Top Ten Albums of 2006….

Okay, I went through all the great stuff that came out this year and compiled the most concise list I possibly could of all of the stuff that I dug the most in the past year. Some of these albums have definitely retained their longevity to me. There are some obvious albums that are absent from this list, don’t think they sucked at all, these are just discs I really got into more than anything else.

10. Sick Of It All – Death To Tyrants
Abacus Recordings

Twenty years into this game and they managed to release one of their most vicious albums EVER. Sick Of It All has always been one of my all time favorites and that doesn’t seem like it’ll ever change.

9. Cattle Decapitation – Karma.Bloody.Karma
Metal Blade Records

They went from grind to straight up death metal, but do it with finesse and an ability to create an atmosphere with each song. No monotony. All of the songs on this album have their own identity, which is rare for this genre. Big, big points for being rather outspoken about their views on Christian Hardcore and waving the flag for vegetarianism.

8. Ignite – Our Darkest Days
Abacus Recordings

Goddamn, just when you thought Ignite were a thing of the past, they show back up and show what real West Coast Hardcore is. As melodic as it is punishing, they have never sounded more focused and urgent then they do now.

7. Strike Anywhere – Dead FM
Fat Wreck Chords

Wow, Strike Anywhere can run circles around their peers with their brand of intellectual punk-hardcore. Dropping some of the most intelligent lyrical content this side of Bad Religion and the most infectious vocal melodies this side of….ahhh, fuck it. You know them, you already love them. Just buy it.

6. Arsis – United In Regret
Willowtip Records

Is Arsis the new saviors of American Heavy Metal? I would go on record saying that after this album gets circulated more and they write their follow up for Nuclear Blast, you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who cannot resist their memorable chops. For fucks sake, my nephews who are 8 and 11 love this band. You should too.

5. The Loved Ones – Keep Your Heart
Fat Wreck Chords

Dude, if a year ago, you had said that The Loved Ones were going to blow up, I would’ve said to you “where you been? This band is TITS!” Good time rock n’ roll with a little punk flair. Mix an ex-member pedigree which your little shit nothing band can touch. Always good for a party or just driving around.

4. Tim Barry – Rivanna Junction
Suburban Home Records

Okay, so I didn’t get a new Avail record this year, but this is close enough. What you got is a frontman from a great band with an acoustic guitar writing awesome songs with a very minimal back up band. Exit Wounds & Wait At Milano are my two favorite songs of the year. Hopefully 2007 will see a proper Avail release.

3. Planes Mistaken For Stars – Mercy
Abacus Recordings

Holy shit, talk about a step into depressing territory. These four dudes from Colorado definitely have managed to make an album that has hit every nerve in my body. From the artwork, to the lyrical content, to the music, Mercy is a journey into sonic misery. You’d be hard pressed to find a band that can do that to you.

2. Misery Index – Discordia
Relapse Records

Talk about redefining your sound. Misery Index lost an integral part of their line up (again) and managed to top themselves by getting two new members who add a whole new element to their sound. As punk as they are metal, as hardcore as they are grind, Misery Index is definitely in the business of taking names and kicking asses these days. If you’ve missed them live (which you shouldn’t, they tour 300 days a year,) you’re doing yourself a serious injustice. Rectify that shit now.

1. Starkweather – Croatoan
Candlelight Records

Yes, it leaked on the internet last year, but the official release was this year and it was worth the wait for new material. Starkweather singlehandedly just annihilated everyone that directly and indirectly has ripped them off in the past 15 years. There is no other band that can do what they do, I’m willing to put money on that fact. The best news is that they’re already hard at work on a follow up and from what I’ve been told, it’s going to kill the material found on Croatoan, if you can believe that.

It’s almost over….

Christmas is only 6 more days away.

And I can’t wait for it to be over.

I’m not really the heartless person that I can seem to others, but there’s something about this time of the year that just makes me want to stay in my room and ignore the outside world until the holiday cheer is over.

I’m not going to get into a big speech on why I don’t believe in Christmas, nor am I going to do anything rash and say that I’m going to tell kids that Santa is a lie and their parents are horrible humans for making them believe that a fat guy that works one day a year slides down a chimney to leave them a ton of presents. I would do that for shits and giggles, but in all reality why would I? That’s unfair because kids are generally nice and hopefully the less effected they are by some bitter jackasses remarks, the less of a chance that they grow up to be shitty adults.

One thing that sticks in my craw about Christmas is the blatant commercialism of the holiday. I’m not a religious person at all, but if you look at the roots of the holiday, it’s supposed to be about the birth of a Messiah, rather than a celebration of greed, envy and gluttony. Whoops, there it is. I went there.

Maybe I’m just bitter because I don’t really get anything for Christmas anymore. Maybe I’m just bitter because I work with the public and the closer it gets to the holiday, the lower my tips get because they had to buy everything their family asked for.

Oh well, it’s almost over.

Other cool shit that’s been keeping me occupied lately is the show Dexter on Showtime. The season finale was this past Sunday and it RULED. They just signed on to do a second season and I hope it is as good as the first season. A definite must own when the season is released on DVD.

Seeing Napalm Death two nights in a row made for an awesome weekend. Many thanks to Jim, Mike, Ryan, Justin and Nick to hooking that up.

Coming sometime in the next week, I’ll post my year end list of the albums that I really liked, as well as my +/- for the year. It’ll probably be a bunch of shit talk, but what else am I known for? I’m also going to be posting my archive of reviews that I did for a site that I recently stopped writing for. I’m going to post them just so they have a new home and whatnot. Maybe I’ll start writing reviews again. We’ll see.

First day here…

After horribly neglecting hostagecalm.com, I’m changing over to wordpress and probably scraping the old domain all together.

It was a good idea while it lasted, but it didn’t last long.

I don’t expect to update this all that often, but you never know. Inspiration is funny like that.