The Best Underground Metal of 2010



Melechesh – The Epigenesis

Power metal band Melechesh make a riff heavy, fast and technical metal that sounds like Helstar and The Haunted colliding in midair. Middle eastern influences are subtly done, reminiscent of Nile in the way they are worked around the heavy metal aggregate of styles. Energetic and introspective.

Graveland – Cold Winter Blades

Continuing an attempt to join black metal, Dead Can Dance and epic movie soundtracks, Graveland throw more of the metal back into their music with several remixed tracks and one new that presents perhaps the most “metal” and aggressive voice for the epic yet conceived. Another way to view this: if power metal were black metal, this would be topping the charts.

Divine Eve – Vengeful and Obstinate

Stygian onrushing doom-death with a Swedish guitar sound, Divine Eve follow up on 1993’s As the Angels Weep with a new EP of mid-1990s songs reworked and restructured that make good on the promise of that early work. Although these songs are doomy, they are mid-paced and run the gamut of death and doom styles artfully.

Herpes – Doomsday 2010 Demo

Old school death metal in the Autopsy style, with more punkish/grind influences like Cianide, Herpes keeps the “partially formed” feeling of early death metal while churning out riffs that fit together like chain links swinging toward the skull of a deserving victim.

Avzhia – In My Domains

If you can imagine Graveland and Summoning combined and rendered in a style like that of early Rotting Christ, with inspiration from Emperor, you can envision this sweeping, melodic and unabashedly sentimental album that evokes the spirit of early black metal. A sense of life being full of wonderful things, mostly evil, emerges from this dark musical epic.

Decrepitaph – Beyond the Cursed Tombs

Building on the death metal of two decades ago, Decrepitaph paste together Swedish riffs with the intensity of American mid-paced death metal bands like later Master and Malevolent Creation. The resulting primal battering encourages the old school death metal form to breathe again.

Malevolent Creation – Unreleased 1987 CD

Before they joined the legions of percussive death metal bashers, Malevolent Creation were a speed metal band sounding a lot like early Forbidden, Exodus, Artillery and Assassin thrown into a blender. Expect grandiose topics, ripping riffs and purely satisfying metal from these three tracks resurrected from the vault.

Krieg – The Isolationist

Chaos black metal band Krieg combine their early neo-improv punk-influenced black metal with post-rock, creating a simple but effective organization that uses post-rock technique to make music in the bolder, braver, less self-pitying style of black metal.

Salem – Playing God and Other Short Stories

After years as a Hellhammer-influenced black metal band, Salem have joined the modern metal bandwagon and in doing so, found a voice that fits their style much better. In fact, this is one of the few modern metal releases that makes sense from start to finish, with jaunty syncopated riffs dropping into sync with vocals like later Samael.

Cruciamentum – Convocation of Crawling Chaos

Attempting to make music in that seminal intersection between old Incantation and Profanatica, Cruciamentum render a dark churning through this short demo that conveys the old school death metal spirit and its contemplative alienation.

Into Oblivion – Creation of a Monolith

Most of the progressive or experimental metal out there simply repeats experiments in other genres, which are “new” to metal but only aesthetically; Into Oblivion attempt an instrumental metal approach working through layers of motif-based riff clusters. Reminiscent of Black Flag’s “The Process of Weeding Out” if executed by Profanatica and Averse Sefira on shore leave.

Prosanctus Inferi – Pandemonic Ululations of Vesperic Palpitation

This album could well be a tribute to Fallen Christ, Dark Angel and other blistering speed bands who throw in dozens of riffs and stitch them together somehow into a single entity. High speed riffs that often use similar progressions clump together and form a super-high energy death/black metal hybrid with enthralling percussion.

Truppensturm – Salute to the Iron Emperors

Someone had to inherit the throne of Angelcorpse, and this low-tech phalanx of gnarled high-shock riffs fulfills the role and picks up in the process some of the murk of occult bands like Beherit and Blasphemy. The result is less martial organization than an exploding of raw Id, overrunning the social conditioning by which we normally live.

Celestia – Archaenae Perfectii

This flowing black metal suffers from “Kreator syndrome”: with at least two powerhouse riffs per song, it stands out during those riffs but the rest of each song is disorganized supporting material which adulterates the impact. Yet some of the more interesting black metal this year.

