Anyways… we made a valiant attempt to get Chris to give us his top 10 picks, but he kept saying something about the Saw 6 soundtrack, so we bumped him down to five. Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

Mark’s List:

There were so many huge releases in 2009, it was hard to pick a top 10.  The year saw new music from metal’s heaviest hitters (Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Megadeth, Mastodon, Anthrax) as well as comebacks from Alice in Chains and Immortal.  But ultimately, I believe 2009 will be remembered as when the new generation firmly took hold of the metal scene, as demonstrated by the outstanding releases from Skeletonwitch, Scale the Summit and Baroness.

10. Megadeth – Endgame (Roadrunner)
It’s no Rust in Peace Part-2, but with Endgame, Mustaine continues to prove that he can still crank out some great headbangers.
Check Out: This Day We Fight!

9. Slayer – World Painted Blood (American/Sony)
The second album since the return of Lombardo offers a new sound, but the same intensity.  One of the best album jackets/concepts of the year.
Check Out: Snuff

8. Devin Townsend Project – Addicted (Hevy Devy)
In a banner year for Devin, it’s the pop-metal soundtrack to a Anime-dream sequence (most likely depicting flight through a post-apocalyptic Japan).
Check Out: Hyperdrive!

7. Cannibal Corpse – Evisceration Plauge (Metal Blade)
Never ones to disappoint, Alex Webster and Corpsegrinder deliver the year’s most brutal offering.
Check Out: Carnivorous Swarm

6. Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue (Virgin/EMI)
Seattle’s finest create a comeback record worthy of the memory of Layne.
Check Out: Private Hell

5. Behemoth – Evangelion (Metal Blade/Nuclear Blast)
Negral conjures a maelstrom of demonic chaos that could easily convert anyone into a heretic.
Check Out: Ov Fire and the Void

4. Immortal – All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast)
The Blizzard Beasts return with an incredible album that captures their focused and raw power.
Check Out: Arctic Swarm

3. Scale the Summit – Carving Desert Canyons (Prosthetic)
An instrumental masterpiece so rich in textures, tones and mood that it gets better with each listen.
Check Out: Dunes

2. Skeletonwitch – Breathing the Fire (Prosthetic)
A dominating statement from the Ohio thrash-masters.  An album that defines the term “thrash metal”.
Check Out: Submit to the Suffering

1. Baroness – Blue Record (Relapse)
Heavily layered with advanced concepts and dynamic playing.  Baroness once again delivers the album of the year.
Check Out: Jake Leg

Chris’ List:

Is a Top 5 acceptable?

5. Converge – Axe To Fall (Epitaph/Deathwish)
A somewhat fresh album from a familiar band that refuses to turn bad.
Check Out: Dark Horse

4. Cave In – Planets of Old (Hydrahead)
A four-song reunion works fine for me. Especially when the four songs kick tall ass.
Check Out: Retina Sees Rewind

3. Mastodon – Crack the Skye (Warner Bros.)
Bringing progress to Progressive Metal.
Check Out: Divinations

2. Baroness – Blue Record (Relapse)
The soundtrack that plays as my brothers and I descend to battle from snowy foothills astride armored polar bears, the perpetual winter sun smoldering unaware on a frozen, indifferent horizon.
Check Out: The Sweetest Curse

1. Propagandhi – Supporting Caste (Smallman)
Fast, angry, complicated. Even more so than before. The band affirms their category-defying musical identity, perhaps at the peak of their powers.
Check Out: Supporting Caste

Justin’s List:

Wow. What a fantastic year for metal. Narrowing this list down was quite a challenge… especially when I knew my top spot was reserved for a non-metal album. GASP! Yes folks… it’s true… my choice for album of the year goes to an indie rock band. But don’t worry… I’m not planning on wearing tight pants or reading Pitchfork anytime soon. In fact, I think I’ll carve “SLAYER” into my arm right now just to prove my self-worth. Eh… nevermind. That shit hurts.

