Too Soon? Kelsey Chapstick’s Best of 2018… So Far

The gravitational pull toward death metal this year is undeniable. From new-school legends Gatecreeper dropping the heaviest split of the year to melodeath daddies At the Gates coming back in full force, the genre seems fresh and full of young blood (see: Finland’s Galvanizer) ready to brutalize the eardrums of the next generation of ‘heads. Mixed in though, we’ve seen some incredible harsh industrial-tinged work from the likes of The Body and Hide, stunning post-punk from a personal favorite, Traitrs, and an entrancing debut from midwestern post-rockers Akula. The world continues to fester in abject chaos, but at least we have the music. My favorites so far…

Akula – S/T (Independent)
At the Gates – To Drink from the Night Itself (Century Media)
The Body – I Have Fought Against It but I Can’t Any Longer(Thrill Jockey)
Cold Cave – You, Me, & Infinity (Heartworm Press)
Funeral Leech – The Funereality Tape (Testimony Records)Galvanzier – Sanguine Vigil (Everlasting Spew Records)
Gatecreeper / Iron Reagan Split Record  (Relapse Records)
Hide – Castration Anxiety (Dais Records)
Khemmis – Desolation (Nuclear Blast)
Nephilim’s Howl – Through the Marrow of Human Suffering (I, Voidhanger Records)
Noose Rot – The Creeping Unknown (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
Tomb Mold — Manor of Infinite Forms (20 Buck Spin)
Traitrs – Butcher’s Coin – (Plesence Records)
Verminous Scum – Verminous Scum EP (Wizard Union Collective)
Vile Creature – Cast of Static & Smoke (Halo of Flies Records)