[EDITOR’S NOTE: Here’s Part 3 of our UK contributor Andy Synn‘s retrospective on the year in metal. This one is all the bad news. We have a feeling there will be a few reader disagreements. Don’t hold back on the comments! We want to be entertained!]

Andy Synn’s List of 2010’s Most Disappointing Releases

First things first, this was honestly the hardest part of the series to put together. Just because these albums are in the “Disappointing” section doesn’t mean that they are bad per se, merely that, for whatever reasons, I found the release to be a disappointment.

Perhaps it was due to previous standards set by the band themselves, perhaps statements from the band promised something they eventually failed to deliver, perhaps it’s something more intangible. In each case I have provided some reason’s for my overall disappointment, which will hopefully go some way towards mollifying the lynch mob I am expecting this section to attract!

Either way, please read on… and don’t kill the messenger!  (yes, do read on, after the jump  . . .) Continue reading »

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 2 of our UK contributor Andy Synn‘s “year in review” piece. Yesterday, we featured Andy’s list of “the greatest” albums he heard in 2010. In Part 2, he lists and discusses albums that failed to make “the greatest” list but were still good.]

Andy Synn’s List Of Albums From 2010 That Can All Be Variably Classed As “Good” Albums

Each of these albums is, to my ears, objectively good in its own right. Each band is clearly playing from the heart and has composed and performed their songs with a clear passion for the music. Whilst we have seen some bands take 2010 as a year to consolidate the gains of the past few years, others have attempted to expand their remit somewhat, resulting in some experiments which, whilst not always fully successful, have been welcomed by many as a way of progressing each band’s sound and sense of identity.

Kudos to all the bands on the list, young and old.

Good

Abigail Williams – In The Absence Of Light
Aborted – Coronary Reconstruction EP
Amorphis – Magic And Mayhem
Arsis – Starve For The Devil
As I Lay Dying – The Powerless Rise
Barren Earth – Curse Of The Red River
Beneath The Massacre – Maree Noire
The Binary Code – Priest EP
Bleeding Through – Bleeding Through
Carnifex – Hell Chose Me
Conducting From The Grave – Revenants
Daath – Daath
Deathspell Omega – Paracletus
Demon Hunter – This World Is A Thorn
Dimmu Borgir – Abrahadabra

(the balance of Andy’s “good” list follows the jump, along with his commentary on the choices . . .) Continue reading »

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of four posts by our UK guest contributor Andy Synn looking back at the year in metal. We will post the remaining parts over the three days that follow, culminating with Andy’s Top 10 list(s) of the best metal albums of 2010. As always, we invite your comments.]

Whilst reviewing the year 2010 in metal, I’ve chosen to split all the albums I have listened to and feel that I am capable of judging into 3 different categories. First of all you’ll get the albums which I feel are the “Greatest” releases of the year, then the albums which were all of a high standard will be presented in the “Good” category – all highly respectable, but perhaps a hair or two short of greatness.

Finally you’ll see the albums which I feel have been “Disappointing” this year, varying between them in quality from good to poor, but none of which I could, in good conscience, include in the other categories due to their inherent flaws, regardless of my personal feelings towards either band or album. That column in particular is bound to draw down some real ire, although I promise it’s all done in my honest opinion and with no agenda in mind.

Anyway, here’s a list of all the albums and EPs from this year that I have listened to and enjoyed but which, as opposed to those in the “Good” category, I believe could/should be objectively seen as “Great” by a listener other than myself. Removing subjective considerations and biases as far as possible, I’ve tried to list and comment upon all the albums I think deserve the highest accolades this year.  (Andy’s list, and his comments about it, follow the jump . . .) Continue reading »

The latest issue of REVOLVER magazine arrived in the mail yesterday, because our subscription still hasn’t expired. Not likely we will renew it; the percentage of bands the magazine covers that we care about has been dropping steadily over time.

The current issue includes the magazine’s list of “THE 20 BEST ALBUMS OF ’10”. This list tends to confirm our dissatisfaction with REVOLVER’s drift.

On the one hand, Watain and Bison B.C. are actually on the list. On the other hand, they’re at the very bottom, eight and nine spots below — wait for it — Ozzy Osbourne‘s Scream. That makes us want to scream.

On the one hand, the list includes Deftones, Fear Factory, Triptykon, and Nachtmystium. We wouldn’t put those on our personal lists of Top 20 albums for the year, but that’s mainly a matter of taste. At least we can understand why those bands are appearing on lots of Best of 2010 lists we’ve seen, because the albums are good. On the other hand, Korn, Rob Zombie, and The Devil Wears Prada are also on the list.

And then there’s REVOLVER‘s choice for the album of the year. Well, see for yourselves. The whole list is after the jump. Feel free to agree or disagree (violently) in the comments. Continue reading »

The current issue of DECIBEL magazine — the only print metal mag we read any more here at NCS — has been sitting un-read for the last week.  I’ve been too busy listening to music and dealing with, y’know, life. But this issue does list the magazine’s choices for the Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2010, (despite the fact that more than a month was left in the year when this list was compiled). I’ve at least perused the list, and I have to say, I nearly fell out of my chair in pleasant surprise at the No. 1 and No. 2 albums of the year. Hell, I was pleasantly surprised at the list as a whole, and how many choices I thought were right on.

Of course, it’s missing albums I think should be listed (including the two quite recent releases by Evocation and God Dethroned), but there’s a lot of very heavy, very good music on this list.

We thought you might like to see the whole list if you’re not a subscriber and haven’t seen it elsewhere. Here you go, in rank order from bottom of the list to the top:

40. Darkthrone, Circle the Wagons
39. Lantlos, .Neon
38. Hail of Bullets, On Divine Winds
37. The Dillinger Escape Plan, Option Paralysis
36. Decrepit Birth, Polarity
35. Intronaut, Valley of Smoke
34. Early Graves, Goner
33. The Body, All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood
32. Father Befouled, Morbid Destitution of Covenant
31. Deftones, Diamond Eyes
30. Nachtmstium, Addicts: Black Mettle Pt. II
29. Christian Mistress, Agony & Opium
28. Unearthly Trance, V
27. Fear Factory, Mechanize
26. Pivixki, Gravissima

(and the Top 25 follow after the jump . . .)

Continue reading »