In an effort to be tidy and fastidious, we offer you this handy and insanely organized assemblage of the full results of Last Rites’ 10-week salute to the 2010s. Perhaps a bit overkill? Eh, we love Overkill. Plus, it’s convenient to see it all stacked up in a neat little heap, no? Doing so also exposes a noticeable wrinkle in the fabric that could potentially mark us as biased: a whole lotta U! S! A! U! S! A! U! S! A! in those volumes. Despite having crew members on three different continents, we are a US-based site and obviously have an easier time putting our ear to the ground…well, here. In our defense, this is a big-ass country filled with big asses, and we produce a big-ass amount of metal music, so it’s not terribly surprising that a lot of it ends up pinging the radar in a very positive way. Hey, we gotta do something right.
Outside of the home field advantage, the biggest question is this: What the hell happened in 2014? You’d expect lower numbers from later years, but 2014 is pretty much right there in the middle and just waiting to throw down double-digit numbers. Nope. But in truth, it ain’t like 2014 was necessarily a bad year for metal—plenty of good rumbled down the conveyor from the likes of Dead Congregation, Swallowed, Crypt Sermon, Cretin, Riot, Dark Forest, Grand Magus, Falconer, Old Wainds, Pilgrim et al., but obviously not enough full crew sway to control the numbers.
Anyway, this is it: the full picture of 100 Essential Albums of the 2010s. It’s been a lot of fun for us to put it all together, and we hope you enjoyed revisiting all these records.
Hakkaa Päälle!
VOLUME 1
In Solitude – Sister (2013 / Sweden)
Nekromantheon – Rise, Vulcan Spectre (2012 / Norway)
Caladan Brood – Echoes of Battle (2013 / USA)
Fates Warning – Theories of Flight (2016 / USA)
Horrendous – Anareta (2015 / USA)
Vader – Welcome to the Morbid Reich (2011 / Poland)
Blind Guardian – Beyond the Red Mirror (2015 / Germany)
Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry (2014 / France)
Hell – Human Remains (2011 / UK)
Venenum – Trance of Death (2017 / Germany)
VOLUME 2
Midnight – Satanic Royalty (2011 / USA)
Dodecahedron – Dodecahedron (2012 / Netherlands)
Urfaust – The Constellatory Practice (2018 / Netherlands)
Amorphis – Under the Red Cloud (2015 / Finland)
Eternal Champion – The Armor of Ire (2016 / USA)
The Ruins of Beverast – Exuvia (2017 / Germany)
Darkthrone – Circle the Wagons (2010 / Norway)
Blood Incantation – Hidden History of the Human Race (2019 / USA)
Moonsorrow – Jumalten Aika (2016 / Finland)
Gorguts – Colored Sands (2013 / Canada)
VOLUME 3
Incantation – Vanquish in Vengeance (2012 / USA)
Hammers of Misfortune – Dead Revolution (2016 / USA)
Wormed – Krighsu (2016 / Spain)
Agalloch – Marrow of the Spirit (2010 / USA)
Leprous – Malina (2017 / Norway)
Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier (2010 / UK)
Unleash the Archers – Apex (2017 / Canada)
Deceased – Surreal Overdose (2011 / USA)
Mournful Congregation – The Book of Kings (2011 / Australia)
Carcass – Surgical Steel (2013 / UK)
VOLUME 4
Arch / Matheos – Sympathetic Resonance (2011 / USA)
Panopticon – Kentucky (2012 / USA)
Gridlink – Longhena (2014 / USA)
Sargeist – Let the Devil In (2010 / USA)
Satan – Life Sentence (2013 / UK)
Trees of Eternity – Hour of the Nightingale (2016 / International)
Visigoth – Conqueror’s Oath (2018 / USA)
Aluk Todolo – Voix (2016 / France)
Woods of Ypres – Woods 5: Skies & Electric Light (2012 / Canada)
40 Watt Sun – The Inside Room (2011 / UK)
VOLUME 5
Thy Catafalque – Sgurr (2015 / Hungary)
Giant Squid – Minoans (2014 / USA)
Saor – Aura (2014 / UK)
Anubis Gate – Anubis Gate (2011 / Denmark)
Exhumed – All Guts, No Glory (2011 / USA)
Defeated Sanity – Passages Into Deformity (2013 / Germany)
Antigama – Meteor (2013 / Poland)
Opeth – In Cauda Venenum (2019 / Sweden)
VHOL – Deeper than Sky (2015 / USA)
Voivod – The Wake (2018 / Canada)
VOLUME 6
Morbus Chron – Sweven (2014 / Sweden)
Accept – Blood of the Nations (2010 / Germany)
Sólstafir – Svartir sandar (2011 / Iceland)
Paradise Lost – Tragic Idol (2012 / UK)
Sear Bliss – Letters from the Edge (2018 / Hungary)
Atlantean Kodex – The White Goddess (2013 / Germany)
Macabre Omen – Gods of War – At War (2015 / Greece)
StarGazer – A Great Work of Ages (2010 / Australia)
Christian Mistress – Possession (2012 / USA)
Tribulation – The Formulas of Death (2013 / Sweden)
VOLUME 7
Katatonia – The Fall of Hearts (2016 / Sweden)
Ludicra – The Tenant (2010 / USA)
Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction (2012 / USA)
Devourment – Obscene Majesty (2019 / USA)
High Spirits – Another Night (2011 / USA)
Obsequiae – Suspended in the Brume of Eos (2011 / USA)
Ancestors – In Dreams and Time (2012 / USA)
Manilla Road – The Blessed Curse / After the Muse (2015 / USA)
Progenie Terrestre Pura – Oltreluna (2017 / Italy)
