Penultimate Musical Memories of 2008

Holy holidays, gang. Mine were hectic and overlong, but ultimately pretty pleasant, considering the state of the world, etc. I sure haven't gotten around to finishing the Heathen Crusade retrospective, but I did find time to squeak in one more playlist of new music before Baby Jesus is upstaged by Baby New Year. There's not as much metal this time, but lots of West Coast love, and you might actually recognize some of these performers.

2008 was a shitty year for just about everyone I know, although it occasionally helped me to consider that so much good music is being made out there. I hope to find more - and to see you, of course - in '09.

1. Death Cab for Cutie, "I Will Possess Your Heart" Narrow Stairs (Atlantic): The year's best stalker song comes from one of Washington State indie rock's major league stars, who sound a bit like a dour, unambitious jam band in the thick of this long, groovy single.

2. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "Midnight Man" Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Anti-): Looks like the Grinderman record made Nick want to rock again, and while it ain't no Birthday Party, the organ-drenched proceedings thrive on seedy nighttime grit.

3. Blitzen Trapper, "Furr" Furr (Sub Pop): These beardies from Portland, Oregon offer one of the catchiest goddamn songs I've heard in ages, a pagan hymn to the animal in man hidden inside sunny '60s folk-pop in the vein of Simon, Garfunkel and Dylan.

4. Leviathan, "Receive the World" Massive Conspiracy Against All Life (Moribund): Wrest lays his one-man avant-garde black metal band to rest with what is supposedly the final release under the celebrated Leviathan moniker, bearing more crazed, dissonant blasting, somewhat cleaner sound and a bit less miserable post-rock ambience.

5. Foals, "Olympic Airways" Antidotes (Sub Pop): Here's a slightly edgier British alternative to the overhyped Vampire Weekend, containing sprightly Afropop-lite guitars and affected vocals along with some throbbing post-punk rhythms for bite.

6. Hammers of Misfortune, "Always Looking Down" Fields/Church of Broken Glass (Profound Lore): Although I'm still absorbing Hammers' double-disc offering, the mantra-like repetition recently favored by my favorite Bay Area prog metallers is already starting to balance with their vintage aura, intellectual depth and ass-kicking yet understated harmonies.

7. Benoît Pioulard, "Brown Bess" Temper (Kranky): Lush soundscapes of folk guitar, hazy vocals and found sounds make for intricate, delicious headphone candy on the second pseudonymous album by Thomas Meluch.

8. "Weird Al" Yankovic, "Whatever You Like" Whatever You Like (Volcano): Al takes advantage of the Internet's quick-delivery capability to address both current economic troubles and T.I.'s cheesy pop-rap hit "Whatever You Like"... but he couldn't come up with a different title?

9. Gojira, "Esoteric Surgery" The Way of All Flesh (Prosthetic): The French quartet's fourth album got a publicity boost from vocalist/guitarist Joe Duplantier's stint with the Cavalera brothers, although its textured slo-mo art thrash offers a strong, cerebral pummel on its own merits.

10. The Tossers, "Get Back" On a Fine Spring Evening (Victory): Chicago's South Side Irish folk-punks lose the banjo and offer a sunnier slate of tunes on their latest, although the broody lyrics of this fleet-footed frolic beg to differ.

11. AC/DC, "Black Ice" Black Ice (Columbia): This greasy little title boogie, stuck regrettably at the end of an exhausting, interminable CD, is the first new AC/DC track I've really liked in a long time.

12. Grails, "Predestination Blues" Doomsdayer's Holiday (Temporary Residence): Including a barely perceptable vocal cameo by cult icon Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls, you can smell the hash on every note of this celestial downer, the ominous heart of Portland's metallic post-rockers' second album of 2008 - the one with the creepier yet sexier cover art.

13. Brighton, MA, "Let's Be Friends Again" Amateur Lovers (Loose Tooth): Former Scotland Yard Gospel Choir guys' second disc of rootsy indie pop can be on the ponderous side, but at its best (like this opener), it's remarkably warm and uplifting classic rock created in Chicago's here and now.

14. Arsis, "Failing Winds of Hopeless Greed" We Are the Nightmare (Nuclear Blast): More jumbled and not as arresting as the Virginian's past work (and I wish you could hear the bass), but James Malone and his revolving cast still occasionally work up a bracing technical/melodic death metal lather while edging toward accessibility.

