The Groove Train: Train's Top 2016 Albums v. No One Likes Cheap Wine

[Train of Naught]

Pyramido - Vatten (April 29th)

For fans of: Post metal, sludge/doom metal (Cult of Luna, Neurosis, Dark Castle)

Whereas most post metal does not really manage to connect with me, this is straight up solid post metal throughout. It is hard to pinpoint my favorite moments or even favorite songs on this 5-song release but any fan of angry, dark, plodding music should dig this. While bands like The Ocean venture into a more proggy sound to create some interesting diversity, Pyramido seem to simply create very deep atmospheres and layer their guitars in a way that, to many bands in the genre, seems like a no-go as far as post metal goes. It is like they want to have some high-toned guitars to play the leads, only to then almost completely drown them out with the low, slowtempo rhythm section. It creates a really cool effect that kind of ties in with post rock at times.

Not much to be said about the band in general, they never really break the mold when it comes to album structures, they have stuck with the 30-40 minute releases forever and never go beyond 5-6 songs per release. There's a good few moments when they sound like a sludge/doom metal band too, especially when the guitars go in unison, and it sounds like an extremely slowed down alternative of stoner metal.

The musicians on this record play off each other really well, that's the first thing that comes into my head when thinking about what makes a good post metal band. Even though many find the genre to be too plodding and monotonous, the music in itself stays very cohesive most of the time, and what better way to complement that than implementing some great unisons, bass transitions and drum fills? I'm generally very biased towards songs that go from a standard tempo to half tempo, which I'm kinda getting showered with because I listen to prog metal. But when a genre like this one goes above and beyond and manages to stick with an even slower tempo, it just amplifies the impact of every note that is played, to me at least. Rhythms are more headbangable, vox are easier to follow and understand even though they're so harsh you can barely make out what they are saying. Tempus, for one, has a really intense conclusion which is not something I generally look for in my post metal, but whenever it is executed properly (Cult of Luna - Cygnus folks) it can be such a satisfying payoff, which this is. Like I said, I have a hard time picking out standout moments/songs because it feels like they're a bit too similar stylistically to distinguish them, even after having listened to this for about 4 times. It's very much a mood-album, I'd rather listen to this when I'm down as fuck or just really tired.

Favorite songs: Tempus, Aktion, En Linje I Sanden

[Train of Naught]

Slice the Cake when

ITS TIME

I will probably stick to my favorite albums of the year instead of randomly selecting some other albums I've heard this year. At this point, I know I can't keep up the pace I had liked to, so I'm just going to do as much as possible before wrapping it up at the end of the year.


Slice the Cake - Odyssey to the West (April 1st)

For fans of: Technical deathmetal / Spoken words / Progressive deathcore


At this point, it should not be a surprise to the people that know me on this board, that Odyssey to the West has been my album of the year for months already, and it is not looking to give up that spot ever. This album, man.. if you have not heard it before, it will be nothing like you have ever heard before. If there was ever a groundbreaking prog release in the 2010's it would be this one.

Slice the Cake, as unprofessional as it sounds, started out as two guys meeting on an online forum called ultimatemetal.com. Guitarist Jonas Johansson was looking for a vocalist for his new project and surely Gareth Mason turned up and from there the band guys picked up one more studio member, Jack Magero. So Slice the Cake has ever since been a three-piece divided across three different countries in Europe, a pretty crazy situation to be in when you are planning to actually write and record music. Their output in the past has not impressed me much though "The Man With No Face" has some great moments.

They took a sharp left turn with Odyssey to the West and went for a very elaborate concept album with an intense adventurous setting and some of the most dramatic vocal work you will ever hear. The writing/recording process took the band about 4 years. Granted, they were not writing and recording the entire time, but you can tell a lot of work went into the concept and the arrangement of the entire thing. There are callbacks to the previous album "The Man With No Face", as well as the 30-minute song that was released as a prequel to this album on the same date "Odyssey to the Gallows". From beginning to end, it takes the listener through many different emotions shows the biggest musical variety I have heard in deathcore/techmetal.

