a huge list of 2010 lists by metal bands, authors, writers, photographers & more (part 1)

by BBG

Salute! (more by Markus Shaffer)

Records are like assholes, everybody’s got one… but not everyone released an LP that will make you want to hit repeat over and over again. I already discussed my favorite records/shows of 2010, but I enlisted some of my favorite artists to talk about theirs, as well as some of their favorite moments of 2010. We’ve already posted and discussed lists from a member of Kylesa, Megasus, (((unartig))), and members of Trap Them & Black Anvil, but the results of the rest of those submissions, which include members of From Ashes Rise, Monarch, Locrian, Unearthly Trance, Isis, Dark Castle, Castevet, and so many more, are posted here in two parts. Part Two is HERE. Part One is below!

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Favorite Things of 2010 by Brad Boatright of From Ashes Rise

-Entombed, Eyehategod, Black Breath, Wolfbrigade, and Pentagram at Maryland Deathfest. Black Breath kicked ass that night. Entombed were great, Pentagram sounded massive. I was flying when Wolfbrigade played, but they’re on here simply because it was so good to see the old friends again.

-Doom, Asta Kask, Victims, and more at Punk Illegal in Munkedal, Sweden. Saw many old friends that weekend… And got to cross the pond yet again.

-The entire lineup of Power Of The Riff festival in LA in august (corrosion of conformity, coliseum, trap them, black breath, goatsnake, repulsion and more). Seeing COC play songs from Animosity… Classic. Woody Weatherman’s string bends start in his fingers and resonate down through the floor.

-Amebix “redux” 12″. I can’t tell you how stoked I am to see this band up and running again, and Roy brings so much to the table with his drumming. Nothing will ever top the experience of riding motorcycles through Oregon with the Baron and a dozen friends, and the impromptu show that followed at the dive near the house was a classic finish. This release brings back all of those memories.

-Ripper “Into Oblivion” LP. It’s not out yet, and this is a shameless plug for these Portland rockers, but being fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work on the production of this record I listened to it over and over and over. A driving, energetic wall of sound. This burner should be well received.

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Mike of Rosetta at Union Pool (more by Brian Reilly)

Top Five Records of 2010 by Mike Armine of Rosetta
1) Burnt By The Sun: Heart of Darkness( I just picked up a copy)
2) Constants: If Tomorrow The War
3) Restorations: Strange Behavior
4) Raised By Swans: No Ghoseless Place
5) Crippled Black Phoenix: I, Vigilante

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Top 10 for 2010 by Eugene S. Robinson of Oxbow, author of Fight, A LONG SLOW SCREW, and various other rage baiting tracts
10] jamming up others as a casual pastime up to and including cutting them off in traffic, punching all of the buttons in the elevator and saying “I can’t hear you” during phone conversations where I can clearly hear the person I am speaking to.
7] doing a show for my book A LONG SLOW SCREW while being backed by one of my favorite people of all time, CHUCK DUKOWSKI
2] a soon-to-be-banned over-the-counter supplement called DARK RAGE that comes with trademarked ingredients such as PSYCHO RAGE [look it up]
6] homemade cellphone porn accidentally emailed to an entire listserv. Yeah. “Accidentally.”
9] Oxbow all acoustic shows with The Red Sparrowes
8] Popeye the American Bulldog I am currently glaring at, balefully, for various acts of resistance
3] all my side projects up to and including collaborations with Black Sun, BabyFire, Ultraphallus, Scott Kelly, Pneu, Philippe Petit, Leisure High, Stranger By Starlight, James Plotkin, Nick Blakey, Great Falls, Robert Iwanik, Kryzs, Leif Sherman Curtis, Shit and Shine, Generalissimo, Josh Hamilton, Alice Kg, Zefnoise, Sal Mineo, and Lydia Lunch’s Barcelona-curated UGLY AMERICANS spoken word dealio.
4] taking two 2nd places, one 1st place and one championship win at GRAPPLERS QUEST
5] Family Curse, Yakuza, Aluk Todolo, Xiu Xiu? Musically? well I remember them with some measure of fondness and professional admiration
and
1] this deep burning pain in my side

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Ten of my favorite non-metal records from 2010 by Jenks Miller of Horseback
Sun City Girls – Funeral Mariachi
Alva Noto and Blixa Bargeld – Mimikry
Skullflower – Strange Keys To Untune Gods’ Firmament
Francisco López – Machines
Oren Ambarchi / Jim O’Rourke / Keiji Haino – Tima Formosa
Wolfgang Voigt – Freiland Klaviermusik
Gate – A Republic of Sadness
William Fowler Collins – Enter the Host
Daniel Menche – Terre Paroxysm
Jon Mueller – The Whole

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Evan Patterson in the studio, photo by Sarah Krowka

Top Ten Favorite Things of 2010 by Evan Patterson of Young Widows
1. Three strips of Bacon w/ 3 eggs over easy in a pool of tabasco sauce
2. The Troggs song When Will The Rain Come
3. Combination of muted weird movies, good records, and special muffins
4. Weekend trip of The Melvins in Chicago/Tom Petty and Z Z Top in Milwaukee
5. Grinderman – live and recorded
6. Kevin Ratterman and the porch at the Funeral Home
7. Vacationing the coast of Maine with my lady and our mothers
8. The Faust song It’s A Rainy Day (Sunshine Girl)
9. My brother’s wedding
10. A red eye coffee

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Stavros of The Atlas Moth at Emo’s for BV day party (more by Samantha Marble)

Top 20 of 2010 by Stavros Giannopoulos of The Atlas Moth
1-10. Deftones – Diamond Eyes
12. Grinderman – Grinderman 2
13. Envy – Recitation
14. Dawnbringer – Nucleus
15. Wolvhammer – Blackmarketeers Of World War III –
16. Call Me Lightning – When I Am Gone My Blood Will Be Free
17. Haarp – The Filth
18. Zoroaster – Matador
19. Krieg – The Isolationist
20. Salome – Terminal

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Top 10 of 2010 by Robert MacManus of Monarch
1. – Cara Beltrame (my new best friend)
2. – Moving house! Thats always fun, right?
3. – Discovering / befriending Dark Castle
4. – Buying more musical gear (always)
5. – Playing Roadburn 2010 w/ Monarch
5. – Getting a five year visa to the US
6. – Moving from drums to guitar in Monarch
7. – Monarch US tour + meeting new / seeing old friends
8. – Touring Monarch, Om, Dead Meadow, etc in Australia
9. – Seeing AC/DC live in Melbourne!
10. – Tumbleweed reformation + re-issue comp

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Locrian

Top Ten Art Zines of 2010 by Terence Hannum of Locrian

This year, 2010, I set out to make a zine a month and am just now wrapping up my set of zines at the moment. I thought it would be nice to review some of the great art publications and zines I picked up this year, some were made not in 2010 but they came across my cave this wonderful year. Also a handful are out of print now, but their efforts are worth your investigation.

