Carl’s Top 50 Albums of 2018: Part 4 (20 to 11)
It has been an incredible year for rock and metal. So many great albums spread across 12 months. So much so that this list was one of the hardest I’ve ever had to do for the site. Breaking down the 500 plus albums that we have reviewed into just 50 felt like an impossible task but here we are.
To give each album the focus it deserves we decided to break the list into 5 articles with ten albums in each counting down from 50. This is the best albums of 2018 from numbers 20 to 11. You can read about numbers 50 to 41 here, 40 to 31 here and 30 to 21 here. Enjoy.
20: Soliloquium – Contemplations (Transcending Records)
Melodic doom/death metal, Soliloquium cover some big bases with the eight tracks of Contemplations.
22 is the most melodic track on the album & is simply stunning with its beautiful guitar melody and softly sung vocals. An absolute treat especially as it’s then followed by some of the strongest tracks on the entire album. Listen to For the Accursed and tell me this isn’t one of the best releases this year!
Read our full review of the album here.
19: Cancer – Into the Heartless Silence (Throats Productions)
On the opening track Ad Nauseam’s showing, you’d expect Cancer’s new album Terminal to be one filled with dark, heavy and gothic black metal tones. Which it is but once Modus Operandi gets going you’ll realise that this as much about post-black as it is about the traditional style.
Need any more proof? Wehe Mir is what can only be described as a black metal epic. An unbelievable track that deals in darkness while playing up to your emotions. The perfect end to an stunning album.
Read our full review of the album here.
18: King Goat – Debt of Aeons (Aural Music)
Understanding perfectly what it is to be a doom band, King Goat’s new album is 7 tracks of momentous, deep, dark, thrilling, heavy and mournful metal.
The confidence in King Goat seeping through lifting the mind, body and spirit. On that note, the chains are broken and you’re free to go but like many a sufferer of Stockholm Syndrome, you won’t want to leave.
Read our full review of the album here.
17: Hoth – Astral Necromancy (Self Released)
A concept album of sorts, it is a collection of black magic rituals and unholy spells that weave a tale of forbidden knowledge and spiritual transcendence.
It’s all good and proper saying there is a concept behind an album, it’s another thing to show that. Hoth, thankfully don’t have that issue. Astral Necromancy is an evil ritualistic record that is dipped in darkness. Sinister and unholy sounds emanate from every track resulting in an overall experience that all can bow too.
It’s a savage record, black metal played at a hard and fast pace with only the occasional bit of melody to help break things up. Moments of respite before the flames of the candles gutter out and those that dwell outside of the light start to edge forward.
Read our full review of the album here.
16: Soul Dissolution – Stardust (Black Lion Records)
A melodic black metal band, Soul Dissolution bring wondrous & epic sounding darkness steeped in atmosphere. One of the finest atmospheric black metal albums of the year.
Read our full review of the album here.
15: Begat The Nephilim – Begat the Nephilim I: The Surreptitious Prophecy/Mother of the Blasphemy (Unholy Anarchy Records)
10 tracks of brutal and savage metal delivered by a band capable of constantly firing on all cylinders. There’s not a bad song on the album. A huge amount of variety keeps things sounding fresh and the band have so much talent in their ranks.
Read our full review of the album here.
14: Deafheaven – Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (Anti-)
Deafheaven have done it again. Exceeded expectations while once again proving to be ahead of the curve and unwilling to be held back by genres.
Read our full review of the album here.
13: A Forest of Stars – Grave Mounds And Grave Mistakes (Prophecy Productions)
Sit down. Draw the curtains. Close all the doors. Light a solitary candle to soften the darkness. Now you’re ready for On Grave Mounds and Grave Mistakes.
What an epic effort this is from A Forest of Stars. Glorious in how unusual it is but still drawing heavily from the well of black metal throughout the years. An album of experimental atmospheric darkness that delivers a deep, varied and fresh sound.
Read our full review of the album here.
12: Parkway Drive – Reverence (Epitaph Records)
Reverence is an awe-inspiring album. It is deep and meaningful with personal lyrics dealing with the band’s struggles with religion and grief. Parkway Drive, once simply a metalcore band, have expanded way beyond that now and have delivered their best album yet. The musicianship on show, the compositions, the intelligent song writing, Reverence is exceptional and pretty much flawless.
Read our full review of the album here.
11: Zeal & Ardor – Stranger Fruit (Radicalis/MVKA)
Stranger Fruit is a near ]perfect album and is probably the most unique piece of music you will ever hear. It is so jam packed full of ideas, so full of brilliance, it makes you think. That fact means it is probably not going to be seen as accessible to everyone. What Stranger Fruit is though is unique.
Read our full review of the album here.
