Best/Worst Of 2016

[Vermin Marvin]

I found pretty obvious way to look back my year.
Still have feeling some of the best are on their way.
* Mark to Re-releases not dated to this year but finally get good format.

Not sure dates of all lovely BU releases but some most awesome action from Filth&Violence and co.
bigger than ever this year.."15 Years Of Filth&Violence - Pure Hate"
and even all is not golden list will be longer after i get into rest of them i believe.

V/A RED SCUM CD
UNCLEAN"Syntiinlankeemus" CD
SCATMOTHER"Purulent Sublimity" CD
SSRI "Schwarze Sonne Ritual Invocation" CD
XE "Past Atrocities" 2xCD+dvd

KEVLAR "Alpha Strife" LP+DVDr  [Unrest]
BIZARRE UPROAR "Likainen Ehtoollinen" LP [Urashima]*
TAINT "Strange feeling, shit coming" LP  [Urashima]*

FLOODED CHURCH OF ASMODEUS/NECROCANNIBALISTIC VOMITORIUM CAS  [Horn&Hoofs]
PSYCHOSADIST "Your Pain is my Only Pleasure" CAS [Obsessive Fundamental Realism]
(Whole Patch was over ordinary but this was over the top.)
STARK - s/t Cas  [Black Psychosis]
V/A - Power Electronics Against Communism tape  [Vanguard]

ARYAN ART ‎– Хармония - Вечност - Вселена LP [Darker Than Black]
ARYAN KAMPF 88 "NSBM - Anthologie d'un kombat Belge" LP [Black Shirts]*
CLANDESTINE BLAZE 3x re-LP [Northern Heritage]*
NECROPOLE s/t LP [Northern Heritage]
WARLOGHE ‎– Dark Ages Return CD [Northern Heritage]*
VORNAT "Vornat" DLP [Darker than Black]*

MOONCITADEL "As Nightwind Embraced and the Shadows Caressed.. Cas [Darker Than Black]
FORLOR - Forces Of Hate 7" [Darker Than Black]

16 : Lifespan of a Moth  LP [Relapse]
TOTAL ABUSE : Excluded   LP [Deranged]
PYLVANAINEN: Uuden Ajan Koitto CD [Europe Erwache Prod]
DIAMOND AXE/PYLVANAINEN/PAGAN SKULL: 3 way split CD [Europe Erwache Prod]
VAPAUDENRISTI "Lokakuu : Akustinen live 2016" tape [Sakaramiina]
VAPAUDENRISTI "Ikuinen Kuolema" LP [Sakaramiina]

[Zeno Marx]

Funny how you tend to chime in on things without actually adding anything.

Check the old lists like this.  I always give a list...because I like lists.  There's plenty of time, and I need more time.  I got lots of listening yet to do, and then there's the contemplating.

[holy ghost]

I always give a list...because I like lists.  There's plenty of time, and I need more time.  I got lots of listening yet to do, and then there's the contemplating.

There's still at least 5-10 things I'm really excited to hear this year, Body/Head, Dead Congregation, Teitanblood, Demonomancy/Witchcraft, Bastard Noise/Sickness LP, The Rita, Edwige LPs that we're just announced..... that being said here's a brief synopsis of my top picks.....

Here's my exciting top ten list for 2016 with some helpful tasting notes....

1. Magma - Live at the Opera House April 2 2016: Christian Vander and Co perform Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh live and in my mind I don't think that will ever be topped by anything ever.

2. Blood Incantation - Starspawn LP

3. St. Francis Duo - Peacemaker Assembly/Los Bordes De Las Respuestas LPs

4. Vile Intent - Machine Into Flesh LP

5. Aluk Todolo - Voix: If I read one more hackneyed review that lazily calls this band "black metal meets krautrock" or even worse "blackened krautrock" I'm going to stab myself in the eye with a pencil. It's a really fucking great record though.

