TONEwood's Top 10 Albums of 2019

While preparing the write-up for my top 10 albums of 2019, I realised that most of the albums I had listened to only really felt like top 10 material because, as a whole, I haven't felt very strongly about many releases this year.

I had looked forward to the new albums by Tinariwen, The Budos Band, Death Hawks, Lord Gore, Power Glove, Black Mountain, Grand Magus, and more. But they all sounded aggressively "okay" to my ears.

So, rather than doing an elaborate triple-entendre of top 10 metal and top 10 non-metal albums and runner-ups like I normally would, I ended up deciding on a more concise 10 album format with 5 runner-ups.

WULFAZ - Eriks kumbl SECOND PRESSING out now!

WULFAZ - Eriks kumbl SECOND PRESSING out now!

The second pressing of WULFAZ' debut EP "Eriks kumbl" is out now. The new edition is again limited to 50 copies, but this time it comes in a hand-crafted card stock sleeve with a hand-printed lino-block carved image.

KILLING and ILDSTORM Tapes Out Now

KILLING and ILDSTORM Tapes Out Now

Two new releases on TONEwood Music - TT14 and TT15 - are finally available.

TONEwood's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2018

For fear of sounding like a Jerry Seinfeld joke, what's with all the insane death metal albums this year? Though I consider myself to have a broad taste, my greatest worry in making this year's top 10 metal albums has been whether or not the list would be too samey. I decided that censoring or catering the list for any reason wouldn't be right - After all it should only be about which albums were best - subjectively, of course. Now the biggest challenge is gonna be varying the descriptions...

TONEwood's Top 10 Non-Metal Albums of 2018

On a personal level 2018 has been one of the more stressful ones in recent memory for me, with the birth of my first child ranking as probably the biggest change in my life. The way your priorities change has definitely made it harder to find the time to delve into new music. Even so, I've managed to listen to hundreds of new tracks in 2018 - though my year-end list does definitely lean heavily toward bands and groups I was already acquainted with, and albums that released before I became a parent.

From Dungeons Deep - Out September 3rd 2018

Dungeon Synth Compilation Out Soon!
For the uninitiated dungeon synth may seem like just another arbitrary micro genre, but this brand of dark dungeon music is so much more. Taking cues from everything from classic 90s black metal over obscure 8- and 16-bit video games to fantasy roleplaying games and literature, dungeon synth came from humble origins and has since blossomed into a large community, spanning a great deal of influences, styles and sounds.

Dual Cassette Attack - Out July 16th!

New tapes out soon on TONEwood!

On July 16th TONEwood is releasing TT8-1 and TT9-1. The first of those will be Hiemal's 2017 one-track 40 minute album Vespéral, and the latter is Monarch's 2010 EP Netherthrone.

Butcher ABC: "North of Hell"

The heaviest gore groove known to man

Though North of Hell technically speaking is Japanese gore meistros Butcher ABC's first real album since their humble noisecore beginnings in 1994, it's not that their career has had a shortage of releases. If bands like General Surgery, Haemorrhage and early Carcass gets you hard, you're surely going to like this one!

Nekrodeus: "Moloch"

Hardened death metal with a black core

I hate to start out a review with classic review tropes, but have you ever wondered what Nasum would sound like if Mieszko had had a hidden infatuation with black metal? Though Austrian quintet Nekrodeus have their roots in burly death metal, their debut full length - Moloch - is essentially a blackened version of Inhale/Exhale.

Malditos: "Le Réve"

Impenetrable storms of droning psychedelia

It should come as no surprise that an entity as eclectic as Malditos hails from one of musical experimentation's current strongholds, Oakland, California. Malditos is very much a mindset band. Their darkened, nocturnal desert drones are real party killers, but with the right state of mind and setting, Le Réve turns into a rich, nightmarish phantasmagoria cascading from the your mind's eye. The darkness painted by the Oakland tribe of artists is oppressively thick and impenetrable.

Skogen: "Skuggorna Kallar"

A turn to something worse, or the beginning of a new exciting chapter?

