31 Albums From 2013

Introduction
31. Serj Tankian - Orca & Jazz-Iz-Christ
30. Thriller - A Metal Tribute To Michael Jackson
29. Means End - The Didact
28. Black Sabbath - 13
27. Dead Letter Circus - The Catalyst Fire
26. The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer
25. Bear - Noumenon
24. Protest The Hero - Volition

23. Hacride - Back To Where You've Never Been

22. Palms - Palms
21. Last Chance To Reason - Level 3
20. Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals - Walk Through Exits Only
19. Alice In Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
18. Circles - Infinitas
17. Russian Circles - Memorial
16. One Minute Silence - Fragmented Armageddon
15. Killswitch Engage - Disarm The Descent
14. Glass Cloud - Perfect War Forever
13. Our Last Night - Oak Island & Summer Of Covers
12. Tesseract - Altered State
11. Lamb Of God - As The Palaces Burn (Remastered)

10. Sevendust - Black Out The Sun

9. Volto! - Incitare

8. Tomahawk - Oddfellows

7. The Ocean - Pelagial

6. Fit For An Autopsy - Hellbound

5. Karnivool - Asymmetry

4. Intronaut - Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones)

3. Queens Of The Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

2. Carcass - Surgical Steel

1. David Maxim Micic - Bilo 3.0

31 Albums From 2013: Day 31

So here it is, my album of the year. Before the release of this in November, I was struggling to pick what #1 on this list would be. I enjoyed everything that made the list, but none of them absolutely blew me away. Then I saw that musician David Maxim Micic announced the release of 'Bilo 3.0', the third installment of his solo EP series. I had enjoyed 'Bilo 1.0' and 'Bilo 2.0', but there really was only a single track off of each that I loved, so I figured the trend would continue with 3.0. I was very wrong. This release is truly a piece of art. David clearly wasn't aiming for a certain genre or style, he was just making music for the sake of making music. Each track flows together beautifully, making it near impossible to listen to individual tracks. It truly must be experienced as a whole. David even took themes from the previous Bilo's and continued them, which I absolutely love. This isn't just an album for musicians though, even with great song writing, amazing guest guitar soloists, and perfectly selected vocalists, there is something for everyone here. Do yourself a favor and listen to it NOW!

31 Albums From 2013: Day 30

Earlier in this list, I mentioned how there are usually one of three things that happen when a band returns after a long hiatus: 1. they try something new in an attempt to sound current (and almost always fail), 2. they stick with what they know and come off sounding dated, or 3. they find a happy medium between the two, which is a rarity. Carcass somehow pulled off the near impossible by staying true to their sound and giving us something new and relevant. 'Surgical Steel' is chock full of their signature guitar harmonies, evil vocals and insanely fast drumming. Pure metal madness! It's great to have Carcass back and even better that they still kick ass!

31 Albums From 2013: Day 29

I never really considered myself a big Queens Of The Stone Age fan. If a song came on the radio, I would leave it on, but I never got the urge to get one of their albums. When I saw a post from a friend saying their latest release, '...Like Clockwork', was incredible, I was skeptical, but figured it was worth checking out. I watched a video that plays like a short film which uses a few songs from the album (that I put below this post for you to enjoy). I was instantly sold and grabbed the album asap. The whole thing flows together beautifully. Nothing over done, no crazy time signatures or  mega solos, just a great solid rock album.

31 Albums From 2013: Day 28

Intronaut is another band on this list that continues to improve with every album. They have all proven to be great musicians who know how to write a good song, so they put efforts into bringing the vocals to the same level, and I believe they succeeded. 'Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones)' is an album that will stay in my rotation for a long time.

31 Albums From 2013: Day 27

I fell in love with Karnivool later than I wished I had. I knew of them for years but didn't know much about them until their last album 'Sound Awake', which blew me away. Since then, I've spent a lot of time listening to their back catalog and hearing how they have progressed over the years. With each of their releases being very different than their last, I didn't expect anything less from this years release, 'Asymmetry', and I was right. The song writing is even more mature, creating atmospheric sounds that pull you in and won't let you go until the final note. The song 'We Are' is by far one of their best yet and also has one of the best videos of the year as well. One that fits with the song perfectly and tells a story that makes me wish a movie was made out of it. Press play and thank me later.

31 Albums From 2013: Day 26

With working in retail and dealing with people on a daily basis, I sometimes feel the need to release some of the anger caused by these people (legally of course) that I bottle up inside of me. One way I like to do this is to listen to some really pissed off music that I can blast in the car on the way home. Fit For An Autopsy's 'Hellbound' worked perfectly for many of these occasions! For fans of Whitechapel and The Acacia Strain, these guys do the deathcore thing their way by mixing other metal styles in there seamlessly, which is a difficult accomplishment. I dare you not to nod your head to the chorus in the song 'Dead In The Dirt' posted below.