6. Irkallian Oracle - Apollyon DLP

7. Sissy Spacek - Duration Groups: Wiese & Co put out a bunch of great records this year (Disfathom, Reversed Normalization, Confuse, a whole bunch of great tapes) but nothing was as wild and exciting as this one track, 36 minute skronk-fest CD featuring Mike Du Bose, Ted Byrnes, Ace Farren Ford and more in a relentless noisecore session.

8. Bastard Noise - Doomed Expedition DLP

9. Unsustainable Social Condition - Dispersant CD

10. is blank because I still haven't heard everything.....

[yosef666]

is this a best of, a listing of everything you bought, or simply a low bar of "this was good"?  there's a difference between good and best of.  if you can list 30 items, it begs the question whether you can be discerning or not.

I obtained roughly 400 new releases this year, that is 400 releases that came out in 2016... I run a distro so a lot came through wholesale and trades, but plenty of cash left my account for new records/tapes/CDs as well. I can't speak for anyone else, but my list is a beginning towards narrowing that down... also I was in a rush so didn't pare it down fully. The 30/40/whatever titles I listed all qualify as exceptional in my book, and run the gamut from power electronics to black metal to Oi to noise rock to death metal to grindcore to death rock to RAC.

Narrowed down a bit more, these are probably my favorites of the year (barring whatever I have yet to hear):

Arizmenda - "Beneath this Reality of Flesh" tape
David Bowie - "Blackstar" LP
Brainbombs - "Souvenirs" LP
Column of Heaven / Suffering Luna split LP
Con-Dom - "How Welcome is Death to I Who Have Nothing More to Do but Die" double LP
Deathspell Omega - "The Synarchy Of Molten Bones" LP
Flooded Church of Asmodeus - "Piss Soaked Church of the Wrong: A Total Holocaust of Those who Turn the Other Cheek" CD
Genocide Organ - "Obituary of the Americas" LP
Intensive Care - "Pay Pig" tape + "This Is Exactly Who You Are" 7" (I haven't hard the new tape yet)
Iron Fist Of The Sun - "Family Survival Strategy" tape
Koufar - "Minority Report" tape
Nahtrunar - "Symbolismus" DLP
Ride For Revenge - "Thy Horrendous Yearning" CD
Rixe ‎– "Les Nerfs A Vif" 7"
Slogun / Fire In The Head split LP
Vapaudenristi - "Ikuinen Kuolema" LP

[Zeno Marx]

5. Aluk Todolo - Voix: If I read one more hackneyed review that lazily calls this band "black metal meets krautrock" or even worse "blackened krautrock" I'm going to stab myself in the eye with a pencil. It's a really fucking great record though.

Never heard of them until now.  Upon the first few moments, I thought I was in for something the Ved Buens Ende cats would create.  To little disappointment, that's not what we have here.  I would think they should have a strong entry at Prog Archives and that prog heads would devour this album with good satisfaction.  I like that it flows as a single, long track that is merely indexed for convenience.  This is why I like these year-end threads.  Something new, and of top quality, I likely wouldn't have heard otherwise.

I'm going to assume there's something in the artwork or related bands from these guys that makes black metal and krautrock reasonable descriptors.  I'm not really hearing it in the music; maybe some of the riffing technique is black metalish.  I could just as easily slap jazz or fusion on this. It's none of these things to me, but I'm coming at it with a lot of ignorance.  I would just call this a type of prog rock.

[Mikerdeath]

best of 2016
LIVE
KOUFAR CHICAGO

RECORDINGS:
Alfarmania & Proiekt Hat ‎– Mardrömd Dödsström
Nyogthaeblisz - Apex Satanist


end.

[Andrew McIntosh]

Aluk Todolo came from a BM background, and their occult/semi-anonymous imagery has its connections there. Personally I don't mind the Krautrock comparisons from reviews, it sounds fairly appropriate to me, but I can see why others would be tired of it. Been a fan of them for a while but haven't heard "Voix" until now. Being a live recording it's a bit more "up-front" sound than some releases and the rather ornate rhythm sectioning doesn't do much for me. I can hear why it could be compared to prog. More musicianship, unfortunately.

