I guess this issue is already out. First time I see completely eye-to-eye with their #1. Good job dB!

1. Tombs – Path of Totality
2. Opeth- Heritage
3. Mastodon – The Hunter
4. In Solitude – TheWorld. The Flesh. The Devil
5. Brutal Truth- End Time
6. Hate Eternal – Phoenix Amongst the Ashes
7. YOB – Atma
8. 40 Watt Sun – The Inside Room
9. Inquisition – Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual…….
10. Junius – Reports From The Threshold of Death
11. Graveyard – Hisingen Blues
12. Primordial – Redemption at the Puritan's Hand
13. Exhumed – All Guts, No glory
14. False – False
15. Autopsy – Macabre Eternal
16. Revocation – Chaos of Forms
17. Trap Them – Darker Handcraft
18. Obscura – Omnivium
19. Drugs of Faith – Corroded
20. Subrosa – No Help for the Mighty Ones
21. Ulcerate – The Destroyers of All
22. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life
23. Atriarch – Forever the End
24. Disma – Towards the Megalith
25. Moab – Ab Ovo
26. Gridlink – Orphan
27. Skeletonwitch – Forever Abomination
28. Vallenfyre – A Fragile King
29. Crowbar – Sever the Wicked Hand
30. Mournful Congregation – The Book of Kings
31. Machine Head – Unto the Locust
32. ABSU – Abzu
33. Negative Plane – Stained Glass Revelations
34. Origin – Entity
35. Darkest Era – The Last Caress of Light
36. Deafheaven – Roads to Judah
37. Hammers of Misfortune – 17th Street
38. Krallice – Diotima
39. Rwake – Rest
40. Graf Orlock – Doom Box

I've always considered Inquisition a 2010 release. I guess if dB is considering it a 2011, I will too.

I have a lot of work to do. I haven't heard at least half of these albums. Same goes for the Top Albums of 2011 thread.

Good to see YOB near the top... and Trap Them, period; it's one of my more oft-listened albums this year.

Reading this made me miss StonerRock.com's end of year list.

That gives me fuckin' hope! If Tombs, Inquisition and YOB are in there, then I feel better about these types of lists. I still have issues with it, but those 3 being in there are a positive step forward in 'top album lists'...

I got this issue today. Pretty solid list. Tombs is my #1 too.

Rwake at #39 = bullshit.



imo.

Decibel's usually pretty well on the mark with their year end lists. There's always a little room to argue about placement or the occasional odd choice, as there is when any list like this, but overall the 40 they put on there are usually very valid picks.

Well I guess I'm officially old and out of touch of current music now. I haven't heard of half those bands and only have a handful on that list.

I've never heard of 13 of those groups and only have 10 of the albums, but like mentioned above, putting TOMBS, YOB and Inquisition in the top ten pretty much validates it as a good list for me. The remainder of the 17 are things that mostly fall in "mehs-ville" for me (Origin, Crowbar, Skeletonwitch), but some others I'd like to check out eventually (False, Fucked Up, Moab).

I'm mostly surprised at no Burzum. They gave that guy a cover and that album kicks ass.

that crowbar release was extremely weak.

Uncle acid? Red fang?

Agreed. It deserves to be much higher.

you do realize that the list is a top 40 and not a top 5 right?

Pretty shitty list, particularly the top 10 (sans Tomb, 40 Watt Sun and Yob)...glad to see Tombs get the well-deserved top album slot though...the inclusion of Moab, Ulcerate and GridLink are pleasant surprises...puzzled how Moab isn't getting more attention in this forum...helluva band...shocking exclusions, IMO, are the new albums by Gates of Slumber, Vektor and The Atlas Moth...all three have gotten a lotta love from critics, including those at Decibel...would've swapped Hate Eternal for Gigan; Crowbar for Sourvein; Revocation for Vektor; Junius for The Atlas Moth; Skeletonwitch for Vreid; and Vallenfyre for Miasmal...True Widow might not qualify as metal, but would've crammed them into the list as well...interesting that no Southern Lord albums appear to have made the list this year...aside from Black Cobra's album, which is awesome IMO, I can't say I disagree w/ Decibel on that matter...the move to crust has been a bust.

machinehead lmao

I've seen Moab 2 or 3 times and they always deliver, glad to see them getting some notice, hope it translates into financial success too. Still think that Grayceon's All We Destroy was top notch and JPG's voice & cello lift it above some of the generic metal albums on that list. Maybe just too clean for some?

I miss the Sr.com list as that's always been the list that most caters to my tastes. Reviewing this list I only recognize a handful and like a few I (one being the out of place Graveyard). Taking in consideration the focus of this list seems like Rwake should be a lot higher and the omission of Black Cobra seems like a mistake.

lo pan? the devil's blood? esoteric? Opeth is in a right place.

Isn't there a beef between Decibel and SL. Might explain the lack of SL albums on the list, or it might just be that SL didnt release anything that great this year.

No Blut Aus Nord? Not sure how into that band Decibel is since I just jumped on the French black metal bandwagon.

Also happy to see Disma on that list, such a fun DM album.

^ With you re: Blut Aus Nord...kind of a down year for black metal...was almost certain they'd be one of the few in the top 40 year ender along w/ Ash Borer...and Decibel is familiar w/ the Frenchies as they included Deathspell Omega in last year's list...they also gave Glorior Belli - another French band - a 9 rating last month, and they didn't make the cut either...go figure.

Somewhat surprised that neither Batillus nor Hull cracked the top 40, while Junius - a meh-ish post-something-or-other band w/ a Coldplay vocal influence - did...given the inclusion of bands like Moab and Graveyard, it stands to reason that Lo-Pan should've been in there as well...and how the fuck did Dragged Into Sunlight, which got a 9 rating earlier this year, not make it?

Moab is pretty sweet, but a brand spankin new band, and so I was a little surprised to see them on the list. But, I guess they think the album is just that good. Being a Utahn, I laugh a little at the name. Moab (the town itself) is filled with rich Sierra Club lawyers and hippie college-drop out river guides, all listening to Phish and Galactic over and over again. I definitely do not think of heavy music, or anything remotely cool when I hear the name. Goblin Valley, now that woulda sold me just a bit more.

Pretty rad that Subrosa made the list. Home town pride, rah rah rah, and all that.

Yeah, that number twenty is my number one.

Yeah and neither party tries to hide it at all. It sucks because I know the Black Cobra album is Top 40 worthy and the Earth album probably is as well (if it counts as metal). I also dug the Planks thing SL put out this year, but technically that's a reissue.

I thought it was phenominal year for black metal with the Blut aus Nord(s), Burzum, Inquisition, Negative Plane and if they count; Tombs and Terra Tenebrosa. dB has never given Blut aus Nord their due at all, which they'll look kind of silly for as time moves along and classic albums continue to be produced. It's not like they're some unknown phenom in the black metal world now. I always thought dB had a beef with the "bedroom black metal" genre, which I think they sort of lump them into. But then they did the big features on Leviathan/Jef Whitehead or even Burzum, so they might have turned some kind of a corner on that.

http://pitchfork.com/features/show-no-mercy/8717-best-albums-of-2011/

Pitchfork's top 40 metal albums. Couple good ones lots that didn't do much for me though.

It seemed like this last year or two was good for Black Cobra in terms of popularity. I find it weird that both of these lists haven't mentioned them.