Time for a small update on 2018, two months in: a list of my good albums from 2018. It hasn’t been a great year for music so far but there are some albums that I found interesting. I’m also going to list some coming albums that I’m excited about. Please comment if there are some good albums I’ve missed out on!
Early 2018 highlights
Ocean of Grief – Nightfall’s Lament (death/doom metal, Greece)
Ocean of Grief’s debut album is a highly competent piece of death/doom. The melodies are excellent, and the nostalgic mood reminds me a lot of Slumber’s 2004 masterpiece “Fallout”.
Read my “Nightfall’s Lament” review ->
Follow Ocean of Grief on Facebook ->
Anna von Hausswolff – Dead Magic (Sweden)
Anna von Hausswolff has gone increasingly excentric with every album. I haven’t fully digested “Dead Magic” yet, but “Källans Återkomst” is already one of my favorite songs in her whole discography.
Hamferð – Támsins Likam (death/doom metal, Faroe Islands)
Hamferð are starting to receive some well-earned recognition in the metal community. “Támsins Likam” is another piece of beyond epic doom metal with a fantastic vocal performance by Jon Aldara.
Other music that caught my ear
There is a whole bunch of fairly good albums that caught my attention, I’m positively surprised by the last three.
Druid Lord – Grotesque Offerings (death metal, United States)
Slow, gruesome death metal that borders on doom metal. A treat for fans of Autopsy and similar bands.
Harakiri for the Sky – Arson (blackgaze, Austria)
Another solid album from this popular blackgaze group. Similar quality level as their other releases, which means good.
Necrophobic – Mark of the Necrogram (melodic death/black metal, Sweden)
Very true to the classic Necrophobic sound and I found myself enjoying the tunes. Solid.
Shining – X – Varg Utan Flock (depressive black metal, Sweden)
Shining’s new album made me return and reevaluate the band a bit. I must say I enjoy some of the tunes on this album, especially the guitarwork.
Tribulation – Down Below (gothic metal, Sweden)
I’ve largely ignored Tribulation after “The Horror”. This album goes even more contemporary, and mostly feels like straight goth rock musically.
Upcoming albums
A Perfect Circle – Eat the Elephant (alternative rock)
Two of three new APC songs have been crazy good, especially “Disillusioned” below.
Barren Earth – A Complex of Cages (progressive death metal, March 30)
I haven’t had time to properly listen to the sample song on YouTube, but this album excites me. I really enjoyed 2016’s “On Lonely Towers”.
The Crown – Cobra Speed Venom (death metal, March 16)
The songs from the new The Crown album “Cobra Speed Venom” on YouTube suggest a big step up from the last album. Plenty of blastbeats and rock ‘n roll attitude, just like the best material from the band.
Read more:
10 essential death/doom metal albums ->
Death/doom metal bands I like ->
Soliloquium, Swedish death/doom metal (Bandcamp) ->
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