Sure, the vocals are some of the most extreme ones I have heard in my entire life, especially in Stone and Silver Part II: The Horned God, which has the lowest growls on the album and just feels like a bombardment of agression, with a runtime of only 2 and a half minutes. When listening to the album, I always feel like I am in a darker alternative of a Lord of the Rings type movie, the songwriting and atmospheres are so vivid and the lyrics are so well-rounded that the story really comes alive. I always imagine The Horned God being the most intense part of the 'movie'. Not necessarily in an epic climax sense, but rather in just a super dark intense one.

When recommending the band to new listeners, 9 out of 10 times I would recommend to start with the "Westward Bound" saga. It includes Westward Bound Part I: The Lantern which is the song in which the pilgrim has to make the choice to either continue the journey or leave empty-handed after all that has happened prior to this song. Therefore, it is a very two-faced song. They start out quite somber, but the music is still clean with an acoustic guitar and clean vox. As the song progresses, the vocals get more intense and we start to build up towards the climax of the first part, in which the pilgrim reveals that he will persue his journey, shouting the words "So I go westward, westward bound" euphorically. The saga flows seemlessly into Westward Bound Part II: The Pilgrim's Progress which leaves behind the poetic tone and focuses on a more profound sound. The song does not offer as much diversity as The Lantern but it is a very good continuation nonetheless and I would not listen to either one of them separately. The conclusion of Westward Bound, in which they threw a reprise of "Stone and Silver", might just be my favorite moment on the album if I had to pick.

In Exile Part I: The Razor's Edge is my anthem, this is the best introduction to an album I have heard all year. The vocals (both spoken and singing) are phenomenal and set the mood for the rest of the album perfectly. The decision to not include any real growls on this track is a good one IMHO, there is still a certain level of intensity to the part starting with "So beneath the sight of God" that offers the same, if not more, amount of fierceness as some of the growls on this album. The transition into In Exile Part II: The City of Destruction is beautifull, and you will soon come to notice that they draw the listener to the darkest places of their imaginary story. I have fucked up my voice pretty seriously several times when trying to sing along with The City of Destruction, I do not advice this. I see this second track as the longer version of The Horned God, by this I mean it's a full-out agressive song that takes the listener through various emotions in a matter of seconds.

Unending Waltz is a very enchanting one-piece substory that seems like a self-reflection of sorts, of the protagonist. I love how atmospheric it sounds, how the female vocals give it this beautiful feel and how it all bursts out into agression in the end, as we have come to expect from this band. This one is followed by the "Ash and Rust" series which has to be the most experimental one on the album, it definitely feels like the most "interesting", but it is probably my least favorite series of songs on the album, still awesome though. Ash and Rust Part I: From Shell to Shell and Ash and Rust Part II: The Dark Carnival being my favorites, they work very well together. From Shell to Shell being an intense build-up and The Dark Carnival just being exactly what the name suggests, it has some resemblances to earlier songs but the main draw here are those Sigh-like vocals with a very ominous carnival feel to them.

I will be shocked if I find anything in this decade that will knock this album off its #1 throne, I am pretty sure this will go into history as my favorite 2010's album, I love it that much.

Favorite songs: Westward Bound Part I: The Lantern, The Exile Part I: The Razor's Edge, Destiny's Fool, Stone and Silver Part III: Man of Papyrus Limbs, The Exile Part II: The City of Destruction

[Tomislav95]

I don't believe you so I'll just check it out for myself. 

[twosuitsluke]

Well with a glowing review like that I guess I will listen to this at work today 

[Elite]

Yeah, this album is really, really good.

[Train of Naught]

I had a hard time linking any bands to the FFO section since I don't know any band with a similar sound, but I believe anyone who is tolerant of deathcore vocals and blast beats at times should find this interesting. There's a lot to the music and it offers more variety than any album I've heard in the same vein.

