I know that movies get their own spotlight here because myself and Darren are the self proclaimed 'movie guys', but let it be known, it almost every other field, 2017 was a banner year. I was genuinely so shocked and amazed at the consistent quality of TV, games and music of this year, honestly at points it bought tears to my eyes. Anyway, enough preamble; here's my take on the rest of 2017.
Video Games
I am a firm believer that 2017 will go down as a banner year for everything good and bad about video games. The year was full of roller-coaster moments: Long awaited titles finally seeing the light of day, intermittent surprises when games that had no right to be good being very enjoyable and, of course, the slap-back heard around the world that was the camels back finally breaking over loot boxes and microtransactions. Speaking of...
The Worst Video Game of 2017 - Star Wars Battlefront 2
There are blind monks in solitary confinement atop the Tibetan Mountains who could see this one coming. Despite the tired, cut and paste gameplay from the first "Battl-EA-front" game, this game scapres the bottom of the barrel not for how it plays, but in everything surrouding it. EA promised to not offer a season pass and offer free DLC updates, but at the cost of introducing predatory and for-real 'pay to win' loot boxes that contain tangible paid items that give you a realistic advantage in PVP gameplay. We all knew it would get here, but I don't think any of us saw it arriving in a goddamn Star Wars game. Thankfully, Reddit and other corners of the internet banded together to shout down EA's awful, awful decisions, to which EA backed down and temporarily took the loot boxes out of the game.
Thing is, EA then informed their shareholders that the decision would not affect overall profits, which means the decision to inject unwelcome loot boxes into BF2 was purely for an anti-consumer profit suck, to deplete the pockets of the dumb players who would happily throw money at the screen until they win. I can't berate a company for trying to make money, but EA took their tactics too far this time. It's not the desire to make money, it's the extent to which it affected the games mechanics and fairness in it's competitive modes.
Thing is, EA then informed their shareholders that the decision would not affect overall profits, which means the decision to inject unwelcome loot boxes into BF2 was purely for an anti-consumer profit suck, to deplete the pockets of the dumb players who would happily throw money at the screen until they win. I can't berate a company for trying to make money, but EA took their tactics too far this time. It's not the desire to make money, it's the extent to which it affected the games mechanics and fairness in it's competitive modes.
The Best Video Games of 2017
Honourable Mentions
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands - A surprisingly fun co-op open world military romp, made all the better by thr addition of comical vehicles, great escalation in it's action and fun tactical gameplay. The single player is the embodiment of boring, though, like a physical embodiment of mauve.
Pokémon Go - Decent updates have meant that a lot of problems with the games are gettng close to fixed, and with the addition of raids and gen 3 pokemon, there's plenty to do for those who stuck around. Probably an idea to sack the community managers, though, we still remember Go Fest.
Kamen Rider Climax Fighters - This one is only ever going to apply to me, but this is a beautiful rendering of the Heisei riders all collected in one game, with easy and fun 'pick up and play' fighting gameplay, show accurate visuals and sounds and an honest to god, fully blow, proper English translation of this beloved Japanese property. It's goddamn cool to finally see this happen. It does suffer from limited game modes, segregated online servers and a small roster of playable characters though. Not perfect, but still great.
Pokémon Go - Decent updates have meant that a lot of problems with the games are gettng close to fixed, and with the addition of raids and gen 3 pokemon, there's plenty to do for those who stuck around. Probably an idea to sack the community managers, though, we still remember Go Fest.
Kamen Rider Climax Fighters - This one is only ever going to apply to me, but this is a beautiful rendering of the Heisei riders all collected in one game, with easy and fun 'pick up and play' fighting gameplay, show accurate visuals and sounds and an honest to god, fully blow, proper English translation of this beloved Japanese property. It's goddamn cool to finally see this happen. It does suffer from limited game modes, segregated online servers and a small roster of playable characters though. Not perfect, but still great.
5 - Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy
The PlayStation's undisputed king of platforming (Fuck off Nathan Drake, we've all very much had enough of your weird plasticine hair) is back! This title completely rebuilds the original 3 games from the ground up with lovingly polished visuals, tighter controls (with admittedly smaller hitboxes, because fuck your muscle memory) and re-voiced and reanimated cutscenes, all for a killer budget title price. It is without a doubt the best way to play the original three Crash games and as a pitch to see if we want new Crash games, was met with total and unanimous praise because OF COURSE WE WANT MORE TRADITIONAL CRASH GAMES YOU MADMAN WE HAVE WAITED FOR SO LONG.
