Havukruunu - Kelle Surut Soi

Genre: Pagan/Black
Country: Finland
Year: 2017


1. Jo Näkyvi Pohjan Portit
2. Vainovalkeat
3. Noidanhauta
4. Vainajain Valot
5. Vaeltaja
6. Myrskynkutsuja
7. Verikuu
8. Kelle Surut Soi

2nd album by Havukruunu. The Fins are back 2 years after their amazing, promising debut. More brutal than ever, with folky moments, amazing vocal delivery and intensive epic atmosphere. A release that can easily earn a place in the list of the best black metal albums for 2017.

Download(cloudmail) or Download(yandex)

Wolves In The Throne Room - Thrice Woven

Genre: Black
Country: U.S.A.
Year: 2017


1. Born From The Serpent's Eye
2. The Old Ones Are With Us
3. Angrboda
4. Mother Owl, Father Ocean
5. Fires Roar In The Palace Of The Moon

6th album by Wolves In The Throne Room. After their last ambient experimentation, they are back to the roots, delivering black metal of the finest quality. Amazing atmosphere created by aggressive riffing and folky nostalgia. My favourite album for 2017. 

Download(vk) 

Power Trip - Nightmare Logic

Genre: Thrash/Crossover
Country: U.S.A.
Year: 2017


1. Soul Sacrifice
2. Executioner's Tax (Swing Of The Axe)
3. Firing Squad
4. Nightmare Logic
5. Waiting Around To Die
6. Ruination
7. If Not Us Then Who
8. Crucifixation

2nd album by Power Trip. After the impressive and promising debut, 4 years ago, the group put its best and managed to craft a brilliant sophomore masterpiece. 8 tracks (not 10 nor 15) clocking around 32 minutes (not 50 nor 70) of straight to the point thrash that flirts with crossover/hardcore. One of the best thrash releases of 2017!

Download(vk)

Wolfbrigade - Run With The Hunted

Genre: D-Beat/Crust/Punk
Country: Sweden
Year: 2017


1. Nomad Pack
2. Warsaw Speedwolf
3. Lucid Monomania
4. No Reward
5. Kallocain
6. Return to None
7. War on Rules
8. Feral Blood
9. Under the Bell
10. Dead Cold

6th album by Wolfbrigade, 5 years after their last one. The pack is back, angrier than ever and ready to devastate everything in their path. Fast-driven D-Beat/punk with great sound production and amazing, melodic riffing. One of the best releases for this year.

Download(vk)

Lock Up - Demonization

Genre: Grindcore/Death
Country: England
Year: 2017

1. Blood And Emptiness
2. The Decay Within The Abyss
3. Locust
4. Demonization
5. Demons Raging
6. Desolation Architect
7. Instruments Of Armageddon
8. Sunk
9. The Plague That Stalks The Darkness
10. Foul From The Pure
11. Mind Fight
12. Void
13. Secret Parallel World 14. We Challenge Death

4th album by Lock Up, 6 years after their last one. This time next to Shane Embury, Nicholas Barker and Anton Reisenegger, we find the mighty Kevin Sharp. The group demonstrates with rage and power their version of grindcore/death. One of the finest death/grind albums of the year!

Download(cloudmail) or Download(yandex)

Converge - The Dusk In Us

Genre: Hardcore
Country: U.S.A.
Year: 2017

1. A Single Tear
2. Eye Of The Quarrel
3. Under Duress
4. Arkhipov Calm
5. I Can Tell You About Pain
6. The Dusk In Us
7. Wildlife
8. Murk & Marrow
9. Trigger
10. Broken By Light
11. Cannibals
12. Thousands Of Miles Between Us
13. Reptilian

9th album by Converge. The growth and maturity continue on their ninth album. It shows the band’s artistic evolution and avant-garde sensibilities while still capturing their classic sound. A must have for every hardcore fan and one of the best hardcore albums for 2017.

Download(vk)

Paradise Lost - Medusa

Genre: Doom/Death
Country: England
Year: 2017


1. Fearless Sky
2. Gods Of Ancient
3. From The Gallows
4. The Longest Winter
5. Medusa
6. No Passage For The Dead
7. Blood & Chaos
8. Until The Grave

15th album by Paradise Lost. A solid and honest album that pays tribute to misery, sorrow and nihilism. With a powerful opener and no fillers the group continues its trip in misty and atmospheric death/doom paths. 