“Niflheim” by Alexander Binder
The essences of metal grow out of focus, come into focus and fade away here. A photographic dirge of tombstones, spiders, inverted crosses, skeletons, monks and bones from this talented German photographer and prolific book maker. Respectable.
caferoyalbooks.com

“Passing Strange” by Scott Treleaven
Originally produced for a residency in Milan, this text and graveyard, gay youth cult of death and sun worship is compelling, arresting and beautiful. Some of my favorite print work Scott has done since his “Salivation Army” days.
www.viafarini.org

“Mirror|Me” Edited by Brandon Stosuy
Featuring work by Adam Helms, Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, Kai Althoff, Karlynn Holland, Lionel Maunz, Matt Zaremba, Matteah Baim, Mitch Kehe, Peter Sotos, Philip Best, Scott Campbell, Theo Stanley, Yair Oelbaum and Zach Baron
A compilation zine of drawings images, text and collage. Sprawling across its newsprint pages presenting drawings of spaceships with black metal album covers. The standout to me would definitely be Philip Best’s (of Consumer Electronics/Whitehouse fame) collages of young children severly hacked by collages, displaced into vast forests and ominous juxtapositions. A great piece.
www.primaryinfomation.org

“Ambiguous Ads” by Public Collectors
Compiled and edited by Temporary Services member Marc Fischer, this quasi-dirty yet completely voyeuristic missive crops obscured visages of swingers culled from the personal ads of a 1972 copy of “Select”. Bizarre, haunting and insightful.
halfletterpress.com

“Nocturnal Beasts” by The Griz-zlor
Black ink on black paper, crafted by one of my fellow brethren in black who records under the same moniker, compiling rorschach like drawings of demonic creatures. Comes with an audio disc as well.
potentiallifestudios.com

“Exit & Dark Matter” by Stephen Parrino
What more can be said about this visionaries work? So few artists would be toiling in their lairs if it were not for Parrino. The first half compiles issues of “Exit”, featuring line drawings and ink washes where Courtney love’s crotch becomes a tarantula (yikes) or pornography meets well endowed satan as pedophile. This is a sprawling and intense vision quest. A quest that closes out with “Dark Matter” a serious investigation of monochromatic spray paint in folded vellum that is crude yet gorgeous and elegiac.
http://www.lespressesdureel.com/EN/ouvrage.php?menu=4&id=250

“Temporary Conversations: The Dicks” by Temporary Services
I have to be honest, I admire Temporary Services so much, all three artists are some of the most brilliant and committed artists I know whose work and company I cherish in Chicago. One set of theirs is this great piece titled Temporary Conversations where they interview interesting artists. Always concerned about the political and communal, therefore bands tend to appear quite frequently for how this collective works. Which is my weakness. Bring up a band that changed my entire opinion of what punk rock meant and I am hooked. The Dicks. Yes, the commie faggots from Texas. Inspiring tales about their group, their politics and adversity.
http://www.temporaryservices.org/temporary_conversations.html

“Svart Metall” by Grant Willing
Ever since I met Grant and got my hands on this newspaper size photo book/zine I was impressed. Photos of nature, the moon, pentagram graffiti, inverted crosses and riffs on black metal album covers. Well photographed and brilliantly laid out on a massive newspaper size format.
grantwilling.com

“Nothing” by Vincent Como
A petite treatise on the void. Monochrome artist Vincent Como give us a closer personal relationship with nothingness. All black and only black – Complete Nihilism.
orderoftheblackmark.wordpress.com

“Thrashers” by Sacha Maric
This thing is huge and Sacha was super kind to trade me my zines for this. “Thrashers” features, just that, paused stills of a crowd at a heavy metal concert, thrashing. Open mouthed, angry, euphoric and intense. The stills come off as epic frames of a massive transformation that deny and elevate their YouTube based source. Part disembodied reverie and part orgy. Plus the publication is huge! I mean massive in format. Worth a jean jacket or two at least! Trash.
goodmotherandfather.com
sachamaric.com

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Josh and Erik of Man’s Gin at The Studio at Webster Hall (more by Samantha Marble)

Top 10 of 2010 by Erik Wunder of Man’s GIn/Cobalt
1. Seeing a re-united Sleep play at the Masonic Temple in Brooklyn.
2. Recording and releasing Man’s Gin ‘Smiling Dogs’
4. Dax Riggs: ‘Say Goodnight to the World’
5. Drumming for Jarboe through the co-headlining Nachtmystium/Jarboe European tour 2010.
6. Seeing Tool live at Red Rocks in Colorado with a head full of mushrooms in July.
7. Eating reindeer meat in Finland.
8. Cartel’s mighty beard!
9. Swans: ‘My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky’
10. Playing with Man’s Gin at Webster Hall in August with Altar of Plagues. A GREAT first show with the new live lineup. Looking forward to a powerful 2011! Thanks Fred!

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Favorite Things of 2010 by Andrew Hock of Castevet
Circle: Rautatie
Kayo Dot: Coyote and Stained Glass
Nitberg: Nagelreid
Jolokia Hot Sauce
Portal Live
Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult live
Sleep live twice
Christian Marclay’s Whitney Museum residency
Blue Hummingbird On The Left: Bloodflower
Nate Wooley: Trumpet/Amplifier
Bastard Noise at Death by Audio
Black Witchery: Inferno Of Sacred Destruction
Alejandro Jodorowsky Q and A at The Museum of Art And Design
Louis CK live at Carnegie Hall
Burial Invocation: Rituals Of The Grotesque
Deathspell Omega: Paracletus
Extra Life: Made Flesh
The-Dream: Love King
Magma live at Highline Ballroom
Profanatica live and Disgusting Blasphemies Against God

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Dark Castle at The Studio at Webster Hall (more by Markus Shaffer)

Top 10+1(since we are going into 2011)… of 2010 by Stevie Floyd of Dark Castle

1. Burzum “Belus”
– Rather than explain why this is my number one, I am just going to quote Varg and how he envisioned this album….
” This album has been made according to my heart and spirit, and not to fit into any particular genre or category, or to live up to anyone’s obvious expectations.
Inspiration for this album comes from fairy tales and myths, classical music, from memories of what once was, from traditional music, from fantasy, from wind and weather, from deep forests and running water, from the sky and sunset, from misty mountains, from yellow leaves falling and from old trees. If I can make you dream while listening to this album, I believe I have done a good job.” I believe he did.

2. Portal “Swarth”
-This band just blows my mind period. They completely and totally create a Portal with their music, a time Portal that takes you inward to the darkest place inside of yourself that you never wanted to confront. I feel like this band…especially on this album uses every element of metal to its fullest capacity. They definitely push Black and Death Metal farthur than I think I have heard anyone do. It is a symphony of the most decrepit scales, chords and time signatures that stimulates all 5 senses and pulls feelings out of you that you didn’t know were there. I cant even begin to wrap my brain around it, and that is why I love it so much.

