We hurtle down towards a hellish Earth to take our throne at the Dead End...
#1
Katatonia - Dead End Kings
Katatonia have reached the apotheosis of doom metal. Ten years ago, Viva Emptiness wiped the canvas clean, thumbing its nose at musty genre trappings. They boldly cauterized the powdered wig and opera hall romanticism from doom. Inspiration was found amongst grubby neon dance halls or the back streets of an ultra-modern, concrete-skied Stockholm frozen in perpetual winter within the ruined hearts of these men. Apprehensive, sinister and desolate doom metal flows black from the strings and keys and throat of this elegant Swedish confederacy of mourners. Their music is penned by those who subsist on a belly full of hope; always empty and forever wanting. Blasting riffs rest on one's heart like concrete. Strings are streaked with shuffling electro beats as tradition meets the modern. Guitars in trepidation wind melodies around Renske's longing baritone, lancing through the world's happiness like a dagger of ice. Each cut feels inspired and compelling and every note drips with despair. Such is our humanity on our cold distant journey, racing toward the throne at the dead end.
---
The Crushtor.net Top 10 of Metal 2012
#1 - Katatonia - Dead End Kings
#2 - Anathema - Weather Systems
#3 - Deftones - Koi No Yokan
#4 - Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies and Electric Light
#5 - Killing Joke - MMXII
#6 - The Faceless - Autotheism
#7 - Be'lakor - Of Breath and Bone
#8 - Baroness - Yellow & Green
#9 - Rush - Clockwork Angels
#10 - Barren Earth - The Devil's Resolve
The Honorable Mentions