Honorable Mentions
50-46

45

Lady GaGa – The Fame Monster

No comment.

44

Kaospilot – Shadows

I really dig Kaospilot, they didn’t put out an album for six years and then they drop something that I think is even better than what they left on. They like to filter screamo through a really dissonant and noisy filter and do it great. Brooding and heavy but still containing the off-kilter structures and frenzied vocals of the genre. The guitar work is pretty fun too. Lots of Converge influence. Oh and they were on Level Plane, so you really know what to expect.

43

Grammatics – Grammatics

This band takes some chances and cashes in on it. Arcade Fire meets Radiohead but only takes the good parts of each band instead of the annoying bits? They put together a hell of a catchy song and still make it unique which is impressive. I like bands that have something about them that makes it easy to pick them out of a crowd anytime you hear it. Its roots are in indie rock but Grammatics take it in some interesting directions. Reminds me a bit of Forward Russia too.

42

Kidcrash – Snacks

Kidcrash abandons a lot of their screamo sound here and get more math rocky, but it hits the mark. They noodle a bit, which isn’t a favorite of mine, but it seems to fit well enough. Very good musicians who decided to show it, luckily it still keeps a good amount of its edge. If you like dudez gettin’ sweaty and playin guitarz you will be into this.

41

August Burns Red – Constellations

I’m certainly not the biggest fan of this band. I’ve always understood the appeal and was never as offended by their brand of metalcore as most musical elitist weirdos seemed to be, but they just didn’t stand out for me. However, “Constellations” is a couple steps above anything else they’ve done before and I’m not afraid to admit I may have been wrong for writing them off just due to their huge marketshare of the genre and frustratingly generic fanbase. If they had been making albums of this quality the whole time I think I would have begrudgingly admitted to liking them longer ago then now.