Yearlist 2018:

Eighties //Nineties //90919293949596979899 //Nihils //00010203040506070809 //TwentyTens //1011121314151617[2018]19 //Twenties //2021222324 //All_Time
 
①Moonspell - Lisboa Under the Spell
Score: 10/10
Already when this album was announced, it was clear that it would be yearlist material: Three full albums of one of my favourite bands ever played live back-to-back, how can you compete with that? That doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with 'Lisboa Under the Spell', the problem here lies with singer Fernando: He talks. He talks a lot, between songs. Which would have been fine, except he talks in Portuguese. Which is great for the hundreds of people attending the concert, but for the thousands buying the live recording it gets kind of boring listening to him go on about Ronaldo and Portuguese custard tarts I imagine. Still very much recommended for the music in between the monologues though!
 
Summoning - With Doom We Come
Score: 10/10
While it's hard enough to be original in a metal scene where everything seems to have been done before, very few bands are so uniquely recognizable that they can claim their own metal genre. The mighty Summoning however does just that. Five years after their last album, With Doom We Come shows everyone how it's done.		②
 
③Imber Luminis
Contrasts
Score: 10/10
 
Messiah
The Choir of Horrors and Rotten Perish Era Live
Score: 10/10		④
 
⑤Forest Of Shadows - Among the Dormant Watchers
Score: 10/10
There have been a couple of much-anticipated reunions this year, but one that took me by surprise was Forest Of Shadows releasing a new album ten years after the last output. Not only does "Among the Dormant Watchers" bring us back to their earlier doom-death efforts, it revives a genre that is sorely missed nowadays. And unlike last Forest Of Shadows albums which were more doom than death, they now take the death metal part seriously as well. So excellent stuff for old-school doomers like me!
 
Imperious - Godless Divinity (digital)
Score: 9.5/10
A last-minute addition to this yearlist is Imperious from Germany. With a digital-only album released at the very end of the year it's a wonder it ended in any yearlist at all (seriously, don't do this! Wait a bit and release it in January) but damn it deserves all the credit it can get. Two songs of twenty minutes of the finest epic death metal, with doom and black influences, this one needs to be heard!		⑥
 
⑦Panopticon - The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness, Part 1
Score: 9.5/10
Panopticon's latest offering comes as a double cd, but luckily is also sold separately. The entry in this yearlist is very specifically for the first cd only, as this one contains some of the best atmospheric black metal that the band has released yet. The second cd is over an hour of what I read is called Bluegrass folk music, which I really don't care about, much like I expect fans of this genre to not care about Panopticon. But if you can get the first disc alone it's well worth the purchase.
 
Opera IX - The Gospel
Score: 9.5/10
Opera IX is a band that used to be one of my favourites, but struggled with line-up changes the last two decades with Ossian the only original member left. Their latest album The Gospel presents again a new vocalist, this time coming from Consummatum Est, and a new bass player. And though the vocals are not up to the level of Cadaveria, the music is back up their old standards and hold great promise for the future, if they can keep their lineup stable.		⑧
 
⑨Alghazanth - Eight Coffin Nails
Score: 9.5/10
Alghazanth is a band that I've regularly enjoyed listening to over the last twenty years, even though the music never really stood out to me that much. At first listen, Eight Coffin Nails was again a melodic black metal album that was fine, but not exceptional. It took me a few listens to realize that this time they created something much more than 'just fine', instead it's actually a quite excellent album! Well worth it if you take the time to really get into it. The only problem neurotic me has with it, is that they call it Eight coffin nails and then put Nine songs on it
 
Camulos / Gratzug
Split
Score: 9.5/10		⑩
 
⑪Crescent (EGY) - The Order of Amenti
Score: 9.5/10
When I say Egyptial-inspired death metal, you probably think of Nile. But why listen to Americans when you can get some epic death metal directly from Egypt? Crescent for me even surpasses Nile when looking for a brutal trip down Egyptian mythology, not just because of some added authenticity, but through some excellent musicianship and songwriting as well.
 
Lunatic Gods - Turiec
Score: 9.5/10
While this is not the first album I heard of Lunatic Gods, this is the first one that scored well in my yearlist. Turiec is still a messy combination of different metal genres, but unlike previous albums they toned down the progressive metal parts a lot. And If you can see one thing from this yearlist is that I reeeally don't like progressive metal. So what is left on Turiec is a fragmented but enjoyable mix of mostly death and folk metal. Might not appeal to the fans of old Lunatic Gods, but they should be able to get some new fans with this release.		⑫
 
⑬Pantheist - Seeking Infinity
Score: 9.5/10
When looking for a fun night of super-depressive metal, there's nothing quite like a good dosis of funeral doom. But to keep things entertaining I like to mix it down with some other metal genres, and for this 'Seeking Infinity" is a perfect choice. Funeral Doom at its core, but where earlier Pantheist efforts got a bit boring near the end, here they add enough other influences to keep things interesting all the way to the doomed end. Of the album.
 
