2013 Round-up: Loud Noises Ten Best of 2013

     Well, it's finally time to sit down and look back on the year that was and celebrate the fact that 2013 was a very strong year for heavy music of every stripe. My belief that we shouldn't judge a year until it's actually done, coupled with my very gradual (read: glacial) working pace over Christmas, has put me several weeks behind where I originally intended to be on this, but now that 2013 exists only in our memories, and I've got all my ducks in a row, I'm ready to jump on the bandwagon of musical criticism (every other metal website out there has of course had their "Top X of 2013" lists up for, like, two months now).

     Now, before you read the following list and then explode with rage at my selections, let's establish right now that these are my personal favourites from last year, the albums that I would say I spent the most time listening to and enjoying. I am in no way saying that these are definitively or objectively the ten "best" albums from 2013. Yes, the words "Ten Best" do appear in the title of this post, but in the context of being the Loud Noises Ten Best, not the Ten Best. So there. I refuse to take any responsibility for any butthurt you might incur from the omission of your favourite band or album.

     So, without further ado, and in no particular order, please enjoy the Loud Noises Ten Best albums of 2013.

- Tesseract - Altered State
     Tesseract's first LP One left me such a fanboy that I probably would have lapped up new material like a cartoon cat with a saucer of milk regardless of its quality. What good fortune then that follow-up full-legnth Altered State is so goddamned awesome. Call it metal, call it prog, call it djent if you feel you must, but whatever label you choose to apply to Tesseract, you can't deny their infectious groove and rhythmic power. More than perhaps any other band represented on this list, Tesseract are a band you can put on for your non-metal head friends and still reasonably expect them to enjoy it. Yeah, you read that right: Tesseract are an accessible metal or "heavy" band, but in a way that renders "accessibility" a good quality instead of a dirty word.

- The Ocean - Pelagial
     If you'll pardon the nautical pun, Pelagial is album with a very deep concept. The idea, if I understand things correctly, is that the sonic journey of the album from start to finish is supposed to represent or replicate the experience of descending into the depths of the ocean. Of course, Pelagial doesn't adhere to this template rigidly, but rather does so just enough to sketch out the concept's bones. The prettier, prog-rockier early parts of the record, replete with piano parts, give way to denser, more prog-metally parts, and things get doomier mood-wise as we get further down. Interestingly, Pelagial is also one of several albums I've come across lately (another being Tesseract's Altered State from above) that come with both a regular version of the album and an instrumental one. Regular readers will know I'm a fan of instrumental music, but it's a true testament to The Ocean's songwriting and musicianship that Pelagial is just as enthralling without any vocals at all.

- Revocation - Revocation
     Thrash is dead! Long live thrash! I've heard the whole movement of which Revocation can be considered part called retro-thrash, or re-thrash, but there's nothing retro about the Boston band's badass sound. What Revocation plays is decidedly modern thrash, an evolutionary leap forward from the kind of metal bands like Metallica used to play back in their heyday. And yet, Revocation has a classic feel too, like it would be at home alongside any era of fast and furious metal. Revocation is also one of those albums that satisfies with its own awesomeness at the same time that it whets the appetite for more awesomeness to come. Songs like "The Hive", "Archfiend", and "Invidious", to name just a few, make me very excited to hear what Revocation will come up with next time out.

- letlive. - The Blackest Beautiful
     Yet another year has gone by without a major new release from post-hardcore legends Glassjaw, making them the genre's equivalent of Tool in terms of productivity. An album like The Blackest Beautiful, however, is enough to make you say "go ahead and take your time, Glassjaw". I don't know that everybody would agree with me on this one, but I really feel that letlive has the vibe of a "spiritual successor" to Glassjaw, especially with The Blackest Beautiful. They've got the same blend of energy, aggression, and pop sensibilities and vocal stylings. Glassjaw's Worship and Tribute is still a classic, but letlive might have crafted the modern equivalent in The Blackest Beautiful. And if they haven't done it here, their next album is going to slay.

