Ten great (legally) free albums from 2011
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Honourable Mention: Machinae Supremacy - Deus ex Machinae
Power metallers Machinae Supremacy deserve a nod on this list. They released their debut album, Deus ex Machinae, for free this year as a reward to their Facebook followers. Of course, it originally came out in 2004, so it doesn't get to make the official list, but it's too good of an album not to mention.
10
Mike Morasky - Songs to Test By
Valve kindly made Mike Morasky's beautiful soundtrack to the excellent Portal 2 available for free download, released in three installments. At least we didn't have to wait over four years (and counting) for the third volume. You don't necessarily have to have played the game to enjoy the ambient clicks and beeps, but anyone who has had the opportunity will enjoy the feeling of Aperture's vast lab coming to life once more.
9
Zombi - Slow Oscillations Remix EP
Space rockers Zombi kindly released this brief remixes EP for free via Amazon.com's .mp3 store earlier this year. It contains the original song "Slow Oscillations", plus four new versions of the track. From the mesmerizing to the chaotic, this brief but satisfying EP has some moments for every taste.
8
Senmuth - Enigmatic Nubian Mask
It's been a slow year for Senmuth; he's only released nine solo albums (ten if you include his side project Tenochtitlan). While a lot of his albums this year have been wonderful, Enigmatic Nubian Mask stands out as the best offering. Consisting of just five tracks clocking in at forty-five minutes, this album is the epitome of his long-sought fusion of ethnic ambiance and metal. While you're there, also listen to this year's Geheimatite for some great djent-influenced metal or Eastextures of Soundstones for some fantastic oriental metal.
7
Forge of Clouds - Forge of Clouds
Just the first of many excellent debut albums on this list and released on the very first day of the year, Forge of Clouds' self-titled debut is an example of sludge metal done correctly. Beautifully fusing grungy grooves and cloudy ambiance, this album definitely will pave the way for a successful career from this Polish quartet.
6
krokmitën - alpha-beta
It takes chutzpah to write an album-song. It takes even more to direct a full-length video for that song. Apparently no one mentioned this to Montréal-based technical death metallers krokmitën, because they've come out of nowhere to release a 44-minute album-song and accompanying video titled alpha-beta. Sonically somewhere between Death and Atheist, these guys are without a doubt one of the pleasant surprises to come out of 2011.
5
Bleaklow - The Sunless Country
Speaking of album-songs, Sheffield rock band Bleaklow went with the much more modest 20-minute EP-length approach for their debut. Fusing elements of progressive rock and post-metal, The Sunless Country is an absolute pleasure to listen to from beginning to end, even if it does feel like it's over all too soon.
4
Cloudkicker - Let Yourself Be Huge
Of course Cloudkicker was going to be on this list. Ever since he started releasing music in 2005, Ben Sharp's beautiful mastery of post-rock and progressive metal and unprecedented level of maturity from an Internet artist has kept us captivated and waiting for more of his wonderful music. This year's major release, Let Yourself Be Huge, is no exception of quality. It returns to Sharp's original post-rock roots while still utilizing all of the tricks that made his metal excursions so successful. While you're at his website, also check out its sister release, the more experimental and ambient Loop.
3
Charts and Maps - Dead Horse
Giving the finger to traditional genre labels and focusing solely on creating wonderful music, Charts and Maps have made an album too chaotic to describe properly and too beautiful not to share. I'll approximate and call it post-math-jazz-core. If that hasn't intrigued you already, there may be no helping you at this point. While you're downloading this album, check out many of the other wonderful releases this year from their free netlabel, Lost Children.
2
Dead to a Dying World - Self-titled
If you read my review for this album, you'll know it pisses me off to no end, and therefore, I absolutely have to recommend it. Though you'll still need to hear this one on vinyl to get the full auditory experience, the free version comes in the still-passable .wav format. This is one of the rare beautiful-sounding albums out there, and it deserves to be heard as clearly as possible. Don't get me wrong, the music is fantastic, but listening to this album is in of itself an enjoyable experience, too.
1
Random - Todo.s los colores del
Flabbergasting in its complexity and mind-blowing in its beauty, the proper debut from Argentinian band Random has to be heard to be believed. Combing progressive death metal with a healthy dash of who-the-fuck-knows, this album will leave you confused, intrigued, and strangely aroused, right up until the very end. This album is one of the most satisfying albums of the year. The fact that it's free is just a bonus.
Words: Matthew Sarah
