What are your favorite albums of 2013 so far?

[Kenbo Slice]

Well, we're a little halfway through 2013 and I was wondering what everyone's favorite albums are so far.

I'll get this ball rolling...
1. This Is How The Wind Shifts by Silverstein. This album is fantastic and the way the songs connect are fantastic. For every song there's another telling the same story from a different point of view, which I feel is an interesting approach. Plus, Silverstein gets better with every album, but I don't know if anything they do can top this. Here's an example of how two songs connect:

Spoiler

2. Hey! Hello! by Hey! Hello!. A great pop/rock album with a very punky feel. This two member band is going places. Each song is infectious and catchy. Example:

Spoiler

3. Forever Halloween by The Maine. This band has released three mediocre pop/rock albums before this one. However, this album is different. It's got a very dark and brooding atmosphere. It's also very 90's rock influenced. Example

Spoiler

 

[Dirge Eterna]

In no particular order:

DevilDriver - Winter Kills

Black Sabbath - 13

Stone Sour - House of Gold & Bones ? Part 2

Five Finger Death Punch - The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Vol. 1

Puscifer - Donkey Punch the Night

Ghost - Infestissumam

Drowning Pool - Resilience

Killswitch Engage - Disarm the Descent

With everyone posting videos I feel inadequate with just a text post.... but I am at work and any video sites I want to go to are blocked.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Coffins' The Fleshland! Japanese death/doom with an insanely heavy production. Simplistic but catchy guitar riffs backed by a tone that is heavier than a bulldozer. While I still prefer the predecessor album, Buried Death, this one is still fucking amazing. Awesome cover art too.

Spoiler

Tengger Cavalry's The Expedition. Chinese blackened folk metal. The folk elements in particular are based around old Mongol music - instruments, traditional throat vocals, the works. Really cool stuff.

Spoiler

Graveland's Thunderbolts of the Gods. Pagan black metal. Graveland are one of my all-time favourite bands, as perhaps evidenced by my username, and so I was really looking forward to this. Rob Darken (the musician behind Graveland) did not disappoint. There are glorious melodies, a powerful rhythm tone and very awesome vocals split between Rob's vicious rasps and female choirs. It also has brilliant cover art.

Spoiler

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

First off, Gloryhammer's Tales From the Kingdom of Fife. It's a new project by the guy behind Alestorm, Christopher Bowes, and like Alestorm is a big parody of folk metal bands with the added bonus of being awesome, Gloryhammer does the same for power metal bands. The album is deliciously cheesy and the band clearly revel in it. Also, the narrative of the album is fantastic - an evil sorcerer invades fantasy-Scotland with an army of undead unicorns, prompting a young prince to quest for a warhammer, an amulet and a magical dragon as well as enlisting the help of the mightiest warriors in the land to act as his personal army so he can defeat the sorcerer. Brilliant stuff.

Spoiler

I also really like Amon Amarth's Deceiver of the Gods. I know all of Amon Amarth's albums are pretty much the same, but that doesn't stop this album being great and continuing to prove why Amon Amarth are the single best melodic death metal band out there. I also really love the focus on Loki in this album, it's about time he got his own album.

Spoiler

I also rate Bad Religion's True North as a brilliant punk album, and a welcome return to form. I think this one's probably up there as one of my favourite Bad Religion albums, especially as it even manages to sound like the two best Bad Religion albums, No Control and Suffer.

Spoiler

And finally, an honourable mention must go to Avenged Sevenfold's Hail to the King. It's not a perfect album, but it tries very hard, and they've managed to put together some great tracks on it that definitely attempt to bridge modern metal and classic metal, which is admirable. Pretty good stuff.

Spoiler

 

[Calibanbutcher]

In no particular order:
Black Sabbath 13
Deep Purple - Now What!
Jack White - Blunderbuss
SWIMM - Feel


At least I hope they came out this year, not really sure, but I bought them this year, so it's good enough for me.

 

[Bernzz]

Stone Sour's The House of Gold & Bones Part 2:

Spoiler

And by far, Bring Me the Horizon's Sempiternal:

Spoiler

 

[floppylobster]

Just to soften it a little from the mostly metal that will end up being listed here -

The Killers - Battle Born
The Strokes - Comedown Machine
Tired Pony - Ghost of the Mountain
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
Frightened Rabbits - Pedestrian Verse
The National - Trouble Will Find Me

 

[Ecliptica Wolf]

For me personally its been a pretty poor year for albums. Mallory Knox's 'Signals' from 2012 stands out for me in recent memory though.

 

[TheDoctor455]

"Ulysses Dies At Dawn" by The Mechanisms.

I could call them an indie band operating in the UK...

but they'd prefer "immortal steampunk space pirates".

I say 'album', but its more like 'story set'...

see, they don't do traditional albums...

they're shows are all about telling stories through song and well...

