(Re-Rank’d) Albums Of The Year 2018

Tartarus

Welcome back to the Re-RANK’D series where i’m going back to my old Facebook AOTY lists and re-doing(and FAR improving)them. So far, these have been a ton of fun. Hasn’t been that difficult to scrape through Spotify to see what I listened to that year and see what I liked, what I didn’t, and how albums have marinated on me as the years gone by. It’s been pretty smooth…until now.

2018, kinda sucked.

Not all bad, but MAN, compared to the first 2 i’ve done and ESPECIALLY the next year?( it’s gonna be a friggin’ doozy doing that one again) 2018 was a rough year to go back to.

As far as omissions go, Alice In Chains - Rainier Fog was the only album drop. Unfortunately don’t really go back to that one as much as the other 2 Duvall records, not enough catchy hits for me on this one. And AIC is one of my all time favorite bands, stings a bit. The EP drop was the AOTY 2017 contender Their Dogs Were Astronauts with Occult Theories. Completely forgot this was a thing, and it’s not that great going back to it. Bummer.

With that out of the way, let’s get to it!

EP Of The Year - Ehhh….nothin’

Another bummer EP year for me.

11. The Algorithm - Compiler Optimization Techniques (Originally #.12)

As far as background music for a chill session go, nothing hits the spot like The Algorithm. Basically beeps, boops and *unces* with guitars thrown in, fun stuff and still holds up pretty well. Most of his stuff does. Not his best work, but really nice to put on and zone out in a game. Odd to chose a “Favorite Track” here since its like 6 LONG tracks with a lot of meandering about on some of em, so I’ll go with….

Favorite Track - Fragmentation

10. Sevendust - All I See Is War (Originally #.9)

The album that had me jump into Sevendust full time, the only song from them i’d heard before was Driven from a WWE game back in high school. Really great Nu-Metal/Hard Rock 00’s era pioneers and going in deep that year was an absolute treat, a ton of favorites coming out of that dive. This album doesn’t quite hit the highs of their OLD records but a couple bangers in here much like God Bites His Tongue and my favorite track, Dirty. They can still go, still cranking out records. Love to see it.

Favorite Track - Dirty

9. Parkway Drive - Reverence (Originally #.6)

*sigh* The beginning of the end of Parkway Drive. Absolutely gutted about it, my all time favorite Metalcore band only CLOSELY followed by All That Remains(who also took a steep fall). Reverence isn’t a terrible album, no, Darker Still from 2022 is. But this definitely has that same DNA that came from IRE(which fucking ruled) that eventually became Darker Still. But enough about that, what about Reverence? Well, you have the old HEVYness of Wishing Wells, the new HEVYness of Absolute Power and I Hope You Rot, and the HARD Dad Rock they do now, of well, everything else. It’s not all bad, Arena hits like Prey and The Void would be fun to sing along to, but that’s about it. The clean vocals from the absolute monster of a vocalist in Winston Mccall don’t really fit, the lame Rap-lite stuff that infests their newest album and the woefully slow weak guitar stuff scattered throughout really bog down what could have been a great follow up to IRE. Such a shame…

Favorite Track - Wishing Wells

8. Breaking Benjamin - Ember (Originally #.10)

The full return of Big Bad Beardy Ben Burnley’s Bodacious Band Breaking Benjamin(*applause*). This album RIPS, Ben held no punches here. This rivals Phobia or Dear Agony which is insane to say but man, going back it really does stand toe to toe. Right off the bat, Feed The Wolf gets you going, right into RED COLD RIVERRRR, a massive one-two punch like Diary Of Jane and Breath. See what I mean? Tourniquet, Torn In Two, Blood? All rival old stuff. Benjamin can still go dude, give it a spin. Can’t wait for them to put out another album…you know…a REAL album, Ben.

Favorite Track - RED COLD RIVERRRRR

7. Judas Priest - FIYAHPOWAH [sic] (Originally #.2)

The best Priest record since Painkiller. Only bumped down due to the rest of the list marinating just a BIT better. Still a fantastic record from them, the mix of old blood and new blood really age this album like fine wine. Halford rips HARD on this record, the dual guitars are incredible and rival the early day stuff. Right out the gate with the Title Track, you get everything you need in a Priest record. Halford’s legendary screeches, riffs aplenty and a fantastic solo. And it never lets up, especially during my favorite, the intro song Guardians and it’s companion Rising From Ruins. An EPIC intro song with piano starts then slowly swells up guitars that flow into the riffage of Rising From Ruins that includes the best anthemic chorus and by far the best Priest guitar solo since Nightcrawler, I just HAD to learn it on guitar. Spin this shit if you love the old british metal legends still at their best.

