I was tempted not to do one of these this year. These lists are so subjective and depend on my mood and how much I listened to an album and the order I relisten to them. Anyway, I decided to do it just because I have found some good stuff from seeing other lists that have albums I like on it, so they do have some benefit sometimes.
Top 5 (in alphabetical order):
Cóndor – Duin
Misþyrming – Söngvar elds og óreiðu
Sickening Horror – Overflow
Spectral Lore – Gnosis
Upsilon Acrux – Sun Square Dialect
Honorable Mentions:
Intronaut – The Direction of Last Things
Irreversible Mechanism – Infinite Fields
Kjeld – Skym
Krallice – Ygg Huur
Leviathan – Scar Sighted
Mosca Violenta/Mombu – Hunting Demons
My goal for 2015 was to write more consistently. I tried to put something out every Friday, and according to the stats, I only missed maybe 3 weeks. I’d say that was a success. This was probably not the best goal overall. I put out a lot of lazy and low quality reviews just to make sure I had something. My goal in 2016 is to write less frequently but do a better job. I’ll still try for once a week, but I won’t force it if I feel rushed.
Metal for Music Majors 
checking these out
Thanks for writing
Did you happen to listen to Ur Draugr’s full length? I know you reviewed The Wretched Ascetic, which I admittedly didn’t really listen to, but they released another album, With Hunger Undying. It’s kind of wild, like mathy time signatures with a more black metal tone. I’m not sure how similar it is to The Wretched Ascetic, but it might be worth a listen.
It took me a little bit to find the whole album, since it isn’t on their personal bandcamp page, so I figured I’d link it here if you want to check it out. https://atmfsssdtp.bandcamp.com/album/with-hunger-undying
Thanks! I had no idea this came out.
I liked the recurrence of your write-ups this year, but ended up missing the more in-depth reviews that initially brought me to your blog and that reflected the “for music majors” part of it. In an ideal world, there would be such reviews every week – one can dream -, but I’ll be happy to read less, more thorough reviews. Happy 2016.