3. Salome “Terminal”
-When it comes to writing a solid Doom album, this is it..in its most primitive form….and it doesn’t get much better. Kat is hands down the best female vocalist to ever enter the metal world….and one of the best all time vocalists in general. A huge influence of mine and a beautiful human being. Rob and Aaron write some of the most driving and powerful riffs and rhythms. If you ever get a chance to see this band live, don’t miss it.

4. Ahab “Divinity Of Oceans”
– Funeral Doom at its finest, other than My Dying Bride, this is it as far as I’m concerned.

5. Drudkh “Handful of Stars”
– For a band that doesn’t ever play live, do photos or interviews…I am amazed at the impact they have on me, sort of brings the same feelings to the surface as when I listen to Lifelover or Warning. It is such beautifully dynamic and progressive music with the rawest authentic heart felt vocals in the foreground. The contrast is what makes this album so epic, and embedded under my skin. With so many releases and how long they have been around, to keep reinventing black metal over and over just leaves me speechless.

6. The Body “All of the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood”
– The Body is so under rated… Not only do they know how to pull off being a 2 piece better than anyone, but Lee and Chip are 2 of the coolest people I know. They are not afraid to try anything…for starters, the album begins with a 30 piece woman’s choir?? There are a lot of loud bands but I’d have to say they are the loudest. Period…. and they are smart….the guitars have the lowest of the low ends I’ve ever heard, and Chips vocals are so high that he doesn’t even need a microphone for them to cut through. The contrast of the highs and lows cuts you to the core.

7. Twilight ” Monument to Time End”
– The combination of the people on this album really bring all of the elements to the surface. It has the ancient soul of Black Metal from N. Imperial (Krieg), Blake Judd (Nachtmystium) and Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice), with some underlying industrial psychedelic synth from Sanford Parker (Minsk, Byried at Sea, Circle of Animals)…who also recorded this album. I am always a fan of anything that he is apart of. The additions of Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Gloom), Robert Lowe (Om) and Stavros (Atlas Moth) added ethereal layers of vox and guitar that gave this album dimensions of flowing dream like states that really take you on some messed up sci-fi, never ending story type journey. It is an addicting album for sure that you listen to over and over. at least for me.

8. Circle of Animals “Destroy the Light”
-Yet again another Sanford Parker creation along with Bruce Lamont (Yakuza). The concept behind this album is monumentally genius. It is sort of a tribute to the underground Chicago Industrial movement, and it is so well done. Sanford even had Chris Connelly (Ministry) do some vox… along with several different drummers to record and form the skeleton of the songs. These drummers brought a range of different beats to loop and base the songs off of… but still were “live drums” from rad drummers…Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), Dave Witte (Municipal Waste/Burnt By The Sun), John Herndon (Tortoise), John Merryman (Cephalic Carnage) to name a few. You get the same raw roots of Industrial like if you were listening to Ministry, Skinny Puppy or Throbbing Gristle with the beautiful ranges of Bruces vocals over it, along with some saxophone from him as well, middle eastern parts, vintage synth and some how harmonica? It is heavy, intense and hypnotic as hell… a unique concept that has never been done before, and for that alone I love it.

9. U.S. Christmas (Run Thick In The Night)
-After being completely addicted to their last album “Eat the Low Dogs” I had high expectations…and they were exceeded by this heavy album. I truly feel like USX is our modern day Pink Floyd. Psychedelic to the extreme but still so dark and heavy. They come from the mountains of Hickory, NC. and it is very apparent in the music. With lagging drawn out rhythms and violins that make you feel like you’re watching a sunset but in the midst of a thunder storm simultaneously. Nate’s vocals are of rustic truth. His lyrics tell a story from the depths of the deep…slowly unraveling only for you as the listener…They pull you into their music and make you feel as though its some little secret that only you get the pleasure of hearing.

10. Zoroaster “Matador”
– I am and have been a huge Zoroaster fan for a while, I love all albums but I’d have to say this one blows the others away, which is an enormous thing to do as a band in my opinion. Every album climbing and growing to new depths but still keeping the integrity of the music and what its about. It really captivates their live performance on record and lets you grasp how big their sound is. The variation of layered vocals swirls around in your head like a dark dream. Not to mention these dudes just rule in general.

11. The Yakuza “Of Seismic Consequence”
-The Yakuza always kills me with how many different styles of music they wrap and fold into one album with smooth transitions and flow. It is not an easy project but they some how do it with seamless effort. Bruces vocals are honest and genuine, up front and raw, derived from the purist source possible…and they will bring tears to your eyes watching him sing live. How he’ll then just pick up the saxophone and throw in the saddest melodies with the tremello picking guitar and double bass is beyond me. Super technical parts transitioning straight into driving riffs…flowing organically into ambient soulful interludes… Its just such a beautiful album that directly puts you into the present moment.

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Ten records from 2010 that I think are worth your money by Joshua Scott of Defeatist/ Radiation Blackbody/ Castevet
(Records in order, L to R, top to bottom)

1. Dishammer – Under the Sign of the D-Beat Mark LP (Parasitic)
More speed-fueled satanic ’70s pornocrust like Last House Band on a Dead End Street.

2. Kaiboushitsu – [Japanese Title] LP (HG Fact)
Like riding a nude Dom Deluise down a river of fur. Your sex adventure playlist includes The Stalin, Comes and Crow (with whom these guys share a singer).

3. Scorpion Violente – Uberschleiss LP (Avant!)
Johanna brought this one over. Creepy distorted beats by two dudes who look like your diseased sailor uncle who smells like muscatel and wants your nephew to sit on his lap too long at Thanksgiving. People still have kids?

4. Acephalix – Aporia LP (Prank)
Warehouse party with Amebix, Axegrinder, Anti-sect and other bands beginning with A. Wake up drunk with cracked fingers and sore teeth. Guitar solos ring in your head. More Acephalix shirts in the streets instead of the Slayer and Joy Division shirts I see everywhere.

5. Chronic Sick Reissues LP &7″ (No Way)
Ok, these originally came out almost 30 years ago. They still spent a lot of time on the record player this year. Fucking rude, stupid and fun, like high school ether party. Save yourself $1000+ and pick these up.

6. Kriegshög – Kriegshög LP (HG Fact)
Cigarette smoke, old leather, jam-rubbed denim and too-foamy beer. Perfect blownout Japanese d-beat housed in blackandwhite skullitons and total distort heaven. For fucksake, someone please bring these guys over here.

7. Man is the Bastard Noise – A Culture of Monsters LP (Deep Six)
Motherfucking skullcrushers. Glad they were back to a full band line up for a bit there, and that I was able to see them twice earlier this year. Probably how religious people feel in church.

8. Systematic Death – Systema Seven 7″
These guys are somewhere around 50 years old. They’re way better than your (or my) band and they don’t even care. Fucking stop already. Stop fucking already.

9. Veins – Veins 7″ (Youth Attack)
Ian from Castevet also plays in this band. He tells me they were aiming for White Cross worship. Wound-out hardcore from a bunch of tweaked-out teetotalers without a hint of triggercore in sight. I remember being at Vinyl Conflict in RVA and they had recently unearthed a box of original unplayed/ unfolded copies of the White Cross 7″. Love that store.