I'd suggest "Descension" as a better start - less ornate, more focused, more atmosphere, more miserable.

[NO PART OF IT]

5. Aluk Todolo - Voix: If I read one more hackneyed review that lazily calls this band "black metal meets krautrock" or even worse "blackened krautrock" I'm going to stab myself in the eye with a pencil. It's a really fucking great record though.

Never heard of them until now.  Upon the first few moments, I thought I was in for something the Ved Buens Ende cats would create.  To little disappointment, that's not what we have here.  I would think they should have a strong entry at Prog Archives and that prog heads would devour this album with good satisfaction.  I like that it flows as a single, long track that is merely indexed for convenience.  This is why I like these year-end threads.  Something new, and of top quality, I likely wouldn't have heard otherwise.

I'm going to assume there's something in the artwork or related bands from these guys that makes black metal and krautrock reasonable descriptors.  I'm not really hearing it in the music; maybe some of the riffing technique is black metalish.  I could just as easily slap jazz or fusion on this. It's none of these things to me, but I'm coming at it with a lot of ignorance.  I would just call this a type of prog rock.

I'm not familiar with the specific release, but I do agree on the prog part.  At the same time, I think there is a certain aggression and tone to it that makes industrial/black metal/etc a nice home for this act.  

ALSO, I don't hear about a lot of these releases and year-end lists tend to help me catch up in finding out about things.  We all have our own radar.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wrote out a year-end list and lost it, but here is what I remember:

In no order:



bran (...) pos - The Bubblegum Forgeries v. 1-4 (series of cassette singles inspired by classic organ music)

Howard Stelzer - "Normal Bias" - This is a 6 tape set of tape works and I'm sure it's great.   I haven't met with the label owner to get my copy yet, but I'm sure it's good.  I would be shocked if it weren't.  

Critter Piss - Night Cap (pro CDr)

Unknown artist - Holy Holy Holy (cassette on Fanaticism)
https://www.discogs.com/Unknown-Artist-Holy-Holy-Holy/release/8338378

Mesarthim - .- -​.​.​. .​.​. . -. -​.​-​. .  (this is outer space-influenced black metal with japanimation type electronics, it is better than you expect, and I enjoy it a lot) https://mesarthim.bandcamp.com/album/-

Controlled Bleeding - Larva Lumps and Baby Bumps

JG Thirlwell - Imponderable OST

Cherubs - 2 infinity

stuff by Sesso Violento

Death Factory - Nocturnal Dimension

Modelbau - Judder

various tapes by Pierrot Lunaire (one person, not the 70s prog act)

Skozey Fetisch - Evidence cassette

Contagious Orgasm - Loop Liberation

Somnoroase Păsărele -  VOMA

various things by dave phillips

Soundoferror - Modern Magic

Brian Eno - The Ship

David Bowie - Blackstar

Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression

John Carpenter - Themes II

Alan Vega & Marc Hurtado - Sniper

Battle Trance - 2nd LP on NNA tapes

Okkultokrati - Raspberry Dawn

I'm sure the new LP by Olivia Block is good, although I don't have it yet.  

new SWANS 3CD

Troum - Acouasme

Khost - Needles into the Ground (remixed by Godflesh)

Dave Ball/Jon Savage - Photosynthesis

-

I could probably go on, but I do want to say that the reissue of Coil's "Ape of Naples" was very much welcome.  Other than that, I think 90% of my purchases happened with albums that were not released in 2016.  

[david lloyd jones]

everyone is so positive.
why no worst list yet?

[cantle]

Bought/ listened to so little new stuff this year but this is the stand out by a long way.

[david lloyd jones]

from responses the con-dom lp does seem to have struck a lot of people as outstanding.
with others providing perfectly good releases, though often a refining of what has gone before, this stood out for me for its subject matter and how real and honest this was with no serial killer identification, hyper masculinity, male guilt, political grandstanding and no ironic distancing.

