Top 10 Records of 2019, With Bo Mendez
10. Death Angel – Humanicide 
B.M: Bay Area thrash proves that it’s the gift that keeps on giving with this latest offering from Death Angel, something I consider to be a birthday present just for me (both the album and I, uh… dropped? on the same date, albeit a few years apart). Nearly 4 decades after the band’s debut, Humanicide continues to capture the energy of beer-and-skateboarding-fueled, punky old school thrash alongside deft musicianship and occasional forays into the progressive and discordant. Just as thrash should be, the album is ferocious and in-your-face, and the perfect soundtrack for those days where anyone and everyone deserves a middle finger salute.
9. Exhorder – Mourn the Southern Skies
B.M: Exhorder’s first release in TWENTY SEVEN YEARS is such a comeback that I didn’t even know there was a point to come back from. A band that had been completely off my radar managed to blow my mind completely with a release that is groovy, sludgy, thrashy, and bluesy all at once. While there can never be a replacement Pantera (nor are they trying to be one), this release certainly fills a portion of that void with its Southern-twinged and raspy take on thrash metal. It’s a joy to welcome Exhorder back into the fold, and let this be a sign of more great things to come from a band who is proving that it’s never too late to make a new impact.
8. Venom Prison – Samsara
B.M: Another album with a powerful message, and another foray for me into the uncharted waters of death metal. Less-refined than Death Atlas in the best way, Samsara finds its strength in a messy, washed-out wall of riffs and relentless assault on the senses. Interspersed with knuckle-dragging grooves or the occasional Middle Eastern-tinged melody, the instrumentalists of Venom Prison provide a perfect backdrop for vocalist Larissa Stupar’s grim and rightfully misanthropic shrieks about the violence and injustices of modern society, particularly those endured by women at the behest of the so-called “pro-life” movement. The subject matter and unbridled rage exhibited on Samsara crystalize the darker feelings of living through our recent history.
7. Soilwork – Verkligheten
B.M: Arguably the first great album of the year, Soilwork continue their seemingly unstoppable onslaught of meticulously composed melodic metal, even with the changing of the guard as Bastion Thursgaard takes over for longtime drummer Dirk Verbeuren. Taking a slight step back from some of the more aggressive fare of their previous releases, the band has honed a somewhat throwback approach to their songwriting. Steering more toward the “melo-” than the “-death”, the band delivers big-feeling and big-sounding tracks that combine some of the finer moments of NWOBHM bands with a more modern progressive edge, driven by the impeccable vocal work of Bjorn Strid. Containing hook after hook, this album set the tone for the year.
6. Bad Omens – Finding God Before God Finds Me
B.M: Bad Omens is a new band I gave a shot after many a recommendation from friends. Fairly distinct from other things on this list or in my regular rotation, this release is infectiously catchy and represents a refreshing take on some of the characteristics of many modern metal releases, including the inclusion of electronic samples, non-traditional elements, or heavily-processed guitar tones. From the pseudo-Celtic, spaghetti Western opener “Kingdom of Cards” to the reflective “If I’m There,” the album touches on furious riffers (“The Hell I Overcame,” “Blood”), hard rock bangers (“Running In Circles”), and tracks that even incorporate the minimalist, gothic approach of some contemporary pop music into a metal-influenced analogue (“Mercy”). The diversity and hookiness of this release seats Bad Omens alongside their counterparts across the pond, Architects and While She Sleeps, at the forefront of modern metalcore bands who are using the genre’s fluidity to its full advantage.
5. Alcest – Spiritual Instinct
B.M: Kodama builds on its predecessor’s foundation, replacing Kodama’s quieter contemplation with a liberating energy. The vast, textured soundscapes on Spiritual Instinct conjure images of breaking waves, windswept plains, snow-capped mountain peaks, and all other things epic and grand. Immersive layers of textured guitars mingle with tastefully-dynamic percussion, alternating between light beats and articulate blastbeats, to create a truly cohesive and cinematic listening experience. For those who want to be transported by something that, like a thunderstorm, is simultaneously beautiful and furious, this is the album for you.
4. FEVER333 – STRENGTH IN NUMB333RS
B.M: Where do you draw the line on what exactly counts as “metal?” Is it heavy guitars, aggressive vocals, or pounding drums? Well this has all those things, but interweaves them with gritty punk energy and cutting hip hop delivery. FEVER333’s latest full length shaped my 2019 by offering up an effortless blending of notoriously honest musical styles, without any of the forced posturing or sluggishness of 2000’s nu metal. It feels truly new and different, and for this it stands out. Combined with the album’s raw personal and political narratives, this was more than an album; this was a statement.
3. Slipknot – We Are Not Your Kind
B.M: Somehow after over 20 years and a recent history laden with setbacks, Slipknot sound at their most renewed and rejuvenated on this latest offering. While their previous album (and first since the tragic death of bassist Paul Gray) was arguably their “comeback,” WANYK showcases a true return to form, at once brooding and brutal, layered with atmosphere, furious riffing, and anthemic choruses. This album is a huge release for one of the biggest bands in metal, and displays a well-executed melding of the style that made them so unique in the days of their self-titled debut and the years of maturity in songwriting and performance that they’ve achieved since.
