Feature / Music
2011: A Year In Review

January 2, 2012

2011: A Year In Review
2011: A Year In Review

Ten great (legally) free albums from 2011

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.

Download the album

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.

Download the album

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.

Download the album

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.

Download the album

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.

Download the album

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.

Download the album

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.

Download the album

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.

Download the album

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.

Download the album

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.

Download the album

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.

Download the album

Words: Matthew Sarah

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— words by the SPB team • January 2, 2012

2011: A Year In Review
2011: A Year In Review

Pages in this feature

  1. Opening page
  2. The top seven albums we were promised (and didn't get) in 2011
  3. The top five albums from classic rock musicians who have no business releasing more music in 2011
  4. Five awesome 2011 reissues
  5. Ten great (legally) free albums from 2011
  6. Top 5 releases of 2011 that don't really count
  7. The top EPs released in 2011
  8. The top five debut releases of 2011
  9. The top five honourable mentions of 2011
  10. The top five London live shows of 2011
  11. The 20 best hip-hop records of 2011
  12. The top ten progressive albums of 2011
  13. The top five Fest sets we caught and missed in 2011
  14. The top record labels of 2011
  15. The top ten post-rock albums of 2011
  16. Five 2011 records I've slept on so far
  17. Top 10 Splits & Collaborations of 2011
  18. Top 10 Cassettes Releases of 2011
  19. Top 10 Musical Obsessions from 2011
  20. The five most painful musical moments of 2011

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