Hear me out here: Inquisition is to black metal as Wormed is to death metal. Both take unfriendly metal subgenres, increase the drama-per-riff factor, top the results with flat-affect vocals and nonsensical lyrics about space, and then use towering productions to blow the whole mess up to vast proportions. Both bands earned considerable acclaim for their efforts this year, but Obscure Verses For The Multiverse appealed to the sympathies of metal nerds from across the spectrum of taste in a way that almost no other album in 2013 managed. (It was the only album to place high on all four Black Marketers’ ballots.) This fact is instructive. Black metal as a genre is as off-putting as they come, but Inquisition are fundamentally an inclusive band. Underneath the abstruse lyrics and weirdo vocals, they care about whether you like them, and they want you to have fun when you spin their album. Listen to “Joined By Dark Matter, Repelled By Dark Energy” or “Inversion Of Ethereal White Stars.” Some of those riffs could’ve come straight off a Smashing Pumpkins record, and yet Obscure Verses is as thoroughly metal as albums get. How does that work? I’m not sure, but by nailing this counterintuitive balance, Inquisition have crafted the most endearing thoroughbred black metal album of 2013. –Doug [LISTEN]