To cause some debate...

So I thought I'd kick off a debate on this blog, if anyone ever visits of course, but I'm wanting to find out any ideas for the albums of the year so far? Can be any type of metal, but metal only please, I'd like this as a genuine debate. I feel that we've already had some beauties since January kicked off, and my first front runners are the new Mars Volta (The Bedlam in Goliath) and The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull from drone titans Earth. My vote goes for Earth though, after seeing them in Stereo, Glasgow just the other week was an awesome experience. Its a mesmerising experience, and listening to the album is the same. Dylan Carlson and his troop have crafted a wonderful album that has moved far from the drone roots but yet retains the simplistic, cyclical riffing and hypnotic drumming that keeps you hooked. Instrumental music is all about landscapes, what it makes you feel without the influence of lyrical content. Earth create, for me, the feel of an American desert plain, stretching out into the distance as far as you could see, sun high in a clear sky. It is music for your soul, for the times you need something for you to imprint your self on while contemplating. Now, any other takers?!