4 - Stardew Valley
Okay, here's my contrived reasoning for including Stardew Valley on the 2017 list: The original game came out in 2016, but I didn't pick up the game until a year later in the early 2017 sales and I honestly thought I wouldn't get a chance to talk about this game. Luckily for me, however, this year saw a release of this game for the Nintendo Switch, so you bet your ass I'm going to use this opportunity to talk about this absolute gem of a game. So yes, whilst I'm talking about my experiences with the PS4 version of this game, you know that Stardew was one of the first things I downloaded on my Switch.
Anyway, this was easily the biggest gaming surprise of the year. I've never been too big on life sim games like Harvest Moon, but I have enjoyed them in occasional spats in the past. I haven';t truly got lost in one like the way I got utterly lost in Stardew Valley though. The 'just one more day' addictive nature of the gameplay just scratches a particular itch I never knew I had in a game. It's challenges you to plan your schedules and be prompt and efficient in order to make money, make friends and save your new home from the ever-encroaching hand of corporate misery. It's escapism in it's truest form, which is probably one of the core reasons why I decided to ignore the awful outside world and stick my head into this pastel pixel dream for almost 100 hours.
Anyway, this was easily the biggest gaming surprise of the year. I've never been too big on life sim games like Harvest Moon, but I have enjoyed them in occasional spats in the past. I haven';t truly got lost in one like the way I got utterly lost in Stardew Valley though. The 'just one more day' addictive nature of the gameplay just scratches a particular itch I never knew I had in a game. It's challenges you to plan your schedules and be prompt and efficient in order to make money, make friends and save your new home from the ever-encroaching hand of corporate misery. It's escapism in it's truest form, which is probably one of the core reasons why I decided to ignore the awful outside world and stick my head into this pastel pixel dream for almost 100 hours.
3 - Super Mario Odyssey
As much as Big Man Crash was back in a big way this year, the unexpected comeback of Daddy Nintendo in the form of the Switch saw the arrival of the next big 3D Mario game, and yes, it's 100% as good as you've heard it is. The worlds of Odyssey are sprawling, dense, detailed and memorable, and I've already sunk more hours than I'm comfortable mentioning trying to comb every nook and cranny for secrets, most of those failing to work my way around the 'easy to learn, hard to master' advanced platforming controls. But holy goddamn hell, this might be one of my new favourite Mario games, right after Galaxy. There's also something special about the way Nintendo does music. The big main song from the New Donk City level, 'Jump Up, Super Star', is a big band jazz/swing masterpiece that gives a sense of escalation from the orchestral styling of Galaxy that really makes it feel like an evolution of the series. Incidentally, I have a deep personal tie to big bang music and 'Jump Up Super Star' actually bought tears to my eyes before I even heard the song in context to the game. Quality of this level is very, very hard to come by.
2 - Persona 5
I like JRPGS. I like anime. I like great music, striking visual presentation and challenging gameplay. It's a mystery, then, how I haven't been enamoured by a Persona game until this year. But it happened, by God did it happen. Persona 5 is a modern day masterpiece in the way that it perfects it's genre and somehow evolves beyond that to be a universally brilliant game. Everything that makes JRPG fans happy is all here in droves; engaging combat, lovable characters, slick gameplay, and specifically for Persona fans, we have challenging time management and deep stat building. Even if you hate RPGs, I'd still say to give P5 a look in. Something, anything from the stunning presentation of this game is bound to grab you in some way or another. It is, at least for now, the quintessential JRPG.
1 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild
I tried to deny it, I really tried to not give the top spot to the single most over-praised video game of recent memory, but even I have to concede where I'm wrong. I did once say I wouldn't think it would live up to the lofty expectations placed upon it, but let me be clear; Breath of the Wild is one of the greatest games ever made, period. I imagine this is what Ocarina of Time felt like to a generation above mine, when they saw the progression of the original LoZ to OoT. But this honestly and genuinely feels like a greater version of that. BotW is one of the gamiest games to have ever gamed, with an unparalleled freedom to it's exploration, traversal, combat, progression and story. I loved the way that it basically used its opening hours giving you everything you need to finish the game in the hilarious escalation to the main missions, which pretty much went:
Walk 10 feet > Collect three things > Fight the final boss if you wanna, you got this.