10. Coalesce – Ox (Relapse)
15 years in, Coalesce continue to be one of the freshest sounding bands in the hardcore and metal community.
Check Out: Wild Ox Moan

9. Slayer – World Painted Blood (American/Sony)
Fast and raw… just how you probably like it. I know I do.
Check Out: Psychopathy Red

8. Converge – Axe To Fall (Epitaph/Deathwish)
As dynamic as it is heavy, Converge’s latest offering kicks you in the teeth before tucking you into bed. Awesome.
Check Out: Axe to Fall

7. Scale the Summit – Carving Desert Canyons (Prosthetic)
Remember the kind of music you and your friends were churning out in your early 20s? Yeah… it sucked compared to this.
Check Out: Sargasso Sea

6. Goes Cube – Another Day Has Passed (The End Records)
The Campbell’s Chunky Soup of the metal world… hearty and damn tasty!
Check Out: The Only Daughter

5. Baroness – Blue Record (Relapse)
Blue Record is one of those rare “all-emcompassing” albums. Great artwork, great music, great everything.
Check Out: The Sweetest Curse

4. Mastodon – Crack the Skye (Warner Bros.)
Like your beard, Crake the Skye really grows on you. And it totally rules.
Check Out: Oblivion

3. Revocation – Existence is Futile (Relapse)
These guys made me fall in love with shred all over again. When are we going to see the Existence is Futile tab book? (or vinyl for that matter… nudge nudge wink wink Relapse).
Check Out: Dismantle the Dictator

2. Skeletonwitch – Breathing the Fire (Prosthetic)
I Can Has Metal?
Check Out: Repulsive Salvation

1. The Life and Times – Tragic Boogie (Arena Rock/Hawthorn Street)
A non-metal album was my top choice of the year? Damn straight. Call me what you will, but me and my cred stand behind this decision. This band and album are absolutely amazing.
Check Out: Tragic Boogie

Honorable Mention:

Cave In – Planets of Old (Hydrahead)
Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue (Virgin/EMI)
Burnt By the Sun – Heart of Darkness (Relapse)
Buried Inside – Spoils of Failure (Relapse)
Propagandhi – Supporting Caste (Smallman)
Immortal – All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast)
Cannibal Corpse – Evisceration Plauge (Metal Blade)

While literature and film often employ thematic elements and foreshadowing, it’s quite rare to find such concepts in the world of metal. With Spoils of Failure, Buried Inside do so, and (once again) deliver a sludgy opus magnum.

Frivolous “Neur-Isis” comparisons aside, (and whether it’s intentional or not) Buried Inside do a great job of exploring traits primarily found in the world of classical music. Whereas 2005’s time-inspired Chronoclast explored variations on a single theme (à la La Valse), Spoils of Failure breaks down into what can only be described as a series of suites, strung together by a singular idea (Ballet Deviare take note). This may be boring as fuck to some people, but I find it a breath of fresh air in a genre that all too often falls victim to true repetitiveness.

In keeping with the Maurice Ravel references, the album’s opener “I” is basically the metal equivalent of Boléro. Starting off with a single droning guitar, the song builds eloquently for the next six and a half minutes, finally breaking down and giving the listener a moment to reflect before moving on.

While “III,” “VII,” and “VIII” employ a nice range of dynamics, and “V” churns out the monster riffs, it’s the layered guitar interplay and spacey, repetitious leads that really stand out and make Spoils of Failure an exciting listen. Both brooding and beautiful, this is “Thinking Man’s Metal” at its best.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “In the words of the late, great Kyuss… ‘Listen Without Distraction.’ ”

Chris’ Review:

A predictable to response to Justin’s accurate review would be, “But does it rock?” and the answer is an unqualified “Sometimes.”

The grand themes of the album are easy to miss if you don’t follow the listening instructions, but, like Buried Inside’s previous album Chronoclast, something subtle tells you this band is on the right side of this genre’s fine line between interesting music and boring sludge.

If you’ve got the 53 minutes to invest, Spoils of Failure may reward you with its grand vision, but taken in smaller pieces, the aforementioned subtleties are enjoyable on any track. Guitar interplay is surely this band’s special contribution to the genre. Songs will often build a feeling tension before resolving to a synchronized, bombastic chugging riff which could get real cheesy real fast, but somehow Buried Inside gets it just right every time. One unusual example being the closing to the song “V” (the title track?) which actually fades out. However, it fades on the biggest, badass chord progression and lead guitar riff of the album, or of hundreds of albums for that matter. How else you would close such a song is unthinkable. If they don’t close their live set with this song, what the hell do they follow it with? I can’t wait to find out. Finally, Buried Inside is not afraid to mix tempos. Thinking metal it may be, but post-rock with distortion it is not.

So perhaps complaining that Buried Inside does not always “rock” is like complaining that AC/DC lacks complexity. It would be similarly unfair to say that if you don’t like Spoils of Failure, you just don’t get it. A lot of people don’t listen to metal for sublime complexity.

Chris’ Rating:

King says: “Old, dead European guys know complex music. Me, for example.”