2. Killswitch Engage – Atonement
B.M: After I gave it an admittedly lukewarm reception following the releases of singles “Unleashed” and “I Am Broken Too,” Killswitch Engage’s latest release staged a comeback thanks to aggressive tracks like “The Crownless King” and “Ravenous,” each respectively symbolizing a thrashier approach for the metalcore stalwarts as well as a revisiting of their debut-era energy. Its position as #2 on my list, however, rests almost entirely on the back of breakout cut “The Signal Fire.” Perhaps this is an unfair skew, but the energy captured by the duet between both KSE frontman Jesse Leach and Howard Jones encapsulates everything I love about metal: speed, energy, passion, positivity, and what sounds like a damn good time.
1.Cattle Decapitation – Death Atlas
B.M: Ask me about what I listen to and, as if conditioned like Pavlov’s damn dog, I’ll say something about how I could never really get into death metal. Something about incessant blastbeats and everything sounding like the color brown never has meshed with me. This album, however, has changed everything. The musicianship is impeccable, the composition epic and sweeping, and the message undeniable. This is extreme metal at its finest, combining the brutality of death metal with the grandeur to which black metal always strives (but never quite reaches) and a real, immediate sense of the apocalyptic. What other bands make as performative, Cattle Decapitation have made powerful, and the result is an album that compels you to listen to it on many levels. For these reasons, this is my most significant album of the year.
HONORABLE MENTIONS!
Metallica – S&M2
B.M: This of course can’t really count as a “release” as it’s not truly new music, nor has it even come out on commercial media yet (an album version of the live recording is due in February), but I feel compelled to include Metallica’s revisitation of their 1999 crossover project S&M because few things impacted my musical education quite like stumbling upon that truly unique melding of metal and cinematic classical music, and it was something akin to magic to see it pulled off again with a new generation of songs and for a new generation of fans. S&M has always held a special place in my heart (for the full gush, check out episode two of Bloodcast), and I meant to write a full appreciation piece for how well-executed this second edition was. Alas, life gets in the way, but I needed to at least acknowledge it. The old masterworks that lent S&M true majesty the first time around reappear (“The Outlaw Torn,” “Call of Ktulu”), newer songs get the symphonic treatment (“Halo on Fire,” the much-improved “Confusion”), and there are even a few curveballs (“All Within My Hands” as a haunting, countrified dirge; “Unforgiven III” stripped down to a symphony-accompanied Hetfield solo vocal; the band joining in on Alexander Mosolov’s futurist classical piece “The Iron Foundry”). I’ve written more than I meant to already, but it is truly worth your time.
2. Sylosis – “I Sever”
B.M: Sure, this is also not really an “album release” but I won’t let that stop me from being stoked that SYLOSIS IS BACK! While it was exciting and heartwarming to see Josh Middleton step in for the late, great Tom Searle in Architects and continue his friend’s legacy, there was a sense that we might not see more activity from a truly singular progressive thrash band. That uncertainty is no more thanks to this spectacular preview of forthcoming album Cycle of Suffering. While it might lack some of the grandeur of Dormant Heart’s lead single, “Mercy,” “I Sever” checks all the boxes of what one would want from a Sylosis track: razor-sharp riffs, elemental heaviness, and intricate lead guitar work from Middleton. It is exciting to see one of the most talented and crushing young metal acts saddling up again.
3. Kvelertak – “Bråtebann”
B.M: Proving emphatically that the year ain’t over til Dec 31, Kvelertak launched in with a buzzer beater for most rockin’ song of the year. The Norwegian outfit’s throwback guitar-driven rock sound fires on all cylinders throughout the surprisingly-long, but not at all sluggish, track. While I have no idea what they’re singing about, the massive hook on the chorus is enough to give even the catchiest Ghost song a run for its money. The only English words that I can make out are when new frontman Ivar Nikolaisen invites the listener to play air guitar, and is that not a truly universal sentiment that people of all colors, countries, and creeds can get behind?
4. As I Lay Dying – Shaped By Fire
B.M: Listen to Bloodcast episode 1 for my extended feelings about this one, but since it’s the only actual album “honorable mention” in this list, I figure I should uh… mention it. I loved AILD at their heyday probably more than it was “cool” to say, but I truly believed in the band’s message and was enamored with the way that An Ocean Between Us saw them pulling ahead of some of their contemporaries in the metalcore pack with a more fleshed-out and aggressive sound. Sonically, Shaped by Fire continues that logical growth, and lead single “My Own Grave” is a legitimately great song that gave me chills on first listen. I feel like saying this is giving credit where credit is due to the musicianship behind this album and the instrumentalists that have rejoined Tim Lambesis in the fold. Many of them have also testified to Lambesis’s rehabilitation and dedication to atoning for his egregious past sins. This said, it is a true privilege (and I mean this to say something luckier than luck) for this band to get another shot in light of that crime, and I wish to state that the onus is still on Lambesis to truly show his growth in word and deed. The time for softball redemption arcs is done. TL;DR: nice album, now go donate to a domestic violence charity or do some meaningful volunteer/education work or something.