Skogen is one of those bands that just keep getting better and better. From Vittra in 2009, through Svitjod and Eld, I Döden from 2014 was the culmination of a lengthy venture into the ultimate combination of traditional black metal guitar riffs and exceptionally immersive atmosphere. I Döden was - and still is - one of the most surprising and stand-out black metal albums of the 2010s for me. But leave it to Skogen to throw us another curve ball.

Taphos: "Come Ethereal Darkness"

No victim to trend or riffless nightmares

We're really being spoiled with the amount of gruesome Danish death metal coming out these days. With bands like Phrenelith, Undergang, Deiquisitor and Sulphurous causing a teeth-rattling ruckus, it's amazing there's even still more room in hell for another contender - The mighty Taphos.

Fedrespor: "Tid"

Through experimentation, Tid leaps into uncertainty with great success

With norse-themed folk I've come to except the likes of Wardruna, who seem obsessed - at least from a laymans point of view - with quote unquote authenticity and historical accuracy in their instrumentation. With the popularity of the soundtrack of the Vikings series, that style has in its own niche become almost commonplace, altough precious few do it well.

Robespierre: "Garden of Hell"

Where's the excitement?

Ancient, overlooked gems of pristine heavy metal is worth more than any measure of gold, and when stories like that of UK's Hell, who returned after 20 years with the phenomenal debut album that never was, surface every so often, there's definitely something enticing about the whole rags-to-riches aspect of the mythos. Perhaps inspired by their success - and/or stories like theirs - Robespierre has been vomited forth from the bowels of the underworld with their first album since they started out back in 1983.

DISRULE / THE SILENT LOW Split Tape Out Now!

TONEwood Music is thrilled to present Disrule and The Silent Low, for the first time on glorious TAPE!
In 2017, these two Danish groups released an EP, both available only digitally - Until now. Disrule's The MD.441 EP was recorded entirely using the legendary Sennheiser MD.441 microphone which the four-song EP takes its name after, and The Silent Low worked together with famed producer Jacob Bredahl on their third release, From The Underground. Both these mammoth metal-rock release are now available for the first time on physical media, and together for extra value!

Fu Manchu: "Clone of the Universe"

SoCal ramblings galore

Break out your skateboard, grow out your oddly specific beard style, and bring your best sunglasses: It's time for a new Fu Manchu record! If you expect a bunch of sun-baked, tarmac-scented stoner rock tunes, you never really can go wrong with Scott Hill and company.

Anna Von Hausswolff: "Dead Magic"

A bridge over the deep waters that separate styles

Thanks to a former boss who recommended me her previous album, Anna Von Hausswolff is now one of those artists that I continually look forward to hearing from. The Miraculous from 2015 received a 9/10 rating, and I'm happy to say that while 2018's Dead Magic is in many areas a vastly different endeavour, it is absolutely as deserving of the same score.

Bednja: "Doline Su Ostale Iza Nas"

Brooding darkness bisected by equal parts metal and hardcore

From the start it's clear that Croatian black metal practitioners Bednja aren't your average, garden variety black metal group. Though there is expansive tremolo riff-scapes aplenty, their mix also borrows heavily from modern hardcore, adding grooves and interesting melodies - as well as a more shout-oriented vocal style - to the concoction.

Thecodontion: "Thecodontia"

Deadly bass-driven chaos

Who would've ever thought that taxonomy and paleontology would father a metal band? However unlikely it may seem, Thecodontion channel the highly destructive forces of pre-history into a dense state of chaos on their debut demo, Thecodontia.

Galdur: "Age of Legends"

Un-cheesy dungeon music masterpiece

Though at first glance micro-genres like dungeon synth can sound rather restrictive and samey across numerous artists, there are several roads you can take as an artist. Some opt for a folk-inspired approach with many classical, real life instruments, while others emulate the midi-soundtracks of old fantasy RPGs for a more synthetic feel. Others still resort to a more true-to-life orchestral feel. You can count Galdur's 2016 opus Age of Legends among the latter.