Around the end of December I always hear the odd complaint about the lack of good music released over the past twelve months. But as each year passes, that thought never seems to enter my head. Sure, there were a couple of clunkers in 2009 – the Dead Weather and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I’m looking at you. But overall I’ve been more than impressed by what my ears have digested, sometimes even pleasantly surprised. Hello Goatwhore!
However it was rather hard to commit to my favorite album of the year. When Baroness’ Blue Record was released mid-October, I was pretty confident that we had a winner. Each subtle flourish hinted at on 2007’s Red Album paired up with something new, humped it and gave birth to something even more exciting. Pretty much everything I was hoping for. But there was one problem. A week later Converge released Axe to Fall.
As Baroness did on Blue Record, Converge also explored new sonic territory. But experimentation wasn’t what sold me. Simply put, Converge are a fine tuned killing machine on Axe to Fall. Track after track they destroy everything, burn it and feed the ashes to your children. Well, maybe not. But it sure as hell feels like something must be getting fucked up somewhere when these songs are pounding out of my speakers.
Converge made a perfect album. It’s as simple as that and when something is that obvious, you give credit where credit is due.
- Converge – Axe to Fall
- Baroness – Blue Record
- Goes Cube – Another Day Has Passed
- Ancestors – Of Sound Mind
- Goatwhore – Carving Out the Eyes of God
- Mastodon – Crack the Skye
- Wolfmother – Cosmic Egg
- The_Network – Bishop Kent Manning
- Buried Inside – Spoils of Failure
- Cobalt – Gin
- Coalesce – OX
- Javelina – Beasts Among Sheep
- Doomriders – Darkness Come Alive
- Obscura – Cosmogenesis
- Them Crooked Vultures – Self Titled
- Isis – Wavering Radiant
- Naam – Self Titled
- Pissed Jeans – King of Jeans
- Iron Age – The Sleeping Eye
- Culted – Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep
