Here It Is - The Best Albums of 2016

Okay, so this is the culmination of the musical year, the part everyone wants to read because it satiates our two great needs – subjective, arbitrary rankings of art and numbered lists.  If this were the internet (hey, wait…) I might be so inclined to toss in a “Number 7 will shock you!” but because I respect the intelligence of those reading this, I won’t stoop to such a facile attempt to patronize your greater sensibilities.

Not much in the way of introductions needed here, because first of all, the headline pretty much covers what you need to know going in and if you wanted a more in-depth, analytical look at the year at large, well, you’ve likely already read the extended exchange of intellectual diatribes between myself and my esteemed cohort, Chris.

So real quick, let’s blast through the rules.  Pretty easy, there’s basically only one.  To be eligible, an album must be composed of original studio material.  Which means no live albums, no re-releases, no compilations.  You follow?  Good.  On we go.

One quick preamble before we sojourn further (and I know I promised no lengthy introductions.) As the year progressed, I kept a running tally of albums that I thought might prove their mettle enough to be included on this list.  In the end, there were thirty contestants, all of which I enjoyed, so just because an album does not appear here does not diminish its value.  So, with a tip of the cap to Black Wizard, Surgical Meth Machine, Jinjer, Dark Forest, Red Tide Rising, Prong, Deadlock and a fistful of others, let’s get to the awards:

Honorable Mention – Gypsy Chief Goliath – Citizens of Nowhere
As if anybody had any doubt about the future of baseline, sludgy blues metal, here comes Gypsy Chief Goliath to put all those fear to bed.  A stunningly powerful and at times abrasive album, the band also weaves some classic rock style songwriting into their mix, creating a much fuller and more robust experience.



11 – The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell – Keep It Greasy
As eclectic and bizarre as ever, The Shovell returns to the halls of this list having once previously submitted the album of the year.  There was an effort in between that one and this one that didn’t make the grade, but the gents return to form on this record, combining their…unique…themes and visions with their penchant for writing catchy, old-school riffs that undulate with that glorious distortive factor that so characterized the most memorable experiences of rock in the ‘70s.



10 – Devil to Pay – A Bend Through Space and Time 
This is as much a vote for the entire Devil to Pay catalogue as it is for this specific album.  Every DtP album is different from its predecessor, which is an accomplishment in and of itself, this one being no exception to that remarkable pattern.  As I look back over the list, it’s probably a reflection of personal preference that the first three albums we’ve talked about today are all muddy reproductions of rock-as-we-remember-it, plucked from the tree of Black Sabbath and given to take root in the furnace of modern metal.  Anyway, “A Bend Through Space and Time” keeps the gears churning with that Midwest flair that Devil to Pay trades so well in, crafting a rolling, roiling listen that never rests.



9 – Red Eleven – Collect Your Scars
C’mon people, let’s help this band out.  They deserve to be on a world tour immediately.  Sometimes you hear new music and you just know that a band has ‘it.’  Red Eleven is one of those bands.  This is one part European metal precision and one part pure American grunge design.  There are few bands operating now who seem to want to admit they took their inspiration from the ‘90s, but Red Eleven is in that company, and leading the charge.  “Collect Your Scars” showcases the band’s smooth songwriting and easy composition while juxtaposing that against their aural power.

8 – Blood Ceremony – Lord of Misrule
And of course, right after we make one trip to a band influenced by the ‘90s, we crash right back into bands that have a public love affair with the ‘70s.  Or in some cases on this album, the ’60s.  Even more than their previous efforts, Blood Ceremony goes to great efforts to craft an experience that synthesizes their intimate knowledge of flower rock with the dread and occult of traditional heavy metal.  Top all this off with the siren song of Alia O’Brien and it makes for a can’t miss experience.



7 – The Browning – Isolation
Finally, I break my own pattern by including a record that shares nearly nothing in common with any of the others records on this list.  A unique mix of hardcore and edm, this is the logical extension of industrial metal as we’ve long thought of it, a pure give into the depth of electronic music.  At the time of review I said that this album possessed distinct flaws, and nothing about that has changed, but this is one of those glorious moments where the insight and uniqueness of the product overshadows the shortcomings.  Whenever I wanted something different in my speakers this year, this is where I turned.



6 – Death Angel – The Evil Divide
Thrash, when done right, is still a genre of malice and power.  Many of the hallmark bands of the once proud genre have strayed from that message or forgotten it entirely, but Death Angel is still carrying the banner, standing on the precipice and shouting to all those who would hear that thrash is alive and well.  Yet for all the shredding riffs and glass-chewing tones, it’s the emotional affectation of “Lost” that helps separate the album from the rest of thrash’s contenders this year.