The games true worth, then, is in what you make the game. For me, BotW, was a non-stop cavalvade of gliding, flurry attacks, cooking and hating the rain. And I loved every single second of this wholly engrossing, immersive and dense game that honestly still feels mostly undiscovered. I played it first on the Wii U, but I'm gunning to see everything in my second playthrough on the Switch. It might take a while, but if that means prolonging the utter joy that was the discovery of playing this game, then I'm happy to make that dedication. It deserves the praise it was showered with wholeheartedly. It's just amazing.
Walk 10 feet > Collect three things > Fight the final boss if you wanna, you got this.
The games true worth, then, is in what you make the game. For me, BotW, was a non-stop cavalvade of gliding, flurry attacks, cooking and hating the rain. And I loved every single second of this wholly engrossing, immersive and dense game that honestly still feels mostly undiscovered. I played it first on the Wii U, but I'm gunning to see everything in my second playthrough on the Switch. It might take a while, but if that means prolonging the utter joy that was the discovery of playing this game, then I'm happy to make that dedication. It deserves the praise it was showered with wholeheartedly. It's just amazing.
TV
Once again, I didn't watch that much TV this year, I'm really only willing to take gambles on movies and games these days, mainly because if I'm going to invest hours of my time, I want to be engaged in the medium rather than vegetate in front of something I hate with no accomplishment. I've been down on TV for a few years, but this year gave us a bunch of series that have been fun to keep up with and talk about with others. However, there have been notable exceptions...
The Worst TV Show(s) of 2017 - Inhumans/Powerless
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I honestly did not think we would get superhero shows that I would abandon after a single awful episode, but here we are. Both Inhumans and Powerless present both Marvel and DC at their absolute worst. Inhumans suffers from a cavalcade of bas decisions, from casting to effects to scriptwriting and direction and is in all honesty the worst example of traditional costumed superhero media in recent years. Marvels' ball was well and truly dropped, and this was no more apparent by the series fall from grace from 2019 movie release, to full series with feature length opening two part-er, to limited release first episode with a full series, to a VERY limited IMAX release of the first episode and a limited series. This dark stain on the MCU deserves to be forgotten and fade away into obscurity and meaninglessness, and given that the Fox properties are back, there's a very good chance it will. A fitting punishment.
DC, on the other hand, decided to answer the incredibly stupid question that nobody asked; "What if superhero show but no superheroes lol?". And they ended up with Powerless, otherwise known as 'The Great Mistake'. Essentially, they decided to quite literally make The Big Bang Theory but with the main premise being it takes place in the DC Universe. And it falls down every pitfall that I believe that TBBT goes in that EVERYTHING IS UTTERLY DETESTABLE AND I WANT IT TO BURN. First off, it totally wastes Danny Pudi, Alan Tudyk and Adam "Even My Batman Was Better Than This" West, the jokes do not land, the cast are a collection of unlikable assholes and there's a distant, cold sheen over the whole affair that should not be there, considering these people are supposed to be relatable people in a superhero universe. Luckily for us, NBC shit-canned the series before the series was even allowed to finish airing, meaning only 9 of it's 12 episodes even made it to air. This will go down as one of the greatest acts of mercy by a television company. Nobody shall miss this.
DC, on the other hand, decided to answer the incredibly stupid question that nobody asked; "What if superhero show but no superheroes lol?". And they ended up with Powerless, otherwise known as 'The Great Mistake'. Essentially, they decided to quite literally make The Big Bang Theory but with the main premise being it takes place in the DC Universe. And it falls down every pitfall that I believe that TBBT goes in that EVERYTHING IS UTTERLY DETESTABLE AND I WANT IT TO BURN. First off, it totally wastes Danny Pudi, Alan Tudyk and Adam "Even My Batman Was Better Than This" West, the jokes do not land, the cast are a collection of unlikable assholes and there's a distant, cold sheen over the whole affair that should not be there, considering these people are supposed to be relatable people in a superhero universe. Luckily for us, NBC shit-canned the series before the series was even allowed to finish airing, meaning only 9 of it's 12 episodes even made it to air. This will go down as one of the greatest acts of mercy by a television company. Nobody shall miss this.
The Best TV Shows of 2017
Honourable Mentions
Bob's Burgers - I only got into this series this year and holy hell am I glad I did. Unfortunately, I haven't quite caught up with the current series released in 2017, but when I get to it, if the quality has been as high as the first 5 series, this is my preemptively saying it's awesome.
