236: Origin

Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 236 features an interview with Paul Ryan of Origin.

[cover photo by Rodrigo Fredes]

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Episode 100 - Origin

Here's the 100th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Paul Ryan of Origin.

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Bandcamp Picks - Origin, Abnormality, Nocturnus AD, Hypoxia, Ancient Torment, Devouror

It was over 20 years ago that Origin exploded out of Kansas to show that American death metal was capable of more than endless variations of Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse. Abiogenesis - A Coming Into Existence compiles the band's demo (songs that would later appear on their eponymous debut) with re-recordings of Paul Ryan's previous death/grind bands Necrotomy and Thee Abomination. It's these tracks that will be of most interest to Origin fans - with Ryan handling all the instruments, they provide a window into the influential guitarist's development as a songwriter, starting with short blasts of Brutal Truth-style grind before growing into the unique technical death/grind band they are known for today. [Also, they provide some clues as to how much of Origin's uniquely percussive style is thanks to drummer John Longstreth.] With Origin seemingly treading water for the last couple of albums, hopefully Ryan's return to his roots will mean a return of the immediacy and inventiveness that made his band so special all those years ago. [$7.90]



Of the newest generation of American death metal bands, perhaps none are more compelling than Boston's Abnormality. Their third album Sociopathic Constructs shows the band has no intention of backing off from their jackhammering onslaught, combining speed and flawless musicianship with a confidence that speaks to their progression from ambitious upstarts to assured veterans. [$9.99]



Death metal lifer Mike Browning returns with yet another incarnation of Nocturnus, this time calling themselves Nocturnus AD. Ignoring the complicated history and legal issues behind the band name, Paradox hews as close to the original Nocturnus albums as you could hope for: A frantic display of classic Florida death metal with ethereal keyboards and convoluted riffs, with the ultra-compressed mix adding to the early Nineties authenticity. The best thing ever released with the Nocturnus name, give or take a couple of letters. [$8.99 CAD]



Hypoxia subverts expectations of what it means to be a New York death metal band. Their second album Abhorrent Disease shuns slamming breakdowns, opting for a speedy style more reminiscent of early Hypocrisy. Kudos to the band for somehow managing to sound fresh and old school at the same time. [$8.99]



Rhode Island's Ancient Torment clearly know a thing or two about the cold. Their debut EP Satan's Legacy Come Flesh cuts right to the bone with four songs of unadorned thrashing black metal, trebley second wave chord progressions assaulting the listener like demonic frostwinds. As cold and merciless as a New England winter. [$4]



Formed by Impiety frontman Shyaithan and other notable members of the Singaporean underground, Devouror are already causing headaches for churchgoers and promoters alike in South East Asia. The four song EP Slay For Satan is as brutal as Impiety, but sticks to a more straight-forward style of thrashing death metal. Unlike their Western contemporaries, Devouror's rhetoric has very real ramifications as they run afoul of government censors and religious organizations in their part of the world - all the more reason to support the band. [€7]

2017: A Year to Survive

One of the more terrible years of my life is coming to a close. But before I get to say goodbye to 2017, I had to suffer through another fucking holiday season of appropriated pagan traditions, crass materialism and yuppie entitlement. Do you know anyone who hates Christmas? I mean, genuinely despises it? Well you do now.

Among the more useless traditions of the season is the year end list. As people gather around their screens to feel smug about how hip or "kvlt" their music choices are (delivered to them by the ür kvlt platforms of Spotify and Apple), I thought I'd try something a little different. Instead of "the ten best albums of 2017", I revisited releases by the bands who I've been listening to for a decade or more; the bands whose music shaped what I listen to - and in the case of one band, who I am.

