Well wouldn't you know it, 2015 is quickly slipping away from us, which means it's time I'd better get my shit together and get on with the Loud Noises 2014 Round-Up. And only a month or so late! As usual, we're going to start things off with a few of my favourite albums from the year that was 2014 (let's say around ten or so...), presented in no particular order.
- Job for a Cowboy - Sun Eater
This one not only warrants a spot on this list of ten great albums from 2014, it's also a front-runner for Biggest Surprise of the Year. You see, I never used to think much of Job for a Cowboy. I don't know what it was about their first couple of albums, but I wasn't really a fan and more or less wrote the band off in my head. I really only checked out Sun Eater on the strength of the first couple of tracks Job for a Cowboy released from it, but I've been pleasantly and thoroughly surprised to discover that Job for a Cowboy has become a pretty badass death metal band with just the right amount of technicality and even some proggy highlights applied here and there. Sun Eater slays, and it should be enough to convince anyone sitting on the Job for a Cowboy fence which side they should come down on.
- Destrage - Are You Kidding Me? No.
Given metal's traditional, even stereotypical, popularity in places like Scandinavia and northern Europe, I guess I shouldn't be surprised in 2015 that there are so many kickass bands doing their thing in so many different places around the world. Maybe someday the novelty of learning metal isn't a strictly North American phenomenon will wear off, but for the time being I still find myself perhaps unduly excited every time I learn about a band somewhere else doing something just as awesome as what's going on right here at home. Case in point: Italy's Destrage, an incredibly talented band that doesn't let its high energy, frenetic riffing get in the way of its songwriting. Think a somewhat more metal Protest the Hero with the vein of spastic madness turned up to levels closer to Dillinger Escape Plan and you'll be approaching the right track. Are You Kidding Me? No. is a masterpiece, and I can't wait to hear whatever's next from Destrage.
- Killitorous - Party, Grind
If you've been following along for any length of time now, you've likely picked up on the fact that my tastes, while pretty diverse, tend towards the proggier end of the spectrum. But I do so loves me some death metal, especially when it's fast and techy, which is why Killitorous' Party, Grind hit such a sweet spot for me. I crowdfunded this one on a whim and the strength of one single, and boy was I gratified when my copy came in the mail and fucking killed. Party, Grind is fast and ferocious from start to finish, with enough trem picking, arpeggio sweeping, and blast beating to satisfy any tech-death aficionado. That Killitorous are Canadian is just gravy. A sophomore disc from these guys will be something to watch out for.
- Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails
Going into 2014, it was a pretty safe bet that big things were in store for San Francisco's Fallujah. They weren't exactly newcomers to the scene, but they were getting a newcomer kind of buzz for their 2013 EP Nomadic. Then when The Flesh Prevails dropped, the johnny-come-latelies like me all learned that the buzz was well deserved. In The Flesh Prevails Fallujah served up a major slab of dense and atmospheric progressive post-death metal. They managed to take what is clearly some incredible musicianship and make a record that translates all of it into intensity and none of it into showy excess. There's a lot here to digest, but the dedicated listener is most definitely rewarded with a modern classic.
- Closure in Moscow - Pink Lemonade
As much as I got into Pink Lemonade in 2014 (which was a lot), it's definitely a grower and not a shower, if you take my meaning. Fans of Closure in Moscow expecting the band's next disc to sound more or less like First Temple kicked up a notch or two are likely to have been a little turned off by the spaced-out prog rock that is Pink Lemonade, at least initially. The open-minded listener, however, was rewarded with a Mars Voltian jazz funk adventure that spans a whole fistful of genres. Post-hardcore, post-rock -- Pink Lemonade is post-whatever you can think of. Metal purists should think twice before they look down their nose at this one.
- Raiju - Haunt
I've posted about songs from this album a couple of times in the last little bit, so you should already have an idea why these guys have a spot on this list. Just in case you don't: take the punk-metal-influenced shreddy riffing of Protest the Hero, mix in the proggy, groovy low end of Periphery, add a dash of slick pop-prog from somebody like Coheed and Cambria, and you've got yourself a rough sketch of Raiju. Comparisons between Raiju and bands like those I just mentioned are especially appropriate given vocalist Scott Wagner's impressive vocal range. Raiju is another one of those bands whose sophomore should be absolutely epic if their freshman effort is any indication.
- Wake - Hail the Sun
When I was younger, we might well have called Wake and their debut LP Hail the Sun emo or screamo or something like that, earnestly at first and then perhaps derogatorily a little later on once we'd grown into our more metal listening habits. These days the catch-all term "post-hardcore" might be employed in polite company (although screamo is probably still the denigrating term of choice among genre naysayers). Whatever way you want to slice things, label-wise, Hail the Sun is an energetic, varied, vaguely poppy, vaguely techy record in the vein of bands like Dance Gavin Dance. More than that, though, I'd call it one of the best examples of "screamo" to come out in years (Dance Gavin Dance included).
- Opeth - Pale Communion
The last couple of Opeth records have been pretty polarizing for longtime fans of the band. Some have embraced the band's shift away from its death metal roots, while others have wholeheartedly rejected it. Luckily for me, I've been in the former camp since the electric/acoustic yin-yang of the Deliverance/Damnation double album, and I've listened to each new Opeth record fully expecting and accepting that we're not getting another Blackwater Park -- and that that's perfectly OK. If you're willing to concede that point and go into Pale Communion with that in mind, you'll discover a straight-up rock-solid prog record. Watershed is still my favourite of Opeth's less-metal offerings, but Pale Communion is definitely the strongest of their last couple.
- Archspire - The Lucid Collective
Technical death metal is in a good place at the opening of 2015, and there were a number of really solid albums in this genre last year that could arguably warrant a spot on my list of favourite albums from 2014. I've already mentioned one of them in Killitorous' killer debut LP Party, Grind and awesomely enough my next selection is also an act from the Great White North. Vancouver's Archspire adorn their merch with the slogan "Stay Tech", and a listen or two to their 2014 disc The Lucid Collective should demonstrate that they've got the chops to back it up. Machine gun-quick vocals, fretboard acrobatics, and light-speed drumming all line up just right on this one. Fans of the genre would be greatly remiss if they didn't check this one out.
- Beyond Creation - Earthborn Evolution
Last bust most certainly not least, I'm rounding out my list of 2014 favourites with another phenomenal album of technically proficient, compositionally progressive death metal from yet another badass Canadian band. I might, of course, be just a little bit biased, but I don't think you need to be to recognize the towering mountain of proggy death metal that Montreal's Beyond Creation have crafted for us in Earthborn Evolution. Dominic Lapointe's absolutely ridiculous bass work is worth the price of admission all by itself, to say nothing of the laser-precise performances of all involved. There's maybe a shade less sheer speed here than, say, Archspire or Killitorous, but the musicianship is so top-notch that it's hard to be anything but bewildered by this one.
And there you have it: another year, another ten kickass albums. As usual, narrowing the crowded field of good records from last year down to ten of my favourites wasn't easy, but I hope my making the tough calls means that, when deciding what to put on next, you won't have to.
I've got another couple of 2014 Round-Up posts planned, which hopefully won't take until spring to finish up, so stay tuned.
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