15. Parenthetical Girls, "Unmentionables" Entanglements (Tomlab): Portland's experimental pop perverts go for baroque on their third LP, still creepy and twee beyond belief but now evoking a chamber orchestra comprised of mental patients wearing disturbingly stained tuxedos.

16. Genghis Tron, "Board Up the House" Board Up the House (Relapse): Remaining at the forefront of IDM/metal hybrids, the Philadelphia trio unleashes another whirlwind opus of electronic math-grind, hiding surprises around every jagged, block-rocking turn.

17. TV on the Radio, "Crying" Dear Science (Interscope): The NYC tastemakers' most accessible disc to date offers unique constructions of warped electro-funk, introverted soul, crackling ambience and libidinous release that span the emotional spectrum.

18. Burst, "Nineteenhundred" Lazarus Bird (Relapse): Sweden's finest progressive metalcore act returns with a fiercer (yet still considered) attack, reminding me here of a curious Mercenary/Mastodon hybrid.

19. Beck, "Volcano" Modern Guilt (Interscope): With Danger Mouse producing, Beck's twelfth album is his mellowest since Sea Change, its lush tracks oozing tiki hut hipster nonchalance while an examination of its lyrics reveals a fair amount of morbid brooding.

20. Averse Sefira, "Refractions of an Unexploded Singularity" Advent Parallax (Candlelight): The fourth LP by Texas' cult black metal horde harnesses undulating rhythms and hypnotic strings with an assured stridence, characteristically atonal guitars bleeding spare melodies into their complex, tightly wound storm.

More new songs you probably haven't heard

I'm working on the rest of my of HCIII coverage. Until then, here are more entertaining tracks that crossed my radar this year. Lots of locals in this batch, including one really famous one.

1. The Stills, "Don't Talk Down" Oceans Will Rise (Arts & Crafts): A bounce drives this vaguely sinister opener of the Montreal indie rockers' diverse third full-length, which at its most pedestrian reminds me of mid-era U2 (before they congratulated themselves up their own asses).

2. Falconer, "Vargaskall" Among Beggars and Thieves (Metal Blade): One of three songs with Swedish lyrics, this is the undeniable highlight of the folk/power metallers' latest, with the roiling Mithotyn-ish riff that kicks it off repeating to pleasing effect throughout.

3. Animal Collective, "Water Curses" Water Curses (Domino): One of the experimental outfit's most accessible songs to date, this EP track continues the splintered pop party begun on Animal Collective's justly celebrated Strawberry Jam.

4. The Haunted, "Faultline" Versus (Century Media): Anthemic catchiness is lacking on the sixth Haunted album, although the Swedes' characteristically jagged thrash/hardcore/grunge hybrid connects chillingly on occasions such as this.

5. Kanye West, "RoboCop" 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella): Kanye eschews hip-hop in lieu of crooning weird Auto-Tune-abusing pop for depressed robots, leading to a series of jaw-dropping, "what the fuck?" songs with mesmerizingly bad singing over icy, sumptuous candyscapes.

6. Early Man, "Beware the Circling Fin" Beware the Circling Fin (The End): Tempering nostalgic thrash with obvious love for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that spawned it, Early Man returns with a second guitarist and Mike Conte's vocals sneering like young Dave Mustaine's.

7. The Safes, "Greed" Sight of All Light (O'Brothers): Three Chicago brothers crank out short, catchy, punky power pop, here evoking The Queers and The Kinks at once.

8. The Atlas Moth, "Hope for Atlantis" Pray for Tides (Witch Trial): Tube-pulling, caustic doomsters from Chi-Town bearing a little of the old Mastodon pummel and weary submissions to color-drained melody.

9. Unicycle Loves You, "Dangerous Decade" Unicycle Loves You (Highwheel): Ending this little Chicago-tethered block is this ambitious kitchen sink indie pop act, who sound like they're having a ball on this swing/doo-wop/new wave confection.

10. Ihsahn, "Monolith" angL (Mnemosyne/Candlelight): The second solo disc by the former Emperor frontman is a bit more ferocious than the first, while upholding the Norwegian legend's standard of progressive refinement.

