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Articles : Patrick Emmett’s Best of 2013 List(s)

By on December 8, 2013

All I can say is; what a year of quality albums. I’ve enjoyed most releases that I’ve heard this year so much that this list has been written, rewritten and expanded many times since I started it. What was once a top 15 list turned into a top 20, and now it’s two separate top 15 lists of the best international and Australian releases. And still, I feel bad for leaving some great albums out (hence the few “special mentions” at the bottom of each list).

And the touring forefront? Wow. No one thought they’d see Black Sabbath touring here for the first time in nearly 40 years. Cattle Decapitation also finally made their way down under supporting Thy Art Is Murder and destroyed the crowd (who gives a shit if they were the support act?). Heathen Skulls brought some amazing international bands over for us, including the mighty Municipal Waste, Saint Vitus and Kadavar (unfortunately the Kylesa tour that would have started today was postponed). Soundwave Touring, outside of their biggest festival yet, treated us to Kvelertak, Fear Factory, Devin Townsend, Steel Panther and plenty of other artists. That’s nowhere near all of them, cause Australia was flooded with international bands touring. I didn’t make it to all of these tours, but the ones I did attend were enjoyed. 2014 is already shaping up to be a huge year for tours as well, with Iced Earth, Toxic Holocaust, 3 Inches of Blood, Fleshgod Apolocalypse and many other heavy acts with confirmed tours.

ANYWAY, here is my list of favourite releases this year. And all I expect from it is a bunch of people saying stuff like “x album should be #1!”, “y album is shit!” and “Why is (album I’ve never heard) not on the list?!”. Ah well, here goes…

THE AUSTRALIAN LIST

15. Athenas Wake – Welcome to the Woodlands (EP)
After seeing Athenas Wake play many times since I started going to local gigs, I’m glad to finally see them release an EP. Their writing has improved tremendously over the years too. This is a great dose of blackened death metal and a huge step up from their deathcore days.
Listen: “The Ambivalent”

 

14. House of Thumbs – Home (EP)
The third and (possibly) final release from Melbourne’s House of Thumbs (as they’re on indefinite hiatus). 20 minutes of brutal, progressive death metal.
Listen: “Ink Blot”

 

13. King of the North – Sound the Underground
There is something about a lot of new rock’n’roll bands that I just can’t get into. A lot of bands don’t have that energy and fire the genre needs. This Melbourne duo knows how to write a rocking tune though, and have a sound bigger than most 5 piece bands would dream of.
Listen: “Ruby (live version)”

 

12. Mason – Warhead
Energetic thrash metal from Melbourne, with some of the biggest sounding production I’ve heard from a thrash album. Despite its high-polished production, the album has the same energetic vibe as Mason‘s live performance, and that’s what a thrash album shouldn’t lack.
Listen: “Warhead”

 

11. Gay Paris – The Last Good Party
The ultimate party rock album. Bluesy, funky and sludgy guitars/bass with plenty of singalongs. Gay Paris are a band that are best experienced live.
Listen: “Trash Bird at Confessional”

 

10. Rust Proof – S/T (EP)
Fourteen minutes of heavy-hitting hardcore from Geelong, featuring members of old Victorian hardcore bands Tenth Dan, Speartackle and Blood Money.
Listen: “Staring Death in the Face”

 

9. Truth Corroded – The Saviours Slain
This one was released just a couple of days ago, and I’ve enjoyed it enough to add it to this list. Extreme death thrash from the City of Churches. These guys will be big.
Listen: “They Are Horror”

 

8. The Amenta – Flesh Is Heir
Not for the tin-eared and terrified. The Amenta brings their creepy blend of black, death and industrial metal together for one more album. It’s a shame that these guys will be going on hiatus as of January 2014.
Listen: “Teeth”

 

7. I Exist – From Darkness
Another one that was just released over the past week or so; the third monstrous album from Canberra’s sludge/stoner hardcore heavyweights I Exist. And as usual, it’s all about the riff on this. Hail the riff.
Listen: “Sorrow on Hill 105”

 

6. Join the Amish – The Rumspringa Diaries (EP)
Melbourne’s Amish group bring their hatred towards hipsters, Shane Warne and other random things into a brutal onslaught of thrash, hardcore-punk and a jaded sense of humour. A very impressive debut EP.
Listen: “Sheik of Tweak”

 

5. Batpiss – Nuclear Winter
It’s hard to tell at first listen that Batpiss actually recorded this album live at The Tote in Collingwood. Very good release though, a raw, noisy blend of stoner, sludge and punk rock. Great music videos too.
Listen: “Drag Your Body”

 

4. MetalStorm – Fully Loaded Nightmare (EP)
This is the strongest debut EP I’ve heard in a long time, strong enough to get a good spot on this list. I can see them being very successful with a full-length release under their bulletbelts. A must have EP for fans of Kreator, Sodom and Exodus.
Listen: “Shattered”

 

3. Taberah – Necromancer
Traditional heavy/power metal with hints of classic rock. The same formula as their excellent debut album ‘The Light of Which I Dream’, but a big improvement musically (not to say that their debut album was bad). A well-done cover of Deep Purple‘s “Burn” was a great way to end the album. The Tassie devils of heavy metal do not fail to deliver.
Listen: “The Hammer of Hades”

2. LORD – Digital Lies
There is no boundary with LORD’s music. The industrial title track, the humorous cock-rock anthem ‘2D Person In A 3D World’ and the two minutes of (better than) Dragonforce-shredding ‘Because We Can’ are good examples of that. However, this album still has the signature LORD sound that proves why they’re one of Australia’s premier metal bands.
Listen: “Digital Lies”

