(This is NCS writer Todd Manning's list of the year's best metal albums (an un-ranked Top 15), plus a handful of favorite EPs.)

Brutal music for another brutal year. As always, I'm partial to quite a bit of weird mixed in with my metal, but its all dark. You can feel the darkness just beyond the light of our tiny candles. It's pressing in from all sides.

Black metal mastermind Gaahl defies expectations with Trelldom's first album in 17 years. Marrying black metal's fierce spirit with noir-ish post-punk and dark free jazz, ...by the shadows... might break free from the sonic constraints of black metal but cannot shake its isolationist soul.

Let's keep it real weird. Mamaleek also started as black metal but it's now nearly impossible to define them. Harsh vocals and sludge-driven breaks bounce against '70s soul and free jazz like nothing you've heard before. If you've heard something similar I can almost guarantee they got it from these guys.

Slimelord do really weird things to death metal. Admittedly, not as weird as Mamaleek or Trelldom, but their brand of gorey death metal is soaked in hallucinogenic madness. There's a haunting quality to this record that gives it an extra dimension as well. These guys deserve way more attention.

I saw these guys live early in the year and the smoke and fog on stage was so thick the band was invisible for almost the entire set. Perfect and amazing. They have struck the perfect balance of death/doom, crushing yet atmospheric and ritualistic. An amazing experience both live and on record.

I normally want records to be quick and concise, 30-45 minutes being the sweet spot. Paysage D'Hiver make me eat my words. Approaching two hours in length, Die Berge is the perfect embodiment of an epic, black metal journey. This sounds like a ghost banished to wander a blizzard wilderness forever.

Whatever variations Darkthrone throw into each album, it's always unmistakingly them. It's always great. It will probably always make my year-end list.

These guys are blowing up and for good reason. While obviously owing a great debt to the Peaceville 3 (Paradise Lost/My Dying Bride/Anathema) they really come into their own on their sophomore full-length. The songwriting here is about as perfect as it gets.

This is the essence of black metal. No radical experimentation to be found, just great songs and fantastic atmospheres. I suspect most black metal fans already know.

These gentlemen are putting out a top-notch death metal album roughly every two years and they improve with each release. A bit faster than the last, Agony & Wounds is violent and visceral, all killer no filler.

Unadulterated doom from this epic band. Their first album in over a decade, this record seethes with renewed urgency and vigor and stands shoulder to shoulder with the rest of their amazing discography.

Suffer approaches death metal with unconditional love. They make no attempts to hide their influences, primarily Carcass and Morbid Angel, but their material transcends mere imitation. This is top-tier shit and any death metal devotee will find much to love.

Insanely gonzo tech-thrash, Solar Wimp's music is both abstract and urgent. Their sonic constructions are as weird as the multi-dimensional beings that serve as their muse. Apparently, this is their final album, which is a shame since they've flown under my radar up to this point.

Death metal to summon unknown gods. These guys also mine the classics for inspiration but sidestep any direct comparisons. Instead, they churn out one killing hymn after another, possessing both the violence and fetid atmospheres that fans crave.

Much like Paysage D'Hiver, Sumac breaks my rules about shorter records, but The Healer is another masterpiece from this avant-sludge band. Over an hour and fifteen minutes, they bounce between apocalyptic riffs and unsettling free improv, blending one approach seamlessly into the other. It's a journey that seems to outline civilizational collapse, each piece a premonition of what's to come.

I listened to 139 new albums this year, which is once again way down from last year's 184 and 202 the year before that. Primary reason is day job but I did spend more time than usual listening to the classics, particularly Kreator, Sodom, Bathory, and Savatage. I'm grateful to still get to contribute to No Clean Singing and hopefully I'll get back deeper in the game next year.