Before continuing, I feel I need to go on a brief tangent, so here it is. 2016 sucked. It sucked more for some people than for others, but the general consensus is that 2016, in every aspect other than music, was the worst year in a long fucking time. Celebrity heroes passing away, international unrest, financial stagnation, many friends who have lost close loved ones, and one of the weirdest and most depressing political seasons we will ever witness would each have individually made for a pretty awful year, so combined they’ve put most people I know into a state of shocked disbelief. Hell, I am still in a state of shocked disbelief about most things that have happened this year. There’s really nothing to say about 2016 that even CAN make sense to anyone other than an out-and-out nihilist.
Which is exactly why my #1 song of the year is:
“Pissed Off” by Fit For A King (from the album Deathgrip)
Pissed Off is about as unambiguous a title as you can get with the English language, and Fit For A King do not tease. The only warning we get is a whipcrack 2-beat chug before Ryan Kirby roars white hot rage directly into our ears over shrieking feedback, airing a list of grievances about how messed up the world is. The thunderous, repetitive guitar chugs straight-up channel Meshuggah, and the throat-shredding vocals could pass for Demon Hunter in their prime. Not content to JUST bludgeon you with the angriest song of the year, they also end things with the heaviest breakdown of their careers and a wordless, 12-second roar so low it clips on cheap headphones. I can’t think of a more fitting song to represent 2016.
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