Download(vk)

Unreqvited - Disquiet

Genre: Atm. Black
Country: Canada
Year: 2016



1. Birth
2. The Autumn Fire
3. Disquiet
4. A Tear From The Oak
5. An Ocean Of Ire 
6. Maydena
7. Death

Debut album by Unreqvited. An amazing and promising debut of atmospheric black metal combined with shoegaze and ambient. The album reeks of sorrow, melancholy and depression. Can't wait for the next one!

Download(cloudmail) 

Acid Witch - Evil Sound Screamers

Genre: Doom/Death/Heavy
Country: U.S.A.
Year: 2017

1. Scare Tape
2. Mr. Beistle
3. I Hate Halloween
4. Cheap Gore
5. Nain Rouge (The Red Dwarf)
6. Enter At Your Own Risk
7. Mutilation Mansion
8. Hardrock Halloween
9. Nightmare In A Damaged Brain
10. An Evil Sound Screaming

3rd album by Acid Witch, 7 years after their last one. The group composed a perfect soundtrack for Halloween. Creepy synths, heavy/doom riffing, death metal elements, movie samples compose a haunting and psychedelic atmosphere! 

Download(cloudmail) or Download(vk)

Paganizer - Land Of Weeping Souls

Genre: Death
Country: Sweden
Year: 2017


1. Your Suffering Will Be Legendary
2. Dehumanized
3. Forlorn Dreams
4. Land Of Weeping Souls
5. The Insanity Never Stops
6. Selfdestructor
7. Death Addicts Posthumous
8. The Buried Undead
9. Soulless Feeding Machine
10. Prey To Death

10th album by Paganizer. Nothing groundbreaking, but a solid and honest work by Rogga Johansson and co. 10 songs of brutal swedish death metal the old way. 

Download(vk)

Crutches - Såld

Genre: Crust/D-Beat/Hardcore
Country: Sweden
Year: 2017

1. Sociesick
2. Med Vilken Rätt?
3. Såld
4. Powered
5. Madness
6. Smittohärden
7. Burning Bridges
8. Förnekelse
9. Guerra Social
10. Du Är Ditt Eget Fel
11. Gräv En Grop

3rd album by Crutches. The group continues delivering aggressive D-Beat/hardcore in a raw/rough way. 11 songs clocking around 21 minutes of furious dual vocals and amazing D-beats! 

Download(bandcamp)

Black Panda - Black Panda 'Ep

Genre: D-Beat/Hardcore
Country: Spain
Year: 2016





1. A Noite Dos Mortos
2. Supersonico

2-song 'Ep by Black Panda. 2 hardcore songs with some D-Beat rhythms and a rock 'n' roll vibe.

Download(yandex)

Helheim - landawarijaR

Genre: Black/Viking
Country: Norway
Year: 2017



1. Ymr
2. Baklengs Mot Intet
3. Rista Blodørn
4. landawarijaR
5. Ouroboros
6. Synir Af Heidindomr
7. Enda-dagr

9th album by Helheim. An outstanding album with great riffing, variety and stunning atmosphere. It has a more progressive structure compared to earlier releases. It keeps you absorbed from start 'til finish. It can easily get a place in the list of the top albums for 2017.

Download(cloudmail) or Download(deposit)

Antichrist - Sinful Birth

Genre: Thrash
Country: Sweden
Year: 2017

1. Instruments Of Sadism
2. Savage Mutilations
3. The Entity
4. Under The Cross
5. The Black Pharaoh
6. Sinful Birth
7. Burned Beyond Recognition
8. Chernobyl 1986
9. Fall Of The Temple Of Solomon

2nd album by Antichrist. A highly anticipated album that came 6 years after their impessive and promising debut. The production is pretty raw and rough and may annoy some listeners. After a 6-year waiting i expected a more impressive album, but 2-3 songs sounds filler while the rest are truly killers. 