Death Metal World Cup Final Match: Origin vs Behemoth

	VS
Origin Omnipresent		Behemoth The Satanist

Death Metal World Cup Semi Finals: Origin vs At The Gates

	VS
Origin Omnipresent		At The Gates At War with Reality

Death Metal World Cup Quarter Finals: Origin vs Cynic

	VS
Origin Omnipresent		Cynic Kindly Bent to Free Us

Death Metal World Cup: Entombed AD vs Bloodbath

	VS
Entombed AD Back to the Front		Bloodbath Grand Morbid Funeral

Death Metal World Cup: Origin vs Beneath

	VS
Origin Omnipresent		Beneath The Barren Throne

#HAILSPACE

34 minutes after I had pressed play, my consciousness returned and I took in the destruction to my home. My furniture was smashed to bits. Electronics lay in broken piles. On the other side of the apartment wall I could hear the neighbour's kids crying. Someone had called the cops; the sirens got louder, signalling their imminent arrival. As I prepared to set fire to my worldly belongings and go out in a hail of gunfire, I decided to hit play one last time.



The album I've been waiting for all year has finally arrived: Mighty Origin has unleashed Omnipresent, and god damn, is it something.

After the somewhat experimental Entity, I was wondering where Origin would go next. How far would they push their newfound love of groove and melody? Would the results still be death metal? The answer to that second question is an emphatic "yes". There's nothing as gonzo as the skronking midsection in "Committed"; and any hope of the band topping the best death metal album of the last decade were unrealistic. Antithesis is, and probably will always remain, the band's high water mark.

But taken on its own, Omnipresent is a work of remarkable craftsmanship. Though on occasion the band retreads past glories, there are enough moments that show Origin isn't afraid of tampering with their formula: "Redistribution of Filth" is three minutes of moshpit bait that may be the result of touring with Misery Index. And a black metal influence makes itself known with "Source of Icon O" being a fairly obvious (smart-ass) shout out to Emperor, as well as closer "The Indiscriminate" recalling the epic melodicism of the dearly departed Dawn.

Anyone who's seen Origin in the last few years knows what an entertaining presence frontman Jason Keyser is on stage; but in his first studio outing with Origin, he delivers some of the best vocals that the band has ever had on record. Alternating in classic grind fashion between a low bark and a high pitched scream, he's the vocalist that Origin has always needed.

Guitarist Paul Ryan, of course, is the heart of the band. Origin are often painted with the "technical death metal" brush, but while Ryan is a fret burner of the highest order -and the number of bands biting his style seems to be multiplying exponentially - it is his prowess as a songwriter that makes Omnipresent such a delight. The album is filled with memorable moments; nothing is overly complicated for its own sake and songs never outstay their welcome. Indeed, one of the great joys of the album is its brevity. Minus the occasional interlude and instrumental, it's barely half an hour long. [Reign in Blood anyone?]

On top of it all, behind it all, in front of it all, around it all: John fucking Longstreth, blasting away. There may be more inventive drummers in death metal right now (Ulcerate's Jamie Saint Merat comes to mind), but there are few who drive the music forward with such ease. One of my major regrets is that I didn't get to see Origin tour with Gorguts, when Longstreth play two sets per night.

I listened Omnipresent four times just the Friday I downloaded this; by the time the week-end had finished, the number of plays had probably tripled. I can't wait to load this up on my running playlist and take it out for a spin. I have a feeling I'm going to need a new pair of shoes by the end of the month.

2014 has been a banner year for death metal, but Omnipresent makes all the rest redundant. I don't want another death metal album for the rest of the year. I don't need one.

#HAILSPACE.

Mighty Origin Found Your Keys (and 9 other reasons why they rule)

At the end of last year, Origin braved the cold to open up for Gorguts on a two week tour, their last one supporting Entity. I'm sure the whole tour was mindblowing, but their gig at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn was a rundown of reasons why Origin is the greatest death metal band around right now, as seen in the video above (time codes provided for easy scanning).

1 - Breaking the ice with stagedives (9:06)

Upon realizing that the epic "Wrath of Vishnu" wasn't getting the response it deserved, vocalist Jason Keyser knocks the audience out of its somnolent state by hand selecting an "icebreaker" - and chose possibly the least qualified person in attendance to stagedive. To the dude's credit, he went for it. When mighty Origin calls, you accept the charges.

2 - Mighty Origin found your keys (19:53)

Of course, jumping on and off stage and unto complete strangers does come with risks. Halfway into the set, Keyser holds up a set of keys that someone lost in the mayhem, and gives them back to their owner without missing a word. When did David "Hiphugger" Vincent ever do that? One expensive visit from the locksmith avoided, thanks to mighty Origin.

3 - Behold, the Silent Wall of Death (29:50)

Not for mighty Origin the usual moshpit shenanigans; when I saw them in 2011, they organized possibly the biggest headbang circle I've ever seen. This time, they introduced the "Silent Wall of Death" (taking some well deserved shots at Emmure and Winds of Plague in the process), and only started the madness of "Swarm" after the kids had already charged headlong into each other.

4 - They're playing in front of my old apartment

Anyone who knows me knows I fucking hate living in Malaysia. But I've never hated this godforsaken shithole more than while I was watching this concert - which took place in my old neighbourhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, less than 5 minutes from where I used to live. I could have put on my shoes, walked to Saint Vitus, watched Origin, returned home to make myself a sandwich, and been back to the club in time to see Gorguts' full set.

Seriously: Fuck this place.

5 - Their singer is hesher Tim Robbins

Remember the crazy European metalhead Tim Robbins played in Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny? Take away that guy's bad teeth and European accent but keep the slapstick and deft one-liners, and you've got Origin's new frontman, Jason. And really, who wouldn't want metal Tim Robbins singing for their band? I don't recall any major outcry when James Lee was ousted; I liked Lee's vocals (and his looming stage presence) but the addition of Keyser has made Origin one of the most enjoyable live acts around.

6 - Guitarist Paul Ryan holds that shit down

Now the sole guitarist (and lead songwriter) of Origin, Ryan's sick riffage and flawless shredding holds the band together. AND he provides backing vocals. With imitators creeping out of the woods in recent years, Ryan may turn out to be the most influential death metal guitarist since Terrance Hobbs first introduced slow chunky breakdowns to the genre.

7 - Bassist Mike Flores is a good looking man

But maybe I'm biased.

8 - Holy fuck, John Longstreth

I mean seriously. Look at that guy play. He's beating that kit like it owes him money, and he's barely breaking a sweat. Keep in mind, this was only his first set of the night; he played a full hour with Gorguts right after this. Best death metal drummer around right now, with few challengers to that title.

9 - They're making death metal "Omnipresent" in 2014

2013 sucked hairy balls for quality death metal; it was only in the fall when Gorguts and Ulcerate dropped their albums that things started to turn around. Origin already announced their new album will be out by this spring, ensuring that 2014 isn't going the same way. With Behemoth and Vader also releasing new albums soon, this year is already looking like it's going to kick its predecessor's ass. Hail to the blast.

10 - They may be paying me a visit

A little birdie told me that plans are in the works to get Origin down to play Singapore and possibly Kuala Lumpur. I'll believe it when I see it - after all, nothing good ever happens here - but I'm fucking ready. I knew I packed my Origin hoodie three years ago for a reason.

[Thanks to Frank Huang for filming and uploading this video - more from him here and here.]

The Long Hundred

I'm working on a series of posts called "100 Albums I'm Glad I Heard Before I Died." This isn't my argument for the 100 greatest albums of all time: There's no Reign in Blood, no Master of Puppets, no Paranoid, no Number of the Beast.  It's not even a good representation of my favourite bands. Mostly it's a celebration of albums that were of significant importance at a particular time and place in my life; albums that led me down a certain path, musical or otherwise; or obscure releases that I grew to love and could have easily missed out on.

Echoes of Decimation and the Old Gray Lady

Origin, courtesy of Edward Linsmier for The New York Times

The NY Times has an article about the Scion AVfest; it's a pretty meat and potatoes read, though the author does a good job of summing up doom metal for his readers ("they generally descend from Black Sabbath").  Most excitingly for this death metal fan, mighty Origin are pictured at the top of the page, though they're completely absent from the main text - so if you want an explanation as to why they're the most important American death metal band around, look elsewhere.

