Too Soon? Axl’s Best of 2018… So Far

We do these ‘Best of So Far’ lists in alphabetical order because at this juncture there’s no point agonizing over the running order. Having said that, unless the new Tool album comes out this year and is truly a Wyld Stallyns-level event, you can pretty much bet that Pig Destroyer’s Head Cage is going to be the album of the year. But even if that’s a given, it’s still impressive, ’cause 2018 has already been a crazy-strong year for extreme music.

These are the year’s releases which, as of this writing, have really made me jizz my Gatecreeper sweatpants:

Agrimonia – Awaken (Southern Lord)
The Atlas Moth – Coma Noir (Prosthetic)
Between the Buried and Me – Automata I and II (Sumerian)
Deafheaven – Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (Anti Records)
Exmortus – The Sound of Steel (Prosthetic)
Genocide Pact – Order of Torment (Relapse)
Ghost – Prequelle (Loma Vista)
Harakiri for the Sky – Arson (AOP)
Khemmis – Desolation (20 Buck Spin/Nuclear Blast)
MouthBreather – Pig (self-released)
Obscura – Diluvium (Relapse)
Pig Destroyer – Head Cage (Relapse)
Portal – Ion (Profound Lore)
Rivers of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name (Metal Blade)
Skeletonwitch – Devouring Radiant Light (Prosthetic)
Slugdge – Esoteric Malacology (Willowtip)
Tribulation – Down Below (Century Media)
Veld – S.I.N. (Listenable)
Wake – Misery Rite (Translation Loss)