Favorite Track(s) - Guardians/Rising From Ruins

6. All That Remains - Victim Of The New Disease (Originally #.7) Rest In Peace Oli Herbert

I had the absolute honor of seeing Oli and ATR back in 2013, when they were still in full strength. Playing ALL the hits to perfection. Snapped pics of Oli and Phil that I still cherish to this day. Will never forget that show and the performance they did, blew my fucking mind and validated everything I felt about them back then. Miss you so damn much Oli, your guitar playing inspired the hell outta me in high school.

Victim Of The New Disease isn’t old ATR, it’s newer ATR with some old style bangers like Fuck Love, Blood I Spill, and Wasteland. It has Oli’s fingerprints all over it with solos that are still incredible. Best album since For We Are Many by far and gave me hope that their next offering MIGHT just be heavier….until Oli passed. As of writing, they’ve had absolutely nothing new out since then, with Phil being…odd and now Jason Richardson of Chelsea Grin fame with them…who knows. I’m still holding out hope, I still love them, but it’s looking bleak.

Favorite Track - Fuuuuuuuuuuck Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo etc……ve.

5. Bad Wolves - Disobey (Originally #.3)

Woooooo boy….where to begin? Well let’s leave the BS with former Lead Vocalist Tommy Vext and whatever the hell happened to the rest of them afterwards, at the door. Never listening to their new stuff. With that out of the way, how does this one hold up and why is it here? Well, while it birthed the good yet vastly overplayed cover in Zombie and the awful duet of Hear Me Now, which i’m sure caused the dad rock downward spiral this band took. Everything else….is fucking fantastic.

Great soft hitters that are catchy and some MAMMOTH riffage in others. God it sucks they didn’t just stay in THIS lane. Catchy clean choruses, great growls thrown in, HEVY HEVY riffage with great solos and MONSTER breakdowns are absolutely where they shined. Take out the pop songs that don’t fit and you have a perfect record with ebbs and flows that culminate to what I called back then: The Breakdown of the Decade in Toast To The Ghost. And it’s hard to argue with myself(i’m wrong tho). It’s what happens if you tune so low the earth shakes, slow that shit down to Doom Metal BPM, open a vortex straight to Tartarus, and you have Toast To The Ghost’s breakdown. Not to say the rest of the song doesn’t matter, it’s my favorite track all ‘round. But man…that breakdown….STILL HITS LIKE A MACK TRUCK.

Favorite Track - Toast To The Ghost…..but really dude that breakdown though.

4. Between The Buried And Me - Automata I and II (Originally 4a and 4b)

Ahh yes I missed these, loved them then, love them now. Best BTBAM album(s) by far for me. A fantastic two album journey that includes probably my favorite overall song of that decade(10s) in Voice Of Trespass(w/Glide as intro). Prog metal in it’s purest form, these guys are legends in that space, for a good reason. Insane vocal work, fantastic guitar and drum combo and perfect atmospheric keys/synths not to mention the accordion…If it weren’t for Trespass, it’d be REALLY hard to boil down just one favorite. How both albums open and close really tie them both together perfectly but really Voice Of Trespass is the masterpiece. Glide starts off with said accordion, then transitions to some beautiful vocal work. Then we end Glide and move into Trespass using what I can only call: funky metal swing. Because holy effing fuck dude that swing gets me going EVERY SINGLE TIME I put this record on. Never fails. Freddie Mercury style vocals kick in, keys behind him, jazz guitars sweep in, then more funky metal swing, xylophone, blast beats….I could go on. It’s a masterpiece. An absolute masterpiece. Listen to that alone if you’re daunted by prog, it’s a real treat.

