Blog Archives
Matt’s Top Ten Albums of 2013
2013 was an odd year for me. While there were countless amounts of outstanding releases, I found myself extremely burned out with heavy metal overload. That’s not to say I even for a moment slowed down on my heavy metal listening in the slightest, but found myself with lots of difficulty getting into something new unless it was something extra special. Something beyond just a solid death metal/black metal/post metal/doom metal/etc metal album. It had to be absolutely extraordinary to pull me away from my current need of delving back into the thousands of albums already in my collection.
However, within my current disregard throughout the year for actively seeking out the new or checking out new albums from established artists I’m already a fan of I still did find a good amount of time to embrace the new. There were many great releases this year and I gave a listen a lot of them. On the contrary, many albums you would think would objectively be on my list you may not find here (honorable mention post coming in the very near future), as naturally, a top ten list is very subjective and the following albums are the records that really shone through despite my bout of new music burnout and got lot of playtime in between obsessive bouts of the classics. In fact, every record here I would consider a modern classic and recommend taking some time to check it out. So, without further ado, here’s my favorite releases of 2013.
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Album Review: Volition by Protest the Hero
Trying to really nail down the unique sound of Canadian metal band Protest the Hero is quite a difficult task. In the past I would have called it ‘prog metal’ played with a lovin’ spoonful of methamphetamine and cocaine and called it a day. Sure, their brand of speedy prog metal was unlike anything out there and I’ve purchased every album from the band and enjoyed the spins I’ve given them. However, more often than not, I found it difficult to listen to entire records without reaching sensory overload or boredom. They had their stand-out songs and the stuff in between seem to just serve to keep the break-neck pace of the records up and showed minimal dynamics. Fast-forward a few years and a hugely successful Indie Go-Go campaign (Kickstarter for the non-Americans) later, Protest the Hero have unleashed unto the world an album that shows more improvements than I can shake a stick at. Needless to say, Volition is the realization from a band overflowing with potential and is brimming with dynamic, variety, and passion while not even for a split-second dismissing an iota of PtH’s core sound.
Themed Thursday – Canadian Metal
Is it possible to dislike anything about Canada? It’s the land of hockey, curling, maple syrup, snow bunnies, Ice Road Truckers, and other cool stuff eh? Now you can add metal to that list. You may have never given it much of a thought, but some pretty cool metal comes from the land of the great white North. I mean snow by that reference, not people. I am going to use this Themed Thursday to talk about what Canada brings to the fight when in regards to metal.
