The Meltdown 2.21

Counting down the Top 30 Records of 2013!

Top 30 Records of 2013

It's that time of year again when I count down my favorite records of the year. 2013 was a great year for music! Much better than 2012. A lot of stand outs and high quality records out his year.

Honorable Mentions:

My Bloody Valentine - M B V
Denison Witmer - Denison Witmer
Sigur Ros - Kveikur
Shai Hulud - Reach Beyond The Sun
Audrey Assad - Fortunate Fall


#30. Palms - Palms

The thought of Isis and Deftones combined just sounds like a great idea ad hearing Palms (which features members of Isis and Chino Moreno) was exactly what you wanted it to be. Big atmospheric riffs dive bombing into huge metal chorus, all featuring Chino's voice. A perfect blend.


#29. The Appleseed Cast - Illumination Ritual

The Appleseed Cast have always been pioneers in the emo/indie scene. From emo classics to atmospheric masterpieces and post rock gems, the band has continued to reinvent themselves and reinvent with class. On Illumination Ritual, the band took a step back in time, creating an album that feels more at home with the mid-90's emo classics than the band's later post rock material. And as always, they did it well.


#28. Killswitch Engage - Disarm the Descent

The return of Jesse Leech was a good one. Killswitch Engage didn't miss a beat. Leech's vocals are stronger and crisper than they were the first time around, keeping Killswitch both heavy and polished. The kings of modern metalcore.


#27. Eisley - Currents

Following up their huge hit, The Valley, Eisley stripped down and got in touch with their indie rock side. Currents is still full of great harmonies but the band abandoned their catchy pop driven melodies for a more experimental record. Still a success, but a departure for the band


#26. The Burial - In The Taking Of Flesh

In The Taking Of Flesh is technical death metal at it's finest. The Burial has never been heavier.


#25. False Idle - Threat

Threat is the best christian punk record I've heard in a decade. Great songs with hard hitting lyrics and a variety of punk "styles" to keep the strongest critics satisfied. A true gem from Thumper Punk Records.


#24. Audio Adrenaline - Kings & Queens

The return and rebranding of Audio Adrenaline was a huge success in my book. Great songs with catchy hooks, and who doesn't love Kevin Max's vocals? I hope there's more to come from Audio A but the band has already lost two members.


#23. Beartooth - Sick

I had very little interest or expectation from a band featuring former members of Attack Attack, but Beartooth surprised me. One of the best hardcore records I heard all year. This ep is full of extremely heavy songs with honest and heartbreaking lyrics. I'm stoked about Beartooth's future.


#22. Altars - Something More

Apparently Altars doesn't like making the same record twice. Luckily for us, they're damn good at switching it up. Leaving their melodic hardcore sound behind them, Altars delivers a smash hit of a hardcore/punk record. Great hooks, strong gang vocals, and a beautiful message. Altars is taking chances, and being rewarded.


#21. Devin Shelton - Life & Death

The former Emery co-frontman gives us a solo record that's a reminder of what Emery is missing without him. Life & Death has moments that remind me of I'm Only A Man but Shelton does a great job of not rehashing what he did in Emery.


#20. Living Sacrifice - Ghost Thief

Ghost Thief puts all the good things Living Sacrifice has ever done and combines them. The combination of thrash and groove metal is done flawlessly. One of the band's best records to date, Glad to hear it won't be their last.


#19. Aaron Sprinkle - Water & Guns

Aaron Sprinkle's first solo record in nine years is his best. Water & Guns is a pop wonderland.


#18. The Almost - Fear Inside Our Bones

Fear Inside Our Bones is my favorite record from the Almost. A much harder hitting rock and roll record. This record is proof that rock's not dead!


#17. Overcome - No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets.

Hardcore legends Overcome's second record on their second stint and it's even better than their first. No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets. is faster and heavier than The Great Campaign of Sabotage. Classic is every sense of the word. Hopefully people aren't taking the band for granted the second time around.


#16. War Generation - Start Somewhere Never Surrender 

Punk rock at it's finest. Catchy and passionate. As a Senses Field and Further Seems Forever fan, I have to say that I believe this is Jon Bunch's finest work yet.


#15. States - Paradigm

Paradigm is an indie classic. States haven't dropped their 80's tinged vibe, they've just adapted it, stripped it down, and reworked it. Not as instantly catchy as Room To Run but worth the listens every bit as much!


#14. Moving Mountains - Moving Mountains

As instantly catchy and as much as I loved Waves, listening to Moving Mountains self-titled record was a huge disappointment the first listen through. Gone is the huge ambient wall of sound that I loved about Waves. But upon further listens, I found myself drawn in and compelled but the stripped down ambience and hushed tones of Moving Mountains. What I found was a great record when I put my expectations aside.