Overkill – Ironbound

Many metal fans out there if waterboarded would admit that they just want 1980s speed metal to return. Never fear, as Overkill brings us a collection of carefully-polished songs in the middle-period Metallica style, with small elements of Slayer and Exodus worked in. Nothing old but nothing particularly new, just a more experienced ear for songwriting re-approaching these concepts and making a modern version in the older styles.

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0 thoughts on “The Best Underground Metal of 2010”

  1. bot o' bro says:

    I guess this is what would happen when the members stop contributing and it becomes Brett Stevens personal web page though LOL

    ALSO: RIp Corrupt . org!!

  2. The shadow of Adrian. says:

    AHHHHH fucking disregard the last 2 posts I made, the points stand true though. I wish to make things grow! Not pull them down into shit.

    DEATH TO THE “INDIVIDUAL” HAIL THE ETERNAL!

  3. Kurt Burgel says:

    damn this was a boring year :/

  4. el chaz says:

    PLEASE S.R. PROZAK COME BACK!! THIS PAGE IS SUFFERING FROM YOUR ABSENCE. THE ONLY WAY I CAN TOLERATE THIS SITE IS BY VIEWING IT THROUGH http://www.webarchive.org AND BROWSE THROUGH ITS OLD VERSIONS. BACK THEN WHEN PROZAK WAS ON CHARGE.

  5. Hessian.org is better? How? Because it takes longer to read their reviews than actually listening to the album? LONG LIVE PROZAK AND ANUS.COM! I’m gonna buy a Krieg shirt so I can look more like Prozak, be sure to check out my next videos on youtube.

  6. T.G. says:

    I can’t wait until all of the people who comment on these blogs die.

  7. GentlemanOftheMorningAsses says:

    Also, Jews.

  8. who the fuck is PROZAK anyways! says:

    Prozak writes here now (i think!): http://datejesus.com/

    Or maybe prozak was always Stevens/conservationist/scourge/who ever the fuck the dude is who writes ALL of ANUS.

    RIP Anus! HAIL ADRIAN!

  9. Fucking clones? says:

    FUCKED UP THAT LINK: http://www.datejesus.com/

    Is ANUS all written by one person?

  10. 420Metal says:

    This the first Top 2010 list I have seen this year that did not have Ghost on it.

  11. Middle Eastdrian says:

    two bands (originally) from Israel. Who would’ve thought… Times must be tough for those Swedes and New Yorkers and Norwegians and Greeks etc…

    BTW why aren’t there more websites like this one ? why are there no new metal sub-genres the past decade and so? metal is fucked.

  12. Brundrian McHilde says:

    I think I detected more Havohej than Profanatica in Into Oblivion, probably something about the guitar sound, but its pretty much the same band so whatever, yo.

    oh, and FUCK NU METAL LOL!
    SPANISH GONNORHEA!!
    GO ISREAL!!

  13. T.G. says:

    @Brundrian: Your opinion is wrong, because I disagree with it. And if you retort, it is because you are gay. I am open-minded because I’m right, and I like all the good bands, and you are close-minded because you do not like the same things I do. This is a valid criticism that applies to the entire ANUS website, because I’m a fucking retard.

  14. Ariel Sharon says:

    Israel uber alles!

  15. Bipman says:

    Where’s Korn on the list?

  16. Levy_Spearmen says:

    Howdy from Internet Explorer!

  17. sum yung gui says:

    Hey there!

  18. Cream of says:

    Why does it seem that we are the only ones who take art seriously?

    FOAD NWN faggots. hail anus, hopefully the quality steps up again. I will be happy to help in the new year.

  19. Levy_Spearmen says:

    The shit I will release will blow this fucking house down.

  20. Ananoymous says:

    Into Oblivion

    best metal of 2010

  21. Dick says:

    ^ FALSE.

    It could have been. Some are farther from the void than others.

    They should stick to writing high intensity articles on metal spiritualism on HESSIAN . org

  22. asshole says:

    Them niggas couldn’t write a good phrase to save their lives is all im sayin’

    + their debut album reeks of bad high school metal amateurism.

    They can certainly compose fucking beautiful paragraphs though.

  23. social value>honesty says:

    your a fucking dick.

  24. HAIL 2008 CORRUPT - RIP!! says:

    fucking corrupt dot org RULED in 2008

    It was truly the best thing on the internet

    remember the data files too? and the lifestyle and resources section. FUCK. so goddam motivating, to bad they pulled all that shit, some one post a link to that if they have it.

