As the Ghost Cult Albums of the Year 2018 run-down approaches the business end, picking up where Part 1 left off, we invite you to peruse the albums that, democratically voted for by the entire crew, make our Top 25 and didn’t just prick up our ears, but smashed their way into our hearts and minds. Read on…
25. LIGHT THIS CITY – Terminal Bloom (Creator Destructor) “Sometimes you don’t know you miss a band until you remember they’ve been gone. Terminal Bloom (Creator- Destructor) sounds like they never left. Plus the production is a killer. It sounds clean and gritty at the same time. Zach Ohren has once again produced a melodic thrash and death metal masterpiece.” Review here
24. HIGH ON FIRE – Electric Messiah (eOne) “I don’t know how Matt Pike does it. Six months since Sleep dropped The Sciences (which is still ace and you should totally buy if you haven’t already) seemingly out of nowhere, the man who has forgotten more brilliant riffs than most of us will ever know has effortlessly created another world-beater.” Review here
23. EMMA RUTH RUNDLE – ‘On Dark Horses’ (Sargent House) “Oft mentioned in glowing terms alongside such powerful performers as PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, and Lana Del Rey, On Dark Horses (Sargent House) is the LA chanteuse’s fourth album under her own name, and is again filled with deep, shuddering emotion”. Review here
22. VEIN – errorzone (Closed Casket Activities) “Vein twist arrangements into unexpected song structures, as they re-configure the structure of Math Rock, Metalcore, and, simply, Metal. Extreme pulses of noise and rhythm here are logical, instrumentally the tracks are savage, vocally complimenting the bloodthirsty elements that they have reintroduced to the genre” Review here
21. BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME – Automata II (Sumerian) “Where Part I was a fairly polarising release that, in some ways, harkened back to the likes of Colors (Victory) with its degree of refinement and sharper structures (in about as much as BTBAM do so), Automata II embraces brilliant excess in ways more akin to the Parallax and Coma Ecliptic (Metal Blade) albums, and at times to an even greater degree”. Review here
20. AMORPHIS – Queen Of Time (Nuclear Blast) “I cannot state enough the huge scale of this album, unrelenting grandeur and bombast are the order of the day. More of which is served up in ‘Amongst Stars’, a metal number laced with piano, synth, wind instruments and the vocal talents of Dutch songstress Anneke Van Giersbergen, who compliments Tomi Joutsen’s harsher growls nicely.” Review here
19. ALIEN WEAPONRY – Tu (Napalm) A fusion of Māori heritage, Groove and Thrash Metal, Tu placed New Zealand trio Alien Weaponry well and truly on the map. A natural progression from Sepultura‘s Roots (Roadrunner), with an added infusion of melody, this impressive debut has widespread appeal and qualities.
18. UNEARTH – Extinction(s) (Century Media) “And maybe this renaissance is indeed a direct response to young killers like Code Orange and Jesus Piece setting the modern standard. Unearth, after all, was always one of the most energetic and entertaining acts of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal so I don’t imagine them willing to go quietly into the night in today’s extreme climate”. Review here
17. MøL – Jord (Holy Roar) “Holy Roar’s next world-beater comes to us from Denmark’s Møl, who may have just about perfected the whole Shoegaze/Black Metal trend with Jord, a record whose delicate intricacies are as emotionally devastating as its grossly incandescent rage”. Review here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0mEj8NWi3c
16. A PERFECT CIRCLE – Eat The Elephant (BMG) “Blending tempos and beats, adding in trip-hop and electronica uncovers depth, really pulling you into the tracks. In the past where the band would have boiled to a rageful peak, they soften into a wounded chill down. The effect is deliberately haunting… the album we needed to feel right now from the band we needed to come back right now.” Review here
15. SKELETONWITCH – Devouring Radiant Light (Prosthetic) “A full-clout album chock full of epic second wave black metal worship (think Emperor, Ulver, Enslaved, and Immortal’s earliest albums). Harrowing feeling, harsh and cold; this album replete with bangers for even the most jaded trve school fan. The band has sacrificed none of their musicality, and it shows.” Review here
14. CULT LEADER – A Patient Man (Deathwish Inc) An album of genuine contrasts, but always dealing in authenticity and emotion. On the one hand, A Patient Man rages in crusty, punky hardcore aggression, on the other it slumps into stupor and reflection before taking our down-trodden hearts and beating them to a bloody, metallic pulp.
13. THE OCEAN – Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic (Metal Blade) “That The Ocean is a collective of hugely talented musicians is indisputable, as is their ability to craft songs of stunning power and delicacy. Whilst Phanerozoic I… still sees the odd appearance of the cold, distant feel also associated with them, it’s arguably their most expansive and cohesive work” Review here
12. ARCHITECTS – Holy Hell (Epitaph) “Holy Hell really is stupidly, outrageously good. From the opening bars of ‘Death Is Not Defeat’ to the closing moments of ‘A Wasted Hymn’, this is an album packed to its proverbial rafters with ideas, energy and creativity. It is a natural but significant step forward from All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us, and you all know how brilliant that was”. Review here
11. AT THE GATES – To Drink From The Night Itself (Century Media) “To follow up Slaughter of the Soul with a new album nearly two decades later and come out with your head held high was an impressive enough feat.. And for the follow-up to that album to be even better is more impressive still. Another quality entry in the At The Gates catalog”. Review here
Our Top 10 will follow shortly
READ GHOST CULT’S ALBUM OF THE YEAR PART I (70 -26):