Primordial reigned supreme in 2005, with their _The Gathering
Wilderness_ opus being chosen by no less than four CoC writers as the
best they heard all year.
While Eire's finest grabbed the CoC Album of the Year award with
considerable ease, Ukraine's own Drudkh -- surprise winners of last
year's prize with _Autumn Aurora_ -- had to settle for second place.
It was a bloody fight to the end though, with Drudkh finally pipping
Moonsorrow, Akercocke and Nevermore with the finish line in sight.
Speaking of Moonsorrow, the Finns may well be considered this year's
surprise package, as they leave behind heavyweights such as Nevermore,
Dark Tranquillity, Nile and Opeth, as well as critically acclaimed
efforts such as Akercocke's _Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go
Undone_ and Deathspell Omega's _Kénôse_.
Stargazer wrap up CoC's top 10 of the year, an eclectic mix of top
quality releases not to be missed.
CoC Writers' Best Albums of 2005 1.
Primordial - _The Gathering Wilderness_ 2.
Drudkh - _The Swan Road_ 3.
Moonsorrow - _Verisäkeet_ 4.
Akercocke - _Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone_ =.
Nevermore - _This Godless Endeavor_ 6.
Deathspell Omega - _Kénôse_ 7.
Dark Tranquillity - _Character_ 8.
Nile - _Annihilation of the Wicked =.
Opeth - _Ghost Reveries_10.
Stargazer - _The Scream that Tore the Sky_Gino Filicetti's Top 10
1.
Drudkh - _The Swan Road_ 2. Napalm Death - _The Code Is Red... Long Live the Code_
3. Hate Forest - _Sorrow_
4. Hypocrisy - _Virus_
5. Bolt Thrower - _Those Once Loyal_
6. Ulver - _Blood Inside_
7. Total Fucking Destruction - _Compact Disc Version 1.0_
8. Obituary - _Frozen in Time_
9. Desiderii Marginis - _That Which Is Tragic and Timeless_
10. Cryptopsy - _Once Was Not_
Pedro Azevedo's Top 10
1.
Primordial - _The Gathering Wilderness_ 2. Dark Tranquillity - _Character_
3. Deathspell Omega - _Kénôse_
4. Code - _Nouveau Gloaming_
5. Opeth - _Ghost Reveries_
6. Nevermore - _This Godless Endeavor_
7. Moonsorrow - _Verisäkeet_
8. Mournful Congregation - _The Monad of Creation_
9. Evoken - _Antithesis of Light_ 10. Jesu - _Jesu_
Jackie Smit's Top 10
1.
Nevermore - _This Godless Endeavor_ 2. Akercocke - _Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone_
3. God Forbid - _IV: Constitution of Treason_
4. Strapping Young Lad - _Alien_
5. Napalm Death - _The Code Is Red, Long Live the Code_
6. Nile - _Annihilation of the Wicked_
7. Crowbar - _Lifesblood for the Downtrodden_
8. The Red Chord - _Clients_
9. Thyrfing - _Farotsider_
10. Immolation - _Harnessing Ruin_
Todd DePalma's Top 10
1.
Primordial - _The Gathering Wilderness_ 2. Earth - _Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method_
3. Stargazer - _The Scream That Tore the Sky_
4. Deceased - _As the Weird Travel On_
5. Averse Sefira - _Tetragrammatical Astygmata_
6. Crimson Massacre - _The Luster of Pandemonium_
7. Jesu - _Jesu_
8. Graveland - _Fire Chariot of Destruction_
9. High on Fire - _Blessed Black Wings_
10. Ashdautus - _Shadow Plays of Grief and Pain_
Chris Flaaten's Top 10
1.
Moonsorrow - _Verisäkeet_ 2. Dream Theater - _Octavarium_
3. Kent - _Du & Jag Döden_
4. Dark Tranquillity - _Character_
5. Ane Brun - _A Temporary Dive_
6. Swallow the Sun - _Ghosts of Loss_
7. Strapping Young Lad - _Alien_
8. The Provenance - _How Would You Like to Be Spat At_
9. Coprofago - _Unorthodox Creative Criteria_
10. Röyksopp - _The Understanding_
Aaron McKay's Top 10
1.
Novembers Doom - _The Pale Haunt Departure_ 2. Epoch of Unlight - _The Continuum Hypothesis_
3. God Forbid - _IV: Constitution of Treason_
4. Dark Tranquillity - _Character_
5. Green Carnation - _The Quiet Offspring_
6. Strapping Young Lad - _Alien_
7. Opeth - _Ghost Reveries_
8. Kayser - _Kaiserhof_
9. Drudkh - _The Swan Road_
10. Hypocrisy - _Virus_
Quentin Kalis' Top 10
1.
Akercocke - _Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone_ 2. Moonsorrow - _Verisäkeet_
3. Atrium Carceri - _Kapnobatai_
4. Ulver - _Blood Inside_
5. Nokturnal Mortum - _Weltanschauung_
6. Drudkh - _The Swan Road_
7. Temnozor - _Folkstorm of the Azure Nights_
8. Hate Forest - _Sorrow_
9. Sigh - _Gallows Gallery_
10. Opeth - _Ghost Reveries_
Andreas Marouchos' Top 10
1.
Primordial - _The Gathering Wilderness_ 2. Immolation - _Harnessing Ruin_
3. Drudkh - _The Swan Road_
4. Deathspell Omega - _Kénôse_
5. Nile - _Annihilation of the Wicked_
6. Nevermore - _This Godless Endeavour_
7. Naer Mataron - _Discipline Manifesto_
8. Mournful Congregation - _The Monad of Creation_
9. Pelican - _The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw_
10. Cryptopsy - _Once Was Not_
Nikola Shahpazov's Top 10
1.
Primordial - _The Gathering Wilderness_ 2. Temnozor - _Folkstorms of the Azure Nights_
3. Opeth - _Ghost Reveries_
4. Moonsorrow - _Verisäkeet_
5. Drudkh - _The Swan Road_
6. Nile - _Annihilation of the Wicked_
7. Korn - _See You on the Other Side_
8. Vrani Volosa - _Where the Heart Burns_
9. Ulver - _Blood Inside_
10. Nokturnal Mortum - _Weltanschauung_
Paul Schwarz's Top 10
1.
Clutch - _Robot Hive / Exodus_ 2. Akercocke - _Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone_
3. Nevermore - _This Godless Endeavour_
4. Turbonegro - _Party Animals_
5. Axis of Perdition - _Deleted Scenes From the Transition Hospital_
6. Red Sparrowes - _At the Soundless Dawn_
7. Code - _Nouveau Gloaming_
8. Nile - _Annihilation of the Wicked_
9. Meshuggah - _Catch 33_
10. Mistress - _In Disgust We Trust_
James Montague's Top 10
1.
Stargazer - _The Scream that Tore the Sky_ 2. Deathspell Omega - _Kénôse_
3. Sigh - _Gallows Gallery_
4. Mournful Congregation - _The Monad of Creation_
5. Averse Sefira - _Tetragrammatical Astygmata_
6. Primordial - _The Gathering Wilderness_
7. Pelican - _March Into the Sea_
8. Graveland - _Fire Chariot of Destruction_
9. Cryptopsy - _Once Was Not_
10. Napalm Death - _The Code Is Red, Long Live the Code_