Some weeks back, Chris(topher) had asked me to sneak in a guest post with my signature Sigourney Weaver flare, and feeling in the sassy mood to annoy my downstairs neighbors with the sound of my balls descending, and while it's taken me a few days (what in between finals and porn) I've decided that time is either now... or possibly at a later more convenient time for everyone's sleep/work schedule? I'll be the fly in their chardonnay. LULZ ALANIS.So I guess it's 1977. Not that I mind, each dying year beckons the return of days when minimalist electronica didn't mean waves of unaffected tuneless dirge, and country music didn't (for the most part) suck. Lately, I've become a soundtrack fan, for movies which haven't been made, and probably will never see the light of day. Still, I fantasize about the contrasting imagery of gypsy jingles mingling with ultra-pop, and the result is something along the lines of this here list, ideally populating some Federico Fellini film from the archives of clandestine arthouse backrooms. We're living in bad times for forward music, so the next best thing is to repress the mind into believing we're in some type of cornucopia of golden age throwbacks (I GUESS). That being said, this year has been my first foray into a lot of unchartered waters (previously avoided ambient/electronica, modern crust punx, post-R.I.O. avant-prog and psychedelia). Either way, past experiences dictate that I won't truly grasp this year well into spring of 2008. Let's get on with it.
#'s 50 - 11
50. Lifelover - Erotik
49. The Intelligence - Deuteronomy
48. Der Blutharsch - The Philosopher's Stone
Before I even got started on 'Philosopher', I had already been informed that much of the martial aspect to Blutharsch's songs had been vanquished in exchange for faux post-punk douchebaggery. That was tragic news considering my man Julian Albin had decided this would be their real last 'industrial' album (if he even decides to not pull the plug on the band). Listen, I get that some people are still on their Boyd Rice fanboy phase and need to have everything served to them on a trumpeting quasi-fascist platter, but this parade has clearly been winding down, and I commend Albin on taking the experimental way out in Der Blutharsch's swansong. There's a lot of entrancing stuff here, entrancing in the ethereal Death in June sense. Weird how one of the 90's most abrasive and cryptic martial bands faded away with such poise and grace. Farewell.47. Glorior Belli - Manifesting the Raging Beast
I GET IT FRANCE, your bands are ridiculous. I was surprised to find out that GB had been dishing out tracks under Southern Lord's watchful eye, but given the album's preference for slow to mid-tempo songs, it should have become increasingly obvious. People have clumped Glorior Belli into the strand of sharp philosophical black metal of bands such as Mgla, Onskapt and early Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord. They continue the tradition well.
I GET IT FRANCE, your bands are ridiculous. I was surprised to find out that GB had been dishing out tracks under Southern Lord's watchful eye, but given the album's preference for slow to mid-tempo songs, it should have become increasingly obvious. People have clumped Glorior Belli into the strand of sharp philosophical black metal of bands such as Mgla, Onskapt and early Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord. They continue the tradition well.46. Blotted Science - The Machinations of Dementia
45. Bong-Ra - Full Metal Racket
I've had a long running affair with Bolt Thrower's 'War Master', and it topples easily over most of the work submitted around the same time by their English comrades. Upon picking up Full Metal Racket, I quickly learned that so had Jason Kohnen when he so flagrantly injected references to Bolt Thrower (among other particularly top-notch things) into this album. Everyone from Terrorizer(yayayay) to Earache(bO0O0O0) gets a name-drop, but the stand-out tracks are undeniably the 'Ram Waster' reference and the breakcore cover of Cenotaph. Delicious. I recall this being the exact same reason I fell in love with Necrony a while back. You just can't go wrong with a Cenotaph cover.
