The Best of Canadian Metal
Adrien Begrand
Contrary to popular opinion, it isn't just indie rock collectives and bar band hosers up here. In fact, the heavier side of Canadian music is stronger than ever before — the music sounding as extreme as the weather. The best of this year's bunch show just how diverse the homegrown metal has become.

FIVE > Buried Inside — Chronoclast [Relapse]
A concept album about the grip of time, Chronoclast merges the expansive guitars of Neurosis with the more progressive sounds of the Dillinger Escape Plan.

FOUR > Despised Icon — The Healing Process [Century Media]
The sheer versatility of this band bodes very well for the future. The young French-Canadian grindcore phenoms display the requisite expertise in churning, controlled chaos. But it's the unexpected breakdowns and tempo changes that produce such an enjoyably unnerving sound.

THREE > Strapping Young Lad — Alien [Century Media]
A brutally loud exercise in over-the-top rage. During the masterfully psychotic "Shitstorm", British Columbia's resident madman is dead-on with his proposition, "If you want fucking crazy, I'll show you how to be crazy."

TWO > Cursed — Two [Goodfellow]
Combining the stoner-sludge of early Mastodon with the more abrasive, hardcore sound of Converge, Hamilton's Cursed are gigantic. Tragically overlooked both in Canada and the States, it's one of the year's hidden gems.

ONE > Cryptopsy — Once Was Not [Century Media]
Canadian metal album of the year. Consisting of lightning-fast arrangements that fly off in every conceivable direction, it all centers around the spectacular drumming of Flo Mounier. Death metal at its most technical, not to mention exhilarating.

Best Broken Social Scene Spin-Off That Nobody's Talking About
Adrien Begrand
I'm not sure if that's an oxymoron or a paradox. But while Feist, Metric, Stars, and Apostle of Hustle attract the media's eye, guitarist Jason Collett quietly pulled off an album of alt-country that is typically weary, yet somehow bright.

ONE > Jason Collett Idols of Exile [Arts and Crafts]
An antidote to the dense tones of the sophomoric Broken Social Scene album, this laconic, country tinged rock record has Collett sounding like a well-adjusted Jeff Tweedy.