Download(zippyshare) 

Benighted - Necrobreed

Genre: Brutal Death/Grindcore
Country: France
Year: 2017

1. Hush Little Baby
2. Reptilian
3. Psychosilencer
4. Forgive Me Father
5. Leatherface
6. Der Doppelgaenger
7. Necrobreed
8. Monsters Make Monsters
9. Cum With Disgust
10. Versipellis
11. Reeks Of Darkened Zoopsia
12. Mass Grave

8th album by Benighted. The entry of new members in the group brought a lot of fresh air and made them create their best release so far. Amazing dual vocals, non-stop blastbeating, inspiring, groovy guitarwork. A worthy contendant for the best death/grind albums of the year!

Download(cloudmail), Download(zippyshare) or Download(vk)

Keitzer - Ascension

Genre: Death/Grindcore
Country: Germany
Year: 2016

1. We Will Drown All Of You In Blood
2. Ascension
3. Peace Was Never An Option
4. Übermensch
5. Ritual
6. Vengeance
7. Salvation
8. Conquistador
9. Black Silent Tides
10. Origins Of Madness
11. Enemies Of Existence
12. Wolves Among Us

6th album by Keitzer. This the most death metal record of the group, without though loosing the grind and the blastbeating moments. Brutality, aggression and complex, interesting songs.

Download(vk) or Download(cdn)

Ancst - Furnace 'Ep

Genre: Crust/Black/Hardcore
Country: Germany
Year: 2017



1. Away From Atrophy
2. Urban Tomb
3. Chronicles Of Emptiness
4. Broken Oath
5. In Stone
6. Cadence

Ancst continue being super-productive and they offer us a new 6-song 'Ep. The quality of the songs are really high and the blend of crusty hardcore with black metal is amazing. Aggression, sadness and rage.

Download(vk) or Download(cloudmail)

Martyrdod - List

Genre: Crust/D-Beat/Hardcore
Country: Sweden
Year: 2016

1. Overlevaren
2. List
3. Wipeout
4. Oemotstandlig
5. Over Pa Ett Stick
6. Harmagedon
7. Handlost Fallen Angel
8. Drömtid
9. Intervention
10. Transmission

6th album by Martyrdod. The group has find its own formula and produced an amazing album once more. They managed to perfectly balance melody and aggression. I believe this album is their peak of their carreer and it will be very difficult to craft anything better than 'List'.

Download(zippyshare)

Unkind - Polku 'Ep

Genre: Crust/Hardcore
Country: Finland
Year: 2017




1. Polku
2. Vaeltajat

4 years after their last full length, Unkind return with a two-song 'Ep. I believe that this is an experimental release, because the songs are too long (around 7 minutes each) and the D-beat elements are completely absent! The songs are not bad at all, atmospheric, melodic, dark and mid-tempo, but i prefer the group playing the old, fast, D-Beat way.

Download(bandcamp) ot Download(yandex) 

Hellmouth - Oblivion

Genre: Hardcore/Crossover
Country: U.S.A.
Year: 2017

1. Welcome To The Undertow
2. Fighting Off The Wolves
3. Filthy Seed
4. Blood Fire
5. One Million Hells
6. Dementia From The Vine
7. Fecal Parasite
8. Coliseum Oblivio
9. Dead In The Dirt
10. Snakes Of Change
11. Grey Turns Black
12. Fuck Your Gods
13. Hands Cold As Death
14. Leaving Us Empty
15. Blossoming In Blight 16. Pathetic Bullshit

3rd album by Hellmouth, almost 7 years after their last one. 16 tracks, clocking around 33 minutes, of darkened crossover. The tempos vary, you'll find mid-tempo almost sludgy songs and blastbeats that will shock you! A modern twist of hardcore. 

Download(zippyshare) or Download(datafile)

R.I.P. Gabriel 'Negru' Mafa

Kreator - Gods Of Violence

Genre: Thrash
Country: Germany
Year: 2017

1. Apocalypticon
2. World War Now
3. Satan Is Real
4. Totalitarian Terror
5. Gods Of Violence
6. Army Of Storms
7. Hail To The Hordes
8. Lion With Eagle WIngs
9. Fallen Brother
10. Side By Side
11. Death Becomes My Light

14th album by Kreator, 5 years after their last one. Without being groundbreaking it is a solid and heavy thrash album. With many hits but with some fillers too. More epic melodies thrown in the guitarwork with some inspiring solos.