I can guarantee you won't hear anything quite like them again.

Spoiler: Ulysses Dies At Dawn

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

Can I be extremely cliché and say Daft Punk?
Their new album is the bees knees and is such a great summer listen. I've had 'Get Lucky' playing on my I-Pod through most of the summer it must be driving people barmy.

Visage's new album!
This is really good and such a throwback to the New Romantics. Steve Strange may be an insane son-of-a-***** but the man knows the New Romantic sound. Well... I should hope he does considering Visage invented the New Romantics lol.

Sting's new album The Last Ship.
It's Sting... of course it's going to be good.

...

Looking through everybody's suggestions and then comparing it to my own one thing is obvious: I am either extremely 'boring' or I have extremely good taste.

 

[Archer666]

Empire of the Sun - Ice of the Dune is the best album this year for me.

 

[Berserker119]

Avenged Sevenfold's Hail To The King

Dillinger Escape Plan's One Of Us Is The Killer

Alice in Chain's The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here

Queens of The Stone Age's ...Like Clockwork

Nekrogoblikon's Power

 

[mysecondlife]

I honestly haven't bought music in a long time so I couldn't tell you.

I am looking forward to The Hush Sound's new album coming later this year though. That's about it.

..or if Radiohead decides to say "We're releasing this album next week" out of blue.

Can I be extremely cliché and say Daft Punk?
Their new album is the bees knees and is such a great summer listen. I've had 'Get Lucky' playing on my I-Pod through most of the summer it must be driving people barmy.

I'm sure you wont mind another listen.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

The Dillinger Escape Plan- One Of Us Is The Killer
Nine Inch Nails- Hesitation Marks
Black Spiders- This Savage Land
Streetlight Manifesto- The Hands That Thieve
The Bronx- The Bronx IV
Norma Jean- Wrongdoers
Rob Zombie- Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor
Black Sabbath- 13
Stone Sour- House of Gold and Bones pt2
Newton Faulkner- Studio Zoo
Kvelertak- Meir
Kylesa- Ultraviolet
Clutch- Earth Rocker
iwrestledabearonce- Late For Nothing
Killswitch Engage- Disarm The Descent
Bad Religion- True North

That's in no particular order, by the way. Super excited for the Vista Chino album, the next Down EP, Protest The Hero album and He Is Legend are recording (Oh my sweet jesus, that is going to be fantastic) and probably a few other things that I can't remember right now. It's been a really good year so far, everything I've been interested in has come up awesome.

 

[piinyouri]

Summonings "Old Mornings Dawn"
Stratovarius' "Nemesis"

And Children of Bodoms album "Halo of Blood" while probably not a pick for AotY, is a refreshing return to a form that suits them best in my opinion.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Ghost- Infestissumam- I liked their single well enough to get the album. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it is quite good after I listened to the whole thing.

Nine Inch Nails- Hesitation Marks- I heard the live stream and it's just all of the awesome.

Black Sabbath- 13- I was kinda skeptical about them, but I was leaning more towards optimism after the single. Now I just love the album.

Plus, I'm seeing them tonight. So stoked.

EDIT: I totally forgot about Daft Punk's Random Access Memories.

I mean, it's not like I wasn't listening to it for a solid month or anything. >.>

 

[LightspeedJack]

Foals - Holy Fire
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Mac Miller - Watching Movies With The Sound Off
Counterparts - The Difference Between Hell & Home
Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal

 

[staika]

Lets see, in no particular order

We came as romans- Tracing Back Roots. This one I didn't like at first but it slowly grew on me and I love it now.

Hands Like Houses- Unimagine. This one is my favorite of them all so far. I love hands like houses and I was excited when this came out. Got to see them live when I went to warped tour as well, that was fun.

Northlane- Singularity

Born of Osiris- Tomorrow we die alive

 

[someonehairy-ish]

That pop rock band made me want to claw my own ears off (I closed the youtube tab instead).

I've been enjoying Steven Wilson's The Raven That Refused to Sing, and also Newton Faulkner's Studio Zoo is good, but I've not had the chance to listen to it much. What I've heard of the newest Alice in Chains offering was also promising.

The new Avenged I found rather disappointing, tbh. Not that I've been a major fan of theirs in years.

Between the Buried and Me's The Parallax II is probably my top pick for the year so far.

 

[Elfgore]

Silverstein- This is How the Wind Shifts. Really well done album. Feels like a return to Discovering the Waterfront

Hands Like Houses- Unimagine. It's HLH... they can't release a bad album.

Gloryhammer- Tales From the Kingdom of Fife. Amazing parody of epic fantasy power metal.

That's it so far. The only album I am truly looking forward to this year may not even be released this year. Alesana, it's been two years. Get a God damn move on!