Listmania: Metal Noise Top #5 Most Disappointing Albums of 2019!

We’ve got a short attention span so… what were we talking about? Oh yeah. Our very own Awards Season is in full flow with a series of Top #5’s to blow your mind! As with 2018, the categories are simple. Top #5 “Live Bands“, “Disappointing Albums“, “Anticipated Releases“, “Best EPs” and “Best Albums“. It couldn’t be simpler. Each day between Christmas and New Year a Lemon Fresh, short sharp look back at 2019 in a 5 list format appears for your reading pleasure while you kick back and enjoy a hot cup of coffee. Or something. So here, in no particular order are the “Metal Noise Top #5 Most Disappointing Albums of 2019“.

“Pressure” by Wage War [6/10]. We’re starting out with this one because it got us the most. Wage War decided to switch their vocalists around so the cleans of bassist Cody Quistad were prominent and the unclean vocals of Briton Bond we’re playing second fiddle. The singles leading up to it were impressive, but Wage War cracked under the pressure of releasing a follow up to “Dead Weight” and produced some needless Punk Goes Pop moments that are just cringe worthy.

“You’ve Got Me All F***ed Up” by Deez Nuts [5/10]. Each single was a warning sign of the shape of punk to come and when it finally landed for some reason JJ Peters had decided to add in some cringe worthy clean singing and make his band sound like… Comeback Kid. For us, the bands first trio of albums are from the top drawer while the following two are both pretty solid. So this sixth studio album sounding like the band have no desire anymore is just… not good.

“Erase The Pain” by Palisades [5/10]. So New Jersey’s Palisades have always been a bit of a guilty pleasure in these parts. Their first two albums mix up Electronicore with Nu-Metal and are good fun with a sense of modernized nostalgia. A style shift due to the departure of co-lead vocalist and bassist Brandon “Romeo” Sidney and programmer, synthesizer & turntable guru Earl Halasan in 2016 lead to style shift for the next two albums. When songs are relatively short and you feel like they’re long, you know you’re in trouble.

“Artificial Void” by Unprocessed [7.5/10]. The problem “Artificial Void” is a simple one. The aggression of the previous album “Covenant” which was a big part of the bands draw has faded away and left us with a Progressive Tech-Metal album that lacks much in the way of bark, bite or edge. That in itself doesn’t make it a bad album, it does have a lot of high quality musicianship on it and as a sophomore effort it has a number of experiments on it, which are interesting. It just lacks that killer instinct.

“So What?” by While She Sleeps [6/10]. 2017’s “You Are We” was not only hugely successful but also critically acclaimed and the Sheffield Independent Metalcore merchants finest hour. So to come back with an album that goes in a completely different direction with lots of experiments that seem to take 2013’s “Sepiternal” by Bring Me The Horizon as a major influence is just bizarre. There are times when listening to it that it seems like every idea they had in the studio had to be shoe horned in, no matter what and the result is something that doesn’t reach the high bar they set with their previous outing. Not even close.