Cerpin Taxt’s Best Albums of 2016 – Part II (#5 – #1)

This is the concluding part to my Best Albums of 2016 list; you can read Part I (#10 – #6) here

Again, this list is to celebrate the most fantastic albums from 2016, and I highly urge you to check them out if you haven’t done so already – you may end up loving these as much as I do!

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#5 – Vektor – Terminal Redux (Thrash Metal / Progressive Metal)

Thrash metal isn’t exactly a prosperous genre nowadays; whilst ‘The Big Four’ are still alive and kicking (albeit frailly), their latest efforts have fallen short of their former glory. At least that’s the general consensus, but I’ve never been a thrash fan to begin with and I never thought any album could turn me round.

Cue Terminal Redux, and the explosive intro to ‘Charging the Void’; painting the cosmic canvas of an album that’s set to hyper speed from the word ‘go’. Vektor’s third album is a seamless trail of memorable, heavy riffs for well over 70 minutes of constant high energy; even the relatively gentle closers, ‘Collapse’ and ‘Recharging the Void’, ooze with gravity with the gravelly choruses or wailing female vocals. Like Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas’ Mariner, Terminal Redux is the soundtrack to an immense space-faring journey; one a little more exciting than No Man’s Sky (though the soundtrack for that is superb, too).

I’d wish for an extra pair of arms just so I could simultaneously play air guitar and air drums along to all of Terminal Redux; it’s grossly enjoyable and, dare I say, fun? Even the guitar tapping solo in ‘LCD [Liquid Crystal Disease]’ sounds like spaceship lasers flying across the galaxy. It’s a shame that most of Vektor left the band towards the end of 2016, but frontman David DiSanto is confident that Vektor will continue going on strong; and given how sound Vektor’s track record is, I have no doubt about that.

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Cerpin Taxt’s Best Albums of 2016 – Part I (#10 – #6)

Though 2016 is long, long gone, there are a large number of albums which still resonate strongly with me from last year that I couldn’t not write about, even if I am unforgivably late. Like my most disappointing albums of 2016 list, I’ve had to cut my ‘Album of the Year’ list into two parts because I’ve had so much to say about them!

Please note: there are a lot of albums which I still haven’t heard or ranked from 2016, either out of negligence or, well there really is no other excuse – if there’s an album you love that hasn’t made this list, there’s a chance I haven’t listened to it as of writing this article. Then again, there’s a higher chance that these albums succeeded it, in my opinion.

As ever, feel free to leave a comment below if you want to share your thoughts on these albums or whether you think they don’t belong here. But without further ado, here are my top albums from 2016:

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Frog’s Prog of the Year

After I completely shat over all that you love, I think it’s time to counterbalance with something more positive. No, 2016 wasn’t only shit, and yes, I do love well-executed progressive music. Maybe the bigger names did disappoint, but many smaller ones surprised, or, at least, met the expectations. So, without further ado, here’s a short, unranked list of the great things the year had to offer.

Cerpin Taxt’s Disappointing Albums of 2016 – Part II

Following on from yesterday’s article, this is the conclusion to my Disappointing Albums of 2016 list, where I discuss the albums that personally let me down this year. What? You haven’t read Part I yet? What are you doing here? You’ll ruin the surprise!

You can read Part I of my Disappointing Albums of 2016 here

Disclaimer: this is NOT my ‘Worst Albums of 2016’ list

Some of the albums on this list I genuinely like – but not these two, oh no, not these two. As ever, if you disagree, if you’re outraged and want to challenge me to a fist fight or if you want to counter my arguments, feel free to give your thoughts in the comments section below!

Cerpin Taxt’s Disappointing Albums of 2016 – Part I

2016 – what a year, ey? I’m sure you’re all aware of the *ahem*, yuge events that occurred over the past year, but you’re probably sick to the teeth of the ‘2016 is the worst’ rhetoric by now, so I won’t beat a dead horse.

But, to follow up on Frog’s Top Ew of the Year, I want to talk about what albums I found to be disappointing from 2016. This year has been quite remarkable in terms of the quality of music that has been released, though there have been some artists that failed to meet expectations, sometimes even miserably. The bands in this list are, what I feel to be, those artists. I love what these bands have done previously at some point in their discography, which plays a big factor in building expectations for these albums, but ultimately I’ve felt that their albums from 2016 were a let-down.

Disclaimer: This is NOT my ‘Worst Albums of 2016’ list.

The following five LPs are those that I felt have been personal disappointments, not the downright embodiment of humanity’s collective sin. I won’t be making a ‘Worst Of’ list, either; I don’t go out of my way to listen to objectively terrible music, sometimes we cross paths, but thankfully this year has been somewhat merciful.

These are just my opinions, so if yours are different or you feel like I’m being unfair, tell us in the comments section below! But first things first, here’s the first part of my Disappointing Albums of 2016:

Frog’s Top Ew of the Year

There are countless websites posting their ‘best-of-the-year’ lists. Much fewer, in comparison, write about the worst releases. And, since I’m apparently now well-known for having a passionate love for the prog – which means I’ll immediately repugnate bands and artists who make poor prog -, I thought this would be quite fitting for me.

Let’s establish some standards, before we begin. First, of course I won’t be discussing the absolute worst releases of the year. That would mean listening to an innumerable number of practically unknown bands and garbage with practically no resource, talent, and inspiration. I’ll be focusing my sights on the progressive rock and metal genres, with a particular attention to the bigger names of the scenes. Why? Because, as renowned artists, they have to live up to higher expectations. Whether this is good or bad will not be discussed, here, but it’s a fact. Failure to do so will summon a strong divide in their fan base: on one side, the fanboys and fangirls of the band, and, on the other side, the reasonable persons.