- Misery Signals - Absent Light
     This one is a little like Tesseract's Altered State, in the sense that I've been a Misery Signals fan for a long time and would probably have been satisfied with just about whatever Misery Signals came up with. I don't know if it's possible to re-bottle the lightning of earlier Misery Signals albums (2008's Controller is still my favourite) but Absent Light is still a rock solid balance between the dense technicality of Misery Signals' more recent work and the earnest aggression of their early stuff. As a supporter of the band's Indiegogo campaign, I for one am fully satisfied with the album that the band came up with, and would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

- East of the Wall - Redaction Artifacts
     A word I often like to use about the sound and style of the band above, Misery Signals, is "dense". This is a word that could also be applied to East of the Wall's latest, Redaction Artifacts. "Dense" in the sense that there's so much going on. If you read even the occasional post around here, you'll know I like to try and compare bands to other bands, to help all of you get a bit better handle on things before you press play. East of the Wall had me stumped, and in the best possible way. Redaction Artifacts is unorthodox, but not inaccessible, technical, but not overly so, disharmonious, but not amelodic... I could keep pulling juxtapositions out of my ass all day, but a better use of your time would be to just go on Youtube and find out for yourself exactly why East of the Wall and Redaction Artifacts resist my attempts at classification and description.

- Anciients - Heart of Oak
     As I've made clear in an Anciients Song of the Day, Heart of Oak is a hard album to pin down. It's a well-forged alloy of Mastodony post-metal, Opethian prog, straight-up death metal, and healthy helpings of classic metal and rock. Sprinkle in some impressive drum work, some vocal variety, and some truly tasty guitar leads, and you've got a delicious brew that is, incredibly, only the debut LP from this Vancouver band. I can only imagine what a little maturity will do for a band that's already this technically sophisticated.

- Plini - Other Things
     I don't know if it's cheating a little or not to include an EP on my list of ten best "albums" of last year, but I don't really care. Plini is an incredibly talented guy, and he's put out some incredibly rad music in the past year, but his first EP Other Things was how I initially discovered his work, and of all his releases so far it's the one that's spent the most time coming out of my speakers since I got it. More than almost any other act on this list, I can't wait to hear what's next from this rising star, and that's saying something. It'll be absolutely criminal if Plini doesn't eventually get huge.

- Protest the Hero - Volition
     Another longtime favourite of mine, Protest the Hero could almost do no wrong on this one. Me and thousands of other Indiegogo contributors basically said (or gambled) as much when we threw scads of money into a Protest-shaped hole in the internet. News of drummer Moe Carlson's departure disheartened as much as word of his session replacement Chris Adler excited. In the end, we needn't have worried about a thing: Protest's technicalilty is still top notch, and while the prog is dialed down, the songwriting is dialed way up. These are some of the best songs -- not collections of cool riffs and parts strung together -- of the band's career.

- Circles - Infinitas
     The debut LP from Australia's prog-djent darlings Circles demonstrated that not only can the band craft riffs but songs as well. That was the thing about the band's 2011 EP The Compass: it was full to the brim with tasty riffs and bits, but the songs weren't always cohesive wholes so much as these riffs and bits strung together serviceably (sound familiar? *cough* Protest the Hero *cough*). Don't get me wrong, I really really dig The Compass, but for the most part you can't really build any kind of a career with just a good collection of riffs. You need some solid songs. Circles seems to think so too, as they brought an album's worth of solid material to the party with Infinitas. With initial outings as strong as The Compass and now Infinitas, this is yet another case of me being well stoked to hear a sophomore LP.

     Aaaaannnnd there you have it. Not exactly ringing in the new year punctually, but as they say, better late than never. Right? Right?!

Derek Sherinian - Sons of Anu

     I feel that today's song requires a bit of a walk to get to -- you should, after all, make the same journey I did -- but don't worry, it'll be worth it.

     So one of the many bands I follow on Facebook is Texas-based studio prog band Haji's Kitchen (who, by the way, are rad should be checked out) and the other day a video post from the band came up in my news feed. More specifically, it was a video post from one Derek Blakley, the band's supremely talented bass player.

     I've previously posted a video from Derek, namely a playthrough vid of his badass bass solo from the Haji's Kitchen song "Sidhartha", but this video the other day was Derek's attempt at playing an Al Di Meola solo from a song called "Sons of Anu" off a 2003 album called Black Utopia by keyboardist Derek Sherinian. Got all that?

