As the year in music winds down, we’ve given plenty of artists a chance to reveal their favorite music of the year. Now it’s our turn. We’ve already given you Zach Shaw’s, Nick DeSimone’s, Anthony Maisano’s and Chris Colgan’s. Now we bring you Chip McCabe’s list. Chip’s weekly column Dissident Aggression tends to focus on more underground releases, so it should come as no surprise that some of these are appearing on a year-end list for the first time.
10) Usnea, Random Cosmic Violence
The Relapse debut from Portland’s Usnea is a brutal mixture of various doom metal influences. It’s the type of record that will absolutely punch you in the gut if you’re not prepared for it. Imagine High On Fire playing funeral doom and you have a close approximation of what Usnea is all about.
Key track: “Healing Through Death”
9) Obliterations, Poison Everything
Los Angeles based Obliterations deliver a nasty, vitriol-spewing album of the highest order. Crust punk/d-beat and grindcore are blended with hardcore elements to create a record to could riot to. Forget being a barn-burner, this one burns the whole damn town to the ground.
Key Track: “Mind Ain’t Right”
8) Agalloch, The Serpent & The Sphere
A lush and beautiful album of Agalloch’s patented folk-inspired, American black metal. (Or is it black metal-inspired folk metal?) Agalloch have been a pretty prolific band for almost two decades now, but this album stands out as one of their best efforts to date. A truly exceptional album from one of the true visionary outfits of the American metal scene.
Key Track: “The Astral Dialogue”
