4. Between the Buried and Me, The Parallax II: Future Sequence (Metal Blade)
With the end of their contract with Victory Records, Between the Buried and Me also decided to end their trend of themed albums that were designed to be played continuously from start to finish. Instead, they went bigger, with a concept that spanned over the course of an EP and a full-length album (with the possibility of more to come, perhaps?). And while listeners may not be as enraptured by the total experience of The Parallax II as they were with either Colors or The Great Misdirect, in some cases, that can be a good thing. Instead of forcing listeners to digest an entire album at once without a break, The Parallax II offers segments of a whole that can be taken individually or all at once for the fully-encompassing experience. The more time passes, Between the Buried and Me are growing to become the kings of progressive metal in North America, and The Parallax II is proof of that. One can only hope that the band will eventually release an album that combines the original EP of The Parallax with this new companion piece. Listening to both back-to-back is truly inspirational.
3. Meshuggah, Koloss (Nuclear Blast)
Speaking of technical metal heavyweights, Meshuggah’s first album in four years has definitely lived up to the hype. Koloss did not have a standout track that enraptured their fans in the way that “Bleed” from 2008’s obZen did. But in this case, that’s a good thing, because every song on Koloss deserves recognition. Filled with polyrhythms, tempo changes, tonal shifts, and other forms of musical wizardry, Koloss keeps listeners excited for what’s next at every point in the album. After more than 20 years of creating the most groundbreaking technical metal and becoming elder statesmen of their genre, Meshuggah still holds nothing back when writing new music. The upward trend that has lasted from Chaosphere to obZen is still continuing with Koloss, and all evidence suggests that it will last through their next album and beyond.
2. Borknagar, Urd (Century Media)
When Urd was released back in March, I said in that week’s edition of New & Noteworthy that “Vortex and Vintersorg together are the newest dual-vocal powerhouse in metal”, in reference to the return of ICS Vortex to Borknagar and his vocal duties alongside lead singer Vintersorg. Well, Urd did not disappoint me when I wanted proof that my assertion was correct. This is, in my opinion, the most incredible material that Borknagar has ever released, even somehow besting 1998’s The Archaic Course in terms of pure compositional brilliance. As I stated, the dual vocals of Vortex and Vintersorg make this the best vocal performance of the year for any album, but that’s just where the greatness starts. The instrumentation throughout the album is golden from start to finish; in particular, the drum performance is overloaded with technical excellence, which only makes David Kinkade’s departure from Borknagar more unfortunate. Regardless, though, in a year when numerous progressive and technical heavyweights released new albums, one of the lesser-known artists came out of nowhere to take the crown. We can only hope that this level of play continues for the Norwegian group.
