Album of The Month - March 2012

This is the first in a line of monthly posts where I will promote the album I thought deserved to claim first place as the official Album of The Month. These are only going to be albums that I actually listened to, reviewed, and posted that review on this blog, so if you thought another album had deserved to win as opposed to the one I chose, I either didn't review it or simply didn't deem it good enough to win the title. Also, the winners will be albums that were released in the month that I am actually writing this in, e.g. if album A was released in June but I reviewed it prior to its release--let's say May--it will be the winner of the month of June, not the opposite. If there was, however, an EP or a demo that I liked better than any of the albums released in a given month, then that release, even if it is not technically an album, will win the title.

I'd also like to say that this month I haven't reviewed as many albums as I would have liked, and I probably missed some that could potentially have won first place, so I apologize if I skipped over one; I will get to reviewing these in the near future, and hopefully I'll catch up to all the albums that are on my waiting list.

So, without further ado, here is the winner for the month of March...

Enthroned - Obsidium

Not only was "Obsidium" a genuinely good, if not great, album, it was a big surprise considering I have never been a fan of Enthroned. They have really demonstrated here, though, that they have the talent to produce a good black metal album, and it's clearly evident in"Obsidium". They have a way of fusing relentlessly fast parts that segue into slower, somber and/or poignantly melodic passages, and making it all fit together like glue. In addition, this record has pretty much all of the variation you could want in a black metal release. This album truly deserves the spot, and if perchance you missed the review, click here. Well done, Enthroned; and to all of you out there reading this, be sure to support these Belgians by purchasing the album.

-SmithMetal84