10. Double Negative – Daydream Nation LP (Sorry State)
Some days you sit in the office late afternoon and hear nothing but the sound of the air-handling system and one hundred fingers clicking away at mouse buttons. Other times you wander down the hall to the men’s room and find a urinal spattered with blood and the smell of stale Tootsie Rolls. Either way, unsettling and abrasive.

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Justin Bartlett’s Best and Worst of 2010

Best of 2010:
Blessure Grave – Judged By 12, Carried By 6
Vasaeleth – Crypt Born & Tethered to Ruin
Tryptikon – Eparistera Daimones
Locrian – The Crystal World
Burzum – Belus
Von Goat – Septic Illumination
Ghost – Ritual
Daft Punk – TRON: Legacy soundtrack
Black Breath – Heavy Breathing
Immolation – Majesty & Decay

Worst of 2010:
getting separated
being poor
not being paid what I am worth
breaking my hand
getting divorced

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Wolvhammer at Red 7 (more)

Top 10 Records of 2010 by Heath Rave of Wolvhammer
1. Killing Joke- Absolute Dissent
2. U.S. Christmas – Run Thick In The Night
3. Dawnbringer – Nucleus
4. Woe – Quietly, Undramatically
5. The High Confessions – Turning Lead Into Gold
6. Integrity – The Blackest Curse
7. Krieg – The Isolationist
8. Ludicra – The Tenant
9. Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
10. Twilight – Monument To Time End
I just gotta say the new Agalloch record is impeccable but I haven’t had nearly enough time with it and that Daft Punk have never really done it for me but their soundtrack for Tron Legacy is one of the coolest things I’ve gotten to hear in the last month.

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Ten Records from 2010 by Ryan Lipynsky of Unearthly Trance/Pollution/The Howling Wind
No numbered order, just 10 releases I liked this year. I must say that was really hard for me to even list 10. But here goes…

Sabbath Assembly – Restored to One
I love this record. Amazing vocals, as always, from Jex Thoth. Overall, an awesome presentation of cult religious music played in a vintage sounding rock band format. This is a very entrancing and addictive listening experience. One of my favorite pieces of vinyl I got this year.

Jex Thoth – Witness EP
To reiterate more plainly, I’m a sucker for excellent female vocalists. This is worth it alone for the trippy tune “Slow Rewind”.

Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
Gira returns even though he never went away. The one band I regret seeing live this year but I had a good excuse as i was on tour myself. Reminds me of the excellent output of recent Angels of Light but with more weight.

Dax Riggs – Say Goodnight To The World
Not my favorite release from Dax, but everything he does has some gold in it. “I hear Satan [in the basement of the pentagon]” and “See you all in Hell or New Orleans” are perfect examples of this.

Autopsy – The Tomb Within
I have a feeling you will see this on everyone’s list this year, but for good reason. The BEST death metal band has returned. Their set at MDF was legendary. New EP is right in line with previous material and I think, unlike most reunion nonsense, Autopsy still has that hunger. This is filthy.

Deathspell Omega – Paracletus
Dear Guitar World, lets get some tabs for this one! haha. I consider this the pinnacle of modern black metal in 2010. No costumes or image conscious presentation, just instruments, words and artwork. Deathspell is in their own universe and deserve respect for their forward-thinking, challenging, esoteric metal. This French mystery cult band is undeniably alluring and their intricate music is the reason.

White Lung – It’s the Evil
Well written, great tones, awesome everything by this Vancouver punk band. White Lung plays discordant punk rock with a touch of gritty 90’s alternative to my ears. “It’s the Evil” is sharp as broken glass with its great textured riffs, excellent bass lines and perfect drum beats. The expressive vocals and words really top this off and create the perfect vibe of an honest and creative band on to something good.

The Endless Blockade side of Split with Unearthly Trance
I’m not listing this because we did a split with them; I’m mentioning this because this is some of the most deadly P.E./ noise drenched confrontational violent hardcore punk that came out this year. Get this shit. The other side is aight too. You just need grass for listening to that side. LOUD FAST RULES

Double Negative Daydreamnation
One of the best hardcore bands active today. Check them out! Great live shows and making some really challenging yet catchy hardcore in 2010! Full Support!

Black Witchery – Inferno Of Sacred Destruction
Faster than fuck grinding black metal with forcefully hateful vox. Once again, Black Witchery has returned with pure hatred. Nothing has changed except they have increased the burliness. Not for everyone and I think that’s a beautiful thing. Fuck what you heard, this is USBM. Unforgiving!

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Kevin on stage with Vaura at DBA (more)

Top 10 of 2010 by Kevin Hufnagel of Dysrhythmia/Gorguts/Vaura:
1. Dysrhythmia finally getting to tour Europe, and my extended vacation in Berlin
2. Dysrhythmia U.S. tour with Cynic, and Intronaut, and getting to ride in a bus for the first (and possibly only) time
3. Writing a new record with Gorguts, and the May mini-tour
4. Joining Vaura
5. Magma live @ Highland Ballroom, total inspiration
6. Swans live @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, total annihilation
7. New Model Army live 2 night in a row @ The Bell House
8. Deathspell Omega – ‘Paracletus’
9. Watching Voivod rip through an (all too brief!) set of 80’s classics live @ Nokia Theater
10. Caracas Arepa Bar

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Top 20 Albums of 2010 by Andrew Foisy of Locrian:
1) Deathspell Omega “Paracletus”(Season of Mist)
The rest of these are in no particular order:
2) Swans “My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky” (Young God)
3) Agalloch “Marrow Of The Spirit” (Profound Lore)
4) Neil Jendon “Cities in Flight” (Bloodlust!)/”Male Fantasies” (Land of Decay)
5) Monvment tape (Self-Released)
6) Human Quena Orchestra “A Natural History Of Failure” (Utech)
7) The High Confessions “Turning Lead Into Gold” (Relapse)
8) Velnias – “Untitled EP” (Self-Released)
9) Aun – “VII” (Important)
10) On “Something that Has Form and Something That Does Not” (Type)
11) Ural Umbo “S/T” (Utech)
12) Gog – “Heavy Fierce Brightness” (Utech)
13) Mamiffer/House of Low Culture “S/T” (Utech/Hydra Head)
14) Menace Ruine “Union Of Irreconcilables” (Aurora Borealis)
15) Wolvserpent “Blood Seed” (20 Buck Spin)
16) A Silver Mt. Zion “Kollaps Tradixionales” (Constellation)
17) Wrnlrd “Death Drive” (Flingco Sound System)
18) Puerto Rico Flowers “4” (Fan Death Records)
19) Twilight “Monument to Time End” (Southern Lord)
20) Sailors With Wax Wings S/T – (Angel Oven Records)

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Top 10 best live moments of 2010 that I witnessed by Bill Dozer of Atakke
1. SLEEP.
2. Christian Mistress. The Agony and The Opium LP destroys.
3. Innumerable Forms / Mammoth Grinder
4. The Body. Also one of the best albums of the year.
5. Julian McCullough. This guy had me nearly pissing my pants.
6. AGE / HELLSHOCK at 3am. this is the reason i do shows.
7. Parasytic in Raleigh NC. party time!
8. Spiritualized at Radio City. I don’t care what my girlfriend says, that shit was awesome.
9. Kylesa / Hull at Public Assembly
10. Buzzov*en / Black Tusk / Ramming Speed. now that’s a party.

