Gravemarker's Best of 2009

I rather dislike doing "best of the year" lists. When I post a list like this, my "best of 2009", it sends the message that what I have written here is absolute. The order is laid out, no wiggle room, no margin for change. Because I put Album X at 1 and Album Y at 10, I consider Album X a superior piece of music and will always prefer it over Album Y. Because I didn't include Album Z in my list, I disliked it/consider it inferior to my top 10/etc. Now, I very well realize that most people reading this list (hopefully) have enough common sense to not jump to such wild conclusions, but I'm not the sort of person who is comfortable dropping statements that leave enough room for people to make assumptions that are wholly incorrect. The albums I have chosen for my top ten are all ones I enjoy immensely, to be sure, but the "rankings" are all entirely temporary. If I were to write this list again in three months, I would be very surprised if my top ten picks were identical to this one. It's inevitable that my opinion of these album will change as I listen to them, and that I will later discover great albums released this year that I had missed earlier. In reality, this list should be titled something along the lines of "Gravemarker's ten favorite albums from 2009 as decided during mid-December 2009", but even I'm not meticulous enough to engage in such a worthless endeavor.

My empty whining notwithstanding, I believe that my list covers well enough what material from 2009 I've been listening to and enjoying the most. Considering the fact I've barely written anything as of recent, this is the least I can do for you, the readers of Chainsaw Justice. Enjoy.

10. Afgrund - Vid Helvetets Grindar
With Vid Helvetets Grindar, Afgrund deviates a bit from the standard swedegrind sound and adds a bit more originality to their musical formula. Vid Helvetets Grindar goes somewhat like this: Begin with the original sound of Svarta Dagar. Take more outside influence from other genres and a bit less Nasum influence. Add some melodic tendencies and punkish energy to top it all off, and you’ve got another great Afgrund album, and a much more unique one to boot.

9. Scrambled Defuncts - Souls Despising The God
Scrambled Defuncts’ latest has left some fans severely disappointed. While Souls Despising the God did introduce the inclusion of synths to the Scrambled Defuncts sound (to the aforementioned disappointment of many a BDM fan), the foundation of their sound mostly remains otherwise unchanged from that of their previous and paramount album, Hackled In Gore. Make no mistake, Souls Despising The God is still a fine piece of brutal death metal, and a worthy successor to Hackled In Gore.

8. Hatred Surge- Deconstruct
Hatred Surge’s first full-length outing is a successful one, to be sure. Deconstruct features the same brand of pure, unadulterated powerviolence that Hatred Surge have presented on their previous splits and EPs. As always, the brevity of Hatred Surge’s output leaves fans wanting for more, but with this level of maintained quality, it’s hard to complain.

7. Necrovile - The Pungency Of Carnage
Obscure as they are heavy, Necrovile unfortunately seem to be virtually unknown. It’s a real shame, considering Necrovile deliver a raw, hard-hitting, and unique brutal death metal experience that needs to be heard. The raw, murky production will alienate some, but the majority of BDM fans will dig this one.

6. Denial - Catacombs Of The Grotesque
Denial boasts a well padded roster that includes members of established bands such as Pulverized, Shub Niggurath, and Cenotaph. Fans of said bands should know what Denial have in store: dark, crushing, old school death metal. The veterans in Denial obviously know what they’re doing, proven by the tight execution and simple yet effective songwriting present on Catacombs of the Grotesque. A very solid performance all around.

5. Super Fun Happy Slide - The Undislodgable Nugget Scenario
One of the forerunners of the ever growing Australian grind scene, Super Fun Happy Slide takes cues from all our old school favorites to whip up their brand of relentless grindcore. Extra points for the surprise addition of guitar solos and the sick, septic tank gutturals. Grind fans should be all over this.

4. Insidious Decrepancy - Extirpating Omniscient Certitude
Extirpating Omniscient Certitude is the third offering one man extermination engine Shawn Whitaker has produced under the name Insidious Decrepancy, and boy, does it slay. With EOC, Whitaker takes the best elements of his previous output (the outright technicality of Decadent Orgy Of Atrocious Suffering and the superior songwriting of The Inerrancy Of Profanation) and masterfully blends them together for ID’s best album yet.

3. Human Mincer - Degradation Paradox
My favorite album by the Mincer to date, it’s got everything you would expect from the same Spanish BDM freaks who starred on Wormed’s “Planisphaerum”. On Degradation Paradox you’ll find the usual: insane amounts of gravity blasting, intense riffs, groovy chugs and puke-your-guts-out vocals that all blaze by in a short half hour. Excellent work, gentlemen.

2. Wormrot - Abuse
It’s been said a considerable amount of times already, but it very well merits repeating: Abuse is just plain awesome. Everything from the presentation to the execution of this finely crafted grindcore opus reeks of old-school in the best way possible. Grindfreaks, this is absolutely mandatory.

1. Human Rejection - Decrepit To Insanity
It was a tough call for my top spot of the year, but I believe that Human Rejection truly have earned it this time around. Remarkably powerful riffs, criminally catchy slams, and a thoroughly exceptional performance on all fronts help to grant Decrepit To Insanity my top spot for 2009. Hailing from Greece, a country that isn’t exactly known for brutal death metal, Human Rejection have put themselves on the map and earned themselves a spot in the scene. Anybody who even slightly enjoys slam/BDM needs to have this.