Kylesa: Static Tensions

Artist: Kylesa
Album: Static Tensions
Date Released: March 17, 2009
Genre: metal, alternative metal, indie metal, sludge metal
Rating: 8.2

Katatonia: Night is the New Day

Artist: Katatonia
Album: Night is the New Day
Date Released: November 10, 2009
Genre: metal, death metal, alternative metal
Rating: 8.0

Every Time I Die: New Junk Aesthetic

Artist: Every Time I Die
Album: New Junk Aesthetic
Date Released: September 15, 2009
Genre: metal, alternative metal, indie metal, screamo, metalcore
Rating: 7.2

The Arusha Accord: The Echo Verses

Artist: The Arusha Accord
Album: The Echo Verses
Date Released: November 2009
Genre: metal, indie metal, alternative metal, progressive metal
Rating: 7.6

Very heavy and highly technical indie metal from the UK, these guys draw influences from such bands as Dillinger Escape Plan, Tool and Machine Head.

Pyramids: Pyramids With Nadja

Artist: Pyramids
Album: Pyramids with Nadja
Date Released: October 27, 2009
Genre: metal, post-metal, alt-metal, experimental, avant-garde metal, ambient, minimalism
Rating: 8.4

Pyramids with Nadja (streaming audio available) is a massive collaborative effort between Pyramids, Nadja and a number of other musicians. All members of Pyramids (f. coloccia, m. dean, m. kraig, r. loren, d. william) and Nadja (Aidan Baker & Leah Buckereff) perform on all four tracks on the record.

In addition to this, Pyramids with Nadja also features Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil (performs bass on track one and four), Albin Julius of Der Blutharsch (performs vocals on track four), Chris Simpson of Mineral (performs vocals on track two), Colin Marston of Dysrhythmia and Behold the Arctopus (co-produced/engineered track one) and James Plotkin of Khanate, Khlyst, O.L.D. Phantomsmasher (mixed and mastered the entire album).

As the number of contributors would suggest, the music on Pyramids with Nadja is a remarkable integration of diverse sonic influences, a palate that includes ambient, industrial, shoe-gaze, and experimental/minimalist metal. While Pyramids and Nadja dominate the album, there's no question that this is a product of many musical minds.

The album itself consists of four long-play tracks that weave in and out of the listener's conscious awareness. Pyramids with Nadja is about slowly morphing texture, mood, and walls of soundscapes; it's a very 'visual' album in this sense. Remarkably, despite the minimalism and atmospheric bliss-outs, the album contains a definite melodic quality. Without a doubt, this is one of the most original and remarkable albums of the year.

Alice in Chains: Black Gives Way to Blue

Artist: Alice in Chains
Album: Black Gives Way to Blue
Date Released: September 29, 2009
Genre: hard rock, grunge, alternative metal
Rating: 8.0

With Black Gives Way to Blue, Alice in Chains wins the most surprising album of the year award.

It's fair to say that expectations were justifiability low given that it's been 14 years since their last album and seven years since the untimely death of vocalist Layne Staley. Moreover, given the recent surplus of over-the-hill bands trying -- and mostly failing -- to recapture former glory, it would be easy to dismiss this as another self-serving money-grabbing effort.

But not so fast. Black Gives Way to Blue is a very good album. Jerry Cantrell and company have introduced William DuVall to the team, and while he doesn't have that wounded-animal quality that Staley had, his vocal presence is nonetheless impressive and completely aligned with the band's characteristic gloomy sound. With DuVall onboard, Cantrell can once again arrange those gorgeous harmonies that were an integral part of their sound from a decade ago.

And the songs are great. Right from the opener, "All Secrets Known," the band plays goose-bump inducing grunge that picks up right where they left off. Other track highlights include "Check My Brain," "Your Decision," and "Acid Bubble."

Call me sentimental, but it's great to see this band back together again and sounding so damn good.

Baroness: Blue Record

Artist: Baroness
Album: Blue Record
Date Released: October 13, 2009
Genre: metal, sludge metal, progressive metal, alternative metal, hard rock
Rating: 8.5

Thunderous and Mastodonesque rockers from Georgia, Baroness have released the follow-up to their 2007 full-length, Red Record. On Blue Record, the band retains its Southern hard-rock sensibility ("Swollen and Halo" would make QOTSA proud) while continuing to lay out tracks that exude power and confidence.

The rhythm guitars are riffy and sludgey while the leads pour out crisp and melodic phrasings. The vocals are a mix of styles, sounding at times like Aaron Turner of Isis (check out the first few lines of the opener, "Bullhead's Psalm") while at others a touch more relaxed and clean. And the drums are unrelenting and fierce, providing the perfect support for the front lines.

Baroness is truly one of the best bands in the business, defying simplistic labels and expectations. Blue Record is a must-have for any lover of heavy and well-crafted music.

Isis: Wavering Radiant

Artist: Isis
Album: Wavering Radiant
Date Released: April 21, 2009
Genre: post-metal, alternative metal
Rating: 8.8

Review:

Along with Neurosis, California's Isis have firmly established themselves as giants of the post-metal genre. With such albums under their belts as Oceanic (2002) and In the Absence of Truth (2006), Isis is a band that could easily settle and regress into producing formulaic records while striving for greater commercial appeal. But as Wavering Radiant indicates, these guys have no interest in taking the easy route to a comfortable career.

True to the spirit of the post-metal genre, Isis continues to experiment with song structure, tone and the complex interplay between melody and instrumentation; the strength and beauty of each track on Wavering Radiant is teasingly revealed with great care and subtlety.

Indeed, "care" and "subtlety" are not words that are traditionally associated with heavy music -- but that's what makes the post-metal genre so interesting and inherently listenable. All the metal cliches are stripped away in favor of a minimalistic and subdued approach, but never at the expense of heaviness and aggression. Likewise, Wavering Radiant's inspirational touches color the tracks in a non-obvious way; its songs merely hint at the influences of such bands as Animals era Pink Floyd, post-metal brothers Neurosis and Jesu, Aereogramme, and Tool (whose Adam Jones makes a guest appearance).

The album's mood is typically bleak, but the punchy melodies and shimmering production provide a dynamism that lifts the album beyond the usual grey tones. Aaaron Turner's vocals have never sounded more severe and ferocious, and the interplay between the drums, bass and rhythm guitars are a stunning stand-out.

Wavering Radiant is an album that re-invents itself with each passing listen. It will appeal to metal die-hards as much as it will to those with proggish and post-rock sensibilities. Truly one of the best albums of 2009.

Reviewed by George Dvorsky.