01) Bell Witch, Future’s Shadow Part I: The Clandestine Gate (Profound Lore)

It probably violates some music reviewer covenant somewhere to have two top 10 albums that are only one song, but this was one I had on repeat throughout the year. The slow pacing of a single-song doom album is the perfect vibe for waking up on a dreary weekend morning. The addition of melodic orchestrations made The Clandestine Gate a go-to album for slow-moving warm-ups at the dance studio.

Key Tracks: “The Clandestine Gate”

Because I can’t truly narrow my list down to only a handful of albums, I’ve added some bonus choices that were excellent, but didn’t quite make the top 10.

Honorable Mentions:

Atavistia, Cosmic Warfare (Blood Blast)

Kalmah, Kalmah (Ranka Kustannus)

Necrofier, Burning Shadows in the Southern Night (Season of Mist)

Full of Hell / Primitive Man, Suffocating Hallucination (Relapse)

Hinayana, Triptych Visions (Napalm)

Spirit Adrift, Ghost At The Gallows (Century Media)

Hanging Garden, The Garden (Agonia)

It is dead / void me, untitled split album (Fiadh)

Ice Giant, Ghost of Humanity (Independent)

Solemn Vision, Despite the Rise of the Sun (Black Lion)

Scorched Moon, Obsidia (Independent)