Roll out the red carpet! Let the champagne flow! Yes, it’s time for the HMO Top Albums of 2016.
As always, there were some really good albums that just missed the cut: Marillion’s F.E.A.R. Megadeth’s Dystopia, Winterfylleth’s The Dark Hereafter, Eternal Champion’s The Armor of Ire, Allfather’s Bless the Earth with Fire and Vektor’s Terminal Redux to name just a few. They’re all great albums that are totally worth your time and money.
But… there can be only ten!
THE HMO TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2016
NUMBER TEN: Gojira – Magma
The French band’s sixth album Magma found them simplifying and streamlining their challenging and hard-hitting tech-groove. Tunes like Silvera and Stranded are memorable and thrilling with genuine crossover appeal. And it’s a grower with an emotional resonance that earned many repeat listens… and a place in the top ten.
NUMBER NINE: The Wounded Kings – Visions in Bone
The Wounded Kings make their second appearance in the yearly HMO Top 10 with this impressive slab of doom. Sadly, it looks like it will be their last as the band split shortly after its release. But they went out in style. This is a mature and accomplished album with great performances. Massive riffs, classic soloing and chilling vocals from returning vocalist George Birch.
NUMBER EIGHT: Inquisition – Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith
No surprises on the black metal duo’s seventh album. Just riffs. Layers of riffs. Infinite riffs. Thrashing, icy and breathtaking riffs. And a big long album title! Bloodshed Across the etc… is a transcendent experience: the cosmic maelstrom of riffs and the hypnotic croaking vocals of Dagon producing an immersive, gripping and mystical listening experience. Oh, and did I mention there are riffs?
NUMBER SEVEN: Blood Incantation – Starspawn
Gloriously old-fashioned death metal right down to the AAD symbol detail on the back cover. This harks right back to the genre’s grimy, primitive glory days: labyrinthine Demilch-style riffing and gonzo Trey Azagthoth soloing. But the band put their own extraterrestrial stamp on the style, giving the cavernous riffing an otherworldly quality through inventive use of effects and interludes. A remarkable debut.
NUMBER SIX: Abbath – Abbath
Few black metal legends command as much goodwill and affection as the former Immortal frontman. And, based on the quality of his self-titled solo debut, that looks unlikely to change. This is an icy and militant statement of intent from the ousted singer/guitarist. Epic tales of legend and war, served up with his inimitably grim vocals and a veritable battlefield of inventive riffs. An epic triumph and one of the year’s most flat-out entertaining records.
NUMBER FIVE: Cobalt – Slow Forever
Cobalt pulled off a hat-trick of impressive feats with Slow Forever. They managed to successfully replace a key member (Charlie Fell coming in to replace departed vocalist Phil McSorley), they managed to satisfyingly follow up their faultless, classic 2009 album Gin, and they also managed to release a double-album with no filler on it. Fucking show-offs! Literate, raging, savage black metal with a dusty, sunbaked hint of Americana.
NUMBER FOUR: The King is Blind – Our Father
Released in January, this impressive and manly melting pot of extreme metal was the album to beat for most of the year. And it managed to secure the number four spot: no mean feat for a debut album in such a strong year as this. Our Father has a thoughtful, esoteric concept served up with a varied and cathartic total metal drubbing. And if their new track Throne of Skulls is anything to go by, there’s still plenty more where this came from.
NUMBER THREE: Anaal Nathrakh – The Whole of the Law
This is a total nightmare merry-go-round of screeching, howling, screaming, mechanistic black metal. It’s a terrifying aural assault, but the impossibly versatile vocalist Dave Hunt (aka V.I.T.R.I.O.L!) serves up melodic hooks to die for on tracks like Hold Your Children Close and Pray for Oblivion, In Flagrante Delicto and Extravaganza! The most enjoyable migraine you’ll ever get.
NUMBER TWO: Mithras – On Strange Loops
Death-metal-in-space! Seems to be a thing this year. But whereas Blood Incantation’s Starspawn went for the primitive old-school approach, On Strange Loops is visionary and progressive. It’s blasting and intense with sublime musicianship, but the real winner here is the writing and arrangement of the album. You just know a ton of thought and care went into this. There’s so much depth, the songs flow together beautifully and… my god… it’s full of hooks!