Download(yandex) or Download(zippyshare)

Suicidal Tendencies - World Gone Mad

Genre: Crossover/Thrash
Country: U.S.A.
Year: 2016

1. Clap Like Ozzy
2. The New Degeneration
3. Living For Life
4. Get Your Fight On!
5. World Gone Mad
6. Happy Never After
7. One Finger Salute
8. Damage Control
9. The Struggle Is Real
10. Still Dying To Live
11. This World

11th album by Suicidal Tendencies. With a new guitarist and a new rhythm section (mighty Dave Lombardo included!) the group delivers a perfect mix of crossover/punk with thrash. Amazing musicianship by all the members that results to a great album!

Download(zippyshare) or Download(mega)

Eldamar - The Force Of The Ancient Land

Genre: Black/Ambient/Pagan
Country: Norway
Year: 2016


1. Spirit Of The North
2. Winter Night
3. Travel In Woods
4. From Life To Spirit
5. Valkyrjur Ancient One
6. The Border Of Eldamar
7. Galaðwen The Eldar
8. New Beginning

Debut album by Eldamar. Mathias Hemmingby is the guy behind this one man project. Everything here is based on melodic elongated yet catchy simple guitar riffs, but with a huge utilisation of keyboards that create some stunning ambiances. A great, atmospheric, ambient black metal album with lyrics based on J.R.R. Tolkin and nature.

Download(mediafire), Download(yandex) or Download(rusfolder) 

Nuclear Devastation - Inferno

Genre: Crust/Black/D-Beat
Country: Holland
Year: 2016


1. Slitted Tongues
2. Enslaved By Sorrow
3. Baptised In Hellfire
4. Rotting In Guilt
5. Extinction And Decay
6. Inferno
7. Abandon All Hope
8. Plagued By Neglected Hope

1st full length album by Nuclear Devastation. An impressive and highly entertaining debut album by a group that released several splits in the past. They perfectly combine blackened thrash with D-Beat/hardcore and crusty atmosphere. Can't wait for their next one!

Download(bandcamp), Download(vk) or Download(mediafire)

Top albums of 2016

The second half of 2016 was too busy for me, that was the reason of rare posting here. I mainly focused on 'mainstream' releases and i sort of ignored the underground ones. So here are my lists for 2016.

Thrash
1. Vektor - Terminal Redux
2. Hellbringer - Awakened From The Abyss
3. Death Angel - The Evil Divide
4. Testament - Brotherhood Of The Snake
5. Sodom - Decision Day
6. Darkness - The Gasoline Solution


Death
1. Asphyx - Incoming Death
2. Ulcerate - Shrines Of Paralysis
3. Gorguts - Pleiades's Dust 'Ep
4. Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep Of Reason
5. Master - An Epiphany Of Hate
6. Rotten Sound - Abuse To Suffer

Black
1. Ravencult - Force Of Profanation
2. Anaal Nathrakh - The Whole Of The Law
3. Darkthrone - Arctic Thunder
4. Hail Spirit Noir - Mayhem In Blue
5. Destroyer 666 - Wildfire
6. Desaster - The Oath Of An Iron Ritual

Viking/Pagan/Folk
1. Moonsorrow - Jumalten Aika
2. Kawir - Πατερ Ηλιε Μητερ Σελανα
3. Eldamar - The Force Of The Ancient Land
4. Skalmold - Vögguvísur Yggdrasils
5. Amon Amarth - Jomsviking
6. Bifröst - Mana Ewah

Crust/Grindcore/Hardcore/Punk
1. Martyrdod - List
2. Stheno - Liberty Crawls In Waste
3. Suicidal Tendencies - World Gone Mad
4. Venomous Concept - Kick Me Silly-VC III
5. Victims - Sirens
6. Gadget - The Great Destroyer

Heavy/Speed/Power
1. Armory - World Peace... Cosmic War
2. Running Wild - Rapid Foray
3. Ranger - Speed & Violence
4. Eternal Champion - The Armor Of Ire
5. Sumerlands - Sumerlands
6. Fates Warning - Theories Of Flight

Doom/Sludge/Stoner
1. Karma To Burn - Mountain Czar
2. Clouds Taste Satanic - Dawn Of The Satanic Age
3. 1000Mods - Repeated Exposure To ...