At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul
Say what you will, has always caught me as being damn good, just brings so much great stuff and atmosphere really.
It took that many posts for someone to mention 'Slaughter of the Soul'? Come on, kids, we all know how good and important that album was.
Here's mine, in no particular order and subject to change at a whim:
American Nightmare/Give Up the Ghost - Background MusicThe perfect specimen when it comes to modern hardcore that still plays on older influences. Balls-to-the-wall without obsessing about br00tality, emotional without being emo. Closer 'Farewell' touches me like few other songs.
Company Flow - Funcrusher PlusAfter they broke up, everyone seemed to forget about CoFlow, and few indie hipsters who today lay claim to artists like Aesop Rock, Atmosphere and the Anticon collective even know this album exists. Well, kids, were it not for Company Flow, your beloved Aesops and Atmospheres wouldn't even be around. Which leads us to...
El-P - Fantastic Damage...The epitome of fucked up, noisy crypto-rap. El-P is so divorced from traditional hip-hop mindsets that he barely even feels forced to rhyme, landing somewhere in between agressive spoken word and crazy word-twistery. Add to this the near-apocalyptic blaring behind him, and it's like all fucking hell broke loose.
Mos Def - Black On Both SidesMos has always been one of the most intelligent rappers out there. Always. Too bad his last album doesn't live up to the expectations. But when I need cerebral hip-hop, 'Black On Both Sides' is always a given.
Slayer - Reign In BloodDo I even need to comment on this? This album is goddamn legendary, and for good reason.
At the Gates - Slaughter of the SoulYeah, they inspired every other band that's hot in the American underground right now. Yet this album is still better than 90% of what actually comes out there.
Pantera - Vulgar Display of PowerWell, duh. RIP Dimebag and all the other obligatory things that go there. Either way, Pantera really came into their own with this one. This album is the biggest reason why they're just so legendary.
Sepultura - RootsMy friend and I always get into heated debate about whether 'Roots' or 'Chaos AD' is better. I root for 'Roots' (ha ha), simply because it is more of a memorable record for me.
Iron Maiden - The Number of the BeastOkay, I'm three in a row on obvious albums. But come on, "six! Six six! The nuuuuumber of the beeeeast!" No one can keep themselves from singing along to that. Except my friend, but I think he's a zombie.
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing...This is one of the few electronically made albums that I can still make myself listen to every now and then, and certainly the one that has lasted me the longest. In fact, so to the point where I sometimes feel inspired to have a stab at doing something like this myself. Few other albums have had that impact on me just by themselves.
Shai Hulud - That Within Blood Ill-TemperedThe album that proved that hardcore doesn't have to be in the hands of the Dillinger Escape Plan to be more complex than simple power chords strung together. Intelligently written, emotionally visceral, insanely complex, yet straightforward and easy to understand.
Converge - When Forever Comes CrashingSome say that Converge's 'Jane Doe' is a better album. However, I've always liked Converge when they were short and to the point rather than the times they try to rip off Neurosis. 'When Forever Comes Crashing' is the epitome of that part of Converge; spawning live classics like 'Conduit' and 'Love As Arson'.
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating InfinityI'm not saying I don't like the strange, almost pop experimentation of 'Miss Machine', but 'Calculating Infinity' will always be the record that defined the Dillinger Escape Plan's modus operandi: messed-up jazz-meets-almost-grind blasts of holy-fuck-how-do-they-do-that.
Integrity - Seasons In the Size of DaysIf it weren't for Integrity, most of today's metalcore bands (and I mean of all kinds) would have one band less to thank for their sound. Dwid may not have always been the most agreeable person to grace the world of hardcore, but it is hard to deny that Integrity was always something
more, as undefinable as that may be. I mean, what other -core band that doesn't do the joke title thing would name songs things like 'Candra Nama Vijayasya Stri Pums' Calayasti'?
Botch - We Are the RomansBotch were the goddamn originators. If it wasn't for Botch and their brand of weird, semi-progressive hardcore, a whole bunch of bands just wouldn't exist at all.
Sick of It All - Blood, Sweat and No TearsPractically the definition of NY-styled hardcore, and a band that has meant lots not just for hardcore, but punk at all, that have reached greatness beyond the small crowds that gather in basements and bars for a half-hour dose of mosh everytime a band passes through time. It's clobberin' time!
Uh, okay, it's 11:30 PM, and I'm too tired to think of more. Watch this space.