11. Dub Trio, "Regression Line" Another Sound Is Dying (Ipecac): Dropping trippy dub-influenced segments into sawed-off, Helmet-ish instrumental hard rock, Brooklyn's Dub Trio deliver an uneven but pleasingly off-kilter and multifaceted whallop.

12. Longwave, "Life Is Wrong" Secrets Are Sinister (Original Signal): Shoegaze is back, baby, and New York-based major label refugees Longwave ride its shimmering sonic crests to cavernous indie pop heights.

13. Týr, "Fípan Fagra" Land (Napalm): Another fine set from the Faroe Islands' peerless progressive/Viking metal act, this time relying heavily on traditional songs such as this rousing folk tale about a girl, a boy and a giant.

14. The Gravetones, "This House Ain't a Home" On the Edge of Madness (Little Heart): On their second album, increased diversity fits the Chicago horror-punks like a drab black suit fits The Tall Man, although they're still at their best on gloomy, riffy, high-octane numbers.

15. Withered, "...Reveal the Essence of Suffering" Folie Circulaire (Prosthetic): Refining their obsidian attack, Atlanta's Withered have inched closer to legend with an imposing blend of death, black and sludge metal, veins of scabrous melody pulsing angrily beneath the scorched crust.

16. Of Montreal, "An Eluardian Instance" Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl): Not as annoyingly bitchy as on his last set, Kevin Barnes and hired gang retain the shattered kaleidoscope approach to funky indie pop, shoving countless fragments into spontaneous-feeling "tracks."

17. Lunarium, "Sea Dragons" Journeys, Fables, & Lore (Farvahar): D&D/drama club geeky and proud of it, the Ohio heathens' DIY debut suffers from a thin mix and a few underdeveloped songs, but for Americans, they do spirited, mead-guzzling power/folk metal pretty damn well.

18. Enslaved, "Vertebrae" Vertebrae (Nuclear Blast): Bergen, Norway's finest return with their subtlest work to date, focusing their latest runic rumination on the core of the self, often by appropriately hovering amid a gray, Floydian drone.

19. Verona Red, "Marjorie" Side Effects (self-released): An admirably eclectic Chicago rock band with a jaunty sense of rhythm, Verona Red's swinging incorporation of bounce and jangle produces an intriguing dark cabaret effect here.

20. To-Mera, "Mirage" Delusions (Candlelight): Low-slung, off-kilter grooves bump shoulders with arresting female vocals and a touch of jazz on the Brits' second disc, a rich and complex stew of inscrutable prog metal.

...And the horns called for war

Although I have attended every Heathen Crusade to date, until this year's, I had never gone to this amazing Minnesota metal festival while I had someone waiting for me at home. In fact, I had never taken a trip anywhere by myself while involved in a serious relationship. It's nothing rare, I know, but it was odd to experience for the first time at age 33. Typically, this expertly organized blowout is my designated time and place to rock, drink, geek out and ignore all trappings of the modern world aside from electricity. This time, I did that, but found my thoughts wandering back to my Sassy Frassy Lassie chilling at the crib, alone with the cats. Here I was, nearly soused on Heathen Crusade Ale (brewed especially for the event, sold at $3 per refillable cup), rocking out to one of my favorite songs of the year, and my mind was elsewhere. Strange, but true.

Anyway, I rented a car, since to be safe enough for the trip, my battered old dragon was in need of repairs that would have been more costly than the rental. I stayed at the same budget hotel I did last time. It was in some disrepair, but at the price Expedia got me, I couldn't complain. Besides, you can still get a smoking room in Minnesota, for which I was extremely grateful. Without incident, the journey took about six hours, including a brief stop at a backwoods Wisconsin A&W.

I ain't blowing anyone's mind when I say the global economy is in bad shape. As it is, the third Crusade was pushed far back from its customary January slot in order for the organizers to pull funds together. By the time it occurred, all three of the originally announced performers (Russia's Nomans Land and Germany's Thrudvangar and Gernotshagen) and two added later (Germany's Morrigan and Turkey's Moribund Oblivion) had pulled out for various reasons. This greatly reduced the international presence at the fest, which had made it such a feast of fresh sounds last year. The dearth of jerkins and native instruments resulted in a less exotic affair overall. However, in no way was HCIII a disappointment. A number of North American bands filled in the gaps, playing in complementary styles - Viking, black, doom and even power metal - and not a single one of them sucked.

