Orange Goblin – Healing Through Fire
I loved Thieving from the House Of God but Healing Through Fire tops that by a long way. Orange Goblin is poised to join the ranks of CoC and Clutch. They’re still stoner friendly but they’ve managed to transcend the genre to become a bit special.
An incredibly powerful metal album and another case of an already great band just upping the ante to new levels. Like Slayer colliding with Black Sabbath, Death Is This Communion is epic powerful and incredibly heavy.
The founding fathers of a suddenly overcrowded genre, Neurosis sound like a band with a point to prove and Given to the Rising is a crushing testament to the power and dark passion of this band. Incredible.
Sigh – Hangman’s Hymn
After the slight disappointment of Gallows Gallery I wasn’t expecting much from Sigh but this one is brilliant. Mixing German classical music with German thrash metal ala early Sodom and Destruction sounds like a horrible idea but Sigh make it work. This is unique, memorable and completely over the top.
Earth – Hibernaculum 
Reinterpretations of songs recorded previously, HIbernaculum sees the Earth sound at its most minimalist. Inspired by and going for the same feel as the soundtrack to Spaghetti westerns, this may not be for everybody but if you ever stood in front of the mirror and pretended to be “the man with no name” then you should check this out.
Monstrosity – Spiritual Apocalypse
Rise to Power was pretty awesome but again a case of a band taking the existing format and pushing all levels to overdrive. The death metal album of the year. Awesome.
Antimatter – Leaving Eden 
Beautiful melancholic doom rock that echoes Anathema, Nick Drake and Pink Floyd and does it superbly. Mick Moss has become one of my favourite singer songwriter types and Leaving Eden will tell you exactly why.
Marduk – Rom 512
Sweden’s Marduk has been around for ages now and have always been a favourite. Rom 512 is the band’s best ever. It charts a new course for the band into slower, heavier and darker territory and surprised me quite a bit. If you like extreme metal and don’t mind the odd black metal band, then check this out.
The Ocean – Precambrian
Occasionally heavy, sometimes dense, mostly layered and always quite captivating. This is an album that’s grown on me with every listen and there’s so much stuff happening here that it’s a stoner’s dream. I think this band is going to be huge in a year’s time. Lets see.
Trouble – Simple Mind Condition
Trouble came back. The doom metal of yore was replaced by a rocking 70s stoner vibe and Eric Wagner sang his heart out to make Simple Mind Condition an album that’s been on my playlist all year round.
Hellborg, Johansson,Johansson, Eklundh – Art Metal
I don’t know how to describe this but it’s like four virtuosos playing rock music carnatic classical style. Sublime.
Immolation – Shadows In The Light
Any other year this would be a lot higher on the list. No other band sounds like Immolation and Shadows In The Light is another incredible exercise in sonic ass kicking.
Hidden Hand – The Resurrection Of Whiskey Foote
Scott "Wino" Weinrich is still at it after all these years and The Ressurection of Whiskey Foote is a worthy addition to his ever growing legacy in the stoner doom genre.
Alabama Thunderpussy – Open Fire
Southern fried stoner rock meets British heavy metal. Open Fire is heavy, melodic, catchy and rocks your socks off.
Rotting Christ – Theogonia
The Greeks have been quietly releasing quality albums for a while now and Theogonia is the distillation of everything that makes Rotting Christ such a terrific extreme metal band.
Electric Wizard – Witchcult Today
Finally, Jus Oborne has come up with a worthy companion piece to Dopethrone. The sound has been tweaked just a little and the music’s become a bit more accessible The band sound the better for it.
Anaal Nathrakh – Hell Is Empty and All the Devils Are Here / Mistress – The Glory Bitches of Doghead
It's been a terrific year for Mike Kenny and Dave Hunt as they had two terrific extreme metal releases. Firstly with the doom gone grindcore sounds of Mistress and then with the quasi black metal of Anaal Nathraakh. Awesome stuff.
Pelican – City Of Echoes
Another band that's been around for a while now and releasing instrumental rock albums but City Of Echoes just takes the existing format, tweaks it, distills it and comes out completely sublime. Awesome stoner friendly fare.
Middian – Age Eternal
Dark, incredibly dense doom metal. I don't know if there will be another Middian album but this band deserves your support. Awesome stuff.
Pro-Pain Age Of Tyranny - The Tenth Crusade
Gary Meskil and co. have been around for ages and just seem to get better and better. While not coming close to the career highpoint of Contents Under Pressure, this is still quality Pro-Pain.