#13. Jars of Clay - Inland

The more I listen to Jars of Clay, the more I realize how talented the band is. I don't believe they can do wrong. Inland is a beautifully simple record. Not a flashy rock record, and not leaning on the folk side. Strong rock songs mixed with beautiful ballads and some of Dan Haseltine's most honest lyrics ever.


#12.  Abandoned Pools - Somnambulist

Somnambulist is a great little record. More electronic than any of Abandoned Pools' previous work. Less catchy, although songs like Walking Disaster make up for an overall less "pop" approach.


#11. Extol - Extol

You couldn't have asked for anything more or anything better from the metal legends of their first record in eight years. Progressive with a lot of Queen influence, while incorporating black metal elements.


#10. Sev Statik - Sophy EP

I was hooked on Sophy from the time I hit play on the ep. Great beats, strong lyrics, catchy hooks. Everything that is good about hip-hop. Dark at times, but not without a sense of fun.


#9. Jimmy Eat World - Damage

Jimmy Eat World's best record since Clarity? Maybe. Their best record since Bleed American for sure. Damage is a combination of everything the band has done successfully since Clarity. Jimmy Eat World always delivers!


#8. Spoken - Illusion

I've never been more excited about a Spoken record than I was for Illusion. And the band didn't disappoint. Their heaviest record ever, without losing the melody they've become known for. Dare I say their first real masterpiece?


#7. Hope For The Dying - Aletheia

This is why I listen to metal! Records like Aletheia get me excited about heavy music! Rifftastic, guitar solos galore, beautiful melodies, super heavy! Perfect in every sense of the word!


#6. The Ember Days - More Than You Think

More Than You Think is The Ember Days best work. Spacious and ambient without losing it's muchness. Honest and beautiful worship.


#5. Beautiful Eulogy - Instruments of Mercy

If you had told me that Beautiful Eulogy would release a record even better than Satellite Kite, I'm not sure I would've believed you, but that's exactly what the group did. Using a lot of the same musical themes from Satellite Kite, Beautiful Eulogy created a tighter, more mature record.


#4. Norma Jean - Wrongdoers

I love Norma Jean. The best and most consistent band in heavy music. Wrongdoers is another masterpiece in a discography that doesn't have a misstep. Heavy, fast, melodic, deep, insightful, and well though out. Everything that Norma Jean is and has been.


#3. Five Iron Frenzy - Engine Of A Million Plots

My high hopes for Engine Of A Million Plots were not disappointed. If the band needed ten years to release their masterpiece, the wait was worth it. Five Iron has a lot of great records and songs in their discography but Engine Of A Million Plots is on another level. Ska's not dead. FIF has set a new ceiling for themselves. I just hope there's more....


#2. Everything In Slow Motion - Phoenix

Everything In Slow Motion is brilliant. The new project from Shane Ochsner takes away any disappointment I had when Hands broke up. Heavy and honest. That's Phoenix. Great melodies and beautiful riffs, combined with a deadly heaviness that matches the tone and themes of the record. Phoenix has only been out a couple of weeks, but sometimes you just have to save the best.


1. Paramore - Paramore

Catchy, catchy, catchy perfection! A four year hiatus gave us a more mature and stronger Paramore. There's nothing to hate about the band's self-titled record. Gone the little emo punk band that took Warped Tour by storm. Paramore is a powerhouse that isn't going anywhere.

The Meltdown 2.20

Final week of Christmas music.

The Meltdown 2.19

Week Two of Christmas music!

Everything In Slow Motion - Phoenix

I was super bummed when Hands broke up. They went out on a high. Give Me Rest was a brilliantly perfect record. And that made the band breaking up even harder. But Everything In Slow Motion took the sting away. The band's Red single that was released last year was a great glimpse at what Shane Ochsner was about to unleash. Everything In Slow Motion is the next logical progression from Hands, without losing anything that made Give Me Rest such a great record. 

The band's first full length, Phoenix, is every bit as great as Give Me Rest. But it's different. At times Phoenix is heavier. At others, it's more melodic. It doesn't really have the ambient, post rock elements of Give Me Rest, and the intensity is different. 

Get Out sounds like a classic Hands riff. And it has that same intensity. It's a great song about how God's love hold us, no matter how rotten or what vices we have. It sets the tone for the record. The finding hope and God in brokenness. Speak features Blindside's Christian Lindskog, who's voice adds a hauntingly beautiful tinge to the hook. The song is about wanting to hear the voice of God and not needed anything else from him. Poison continues the story of a user who wants to rest in God's arm and put an end to his usage. The intro to Most Days slowly builds and then tails off before the verse kicks in. The song builds until the whole things comes crashing down, as the narrative of the story crashes. Most Days is about the tiredness of trying to hide who we really are from those around us. 