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Krieg at Knitting Factory (more)

Ten memories from 2010 Neal Imperial of Krieg

5 things in 2010 I hope I remember:
1. Profanatica’s new record and getting to open for them in September in scenic Clifton, NJ.
2. Public Image Ltd in Atlantic City. Didn’t expect them to make even the later, less interesting songs seem fresh and innovative.
3. Discovering Rudimentary Peni/Part 1’s lost progency Existential Nightmare as well as being exposed to The Cardiacs for the first time.
4. Traveling in a van with Woe for a short weekend of shows with every show going off without some kind of hitch.
5. Not getting dropped from Candlelight (yet)

5 things in 2010 I’d rather forget:
1. Losing a drummer two days before the Samhain Fest in SC
2. Blacking out the night before said fest and being so hungover I had the shakes for the performance at said fest.
3. Missing some great shows due to lack of traveling funds.
4. The price of cigarettes in New Jersey (I’m sure NYC and Chicago will have something to say about how “lucky” we are)
5. 2010

—
Best of 2010 by Michael Bertoldini of The Secret

*The Black Angels – “Phosphene Dreams”
I really didn’t have expectations for this album, as their mindblowing “Directions to see a ghost” was just too good to be topped.
“Phosphene Dreams” is a different kind of beast, they lost some of that darkness and brought on board some more 60’s acid rock inspired dreamy atmosphere. The result is an entire album of great songs. The final part of Yellow Elevator #2 will remain in my head until my next top of 2011 list.

*Burzum – “Belus”
Fuck this guy, but this album totally rules. Time stopped 15 years ago for Varg. This records washed away 80% of the latest black metal releases with its first riff. I really wanted this album to suck but it’s just fucking great in its simplicity.

*New York City
I visited New York for the first time in April 2010 and I immediately fell in love. My best expectation was that it would feel like living in a good Woody Allen movie, but it was much better than that. Spending 5 days there was a real life changing experience, and I can’t wait to be back there next year.

*Godcity Studio
Working with Kurt Ballou was a great experience. He’s an incredibly talented guy, and very down to earth.

*Southern Lord Recordings
Gave me the chance to create an album i’m proud of.

*Early Graves – “Goner”
Some of the best friends we ever made on the road recorded one of the best albums of the year. Great riffs, rabid energy, honest “fuck you all” attitude, kick ass songs and amazing lyrics is all i can ask from a punk metal band. Rest in peace Makh Daniels, we miss you.

*Livio Felluga Vertigo
fucking best red wine of the year!

*”Somewhere” – Sophia Coppola
The only cool thing about living in Italy this year was the premiere of Venice Film Festival Winner “Somewhere”. This Sophia Coppola minimalistic piece of art gives no explanations, no solution or teaching, it just magically shows how solitude will always prevail in the end, no matter how rich or successful or famous you can be.

*”The Ghost Writer” – Roman Polanski
Polanski is an evil genius and this movie brings back the darkness and the subtle irony of his earlier works, while being a modern movie at the same time. Knowledge = death is the same formula he used on his classic 60’s and 70’s masterpieces, but this time he gave the whole story a completely new and unexpected vibe. Polanski shows the world it’s still possible to create a great movie using a classic and linear approach to storytelling.

*Italian movies from the 70’s
Rediscovering so many great italian movies made me forget for a second how shitty this place has become in the last decades. Milano Calibro 9, Milano Violenta, Non si sevizia un papering, La casa dale finestre che ridono. Glorious days of great cinema.

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The Body at BV-BBG CMJ (more by Keith Marlowe)

Top 10 things of 2010 by Lee Buford of The Body
TRTRKMMR live at the HEAVY FOCUS FEST Minneapolis, MN
WORK/DEATH tender comrades
HORN distanz
KRIEG the isolationist
SWANS live
WOVEN HAND live
the PINBALL HALL OF FAME in las vegas
SALEM king night
SCALPED comics
the OMNI RECORDING CORPORATION record label

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Favorite Things of 2010 by Steven Hess of Locrian / Ural Umbo

Top 11 Albums of 2010 (in no particular order):
1) Earth “A Bureaucratic Desire For Extra Capsular Extraction (Southern Lord) [reissue]
2) Swans “My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky” (Young God)
3) Supersilent “11” (Runegrammofon)
4) Mamiffer/House of Low Culture “S/T” (Utech)
5) Arcn Templ “Emanations Of A New World” (Utech)
6) Thomas Ankersmit “Live In Utrecht” (Touch)
7) Ocean “Pantheon Of The Lesser (Important)
8) Jon Mueller “The Whole” (Type)
9) Aun “VII” (Important)
10) Master Musicians Of Bukkake “Totem Two” (Important)
11) Paul Motion “The Complete Remastered Recordings” (Black Saint/Soul Note)

Top 4 Movies I saw in 2010:
The White Ribbon
Moon
The Road (2nd viewing, or was it my 3rd?)
A Serious Man

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Hull at Public Assembly (more by Markus Shaffer)

Ten Best Albums of 2010 by Nick Palmirotto of Hull

1. Defeatist – Sixth Extinction (Willowtip)
If you are into fast, loud, pissed off music, even the least bit, you will immediately have respect for these three “grandfathers of grindcore”. Drew Mack (HULL) and myself had the fortunate opportunity to create some blistering brutality together with drummer Joel “The Hummingbird” Stallings in our former band Reservoir, and let me just tell you… the man is a fucking machine! If the sound of two tanks fighting in a mass grave of dying volcanoes and earthquakes is what you’re looking for, Defeatist is the band for you!

2. Salome – Terminal (Profound Lore)
In the past, I used to snarl at bands without bassists. I just need that heavy low end to ruminate through my bones. Fortunately for Salome, Rob Moore’s ridiculously massive guitar tone, mixed with Aaron Deal’s thundering drums and Katherine Katz’ excruciatingly barbarous vocals, there is definitely no need for any more bass. What makes this band even more exciting is the fact that Kat is the voice of Satan hidden inside the shell of a petite, blond… it’s like a present day wolf in sheep’s clothing! After having the pleasure to tour with Salome and Batillus on 2009’s Beard Destroyer Tour, I can say that I am proud to call them my friends.

3. Wormrot – Abuse (Earache)
I am so stoked to have gotten to see this band in general, being that they are from Singapore, but to have seen them at The Acheron (Best DIY venue in NYC, run by local thrashers, Atakke (RIP)) was absolutely phenomenal! Again, no bassist, and no bassist needed. My mind has been opened. Flex your head. Grind your face.

