Yearend 2014: Best of The Best Pt. 2

Another year ends. A lake-worth of albums have been released. We may have listened to 0.000348% of them but in the grand scope of things, that's a massive heap of releases we put our ears to! Halifax Collect's contributors and friends have started submitting their lists. Here's the second batch (first one here)!

Please submit your list in the comment section or start a conversation regarding our picks. What ought to be on there? What did we miss out on? Is one or more of our picks horrid and inconsequential?

Ási Þórðarson - His biggest baby is Muck (facebook), wherein he's the drummer. He drums for Markus & The Diversion Sessions (facebook). He hits things and hypes in FM Belfast (facebook). Follow Ási on twitter.

1. Ben Frost - A U R O R A
What a trip this one is!! Dark and gloomy. Soundtrack for Iceland.
2. Full of Hell & Merzbow
When I heard Gordian Knot being previewed I just wanted to kill something. This album is fucking insane.
3. Eagulls - S/T
I just heard this one a few weeks back and it’s just so crazy. Super old school and punk.
4. Code Orange - I am King
I fucking love the vibe Code Orange have about them. They’re so confident and sure of themselves. I am king breaks all the rules and excels at it.
5. Kindness - Otherness
This one is a true pop gem. Over produced filled with insane brass, guest vocals and amazing percussion.




Honorable mentions:
Ibibio Sound Machine
Ariel Pink
Börn
Pink Street Boys

Bob Cluness is freelance writer of the highest order. He's written endlessly for The Reykjavík Grapevine and some of his more exlusive/elusive stuff is on his own Reykjavík Sex Farm! blog. Follow him on twitter.

1. Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
2. The Body - I Shall Die Here
3. Pyrrhon - The Mother of Virtues
4. The Lowest Form - Negative Ecstasy
5. Menace Ruine - Venue Armata
6. Raspberry Bulbs - Privacy
7. Yob - Clearing The Path To Ascend
8. Norn - Ég Hata Ísland
9. Sinmata - Aphotic Womb
10. Icarus - Ascending//Descending









Finnbogi Örn Einarsson (twitter) guitarist, singer, songwriter for Icarus (here) and In The Company Of Men (here) and an all around scene dynamo and a human pin-ball in the pin-ball machine we call life. Can we call this life?

1. The Banner - Greying
One of the best things to come out of New Jersey, The Banner proved themselves to be a force to be reckoned with when they put out records such as Each Breath Haunted and Frailty on Ferret Records. They took a little break and now they’ve finally come back with what seems to be their most pissed off and darkest piece of work yet. Here’s hoping that 2015 is the year that The Banner finally gets the recognition they deserve.
2. Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown
It’s ETID once again they’ve proven that they do no wrong. So has Kurt Ballou.
3. Full of Hell & Merzbow
The most brutal. The most noise. Really wish I could say more, but the album speaks for itself.
4. Kublai Khan - Balancing Survival And Happiness
In a time where beatdown bands have become too common and boring. Kublai Khan brings a well thought out and honest, clean sounding record to the table. The heaviest of breakdowns, with some of the most fierce sounding vocals around. You haven’t heard barking like this since the '90s.
5. Cutters - We Are The Quarry
New York indie rock group Cutters put out their first full length record this year. Although the sound on the record is lo-fi as all hell, the song writing is absolutely fascinating and Pierce Lightning’s vocal work suits the songs perfectly. Download it on their bandcamp for any price you want or get yourself cassette, look out for their new 7" The Mountain coming out sometime early next year.
6. Punch - They Don't Have To Believe
It’s done, but at least they went out with a bang. R.I.P.
7. The Acacia Strain - Coma Witch
Their first album that they've written as a complete band in the same room since I think like 2006. The addition of two new guitarists Devin (Ex-Oceano) and Richard Gomez (Ex-Molotov Solution) proved to be a smart move. The last song on the album is a 30 minute slow jam that will wreck anyone's gut.
8. Mercy Buckets - Lumberjack Fantasies
Coffee, whiskey, beards, cigarettes, beer. They like all of it, and they wrote songs about it, and they all fucking rule.
9. Old Wounds - Death Projection
Old Wounds’ debut release on Good Fight. It’s sadly just a 7” but it gives you a taste of what their next full length will sound like, really fucking good.
10. Code Orange - I Am King
I like this record, just like everyone else.

Honorable mentions, if my list could be bigger, etc.
Young and In the Way - When Life Comes To Death
Andrew Jackson Jihad - Christmas Island
Trash Talk - No Peace
Twitching Tongues - World War Live
Tigers Jaw - Charmer Modern Color - S/T

Related stories:
Yearend 2014: Best of The Best Pt. 1