Best of 2011

"Best of..." lists are normally a surefire way to spark internet debates and bitching, but I don't think anyone cares about this blog anyway, so here we go...

10. I Think I'm Having a Heart Attack - Demo

Not an official EP, but still very promising.

09. Brazen Bull - The Traveling Parasite

This album came out at the end of the year, so it's probably managed to elude a few lists, but definitely worth checking out. They've lost their original vocalist, Fox, but their brand of avant-garde noisy grind remains.

08.  Bad Mask - Strange Phrases

New Jersey fucking brings it, this is one of 3 Jersey bands to make my year-end list.

07. Pollution People - Future Trash

Awesome follow up to a name change.

06. Dionaea - Still

Hold on to your butts, mind blowing technicality and super chill instrumental ambiance.

05. Baring Teeth - Atrophy 

Extremely unique death metal, "Distilled in Fire" is an instant classic.

04. Bedlam of Cacophony - Neuroleptic

Grinding heroes of the OC, this album is a powerhouse release with an all-star guest vocalist lineup. 

03. Zelophilia - Lust, loathing, and Love

This came out of left field, and although I feel slightly guilty placing such a recent release so high in my list, it has quickly become a favorite.

02. Inside the Beehive - Drink Bleach, Live Forever

The pure aggression of this release is intoxicating. Watch out, Sawtooth.

01. An Isle Ate Her - Phrenia

Their magnum opus, and in my opinion, barely received the recognition it deserved. Tracks like "Slueslings," "Dun Dorr," and "Easy, Charles"  are incredibly memorable, and "Easy, Charles II" is just downright disturbing. I love it. Favorite release of '11; super shitty year, but kind to the grind.

Honorable Mentions

I could have very easily deviated from listing only "underground" bands and just named Animals As Leaders - Weightless as #1, but I decided to arbitrarily slap together another list that included the bigger bands instead.

Big'uns

01. Animals As Leaders - Weightless

02. Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues

03. Blotted Science - The Animation of Entomology

04. Origin - Entity

05. The Black Dahlia Murder - Ritual

06. Obscura - Omnivium

07. Visceral Disgorge - Ingesting Putridity*

08. Volumes - Via*

Underground

01. Anomolous - OHMnivalent

02. Gridlink - Orphan

03. Maruta - Forward Into Aggression 

04. Gigan - Quasi-Hallucinogenic Sonic Landscapes

05. Cyclomatic Equation - EP

06. Panic Candy - EP

Not Metal

01. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

02. Radiohead - King of Limbs*

03. Death Grips - Ex-military 

04. Man Man - Life Fantastic

*last minute entries

Commence hating.