2013 was not all that fruitful a year for me when it comes to new albums, it was more about live music. I saw metric fuck-ton of badass shows this year, but 2012 had a larger crop of exciting albums to offer.
This is just a quick little roundup because I've already discussed each of these albums, but I feel oblige to do a "best of" post. Because that's what bloggers do. Right? I guess.
Alter Of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury
The river of weird metal continues to flow onward, but this is some particularly weird and particularly scary shit right here. It'll rip your face off and additionally, it's much prettier than your face. Which isn't saying much, really...
Author & Punisher - Women & Children
By a long shot, the most frightening, aggressive things to happen this year and naturally that leaves it very near and dear to my shriveled, ashen heart. I love knowing that industrial music is not completely dead, and this is about as industrial as it gets, in a literal sense.
Jesu - Every Day I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came
Damn that's a pain in the ass to type. But I'm so pleased to hear Jesu coming back around. I liked this album right off the bat, but it continues to grow on me. It's good to hear Broadrick progressing forward with this project and getting out of that hole of imitation he was stuck in for a little while.
Man's Gin - Rebellion Hymns
This could so easily be just another quaint old-timey load of costumey shite, but no. It's 100% legit, honest and real.
Subrosa - More Constant Than The Gods
Dude. DUDE. (incoherent screaming)
Honorable mentions:
Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks
This album was weirdly under the radar. All of a sudden... NEW NIN HOLY SHIT WOW. I was pretty skeptical because I was so impressed with Year Zero and wholly underwhelmed by... uhh... the one that came after it. Trent keeps saying he's done with the project, yet he keeps on truckin'. Hesitation Marks is not great, but it's rather good and it's SUPER poppy. I still feel pretty muddled about it and I can't properly express my feelings on it. It has some killer tracks, but it also some some real bonerkillers and a tendency to build up and not pay off. However, I really like the idea of including 2 different mixes, one that panders to the loudness wars and one for audiophiles. I don't have the most sensitive ears thanks to years of bad volume/earplug habits, but I can hear the difference and it's enlightening about sound in general to listen to them back to back.
Palms - Self-titled
I was really excited for this because I'm a gigantic Isis fan and this is basically Isis with Chino Moreno on vocals. I was quite taken with it when I finally heard it, but it didn't really hold up to my play-it-into-the-ground regimen that I apply to every album I get super freaked out for. It's a shame because there's so much potential here. I hope they do another album because I don't believe that this is the best this group of people can do.
