(Re-Rank’d) Albums Of The Year 2017

Doo-Be-Doos

Welcome back to the Re-Rank’d series! Last time, 2016 taught me that I was but a dumb 24 year old and I knew nothing. So how about when I was 25? Well…it’s not nearly as bad as it was last time, but the writing I did had very little to be desired. That’s why we’re here though, let’s get into it.

But before we do, like last time there are omissions and changes. This time August Burns Red - Phantom Anthem gets the boot. ABR have gone down a path of samey, yet very well done music that I just can’t get back into, this album is no exception. But I still love their Messengers, Constellations or Christmas records.

Oh and one more thing….PLAYLISTS BABY! From now on(and retroactively added 2016!), I will include a playlist of every album on the list in descending order on Spotify, and if you wanna save it and play the songs in full, you can totally do that. So sick!

BEWARE OF SPOILERS…if you care.

EP of the Year…..ehhh none?

None that I remember nor I could find, moving on!

13. Ice Nine Kills - Safe Is Just A Shadow (Re-Shadowed and Re-Recorded) (Originally #.11 Last, again)

Like last time, really the only reason it’s down here is because it’s a re-recorded version of their 2nd album, the one that got them on the map. Still a fantastic album, just a bit better on the production and Spencer’s improved vocal work added on top. Very strange to go back to their old metalcore stuff before they went full theater kids on Every Trick In The Book, but it still contains one of their best songs, and probably the origin of the style they perfected later on, in The Greatest Story Ever Told.

Favorite Track - The Greatest Story Ever Told

12. RED - Gone (Originally #.8)

Ah RED, a Breaking Benjamin style band mixed with more modern stuff thrown in that I latched onto that year during my hard-rock phase. Still a great record, just don’t listen to it much anymore. Definitely a band worth dipping into if you’re in to that mid-aughts style of rock that we all listened to in high school, Losing Control still rips.

Favorite Track - Losing Control

11. Galactic Empire - Galactic Empire (Originally #.10)

Gotta love these guys, still going, making sick metal covers of John Williams entire catalog of Star Wars songs as well as doing the stuff he hasn’t done like Mando’s theme and the Obi Wan series stuff. This is where it all started, STILL has my favorite version of Force Theme to date, insanely epic. STILL has the damn Cantina Theme that bops hard. If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’re already on this. By the way, if you listen to them on Spotify, a neat little lightsaber takes the place of the timeline scrubber!

Favorite Track - The Force Theme

10. Andy James - Exodus (Originally #.7)

My instrumental listening has gone down a bit in recent years, mostly due to just a lack of standouts other than Polyphia. But I still come back to this one from time to time. Andy kills it on here, with his shreddy stuff mixed in with his David Gilmour type epic stuff. The opener Ever After is my favorite, the chorus is SO good, but tracks like Gone or Never Back Down are super emotive stuff for an instrumental record, the dude can elicit a ton of emotion on guitar like few can.

Favorite Track - Ever After

9. Their Dogs Were Astronauts - Neon Theatre (Originally Not Listed)

All this talk of not listening to Instrumentals and i have THREE IN A ROW on this list?! Great year i’ll say. Anywho, I picked up on these guys a year after this dropped. I was drawn into the name, how couldn’t you? Going in hearing the intro track, I thought ok, it’s a proggy instrumental band doing odd stuff, sounds great….then Contortionist kicks in. My god, it’s sinks it’s hooks in you early, you don’t know what the hell is going on, then that fucking beat hits….oh it’s on now. Just wait till you hear what else is in store, it’s a journey of a song, it’s excellent and worth the listen even if you don’t like this kind of thing. Not to mention the other oddballs they got on the rest of the record. They’ve yet to come close to catching that WOW moment for me on anything other than Contortionist though, maybe with Fata Morgana later on, but man they killed it here.

Favorite Track - Contortionist

8. Wage War - Deadweight (Originally #.1)

FINALLY SOME DAGGUM VOCALS, but wow it dropped so far down, why? Well honestly, I think I had recency bias on that album, other records on this list marinated better than this one. Hell even their first album hits me better than this. That’s not to say it’s bad, oh no no. This was their last album before they fell of the face of the planet for me, still has some HEVY hitters like Stitch, Disdain and Johnny Cash. Just wish they’d go back to this, miss them.

Favorite Track - Stitch

7. Mastodon - Emperor Of Sand (Originally Not Listed)

#1 on SO MANY lists back then, so I had to give it a whirl…much later. Ended up becoming a Mastodon fan in the process. Always liked Colony Of Birchmen in my Rock Band days, but never dug into them like this. Not their best work, not even close(IMO), but has some fantastic guitar work from Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher, of course smothered in with Brann’s Dailor filthy drum and vocal work. Hell the whole band sings great on here, except Bill, he has yet to do vocals…maybe next album? Show Yourself and Steambreather are catchy as hell, and Jaguar God is an absolute vocal and guitar clinic from Brent, fantastic ending solo as well.

