Vagabond’s top 10 albums of 2011.

Yeah, I decided to do one of these silly list things that every other blogger and their grandma does. Keep in mind this “top 10” is subject to change because I haven’t properly digested or even heard every good release from this year yet. Enjoy.

10. Horrid – Horrid



One of the first bands to REALLY impress me with their debut album this year, these maniacs play a ripping blend of old-school Sarcofago, Possessed and Sadistic Intent worship. It’s a shame this release was limited to a small number of units.

09. Vanhelgd – Church of Death



Swedish death metal that has more in common with bands like Asphyx and Bolt Thrower rather than Entomed, Grave and Dismember. Easily one of the best albums emerge from Sweden in recent times.

08. Antichrist – Forbidden World



Thrash album of the year, hands down. These Swedes are one of the few newer thrash bands who actually have their own sound and don’t come across as a direct rip off of their 80’s thrash heroes, and I salute them for that. Great album!

07. Erebus Enthroned – Night’s Black Angel



I haven’t been following black metal as closely as I used to, but Sydney’s Erebus Enthroned definitely caught my attention with “Night’s Black Angel”. This is the best BM release I’ve heard in a while.

06. Autopsy – Macabre Eternal



Old-school US death metal legends reunite and put out an EP in 2011 then blow everyone’s heads out of the water with their best release since “Mental Funeral”. Well done, gentlemen, well done.

05. Portrait – Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae



It seems Sweden is dominating this list and with good reason, too. No other traditional metal album released this year touched the brilliance of Portrait’s sophomore effort. In Solitude (also from Sweden, gasp!) came close, but not quite close enough.

04. Assaulter – Boundless!



With “Boundless!” Assaulter improved on every aspect of their sound and have shown us that they can’t be pigeonholed into any specific sound or genre. Definitely the best Australian metal album to come out in 2011.

03. Miasmal – Miasmal



Death metal album of the year for me. Miasmal takes the regular “TURN THE HM-2 UP TO 11 GO FOR THE THROAT D-BEAT D-BEAT D-BEAT UUURRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH” sound that Swedish death metal is known for and injects it with a healthy dose of crust punk, sounding like Wolfbrigade (my favourite punk band) gone metal.

02. Blasphemophagher – The III Command of the Absolute Chaos



About time I featured some war metal in this list. Blasphemophagher definitely didn’t fuck around when writing songs for their third album. This slab of warmongering black/death destroys everything in it’s path.

01. Midnight - Satanic Royalty



What else was it gonna be? I’ve been waiting years for these filthy bastards to deliver a full length, and fukk, do they deliver! By far my favourite album of the year. Motorcharged Venom-worshipping metalpunk at it’s finest. You can’t stop steel!!!

So there you have it, my top 10 of 2011. If I’ve missed anything, I either haven’t given it a proper listen or something on the list was just better. Now let’s see what 2012 has in stall for us…