“In the tradition of the past Angry Metal-Fi end of year articles, some of the AMG team came together with a list of what we consider the best and worst sounding albums of 2019. Encouragingly, there were far more best-sounding albums on the shortlist than worst-sounding. Is this perhaps indicative of a subtle shift from extreme brickwalling in the broader metal market? We can only hope…” Bricks are for throwing.
238 unique releases. 27 overlong lists. 10 collective favorites. And 1 frustrated compiler at the center of it all. That’s right, the meta-list has arrived and #Listurnalia2019 has finally drawn to a close.
Mark Z. and L. Saunders have their moment in the blackened sun to proclaim their Top Ten(ish) preferences for 2019. Fear the words.
Huck N’ Roll and Eldritch Elitist weigh in with their own Top Ten(ish) of 2019 lists, and they have a lot to say.
The lists continue as GardensTale and Ferrous Beuller regale us with their Top Ten(ish) picks for the year. Pay attention.
![Obsidian Tide – Pillars of Creation [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Obsidian-Tide-Pillars-of-Creation-768x768.jpg)
“I love TheKenWord, but the problem is, if you skip an hour on the AMG Slack channel, you’ll probably miss one of his 1462 album recommendations. Lucky for me, at the precise day and time when Kenny waxed on about Obsidian Tide’s new album I just happened to be lurking on the forums, and I caught the link. The young fella did himself proud with this recommendation. Obsidian Tide are an Israeli progressive metal trio, and Pillars of Creation is the band’s debut album, a seven-song, 55-minute concept album detailing a man’s journey to enlightenment.” Tides and tidings.
“The astute reader may have noticed this review is, as the youngsters say, hella late. But to err is human, and even the lords who guard the jail cells above the skull pit are of our own kind, they may begrudgingly admit. So when I saw the spectacular Wheel open for Soen and immediately sought an explanation for why we hadn’t reviewed them, the voice through the trapdoor thundered in its brazen might: ‘Whoops.'” Mistakes were made.
“Quick word association game: New Jersey and metal genres. What are you thinking about? If it was jazz-infused progressive metal, well, you should probably be checked by a medical professional. Yet you’re not wrong, because that is exactly what East of the Wall have to offer, and have done for over a decade now. After releasing 4 albums in 5 years between 2008 and 2013, the band took their time for NP-Complete, partially forced by numerous line-up changes.” From Jersey with…jazz??
A RotM post going up 17 days late? Wow, smells like old times ’round here. What’s going on? And more importantly, how are the n00bs to blame?
“Not everyone was on board with their wanton and blatant Tool-meets-Opeth template, but you can count me amongst their followers. After all, it was their first album, and the trio from Boulder, Colorado had to mimic someone. Over the past couple of years, the Madam and I have often posed the questions, ‘How’s it going with Source? And is their sound going to evolve into their own, or are we gonna get another Tool-ish record?’ ‘It’s going well” and ‘Sort of’ would be the correct answers, via their sophomore effort, Totality.” Return to the Source.