Best Albums of 2011

Origin - Entity
Following the exit of guitarist Jeremy Turner and long-time vocalist James King, Origin's sole remaining guitarist Paul Ryan surely faced a quandary. How do you follow Antithesis, the best death metal album of the last 10 years? Is it even possible for Origin to get heavier and faster without becoming one-dimensional and boring?

Luckily, Ryan (backed by drum god John Longstreth, bassist Mike Flores, and former Skinless vocalist Jason Keyser) resisted the traditional sequel mentality ("the same as last time but more so") and opted to tweak Origin's formula by adding groove, melody, and epic slow parts. By not wallowing in past glories, Origin have created Entity, an album that manages to be as awe-inspiring as its predecessor without copying it - and one that perhaps signals the beginning of the next chapter in Origin's stellar career.

Make no mistake: mighty Origin made every other album in 2011 its bitch.

Listen To: Saligia, Swarm, Evolution of Extinction


Abysmal Dawn - Leveling the Plane of Existence
Tech-death at its worst is like an over-choreographed martial arts movie - the acrobatics are impressive, but you're left wondering what the point of it all is. Though undoubtedly playing death metal of the "technical" variety, Abysmal Dawn triumph over their peers by putting their impressive chops in the service of songs that are memorable, the hardest feat in extreme music.

Listen To: In Service of Time, Leveling the Plane of Existence, My Own Savior

Nader Sadek - In the Flesh
Steve Tucker's return to death metal couldn't have been better timed, seeing as his former bandmates in Morbid Angel chose this year to unveil their clusterfuck of a new album. With Cryptopsy's Flo Mounier and Mayhem's Blasphemer, Nader Sadek's debut is as filthy and twisted as crude oil gushing over a nude beach. As far as conceptual death metal albums go, this is a unique and forward-thinking meeting of minds that won't be topped soon.

Listen To: Petrophilia, Mechanic Idolatry, Soulless


Demonical - Death Infernal
With so many great NWOOSDM releases (Feral, Miasmal, Entrails), 2011 was plagued with nostalgia for the good old days of Sunlight Studios. What puts Demonical above every other HM-2 revivalist? Well, probably the amount of times I blasted "March For Victory," THE death metal anthem of 2011. And the rest of the album follows suit, mixing blackened melody with stomping riffs that make you want to raise your fists to the sky, a horn of mead in one and an enemy's head in the other. Like Hypocrisy at their best (and most evil), Death Infernal is perfect for metal festivals and house parties alike.

Listen To: March For Victory, All Will Perish, The Arrival of Armaggeddon, and then listen to March For Victory some more!


Machine Head - Unto the Locust
When I was 15, these guys were the greatest band in the world to me; since then, they've mostly been an annoying reminder of how stupid 15 year olds can be. Over the years, Machine Head - a band that promoted their groundbreaking debut by opening for Napalm Death, Obituary, and Slayer - traded in their credibility by jumping on every bandwagon from groove metal to wiggercore to emo. Though 2007's The Blackening was heralded as a "return to form" by the metal press, to these ears it was more of a cynical attempt at metalcore, while "metalcore" was still a thing. Adjusting my expectations accordingly, I wondered what form the follow-up would take. Certainly the band has noticed the relative popularity of Mastodon and Baroness - would 2011 mark the appearance of a bearded, flannel wearing Robb Flynn, complete with horn-rimmed glasses? Thankfully, they've gone the other way, with 7 songs that draw equally from the members' classic thrash pedigrees as well as classic metal (check out the Manowar steal on "Who We Are"). After indulging in every trend from groove thrash to mallcore, Machine Head have delivered, at long last, a heavy metal album.

Listen To: Who We Are, Darkness Within, I Am Hell


Krisiun - The Great Execution
How does a kvlt South American band best known for bloody pentagrams and uninterrupted blasting age gracefully? By applying the brakes and letting their riffs breathe. Call it the South of Heaven syndrome. Like every band that once vied for the "heaviest, fastest" crown, Krisiun now use speed judiciously, allowing their songs to build from mid-paced gallops before erupting into their trademarked blast. It feels wrong to describe a Krisiun album as "hypnotic," but that seems to be what they're aspiring to. Just as long as they don't abandon the blast, I'm happy.

