GUEST POST: David Gates Of Season of Arrows Top Ten Albums Of 2016

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Ghost Cult once again brings you another “End Of Year” list, as we close out 2016. Today we get a list from David Gates of Nashville sludge and doom rockers Season Of Arrows. The band just signed a new record deal with Argonauta Records, Give it to the Mountain, due out on March 24th 2017. David puts down his axe, and picked up his laptop to send us in his essential list of albums from this past year, and it’s killer!

1. Monolord – Lord of Suffering/Die in Haze

Feel the slow sludgy doom fill your soul! Then add crystal clear haunting vocals over it.

Monolord, by Jessica Lotti Photography

2. Oathbreaker – Rheia

Hands down great album, think PJ Harvey meets Deafheaven.

3. Russian Circles – Guidance

Masterpiece of rhythms and precision as we expected. The emotional connection and musicianship is unreal!

4. Neurosis – Fires Within Fires

Somehow they still continue to draw from the creative well. It’s not their best album, but it’s still really good!

5. Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas – Mariner

This is a special record to me. Many times when two unrelated bands get together and form a new band, it sucks. This is as dark and heavy as Cult of Luna’s body of work, then you add the visceral screaming and singing from Julie Christmas. She was in Made out of Babies, Battle of Mice, and then went solo. This is not an album for the faint of heart!

Cult Of Luna and Julie Christmas by Rich Price Photography

6. ZAO – The Well Intentioned Virus

This record is full of very heavy riffs crushing vocals and has that high intense 90s hardcore sound.

7. Graves At Sea – The Curse That Is

Sludgy evil doomy creepy madness with thick as guitar riffs for days!

8. Metallica – Hardwired to Self Destruct

Yeah, we were surprised too. Give it a listen!

9. Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep Of Reason

Doesn’t stray far from what they have done in the past, but it still accurately slams.

10. SUMAC – What One Becomes

When you have Aaron on guitar/voice from ISIS & OMG, Brian Cook on bass from Botch, These Arms Are Snakes and fucking Russian Circles and Nick on drums from Baptists… you just can’t go wrong. This record smashes you in the face over and over again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8GadjOYlOw

Honorable mentions: Conan, Gojira, Cough, Scorpion Child, Every Time I Die, and Boyfrndz.