Kylesa- Static Tensions

I, unfortunately, wasn't working at Prosthetic when this record came out and the band was pretty much out of album cycle when I started, so I didn't get the opportunity to work this album or with this band very much. It's a fantastic record and a great band. Great mix of doom, "stoner," psych, and even some sludge and bordering on crust at times. "Static Tensions" walks the line between artistic trippy and dissonant anger so well. The band reminds me quite a bit of Eyes Like Knives, if they'd gone even heavier at the end, rather than quieter, mainly due to the back and forth male/female vocals. Definitely curious as to what they're going to do next.

Skeletonwitch- Breathing the Fire

I debated whether or not I was going to include bands I worked with but I figured if I like the record, I shouldn't punish the band by not including them on my illustrious list. (note sarcasm) This was one of the first things I got to work on when I started at Prosthetic and I was pumped. I liked "Beyond the Permafrost," but hadn't seen the band and didn't know all that much about them. It's definitely a good start to a job when your first project is to promote an album that totally fucking smokes. A lot of the albums/bands on my list you could debate whether or not they're metal. Some of them could be tagged "hipster metal," or prog, or hardrock, or hardcore or whateverthefuckcore. There's absolutely no debating this band is METAL. In fact, I'd say they're in the top 5 "true metal" bands in the US at this point. The band combines elements of black metal, death metal, thrash and NWOBM. The album flies by in no time (the longest track is 3:40) but manages to hold onto a real sense of melody, mainly due to Maiden/Thin Lizzy-esque leads. They're also monsters live and I've been lucky enough to see them several times in the past 6 months, with a few more coming in the next month.

Mastodon- Crack The Skye

So I've been really slacking on this album list. I had every intention of having this done between Christmas and New Year's Day. I'm a failed blogger; how embarrassing. Anywho, so here's my next album on my "Best of 09" list and shouldn't come as a shock to anyone. First off, I don't think I saw any top lists that didn't have this record on it and secondly, I've been on this band wagon for quite a while and I jocked their previous releases, hard, as well. The album kicks ass, pretty simply. I will say, in total honesty, the first time I threw this bad boy in, I was a little disappointed. I'd heard some rough mixes and was blown away, but the album took me a couple of listens to really get into. Not entirely sure why though. It's definitely their "least heavy" release and I think it took me off guard. But it grew on me, quickly. What it lacked in "heaviness" it made up for in general intensity and awesome (in the truest sense of the word) memorable melodies. I'd like to pick a favorite track from the album, but I can't; the whole thing just works so well together. (I guess that's sort of the point of a concept record.) This, to me, was the logical next step from Blood Mountain and I can't wait to hear what they recorded for the Jonah Hex film.