Last years top ten was a bit of a thrown together affair for me.  I did not care for most of the records I reviewed, and by December my personal purchases amounted to about a dozen albums, so almost everything I bought made the list by default.  2009 is a different story:  I had the chance to review lots of great albums this year, and some of my favorite bands released big comeback records.  So, without further ado, here is my...

Top ten of 2009:

1. The Chasm - Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm

Our own John Ray captured the essence of this album in words better than I ever could.  To be honest the scope of The Chasm's awesomeness is almost too much for my feeble mortal mind to grasp.  This band's creative wellspring seems bottomless.  Each successive album has been a grander epic than the last and Farseeing is no exception.

2. Crescent Shield - The Stars of Never Seen

My traditional metal listening rarely strays much beyond Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, but this album really grew on me.  The band strikes a perfect balance between light and shade; melody and harmony are abundant, but with enough speed and underlying heft to keep it heavy.  The real hook for me, though, were Michael Grant's vocals.  Grant has the ability to create soaring, multi-layered vocal symphonies that move me in a way that previously only John Arch was able to.

3. Napalm Death - Time Waits for No Slave

Kings

of

Grind.

4. Asphyx - Death... The Brutal Way

I When I first heard of the Asphyx reunion, minus mastermind Eric Daniels, I was prepared for a legacy sullying cash grab.  I could not have been more wrong.  Death... The Brutal Way is an Asphyx record that can stand fully shoulder to shoulder with the band's best work.  The band perfectly recaptures its classic sound without sounding like a boring rehash.  This is krushing doom/death at it's finest.

5. Obituary - Darkest Day

From some bands you expect growth and innovation, from Obituary you just expect Obituary, and Darkest Day delivers just that.  As simple as this band's formula is, their sound is utterly unique.  Others will point to more adventurous, and technically impressive bands, but to me Obituary is one of the greatest death metal bands of all time, and I treasure every note they see fit to grace me with.

6. Destroyer 666 - Defiance

At long last, 2009 saw the return of Destroyer 666.  Some count Defiance as a disappointment, so perhaps it is a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, that I enjoy this album so much, but I am hard pressed to find fault with it.  K. K. Warslut's pack of wolves have delivered another platter of feral black thrash with all the violence, bloodshed, and independent spirit one could expect.

7. Argus - S/T

I still feel guilty for not including Grand Magus's Iron Will in my top ten last year, as I was late in checking it out.  With Argus I shall make amends.  Argus's doom rooted trad metal hit's me in just the same spot as Iron Will did, with a sound that is heavy, anthemic, infectious and downright classic.

8. Assaulter - Salvation Like Destruction

Apparently it is feast or famine with Australian black/thrash;  2009 saw the much anticipated return of Destroyer 666, as well as the full length debut of Destroyer 666 junior, Razor of Occam.  But in the months preceding the release of Defiance, it was Assaulter's Salvation Like Destruction that I most often turned to for my fix.  This act (lead by D666 alumnus Simon Berserker) captures the raw savagery and grim majesty of the master's early work.  If K. K. and company take another seven years to kick out an album, hopefully I can count on Assaulter to carry the torch in the mean time.

9. Syrach - A Dark Burial

An epic doom/death album, A Dark Burial seems almost an anachronism.  If you told me this album was from 1993, I would probably believe you. This album brings to mind the hey day of doom/death when bands like My Dying Bride and Paradise lost were in their prime.  Syrach manages to get the doom/death formula just right, by creating epic length tracks that are not so cluttered with material as to become bloated, nor so repetitive as to become monotonous.

10. Immortal - All Shall Fall

All Shall fall is not quite as razor sharp, nor as accessible as it's predecessor, so I can understand why some might feel let down by this album.  Personally, I find on All Shall Fall that the band has successfully drawn inspiration from its past in order to push its sound in new directions.  Abbath turns in his most melodic performance to date, capturing some of the swirling maddness of the Demonaz era, and uniting it with the epic bombast of At the Heart of Winter.

The rest:

11. Slough Feg - Ape Uprising

12. Vader - Necropolis

13. Wino - Punctuated Equilibrium

14. Defamer - Chasm

15. The Gates of Slumber - Hymns of Blood and Thunder

16. Nexus - The Paradise Complex

17. Eliot's Keep - In Medias Res

18. Razor of Occam - Homage to Martys

19. Kreator - Hordes of Chaos

20. While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose

Biggest Disappointment:

Slayer - World Painted Blood

Best EP:

Black Breath - S/T