44. Wolfbrigade - Prey to the World
43. Phosphorescent - Pride
Matthew Houck can talk to me about whatever he wants. Rarely can I comment on how easily an artist's slow-spoken/half-sung/yet-somehow-multi-layered reverberated whisper translates (or in his case, transubstantiates) on to vinyl, and even fewer and far between are the instances in which I can say I give a tranny's handbag about the message being sent across the airwaves (especially in our oft times dodgy southern boy's case). If I ever bought vinyl. No, Houck brings together his penchant for lo-fi recording and sad melodies together with an uplifting religious undertone that sits surprisingly well with me. Having taken Marissa Nadler under his wing for those few shows was definitely kosher, and I only wish I could've witnessed it. Both can put on quite a heartfelt performance, so I've read. That voice definitely helps seal the deal.
42. Hypothermia - Rakbladsvalsen
41. Weedeater - God Luck and Good Speed
40. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
Aesop has gone a long way since Labor Days, and his signature beats and delivery are still in tact. The fact that he still manages to fly over heads is a sad monument to this year's output (I spit on JMT's last effort, and I never got around to 8 Diagrams, so). Multi-faceted and sharp as daggers, this guy's always gonna be on top for a variety of reasons, one of which I must admit isn't his voice. I shouldn't be that shallow that I have to weigh in the fact that he STILL sounds pre-pubescent, even though he spits out at the rate of 3,000 stings per second. Hell of a production job on this record, though.
39. Psychedelic Horseshit - Magic Flowers Droned
These guys understand. This music is similar to a broken relative who was probably a drug-addled gambit who survived the housing crash and the war on drugs, a few gang stints and perhaps even a back alley abortion or three, and in their cold grimace you see the stark urgency that you can only taste from their bleeding odour. Being 15 and a hispanic woman, you turn back to your T-mobile sidekick, passing up on the goldmine that is a ruined life with willing lips to decry. Magic Flowers Droned is a compact unpredictable bitch, and there's a lot happening here that I wouldn't understand even if I went out out of my way. After all, I am that slut who just won't listen. After a few tries though, you understand just how much it means to these guys to be able to purposely butcher the music, and the people it's intended for.
38. Amon Tobin - Foley Room
37. Wold - Screech Owl
I've only ever really been impressed by two or three other black-noise acts since I heard of its inception. Dead Raven Choir are probably the biggest band spearheading this movement, and have always had a pretty impeccable approach, and then there's Abruptum who are a fucking joke and should be euthanized on sight. Despite the self-proclaimed black-noise label that Wold use, there's a certain level of atmosphere and cohesion that really obstructs me from calling them genuine noise. Perhaps black-noise for its own sake has to include a certain amount of overlapping dissonant tunefulness that allows it to exist as an entity apart from both dark ambient and harsh noise as well as straying away from the ritual black ambient bands that have been associated with the Midwest and USBM. In any case, Screech Owl delivers, and shouldn't be passed up by enthusiasts of said music genres.
36. Battles - Mirrored
35. Secret Mommy - Plays
Alright, the gimmick is pretty clear. Everyone uses a slew of not very common instruments, plays them like a gang of mong-eaters, leaves the skinny guy with the laptop to copypasta and there you have it. It should, by all account, sound sillier than this, but in its own way, there's a craft here that can be explored and exploited to make serious shit unlike anything seen before on urth. I gasped at least twice during this album to how much the arrangements worked, although someone tell these people not to drown in their own novelty.
34. Inquisition - Nefarious Dismal Orations
I love the outerlying cum-crust that a lot of bands have that completely make listening to them a giant negative for a nice portion of the population. My countrymen Inquisition have always been shat on because Dagon croaks like an oversized bullfrog getting stuffed with dicks. Lucky for me, I love Dagon and the artwork alone for the majority of Inquisition's album covers is so over the top, that I can't help to want to strangle naysayers for not worshiping these fellas (at least for not loving the covers). The record itself is as truly Inquisition as droning ritualism gets. What's great is that through the lacerating frequencies, you can still get a slight peek at some of of the more quality guitarwork to grace this specific blend of sludge-esque black metal in a while. Also, doesn't the title sound like it could've been by Demon Burger?