[Crow]

it succ

succ the cake

also I have literally no clue what the concept of the album is but I should probably read into it at some point

also boo no love for the holy mountain why

[Sacul]

also I have literally no clue what the concept of the album is but I should probably read into it at some point

also boo no love for the holy mountain why

Something about pilgrims - I think it's even the same concept of the new Neal Morse Band album

Because Trainy is not into Sleep

[Train of Naught]

The Holy Mountain succ

Nah but I don't think it's a standout. I love the transition from the acoustic motif in Destiny's Fool into that agressive intro riff but as a whole I don't find it to be on the same level as the best tracks, which is quite a high standard btw. Along with The Horned God, it would be next on my list of favorites, I love The Horned God but it's so short

[Train of Naught]

Obsidian Kingdom - A Year With No Summer (March 11th)

For fans of: Atmospheric metal, post-metal, "hard to classify heavy sound with plenty of contrasts" (Thy Catafalque)

Hey look it's one of the roulette albums. I have listened to Mantiis a couple of time but the band never really wow'd me, the first 4 songs off that album were my favorites. Now with this new album they changed it up quite a bit, they went for a much more atmospheric post-metalish sound here and it is right up my alley. They make a lot of use of distantly produced screaming vocals instead of straight-up growls which is something I appreciate, it adds to the ethereal vibe that a lot of good music in the same vein gives off. I could see how this album would be kind of polarizing among their fans.

There is a certain cold atmosphere to the record that is created by the odd samples and use of sufficient distortion. It feels like an ascending insanity as the record progresses, namely with the first 3 tracks. A Year With No Summer has these strong dark atmospheric elements but overall stays fairly general by the album standards, it is a great introduction to the record and I wouldn't change a thing. 10th April acts as a great transition into the eventual climax of what I perceive to be the first 'movement' of the album, Darkness. There is such a dense feel to this one, I never know whether to be awe-struck or simply creeped out by this, but they pull it off in great fashion.

However, I feel like this is one of those albums that gets better as it progresses. I don't necessarily think that every subsequent song is better than the one prior to it, but due to the increasing tension of the album's overall mood and my personal impression on it, the album feels more epic in a surreal sort of way near the end. Like for example The Ocean's "Pelagial", it gets so intense near the end that ever since I have heard the album in full, I cannot listen to these songs separately anymore. The building suspense is an absolutely essential element for me to get the most out of this album, and oh man is the pay-off awesome as we finally get to Away / Absent. At this point all hell has broke loose and while it is not as agressive as some of the stuff that's on Mantiis, I think it is the bombastic sound throughout that wins me over on this one. There is a truly cold atmosphere to it and whenever they break into these pounding blast beat sections it feels like something is about to collapse. Nearly all of the vocals are harsh at this point and the clean vocals make use of the same distant effect that they have used before in order to make it feel more profound. Or, less profound, depending on the listener's interpretation.

I feel like I still haven't absorbed this album in its entirety yet after numerous listens, but the reason I like this one so much is that it just puts you in an entirely different state than most albums, it really is one that differs in quality depending on mood if you ask me.

Favorite songs: Away / Absent, Darkness, A Year With No Summer, The Kadinsky Group

[twosuitsluke]

I got Away/Absent in my roulette and it really did nothing for me. I'm going to try the album at some point but it might not be my thing.

On the other hand, that Slice the Cake album  cheers

[Elite]

Everybody has gotten Away / Absent in their roulettes this past year

Thanks for including it; nice write-up!

(By the way, the vinyl edition has a different track order that also works surprisingly well. The title-track os placed between The Kandinsky Group and The Polyarnik, so the album opens with 10th April. I don't know why they did this, but it's a nice change from the original order.)

[Crow]

i don't understand the appeal of this album, i find it boring, but oh well

[Train of Naught]

(By the way, the vinyl edition has a different track order that also works surprisingly well. The title-track os placed between The Kandinsky Group and The Polyarnik, so the album opens with 10th April. I don't know why they did this, but it's a nice change from the original order.)