5 – Red Fang – Only Ghosts
Only Red Fang can simultaneously sound like six different bands and yet still sound exclusively like Red Fang.  That’s an incredibly hard balance to strike, but Red Fang continues to exist at the unlikely crossroads of Clutch, Black Sabbath and Queens of the Stone Age.  One of the tricks of this album that makes it work so well is that no matter how far afield the songs get, there’s always a big chorus around the corner to bring everyone back into the fold.  It’s a critical talent, once that we’ll see again later on this list.



4 – Lacuna Coil – Delirium
Another record that works as a product of its emotional mix, “Delirium” sees Lacuna Coil tune down their radio-friendly metal chops and focus it into a sharp metal point that showcases fear, hope and anger in equal mix.  For the first time in a long time, the star of this album isn’t just Cristina Scabbia, but the play of her sanguine vocals laid against the harsh grunt of Andrea Ferro.  The return of that dynamic to the fore speaks louder than any other elements on this record, marking a new phase in Lacuna Coil’s already storied career.



3 – Texas Hippie Coalition – Dark Side of Black
As I talked about briefly in my discussion with Chris, some of what makes this album stand out is that I think THC fans were pretty sure we knew everything there was to know about the band’s musical acumen.  Then this album drops, taking their game to the next level both in ferocity and craftsmanship.  Big Dad Ritch confessed that the album was written and recorded quickly, an intentional effort by the band to release a record that shows some seams, while still showcasing the brilliance of Cord Pool, their guitarist who was finally involved in the writing of new material for the first time.  The band’s swagger is still ever-present, but there’s not genuine malice woven into the brew.



2 – PAIN – Coming Home
Heavy-handed proof that side projects need not be discarded.  All of PAIN’s records have been competitive against the established track record of Hypocrisy, but this one takes that game to a whole new level and challenges Peter Tägtgren’s main act to live up to this record.  “Coming Home” is a multi-faceted beast, one that showcases the power of rock, metal, weird samples, bizarre lyrics and straight-up tight songwriting.  The riffs, as ever for PAIN, remain the star.



1 – Destrage – A Means to No End
…and what else could it be?  The Italians top the list this year (after falling just short to Red Eleven a couple years back,) by bringing their full arsenal of musical mastery to the fore and combining all of the ingredients seamlessly before our eyes.  Destrage succeeds because they locate the sound they want, then acquire it, regardless of how far outside the bounds of what’s ‘metal’ they need to go.  Almost like a prog band, this group of artists can find and blend the best parts of rock, metal, hardcore, prog, grunge and maybe even some lounge material in such a skillful fashion that the listener never feels lost.  Much in the same vein as Red Fang, this is a band that knows how to craft a catchy chorus and always keeps one in the back pocket to bring everyone back together once the song has meandered too far.  Their talent is both undeniable and irresistible.  If you want to step outside the box a little, and really see what metal can do at the same time, there’s no better opportunity in 2016 than to hang out with Destrage’s new record.

Collecting Scars Along the Road - A Conversation With Red Eleven

The Finnish powerhouse rock/metal hybrid Red Eleven is one of the planet's most versatile bands, and with three albums in four years of existence, also one of its busiest.  Fresh off the release of the blockbuster "Collect Your Scars," drummer Pasi Pasanen sat down with us to talk progress, sound and breaking from stereotypes.

D.M: Let’s start at the top – Describe “Collect Your Scars” to me.  What do you think of it, what does it mean to you?

PASI PASANEN - I think it is an even more versatile album than "Idiot Factory" or "Round II." There’s probably our heaviest song so far on the album, but then again, there’s one acoustic song. And for my part, this is the album I’m most proud of, including anything I’ve ever done in music. It’s an album full of epic metallic rock, with emotion, groove and songs that will make you go ”Whoa!”

D.M: What do you want the album to be?  What do you hope fans take away?

PP: I hope this will be the album that will bring Red Eleven closer to the front line, get us touring abroad and get us lots of new fans. As for the fans, I think they can find lots of different vibes there, the familiar R-11 melodies, hooks and everything, taken even further than on our previous albums.

D.M: Take me through the progression of your albums – what’s changed from “Idiot Factory” through “Round II” and now for “Collect Your Scars?”