Before I detail the proceedings, I must acknowledge all the music that accompanied my trip. In order of listening: Ancient Rites' Dim Carcosa, Dub Trio's Another Sound Is Dying, The Haunted's Versus, Woods of Ypres' Woods III: Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues, Volbeat's Guitar Gangsters and Cadillac Blood, Týr's Land, Wu-Tang Clan's Iron Flag, Bloc Party's Intimacy, Lunarium's Journeys, Fables, & Lore and Tim and Eric's Awesome Record, Great Songs!

11/14/08
Grand Demise of Civilization: After an outrageous hunt for parking in downtown St. Paul, I strolled in late. I was surprised to see that the first band, these locals, were still on stage. There had been a hole in the schedule posted online, so they just started the show a bit later, which worked out perfectly for me. GDoC play relatively standard black metal with American fervor, meaning minimal, dark guitar melodies and feral shrieks affixed to a percussive force more typically associated with death metal. These days I prefer my black metal to be more of the progressive, experimental or epic variety, but the heavier, foreboding, more active style this quartet offers (they unfortunately call it "hell metal") definitely goes down better live. The vocalist/bassist, working the bald and bearded crusty look, had a somewhat monotonous shriek, but it didn't detract from what I caught of the set. All in all, a good opening act and an appropriate scene setter, since the way the lineup shook out, black metal ended up the predominant flavor of the weekend.

Lunarium: Perhaps Slough Feg's heartwarming triumph at last year's event convinced the extremist hordes that traditional metal styles could join all the blasting brutes here. At long last, a pagan power metal band graced the Heathen Crusade stage, and from Ohio of all places. Musically, Lunarium stand somewhere between the floridly mannered pomp of Falconer and the unembarrassed anthemic stomp of Manowar. The vocalist/guitarist was a tiny Van Dyked dude with the telling demeanor of a high school theater/Renaissance fair geek, and he would have been too dorky to watch if he took himself more seriously - instead, he was just earnest enough. Likewise, the band's tales of ancient battles and mythology were delivered with just enough of a wink to denote self-awareness, something lacking in many of the more visceral acts this weekend.

For example, remember the Bosstone from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones? If not, think of the hypemen most rappers employ for shows: guys who basically run around getting the crowd to cheer and dance, pointing at random audience members, maybe doing some backing vocals (i.e. "yeah, come on, put your hands up, yeah"). Lunarium had a guy doing this, but he did it while waving around campy props likely salvaged from some post-Halloween clearance sale weeks prior, including a sword, a severed arm and a Grim Reaper. The capper was one of those big troll monster wall hanging thingies, which appeared for the finale, a goofy sing-along called "Troll Slayer." At the end, the band pretended to beat up the troll, and the bassist turned his instrument upside down, revealing a custom-built "sword" shape. He proceeded to stab the beast with it. Fake blood spurted out and hit the crowd. It was an endearingly cheap and hokey effect. I promptly bought their CD. if for no other reason than to support this sort of thing.

Ulveheim: Of all the Viking metal bands out there, this evening's representative hailed from... Mexico!?! I'll admit it, I was skeptical. Not many Mexican metal bands incorporate their heritage into their music, and I would really prefer that over doing exactly what Scandinavian bands have been doing for more than a decade. From hearing Ulveheim's demo, For Ære Heder og Fedreland, a competent but unextraordinary slab of Falkenbach/Einherjer/Mithotyn-influenced battle hymns (complete with Norwegian lyrics), I wasn't expecting to have my ass rocked as hard as it was. Granted, this was about the time the HC Ale really kicked in, but Ulveheim was far more intense live than on tape.

At one point, the vocalist/guitarist dedicated a song "to all who wear the Thor's Hammer with pride," and at another, the other guitarist busted out a mouth harp, but at no point were these hombres anything less than convincing. All they needed were strong folk-influenced guitar lines repeating methodically against a buoyant Viking trudge, deep clean vocals that sounded straight off of an old Enslaved album and, for variety, occasional leaps into catchy melodic black metal. Ulveheim proved beyond a doubt that at this juncture in time, Viking metal is so clearly defined as a subgenre that its hallmarks can be adopted by anyone from anywhere. Its sudden rise in popularity - perhaps in opposition to the ultramodern, ironic and ultimately False spasms of MySpace metal - means we can expect many more Viking bands to appear around the planet. The authenticity required for the genre need not come from the performers' place of birth, rather how honestly their feeling for the music comes through. In that sense, Mexico's Ulveheim is as authentic as Kampfar or Ásmegin or any Norwegian outfit you want to throw out there.