You Are is where things turn. You Are is a declaration of God's character and how he's always been there waiting. It's one of the truest worship songs you'll ever hear. No matter how dark life gets, or how far we try to run away from God, he's there. Numbers continues in the same vain. The songs ambient guitars carry the verse before the track explodes and then dies back down before exploding again. Ochsner's voice, drowned in reverb, bounces around the song. The riff on The Fool is one of Ochsner's best and creates something we haven't heard from him yet. The Fool is a conversation with God about how awful our protagonist is and how God has never encountered anyone as bad as him. It's the lie we tell ourself, that no one has ever been where we've been or done what we've done. 

Come Down brings the heavy back.  It's the inner monologue that one often has with God about where they stand. I love the line "Am I growing closer when it feels like failing." It's a beautiful picture of something I think everyone has experienced. Remember No More has another super cool riff that creates a sensation that a burden has been lifted right before the song crescendos. Remember No More is about exactly that. It's the accepting of God and putting behind the old self. Proxima closes out the album, in a very similar way that Give Me Rest closed out the album of the same name. Light and airy. Beautiful. Proxima features vocalist Holly Ann, who adds another beautiful dimension to this worshipful closer. Unlike Give Me Rest, Proxima, grows and builds and crescendos, ending the album on a beautiful note. 

Facedown Records waited to save the best for last. Phoenix is a beautifully complex record. The layers musically are well done and Ochsner's lyrics again paint a picture of God's grace and redemption. One of the best records of 2013. 

Stryper - No More Hell To Pay

No More Hell To Pay is the album I've been waiting for Stryper to put out!

Since 2009's mediocre hard rock Murder by Pride, Stryper has released a fantastic covers record and an album of re-recorded classics. Both albums featured new songs that made me want Stryper to release a full-legnth full of new material. It was clear from those new tracks that the band had the chops to deliver great hair metal still and that what the band had tried to reinvent themselves into was gone and replaced by what I love about Stryper.

Well, the yellow and black attack is back and No More Hell To Pay is the album I've been waiting for.

Revelation has a killer opening riff and is an anthemic hard hitting power ballad. It's a tease of what's to come.No More Hell to Pay is the latest in Stryper's great anthem, right up there with Soldiers Under Command and To Hell With the Devil. Saved By Love is a fast trashy song.

And then we get the album's lone misstep. Stryper's cover of Jesus Is Just Alright. This might be the only time these words are spoken.... DC Talk did it better.

The One is a nice little ballad. Marching Into Battle has all the makings of some of Stryper's hard rock days but the band finds a way to 80's it up. The lead guitar riffs are excellent. Te Amo brings back the glam rock goodness. Sticks and Stones has a great hook and feels like a Stryper song from their glory days. The leads on Renewed are some of the best on the album.

Minus the cover of Jesus Is Just Alright, No More Hell To Pay is an excellent metal record top to bottom. It's what Stryper fans have been waiting for. And they'll be glad it's finally here.

The Meltdown 2.18

All Christmas Music!

Close Your Eyes - Line In The Sand

I wasn't sure we'd ever see a third record from Close Your Eyes. After Shane Raymond left and Mike Sawyer's brief two month stint as vocalist, it looked liked Close Your Eyes was finished. But the band returned with Sam Robinson on vocals and finally we have Line In the Sand.

It's hard to not listen to Line In the Sand and feel a little sad that Raymond isn't handling the vocal duties anymore. But Robinson does a great job.

Stylistically, Close Your Eyes is still Close Your Eyes. Although instead of punk influence hardcore, Close Your Eyes is more hardcore influenced punk. While the band has always walked the line between old school hardcore and punk, they certainly lean more towards the punk side now. And there are new wrinkles thrown in.

Frame and Glass is a straight up rock ballad. It's a little weird among the hardcore/punk the precedes the song. But it's not the only one. Kings of John Payne is a melodic punk ballad. Trends and Phases is somewhere between the two previously mentioned tracks. My Way Home is a sort of hardcore ballad... Similar to Frame and Glass but with more attitude.

That's not meant as a negative. Just a statement that Close Your Eyes is slowly moving in a different direction. Line In the Sand is full of great hardcore/punk songs. Burdened By Hope, Days of Youth, Sleeping Giant, The End, and Skeletons are all killer hardcore/punk songs that will get circle pits moving and kids picking up the change. Line In the Sand still feels like it fits in Close Your Eyes discography.