This sounds intriguing, I may just try that order out the next time I listen to it.

[Bolsters]

I seem to have this saved in Spotify but I don't recall if I have actually listened to it or not.

[Train of Naught]

Car Bomb - Meta (28th of October)

For fans of: Mathcore, progressive metal(core) (Meshuggah, The Dillinger Escape Plan)

Next up I got fucking agressive album that might just be the biggest surprise of the year, who the hell are Car Bomb??

For the record, I hadn't heard a second off this album before seeing someone online share a song off this new record a couple of weeks ago, just as it got released. Nothing compares to the sheer insanity that went into creating this 11-piece album. The record is filled with over-the-top agressive, complex rhythms and systematically placed bloodpumping vocals. With the average of about 4 minutes per song, you'd expect some more straightforward songwriting, and I could see this music falling flat for a lot of people with little to no interest in br00tal stuff like this, but this one just left me with such interest more than anything, wanting to explore these songs further and seeing what all the fuss was about (I've seen it listed as one of the best albums of the year on some lists).

I feel like the FFO section in this one is the most accurate out of any writeups I've done so far. The music has the same level of brutality and chaos as The Dillinger Escape Plan, while the vocals share some similarities with the vocalists of both TDEP and Meshuggah. Furthermore, the technicality and musicianship across the board seemingly is on par with some of the stuff I have heard of Meshuggah as well, and at times they really do sound like a sped up alternative of Meshuggah.

The first two songs are great sampling material for the rest of the album, From the Dust of This Planet covers pretty much the entire sound range of "Meta", and Secrets Within, with the Prison Song intro, unfolds into another heartpounding outburst of chaos. I would not bother describing every single song, because Car Bomb somewhat stick to a core sound that they feel comfortable with, which works for some and is a big snoozefest to others. I think The Dillinger Escape Plan had something great going on with one of their singles of their latest album, "Limerent Death", that being the outro. Car Bomb make use of the same type of formula here, where they build upon the same riff over and over to increase intensity and make you feel like you are listening to surroundings of an actual madhouse with these incredibly low tuned slow and dirty guitar riffs. I would not say this is the best thing ever but it is at the very least a very interesting surprise of 2016, looking forward to hearing more from these guys.

Favorite songs: From the Dust of This Planet, Cenotaph, Constant Sleep, Secrets Within, Lights Out

[Elite]

Car Bomb

Didn't know they had a new album out. Cool.

[Crow]

As someone who likes neither of those bands I think I should avoid this one like the plague 

[Train of Naught]

Car Bomb

Didn't know they had a new album out. Cool.

Fuck yeah, you know them? What's your favorite album? Would like to check out some more

As someone who likes neither of those bands I think I should avoid this one like the plague 

Probably for the best, yeah, this does not sound like paramacore

[Train of Naught]

Avenged Sevenfold - The Stage (28th of October)

For fans of: Heavy metal, progressive metal, alternative metal

Deserving of the title "least anticipated release of one of my favorite bands", here we have the latest Avenged Sevenfold album, The Stage! It has not even been a month since its release and it has already taken up the spot of one of my most played albums of the entire year. Initially, I was not hyped about this album at all. The band claimed to be in the studio at around April or something and I fully expected them to become a band that would slowly fade out of my rotation in the next couple of years, to be replaced by brutal black death metal and pornogrind. But with an interestingly surprising release with no prior information except for one random single drop, they peeked my interest soon enough again.

The very first thing we got to hear from this album was a snippet showcasing some almost Dragonforce-sounding shreds by Syn. A bit random, but I personally dug it, gave me some hope that this would not be the standard Hail to the King-type hardrock album that some of us feared.