33. Band of Horses - Cease To Exist
32. Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum
Sound judgment tells me I should have never cared about this album to begin with. It's ghastly and unoriginal. Assholes probably listen to this. But I can't stop that now, not after I've exchanged Elephant 6 for the crystal meth that fuels my faggotry.
31. Totalitär - Vi Är Eliten
Sweden is still a hotbed for hardcore and death metal, despite the beatings and mediocrity that has plagued them since the mid-90's. Known to me through their split with Dropdead, Totalitär bring a helping of that second generation crust that's in such dire need of making a comeback. The rundown's pretty orthodox, and there's nothing here that would displease Anti Cimex or their ilk. Violently political, these veterans don't get down like a lot of the watered down crust-by-affiliation bands that have been getting so much attention at festivals like Obscene Extreme.
30. Bongripper - Hippie Killer
An epic sludge 10-piece with an uptempo pizzazz that would play pretty well as a one-track full-length but is broken down for accessibility's purpose. It has it's calm eerie moments, but the innovation is consistent making the entire album and all its different movements work well as a concept one-piece, from the loud amp-exterminating riffage to the obvious Neurosis passages.
29. The Fiery Furnaces - Widow City
28. Forgotten Woods - Race of Cain
Ever since Neige took over vocal duties, I knew this was an album I'd have to come across. Lo and behold, it turned out to be better than the godawful Peste Noire compilation released this same year. That, plus Amesoeurs doesn't seem to have a full-length headed our way any time soon, and Alcest is entirely fucking overrated.
27. Yacøpsæ - Tanz Grosny Tanz
26. Gallhammer - Ill Innocence
25. The Pax Cecilia - Blessed Are the Bonds
This gets the award for cross-pollination effort 2007. Granted a lot of teh post-post-hardcore nowadays leans towards the mathy apocalyptic side, few really try to apply this epic post-rock template as principle. A not too shabby hybrid has resulted, combining the labyrinthine crust-influenced post-hardcore (emo violence lulz) with the doomy post-life sounds of Explosions in the Sky to create something which makes complete sense. How this didn't happen sooner is anybody's guess.
24. Behold... The Arctopus - Skullgrid
23. Tartar Lamb - Sixty Metonymies
22. Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
I'm gonna risk sounding like a clitshaft by announcing that I've liked this band since before their release of Diadem of 12 Stars, and I couldn't for the life of me have predicted their untimely snowball into hipster canon. Yeah yeah, post-metal is a fabricated genre meant to produce hype -- Jesu's kind of bland -- Southern Lord doesn't have a single decent band on their current roster -- I know what the vernacular states. Politics tossed aside, this is the beauty of experimental USBM to the core. The Twilight collective (i.e. the spice girls of USBM) is tired and uninspired, and I would rather hear the death-rattle of my only child than sit through a Xasthur album. But in between Vrolok and WIITR, things might ending up not seeming so bleak for our locals after all. In spite of their self-centered claims at having breakthrough ideologies.
21. A Whisper in the Noise - Dry Land
Steve Albini makes a better producer nowadays than he does attempting to catch lightning in a bottle for a second time. I love the man, but 'At Action Park' is never going to repeat itself. The substance here is undeniable, and kept to a bare minimum. Very unlike the steamroller-type projects Albini is known to be involved with, aWitN travel the road of soft-sounding aurally pleasing melodies drenched in darkness and ambiguity. To clear up things, Albini's not actually in aWitN, I only mentioned him because of my own gaping disappointment with 'Excellent Italian Greyhound', which save for Spoke (which could actually be my favorite song of the year) is a bona fide piece of dick.
20. Blood Freak - Multiplex Massacre
Maniac Neil has long ago established himself and all his incarnations to be Razorback's grandest. Two consecutively sexy albums in under two years makes Neil the man with the keys to my heart. It would be the tits if Blood Freak played a New York show, now that they've decided to start performing live. Or MDF.
19. Akron/Family - Love is Simple
Because I refuse to acknowledge Panda Bear.
