The Tenth Album

Readers of my previous post will no doubt be acutely aware of my last-minute choke, namely, citing the Nine Crucial Albums because I couldn't make up my mind on the tenth one. Well, I think I may be ready to declare the tenth album, but not without (as is my wont) a great deal of needless palaver.

Let's list some of the contenders.

Shadows Fall, Threads of Life
Not popular amongst the death metal set because it is more or less overtly metalcore, this still isn't a bad album. Taint death metal or black metal, but taint straight Hatebreed-style metalcore either. I happen to like it, but I don't think I would thrive on a steady diet of it.

Amon Amarth, With Oden On Our Side
I like this album because of its workmanlike nature. There's nothing new or spectacular here, just a bunch of guys who like to eat and play death metal, and really, does everything have to be a damned artistic statement? Sometimes you just want to headbang in the company of guys who, like me, rarely skip dinner.

Entombed, Left Hand Path
This one gets in on the technicality vote, based more on its novelty and otherness than how much I like it. I have to be honest and say that I'd like the album a whole lot more if pinched harmonics were not present in such abundance. Here's what pinched harmonics do for me. They remind me of the Dr. Rockzo character in Metalocalypse, complete with that preternaturally squirming scrotum and the jubilant cry of "I do cocaine!" But other than that, there's certainly nothing wrong with the "death and roll" music. (Ironically enough, considering this album's status as a classic of metal, Entombed was once dismissed by no less than Hellhammer when he said "I was playing with the shit band Entombed...")

Enslaved, Eld
I don't know if this qualifies as Viking Metal or not, but I usually regard it as such, based mainly on the occasional outbreak of manly Viking-style choruses where one would normally expect black metal screeching. And musically it's quite striking - the guitarist and drummer both manage to sound different and novel without sounding weird (listen to the first minute or two of A Long Time Ago and you'll hear what I mean). You can generally listen to a mystery song and tell within a few seconds if it's by Enslaved because of the characteristic style. But it isn't perfect. At 16 minutes long, the first track is self-indulgent and useful mainly for killing the last 15 minutes of a workday.

But the winner is:

Insomnium, The Day It All Came Down.
It's just that good, at least for me. I particularly commend the song Daughter of the Moon. It isn't death metal except by the most narrow and technical of definitions (the vocalist gurgles) but whatever it is, it appears to sooth my Inner Finn, and who could argue with that?

Here is an item of Finland lore that I suspect most people don't know. The highest kill ratio established by any fighter aircraft in any war was established by the chunky Brewster Buffalo in Finnish hands, flying against the Soviets in the Winter War and the Continuation War. Put that in your sauna and sweat it out.