4) Deafheaven, Sunbather (Deathwish)
Shoegaze and black metal. Not necessarily that different, it turns out. Waves of guitars and effects, shrill vocals that almost sound like another instrument, and atmospheric passages made Defheaven’s sophomore album stand out. It’s hard to really call this a proper black metal album, but it’s definitely extreme, and reached a lot more people than what was likely its intended audience.
3) Byzantine, self-titled (self-release)
After disappearing for about five years, West Virginia’s Byzantine reunited and self-released their self-titled album. While fans of the band knew what they were capable of, they surpassed those expectations. We were psyched and honored to have them play our Metal Insider CMJ showcase, and if this album making my list (and Vince from Metal Sucks’) makes one more person check out this perpetually underrated band, my work here is done.
2) Clutch, Earth Rocker (Weathermaker)
Although Clutch can generally do no wrong, their two most recent albums before this one (Strange Cousins From the West and From Beale Street to Oblivion) started teetering towards jam rock. Thankfully, their reunion with Blast Tyrant producer Machine found them delivering an upbeat, heavy album that lived up to it’s title and was their most lively album in years.
