(NCS contributor Wil Cifer returns with another year-end list. His lists are always eclectic, and not the usual picks you’ll see at many other places, and this year is no exception.)

There goes 2019 with all its cats at the tables, baby Yodas and Thanos memes. As people become angrier at the world around them the need for darker and heavier metal increases. Yeah, Blood Incantation put out a pretty good one, but was it something I really wore out?

I could pick all the cool albums and throw on here or I can pick the albums I acutally listened to more than a handful of times The one thing that is consistent is every time I make these there are grumbles about how I forgot your mom’s favorite tech death band or why would I choose a band that paid to go into a studio and record songs when Inverted Nun Dildo farted blast beats into a tin can?

The answer to those questions is: Every morning I wake up to a few dozen promos in my in-box from record labels, PR companies, and Satan himself. I automatically delete anything in the headline that says technical, slam, bestial, or raw. Because I know it will sound like all the other bands whose albums I could only get two songs into. Then I look for things hinting that they may be dark, have melody, and perhaps do something different than all the other bands. I normally end up deleting those too, after pressing play and hearing that it should have been described as a bestial slamfest. Yes, I hear Necro Abortion Technical Institute and yes, it was deleted.

You might have read my reviews throughout the course of the year here and other places, so the spoilers have been alerted, and some of these should come as no surprise. Four of these bands I have been a long time fan of, others I clicked the right places at the right times. All of these are in my iPod being listened to, and that is what matters. Continue reading »