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STAFF TOP TEN PICKS
STAFF TOP TEN PICKS
STAFF TOP TEN PICKS
Absu's follow-up to its self-titled 2009 album does not disappoint.  The album is full of energy and raw driving power.  Abzu ranks near some of the best material Absu has released.
Absu - Abzu
10
BAND'S WEBSITE
9
Scores of bands are releasing raw old-school death metal albums these days, but without a doubt Disma is among the best. Towards the Megalith brings back the feeling of the good ol' days. Oh yeah, and the album cover is absolutely badass.
8
Unlike some people, I have always enjoyed the chaotic blasting of Hate Eternal.  However, Phoenix Amongst the Ashes is the first Hate Eternal album to really grab me on the very first listen and never let go.  Erik Rutan and company haven't really dialed back on the blasting or the weird dissonant riffs, but they have found a way to make them much more memorable.  With Phoenix Amongst the Ashes, Hate Eternal has taken its already amazing and unique style and found a way to make it even better.
Beyond Creation - The Aura
7
MYSPACE
Beyond Creation's debut album, The Aura, is a little like watching a woman give birth to a fully-grown man.  It just shouldn't happen.  How can a young band's debut be so fully-developed and jaw-dropping?  Technical masters like Necrophagist and Obscura better watch their backs.  Beyond Creation is lurking in the shadows and getting ready to pounce.
Severed Crotch - The Nature of Entropy
6
MYSPACE
Who would think that a band called Severed Crotch wouldn't be a bottom-rung gore-grind band?  And who knew that Iceland had a brutal death metal scene?  Not me.  This is one of my favorite unexpected discoveries of the year.  In a just world, Severed Crotch will put Iceland on the brutal death metal map with its staggering heaviness, slight melodic flavors, and subtly unique riffs.
5
With Entity, Origin continues to improve on the more "song-oriented" path it began on Antithesis.  The band retains its trademark spastic technicality while writing songs that are now much easier to grasp.  As a result, this is the best Origin album to date.
Obscura - Omnivium
2
MYSPACE
Obscura has managed to top 2009's Cosmogenesis by slightly expanding its sound and by writing even stronger songs.  With Omnivium, Obscura proves that it is still at the top of fleet-fingered technical death metal scene.
4
While I enjoy Tomb's previous album, Winter Hours, the band has really proven itself with Path of Totality.  This album is a pounding and atmospheric blend of styles.  The listener will hear elements of Neur-Isis sludge, death metal, hardcore, and black metal.  Yet in the end, it all sounds like Tombs.
3
If Immolation and Neurosis made sweet metal love, the offspring might sound something like Ulcerate.  The New Zealand band has improved by leaps and bounds over the course of its relatively short career.  The Destroyers of All continues this trajectory through atmospheric death metal that is heavy enough to make the listener bang his head while simultaneously providing a feeling of unease through its use of dissonance.
Septicflesh - The Great Mass
1
MYSPACE
BAND'S WEBSITE
With The Great Mass, Septicflesh has continued to perfect its modern style of brutal symphonic death metal.  The band's songs are immense and absolutely crushing.  The tunes on The Great Mass are grandiose, yet they never go too far over-the-top and into the realm of bad taste.  The Great Mass puts other symphonic death metal bands to shame.
2011
Roswell47
Reviewer
2011
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STAFF TOP 10 LISTS
Jesse: 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
M.J.: 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
J.A. Burt: 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Peter: 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Rottenbucher: 2008 2009 2010 2011
                               2012
Chris: 2009 2010 2011 2012
Roswell47: 2010 2011 2012
Phil A. Wickstrand: 2010 2011 2012
Garett: 2010 2011 2012
Greg: 2010 2011
Lynora: 2009 2010
The Stream: 2009 2010
Deathstalker: 2009
Ilmarinen:  2008
Matt:  2008  2009
Kesh:  2009
Dinah:  2009
Phil A.:  2009

































2011 was a pretty solid year for metal.  There were tons of good albums released this year but only a handful of true standouts.  The biggest standout to me, Septicflesh's The Great Mass, blew me away early in the year.  And now eight months later, little has changed. 

The order of my list is likely to shift slightly from day-to-day depending on my mood, but for the most part it is in the "correct" order.  As usual, I chose my list by thinking about which albums I truly enjoyed the most and what albums spent the most time in my stereo as opposed to what releases were the most innovative and/or groundbreaking (although sometimes these traits went hand-in-hand).
HONORABLE MENTIONS
YEAR END REVIEW
I would also like to take a moment to mention some bands whose 2011 releases were excellent despite the fact that they didn't quite make it onto my list.

In alphabetical order:
Baring Teeth, Crowbar, Deicide, Face of Oblivion, Gorgasm, Havok, Iced Earth, Neuraxis, and Vader.
Please check out Chris' full review by clicking on the album artwork to the left.
BAND'S WEBSITE
BAND'S WEBSITE
MYSPACE
Ulcerate - The Destroyers of All
MYSPACE
Tombs - Path of Totality
MYSPACE
Origin - Entity
Please check out Garett's full review by clicking on the album artwork to the left.
MYSPACE
Disma - Towards the Megalith
Please check out Chris' full review by clicking on the album artwork to the left.
BAND'S WEBSITE
MYSPACE
Hate Eternal - Phoenix Amongst the Ashes
Please check out Jesse's full review by clicking on the album artwork to the left.
MYSPACE
2011