     Your song this evening, after all that, is "Sons of Anu" by Derek Sherinian. The first round of guitar soloing is handled by none other than Yngwie Malmsteen, but for our purposes the more important bit of lead work belongs to Al Di Meola and starts around the 4:15 mark of this epic, seven-minute, three-movement track.  

     That, my soon-to-be-impressed friends, is the solo in question undertaken by Mr. Derek Blakley on bass. Let that sink in for a minute - Al's blazing acoustic solo, shredded out on a bass -- then have a listen to both Dereks, and then proceed to pick your jaws up off the floor. Happy Friday everybody.

Killitorous - It's Not Stanley, It's Stan Lee

     It's been a bit of a long day, and it isn't quite done yet, so I'm in the mood for something heavy as shit. Consider yourself warned.

     Today's band Killitorous, a fast and furious tech death band from right here in Canada, comes recommended by none other than The Black Dahlia Murder's Facebook page, which can and should be taken as a ringing endorsement. If you like blast beats, trem picking, competing shrieks and growls, all topped off with obligatory heavy metal long hair windmilling, then you should know that Killitorous do NOT fuck around.

     Take a listen to "It's not Stanley, It's Stan Lee" from the bands forthcoming debut LP Party, Grind if you don't believe me. It's got all of the above*, and put together in such a way that after four minutes you're still hungry for more.  Only multiple plays will satisfy. Once again, you've been warned.

*OK, the hair windmilling is only in the mix if you're watching the video, but even if you're not,

Aeolist - III

     I've written about British instrumental band Aeolist before, but they've recently a drum playthrough video for a sweet track from their tasty, self-titled 2013 EP, which makes them a prime candidate for another look.

     "III", not surprisingly the third of the EP's four tracks, checks off a lot of boxes on the Quality Instrumental Metal checklist. Some hella heavy parts, including some blast beats? Check. Plenty of fleet-fingered riffing, ranging from thrashy bits to bits proggier? Double check. A smattering of tasteful leadwork? Checkity check. Six minutes of instrumental music that stays interesting the whole time? Check, check, and check!

     Can you tell I'm digging "III" this evening? Why don't you click on play so you can dig it too?

Rosetta - Oku/The Secrets

     Today's band cropped up on a few year-end lists that I saw, and likely more that slipped past my vigilant gaze. Even I've recommended them to you before, but it's been a while, so it's once again Rosetta's time to shine.

     Rosetta's sludgy, vaguely Mastodony post-metal certainly isn't about instant gratification; several songs on last year's The Anaesthete clock in at six minutes or longer, and the album as a whole is chock full of ebbing and flowing. Rosetta are definitely a band who've mastered the art of the build and release.

     Today's song, however, starts out with the release and works backwards. "Oku/The Secrets" opens with some hammering guitars and drums, and then levels out into some rolling thunder riffing for the groove that carries the latter portion of the song. Some volume is a must for this one.

Ever Forthright - Riot: Part 1

     The djentlemen in Ever Forthright are hard at work on their second LP, but even though it's still a work in progress the band has been kind enough to give us a taste of the new material in "Riot: Part 1".

     Opening up bludgeoning and dissonant, "Riot: Part 1" covers a good deal of angular Meshuggah-type ground before bringing in some big jazzy chords and leadwork near the end that succeed in softening the song's edges only slightly. There's also some decent clean vocals to be had, and some growls that are at times very reminiscent of Randy from Lamb of God. Could be an interesting sophomore disc, don'tchathink?

Sunday: Monuments - Doxa

     Whether or not you think djent is something that's played out, or whether or not it was something you really dug to begin with, I don't think you can deny the fact that when it's done well it can be some tasty stuff. Rhythmic riffage with lots of low end can be a well-utilized tool or an over-employed crutch.

     In the hands of the British craftsmen in Monuments it's definitely the former, a tool for the forging of cool djenty grooves that stand out from the rest of the downtuned crowd. Album number two is apparently in the works, but for now we'll have to content ourselves with debut LP Gnosis and tracks like "Doxa". This is the kind of thing I could see being on the radio (in a good way), if this kind of music got on the radio.