Top 5 Metal Disappointments of 2011, by chim

5) Earth's Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I

I was fairly fanatical about Earth's 2008 album The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull when I first heard it and was pretty damn excited about Angels of Darkness when I first heard it was going to come out in early 2011. While Angels of Darkness wasn't bad by any means, Earth not only didn't seem to tread any new ground with it, but kind of seemed to have stagnated. Thisdoesn't bode well for the sequel to the album Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II that is supposed to come out early 2012.

4) Someone Stealing the 2011 Lycus demo from my doorstep

Lycus is an Oakland funeral doom band that released their first demo in 2011, hands down one of my favorite releases of 2011. Its less refined sounding than, say, Arcana Coelestia or Skepticism, and more like something between Asunder and older Profetus. It's dark and dirty and fucking great, and some fucking asshole that probably doesn't even like metal snatched it from my mailbox and I can't get another because they only made 100 or so.

3) Dark Castle - Surrender to All Life Beyond Form

Ok, you bought some new guitar pedals. That doesn't mean its a good thing to bombbard me with obnoxious tremelo or wah sounds, or whatever the hell you are using. Spirited Migration was such an amazing album, and your 2011 follow-up has some good moments, but I can't get past the massively distracting guitar effects that add nothing to the music. Honestly it would be a pretty decent album if she just turned off all of pedals.

2) Leviathan - True Traitor, True Whore

Not only a major disappointment, but also ranks high in the over-hyped albums of the year. Sterile hot topic calibre black metal with disjointed vocals from someone who has made a lot of solid black metal in the past. I guess he was too busy raping his girlfriend (omg allegedly) to focus on his music.

1) Loss - Despond

When Loss released the track An Ill Body Seats My Sinking Sight before their album dropped I was super stoked on it. There isn't nearly enough good American funeral doom and judging from this track, Despond was shaping up to be a pretty solid album. And then 2 months later the album came out and it was a boring pile of crap. I liken this episode to like when the trailer is better than the movie. Don't blow your load with the preview!

Lastly, runner up in disappointments for 2011 goes to black metal in general. What the fuck is your problem?