18. Burial - Untrue
17. Deathspell Omega - Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeturnum
Mikko Aspa can't do wrong. Sure, the momentum behind this band has spiraled out of control and this material doesn't sound half as dense as their last three albums, but as far as an avant-garde record goes, this shit isn't the pits. It definitely makes up for the abortion known as Supervillain Outcast.
16. Weekend Nachos - Punish and Destroy
How is powerviolence fairing off these days anyway? I've now solely been keeping up with Sylvester Staline as well as going back to the reliably awesome Infest and at times No Comment, but these guys put the a much-needed punch to the back of the head of this dead prostitot. For a genre that's pretty much hit rock bottom (Mind Eraser...), there are a few bands out there that still like to not make a mockery of the music.
15. Akitsa - La Grande Infamie
14. Fall of Efrafa - Elil
Neo-crust the way it was meant to get down. This is the sequel to Owsla, and part two in the group's concept trilogy. With each song clocking in at approximately 20 minutes each, the amount of work and cyclic progression which revisits passages from other FoE works to form a sort of chain of concepts around which this chapter is built is astounding, and difficult to really encapsulate with anywhere less than three listens. A bit drawn out, if you're not into the depth of most contemporary doom, but pays off in the end when all the bits and pieces form a carefully-orchestrated work of a collective WTF.
13. Walknut - Graveforests and Their Shadows
Slavic NS is about the most ridiculous and comically misinformed ideology you can try to formulate and rationalize. However, loving the smell of their own shit and failing to come to terms with history has never stopped half the buffoons from Blazebirth from making tragedy in the form of black metal. Regardless, this album stands out beautifully, and has some of the best atmosphere this side of Belketre. Formed by members of the Nitberg and Temnozor camps (hence a lot of the pagan imagery), Graveforests may be the sole reason I don't completely discard Russia into its own self-ingesting potluck of ratty underachievement.
12. The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls with Sand
11. Rome - Confessions d'un voleur d'âmes
Ever since 'Death - Pierce Me', the thunderous hypestorm that Nattramn has managed to conjure isn't very much unlike the hipster-posturing non-existent allure of complete scat brulee extravaganzas akin to this year's 'Sound of Silver'. The harrowing stories of dementia and ward-house isolation coupled with aversion therapy and electroshock treatment have become legend, and I have to be honest, played a big part in my interest in Transformalin. Now, I'm no idgit. Anyone with a cubic liter's worth of brain fluid can tell it's clearly a pitch, though fetching. That being said, this album is pretty linear in its diverse take on ambient. Aside for being predictably haunting (the pitch, THE PITCH), it has its incredibly spectral moments. Particularly the last track, which as I try to describe to the best of my ability, is harking HARD on Axis of Perdition, though the album draws influence from a lot of contemporaries in both the dark ambient (think Lustmord) and post-industrial/noise (think Masonna when he's not trying to kill your face) worlds.
9. Atrium Carceri - Ptahil
Quintessential ambient album of the year. The bleak minimalism which gives way to the running wild of the human mind, helped along at times only be the eerie samples scattered about is what sells this record. True, that can be said about any dark ambient act, but not to the extent of Atrium Carceri, who incorporate so many elements of neo-classical suspense, that this makes for a simultaneously soothing yet murderous listen, doubling the apocalyptic factor behind its merit. Not the most relaxing of music, and definitely not for people who don't appreciate the effect suspense can have on a listening experience.
8. Ulver - Shadows of the Sun
Beautiful. Black Sabbath cover and everything. Garm is a free-thinker if I've ever seen one, and has proved time and time again that genre confines serve to diminish the cause of music, rather than to elevate it to its next form. Shadows of the Sun isn't the type of music you'd want to pump through speakers or play while there's a multitude of people around you. It works best in solitude, with the freedom to close your eyes and really dive into the exponential amounts of atmosphere being brought to the table.