PP: "Idiot Factory" was recorded after the band had existed for only two months. So even though we rehearsed a lot for those two months and did a good job with it, we didn’t actually get to focus on arranging the details of the songs that much, as just getting them rehearsed structurally. So there’s much improvisation on that album, which always seems to be the case with this band. And I must say I like working that way with this band, it gives a certain freshness to the music and the recording process. We recorded the album at Laukaa at a local rehearsal room. Teemu [Liekkala, guitar] recorded and mixed the album himself, and it still sounds fucking great in my own ears. The album is what gave us the final musical direction, and we knew instantly we’re on the right path while recording it. I think I.F is a great album, with quality rock/metal songs with versatility. I still love playing those songs live. While we were hoping to get the album released somehow and rehearsing new songs that Teemu had already wrote, Secret Entertainment offered to release "Idiot Factory" as a CD.

For "Round II" we booked a professional studio, SN Audio Productions, but still Teemu did the recording and mixing with the studio owner Sami Niittykoski. The songs were more ready when we hit the studio than with I.F. And when we had the album already mixed, Lifeforce Records offered us a record deal. So now we had a better distribution and promotion. This album is a natural continuum for I.F I would say, and while it sounds a bit heavier, you can still hear it’s the same dudes behind it.

"Collect Your Scars" was recorded in the same studio again, with Teemu and Sami. The recordings started less than a year after "Round II" was released. We had a new guitarist Tom [Gardiner] now, after J-V left the band in late 2015 to work solely with his own music. Also there was a lot of space left in the songs to improvise again; me and Teemu spent three days tracking the drums. We had two to three songs, which had already been performed live, that were pretty much ready with the drum arrangements, but there was again a lot of arranging going on while recording. I basically spent seven hours per day in the drum booth, throwing ideas back and forth with Teemu, and just playing. I think you can still very clearly recognize the familiar band here, even though this time the sound is more natural. And on C.Y.S we have some cool piano parts by Tom, which is something new, too. All of our albums were mastered at Chartmakers, the same mastering studio used by Rammstein, Amorphis, Volbeat and Apocalyptica to name a few.

D.M: How has Red Eleven changed over the years – has your songwriting process developed?  Have the themes you concentrate on changed?

PP: Not really that much, apart from the line-up change. The crew has gotten a bit bigger though. Teemu is still the main songwriter for C.Y.S with Tony [Kaikkonen, vocals], and there’s one song from J-V, which he wrote before he decided to concentrate on his own music. Now that Tom is aboard, who knows, maybe he has something in his sleeve too, we’ll see. The themes are pretty much the same, too. We’ve only been a band for four years now, with three albums out already, so not much has changed in that time.

D.M: Is there a message within “Collect Your Scars?”  What’s the central emotional theme of the album?

PP: There’s a line in the lyrics of "Yarn Of Life" that goes; ”Leave you mark and collect your scars” that pretty much sums the theme, according to Tony.

D.M: Three albums in four years, how do you keep up that writing pace?  What caused such frequent inspiration?

PP: Actually "Idiot Factory" was ready for a year before its release. We didn’t have any record label back then, so we 'sat on it' until someone wanted to release it. So when it was finally released, we were already rehearsing songs for "Round II". And when we started touring Finland after the second album, Teemu already had a couple of the C.Y.S songs written, and we even played two songs at a few last shows of that tour.

D.M: Looking around the musical landscape, there’s not a lot of other bands that are like Red Eleven – who do you think of as your contemporaries?

PP: Well, we’ve heard comparisons to Finnish bands like Kyyria or Suburban Tribe. Both have quit long ago. I’ve never listened to either of them much, but I’ve known about them and heard some songs. I can’t really say any direct contemporaries.

D.M: What influences your songwriting?  There’s such a dynamic mix of sounds and styles, what artists or styles do you draw from most?

PP: We listen to a big bunch of different styles of music, so all kinds of influences are welcome with Red Eleven. I can only speak for myself, so lately I’ve been listening to artists like Monuments, SikTh, Mary Komasa, Hacktivist, Tribulation, Carpenter Brut and Vildhjarta to name a few. And I know that Teemu, Tony and Petteri [Vaalimaa, bass] have Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers in common with their likes. Other than that I really can’t say what everyone else in the band listens to.

D.M: When people think of Finnish rock and metal, invariably there’s thoughts of Children of Bodom or Turisas or the 69 Eyes.  Red Eleven doesn’t walk in the footsteps of any of those bands, is it difficult to stand out against those stereotypes?

PP: It seems to be so. The kind of music we make is not very popular at the moment anyway, I guess. But there’s no point doing what every other band does.

D.M: Describe your songwriting process – how do the elements come together?