1. Harlott – Origin
I knew that this album was going to be a winner before I heard it, and I’m glad I was right. I haven’t been blown away this much by an Australian thrash album since the first one I heard, which was In Malice’s Wake’s 2008 effort ‘Eternal Nightfall’. Think of the brutality that Kreator brought to thrash metal, with the outstanding production (and occasional death metal vocals) bringing a modern Testament vibe. This is a very strong debut album, and Harlott have nowhere else to go but up.
Listen: “Virus”

Special mentions: Desecrator, The Ophidian Ascension, Warbrain, Witchgrinder, De La Cruz

THE UN-AUSTRALIAN LIST

15. Enabler – Shift of Redemption (EP)
This probably wouldn’t be on the list if the band didn’t leave such a good impression on their first Australian tour in July. But this 4-track EP of their menacing, metallic hardcore just made it on the list. A special mention goes to their other EP from this year, ‘Flies’, half of it being recorded in a Sydney studio during their tour.
Listen: “Live Low”

14. Iron Reagan – Worse Than Dead
A more hardcore and political version of Municipal Waste, to the point where it features MW members Tony on vocals and Landphil on bass.
Listen: “Eat Shit and Live”

 

13. Enforcer – Death by Fire
The closest any new band will get to have the complete 80s speed metal sound/vibe/production on a studio album without sounding bland and boring.
Listen: “Satan”

 

12. Carcass – Surgical Steel
The best elements of Carcass‘ previous albums thrown together to write a truly memorable return album.
Listen: “Captive Bolt Pistol”

 

11. Weekend Nachos – Still
Brutal, menacing, relentless, violent, noisy, chaotic and every other word you can think of to describe something ridiculously heavy like this. Oh, and fun… very fun.
Listen: “Satan Sucker”

 

10. Kvelertak – Meir
‘Meir’ is all over the place. Party rock’n’roll with hints of black metal and everything else that you wouldn’t expect to hear. Very beautiful guitar sections throughout the album, and choruses that’ll have you chanting along (or singing, if you fluently speak Norwegian).
Listen: “Spring Fra Livet”

 

9. Revocation – S/T
Revocation have mastered their craft and can be considered a unique band in modern metal. Each of their releases have been interesting in their own way, because they’re always trying new things musically, and their new, self-titled album is no different. These guys deserve to be much bigger than they already are.
Listen: “Archfiend”

8. Ghost – Infestissumam
I didn’t jump on the Ghost-train until after their apparent epic performance at Soundwave 2013 (which I missed out on). I wasn’t sure if I liked it at start, but I eventually started to love it. Ghost are doing something different, to the point where it’s questionable if they’re even a metal band. Either way, ‘Infestissumam’ is an weird, yet epic piece of rock music.
Listen: “Year Zero”

7. Power Trip – Manifest Decimation
The soundtrack to Armageddon. Raw, chaotic crossover of hardcore and thrash metal.
Listen: “Murderer’s Row”

 

 

6. Black Sabbath – 13
It doesn’t matter that Black Sabbath sound “too digital” now. And it sure as hell doesn’t matter that Bill Ward isn’t drumming for them either (c’mon, he hasn’t drummed on half their catalogue, most of it being decent…). All that matters is that the gods of hard rock and metal have a new album, and the songs sound just like classic Sabbath. I really hope they can record one more album. Listen: “Loner”

5. Motorhead – Aftershock
21 studio albums is an incredible feat for a band that’s been around for almost 40 years. To think that their same rock’n’roll formula has been successful on all 21 albums is also amazing. However, this is Motorhead’s best work in years.
Listen: “Heartbreaker”

 

4. Warbringer – IV: Empires Collapse
This album really breaks Warbringer out of that “generic thrash” label that they’ve been lumped into by critics. They’re one of few newer thrash bands that are pushing boundaries with their music. They’re not afraid to change things up a bit, and they do it successfully without shifting too far away from their signature sound. With that being said, this is their finest work to date. Listen: “Scars Remain”

3. Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals – Walk Through Exits Only
Love him or hate him, Phil Anselmo of Pantera / Down fame is one hell of a writer. Despite only performing vocals, Phil wrote all of the instruments on this entire album, which goes to show that he’s a diverse and talented musician. The music on this release is simply brutal; the heaviest work he has been a part of since Superjoint Ritual.
Listen: “Usurper Bastards Rant (live version)”

2. Gama Bomb – The Terror Tapes
Twelve more tracks of fun-packed speed metal goodness from Ireland’s Gama Bomb. What other band would write a song combining Beverly Hills 90210 and Robocop?
Listen: “Beverly Hills Robocop”

 

1. Death Angel – The Dream Calls For Blood
This band has never done a bad album, and it’s safe to say that ‘The Dream Calls For Blood’ hasn’t changed that statement. It may be an “evil twin sister” to their previous album ‘Relentless Retribution’, but the songs are faster, angrier and better. Did I mention that Rob Cavestany is a criminally underrated metal guitarist?
Listen: “Fallen”

Special mentions: Twitching Tongues, Suicidal Tendencies, Holy Grail, Toxic Holocaust, Take Offense

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Patrick has been a dedicated contributor to Metal Obsession since 2011. He believes that you can put Lars Ulrich's face on just about anything. Add Patrick on Facebook.