Early word is that 2009 is going to be an impressively strong year. So, thank you Vendetta Music for making some of the great things that happened in 2007, bleed all over 2008. 2008 needed the abuse.

I have heard and seen some great bands this year. However, I must say that there was not enough to constitute a top ten like I have years prior. I’m not saying that there wasn’t anything capable that was published, nor am I saying that it was all shit. I’m simply saying, compared to prior years, there wasn’t a lot of albums that blew my socks off this year. No, HexRx. No, Brain Leisure. etc. So, this year I’m choosing to list off everything that I remember listening^[1] to over the year (and I’m SURE I’m forgetting something… -as a matter of fact, I need to add Battery Cage’s digital only release now-) and am just saying if they were good, crappy or average.

I’m also adding some nuggets to the right hand-channel. A video, some quotes from the year by artists and various cover arts. Enjoy!

RATING KEY:

• Artist Name – Album Title = Excellent

• Artist Name – Album Title = Good

• Artist Name – Album Title = Above average.
• Artist Name – Album Title = Average.
• Artist Name – Album Title = Not so good.
• Artist Name – Album Title = FAIL-WHALE

If you are looking to purchase any of these albums, give all that hard earned .

2008: A year of tonal coitus in the ears of Stonethorn

[distatix] – Medication

Accessory – More Than Machinery

Adam-X – State Of Limbo

Ad·ver·sary – Bone Music

Aerodrone – Sceneboy

Aesthetic Perfection – A Violent Emotion^[2]

Agonised by Love – Lovesick Society^[3]

Agonoize – For The Sick And Disturbed
Ah Cama-Sotz – Declaration of Innocence, Limited Edition^[4]
Alec Empire – The Golden Foretaste Of Heaven

Alter Der Ruine – Giants From Far Away

Ambassador21 – Justified Thirst For Blood
Amduscia – Madness In Abyss
Amnistia – Blackguard
Anders Manga – Xs And The Eyes
Angelspit – Blood Death Ivory
Angie Damage – Nicotine Tongue

Animassacre – Evolve
Anne Clark – Full Moon
Apocalyptica – Worlds Collide, Special Edition
AqME – Heresie
Arcaide – Cyclic Sound From The Form
Artifact – Only Salvation

Ashbury Heights – Morningstar In A Black Car EP

Atrocity – Werk 80 II, Deluxe Edition
AutoAuto – Celeste
Ayreon – 01011001
Ayria – Hearts For Bullets, Limited Edition
Ayria – The Gun Song
Ayumi Hamasaki – Guilty
Bauhaus – Go Away White

Baxter Lilly – Unsichtbare Flecken

Behind The Scenes – Fragment[ed]
Birthday Massacre, The – Looking Glass
Black Heaven – Negativ
Black Light Burns – Cover Your Heart & the Anvil Pants Odyssey^[5]
Blank – Impact Zone
Blutengel – Dancing In The Light (Forsaken)
Blutengel – Dancing In The Light (Solitary)
Blutengel – Winter Of My Life/Point Of No Return

Boole – The Vital Few

Boris – Message/Floor Shaker
Boris – Smile
Bug, The – Angry Ganja

Bug, The – London Zoo
C/A/T – At Peace
Chiasm – Reform
Children Of Bodom – Blooddrunk
Christian Death – Six Six Sixth Communion
Client – Untitled Remix
Coil – The New Backwards
Collide – Two Headed Monster
Colony 5 – Buried Again

agonised-by-love-lovesick-society

Combichrist – Frost EP Sent To Destroy

Cruxshadows, The – Immortal

Die Form – Bach Project
Die Form – Her(t)z Frequenz

Enduser – Left

ESA – How Pure Would Your Utopia Be
Essence Of Mind – Insurrection^[8]

evol-intent-era-of-diversion

Evol Intent – Era Of Diversion

Faderhead – FH3
Faint, The – Fasciinatiion
Felix Marc – Pathways
FGFC820 – Law And Ordnance, Limited Edition^[9]
Filter – Anthems For The Damned
Firefox AK – If I Were A Melody
Fixmer McCarthy – Into The Night^[10]

F.O.D – Synthesizer Tanzmusik

Foretaste – Terrorist TV
Foundation Hope – Tunes For The Wounded
Fractional – Come Mierda
Funker Vogt – White Trash

Gary Numan – Jagged Edge^[11]