Favorite Track - Jaguar God

6. Oceans At Alaska - Hikari (Originally #.6 as well, nice)

Man, I wished their follow up was even nearly as good as this. Just doesn’t quite have the catchy-ness that this album has in it’s choruses or have that riff that stands out above the rest. Hikari is OAA’s best album, a drum and guitar powerhouse with vocal work that is odd yet very unique and a great accompaniment to the instrumental. What follows is a Proggy Djenty clinic thats off kilter, constantly changing tempos and timings to keep you guessing every second you listen. It’s a treat for open minded folk like me, whether you like the pop of Hansha, the brutality of Benzaiten, or the drum clinic Ukiyo(featuring Issues drummer Josh Manuel).

Favorite Track - Hansha

5. Make Them Suffer - Worlds Apart (Originally #.5, nice, again)

Few bands nail atmosphere in their music, MTS is one of those bands. Euphoria, i’d say, is the feeling they elicit in alot of their tracks, Ether being my all time favorite of theirs(Give it a listen kthx). Big help from former Keyboardist/Vocalist Booka Nile. In fact every Keyboardist/Vocalist they’ve had helps MTS stand out above others. While this record isn’t as great as their next, it still has some fantastic songs on here. The First Movement gets you ready for the journey, Uncharted and Fireworks are atmospheric as hell and Vortex is a BANGER with included Morse Code “da-da” vocals in the chorus. Plenty of HEVYness and breakdowns in here for any ‘core fan, just again…not as good as the follow up.

Favorite Track - Vortex(Interdimesional Spiral Hindering Inexplicable Euphoria)

4. Within The Ruins - Halfway Human (Originally #.4 don’t worry, the rest change, i think….)

What ended up being Vocalist Tim Ruins’ last record. I do miss him a bit. He wasn’t the “best” per se, but still FIT in Within The Ruins like a glove. While his replacement is great, he just isn’t Tim. This album was also the debut of clean vocals from Bassist Paolo. He really added a fantastic new layer to an already very talented group. But the main man is still, my boy Joe Cocchi on guitar. The LOW tuned legend with the most unique sound and best instrumentals in the game. The only reason this isn’t higher on my WTR list is because there’s only ONE instrumental track…ONE, blasphemy. If you can’t handle the vocal work, just listen to their instrumentals, they’re all incredible and Ataxia IV is the latest(on this album) in the series and sets the bar for guitar work in heavy music. Still awaiting a newer record from them, but I do know one thing, the guitars will rip as always.

Favorite Track - Ataxia IV

3. Veil Of Maya - False Idol (Originally Not Listed)

The band, the origin of a particular type of Djent or Prog playing, that I like to call, Doo Be Doos. Where the guitar is tuned so low and riffs so groovy that they sound you’re scatting, well, Doo Be Doos. Was a late bloomer to this album, mainly because i was a dumbass and didn’t like cleans in Veil for whatever reason back then, but I smartened up and listened to everything after Punisher(a doo be doo classic dubbed the “brow now” song). I’m glad I did too, i’d have missed out on the Doo be doo tour-de-force that is Pool Spray. Just try, TRY not to head bob like Will Farrell on his way to the Roxbury. You can’t. Impossible. Anyway the rest of the record is fantastic, give it a whirl. Bass up.

Favorite Track - Pool Spray w/Will Farrell bob

2. Trivium - The Sin And The Sentence (Originally #.2 ah, damn it.)

The revitalization of Trivium in album form. The best thing since Shogun(my #1). Matt Heafy’s return to screams and thrash style riffs and solos. It was an absolute treat to hear this after a LONG period of dad rock style stuff from Silence In The Snow, it just wasn’t Trivium. This…THIS is Trivium. Choruses of the modern mixed with the HEVYness of the old. A fantastic record that still hits better than the next 2 they’ve released since. The opener silenced the haters(like me) very quickly, The Heart From Your Hate caters to the newbies, and The Wretchedness is a MONSTER of a track with modern metal style low tuned goodness. Funnily enough, one of the bonus tracks on this album also got me into Type O Negative. Heafy’s cover of I Don’t Wanna Be Me is great and made me wanna dig into the rest of Type O’s discog after not being much into the band at that point. A topic I may dig into later at some point, a Best Type O Records list maybe? Hmm.

Favorite Track - The Wretchedness Inside

Fit For An Autopsy - The Great Collapse (Originally #.3)

Marinated like FINE steak(i’m vegetarian tho). My favorite Fit record, my favorite modern guitarist/producer in Will Putney, my favorite breakdowns outside of Knocked Loose, my favorite Deathcore band, my favorite album of 2017. What can I say about it? The opener Hydra gets you hyped up HARD. Heads Will Hang is pretty much a HEVYer Gojira joint. Black Mammoth destroys subwoofers with it’s breakdown. Terraform and Iron Moon settle you down for the world ending When The Bulbs Burn Out. Too Late slows it down before the GUT PUNCH of a song in Empty Still. Spiral ties the bow on this record with gusto. Perfection of a HEVY record, spin it up, NOW.

Favorite Track(s) - All Of ‘Em, RIP subwoofers everywhere.

Thanks for reading! ON TO 2018 BABY!