The Punisher - Admittedly I haven't finished this series, but so far it's been a hell of a blast. Giving Jon Bernthal's version of Frank Castle his own series was a no-brainer, but it was always a difficult task thinking of what he could be going up against. What we've seen so far is an exploration of PTSD that's equal parts harrowing and entertaining, with the right amount of intense violence that we all want from someone called "The Punisher". It had better end with a minigun, though. Don;t tease me like last time, marvel, c'mon, give me the minigun.
Black Mirror - Your yearly reminder that Charlie Brooker is still a genius and NO I'M NOT BITTER THAT WE DIDN'T GET 2017 WIPE AT NEW YEARS WHY DID YOU EVEN BRING THAT UP I'M NOT BITTER I'M NOT BITTER AT ALL HAHAHAHAHAHA YOU'RE FUNNY YOU FUCKING FUCK.
The Punisher - Admittedly I haven't finished this series, but so far it's been a hell of a blast. Giving Jon Bernthal's version of Frank Castle his own series was a no-brainer, but it was always a difficult task thinking of what he could be going up against. What we've seen so far is an exploration of PTSD that's equal parts harrowing and entertaining, with the right amount of intense violence that we all want from someone called "The Punisher". It had better end with a minigun, though. Don;t tease me like last time, marvel, c'mon, give me the minigun.
Black Mirror - Your yearly reminder that Charlie Brooker is still a genius and NO I'M NOT BITTER THAT WE DIDN'T GET 2017 WIPE AT NEW YEARS WHY DID YOU EVEN BRING THAT UP I'M NOT BITTER I'M NOT BITTER AT ALL HAHAHAHAHAHA YOU'RE FUNNY YOU FUCKING FUCK.
5 - American Vandal
The lost art of the good mockumentary is back with this Netflix Original that caught me completely off guard. American Vandal follows the story of a school film-making club investigating the controversy and conspiracy around the spray-painting of a collection of dicks on teachers cars, and how the meat-headed school jock is seemingly framed for a crime he didn't commit. There's some lovingly subtle jokes, hilarious reconstruction visuals and beautifully childish humour woven into it's meta-loving narrative. It's a great hidden gem for those who love the more subtle humour of mocks like Spinal Tap and Brass Eye, and it comes with a gleaming recommendation from me.
4 - Bojack Horseman, Season 4
Here's your yearly reminder that Bojack Horseman is still the darkly funny and emotionally cutting show it's been since it's inception. We left Bojack at the lowest of his lows at the end of season 3, so it seems oddly fitting that season 4 finishes on somewhat of a bittersweet happy note. But hoooooly fuck does this series have, without a doubt, the darkest and most depressing episode since the runaway arc in season 2. Without spoilers, the episode about dementia is equal parts difficult to watch and artistically flawless. Is it as perfect as season 2 on the whole though? Probably not, but the fact that it rises above seasons 1 and 3 shows that there is some serious life left in this old horse.
3 - Stranger Things 2
Stranger Things 2 had one hell of a high bar to meet, and for the most most, it reached it. As charming as the cast are, as great as the story was, as threatening as the series villain seemed, it didn't quite make it to the lofty levels of the first series. A lot of that has to do with the loss of mystery that we have from a further exploration of the Upside Down and that episode, you know the one. But on the whole, it seems like Netflix is on to a total darling of a series that is dripping in character and likeability. In a year that I'm starting to think was the year of outstanding child casts, Stranger Things has one of the best out there. The authenticity of the design, characters and emotion is honestly second only to it;s first series in term of TV this year. For these reasons, I'm always going to be on board for whatever is coming for this retro showstopper. That, and the world needs more Jim Hopper punching his way out of situations. Just saying.
2 - My Hero Academia, Season 2
The token anime entry this year ranks way higher than I had ever anticipated, but yeah, allow me to say it: My Hero Academia is genuinely that good. For a dumb, flashy Shonen anime, HeroAca has the single greatest tournament arc in anime history, featuring incredible animation, deep and meaningful character work, tangible fear and dread, a huge and yet somehow immediately identifiable cast of characters and actual full on fun, holy shit this has it all. I had all but fallen behind with staying on top of anime as it came out, having not even started the uphill climb that will be catching up with DragonBall Super, but with HeroAca, they had me there every week waiting for a new episode. It's nice to care this much about an anime again.
