Casting a beady eye over the albums that shaped the soundtrack to our Ghost Cult Albums Of The Year List for 2016, one thing becomes obvious… there are no dominant stylistic trends, no bandwagon sub-genres, other than a plethora of bands looking to push boundaries, whether that is to create new sounds or to refine and redesign. Intelligence, integrity and progression is king, and challenging and interesting approaches to designing and creating music are prevalent, with the deconstruction and cerebral reconstruction of heavy music an ongoing and fascinating development.
The definition of what “heavy music” means is as disparate as the acts playing it; whether it means the velocity or ferocity of how it’s played, whether it means emotionally, or whether it simply means being a subversion of pop by whatever means, our world, the world of heavy music, is in rude health.
Our Top 50 covers everything from straight ahead pounding centre-field heavy metal to discordant technical extreme music to the achingly delicate, from the biggest metal band of all time to acts self-releasing on Bandcamp, from those spending thousands on promo videos to those who ethically eschew YouTube. The variety is extensive, but one thread links all of these albums… quality, heavy music.
We hope our choices include your favourites, but above all, we hope you find something new, something that challenges and excites you and that raises your horn.
And with that in mind, for the official Ghost Cult Album of the Year 2016 Countdown Top 10-2, read on…
Stay heavy
10. THE KING IS BLIND – Our Father (Cacophonous)
“Concept albums are often excuses to display the protagonists’ prowess. Every twist and turn of Our Father, however, is truly felt and experienced: a powerful, savage journey with segments reflecting the moods it successfully portrays. This isn’t merely a great début, it’s a bloody classic”. Read the full review here
9. THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT – Transcendence (InsideOut)
“Much of Devin Townsend’s works in recent years have had a sense of theatre and wholeness (in that) an album works at its best as a collection rather than individual songs, and this is certainly the case with Transecendence. The band have hit upon a core sound; but one that is still offers huge scope and expansion. This is the sound of the band finding a more strict identity, but offering more refinement in that sound and still pushing boundaries and creating pure joy.” Read the full review here
8. NAILS – You Will Never Be One Of Us (Nuclear Blast)
“Nails continues to make the most angriest music on the planet, bar none, while also collecting a massive fan base consisting of all sorts of hard music fans. You Will Never Be One of Us is simply another step up the ladder for these guys. While the formulas remain the same for the band’s sound, they are the best at it today and I am not seeing much competition in sight.” Read the full review here
7. ANTHRAX – For All Kings (Nuclear Blast/Megaforce)
Worship Music could have been an albatross around the neck of the Anthrax posse, such was its success and depth of material. Instead it has served as revitalizing springboard into a third wave of a career that was already decked out with great albums at every turn. For All Kings delivers everything you expect from an Anthrax record and more, with some bone fide classics that stand toe to toe with the best of their catalogue. Anthrax aren’t just rejuvenated, they’re firing on all cylinders and more relevant and vibrant than acts less than half their age. Read the full review here
6. OPETH – Sorceress (Moderbolaget/Nuclear Blast)
“Unless you are one of those fans who are still waiting for a return to the death metal days, this is an album that will truly blow your mind. What I thought was lacking on the previous two albums was taken care of. What I needed to feel from each song was more powerful than I could imagine. What I wanted was another Opeth masterpiece, and that’s exactly what Sorceress is. We are witnessing a band in their progressive peak, and although many have come before them in this genre, they have just set a new standard with Sorceress.” Read the full review here
5. MESHUGGAH – The Violent Sleep Of Reason (Nuclear Blast)
“The Swedish metal giants have outdone themselves. With each album they continue to push the limits of their sound, and their eighth full length proves that they are only getting better with age. There are only a few bands on this planet that continue to release ground breaking material to the masses on such a consistent level, and The Violent Sleep Of Reason proves, once again, that Meshuggah is one of those bands.” Read the full review here
4. THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN – Dissociation (Party Smasher Inc)
“If anything, The Dillinger Escape Plan’s latest LP, Dissociation, serves as a comprehensive anthology of the various dynamics and styles that this New Jersey act has explored in just about 20 years of existence. This is further compounded by the recent announcement that Dissociation will be the last release before the band collectively buys the farm, so to speak. Certainly one of the most polarizing bands of our time, but armchair and online critics be damned, the Dillinger Escape Plan was also one of the most important.” Read the full review here
3. DEFTONES – Gore (Reprise)
“Musically they continue to flow back in more of the aggro-heaviness that made them shine early in their career. Meanwhile crafting sweet, dreamy shoe-gaze inspired jams takes equal footing without giving any ground. The blend of the two styles is magical. The hallmark of all the great bands is they continue to grow gradually across many albums and ages, without over-shooting when it comes to experimentation.
This band remains unique in that they always sound like themselves, even when incorporating new influences and themes. Deftones remain the same, but spreading outward like a glacier. Solitary, beautiful, cold, and unstoppable.” Read the full review here
2. CULT OF LUNA with JULIE CHRISTMAS – Mariner (Indie)
“Buddha’s famous maxim, “Happiness is a journey and not a destination” could very easily be the record company’s marketing headline for the latest release from Swedish noisemakers Cult of Luna and their collaboration with underground darling Julie Christmas. Mariner (Indie Recordings), a five track album that reveals its riches, inexorably and magnetically, over fifty minutes is absolutely exceptional.
There is something elemental about the music of Cult of Luna: it is organic, corrosive, ferocious and passionate. With Mariner, they have found in Ms Christmas a collaborator that has enhanced their already considerable power and in, in the process, discovered enabled them to reach new heights, explore and traverse new frontiers a ferociously on their already formidable arsenal. Mariner is not just a journey for the listener; it’s a journey for the band and what a journey it is.
Cult of Luna have not just been reaching for the stars, they are veritably dancing through them.” Read the full review here
Read Part I of our 2016 Album of the Year countdown (50-31) here
Read Part II of our 2016 Album of the Year countdown (30-11) here
Top 50 compiled by Steve Tovey for Ghost Cult Magazine.