  25. cuntganash says:

    I fucking hate you Alexis. FUCKING DICK WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED BRO.

  26. EDS says:

    you take my life, don’t take my mind…..

    DEFEAT MY DREAM

  27. Sexy Hitler says:

    Fuck ANUS and Corrupt
    HAIL Hessian.org and Amerika.org!

  28. Levy_Spearmen says:

    You all are fucking losers.

  29. Biondie says:

    [/sarcasm]

  30. Levy_Spearmen says:

    Sorry. Just plain speech here.

  31. fuck says:

    is it just me or does that Decrepitaph album’s production just destroy your ears?

  32. Levy_Spearmen says:

    I just started the first song and fuck samples and the production certainly tickles your eardrums, but man up.

  33. fuck says:

    I like it, i’ve just never heard anything like that before.

  34. Are Hilde says:

    DLA blog comments was the best thing of 2010 and my life.

  35. Levy_Spearmen says:

    I noticed the introduction of the blogs on the main ANUS page a while back and I do not understand the use of them. Perhaps they are an informal, less intelligent way to provoke feedback than the fascist forums. They certainly attract a lot of trolling which is probably just a plea for some more fascism.

  36. adrik says:

    what the fuck is happening here?

  37. Levy_Spearmen says:

    We were talking about occult black metal. Are you interesting?

  38. Levy_Spearmen says:

    Did you know that grains of sand and E. coli are all part of the grand space continuum thing and stuff.

  39. bagel ass says:

    every one of these albums were shit to mediocre at best. IMHO LOL

  40. milmashtia says:

    And now for spoiling the trollfun here: this is once again the best metal list to be found on the net. The absence of Profanatica is strange, but that album is a) obvious and b) anus already had it in 2009.

  41. Metal 2009 had two greats, the Beherit and the Asphyx. I hope Beherit releases another one in 2011, which is about the right timing. Profanatica are more trve on DBAG but less interesting. Profanatitas is probably their best. I hope Averse Sefira releases something in 2011. Blaspherian will and it will be good. Imprecation should. Atheist, Ghost, Agalloch and Burzum all blew chunks just like Cynic did in 2009. ANUS is ahead of the curve with accurate predictions while everyone else is just talking about their latest shiny objects and will forget them in six weeks. More CDs to throw into the landfill, so we achieve immortality through our non-decomposing garbage.

  42. Levy_Spearmen says:

    Be a pirate of the cosmos. Aarrrrg!

  43. GentlemanOftheMorningAsses says:

    If it takes longer for you to read a review of about 2 or 3 paragraphs than listen to an album, you belong in the woodchipper.

    ALLAHU AKBAR

  44. Levy_Spearmen says:

    Good point GentlemanOftheMorningAsses. Though what of the matter of writing a review of two or three paragraphs before finishing the album?

  45. lol@u says:

    Savage Circus – Of Doom and Death trumps any of the shit that’s been mentioned so far. Even for t3h XTREEM metulz everything that’s been mentioned blows ass and is a joke. Listen and learn what real quality metal is supposed to sound like, kiddies.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvS7XeZRuxw

    >Why does it seem that we are the only ones who take art seriously?

    Yeah, because shit with skeletons and baphomets on the cover can be taken seriously as art. You’re a fucking aspie with no sense of what kind of quality music exists out there.

  46. deadite says:

    lol@u seems to be mad that we don’t take his silly poofter children’s music seriously.

  47. lol@u says:

    Sorry, only death and black metal are full of homosexuals. Enjoy your AIDS.

    Love the name, by the way, it’s like in addition to listening to shitty joke music for toddlers you also have to advertise that you have awful taste in cinema.

  48. deadite says:

    I’ll take my AIDS, rather be infected with that than subject myself to listening to that tripe.

  49. lol@u says:

    Yeah, I knew you’re a faggot. And wow, allow me to reiterate what a gallery of shit is showcased in this blogpost. If you think this is the “best” of metal that 2010 had to offer, it’d be more useful if you listed what the very worst albums were. We might actually get some amazing music out of that.

  50. test says:

    test

  51. Bzzzt says:

    I noticed lol@u didn’t actually provide any legit criticizations past cover art. Speaks volumes I guess.

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