Nechochwen: One interesting innovation of the third Heathen Crusade was utilizing the venue's two-room setup to allow different performance spaces. There's a long bar area when you walk in, adjacent to the gray concrete room with the stage. In the back of the bar room, acoustic neofolk guitarist Nechochwen occasionally performed while tech dudes swapped equipment on the regular stage. This was a great idea. Neofolk has crossover appeal to pagan metal crowds, and having live intermission music in the bar gave it the feel of an event rather than a regular old concert. The downside is that despite some amplification, West Virginia native Nechochwen's mellow, ambient plucking was always too quiet to compete with the soused audience. I got up close for his first set, which happened after Ulveheim played, but could barely hear him over the people gabbing all around me. Meaning no offense to Nechochwen - who was effectively solemn and serene from what I could make out - after about ten minutes struggling to hear, I simply went out for a few smokes and got myself a spot for the band about to play in the next room.

Inquisition: I am really not up to speed about kvlt black metal bands such as Inquisition. I knew of them from T-shirts and zine reviews, both of which always made me assume they engaged in the sort of tuneless, minimalist "ritual" clatter with shitty drumming enjoyed by joyless, pockmarked vinyl fetishists (see Von, Beherit, Black Witchery, etc.). The veteran two-man act, formed by the guitarist/vocalist in Colombia and later joined by the drummer where he now lives near Seattle, are currently signed to the label of an infamous Polish neo-Nazi, and they have a song called "Crush the Jewish Prophet." All of this might have added up to enough to make me boycott the entire fest, but research told me that Inquisition really has no racial slant to their music, unless you count the "race of Satan." These dudes are 100% against Christianity and Judaism, which are not unchangeable traits one is born with, but philosophies a conscious person chooses to follow and thus should be able to defend as they would a strong political opinion or favorite pizza topping. A jaunt through Inquisition's lyrics online revealed that they actually tend to conflate cartoonish, flesh-cutting, goat-fucking, "hooray for Satan!" heavy metal Satanism with references to paganism, which is probably very offensive to serious pagans or Satanists. They're equal-opportunity offenders, then. That's OK with me.

Still, this show was my first time hearing the band. From past experiences, I figured I could trust the organizers to include a main support act that was both prestigious and worthy. At the very least I could say I'd seen these cult legends who don't play too many shows, especially out this way. Well, if I didn't poop on the altar! I ended up glued in place throughout their entire set, except for the occasional shove from a gleeful mosher. Inquisition is indeed minimal, relying on cranky, repetitive grooves and monochrone groans rather than theatrical showboating. But it's not the "they've been playing this riff for 15 minutes, I wonder what that merch booth has" sort of minimal. It's the sort that keeps your head moving ceaselessly, involuntarily, maniacally. For just two dudes, they made an enormous racket, and their corpsepainted, unexpressive, frozen stage presence and dim lighting put the attention on their sick, hypnotic hymns to Lucifer. I already have enough old Mayhem and Carpathian Forest material to fill my intermittent desire for this sort of thing, so I don't see myself ever sitting down with one of Inquisition's albums. However, I would never dissuade anyone from seeing them play live, as they are more powerful than their insular kvlt reputation would imply.

Ancient Rites: The first night's headliners earned their status via nineteen years of existence, despite never having played in the United States before. Belgian by birth but pan-European in lyrical scope, Ancient Rites are often unfortunately forgotten among the world's countless culturally-influenced metal bands. Their early material was mired in transitional thrash/death/black soup, but the past decade has seen three increasingly majestic albums steeped in old timey Scandinavian, Greek and Roman themes, as well as shout-outs to their Flemish roots and details of the ol' Christian/Muslim rivalry. They sing of battle, bloodshed and bravery, and speak to individual notions of nationality in a multinational age... perhaps not as eloquently as Primordial does, but certainly with as much consideration and heart.