Clutch From Beale Street To Oblivion
This is probably my least favourite of the last three Clutch albums but it still rocks out.
Deathspell Omega Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum
Complicated, intense and quite disconcerting at times, this band went from being a pet hate to complete ownage with their latest album.
sHeavy The Machine That Won The War
sHeavy does the whole retro rock vibe better than most bands and it helps that the vocalist sounds like a young and healthy Ozzy.
Alchemist Tripsis
Another band thats never been a big favourite but Tripsis was quite tripped out. Good stuff
Wolves In The Throne Room Two Hunters
Hippie black metal anyone ? This is lush wonderfully arranged black metal that's very stoner friendly. Much better than the over hyped Diadem Of 12 Stars, Wolves... will hopefully be around for a long while.
Boris / Merzbow Rock Dreams
I love these Japanese loonies. Last year had Boris teaming up with Sun O))) and this year it's a live collaboration with Japanese noise God Merzbow. Complete free flowing art.
Project: Failing Flesh - The Conjoined
Schizophrenic technical extreme metal with some awesome riffing and grooves. Another band that deserves some attention
Weedeater God Luck and Good Speed
Terrific stoner metal and the album title of the year.
Prong Return Of The Damager
Now this album should have been the follow up to Rude Awakening and not that Scorpio Sleeping album. Kickass return to form for Tommy Victor.
November's Doom The Novella Reservoir
Very impressive extreme metal band from America that just seems to get better and better.
Akercocke Antichrist
This is the band's best album yet and any other year would have been a lot higher on my list. Superb stuff.
Om Pilgrimage
The other half of Sleep turned in a terrific drum n bass doom album. Light a fatty, switch of the lights and go on this Pilgrimage.
Lesbian Power Hor
I don't know where these guys came from or even what they do but Power Hor is a terrific stoner doom album that has the ability to meld completely crushing doom metal with some intricate psychedelic rock.
Pig Destroyer Phantom Limb
This one's the list simply because it reminds me so much of Enemy Soil. There isn;t a lot new on this album but when it comes to face ripping grindcore there are few bands that do it better than Pig Destroyer these days.
Gorefest Rise To Ruin
A band that just refused to follow trends and did whatever they felt like, Gorefest was a sentimental favourite of mine and although their comeback La Muerte didn't do too much, this one was quite awesome.
Portal Outre
Wierdo Aussie extreme metal band that mixes some Celtic Frost and death metal with a really strong black metal vibe. Captivating stuff.
Blotted Science The Machinations Of Dementia
Instrumental metal trio who completely slay. This is awesome technical stuff from Ron Jarzombeck (Watchtower) Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) and Charlie Zelany.
Abscess Horrorhammer
Old school bitch. Chris Riefert and Danny Coralles came back with this death metal album that was raw, sick and a whole lot of fun.
Aeon Rise To Dominate
Rise To Dominate kicks ass. That's all you really need to know.
Desaster 666 Satan's Soldiers Syndicate
Desaster has released their best album since Hellfire's Dominion and quite probably the best album of their career. The black thrash blueprint stays the same but the awesome headbanging grooves of Hellfire's Dominion are back. Stan's Soldiers indeed.
Dublin Death Patrol DDP For Life
Bay Area supergroup of sorts, this one has Chuck Billy and Steve Souza trading vocals and if you grew up with the whole Bay Area thrash thing then that is the stuff that wet dreams are made off.
Machine Head The Blackening
Machien Head finally made an album that could stand next to Burn My Eyes. A little trendy but these songs rocked. Can't wait for them to hit Bangalore.
Cephalic Carnage Xenosapien
All over the place tech-grind that went from irritating the fuck out of me to actually
Gallhammer Ill Innocence
3 piece all girl band from Japan that mixes crust punk with doom and comes across like all three of them are high on Corex and Spasmos. Fucked up but quite brilliant.
Dew Scented Incinerate
This one just rocks. Nothing new about it but every song has a killer riff and the whole death thrash ala The Haunted just completely appealed to me.
Sun O))) Oracle
Like Earth's ugly deformed brother.
Unsane Visqueen
Noise rock ala Helmet and Prong but with the band's own originality and some killer grooves. Comes across like a stoned Slayer at times so may not be for everybody.
Blood Red Throne Come Death
Tchort does the whole Floridan death metal thing to terrific effect. Not as crushing as Altered Genesis but more varied and all the better for it.
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