Listen To: The Sword of Orion, Shadows of Betrayal, The Will to Potency

Vader - Welcome to the Morbid Reich
Like Krisiun, Vader know their popularity lies not in bold re-invention but in dependability. And having pioneered the death-thrash style since the mid-80's, few do it better than these Polish grandmasters. Less manic than 2009's Necropolis, Morbid Reich weaves epic melody into their mix of Slayer and Morbid Angel. A fine addition to a praiseworthy catalogue.

Listen To: Return to the Morbid Reich, Don't Rip the Beast's Heart Out, Come And See My Sacrifice


Primordial - Redemption at the Puritan's Hand
Much anticipated - by me, at least - the new Primordial album carries on from where 2007's To The Nameless Dead left off, with a mix of Celtic folk and blackened doom that somehow manages to be bleak and uplifting at the same time. Over it all, Alan Averill's vocals distill feelings of rage and loss in a way that few metal singers can dream of. The best folk metal you'll hear this year.

Listen To: Death of the Gods, The Puritan's Hand, Lain With The Wolf



Neuraxis - Asylon
It's sort of hard to root for Neuraxis - they've got more than a passing similarity to the trendcore bands of the last decade, and their current line-up is bereft of any original members. At the same time, it was hard not to succumb to their goofy Canadian charm when I saw them live (on both the Sepultura and Deicide US tours). Like Abysmal Dawn, Neuraxis root their technical virtuosity in memorable hooks, but meander ADD-like from riff to riff, causing their songs to morph along the way. Like serpents, if you give them half a chance, they'll make their way into your head and nest there for months.

Listen To: Purity, Left to Devour, Trauma

State of Death Metal, 2011

Morbid Angel's long awaited return (and for some people, long-awaited reunion with eyeliner enthusiast David Vincent) caused no small amount of consternation in the death metal underground. The word had gone out in advance that Morbid Angel had "gone techno," and death metal fans were at turns livid and dismissive of their new direction. My first listen to the album had me hoping that the cd came packaged with glowsticks and a hit of ecstacy. I don't, in principle, have any problem with electronica-infused metal - Godflesh broke down the walls between hesher and raver 20 years ago; the Berzerker did the death-chno thing and were frequently brilliant; and anyone who thinks that housebeats can't be heavy should have a word with Red Harvest.

In truth, the rancor to Illud Divina is a bit of an over-reaction. Half of the songs are classic Morbid Angel and as good as anything they've done since the mid-90's (though tellingly, the best of these were 2 songs written by Destructhor of Zyklon and Myrkskog fame).

Of the sketchier songs, only the closing track (ironically titled "Mea Culpa") comes close to living up to Trey Azagtoth's claims that he's finding new ways of making Morbid Angel extreme (though the song would be improved innumerably by dropping the techno and letting drum scab Tim Yeung just BLAST). "I'm Morbid" takes Marilyn Manson's "Antichrist Superstar," puts it through the death metal ringer and adds some entertainingly Sondheim-esque vocal phrasing. It's a rare case of something being so dumb that it's awesome.


The remaining three songs are as bad as their death-disco reputation suggests, and bring terrible flashbacks of Vincent shaking his hips in the Genitorturers. It's baffling how Trey and "Evil D" thought that they could get away with passing off such dated, hackneyed songs as revolutionary. What's even worrying is the possibility that Trey actually thought they were, in fact, revolutionary.

Morbid Angel picked a lousy year to stage a comeback. If Illud was released in 2010 amidst that year's critically lauded experimental albums (and general lack of quality death metal), Trey and company may have gotten away with their half-baked melange of gabber and blast. In 2011, though, they found themselves in the company of returning veterans at the top of their game, and newer bands using MA's style as a jumping off point in their own bid for elite status, including two that feature Morbid Angel alumni.