4. The Ascent of Everest – From This Vantage (Shels Music)
I went to 538 Johnson to see these guys, as a good portion of the members came from Nashville’s Evil Bebos, and due to the fact that the Bebos fucking own, and they are some of the best people around (they always put us up, hook up shows and party with us whenever we are in Tennessee), I decided that the least I could do was to check them out in my own hood. I had to work early in the morning, and they were scheduled last, so I was very hesitant to stay… physical labor + lack of sleep = shit, but Fuckin’ A was I happy I did! This Orchestral, shoegazey, experimentally ambient phenomenon absolutely blew me away. If you are looking for a soundtrack to sleep while dreaming about having sex on a lunar flight while tripping on mushrooms to, this is the album for you.

5. Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra – Kollaps Tradixionales (Constellation)
The first time I had the pleasant experience of witnessing this prodigious orchestral assemblage at the former North 6 in Brooklyn, I was barely able to hold back my tears. Members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor plus Equal parts symphonic ensemble and punk rock ideals, TSMZMO is one band that should never be missed if ever the opportunity presents itself. One of my most memorable experiences is sharing the stage with them at The Impetus Festival in Lausanne, Switzerland while playing bass for Jarboe in April 2010.

6. Agalloch – Marrow of the Spirit (Profound Lore)
Unfortunately, we can no longer call Agalloch label mates, as they have since moved on from The End Records to Profound Lore, nonetheless, Marrow of the Spirit is a folk/black metal opus that is deserving of a proper blasphemous act. Bibles beware.

7. Nachtmystium – Addicts: Black Meddle Part II (Century Media)
I had the advantageous opportunity to tour with these partying heathens around Europe and heard a lot of these songs live before the actual release of the album. One of the best nights I had was attempting to sing karaoke in Finnish with drummer, Charlie Fell, in Jyväskylä. This album reminds me of prom, only with an impaled animal heads, mock crucifixions and medieval weaponry theme.

8. Bison B.C. – Dark Ages (Metal Blade)
This band rips. Hands down. They are amazing live. Full of energy and riffs bonanza. Dark Ages shows Bison’s continuing progression and mountainous behemothity. If that is not a term already, Dark Ages officially makes it one. Bring it.

9. Man’s Gin – Smiling Dog’s (Profound Lore)
Along with the partying antics of Nachtmystium, I also shared the stage with Erik Wunder (Cobalt, Man’s Gin), Josh Lozano (Man’s Gin, Inswarm) and Fade Kainer (Batillus, Inswarm), backing Jarboe. We had some pretty momentous evenings sitting around random hostels with an acoustic guitar and singing some of the songs off Smiling Dog’s. The only thing missing was a campfire and S’mores. My dudes.

10. High on Fire – Snakes for the Divine
I felt that High on Fire deserved to be on this list. They consistently release quality metal albums, regardless of the fact that this one is definitely the most produced album released by them thus far. Shit, if anything, I had to add HOF due to the FUCKING INCREDIBLE SLEEP reunion shows thrown by Osiris and Brooklyn Vegan at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple back in September! Considering OM and SLEEP did not release albums this year, I had to tie the room together somehow!

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Mike Hill of Tombs at the Relapse Showcase at SXSW (more by Samantha Marble)

Top 10 of 2010 by Michael Hill of Tombs
1. Triptykon – Eparistera Daimones
2. Watain – Lawless Darkness
3. Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
4. Walking Dead Season 1 – AMC
5. Unearthly Trance – V
6. Isis, Tombs, Jakob – West Coast Tour
7. Meeting Keith Morris
8. Deathspell Omega – Paracletus
9. Tombs / Planks US Tour
10. Wormrot US Tour

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Top 10 favorite things of 2010 by Speck Brown of Orphan
1) WOLD performance at Remains
2) Universal Order of Armageddon reunion show at Death By Audio
3) playing the Whitney Biennial
4) Banks Violette at the Gladstone Gallery
5) Gert & Uwe Tobias & Gardar Eide Einarsson shows at Team Gallery
6) Buddha Bodhai vegetarian dim sum
7) Sleep reunion show @ Masonic Temple
8) Dope Body
9) Eric Copeland
10) February blizzard

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2010’s Top Ten Albums that are “BUZZARD” approved by Cartel Brown
Man’s Gin Smiling Dogs (profound lore)
Yakuza Of Seismic Consequence (profound lore)
Nachtmystium Addicts: Black Meddle Part 2 (Century Media/Candlelight)
Watain Lawless Darkness (Seasons of Mist)
Zoroaster Matador (E1)
Wolvhammer Black Marketeers of World War III (init records)
Killing joke Absolute Dissent (Universal)
Twilight – Monument to Time End (Southern Lord)
The Devil’s Blood The Time of No Time Evermore (van records)
Black Anvil Triumvirate (relapse)

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Ryan Patterson of Coliseum at Europa (more by Meghan McInnis)

Some good things from 2010 by Ryan Patterson of Coliseum
– Getting married, my wife, my home, my life.
– Joining the Temporary Residence family and releasing House With A Curse.
– Mike Pascal & Carter Wilson, the best bandmates I could imagine.
– Great new albums from The Estranged, Complications, Shipping News, Swans, Superchunk, Killing Joke, Grinderman, Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse, among many others.
– Wonderful films: I Am Love, Never Let Me Go, The White Ribbon, An Education, Un Prophete, and I’m assuming True Grit and Tree Of Life will not disappoint.
– Prague.
– J. Robbins
– Recording with Kevin Ratterman at his Funeral Home studio.
– Recording at Inner Ear Studios.
– Sam Velde
– Tours with the great people in Burning Love, Bison BC and Kvelertak.
– Amazing friends across the globe.
– A safe and healthy extended family.

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Ramming Speed at Public Assembly (more by Samantha Marble)

Top 10 reasons to headbang in 2010 (in no real order) by Jonah Livingston of Ramming Speed:
-A TV in our rented European van and the entire Rocky box set
-Kvelertak “Kvelertak”
-Moving my entire life from a practice space with no windows to a practice space with windows
-The Devil’s Blood “The Time Of No Time”
-Staying up for three days with Saviours in Germany getting weird and kicking asses before meeting up with Municipal Waste for the rest of the tour. “No sleeping, no eating”.
-Neurosis live in London
-Peppers, a BYOB hot sauce bar in Key West
-The inaugural Tankcrimes Brainsqueeze (Ghoul, ANS, Toxic Holocaust etc)
-Baroness live at NE Metalfest, then getting all shit faced and banging my girlfriend in my van
-Partying with Danzig’s bodyguard in LA

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Favorite Records and live shows of 2010 by Timmy Hefner of Chaos in Tejas/540 Records