1 - Rick And Morty, Season 3
Despite all the circular anger that was fans being mad at critics being mad at fans being mad at snarky assholes on Twitter being mad at fans and so on, it is impossible to deny the amount of oomph this show had this year, especially with it's incredibly strong series opening episode that completely blew me away. With good reason, Rick And Morty can be called the smartest show on TV, not just because of it's debatable nature of the scientific accuracy, but most in part because of it's subversive, offbeat and surprisingly dark humour. It has great laughs, great 'cinematic' moments, wonderful script work with continuity consistency, surprisingly identifiable characters and, most importantly, plays on enough tropes to appeal to most TV audiences. The 'formula' which has been put together in Rick And Morty's DNA as a show is what makes it so ridiculously popular; it exists at the right time in the right place. And right now, it's just the kind of show we need. The only thing we have to actively hate about Rick And Morty are the people who use it as an extreme rallying point or as a justification to be a complete dickhead to their fellow man. Much like most things in existence. Funny, that.
Music
Once again, main entries are for albums only. I'm not a singles guy, I prefer full albums as an experience as opposed to singular songs, here's my "soz bob" if you're not that way inclined. Anyway, it was always going to be unlikely that we'd have a year as divisive as 2016 for music, and in some ways I was correct. Mainly because we pretty much only heard one artist for the entire goddamn year AND LET'S JUST GET INTO THAT SHALL WE...
The Worst Album of 2017 - Ed Sheeran, 'Divide'
Chances are if you're a human with ear, you're pretty sick of hearing 'Shape Of You', because it was as inescapable as sunlight or oxygen in 2017. Thing is, it was far from Ed Sheeran's worst contribution to music this year, seeing as his third album, Divide, was by far and away the biggest disappointment this year. And this is coming from someone who was pretty ambivalent to to breakout first album Plus, and actually genuinely enjoyed his second album Multiply. Across it;s 12 tracks, only 3 or 4 are even vaguely listenable. Songs like 'New Man' and 'What Do I Know' are instantly forgotten upon first listen, 'Perfect' is a song so sodden with schmooze that I can see it being outlawed for making the populous violently throw up, and 'How Would You Feel' has a solo by John Mayer in it, which is a about as damning an insult as I could conjure.
But I want to highlight the two songs that irk me the most: 'Galway Girl' and 'Nancy Mulligan'. Now, I'm not Irish, I have zero Irish heritage and I've happily never paid 7 Euro for a pint. However, the way in which Ed uses the Irish themes of these songs as a self-insert fantasy is pretty atrocious. Again, I don't even claim to be even remotely interested by the intricacies of Irish folklore and traditional Irish music, but I know pandering when I hear it. And these two songs are pandering so hard that Beijing Zoo are trying to corral the released albums back into an enclosure ready for mating. Both of these utterly detestable tracks are just the worst kind of derivative faff that you get in pop music today, trying to wrangle an ear-worm out of bastardising time-tested cultural staples in an attempt to recycle what came before for greater profit.
That, and I just don't like it.
But I want to highlight the two songs that irk me the most: 'Galway Girl' and 'Nancy Mulligan'. Now, I'm not Irish, I have zero Irish heritage and I've happily never paid 7 Euro for a pint. However, the way in which Ed uses the Irish themes of these songs as a self-insert fantasy is pretty atrocious. Again, I don't even claim to be even remotely interested by the intricacies of Irish folklore and traditional Irish music, but I know pandering when I hear it. And these two songs are pandering so hard that Beijing Zoo are trying to corral the released albums back into an enclosure ready for mating. Both of these utterly detestable tracks are just the worst kind of derivative faff that you get in pop music today, trying to wrangle an ear-worm out of bastardising time-tested cultural staples in an attempt to recycle what came before for greater profit.
That, and I just don't like it.
The Best Albums Of 2017
Honourable Mentions
Don Broco, 'Technology' (sort of) - This is massively cheating since the album isn't out until February, but the steady release of wonderful singles from Broco's upcoming album have given us more than a taste for what Technology's full release will be like, and me likey.
Carly Rae Jepson, 'Emotion: Side B' - There's a certain innocence to Jepson's work which I just appreciate in a pop environment that has not accounted for it's reservedness. 'Cut To The Feeling' was the upbeat happy hit we needed this year.
Queens Of The Stone Age, 'Villains' - A very welcome comeback from Josh Homme and co, it fails to scale up to Songs For The Deaf, but few things do. A great lead single made this the rock album to beat this year.