When finally, The Stage dropped, and we eventually got to hear what direction the band was going into after all these years, I was floored. This song gave me all kinds of goosebumps, from the great thematic intro into the badass main riff, to the mellow Syn-heavy solo section into the grand finale, this song has everything I love about Avenged Sevenfold. It may not be the very best at all those elements, but it is the best all-around song in the bands entire catalogue if you ask me. When the band had announced the album release after the show on the top of the Capitol Records building I had already heard the album in full once, and was kind of disappointed. The Stage ended up being the best song by far and so the rest did not have much else to offer. But upon delving into the album a little deeper, I found out that I kept wanting to return to it and some songs were actually freaking great. Higher has a some awkward lines resemblant to Iron Maiden, but all in all is a great track and one of my favorites. The song tells of a group of people stranded in space in which all but one eventually pass away. The sole survivor then becomes lonely and isolated from the rest of the world to an extent where he decided that he wanted to go back into space one last time to end it all, the ending of this song is so melancholic, I love it. Angels reminds me heavily of Guns 'n Roses, though in a style which I can tolerate a little better. Yet again, it was the ending of this song that initially hooked me, the repeated lines ""The faster we run now, the closer the gun now" hit me in one way or another, can't quite describe it but it's great. And then the solos, once again, Syn is killing it on this record. Leading up to the album closer, I feel like Fermi Paradox is the most experimental song on the album, this, God Damn and Exist are a total Brooks Wackerman show. The drums on this one did not appeal to me at first, but man, those ride-bell blast beats are jst so addictive, and what is more interesting is that they oddly place them in the middle of the chorus. Similar to Periphery's "The Way the News Goes...", this is a very weird change of pace but one that works for me. The intro of Fermi Paradox is what makes this song so spectacular to me though, I love the introductory guitars here which remind me of Save Me.

Furthermore, some of the more straightforward rocking moments on the album are worthy of notice too. God Damn's chorus is by far one of the catchiest moments in recent times of the band's career, you simply cannot listen to that without remembering how it goes, for better or worse I guess. The acoustic break followed by the double-ride final chorus make this from a good song to a great one, Brooks is such a god damn good drummer. Paradigm seems to not get as much love as other songs, and I guess the first half is pretty standard A7X, but man does that instrumental section followed by the last part of the song blow my face off. I also love the pre-chorus/chorus in this song, I think it's interesting that they kind of blend them together here. Sunny Disposition may well include trumpets, I do not think it is that unorthodox of a song. That said, the horn section is great and it reminds me of The Mars Volta time after time, especially the vocal melodies sound like Frances era TMV.

Exist is the biggest surprise of the year. I scrolled down on the A7X website only to find the complete tracklist which ended with a near 16-minute song, what the actual fuck. The band has done some long songs in the past but this is beyond their standards by quite a margin. When listening to this one for the first time, to be disappointed by it would be an understatement. It just felt so weird opening with a massively energetic metal instrumental only to scale it off slowly and transition into something entirely different. The song would close off with a repeated keyboard rhythm layered with a section written and spoken by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Very quickly I started picking up great drum patterns and beautiful space-concept related themes, Matt's voice fits the theme perfectly here. The fact that they got Neil to personally write something and speak in the words for the finale of the album is just fantastic, and they pull it off flawlessly. The increasing intensity of the drums as the end is nearing adds to it, and honestly when you read into the text it is so deep. I am glad they are keeping songs like this fairly exclusive, because right now, all their songs of epic length hold something special, something that none of their other songs can reach. That is great to have in epics.

I could not be more pleasantly surprised with the release of The Stage, and I am excited to still be able to call myself a huge Avenged Sevenfold fan after all these years.

Favorite songs: Exist, The Stage, Angels, Higher, Paradigm, Fermi Paradox

[Train of Naught]

I ended up merging both Odyssey's, here's my top 16 so far! From left to right and top to bottom.

[Elite]

I want to know you made that picture.

[twosuitsluke]

Well I have 7 out of the 16 and they are all in with a shot if making my top 10 of the year.

I've listened to that Slice the Cake album twice now. It's not bad and I'll give it more spins before I can really rate it but didn't you say it's your album of the decade, so far!! That's quite an accolade. I can't hear anything that special in, yet at least.