Cor Scorpii
Ruin
Score: 9.5/10		⑭
 
⑮Nachtmystium
Resilient
Score: 9.5/10
 
Graveyard Of Souls
Cenizas
Score: 9.5/10		⑯
 
⑰Tribulation
Down Below
Score: 9.5/10
 
Wallachia
Monumental Heresy
Score: 9.5/10		⑱
 
⑲Medieval Demon
Medieval Necromancy
Score: 9.5/10
 
Iku-Turso / Kalmankantaja
Ikuinen Tuli
Score: 9.5/10		⑳
 
21Cult Of Fire
Kali Fire Puja
Score: 9.5/10
 
Sear Bliss
Letters from the Edge
Score: 9.5/10		22
 
23Fluisteraars / Turia
De Oord
Score: 9.5/10
 
Infestus
Thrypsis
Score: 9/10		24
 
25Vanhelga
Fredagsmys
Score: 9/10
 
Selvans
Faunalia
Score: 9/10		26
 
27Theudho
De Roep van het Woud
Score: 9/10
 
Shylmagoghnar
Transience
Score: 9/10		28
 
29Cân Bardd
Nature Stays Silent
Score: 9/10
 
Agrypnie
Grenzgænger
Score: 9/10		30
 
31Helrunar
Vanitas Vanitatvm
Score: 9/10
 
Monolithe
Nebula Septem
Score: 9/10		32
 
33Suicide Forest
Suicide Forest
Score: 9/10
 
Mesarthim
The Density Parameter
Score: 9/10		34
 
35Dimmu Borgir
Eonian
Score: 9/10
 
A Forest Of Stars
Grave Mounds and Grave Mistakes
Score: 9/10		36
 
37Ocean Of Grief
Nightfall's Lament
Score: 9/10
 
Varathron
Patriarchs of Evil
Score: 9/10		38
 
39Kriegsmaschine
Apocalypticists
Score: 9/10
 
Primordial
Exile Amongst the Ruins
Score: 9/10		40
 
41High On Fire
Electric Messiah
Score: 9/10
 
Karner
Knochnkerker (demo)
Score: 9/10		42
 
43Eye Of Solitude / Marche Funèbre
Split
Score: 9/10
 
Aeonian Sorrow
Into the Eternity a Moment We Are
Score: 9/10		44
 
45Faal
Desolate Grief
Score: 9/10
 
Behemoth
I Loved You at Your Darkest
Score: 9/10		46
 
47Evoken
Hypnagogia
Score: 9/10
 
Chapel Of Disease
...And as We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye
Score: 9/10		48
 
49Arkona (RUS)
Khram
Score: 9/10
 
Finnr's Cane
Elegy
Score: 9/10		50
 
51Lathspell / Malum
Luciferian Nightfall
Score: 9/10
 
Graveland
Świt Stalowych Ostrzy
Score: 9/10		52
 
53Eyelessight
Athazagorafobia
Score: 9/10
 
Wolvhammer
The Monuments of Ash & Bone
Score: 8.5/10		54
 
55Einherjer
Norrøne Spor
Score: 8.5/10
 
Borgne
[∞]
Score: 8.5/10		56
 
57Immortal
Northern Chaos Gods
Score: 8.5/10
 
Vanhelgd
Deimos Sanktuarium
Score: 8.5/10		58
 
59Hermóðr
Midnight Eclipse
Score: 8.5/10
 
Deafheaven
Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Score: 8.5/10		60
 
61In Tenebriz
Winternight Poetry (digital)
Score: 8.5/10
 
Anomalie
Integra
Score: 8.5/10		62
 
63Norden
Z Popiołów i Krwi...
Score: 8.5/10
 
In The Woods...
Cease the Day
Score: 8.5/10		64
 
65Shining
X - Varg utan flock
Score: 8.5/10
 
Forgery
Edge of Perception
Score: 8.5/10		66
 
67Harakiri For The Sky
Arson
Score: 8.5/10
 
Doomed
6 Anti-Odes To Life
Score: 8.5/10		68
 
69Ultha
The Inextricable Wandering
Score: 8.5/10
 
Deadly Carnage
Through the Void, Above the Suns
Score: 8.5/10		70
 
71The Project Hate MCMXCIX
Death Ritual Covenant
Score: 8.5/10
 
Ennui
End of the Circle
Score: 8.5/10		72
 
73Eyelessight / Imber Luminis
As the Sun in Your Eyes (with Imber Luminis) (digital)
Score: 8.5/10
 
Paganland
XX Years of Paganland
Score: 8.5/10		74
 
75Celtachor
Fiannaíocht
Score: 8.5/10
 
Hortus Animae
Piove Sangue - Live in Banská Bystrica
Score: 8.5/10		76
 
77Drudkh
Im chasto snit'sja kapizh (They Often See Dreams About the Spring)
Score: 8.5/10
 
Interpol
Marauder
Score: 8.5/10		78
 
79Sulphur Aeon
The Scythe Of Cosmic Chaos
Score: 8/10
 
Sentimen Beltza
Izar Basoaren Hutsunean
Score: 8/10		80
 
81Severoth
When the Night Falls...
Score: 8/10
 
Mare
Ebony Tower
Score: 8/10		82
 
83Sunwheel
I Am the One
Score: 8/10
 
Totalselfhatred
Solitude
Score: 8/10		84
 
85Bloodbath
The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn
Score: 8/10
 
Aeternus
Heathen
Score: 8/10		86
 
87Heidevolk
Vuur van Verzet
Score: 8/10
 
Skeletonwitch
Devouring Radiant Light
Score: 8/10		88
 
89Runemagick
Evoked from Abysmal Sleep
Score: 8/10
 
Maladie
...of Harm and Salvation...
Score: 8/10		90
 
91Djevel
Blant Svarte Graner
Score: 8/10
 
Golden Dawn / The Negative Bias
Split
Score: 8/10		92
 
93Lapsus Dei / Officium Triste
Broken Memories
Score: 8/10
 
Omnium Gatherum
The Burning Cold
Score: 8/10		94
 
95Bast
Nanoångström
Score: 8/10
 
Afsky
Sorg
Score: 8/10		96
 
97Dragonlord
Dominion
Score: 8/10
 
Acherontas
Faustian Ethos
Score: 8/10		98
 
99Rivers Of Nihil
Where Owls Know My Name
Score: 8/10
 
Thirdmoon
Terrarum Exuviae
Score: 8/10		100


Stats generated at: 09/03/24

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