Geomatic – Blue Beam

Gothminister – Happiness In Darkness
Grid, The – Doppelganger

Hadouken! – Declaration of War
Hadouken! – Music For An Accelerated Culture
Hanzel Und Gretyl – 2012 Zwanzig Zwo?lf

Hardwire – Konflict

HEALTH – Disco
Hercules And Love Affair – Hercules And Love Affair
Hex On – In Slow Motion
Hocico – Memorias Atras
Hybrid – Finished Symphony, Remixed
Iambia – Provocateur, Limited Edition

IAMX – President^[12]

IC 434 – Bacteriate
Idiot Pilot – Wolves
Illusion Of Light – 3ndlo2
Imperative Reaction – Minus All

informatik-beyond

Informatik – Beyond

Integral – Rise
Interface – Destination Focus
Iris – Hydra
Iris – Lands Of Fire
James D. Stark – Moonstruck
Jens Bader – Compensation For Pain And Suffering-The Best Of 1991-2004
Jens Bader – Out Of Phase
Jesus On Extasy – Beloved Enemy, Limited Edition

johnny-hollow-dirty-hands

Johnny Hollow – Dirty Hands

Junkie XL – Booming Back At You
Juno Reactor – Gods & Monsters^[13]
kETvECTOR – The Infinite Regress

Kloq – Move Forward

KMFDM – Brimborium
KMFDM – Extra – Volume 1
KMFDM – Extra – Volume 2
Kontour – Scanners
Krystal System – Underground
L’Ame Immortelle – Namenlos
La Magra – Schwarze Boten, Silver Edition

Ladytron – Velocifero

Lahannya – Welcome To The Underground
Laibach – Laibachkunstderfuge
Latexxx Teens – Death Club Entertainment

Leandra – Metamorphine

Left Spine Down – Fighting For Voltage

Legion – Legion
Leæther Strip – Civil Disobedience
Leæther Strip – Retention No.2
Leæther Strip – When Blood Runs Dark

le-diktat-unabomber

Le Diktat – Unabomber

London After Midnight – Oddities (Live, Rare, Acoustic, Remix)
London After Midnight – Selected Scenes From The End Of The World
Lucidstatic – Gravedigger
Machinae Supremacy – Overworld
Man And Machines – Analog Hearts, Digital Minds
Manufactura – Psychogenic Fugue, Limited Edition
Margareds – Kingdom Of Patience
Mark Nicholas – Perversions
Mars Volta, The – The Bedlam In Goliath

Meat Beat Manifesto – Autoimmune

Memmaker – How To Enlist In A Robot Uprising

Midnight Resistance – Remote
Mind Necrosis Factor – Morphogenesis

Mindless Self Indulgence – If

Mindless Self Indulgence – Never Wanted To Dance, The Remixes
Mindless Self Indulgence – On It
Mindless Self Indulgence – Pay For It
Ministry – Cover Up

Miss Construction – Kunstprodukt

Miss Kittin – Batbox

Modulate – Detonation
Mono-Anime – Industrial Thought Patterns
Monolith – Reborn
Morgan Page – Elevate
Moshpit – Follow The Loser

Nachtmahr – Feuer Frei!

miss-kittin-batbox

Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I-IV

Nine Inch Nails – The Slip

Noctiferia – Slovenska Morbida
Nordschlacht – Silence, Beauty And Cruelty
Nordvargr – Pyrrhula
Nurzery [Rhymes] – Thorns

Object – The Ethane Asylum

Ohgr – Devils In My Details
Olhon – Underwater Passage
Oomph – Monster
Otto Dix – Starost
Pain – Cynic Paradise^[14]

Pendulum – In Silico

Pivot – Original Soundtrack, My Heart
Plastic Noise Experience, The – Reiz und Reaktion
Plastic Toys – For Tonight Only

portion-control-slug

Portion Control – Slug

Portishead – Third
Proyecto Mirage – Turn It On
Puscifer – V Is For The Viagra – The Remixes
Qntal – VI Translucida

rabbit-junk-this-life-is-where-you-get-fucked

Rabbit Junk – This Life Is Where You Get Fucked

Ratatat – LP3

Recently Deceased – Cellardoor

Red Cell – Lead To Follow
Red Flag – Once Past Twice Future
Red Flag – Remnants
Retractor – The False Memory
Revue Noir – Anthology Archive
Rex The Dog – I Can See You, Can You See Me
Rex The Dog – The Rex The Dog Show

