit that will make you want the ones gone to come back, but holy hell did Clouds hit the nail right on the head…”
“…nearly an hour of immersive black metal that encapsulates the Canadian winter better than any other band while being carried by the occasional riff, terrific vocals, and an impeccable sense of musicianship…”
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