Ancient Rites' lyrics and music, a skittish and melodic blend of black, thrash and traditional metal, already embody what the Heathen Crusade is all about, but the literal struggle the band endured to be able to perform is the stuff of genuine legend. The drummer was about to be a father and thus could not leave Belgium, so the band opted to pre-record the drums for their entire set and play along with that. Also, the vocalist had been fighting off some sort of horrible infection and was still undergoing treatment for an open wound when he took the stage. You wouldn't think two guitars, a wounded singer, no bassist and all the drums and keyboards played back from a machine would add up to a stellar metal show, but once again, that would be underrating this band's excellence. Emphasis was placed on fist-pumping harmonies, rampaging riffage and raspy but animated vocals, all adding up to an impressive flurry of mini-epics. I only had one of their albums before witnessing this set, so I didn't know the material, but I have to say they compensated for their missing bandmates through sheer determination and sound. Now I want to hear some more.

I'll return sometime next week with a look at day two. If all goes according to plan, there will be a new playlist tomorrow, too. Until then, enjoy the 1980 psycho film "You Better Watch Out" (aka "Christmas Evil"), cut down to about ten minutes with all the boring parts excised. This is John Waters' favorite holiday movie, featuring a little low-grade gore, a lot of depressing squalor and one of the most fucked-up endings you will ever witness in a Christmas-themed film. Happy hellidays, pallies!

Thnx, etc.

I'm super late with my annual Thanksgiving thanks list, but what else is new? Hope you had a fine Turkey Day and Shopping Day and Internet Shopping Day and whatever else you did recently.

Animal Collective: for a light show that almost caused me to fall over at Pitchfork.
Benedict's Eggs & More: for lovely gourmet breakfast getaways.
Cats (ours): for love, excitement and free entertainment.
Dads (ours): for coming through and kicking ass, as always.
Enterprise Car Rental: for getting me around at two crucial junctures.
"Fall, The": for opulent, liberating cinematic storyspinning.
"Golden Girls, The": for centering me with withering put-downs, sex jokes and St. Olaf stories.
Heathen Crusade III: for a much-needed, ale-fueled pagan metal weekend retreat.
Italian cuisine: for always hitting the spot.
Job opportunities: for arising.
Kuma's Corner : for good beer, great burgers and proud support of heavy metal in Chicago.
Living together: for being all it's cracked up to be.
My Sassy Frassy Lassie: for true love that makes me happier than I've ever been in my life.
Ninjavideo.net : for helping us keep up with our stories.
Obama, Barack: for beating the bad guys... may he not fuck up.
Parts & Labor: for unleashing such beautiful noise.
Quince body butter: for making m'lady smell nice.
Ruffles (aka Russell) the orca: for thrilling high seas adventure.
"Superjail": for bringing fun, violent, surreal animation back to Adult Swim.
Totter's Otterville: for evoking fond memories of childhood birthday parties.
Ulveheim: for making me believe that Mexicans can play good Viking metal.
Vic Mackey: for seven seasons of gut-wrenching tension.
Woods of Ypres: for grand-scale metal that's also personal and real.
"Xanadu" (Pirated Video version): for being just as ridiculous, but easier to sit through.
Yorik and Rachel: for lovely nuptuals, gracious hosting and family bonding.
Zany hijinks: for being zany.

Hey, remember when I used to post playlists without writing a damn book about each song? I think I'm gonna try to do that once a week until the end of the year. Keepin' it short is the only way I'll find time to present a sampler of the year's cool tunes before unveiling my top ten. The upside is that the top ten should actually appear before 2009 dawns. So, minimal comments from me, but click the album title to read more about any given release. I also want to tell you about the cool time I had at Heathen Crusade III, so please come back during the month. Here's the first batch of tracks... listen before they're gone.

1. Lair of the Minotaur, "Slaughter the Bestial Legion" War Metal Battle Master (Southern Lord): Primal Chicagoans brandishing ornery, war-torn death/thrash.

2. Agalloch, "Pantheist" The White EP (Vendlus): Mesmerizing neo-folk/post-rock/metal by Oregon's finest, from a limited "Wicker Man"-themed EP that is, like all their work, a pristine evocation of the natural beauty in Northwestern winter.

3. Nine Inch Nails, "Head Down" The Slip (The Null Corporation): Trent's free album isn't as catchy as his old stuff, but its moody electro-rock is funky and intricate enough to make up for that.

