{"id":1901,"date":"2015-12-15T17:17:33","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T17:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heretodestroy.com\/blog\/?p=1901"},"modified":"2015-12-16T12:51:16","modified_gmt":"2015-12-16T12:51:16","slug":"best-of-2015-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heretodestroy.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/15\/best-of-2015-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of 2015 \u2013 Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another year has rolled by and I\u2019m again looking around realizing how fortunate I am to have so much great music available at my fingertips. It doesn\u2019t seem that long ago that I was limited to what I could find in my local record store or how much money I was willing to part with for overpriced CDs. Sure it can sometimes be hard to filter through everything and really good albums may slip through the cracks. But for anyone truly passionate about music, the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.<\/p>\n

Some people might gripe about the influx of year end lists such as this one. But not me. I love discovering new bands and seeing what I might have missed or overlooked. It\u2019s a great time of year to expand your music collection with the best of the best. So having said all that, I hope you enjoy reading over what I enjoyed listening to most this past year.<\/p>\n

A New Member of the Team<\/h2>\n

You may have noticed this post is titled Best of 2015 \u2013 Part 1<\/em> instead of the usual Top 20 Albums of 2015<\/em>. The reason being for the first time HeretoDestroy.com will be posting more than one year end list. Best of 2015 \u2013 Part 2<\/em> will be brought to you from our newest contributor and a good friend of mine, Bruce Fraser<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many of you in the online metal community may be familiar with Bruce via Twitter<\/a>. If so, you already know he\u2019s a great guy with superb taste in music and a huge appetite for all things dark and heavy. Hell, just check out his Bandcamp profile<\/a> for proof of that. So stay tuned for Bruce\u2019s top picks from this year and join me in welcoming him to the HeretoDestroy.com team! – Ryan Grant<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Paradise<\/p>\n

01. Paradise Lost \u2013 The Plague Within<\/em><\/h1>\n

Most of the doom I like is from the tune low\/play slow Sabbath worship school. But a few years ago Woods of Ypres\u2019 Green Album<\/em><\/a> introduced me to a different shade of doom. It was heavy and dark, yet melodic and had hooks that got stuck in your head long after your headphones were unplugged. Since then I\u2019ve had a hard time finding other bands doing something similar. But that\u2019s only because I had yet to discover Paradise Lost<\/a>. A band who had been crafting melodic doom for nearly three decades.<\/p>\n

After digging into the band\u2019s discography I found they actually touched on many different styles over the years and quite often doom wasn\u2019t even one of the main ingredients. However on recent albums they seem to be steering the ship back to heavier, darker waters. The Plague Within<\/em> continues with that theme, only it\u2019s a slower, darker beast than what we last heard on 2012\u2019s stellar Tragic Idol<\/em>. It might even be the heaviest thing the band has done since their highly praised Gothic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It should be said that the album succeeds not just because it\u2019s heavy. It\u2019s how that heaviness is woven into the above mentioned melodic elements that make it really stand out. Having such a vast and eclectic discography has allowed Paradise Lost to pull the best elements from those albums to craft something truly memorable with The Plague Within<\/em>. What will come next is anyone\u2019s guess. But whatever it is, I\u2019m looking forward to it.<\/p>\n