NUMBER ONE: Darkthrone – Arctic Thunder
Everyone can blather on about influences, genres, their old style, their new style and so on. But the fact is that whatever Darkthrone do, they sound like Darkthrone. On Arctic Thunder they sound even MORE like Darkthrone. This is raw and vital. A raging thunder of pure, unadulterated metal, blackened by a chill arctic wind of frosty misanthropy. Cohesive, consistent, fucks not given. The best Darkthrone-style band in the world at their best. And there’s nothing better than that.
HMO TOP ALBUMS BY YEAR
2016: Darkthrone – Arctic Thunder
2015: My Dying Bride – Feel the Misery
2014: Voices – London
I’m 0 for 10 here, but I love your enthusiasm and it seems like you found some great new music in 2016. I’ll probably check out a couple of these albums based on your reviews.
Here’s to more greatness in 2017.
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Thanks Rich! There’s definitely stuff here that would be up your street. All the best to you and yours, hope you have a great 2017 full of awesome music and cats!
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I liked the Goijra album. I think it was your reviews that turned me on to them. I have now listened to a couple of their albums. I think I will check out the Darkthrone since that is your #1. Great list. Thanks.
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I think we had a chat about the Gojira at your site. Glad you liked it. I think you’d maybe like The Wounded Kings album too. It’s heavy but very classic rock style playing and singing. Cheers!
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Awesome. Thanks. I will give them a try as well.
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Some of those scary covers make an appearance, I see. My favourite of the bunch, of course, being that Wounded Kings one (which I still need to check out / seek out).
Anyhoo, good to see Gojira there. I’m close to settling on my own ten and that is bullying a couple of other albums for their spaces (I’m in complete agreement with you – rewards repeated listens and is a pretty powerful album).
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I think you’d really like TWK… and it’s out on vinyl now too! I’ll be interested to see if Gojira finally bully their way into your Top 10. You going to be posting it soon?
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GO-JI-RA! GO-JI-RA! GO-JI-RA!
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As usual, your list is bands I don’t know but that are infernal and metal and ready to rip a listener’s head off. But I know one this year, and I looooove that Gojira record! They just keep being awesome.
Great list, HMO! I’m still doing mine…
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These are definitely all Infernal. 100% infernality or your money back!
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You don’t want the money back. Trust me.
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As always, the cover art is riveting. Enjoyed seeing Magma in the list. I only know the earlier material, but will check out this one.
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I’ll bet the name Magma set of your Prog-dar too! Well worth checking out Bruce.
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It certainly did. Was listening to “Mekanïk Destruktïẁ Kommandöh” yesterday.
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All those umlauts… gotta be metal surely?!
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That many umlauts, that’s a (natch) heavy metal overload!
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Ooh, I see what you did there!
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So these are the 10 ones you actually listened to this year? Which would I be likely to dig the most?
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I haven’t listened to any of these. But if the Wiki pages are accurate I reckon you’d enjoy The Wounded Kings most. I think you’d like Darkthrone too, but you might be better starting elsewhere with them… The Underground Resistance would be more up your street than this one.
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Music, eh? as if!
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MERRY CHRISTMAS, HMO!! Again, I am not familiar with any of these, but always enjoy seeing the artistry (and majesty!) of them album covers!
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Merry Christmas Sarca! Hope you’re having a lovely time and thanks for reading.
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New to your blog sorry to be super late to this 2016 party. Liked your list even if I didn’t get into all of it. Gojira was one of the top albums in all metal genres for 2016.
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Thanks for stopping by! Gojira was definitely a recurring feature in last year’s lists. Quite right too!
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I thinking my metal guitarist son will like this list! His collection is pretty much like this, will have to introduce him to this blog 😀
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Please do! And tell him to say “Hi”. I’d like to hear what his favourites from last year were. Thanks for stopping by!
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I sure will! 😀
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