Records
Eddy Current Suppression Ring “Rush to Relax” LP
Kriegshog s/t LP
Burzum “Belus” LP
Curren$y “Pilot Talk”
Milk Music “Beyond Living” MLP
Ghost “Opus Eponymous” LP
H-100’s LIVE LP
Crazy Spirit 7″
Jim Shepard “v-3 next album”
Autopsy “Awakened by Gore” LP
the Marked Men “on/the other side” 7″
Proper Ornaments 7″

LIVE:
Bastard (Austin,TX at Chaos in Tejas and in Osaka,Japan at Hokage)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring (Daly City,CA at Serra Bowl)
Guided By Voices (Austin,TX at the East Side Drive Inn and in San
Francisco at the Warfield)
Rival Mob (Austin,TX at Emo’s)
Milk Music (Austin,TX at the Mohawk)
Big Freedia/Katey Red (Austin,TX at the Scoot Inn)
Descendents (Austin,TX at FUN FUN FUN FEST)
Zola Jesus (Austin,TX at Red 7)
Lip Cream (Osaka,Japan at Liquid Room)
the Marked Men (Austin,TX at Beerland)
Order from Chaos/Inquisition (Houston,TX at Walters on Washington)
the Clean (New York City at the Bell House)

—
2010 Favorites (in no order) by Ian Jacyszyn of Castevet
Blood of Kingu – Sun in the House of the Scorpion
Celestia – Archaenae Perfectii
Deathspell Omega – Paracletus
Circle – Rautatie
Extra Life – Made Flesh
Brian McBride – The Effective Disconnect
Moritz von Oswald Trio – Live In NY
Mare – Spheres Like Death
Profanatica – Disgusting Blasphemies Against God
Wormed – Quasineutrality

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Carl of Coffinworm at the Profound Lore/20 Buck Spin showcase at SxSW (more)

Favorite Things of 2010 by Carl Byers of Coffinworm

Best metal records of 2010:
1. Unearthly Trance – V
2. Deathspell Omega – Paracletus
3. Ludicra – The Tenant
4. Autopsy – The Tomb Within
5. Triptykon – Esparistera Daimones
6. SUMA – Ashes
7. Twilight – Monument to Time End
8. Fistula – Goat
9. The Howling Wind – Into The Cryosphere
10. Anhedonist – The Drear demo

Best non-metal records of 2010:
Killing Joke – Absolute Dissent
Dax Riggs – Say Goodnight To The World

Best Indiana bands that you need to hear immediately:
Overpower – 2010 Demo
Daisycutter – Invertebrate 7″

Other shit that ruled:
Innumerable Forms – Dark Worship 7″
Kerasphorus – Cloven Hooves At the Holocaust Dawn EP
Fleshpress – Rebuild / Crumble & No Return EPs
Enslaved – Axioma Ethica Odini
Desolation – Rest In Panic
Ice Nine – Nobody’s Son 7″
Bastard Priest – Under The Hammer of Destruction
Apostle of Solitude – Last Sunrise

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Salome at Union Pool (more by Paul Birman)

Favorite LPs of 2010 by Aaron Deal of Salome

Here is a list of some albums I really enjoyed from this year, in alphabetical order. You’ll have to forgive me, I’m a drummer, I have trouble with counting higher than four… so this might be more than ten…

Agalloch – Marrow of the Spirit
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat the Devil’s Tattoo
Bongripper – Satan Worshipping Doom
Castevet – Mounds of Ash
Coffinworm – When All Became None
Ishahn – After
Jucifer – Throned in Blood
Knut – Wonder
Ludicra – The Tenant
Melvins – The Bride Screamed Murder
Stereolab – Not Music
Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
Thou – Summit
Twilight – Monument to Time End
Zoroaster – Matador

However, the album I’ve listened to the most in 2010 by far was Slowdive – Souvlaki. One of my all time favorites, for sure.

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Six bad ideas shared between us and our label that didn’t happen as we prepared our most recent release by Justin Foley of The Austerity Program.
In no real order:
1. Label: Since the whole record is in D, call it “D’s Nuts”.
2. Band: Since initial release date was April 20th, call record Blaze in the Northern Sky (with cover art of a big joint lighting up the Aurora Borelais)
3. Label: Someone in the band should start taking drugs and write a one sheet, as it would be better than the one the band came up with
4. Band: Post picture on label blog of band member, band member’s 3 year old, label rep and the Oxbow “Fuckfest” towel that has a well-hung naked man printed on it.
5. Label: Release junky version with Xeroxed sleeve and all songs rerecorded at practice using one mono mic (like an SM57). Sell for $2.
6. Band: Put record out and play a whopping three shows in support of it. (Actually, this did happen.)

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Top 10 Vil (drummer Mathieu “Vil” Vilandré) Moments of 2010 by Fuck The Facts

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Top 10 favorites by Adam Bartlett of Gilead Media

Top 10 of 2010 released prior to 2010
AKA Old albums I never heard before and fell in love with this year.
Andrew Jackson Jihad – Can’t Maintain
The Specials – The Specials
Kid Dynamite – Kid Dynamite
Mogwai – The Hawk Is Howling
7 Seconds – Live
Amesoeurs – Amesoeurs
Altar Of Plagues – White Tomb
Isis – Wavering Radiant
Peste Noire – Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor
Crippled Black Phoenix – 200 Tons Of Bad Luck

Best Records of 2010
AKA The best new albums I heard
Daughters – Daughters
Call Me Lightning – When I Am Gone My Blood Will Be Free
Black Mountain – Wilderness Heart
Agalloch – Marrow Of The Spirit
Protestant – Judgements
Man’s Gin – Smiling Dogs
Ludicra – The Tenant
Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
Deftones – Diamond Eyes
Fell Voices/Ash Borer Split

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Top 10 of 2010 by Trevor de Brauw of Pelican/Chord
1. Holy Sons “Survivalist Tales!” – this record is so criminally underrated it’s nauseating. not only one of the most impressive one-man band executions I’ve ever heard from composition, to playing, to recording, it’s easily the best album of the year. Immersive, nostalgic, consuming songwriting that penetrates deeper with every spin.
2. The Hex Dispensers “One Less Ghost b/w I’m a Ghost” 7″ – no lie, I played this single 5 times straight through the day I brought it home. I couldn’t stop listening to it. Hooks haven’t snagged me this hard in years.
3. Grinderman “2” – I had given up on Cave many moons (and album cycles) ago. Glad to have him back.
4. Yellow Swans “Going Places”
5. Twilight “Monument to Time End” – the fact that this is not on every metal year end list says to me that either people did not listen to it or people are fucking idiots. So just listen to this record – I know you’re not an idiot.
6. The Ponys “Deathbed + 4”
7. Big Boi “Sir Luscious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty”
8. Disappears “Lux” – glad to see their fine debut full length made good, and in fact improved, on the promise of their 7″ singles.
9. Kayo Dot “Coyote”
10. Swans “My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope To the Sky” – and, actually, this was even more engaging in the live setting. one of the best shows i’ve seen in quite some time.