Rome – Masse Mensch Material

Rotersand – I Cry, Limited Edition
Rozencrantz – Romancer
Run Level Zero – Arctic Noise
SAM – Destruction Unit
Sara Noxx – XX-Ray
Scarlet Leaves – Outlining States Of Mind
Second Version – Schwarzer Engel Kuess Mich
Smashing Pumpkins, The – American Gothic
Soil And Eclipse – The Mirror

Solar Fake – Broken Grid

Sonne Hagal – Jordansfrost
Standeg – Ultrahightechviolet^[15]
State Of The Union – Evol Love Industry
Straftanz – Forward Ever, Backward Never!

stray-abuse-by-proxy

Stray – Abuse By Proxy

Suicidal Romance – A Kiss To Resist^[16]
System Syn – End
System Syn – Like Every Insect

T.Raumschmiere – I Tank U

Teknoist, The – Like A Hurricane Made Of Zombie
Tenth Stage, The – Grand Guignol
Thermostatic – Humanizer
Torrent Vaccine – Tentative Response
Travailleur En Trance – Cobra Coded Escalation
Tyske Ludder – Scientific Technology
Uberbyte – Sic
Unsun – The End Of Life

UnterART – Memento

Wavefall – Heartstarter
Welle Erdball – Ich Bin Aus Plastik

Wire – Object 47^[17]

Within Temptation & The Metro – Black Symphony
:wumpscut: – DJ Dwarf Eight
:wumpscut: – Dwarf Craving
:wumpscut: – Schaedlingsbox^[18]
Wynardtage – Praise The Fallen, Silver Edition Redux
Wynardtage – The Grey Line, Silver Edition

x-fusion-vast-abysm

X-Fusion – Vast Abysm

Xotox – Hyperactive
XP8 – The Art Of Revenge

Y-Luk-O – Sin(n)

WARNING: I’m not a big compilation fan and so, while I’ve listened to these – they don’t warrant any rating in my book. Compilations are nothing more than promotional material.

Various Artist, Label Compilation Albums:

Batbeliever Gothic Compilation, Part 39
Capture & Tension
Cyanotic Presents Gears Gone Wild
Das Bunker, Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
Elektrish Vol. 3
Extreme Lustlieder Vol. 2
Extreme Suendenfall Vol. 7
Extreme Traumfaenger Vol. 7
Forms Of Hands 08
Futureclash 2
Infacted 4
Kinetik Festival, Vol 01
Lights In The Sky Over North America 2008 Tour Sampler
Machinekunt Records Extreme Women in the Dark Future
Metropolis Rebirth 1.0
Nacht Der Maschinen, Vol 02
New Signs & Sounds 0208
Nightmare Revisited
Re:Connected 2.0
Sin-Tech
Sonic Seducer, Cold Hands Seduction, Vol. 84
Sounds From The Matrix 07

1. How the hell did I listen to this much music?! Well, various avenues: digital download, physical CDs, friends recommendations, online streaming, last.fm, myspace; you name it: I heard these albums and bought as much as I could afford to.
2. Wow. I really dug what I had been hearing compolation-side, but I was unprepared for how great this album was going to be.
3. This is good, but reminds me of Blaqk Audio. A lot. Southern Sun & Shelter are solid tracks. Super surprised these haven’t been club worn yet.
4. I was really let down by this release, but still love this band!
5. 2007s Cruel Melody is a great album
6. Come on LePlegua, pick a direction and get back in front of the pack
7. What the fuck is with all the Christian propaganda in this album?
8. A COMPLETE Combichrist rip-off band. Nothing new and not that good
9. Dear god. I wish I hadn’t listened to this album, because it almost has ruined my adoration of this band. WTF happened? Maybe take a bit more time on a release.
10. So many people here in Portland love this album, and I just can’t seem to figure out why.
11. I had incredibly high expectations of this album. The remixed/restructured version of Pure was so fucking amazing and this just really minimized the sound from Jagged but didn’t make anything… better. Slightly disappointed, but still listen to it often.
12. Anything by Mr. Corner is fucking good -so far-
13. One good track on this baby and a mediocre second. Standard-fare.
14. I really liked a couple of songs off their last album. Mo exceptions here though.
15. This was an interesting listen.
16. They so badly want to be Blutengel
17. This is the band that Radiohead wants to be
18. The only thing that would have saved this album, would be if Rudy would have turned it into a big scene pandered by changing the lyrics of Rikfi to DEATHKEY. I’d have loved that song then.