This might be of interest to some people here. It’s a decent representation of what’s notable in the metal underground right now, even if it does lean a little bit avant-garde. I’m definitely digging the Striborg, the Gorgoroth and the Boris.
I couldn’t really get into that Striborg CD. All of his new material (the Embittered Darkness half, I think) seemed way too relaxed. If you’re going for that raw, buzzy, low production quality sound, you might as well go crazy every once in a while. The second half of the CD was better but not amazing.
Now, Gorgoroth, on the other hand. Wow. I’m with you all the way on that one.
The Agalloch album made my top 5 of 2006, but none of my others were on there. Here’s my list for the few who might be interested:
5.) Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain
4.) Green Carnation - The Acoustic Verses
3.) Mercenary - The Hours that Remain
2.) Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance
1.) Amorphis - Eclipse
Actually, the Borus/Sunn 0))) collab record (“Altar”) was far stronger than “Pink” - and “Pink” is one of the best records of the year.
And honestly, any such list not including Dragonforce’s Inhuman Rampage is pushing some sort of agenda. Especially when they include Scott Walker’s The Drift, which is a terrifying and weird but certainly not metal record.
Thanks for posting, I’ll be sure to give a listen to a few of those. The Boris CD is the only one on there I’ve got; it is really good, better than their new collaboration with Sunn o))) (which isn’t bad itself). There were a couple other good metal records that flew under the radar this year. One is Witch’s self-titled album–good stoner/sludge metal project, with Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis playing drums. The other is Evil Army’s self-titled album, which is my favorite record of the year. Great classic thrash sound, calls to mind early Metallica, Slayer, and DRI; thrash fans should definitely check it out.