Gilead Media Music Festival

— GILEAD MEDIA MUSIC FESTIVAL —

ANOTHER HALF-ASSED FESTIVAL REVIEW

The Gilead Media Music Festival.... where to start? What an incredible weekend. Even six days later I'm at a loss for words in terms of what I experienced. It took me a little while to write this and even then I don't think I could ever do it justice. Be prepared for a disappointing account of a wonderful weekend. You had to be there.

Before getting into the bands and their performances I want to sincerely thank Adam Bartlett, founder of Gilead Media and generally humble and awesome dude, for putting this shit together. The fest went off without a hitch — it was very well organized. Much praise to him, his crew and all the people who came together to make the fest an unforgettable experience.

After the break I'll get into the sets and all that great shit. I took some photos and video but the large amount of pro photographers and press allowed me to take it easy on that end of things; I only got shots of those bands that interested me the most but even then the cramped conditions and thrashing going on made it difficult for someone as unprofessional as me to get much — which again relieved me and allowed me to sit back and just enjoy the fest.

Anyway on with the review.

Sanakan's Top 20 Albums of 2011

Yep, this year I decided to post my picks for 2011. I usually keep my lists confined to my last.fm page and haven’t posted them here in the past but fuck it.

I went with a main top 20 list plus a separate demos + EPs and splits list with less detail — despite the fact that a few EPs show up in my main list. Usually everything from the top 5 stays solidified at their spots the others may go up and down the list occasionally.

2011 was another great year for music, there was so much great shit released by hard working groups and labels that again it was a tough year to make a list. I always feel as though I should wait like a month or two after the new year to make a list like this since I do usually miss an amazing record and regret not putting it on the list. On that note: if I miss something it’s cool if you post a suggestion in the comments, but please try to hold off on the “You forgot _______, not good enough for ya?!” type of comments — you guys have your own lists to do justice to those albums you feel I’ve missed.

Do post suggestions though. I have added a huge Honorable Mentions and More Good Shit list for recommended albums that aren’t in the top 20 but are great. Anything not on that list I didn’t feel like mentioning, haven't heard it or I just missed it.

Enjoy and GFYS.

Barghest - Barghest (2011)

Full Length, Big Mountain
March 3rd, 2011



Genre: Black Metal
Region: USA

Several members of Thou making raw black metal. To me it sounds like a mix of Krallice's first album (especially some riffs in the first half, though shorter) with some "As Jerusalem Burns..." era Melechesh. At points it moves into death metal territory.

DOWNLOAD (Mediafire)