The Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2008
My favorite part of reading year-end-best lists as a kid was the blind outrage that an obscure-ish record I loved (say: Hammerhead’s Into the Vortex) not only lacked the merit for inclusion where it belonged (Alternative Press, not terrible at all in the early ’90s), but where it very clearly didn’t (Rolling Stone). That’s the true seismic power of the vast landscape of “extreme” music: As elitist as we can be, sometimes we secretly want “our band” to be the inexplicable crossover that (temporarily) converts all those unappreciative dolts and pussies to our way of thinking.
Now that I’m participating in the assembly of said lists—and have evolved into a different type of prick in my early 30s—I don’t give much of a fuck that, say, the #2 album I submitted for this list didn’t even come close to making the cut. But I have a great fondness for seething elitism, regardless of age. So I look forward to this list being eviscerated by disbelieving readers from our message board and beyond. And, maybe every ninth post or so, begrudgingly respected as the (cough: awesome) composite that it is. Although what fun is that? —Andrew Bonazelli
40. Coffins, Buried Death
39. Withered, Folie Circulaire
38. Graveyard, Graveyard
37. North, What You Were
36. Decrepit Birth, Diminishing Between Worlds
35. Witch, Paralyzed
34. Aura Noir, Hades Rise
33. Cynic, Traced in Air
32. Meshuggah, ObZen
31. Various Artists, This Comp Kills Fascists
30. Samothrace, Life’s Trade
29. Blacklisted, Heavier than Heaven Lonelier than God
28. Bloodbath, The Fathomless Mastery
27. Testament, The Formation of Damnation
26. 5ive, Hesperus
25. Hennes Siste Høst, Høst
24. GridLink, Amber Gray
23. Trap Them, Seizures in Barren Praise
22. Hour of 13, Hour of 13
21. Hail of Bullets, Of Frost and War
20. Intronaut, Prehistoricisms
19. Gods and Queens, Gods and Queens
18. Toxic Holocaust, An Overdose of Death
17. Esoteric, The Maniacal Vale
16. Enslaved, Vertebrae
15. Gojira, The Way of All Flesh
14. Pyramids, Pyramids
13. Amon Amarth, Twilight of the Thunder God
12. Krallice, Krallice
11. Harvey Milk, Life...The Best Game in Town
10. Disfear, Live the Storm
09. Made Out of Babies, The Ruiner
08. Wetnurse, Invisible City
07. Origin, Antithesis
06. Rotten Sound, Cycles
05. The Gates of Slumber, Conqueror
04. Opeth, Watershed
03. Genghis Tron, Board Up the House
02. Nachtmystium, Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1
01. Torche, Meanderthal
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