Yesterday I ended the roll-out of our annual list of Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. As I’ve explained, it was more of an arbitrary halt than an orderly conclusion. When I began the rollout back on January 2 I had a big group of songs I knew would be on this list, but I hadn’t finished the selection. I started the rollout, and then continued to make up the list as I went along. I’m still not finished, but decided that we shouldn’t be continuing with a 2016 year-end list past the end of January in the new year.
Although many more songs could easily still be added, I do think the list, as it is, provides a decent snapshot of both the quality and the diversity of metal in 2016. And I think that’s true even though we only focused on the most “infectious” songs (some of the best songs and albums released in 2016 weren’t really “infectious”, but were stunning listening experiences nonetheless).
Of course, the list is a reflection of my own tastes, though I did try to cover a broad spectrum of genres and sub-genres. As we always do around here, I also made sure that lesser-known underground bands were represented along with the higher-profile groups. But of course I didn’t listen to every album released last year, or even to all of the roughly 800 songs that were recommended by our readers (though I listened to the majority of them). Continue reading »