Too Soon? Chuck & Godless’ Best of 2015… So Far
Chuck
Every time I write up a list of the best of anything, another great new song hits, and I start wanting to slow boil the first crow I see. We already have new tracks from Lamb of God, High on Fire and Slayer that hold the promise of metal legends… but in the end, until they reach our ears, the 3+ minutes we have may only serve to juke us away from what are ultimately lackluster albums. Looking at the releases so far I already know several will roll out of the year end list, but several will remain for the duration as standouts against all comers. Periphery, Melechesh, Sylosis and Gallows are not creepers, they are (not to be punny) juggernauts, and some of the best examples of how blending genres win audiences and critics alike.
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Byzantine – To Release is to Resolve (Self Released)
The Crown – Dead is not Dead (Century Media)
Gallows – Desolation Sounds (Bridge Nine)
Melechesh – Enki (Nuclear Blast)
Napalm Death – Apex Predator: Easy Meat (Century Media)
Noisem – Blossoming Decay (A389 Recordings)
Paradise Lost – The Plague Within (Century Media)
Periphery – Juggernaut (Sumerian)
Psycroptic – S/T (Prosthetic)
Sylosis – Dormant Heart (Nuclear Blast)
Veil of Maya – Matriarch (Sumerian)
Godless
With promising single tracks from Slayer, Lamb of God, Paradise Lost, and other metal elite, it’s going to be up to younger, and possibly hungrier, bands to stay afloat long enough to make the end-of-year lists. It would be presumptive to describe 2015 as the year of the showdown between Sumerian Records and Metal Acres Pre-Retirement Community Center, but bands like Periphery and Veil of Maya have released new metal classics while stalwarts like Sigh, Napalm Death, and Enslaved are giving them a hell of a fight.
Oh, and follow me on Twitter and at GodlessSpeaks.com for updates on this hypothetical metal war. Should be fun.
Coliseum – Anxiety’s Kiss (Deathwish)
Enslaved – In Times (Nuclear Blast)
Kiske & Somerville – City of Heroes (Frontiers)
Marriages – Salome (Sargent House)
Melechesh – Enki (Nuclear Blast)
Napalm Death – Apex Predator (Century Media)
Periphery – Juggernaut (Sumerian Records)
Pyramids – A Northern Meadow (Hydra Head Records)
Sigh – Graveward (Candlelight Records)
Veil of Maya – Matriarch (Sumerian Records)