4. Dismember, "To End It All" Dismember (Regain): Among Swedish death metal legends, Dismember has thankfully altered their rabid, blood-caked, engagingly melodic style the least over the decades... especially that sick guitar tone.

5. Equilibrium, "Unbesiegt" Sagas (Nuclear Blast): Triumphant, highly recommended symphonic folk metal from Germany with enough room for both epic, exotic theatrics and pint-slamming forest fun.

6. Ratatat, "Mumtaz Khan" LP3 (XL): An Arabian-tinged groover by this awesome electronic duo, who downplay their guitar rockin' and broaden their textural palette on long-player number three.

7. Trinacria, "The Silence" Travel Now Journey Infinitely (Indie Recordings): A collaborative Norwegian art metal project featuring the core members of Enslaved, dabbling in harsh repetition and experimental noise.

8. They Might Be Giants, "Triops Has Three Eyes" Here Come the 123s (Disney Sound): From the third children's album by Brooklyn's Ambassadors of Love, this one centering on numbers, comes this reliably goofy and infectious keyboardy charmer for all ages.

9. Protest the Hero, "Palms Read" Fortress (Vagrant): Twiddly, titanic prog-metalcore from California that smashes the instrumental excesses of The Mars Volta and Between the Buried and Me into flamboyantly molten emotive fragments.

10. Brain Drill, "Apocalyptic Feasting" Apocalyptic Feasting (Metal Blade): Yes, more batshit insane U.S. death/grind, but with superhuman chops and more thrash than "core" leanings which elevate these kids over the unappealing sea of jokey MySpace "metal" trendies.

11. The Black Angels, "Deer-Ree-Shee" Directions to See a Ghost (Light in the Attic): Hazy psychedelic coolness from the hipster haven of Austin, TX, enhanced here by a stinging sitar slicing through the smoky shroud.

12. Dan Friel, "Buzzards" Ghost Town (Important): The hotwired electronics guru of the great Parts & Labor makes bright, melodic instrumental synth-pop on his debut solo LP, but with a harsh enough aesthetic to betray his noise roots.

13. Volbeat, "Maybellene i Hofteholder" Guitar Gangsters and Cadillac Blood (Mascot): Enjoyable lead single from album three by the world's leading rockabilly metal band, the Danes still sounding a lot like the '90s Misfits to me in their blend of boppy '50s melody and simplistic punk/metal energy, although they have yet to deliver a consistent LP.

14. Keep of Kalessin, "Kolossus" Kolossus (Nuclear Blast): Arnt O. Grønbech retooled his dormant black metal project into a fresh, unclassifiable beast a few years ago, and here the Norseman embraces his higher profile with a more adventurous alternative to Behemoth's accessible but sterile black/death bashing.

15. GZA/Genius, "0% Finance" Pro Tools (Babygrande): Wu-Tang Clan's most underhyped MC is at the top of his game on his new solo disc, such as on this impressive match of the casual-but-coiled Genius' car-themed rhymes with a driving Arabian Knight beat.

16. Unearth, "Cutman" The March (Metal Blade): Melodic metalcore is so 2003, but for those still occasionally drawn to the old stomp n' twiddle of East Coast Americans worshipping even older Gothenburg death metal, these Bostonians can still get the neck moving.

17. The Slackers, "Leave Me" Self Medication (Indication): While The Slackers' latest dips into a number of styles, including '60s pop and '50s rock, their strength continues to be slinky, soulful ska with tasteful horns and a slight sense of blissful damnation.

18. Brainstorm, "Stained With Sin" Downburst (Metal Blade): Moving at an Accept-like trudge, the German vets throw down impeccably solid traditional metal with modern heft, leather-lunged Andy Franck screaming skyward for the unapologetically dramatic chorus.

19. M83, "Graveyard Girl" Saturdays=Youth (Mute): Long revered for his stew of icy electronics and shoegaze rock textures, Frenchman Anthony Gonzalez goes way pop on his latest, at its best sounding like the closing credits of an old John Hughes movie beamed in from Neptune.

20. Velnias, "Sovereign Nocturnal" Sovereign Nocturnal (God Is Myth): Their exploratory doom/black fusion embodying all that's great about Chicago's thriving metal scene, the title track from this trio's debut full-length became an undeniably powerful highlight of this year's Heathen Crusade.