Aelvica Amaranthine

This one-man Florida act came from nowhere and then released six—count 'em, SIX—full-length albums this year. I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like that, and given the quality of this one I am going to want to investigate the rest of them, because this crushes. Definitely starting with a base of Morbid Angel-styled Death Metal and then layering on the expected influences from Deicide, Angelcorpse, Diocletian, Spearhead and the like, this has a cool subterranean sound and a lot of energy to go with the propulsive riffing and the cold atmosphere. This is more musically accomplished than you might expect, with some unexpected twists and turns and a good sense of melody embedded in the chaos. A band to watch.