[david lloyd jones]

ok, biting the bullet for 2016's worst:
mania demos-beat driven rubbish
v/a unrest-' god told me to'  gospel treasures covered by uk label
con-dom 'you think you've got it bad, my oven's on the blink'
skrilex plays Whitehouse
grunt-' the acoustic sessions'

[david lloyd jones]

John,

who is the human with you?

[locustfurnace]

Release wise for me....

Arms Race - New Wave Of British Hardcore
Axnaar / Bizarre Uproar / Xenophobic Ejaculation / Roases - Filth,Rubber,Hatred And Abuse...
Battalion - Battalion
Bizarre Uproar - Dekadenz
Blackwatch - Zulu
Blood Incantation - Starspawn
Caina - Christ Clad in White Phosphorus
Caveman Cult - Savage War is Destiny
Caverne - Sentiers d'Avant
Celebrity Appreciation Society - Selected Case Studies Volume 1: Loss Of Innocence
Chthe'ilist - Le Dernier Crépuscule
Clipping. - Splendor & Misery
Clipping. - Wriggle
Con-Dom - How Welcome Is Death To I Who Have Nothing More To Do But Die
Coscradh - Demo
Cruciamentum - Charnel Passages
Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
Death Grips - Bottomless Pit
Disrotted - Divination
FFH - Symbol To Be Forgotten
Flooded Church Of Asmodeus - Piss Soaked Church of the Wrong...
Forward To Eden - The First Jihad: Liberation Of The Heart
Genocide Organ - Obituary Of The Americas
Grunt - Chance To Be Cruel
Grunt - Swarm Of Parasites
Harm Done - Abuse / Abused
Intensive Care - Pay Pig
Intensive Care - This is Exactly Who You Are
Interior One - 180 Photographs Of Women
Kevlar - Alpha Strife
Khthoniik Cerviiks - SeroLogiikal Scars (Vertex of Dementiia)
Koufar - Minority Report
Koufar - Z3eem
Like Rats - II
Machismo - Always Ashamed
Macronympha - Back In The Bedroom...Back Inside The Dungeon
Malthusian - Below The Hengiform
Menacing '84 - Hail '84
Menacing '84 - Immediate Extinction
Nécropole - Nécropole
Paroxsihzem - Abyss of Excruciating Vexes
Profanatica - The Curling Flame Of Blasphemy
Profane Order - Marked by Malice
Prurient - Unknown Rains
Qrixkuor - Three Devils Dance
Ride For Revenge - Thy Horrendous Yearning
Rising - Demo
Savage Realm - Nocturnal Savagery
Sick/Tired / Sea Of Shit - Split
Slogun / Fire In The Head - XXIII Years Closer To Nothing
SSRI - Schwarze Sonne Ritual Invocation
Striations - To Know Mercy
Subsist - Crisis
The Body - No One Deserves Happiness
The Body & Full Of Hell - One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache
The Fog - Perpetual Blackness
Tomb Mold - The Bottomless Perdition
Torture Chain - Wasting Syndrome
Tottenham Ayatollah - Never Be Safe
Ultras - Demo
Unyielding Love - The Sweat of Augury
Uškumgallu - Rotten Limbs in Dreams of Blood
UVB-76 - Total Slavery
Vapaudenristi - Ikuinen Kuolema
Vatican Shadow -Media In The Service Of Terror
Vircolac - The Cursed Travails of the Demeter
Vvltvre - My Will Power is strong, my will is to selfdestruct
White Medal - Lyke Wake
Wóddréa Mylenstede - Créda Beaducwealm
Wonderland Club - Operation Cathedral
Zyklon SS - Iron Division

Live wise....

The Body
Full Of Hell
Caina
Moloch
Savage reaalm
Bizarre Uproar
Roases
Scum F.C.
The Flex
Higher Power
Malignant Tumour
Unjust
Broken Teeth

[ANDROPHILIA]

Best, 2016.

LOL