Favorite Track(of the 10s) - Voice Of Trespass

3. Darren Korb - Hades: Original Soundtrack (Originally Not Included, but it’s here due to a technicality…)

Hades. My 2020 Game Of The Year. Had one of the best all time game soundtracks i’d ever heard and…I didn’t put it on my list. Because while it TECHNICALLY came out in 2018 and ended early access in 2020, this year was light on new additions, so it’s going here.

Darren Korb is a master musician, having done all the Supergiant games soundtracks, this is his opus. A perfect accompaniment on your journey to the surface with Zagreus. No Escape might be one of the best menu songs and subsequently one of the best boss fight tracks in any game i’ve ever heard with God Of The Dead. What a fantastic build to a fantastic boss fight with the big man himself, that 2nd phase speed up gets the blood pumping every time(especially if you suck and on your last bit of health). From Tartarus to the Styx, and all the side quests along the way, every song is so fitting to the environment. Man, finding Eurydice and hearing Good Riddance for the first time. I had to stop and take it all in, such a beautiful song. ESPECIALLY once you complete her quest. Ashley Barrett has an incredible voice in that one and in the End Credits song. An amazingly euphoric track after the journey you just went through. I could break this down track by track and gush about it, it’s that good. It stands beside Doom 2016 for me as some of the best soundtracks of the millennium.

Favorite Track(s) - God Of The Dead/Good Riddance

2. Cane Hill - Too Far Gone (Originally #.5)

A band discovered on a pre-show to a developmental wrestling show(thanks Triple H). A band my wife absolutely hates whenever I put them on(but why?) An album that only makes 2nd because half of it, frankly, sucks. But that first half?….FUCKS. Sexy Swamp Metal is the genre Cane Hill fans have dubbed them(well only in one song) and my god dude, i need more in my veins now…they haven’t put a full length album since then. Have only teased me with EPs and singles. I need more. I need more Sexy Swamp Metal. Anyway, this album starts off with the Title Track that gives you the general gist of Cane Hill, low tuned guitars with Vocalist Elijah Witt’s honey smooth vocal work and groovy ass riffs, ass riffs…hence Sexy Swamp Metal. Where was I? Oh yes, Lord Of Flies is the single that got them noticed a bit and what I’d recommend hitting first. But, Singing In The Swamp…my dude, is that very Swamp Metal Track. They’ve themselves admitted that they cannot replicate this, it’s so good, that slow groove chorus man, it gets you. I don’t usually partake in cannabinoid related euphoria but if I did, it’d be on some with this one. Once you leave there feeling good about yourself, Erased destroys any doubt HEVYness was off the table and gives you a breakdown that is impossible NOT to punch a small child to(don’t worry babe our son is fine). After a trip to the hospital, Why? is a fantastic chorus to sing along to and another good starter track for newbies. To end this fantastic album, It Follows is the track that started it all for me. That intro riff said everything I needed to know and the chorus is a smooth honey-laden trip that ends a fantastic record. It ends there. There’s nothing else. Move on. The EP’s are fantastic, i’ll talk about them later. Cane Hill, more music for the love of GOD please. PLEASE.

Favorite Track(s) - All the Swamp Metal/First Half of the Album.

Ice Nine Kills - The Silver Scream…preferably the Final Cut from 2019 (Originally #.1)

The one that made them famous. The horror movie anthology that started the now two album run that had two album of the year awards from me. Theatrical Metalcore, or Theatricore as I like to call it. Spencer Charnas is one of the best vocalists in music as a whole these days, few match his range, his power, his emotion in every song he does. The band isn’t second fiddle either, their old guitarist JD, while i didn’t like his tone that much, was integral to their HEVYness and speed with his soloing on this record.(Their new guitarists are even better). Every song from the Freddy Krueger joint The American Nightmare to the Tim Curry-less Pennywise track, IT Is The End and even the Final Cut’s Scream track, Your Number’s Up and the MJ Cover of Thriller(that’s actually pretty good) are welcome additions to an already perfect album. Any horror fan should listen to it, any metal fan should listen to it or even watch the music videos. It’s truly a unique album in a sea of derivatives and prove there is a ton of worth in the young guns putting out new music.

Favorite Track - The whole album, but IT Is The End has me the most. We all float down here.

BOOM, another one down! Well that wasn’t ALL bad….just a few more to go. 2019 is going to be absolutely insane, I’m really looking forward to it! Thanks for reading!