Metal Music

Top 10 Heavy Metal Album Now:

1. Power Trip, 'Nightmare Logic'

Power Trip are the breakout metal band of 2017, armed with razor tight, pit-happy new age thrash hymns found within ‘Nightmare Logic.’ Stripping away any touch of excess (while resurrecting dive bomb solos), the Texas natives pared down cuts like “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” and the title track to perfect mid-tempo juggernauts, dealing death as they upped the intensity on “Soul Sacrifice,” “Firing Squad” and others. Arthur Rizk’s production is entrenched in the old school with raw tones and organic drum sounds that bring the messages condemning power, corruption and greed to the street level. This year belongs to Power Trip and as they boldly declared at the 2017 Loudwire Music Awards, “Watch out old timers, we’re here.”

2.Mastodon, 'Emperor of Sand'

The four-headed beast known as Mastodon reared their collective head in 2017 with the promise of another concept album, this time hitting on the theme of personal loss and cancer. ‘Emperor of Sand,’ like all Mastodon records, is a journey through metal-forged psychedelia with limitless expectations. In a way, this can serve as the quintessential Mastodon album as it touches on sounds heard across their career, throwing in new touches like the alt rocker “Show Yourself” and conjuring a ghastly dark atmosphere that permeates the closing track, “Jaguar God.”

3.Code Orange, 'Forever'

After spending years toiling in the underground hardcore scene, Pittsburgh’s Code Orange would make their biggest impact to date thanks to ‘Forever’ released at the very beginning of this year. Throughout 2017, its album art became a t-shirt icon, due to its genre-spanning appeal to metal fans of any stripe, showing younger sets the doors to weirdness and letting older heads know iteration is happening. Hardcore roots combine with metallic-industrial ugliness for some absolutely crushing heaviness, leaving room for moments of noisy dischord on “The Mud,” glimmers of beauty on “Bleeding in the Blur.”

4.Dying Fetus, 'Wrong One to Fuck With'

Violent and confrontational, ‘Wrong One to Fuck With’ is the album Dying Fetus have been chasing since the slam benchmark (and bench pressing) ‘Killing on Adrenaline.’ Iron-handed, high-stepping breakdowns halt gash n’ slash leads in a 50-minute statement that Dying Fetus remain at the top of the food chain in death metal. As their classic logo was restored, so was the convulsing of their tech-slam tradeoffs on each track, all of them as knuckle dragging as the last. With touring’s importance climbing, having 10 new pit-starts to toss into your set makes Dying Fetus the wrong one to…

1. Pallbearer, 'Heartless'

Since their full-length debut ‘Sorrow and Extinction,’ Pallbearer have made a name for themselves as one of the most exciting young bands in heavy metal, and for doom in the long term. Their take on melding slow-tempo neutron star heaviness with progressive rock came to a head on 2017’s ‘Heartless,’ using their toolset to expand into unexpectedly catchy new sounds. They crush when necessary, and aren’t afraid to let the straight rock ride.

6.Zeal & Ardor, 'Devil Is Fine'

Few bands push forth a wholly unique sound like Zeal and Ardor. Their official debut album ‘Devil Is Fine’ stirs up a cauldron of black metal, blues and soul, giving serious credence to what was originally conceived as a dare on 4chan. Thus was born icy-riffs kindled by chain gang chants and prison songs that sound out of time. It’s a diverse, unforgettable listen, especially poignant against the culture of 2017.

7.Enslaved, 'E'

‘E’ is one of the most exciting albums in Enslaved’s illustrious and continuously groundbreaking career. Always with a penchant for the progressive, they found favor with outside styles (tribal elements and electronic effects) seeping into their heady brand of black metal. The opening dream sequence of “Storm Son” and headphone candy effects make it clear the Norwegians were charting new territory without forsaking their core sound. There’s an episodic nature to each song (see the two halves of “Sacred Horse” for a glimmering example), giving further rise to their all-encompassing scope while adding another wondrous album to an exploratory discography.

8.Cannibal Corpse, 'Red Before Black'

Nearly 30 years later and insatiably murderous, Cannibal Corpse delivered 12 new life-extinguishing, vein-splitting tracks on ‘Red Before Black.’ There’s a sense of urgency across bangers like “Only One Will Die” and the title track, which lead the album. Everything is fueled by the ever-sensational drumming of Paul Mazurkiewicz, who is the highlight of the album with cliffhanger fills, sudden bursts of double kicks and neck-snapping time changes. When you stay true to a time-tested formula, complacency can become an issue, but Cannibal Corpse show far more life than any victims left behind after having their “Heads Shoveled Off” or any other means to a grisly end as evidenced by this album.

9.Converge, 'The Dusk in Us'

Converge do one thing: evolve. ‘The Dusk in Us’ is the New England band’s ninth album, and a result of 25+ years of iterating upon metalcore into their own singular art. They’re aged but never seem out of touch, with “A Single Tear” thrashing to a head, setting the tone for the destruction within. Experiments abound on the title track, a seven-minute unapologetic deep dive into despairing atmosphere. In its core is hope, driving the band for more.

10.Bell Witch, 'Mirror Reaper'

Bell Witch’s ‘Mirror Reaper’ is a monolithic work of doom metal that towers over the rest of their peers in their 83-minute run time. Born from the grief of their fallen founding member Adrian Guerra, ‘Mirror Reaper’ offers a destitute sonic portrait of the band at their absolute depths. Each singular note feels like a chasm of emotion, deep enough to fall head first in, twisting vocals recorded by Guerra before his death that offer a guiding light towards acceptance through hopelessness.

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