Rubber City Noise
2011 One: Ram Youssefi

Because there aren’t enough year end lists out there already, here come the RCN lists. First up we’ve got a list from Ram Youssefi (1/2 of Zurvan [whose drone epic cassette, Cymatic Sacrament, we released last year], 1/1 of Dolph Lundgren, Cave Manager, and general get-shit-done dude.). According to Ram he was huffing aether and practicing transcendental meditation and passed out fr an indeterminate amount of time. When he awoke, this list materialized—
Ram’s Top Ten of 2011. 
This album caught me off guard at first, but it came highly recommended. So I gave it a listen and it’s probably one of the best things I’ve ever heard. No, seriously. Ambient drone with an intellectual side. Heart-felt, not overly synth-y, and excruciatingly beautiful. Permanently added to my pre-show ritual.

 

 
 I’ve been into this band a lot over the past few years. First album I heard was Hibernaculum, and from there started collecting their back catalog. This album is a continuation of the sound on Bees Made Honey…and it is simply stunning. Look for volume 2 sometime around Valentine’s Day.
 
 This album has great energy. Like when you skip school on a summer day and spend hours smoking weed in your favorite MetroPark. Getting lost in the woods, walking barefoot in a stream (see cover), and all the while you’ve got this nice mellow buzz that seems to last forever.

 


This album was one half of a two record release on Yellow Electric. I prefer this record over it’s counterpart, Alien Observer, because it’s darker and has more noisy drone parts. Literally everything I’ve heard from Liz Harris is awesome. Angelic vocals, hypnotic guitar loops and gorgeous compositions.  
 Good old evil fucking black metal from Greece. For some reason this country churns out terrific black metal. Thrashy at times, vicious vocals, snarling guitars, and captures a certain evil quality that the majority of bands in this genre fail to achieve. 
 
 Death metal with a perfect sludge/doom sound. Not cheesy, not over the top, this is some no bullshit kick you in the balls death metal. Ugly, grimy, Incantation-worshiping, can’t wait for another full length from this band. The cover looks very similar to Cruciamentum’s new EP, Engulfed In Desolation. 
 vs. 

It’s become increasingly difficult to find quality death metal in an ocean of regurgitated mediocrity. This album, on the other hand, will make you want to rip out your own entrails and feast upon them in a feverish rage! Break-neck speed blast beats, squealing guitars, inhuman vocals, disgusting album art, gruesome song titles, and amazing production make this album a beast of monstrous proportions.  
 
The harder question is which Sean McCann album to pick for the top ten list. This guy put out like 3 or 4 albums this year and all of them are well worth your time. Prelusion I feel is more up my alley with it’s subtle symphonics and more orchestral drones. Wait, wait, wait, shhhhh………I love this part right here.


These guys get better with every album they put out. First they give you a little taste with Shadowland, then they release this gem of an album on Thrill Jockey. Appalachian raga, electro-acoustic, doom folk, or whatever you call it…this album is just fucking great!  

Like a good IPA, this album has some fucking bite to it. Loved this band ever since they put out The Unquiet Sky. These guys are from Chicago and  they fucking rule. Heavy as shit! 

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)

+Yob - Atma (Profound Lore) - Doomy stoner goodness from Oregon. Every album by these guys is of the highest caliber. Vocals kind of remind me of Rush, not in a bad way. 
+Throne Of Katarsis - Ved Graven (Candlelight) - Serious kvlt black metal from Norway (You know that’s a good sign). Fucking evil! 
+Thou - The Archer & The Owle (Robotic Empire) - There’s something about the sound of this band that gets me every time. It’s just so damn heavy. Includes a cover of “Something In The Way.” Also check out To The Chaos Wizard Youth which also came out this year.
+Maruta - Forward Into Regression (Willowtip) - Willowtip Records always puts out top-notch metal. Not every record is gold, but they have a good track record. Heavy grind from Florida. Like every classic grind album, it’s over way too soon.
+El Hadra - Ornaments (Thar)- Don’t let the cover fool you. Looks like some new age cheesiness, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Perfectly sublime organic drones.
+Clint Heidorn - Atwater (Ashes Ashes Publishing) - The cover of this has “tree bones” in an upside cross. Take that and top it off with some haunting folk dirges and you’ve got one mysteriously intriguing release from a relatively new and unknown artist.
+Cannabis Corpse - Beneath Grow Light Thou Shalt Rise (Tank Crimes) - You mean to tell me there’s a band that makes Deicide and Cannibal Corpse songs all about weed? Sign me up!
+Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord) - “Cascadian” atmospheric black metal on Southern Lord. I can not stress enough how much these guys rule. Black metal with substance, not just monotonous drivel.
+Emuul - The Drawing Of The Line (Digitalis Recordings) - Cool drones from this dude. Very chill, good to have on in the background, haven’t heard much else from this artist, but I’m looking forward to whatever this guy puts out in the future.
+Horseback - The Gorgon Tongue (Relapse) - A 2-disc set containing recordings from a couple years ago. This guy does splits/collabs with Locrian and Pyramids. This comp is a good place to start with this artist, then go buy Invisible Mountain.
Posted 4 months ago
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Tagged: year end list, 2011, best of, top ten, year end, zurvan, metal, experimental, noise, drone, .
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