10. Thy Art is Murder – Hate I didn’t get to spend too much time with this album since it was recently released, but from a few plays of it, my heart turned black and showed me the disgusting side of deathcore at its finest. 
9. Sick/Sea – Moral Compass EP The typical small local band getting picked up by an awesome label story. The indie stackhouse from McAllen blew me away with their debut EP and I can’t wait for a full release. 
8. Slice the Cake – The Man With No Face An internet project with balls the size of the galaxy. This album is perfection wrapped in a .ZIP folder the size of my heart. 
7. Abiotic – Symbiosis This album was another bar-setting album from Metal Blade rookies that no one should mess with. Face = melted. 
6. At the Skylines – The Secrets to Life An all around fun “pop-core” release from the Cali natives that I can listen to from front to back and still be stoked on. 
5. Between the Buried and Me – The Parallax II: Future Sequence The Faceless’s and Between the Buried and Me’s releases this year fall under the same category for me, that romance between progressive/jazz fusion with extremely even deathcore roots. 
4. The Faceless – Autotheism The Faceless’s and Between the Buried and Me’s releases this year fall under the same category for me, that romance between progressive/jazz fusion with extremely even deathcore roots. 
3. The Ghost Inside – Get What You Give The Ghost Inside released their long-awaited third full-length after two long years and it was well worth the wait. It’s a ruthless, aggressive melodic hardcore album that set the bar for all other releases this year. 
2. Coheed and Cambria – The Afterman: Ascension
Coheed and Cambria’s Afterman: Ascension did exactly what it was supposed to as a double LP: keep me wanting more. I’m so stoked to listen to Descension after hearing this masterpiece. 
1. Periphery – Periphery II: This Time it’s Personal
Periphery’s new full-length made my number one spot for two reasons: its ability to keep me captivated for 5+ months and its insane leap forward to making Periphery the djent/progressive powerhouse they are.
Music