Line In the Sand is a different Close Your Eyes for sure. But the same spirit of the band is still there. There are moments that will takes fans a second to get used to. But Line In the Sand is still full of great hardcore/punk songs. I just wonder where the band will go next...

Impending Doom - Death Will Reign

I have a love/hate relationship with Impending Doom. I loved There Will Be Violence. I thought it was a huge step forward and showed a lot of maturity and growth. But Baptized In Filth was lost on me. It was a step backwards in my opinion. So I was skeptical about Death Will Reign.

Death Will Reign is somewhere in the middle for me. Musically, it would fall in between There Will Be Violence and Baptized In Filth. There are elements about the record, that I'm not a huge fan of. But instantly, Death Will Reign is more enjoyable than Baptized In Filth.

Death Will Reign is just as fast as Baptized In Filth with just as many breakdowns. But it's the production on the record that sets it apart. The songs don't sound super processed or compressed to all hell. Baptized In Filth was cold and distant sounding. Death Will Reign is warm and rich sounding. Giving all the breakdowns and riffs space to grow and go somewhere. There might not be much dynamic range, but Impending Doom make use of what range they have. That warmth makes Death Will Reign sound heavier than Baptized in Filth.

Reeves takes some great vocal chances and gives his vocals a depth and emotion that I've never heard from Impending Doom before. Moments like the melodic breakdown on Rip, Tear, and Burn or the opening riffs on Hellhole and My Blood create great moments of respite from the brutal onslaught that is Impending Doom.

Impending Doom might not be bringing anything new to the table, but what they bring, they do well. Death Will Reign is a huge step up from Baptized In Filth.

The Letter Black - Rebuild

While I thoroughly enjoyed The Letter Black's full-length debut, Hanging On By Thread, there wasn't much about the record that got me excited. It was a very good female fronted hard rock record. Despite my somewhat lackluster thoughts on the album and band, I was looking forward to Rebuild. The album  was delayed twice and the band even went back into the studio to work on new songs to add to the record.

The wait was worth it. The Letter Black has stepped up their game. Rebuild is more of a complete package. The heavy songs are heavier and the ballads are better. Sarah Anthony's vocals (and her screams in particular) are stronger. Even the production is tighter on Rebuild.

The highlights of Rebuild are the albums big rock anthems. Songs like Sick Charade, Up From the Ashes, Rebuild, Smothering Walls, and Devil on Your Back are all full bodied, hard hitting rock songs. They drive the record and there's enough diversity between the tracks to keep it interesting. Pain Killer is the only "radio" friendly hard rock song. And it has a good hook. Sure, the ballads (Found, Outside Looking In, and Shattered) could all find their way on the radio and of those, Shattered is the only one that screams hit. Even among the ballads, The Letter Black does a great job keeping things fresh and diverse.

Whatever made The Letter Black pause and push back Rebuild, it was worth it. The songwriting has matured and it's evident that the Letter Black took some chances to do things differently on Rebuild. Well done.

States - Paradigm

Expectations can hurt. I was excited when Tooth and Nail signed States and re-released the band's fantastic new wave/indie rock hit machine, Room to Run. But T&N went independent and I guess States wasn't a part of their future. Still, Room to Run was a fantastic album and I was excited for Paradigm.

Honestly, I was disappointed my first listen through Paradigm. The heavy dance themes that drove Room to Run don't find their way on to Paradigm. The new wave themes are darker and don't have the same warmth as Room to Run. The pop sensibilities move out of the "mainstream" and into the indie realm. And the more I listened to Paradigm, the more I enjoyed it.

Paradigm feels like it could've been an instant indie hit in the early 2000's. Rock and roll that's influence by the Beach Boy's Pet Sounds. Laid back indie pop with strong melodies and Mindy White's gorgeous voice make Paradigm the perfect record for any music fan.

The ambient pad that opens up Circles, accompanied by White's vocals create a beautifully simple opening to the record. It's more laid back and haunting than anything from Room to Run. I Hope You Stay kicks things up a level, bringing a solid rock and roll back beat. It's clear from the first two tracks that there's an edge and rawness to Paradigm that Room to Run was too polished to have. Fever is Strokes...ish in it's New York attitude. But the song has some great moments of experimentation and pop fun. Running Away is as close as States gets to replicating some of the new wave dance sensibilities from Room to Run.

Fans of Denali and Blondie will still love Paradigm and States fans shouldn't fret, because the band is still great. Paradigm just feels more like Rilo Kiley than Blondie. Once the initial shock of not hearing what I was expecting wore off, I was pleasantly surprised and in love with States musical direction. Another great record from one of my new favorite bands.

The Meltdown 2.17

New music from Five Iron Frenzy, Still Remains, Beautiful Eulogy, The Letter Black, Living Sacrifice, and more.