Too Soon? Excretakano’s Best of 2014… So Far

The new Alcest record is really great, for a Sigur Rós album.  Which is why I’m not including it below.  The new Cynic record is similarly high quality but somewhat less than heavy.  (Of course, Goatcraft does get a slot on the list, which basically turns those earlier statement to shit… whatever.)  Gravecode Nebula erupted through my brain with their latest, but it actually dropped in 2013, so it doesn’t count.  Others – like slabs from Coffinworm, Mass Infection, and Artificial Brain – haven’t gotten enough of my ear-time, though they may very well be worthy additions to our Best So Far lists.  What you get below is a ragged litany of the albums I’ve heard this year that stood out and made me take notice, whether they trafficked in complex compositional structures, vast and mournful surveys of inner darkness, or dirty-hate hymns meant to suffocate the human psyche.  By all means, virtually high-five me if you like the picks, but it’d be even better for you to check out what you think of these interesting entries to the 2014 extreme music canon.

Agalloch – The Serpent and the Sphere (Profound Lore)
Bastard Feast – Osculum Infame (Season of Mist)
Behemoth – The Satanist (Metal Blade)
Decembre Noir – A Discouraged Believer (FDA Rekotz)
Goatcraft – The Blasphemer (I, Voidhanger)
The Great Old Ones – Takeli-li (Les Acteurs de l’Ombre)
Gridlink – Longhena (Handshake Inc.)
Indian – From All Purity (Relapse)
Lantlôs – Melting Sun (Prophecy)
Lethal Dosage – Consume (Battleground)
Lord Mantis – Death Mask (Profound Lore)
Novembers Doom – Bled White (The End)
Panopticon – Roads to the North (Bindrune)
Pyrrhon – The Mother of Virtues (Relapse)
Serpentine Path – Emanations (Relapse)
Stilla – Ensamhetens andar (Nordvis)
Suffer Yourself – Inner Sanctum (Cimmerian Shade)
Teitanblood – Death (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
Trap Them – Blissfucker (Prosthetic)
Triptykon – Melana Chasmata (Century Media)
Warfather – Orchestrating the Apocalypse (Greyhaze)