2013 End of the Year Lists

Top 10 Albums

All in all a fairly weak year in music I would say, and not just because the foremost voice in music (this blog) went silent for awhile.  Awesome to see Carcass come back in such dominant form, and a great relief that Amon Amarth's new record was good after Surtur Rising basically sucked.  Additionally, In Solitude signaled that they have something non-derivative up their sleeve, and Inquisition proved again that derivative metal is ok as long as you are awesome at it (in their case, being more Immortal than Immortal).  But, unfortunately, there wasn't too much to celebrate in metal beyond that.  I will admit to not having heard some of the records that others have really been pushing this year, Gorguts and Subrosa primary among them, so maybe I'm being a bit harsh.  But I would say a definite step down from the last few years, and an aggravating year for me because of the proliferation of music critics pretending they know anything about metal or, what sludge and black metal even are, just so they could join the Kylesa and Deafheaven hype. Ugh.

Non-metal wise, 2013 also disappointed due to 2 of my favorite bands putting out subpar efforts.  The live shows of Pearl Jam and Nine Inch Nails definitely suggest they still have something new to offer, but the records were uneven at best and downright embarrassing at times (Satellite and Everything on Hesitation Marks?  Jesus Christ).  Clutch delivered big time though, and any year with MSI putting out a song called "Fuck Machine" can't be all bad.

1.  Carcass--Surgical Steel
2.  Queens of the Stone Age--Like Clockwork
3.  Mindless Self Indulgence--How I Learned to Stop Giving a Shit and Love Mindless Self Indulgence
4.  Amon Amarth--Deceiver of the Gods
5.  Clutch--Earth Rocker
6.  Kylesa--Ultraviolet
7.  In Solitude--Sister
8.  Inquisition--Obscure Verses for the Multiverse
9.  Kvelertak--Meir
10.  Argus--Beyond the Martyr

Honorable Mention:  
Deafheaven--Sunbather
Black Sabbath--13 (for real!  Listen to The Loner, it's awesome)

Biggest Disappointments:
Pearl Jam--Lightning Bolt
Nine Inch Nails--Hesitation Marks
Watain--The Wild Hunt


Top 10 Movies

This is the End is funny as shit.  That is all anyone needs to know about 2013 movies.  Also, apparently I love Matthew McConaughey.

1.  This is the End
2.  12 Years a Slave
3.  Mud
4.  You're Next
5.  Disconnect
6.  Stoker
7.  In a World...
8.  Dallas Buyer's Club
9.  Nebraska
10.  Gravity

Honorable Mention:
The To-Do List
Drinking Buddies
The Place Beyond the Pines

Those are my lists.  If anyone is still out there and has an opinion, let's see it.  And we hope to be much more active next year, so come back as well.