"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.
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.
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.
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*
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.