Erik Rutan's Hate Eternal have been heavily hyped since their debut was released in 1999; as a true death metal OG (Ripping Corpse, bitches!) and producer/engineer of some of the best death metal albums of the last 10 years, Rutan is one of the genre's major figureheads. It's unsurprising that the former Morbid Angel guitarist's work is largely in the style of his former colleagues, but credit should go to him in trying to outdo them in terms of outright extremity, culminating in 2009's claustrophobia-inducing Fury and Flames. Hate Eternal's latest album, Phoenix Amongst the Ashes, shows the band easing up on the brain melting density of that previous album to include Cattle Decapitation-style skronk.


8 years after leaving Morbid Angel under dark clouds, David Vincent's understudy Steve Tucker has resurfaced in Nader Sadek, named after the Egyptian visual artist who put the project together. I had been seeing flyers for the album for almost a year before it was released; the notion of a collaboration between Mayhem's Blasphemer (guitars), Cryptopsy's Flo Mounier (drums) and Tucker promised, at the very least, a highly enjoyable train wreck. The truth is, it's one of the best, most original death metal albums in years. The album takes Blasphemer's skewed, blackened riffing splits the difference between Norwegian black metal's eerier moments and the creeping lava style of, naturally, Morbid Angel.


Abysmal Dawn parlay their tech chops into actual songs, complete with (gasp!) memorable choruses. It's a meisterstroke for populist death metal, and one that will serve as a high watermark for years to come. If Leveling the Plane of Existence has one fault, it's that the production is so clean you could eat creme brulee off of it. It serves their precision well, but their monstrous hooks deserve at least a little bit of gore caked on them.


For the past decade, Azarath have been rising stars in the Polish death metal scene, and for good reason - they feature Behemoth's Inferno on drums. Blasphemer's Malediction, their 5th album (but first after a significant line-up reshuffling) ditches the lurching Immolation-isms of their previous two albums for a straight-ahead blackened death metal assault...which is a shame, as it was those lurching parts that made them so interesting. Still, this isn't an album that's easy to write off, due to its relative sophistication and confidence. One thing's for sure: this wipes the floor with Lightning Swords of Death, Abominant, and all the American bands who've attempted this style recently.


Of course, one can hardly discuss Polish death metal without Vader, the grand-daddies of the scene. Welcome to the Morbid Reich, their 9th album (not counting live albums, compilations, and demo repackagings) features a somewhat more restrained Vader than the one seen on 2009's blastastic Necropolis.  Not that Vader have changed their sound in any dramatic way; it's just that the new album has more epic overtones over the death-thrash assault, presumably the influence of new lead guitarist Marek Pająk (formerly of prog-death band Esquarial).  Like most recent Vader albums, it features a re-recording of a song from their demo days, in this case "Decapitated Saints" from their debut.  This is a jackhammer that doesn't break any new ground, but for die-hards like me in need of their Vader fix, it hits the spot.


Like Vader, Krisiun were a band that renewed my faith in death metal in the late 90's when the genre seemed stagnant and unexciting. They exploded in those heady days and, along with bands like Hate Eternal and Behemoth, led the charge for death metal's return to relentless extremity. Since those days, though, the band has worked hard to balance their earlier hyperblasting style with experimentation, in an attempt to avoid becoming stagnant and uninteresting themselves. And in that, they've been largely successful. The Great Execution is for the most part business as usual for them, though their business is slower this time around. Krisiun does employ a few inventive touches here and there, like the flamenco guitars on "The Sword of Orion." The approach pays off as when they bring back the hyperblast (such as "Extinção Em Massa"), the effect is devastating.


When talking about extreme metal from Switzerland, it's inevitable to think of the wild (and sometimes embarrassing) experimentation of Celtic Frost or Samael; Requiem, however, peddle thrash-influenced death metal in the glorious European tradition of Sinister and Thanatos, with enough blackened melody to keep things interesting. It's pretty meat-and-potatoes stuff for the most part, but with their streamlined approach (they're a power-trio, a rarity in death metal these days), they definitely make a case for less being more.


With their latest album Entity, Origin had the unenviable task of following up the greatest album of its career (the best death metal album of the decade for this longtime devotee) without their longtime guitarist and songwriter Jeremy Turner. Kudos then to Paul Ryan, the sole remaining original member, for resisting the temptation to disappear down the rabbit hole by creating a faster, heavier, or more technical album album - almost assuredly a failed pursuit - and focusing on writing memorable songs. It's not Antithesis Pt 2, but it wipes the floor with every other metal album this year. Tremble, 2011: Mighty Origin have made you their bitch.

Top Ten of 2008

This was originally a Facebook "note." I'm including it here for posterity's sake.  In retrospect, ranking an obscure third-tier metalcore band from NY over Origin's Antithesis (an album I've gone on to call the best death metal album of the past decade) wasn't just evidence of bias, it was pure stupidity. Live and learn.

Eden A.D. - Cycles of Relevance

All right, so the singer and drummer are two of my closest friends, and I personally got namechecked on track 4. You could say that I'm biased. But so what? No other album I've heard this year has met my need for melody and blast in equal measure. A remarkable achievement from one of NYC's best bands.

Origin - Antithesis

ROAAAAAAAAAARGH! Origin finally unleash the album they've been threatening to for 8 years. A masterpiece of unrelenting brutality and jawdropping technical prowess, yet surprisingly catchy and melodic. In a year where so many of death metal's biggest names dropped the ball, Origin deserve to be considered elite.

Bloodbath - The Fathomless Mastery/Unblessing the Purity

Irony is defined as a band formed by members of Edge of Sanity (syrupy melodies), Opeth (long acoustic folk interludes), and Katatonia (downbeat doom rock) paying tribute to the gnarly early work of Grave, Dismember, Entombed, and Morbid Angel, and somehow trumping everything that those latter bands have done in recent years. Starting with the unbelievably heavy teaser EP "Unblessing the Purity", Bloodbath 2008 is a brutal death monster routed in the classic Sunlight sound, but branching out into Meshuggahnized mathness and modern blast. Irony is a band who set out to pay tribute to the classics coming out with a classic of their own.

Krisiun - Southern Storm

My love for these brazilian nuts is no secret; I credit them as being the shot in the arm for death metal that led to the hyperblast trend and the return of true brutal death metal to the extreme metal stage. Since 2006's "Assassination", Krisiun have made it a point to temper their unrelenting double bass attack with rhythmic flourishes that come dangerously close to deathcore pit-baiting. "Southern Storm" continues that trend, and show a Krisiun that's willing to grow as songwriters and musicians but not abandon their hyperblast roots. The only quibble I have is with the inclusion of a cover of "Refuse/Resist"; the Sepultura song provides a nice respite from the violence, but a recording of "Slaves of Pain" or "Primitive Future" would have really put this album over the top. Maybe next time?

Cynic - Traced in Air

What can you say about a sophomore album released 15 years after its predecessor, a groundbreaking release as influential as it was revered? To say the least, expectations were high and haters must have been salivating. Well, Traced in Air is brilliant, falling somewhere between the melodic death metal of "Focus" and the dreamy prog of the "Portal" demo, yet being somehow better than both. Cynic eschew the sleep-inducing fretboard hystrionics of modern tech-death (cough cough Necrophagist cough), instead focusing on actual songwriting. With successive listens uncovering new elements, Traced in Air proves itself an album that rewards patience and attention. An evolutionary sleeper indeed.

Kataklysm - Prevail

Following the Gospel According to Bolt Thrower, Kataklysm plow on with no intention of straying from the path they've laid out for themselves on previous albums. Essentially "The Road to Devastation" pt 2 (or maybe "Epic: The Poetry of War" pt 4), "Prevail" is the same mix of blasting melody and mid-paced chug that put Kataklysm back on the map, taking the prize as the catchiest death metal since Peter Tagtgren's ill-fated bid to reinvent Hypocrisy as a bunch of 30 year old Slipknot fans.

