The 2017 Arsies: February 10, 2017

February 10, 2017

Emotion	●●●	●●●
Memorability	●●○	●●○
Replayability	●●●	●●●
Innovation	●●●	●●●
Pace	●●○	●●○
Shredding	●●●	●●●
Vocals	●●●	●●●
Production	●●●	●●●

On paper, this sounds like a very difficult decision. How do you choose between an emotive album that is rarely overtly metal and a cerebral album with prog metal tendencies that border on caricature?
That paper couldn't be more wrong. Akróasis is the clear choice, only if you like masturbatory guitarcraft or unapologetic fretless bass (which, in case you had any doubt, I totally do). And it's fun and mean and all, but after a while it starts to come across like the best Rocky Road ice cream you've ever had: how many scoops of this shit can you really eat before you tire of it?
Not so with the Ihsahn masterpiece; Arktis is apparently an album that I could listen to 7 days a week and twice on Sunday.
However, in the context of the Arsies, we'll only need to listen to it once more: in our Final Battle on Monday.