PP: Teemu writes the music; guitar riffs, keyboards etc, Tony the vocal melodies and lyrics. Then Teemu makes a demo of a song and sends it to us to figure out, guitar solos, drum beats and different hooks and so on. After that, we hit the studio, that’s about all there is to it.

D.M: After “Round II,” many reviewers, myself sheepishly included, compared Red Eleven to Faith No More.  How do you feel about that comparison?

PP: I don’t mind at all, though I’ve never been a big fan of Faith No More. And I know, being huge Faith No More fans Teemu and Tony especially don’t mind! I think all the other guys are bigger fans than I am. But I feel our sound is way more heavier than Faith No More. It’s always a compliment to be compared to a unique band like Faith No More.

D.M: Part of Red Eleven’s distinctiveness is your guitar tone – how did you arrive at that sound, and what did you do to engineer it?

PP: It all comes down to Teemu’s touch in playing, and the down tuned (A) guitars. He uses Mesa Dual Rectifier and Bugera 333XL Infinium -heads, custom fuzz and other effects, different set ups for different situations, like studio and live. He just knows what he’s doing with the sound.

D.M: Throw me a bone here – will there be a US tour?

PP: I certainly hope so! At the moment we don’t have management, so that’d help us a lot. As well as a booking agency outside Finland. But we’re still a relatively small band even in Finland, so we need some outside contacts to get things rolling. Hope to spread our music all around the globe of course!

Do yourself a favor - find this band and spend some time with their music.  You will not be disappointed.

Album Review: Red Eleven - "Collect Your Scars"

Red Eleven’s “Round II,” released in 2014, was a powerhouse effort, the kind of coming out party that vaults a band from local favorite to national spotlight.  The Finns are churning out more content, with this new effort “Collect Your Scars” representing the band’s third full-length album in four years.  The band centers their efforts on rock with metal influence, a multi-dimensional experience that speaks to the songwriting versatility of the membership.

What remains inimitably intact for this new record is the cinematic sense of place that permeates the entire energetic experience.  Red Eleven have a knack for showing off their dramatic side, a willful penchant that shapes the music and demands attention like a jilted only child.  Just listen to the open of the record, as the layers of “I Follow” progressively stack into a decadent sheetcake of aural enjoyment.  The larger-than-life presentation of “Yarn of Life” serves only to further the point, as the rafters shake with righteous rock/metal hybrid fury, the band pumping out high voltage into straining capacitors.

Which is part of the fun and mastery of Red Eleven – the band knows how to present a moment, and remains stubbornly unafraid to either bend or totally ignore the limitations of genre to attain the sound they want.  Hence, the piano intro of “Last Grain of Sand,” a song that song that is beautifully rendered regardless of what idiom it’s supposed to sardine-canned into.  Same goes for the soft piano outro of “Know Yourself” which seems maybe a little tacked on at the end of the track, but works in the sense that it presents a juxtaposition of sounds.

There’s a malleability on “Collect Your Scars” that’s rare in any genre, but especially rare here, and it’s not limited to the difference in sound between tracks.  Observe “Just a Game” a steam engine of a song that paces itself with three distinct phases of the journey – there’s the fast part, the big part and the rock part, all coming together into a tapestry of different threads creating a more dynamic whole.  I’m badly mixing my metaphors here, but that’s sort of the point – Red Eleven is throwing whatever kitchen sink parts they can find into the mix, provided that it sounds appropriate.

We see this most in the dire but oddly enchanting “And Then I Took His Life,” a song that is diverse enough to almost justify having different voices for different characters.  There are huge, open choruses, filled with pomp and heartfelt, sing-along goodness, a sinister breakdown that drips with sneering malevolence and ill will, and then a return to form for a redeeming outro.

One point of caution and it’s important.  “Collect Your Scars” is an involved listen that is heavily layered and not exactly a take-and-go for the initial listens.  So for those playing along at home, this record requires either a handful of listens to absorb its full potency, or one listen without distraction.  That doesn’t mean ‘without distraction’ like it’s-on-and-I’m-checking-Reddit, that means undivided attention.  A rarity in this modern age.

“Collect Your Scars” is another great album from Red Eleven.  It’s hard to definitively say that the album is better than the colossal “Round II,” but I look forward to listening to both a dozen more times trying to find out.  Perhaps more importantly, here’s the bottom line, regardless of the opinions of Stone Cold: In recent years there has arisen a short list of bands with the musical talent and general appeal to take over the rock universe.  Graveyard, The Sword (depending on your opinion of “High Country,”) and Red Eleven is that list.