Carly Rae Jepson, 'Emotion: Side B' - There's a certain innocence to Jepson's work which I just appreciate in a pop environment that has not accounted for it's reservedness. 'Cut To The Feeling' was the upbeat happy hit we needed this year.
Queens Of The Stone Age, 'Villains' - A very welcome comeback from Josh Homme and co, it fails to scale up to Songs For The Deaf, but few things do. A great lead single made this the rock album to beat this year.
5 - Joji, 'In Tongues'
In Geroge Miller's transition from meme daddy and b0ss Filthy Frank, to his more honest and meaningful stage person of Joji, Miller has struck an oddly resonant chord with the sad trap scene, with his lead single 'Will He' breaking over 15 million views. And with good reason, his EP 'n Tongues makes the top 5 this year. It's been quite the journey following Millers career, but its come to a head with his best work yet. Whilst devoid of memes, what it does do is cast a dark shadow on the nature of modern relationships and attitudes to morality and sexuality. It's far more deep than you'd ever think coming from the guy who popularised the Harlem Shake, but it's a tonally consistent collection of emotional slow jams that, in this year of music, produce a great voice for the counter culture present in alternative R&B.
4 - Ninja Sex Party, 'Under The Covers, Vol. II'
Another internet darling now. After making the honourable mentions last year, Ninja Sex Party finally get the spot on the top list they deserve. And for a covers album, this entry is far bigger in scope that the one that came before. After taking fan suggestions, the song selection here is far more challenging than the first covers album, which makes the thematics of TWRP's instrumentation on this record all the more impressive. Save for a truly duff and flat cover of 'More Than A Feeling', every other track on this album is a winner. Highlights include covers of 'Don't Lose My Number', 'Rocket Man' and 'I Wish', rounded out with the heavy hitting lead singles of 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' and 'Heat Of The Moment'. I'm still far more looking forward to whatever form their next original album Cool Patrol takes, but for now, this proves that NSP are the glam force we didn't know we absolutely needed.
3 - Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2, 'Awesome Mix Vol. 2'
Make no mistake, this would be my album of the year if I wasn't imposing certain rules on myself, but as a compilation album, I couldn't in my heart of hearts call it the best album of 2017. Now, it is a great album, made even more impressive when listened in context to what happens in Guardians 2, but that's just it. As a jukebox soundtrack, it is only made better in relation to another piece of media and doesn't exactly stand on its own. Sure, the songs are pretty well know now, but I doubt Looking Glass were getting as many hits on Spotify before 'Brandy' appeared in the best movie of 2017. So yeah, technically the best accompaniment album of the year for sure, but I can't put it at number 1 for the same reason.
2 - La La Land: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
I ummed and awwed about putting this at number 1, I really did. It passed the test of being original music and not just a compilation, it get a staggering amount of plays on my Spotify this year and it pretty much bought back the high profile musical movie by itself. More than that, it had one my favourite musical songs ever in 'A Lovely Night', which also ranks on my list of greatest movie moments. But ultimately, I did skip a good number of tracks here and there. John Legends track is not that amazing and as good as the instrumental breaks are, part of you just aches to hear more singing. But despite these flaws, the vocal tracks from this album more than make up for it.
1 - Brendan Small, 'Galaktikon II: Become The Storm'
As a full album experience, there really was nothing like Galaktikon II this year. The beauty of this melodic death metal concept sequel lied in the two different ways you can listen to it and perceive it's sound and story: the album release and the vinyl release, which have been referred to as traditional and true track listings respectively. The first order serves as a sequel to the story presented in the first album, following Triton in his next quest after his superhero comeback, fighting the demon force known as Murder. The second order which changes the track-listing of most of the album, however, has been theorised to be a meta narrative that tells a story that is a swan song to Small's other franchise Metalocalypse, to which Small no longer holds the rights. Regardless of what it all means, in terms of the music, it's a sprawling space epic with a focus on being far heavier than the original. The phrases are bigger and more complex, the riffs dirtier and the vocals utilise a lot more growls and screams. In my opinion, it's not quite as good as the first entry in this series, but Galaktikon II is easily the most cohesive and smooth album released this year and flows like no other release. It's the metal album we all deserve for 2017.
By Mike Owen
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of our podcasts, and currently pens Pop Culture Club and The Death of Video Games
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of our podcasts, and currently pens Pop Culture Club and The Death of Video Games