Dødheimsgard – A Umbra Omega (2015 / Norway)
VOLUME 8
Argus – Boldly Stride the Doomed (2011 / USA)
Azarath – Blasphemers’ Maledictions (2011 / Poland)
Magister Templi – Into Duat (2015 / Norway)
Devin Townsend Project – Epicloud (2012 / Canada)
Immolation – Majesty and Decay (2010 / USA)
Pyrrhon – What Passes for Survival (2014 / USA)
Madder Mortem – Red in Tooth and Claw (2016 / Norway)
Svartidauði – Revelations of the Red Sword (2018 / Iceland)
Kowloon Walled City – Container Ships (2012 / USA)
Enslaved – Riitiir (2012 / Norway)
VOLUME 9
Pharaoh – Bury the Light (2012 / USA)
Evoken – Atra Mors (2012 / USA)
Fuck the Facts – Die Miserable (2011 / Canada)
Sanctuary – The Year the Sun Died (2014 / USA)
Solstice – White Horse Hill (2018 / UK)
Pagan Altar – The Room of Shadows (2017 / UK)
SubRosa – More Constant than the Gods (2013 / USA)
Borknagar – True North (2019 / Norway)
Virus – Memento Collider (2016 / Norway)
Oranssi Pazuzu – Valonielu (2013 / Finland)
VOLUME 10
Nile – Vile Nilotic Rites (2019 / USA)
Elder – Reflections of a Floating World (2017 / USA)
Insomnium – Winter’s Gate (2016 / Finland)
Krallice – Years Past Matter (2012 / USA)
Judas Priest – Firepower (2018 / UK)
Slugdge – Esoteric Malacology (2018 / UK)
Napalm Death – Apex Predator (2015 / UK)
Overkill – Ironbound (2010 / USA)
Meshuggah – Koloss (2012 / Sweden)
Ihsahn – After (2010 / Norway)
ALBUM COUNT PER COUNTRY
Australia: 2
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Canada: 6
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Denmark: 1
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Finland: 5
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France: 2
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Germany: 6
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Greece: 1
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Hungary: 2
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Iceland: 2
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Italy: 1
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Netherlands: 2
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Norway: 10
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Poland: 3
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Spain: 1
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Sweden: 6
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UK: 12
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USA: 37
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ALBUM COUNT PER YEAR
2010: 10
2011: 15
2012: 16
2013: 11
2014: 6
2015: 10
2016: 11
2017: 8
2018: 8
2019: 5
THE MULLIGANS
Katalepsy – Autopsychosis (2013 / Danhammer Obstkrieg)
The Chasm – A Conscious Creation from the Isolated Domain – Phase I (2017 / Manny-O-War)
Teitanblood – Death (2014 / Captain)
Inter Arma – Paradise Gallows (2016 / Zach Duvall)
Lunar Shadow – Far from Light (2017 / Ryan Tysinger)
Rwake – Rest (2011 / Fetusghost)
Ostura – The Room (2018 / Lone Watie)
Wake – Misery Rites (2018 / Andrew Edmunds)
Ufomammut – Eve (2010 / Juho Mikkonen)
Altar of Plagues –Teethed Glory & Injury (2013 / Megan Astarael)
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Was impressed with your choices, agreed with more than a few of these. Didn’t know quite a few as well so put together a play list of the albums so I could check them out. Link here > https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NcBFeHonnQVPQNPmwriWw?si=eIGEPnv1TRqMp4k6Czl23Q
Would add Bell Witch – Mirror Reaper & Cult of Luna – MARINER
Over the last few months I’ve managed to make my way through all 110 albums, except for the few I have already listened extensively to. There was a lot of impressive music in the list, with many albums I enjoyed coming from some of the sub-genres I normally don’t pay much attention to. There was only one album I truly disliked (funnily enough the review stated “It ought to take about 30 seconds to know if you’re going to hate it or love it, and there might not be much of a middle ground.”), and only a few that I didn’t get into. It was a varied and interesting listening experience, that led to several purchases.
One thing that surprised me was revisiting albums like Panopticon’s Kentucky and Rwake’s Rest – albums that I had listened to when they came out, but didn’t really get into at the time. Nearly a decade later, I felt that I could hear something in them I didn’t before. So if nothing else, it’s been a good reminder of how our listening experience is so subjective even from listen to listen.
That’s some dedicated listening. Nice work, Kel! (and not just because you highlighted two albums I wrote about)
It was a lot of fun going back through old favorites to see how they stand up today, especially strong recommendations from the group that were new to me, like Altar of Plagues or Azarath.