Lord Belial - The Black Curse

A recent craving for swedish black metal led me back to Lord Belial, a second-tier svart metal crew whose "Enter the Moonlight Gate" has been collecting dust in my cd collection for 10 years with little to no interest. Well, praise the Lord, I'm prepared to admit when I'm wrong. With a proclivity towards mid-tempo gallops and a decided flare for melody, The Black Curse finds a comfortable middle ground between early Dimmu and Dissection's thrashier moments. In a year that's notable for its lack of notable releases from black metal's A-list, "The Black Curse" is a nice ringer till the next Naglfar embeds itself in my iPod. It's nothing black metal fans haven't heard a million times before, but right now it's all I need.

Moonspell - Night Eternal

Moonspell was a band that made a career for itself on the back of "Opium", a gimmicky single that my stoner friends in high school loved. Personally, I never cared much for this band. I found their early black metal unconvincing, and their later electronic goth a desperate stab at accessability that never amounted a single memorable song. And over it all dripped Fernando Ribeiro's faux-operatic baritone like so much cheese. So imagine my surprise when "Night Eternal" tore through my headphones with an evil intensity and forceful purpose almost alien to this band's early work. "Night Eternal" plays like a bouillabaisse of all things euro and metal; symphonic keys that wouldnt' be out of place on a Dimmu Borgir album, moody Paradise Lost chord progressions, even little Jesper Strombland guitar flourishes. In a year where so many of the big names fell flat, it's a nice surprise that a lesser light shone through so brightly.

Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull

An album of somatic beauty, Earth's latest plays like the soundtrack to an acid-trip western across the desert sands of Mars. And if that makes any sense to you and you haven't heard this album, then seek psychiatric help immediately.

Trenches - The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole

There seem to be no end of bands following Isis and Neurosis off the post-rock/doomcore cliff like lemmings. Trenches are a Solid State band who shoegaze for the Lord, apparently. "The Tide..." strays into space rock territory, but always finds its way back to the kind of slow pulverizing that built Hydrahead up, stone by stone, brick by brick. It's a pleasure to hear a band of this kind utilize screams so feral and unrestrained.

Others...

Bangs head against wall: Deicide - Till Death Do Us Part

After the career-resuscitating "Stench of Redemption", I had high hopes for this album. Unfortunately Deicide dropped the ball with this paint-by-numbers death metal album. Sigh. Well, at least Glen still has Vital Remains.

I know this is a 2009 album but I can't wait 12 months to praise it: Napalm Death - Time Waits for No Slave

Jesus christ. It's been 22 years since napalm death invented grindcore, they're still the best at what they do. "Time Waits" is the sound of the masters taking on all comers and taking back their crown untouched.

Best tribute to old Iron Maiden: Dismember - The ending to "Under a Bloodred Sky"

Can we skip the double album and just get the good songs: Cavalera Conspiracy-Inflikted/Soulfly-Conquer; Judas Priest - Nostradamus

Max Cavalera gets my thanks for upping the ante on the last couple of Soulfly albums and going back to his thrash roots bloody roots, but all it did was highlight how redundant the much hyped reunion with his brother Igor was. One thing's for certain: the missing element that made those early Sepultura albums such classics and recent Soulfly near misses is becoming clear, and I don't mean Paulo Junior.

Meanwhile, Judas Priest upped the ante on their reunion with a double cd concept album based on nostradamus. Besides the fact that concept albums were always more of Maiden's stock in trade, Priest haven't managed to come up with much in the way of memorable songs with their reunion albums. The sad truth is, I'm hoping for this reunion to dissolve so that Halford can get back to the sublime work he was doing with his solo band.

C'mon it's not so bad: Cryptopsy - The Unspoken King

This album has been flamed since before its official release date, and it's not hard to see why: the once "None So Vile" Cryptopsy appear to have sold out to the metalcore crowd with breakdowns, keyboards and clean singing. Personally though, I enjoy the Mike Patton-esque clean vocals, and when they blast, Cryptopsy are still the sickest out there.

I have a cashmere scarf with the words "Thug Life" embroidered on it: Young Jeezy - Put on (feat Kanye West)

I don't know why, but there's something so satisfying about rolling into art school on the L train through Hipsterburg with this blasting through my headphones.