My Top 20 Albums of 2019

Yeah yeah I know it's already February. What can I say? Life gets busy.

This year I decided to try out a slightly different format with my post. When I was compiling my shortlist it came out to exactly twenty albums, so I decided to just list all of them instead of only the top ten.

20. Ithaca - The Language of Injury (Holy Roar Records)

I've slowly been getting into more hardcore lately and I keep finding bands I enjoy on Holy Roar Records. This album was the first I'd heard of this band and I look forward to more.

19. Jambinai - ONDA (Bella Union)

I mentioned this band earlier in the year; I often really like music that's unique. Turns out playing post-rock/post-metal on Korean folk instruments is pretty unique.

18. Blackwater Holylight - Veils of Winter (RidingEasy Records)

I enjoy the occasional stoner doom metal, and being on RidingEasy Records definitely caught my eye. This was the first I'd heard of Blackwater Holylight and I would definitely recommend them to anyone who enjoys this genre.

17. Wear Your Wounds - Rust on the Gates of Heaven (Deathwish Inc.)

Originally the solo project of Jacob Bannon (of Converge fame), now a full fledged band. I've been following Wear Your Wounds since Jacob first started putting stuff out, and I always liked it but wasn't crazy about it. With Rust on the Gates of Heaven I feel like Jacob and his newly adopted band have really hit the nail on the head and found their sound. A nice blend of slow, mellow, and heavy.

16. This Gift is a Curse - A Throne of Ash (Season of Mist)

I tend not to like most black metal, but start liking it more when it starts blending into other genres. This Gift is a Curse is another band that I hadn't heard of before this year but I really like this blackened sludge or whatever you'd like to call it.

15. Cave In - Final Transmission (Hydra Head Records)

Honestly I hadn't really listened to much Cave In before this, as they were a little more mainstream than what I normally listen to. With Old Man Gloom being one of my favourite bands though, it hit hard to hear that Caleb Scofield (bassist of Cave In and Old Man Gloom) had died in an auto accident. This album has the last recordings of Caleb Scofield and was apparently supposed to just be demo tracks, but it turned out wonderfully.

14. Pelican - Nighttime Stories (Southern Lord Records)

One of the kings of instrumental metal are back, and they don't disappoint.

13. Helms Alee - Noctiluca (Sargent House Records)

I've been a fan of Helms Alee since I first heard Stillicide in 2016. If you liked their previous albums you'll probably like this album. They seem like a band that would be great to see live so I'm hoping they come through at some point in the future.

12. As I Lay Dying - Shaped by Fire (Nuclear Blast Records)

I'm not going to go into the controversy surrounding this release/band for this list. As I Lay Dying has long been one of the very few metalcore bands I actually enjoy. They definitely took a lot of negative life experience and turned it into a really good album.

11. Employed to Serve - Eternal Forward Motion (Spinefarm Records / Universal)

Employed to serve was also on my top albums list two years ago for their previous album The Warmth of a Dying Sun. They continue to impress the hell out of me. Whenever I feel like listening to something aggressive they're always one of the first bands I turn to.

10. Devin Townsend - Empath (HevyDevy Records / Inside Out)

Completely honest, I love almost everything Devin puts out, but thought his album before this one (Transcendence) was a little boring, and it didn't quite pull me in like most of his work. Empath more than made up for that. This album feels like a best-of album for everything Devin has done since the end of Strapping Young Lad, except all new songs. Because of the variety of styles on this album I'm going to put two music videos below instead of the usual one (and of course they're goofy).

9. Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear (Metal Blade Records)

In my opinion, Cult of Luna's 2016 collaboration with Julie Christmas (Mariner) is one of the best albums of all time. Cult of Luna without Julie Christmas is not nearly as good as that, but still pretty damn good. If you like any kind of post-metal, you'll probably enjoy this.

8. Inter Arma - Sulphur English (Relapse Records)

Inter Arma defies genres in a way I've never quite heard before. Part sludge, part doom, part death metal, they've created something completely unique. Very good album.

7. Full of Hell - Weeping Choir (Relapse Records)

Grindcore masters Full of Hell continues to amaze me, and this is their second album in a row to make my list. They've also had several amazing collaborations in recent years as well. I'm beginning to think frontman Dylan Walker is just the musical mastermind of this generation and everything he touches is just amazing.

6. Brutus - Nest (Sargent House Records)

Brutus was a band I was kind of medium on for a couple years, but when Nest came out this year it blew me away. The songs just kept getting stuck in my head and I just kept wanting to listen to it.

5. Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence (Sargent House Records)

I've been such a big fan of Chelsea Wolfe the last few years that she even managed to get me to listen to a folk album. This album is completely different than her previous music but still amazing. She is incredibly talented.

4. Misery Index - Rituals of Power (Season of Mist Records)

Misery Index makes a specific style of death-grind and they do it extremely well. If you've listened to them before you know exactly what you're in for. This one is potentially even their strongest album.

3. Russian Circles - Blood Year (Sargent House Records)

Russian Circles has been one of my favourite bands for years now, and everything they put out is great. This album even has a few songs that I think will be in their top overall songs. If you ever get a chance to see them live do it! There's something wonderful about seeing a band a play a song with several guitar parts layered on top of each other played by one guy with a looper pedal.

2. Big Brave - A Gaze Among Them (Southern Lord Records)

Big Brave is absolutely one of my favourite experimental bands in recent memory. Very unique, very talented, the songs pull me in, and they get bonus points for being Canadian. I'm very disappointed they've never toured through Saskatoon and hope they come soon. Strobing light warning for this music video.

1. Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas (Metal Blade Records)

I don't listen to a lot of death metal. I find most of it incredibly boring and repetitive. Cattle Decapitation has completely blown me away with this album. It's the complete opposite of all the things that turn me off of death metal. The style of the clean vocal choruses are great and really set it apart, and it still fits really well.