Honorable non-album mentions go out to home ownership and the immense increase of time spent with my wife that has resulted from it, the overwhelmingly positive emotional experience of the Pelican 10 year anniversary shows, the meal I had at Schwa (this is more of a life favorite than favorite of the year), Black Swan, finally getting LOST out of my life (good riddance), making a Chord record I’m legitimately happy with, having Syl Johnson sing to me over the phone when I called him to set up an interview, sharing the company of the fine folks I work with at Biz3, finally seeing Goatsnake live (they delivered), and, sadly enough, the good times and laughs I’ve had on Twitter (fuck the non-virtual world).

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Thou at ABC No Rio (more by Jesse Lindmar)

Top 10 of 2010 by Bryan Funck, Andy Gibbs, and Mitch Wells of Thou
Skagos – Ast
Fell Voices / Ash Borer split
Celeste – Morte(s) Nee(s)
The Body – All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood
Pygmy Lush – unreleased / live bootlegs
Kowloon Walled City – Gambling on the Richter Scale
Hurray For the Riff Raff – Young Blood Blues + Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship? – Of Resolutions and Resolve
Callers – Life of Love
The Gift – demo
Caddywhompus – The Remainder

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Aaron Turner on stage with Isis at MHoW (more by Meghan McInnis)

My Favorite Things (that I discovered/acquired/enjoyed in) 2010 (that did not actually come out in 2010) by Aaron Turner of Mamiffer/Twilight/Isis

-SPK “Songs of Byzantine Flowers”
Totally creepy and awesome. Have yet to find another album by them I like as much as this one.

-bell hooks “The Will To Change”
A feminist perspective that is clearly and purposefully inclusive of men without coddling or compromise. Get some ass kicking and encouragement in equal measure.

-Krallice “Interdimensional Bleedthrough”
I guess this one sort of came out this year – at least the LP version did. Yeah, now that I think about it this one doesn’t count. Sure is good though.

-Alan Moore and J.H. Williams III “Promethea”
Alchemy and magic, strong female protagonist(s), observations on perception vs. reality and the human ability to understand and create the world(s) around us, and lots of colors. Some of Moore’s best work and that’s saying quite a lot.

-Circle – live
One of the best live band’s I’ve ever seen. Top 3 easily. So much life and energy and ingenuity. Had the pleasure of seeing them numerous times last year – different sets every night and always utterly awesome. Their new record “Rautatie is also amazing.

-Melvins – live
Always and completely ruling. Supremely consistent and inspiring. Have seen few bands half their age attain this level perfection and intensity.

-Alice In Chains “Dirt”
I don’t think i was quite old enough when this came out to understand how truly dark this record is. I just thought it was rockin – which it is, but also totally sad and oppressive. In hindsight can’t say the slow death of Staley was a surprise. This record might as well have been a statement of intent.

-Jonathan Coleclaugh “Period”
Like Bohren and Der Club of Gore, Coleclaugh makes music that sounds so perfect as to seem delivered from another and more perfect dimension.

-Beherit “Drawing Down the Moon”
One of the downright ugliest sounding records ever. Like living in a cave tunneled into a mountain of frozen garbage. With no light. Forever.

-The date pudding/cake thing I ate on tour in Australia. That actually happened this year, but it was totally awesome and I was just thinking about it and couldn’t think of anything else.

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Top 10 Records of 2010 by Rennie Resmini of Starkweather
Blindead- Affliction XXIX II MXMVI
The Body – All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood
Combat Astronomy – Earth Divided by Zero
Deathspell Omega – Paracletus
Gnaw Their Tongues – L’arrivee de la Terne Mort Triomphante
Kayo Dot – Coyote
Rose Kemp – Golden Shroud
Rosetta – A Determinism of Morality
US Christmas – Run Thick in the Night
Wovenhand – the threshing floor

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Monarch at Union Pool (more)

Top 13 of 2010 by MicHell of Monarch
1. Yob/Eyehategod/Goatsnake at Roadburn, Tilburg, NL.
2. Dark Castle at Sala Rossa, Montreal, QC.
3. The “Crazy Train” at the Highline, Seattle, WA. The best mock chicken sandwich I’ve ever had, and their fries are solid awesome!
4. Laudanum/Alaric/Trees at 924 Gilman, Berkley, CA.
Sidenote : the Pyramid brewery across the street makes a mean hefeweizen.
5. All-night drinking binge with Will (Indian/Nachtmystium) and Emilie (Monarch) in Hobart, Tasmania, waiting for our early morning flight back to the mainland.
6. Blood Ceremony at Katacombs, Montreal, QC.
7. Cough syrop in Providence, RI. Bars close early in Providence, but pharmacies don’t.
8. The Flat Iron, Chicago, IL.
9. Evoken/Bloody Panda at Union Pool, Brooklyn, NY, and the wicked dancing after-party that followed.
10. Thrones at Plan B, Portland, OR.
11. Fetes de Bayonne, Bayonne, FR.
12. Beach drinking with WITTR in Byron Bay, NSW, Aus.
13. Towers of Malice.

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Top Ten Shows I saw in 2010 by Fade Kainer of Batillus
1. Wovenhand – knitting factory, brooklyn
2. Eyehategod – Le Romandie, lausanne, switzerland
3. Melvins – webster hall, nyc
4. Wold – long island city ,ny
5. Void of Voices (Attila Csihar) – inferno , oslo , norway
6. Yob – roadburn tilburg, holland
7. Nachtmystium – inferno oslo, norway
8. Thou – houseshow in baton rouge
9. Salome – NYU, Nyc
10. Sleep- masonic temple, brooklyn

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Top 5 Books I read in 2010 by Kat Katz of Salome/Agoraphobic Nosebleed
5. 1984 by George Orwell
4. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
3. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy

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Mick on stage with Krallice at Europa (more)

Top 5 Records of 2010 by Mick Barr of Krallice/Oldest
defeated sanity “chapters of repugnance”,
ancient wound “the winterholder”,
stargazer “a great work of ages”,
bastard noise “a culture of monsters”,
weasel walter “invasion”.

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Top 10 movies I watched when I couldn’t sleep in 2010 by Nate Harrah of Imbroglio
#10- Death Wish, 1 though 5
Because there is nothing better than watching a 50 year old man take
out a gang of street punks with a chain gun.
#9- Robocop Trilogy
ED-209 Nuff Said.
#8- Dead Ringers
Amazingly awkward.
#7- Devon walking into my room, drunk, throwing knives
Not a movie but equally as amusing.
#6- Make Them Die Slowly
I throw this one in for some comic relief.
#5- 2020 Texas Gladiators
Motorcycles + laser guns = AMAZING!
#4- Batman Starring Adam West
2 words: Exploding. Sharks.
#3- The Evil That Men Do
Once again, Bronson fucking owns!
#2- True Romance
Written by Tarantino. All I can say is that this movie is INTENSE!
#1- Luccio Fulci’s The Beyond-
Can’t go wrong with this one. My favorite movie of all time.
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