7. Marissa Nadler - Songs III: Bird on the Water
The vocals take incredible prominence to the work Nadler tries to present, and if I'm to delve into intense female songwriting tradition, I definitely prefer her stylings over the cholesterol ball of pretense of Joanna Newsom. Trying to re-capture the past isn't a feat at all to Marissa, who's incredibly cute to boot, and pours her soul into painting the withered image of lost hope and despair. The lyrical content is some of the most realistically depressing I've read in a while, taken to an extreme by the somberness of her voice. She's not the best at displaying variety in terms of lyrical or emotional range, but what she lacks in diversity she makes up with being able to hone herself with mass precision.
6. Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today
There's absolutely no one who has any valid excuse for not liking this album. The dirty slutty awesomeness is still served by the buckets, even though the amps aren't receiving the ample amount of punishment of previous releases. It grooves and wrecks, and definitely urges me to bang my head, in the most genuine of ways. Much more accessible and less wall-of-sound than Dopethrone and Come my Fanatics, but all the while more infectious. As the epitome of good taste, you'd best stay the hell away if you're not gonna salivate once it's done. And shame on you.
5. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times
The zenith of performance avant-fuck deliver once again, this time indulging in the metallier side of things without qualm. The parabolas of bi-polar behavior in this record are a testament to SGM's true virtuosity, but it's not as if anything less was expected. Sprinkled with about three dozen different styles of music, the content is unrelenting, and given their perfectionist streak, downright excellent. From their quirkpop to their soulful funk, back through a series of gargled intersections, this is a trip worth listening to at least for its novel fragmentation. If they don't touch upon what your heart desires in one of their episodes of schizophrenia, you my friend, have a Marklar's taste in music.
4. Bone Awl - Meaningless Leaning Mess
The amount of Amebix worship is worthy of a tribute album, although abstaining from a lot of the old-school nihilist sounds of our godfathers by having a holdover elements from raw visionaries Ildjarn. In fact, these guys have been dubbed Ildjarn clones, but why would that imply even slightly being a negative thing? It's raw, fuzzy and frantic, with your occasional outburst to keep you off-guard. In a year heavily lacking in good crust punk, the black metal camp has stepped up to fill the void in our tumultuous hearts.
3. EAQuartett - Electroacoustiquarett
Oh John Zorn, how you broke my heart this year. I believe that you haven't really been exposed to either avant-prog or post-grindcore until you've sat through all of Torture Garden, which is impossibly suffocated among the limitless catalog this fellow Queens-dweller has amassed throughout the years. Sure Naked City shines the brightest, but is in reality only the most retarded of his other mentally-impaired works. I should preface that by saying I love retards, and ackowledge the unrecognized contributions made by them to society on an everyday basis. While Zorn squandered his potential by bringing in the tired irrelevance known as Mike Patton for Heliogabalus, the quartett were off plotting to rock the world of free-form spectrum-variant experimental jazz-fusion. What does that mean? These guys cover as much ground as Zorn at his best, and do it with a surprising fluidity. But better. Much better. Criminally overlooked album.45. Bong-Ra - Full Metal Racket
I've had a long running affair with Bolt Thrower's 'War Master', and it topples easily over most of the work submitted around the same time by their English comrades. Upon picking up Full Metal Racket, I quickly learned that so had Jason Kohnen when he so flagrantly injected references to Bolt Thrower (among other particularly top-notch things) into this album. Everyone from Terrorizer(yayayay) to Earache(bO0O0O0) gets a name-drop, but the stand-out tracks are undeniably the 'Ram Waster' reference and the breakcore cover of Cenotaph. Delicious. I recall this being the exact same reason I fell in love with Necrony a while back. You just can't go wrong with a Cenotaph cover.44. Wolfbrigade - Prey to the World
43. Phosphorescent - Pride
Matthew Houck can talk to me about whatever he wants. Rarely can I comment on how easily an artist's slow-spoken/half-sung/yet-somehow-multi-layered reverberated whisper translates (or in his case, transubstantiates) on to vinyl, and even fewer and far between are the instances in which I can say I give a tranny's handbag about the message being sent across the airwaves (especially in our oft times dodgy southern boy's case). If I ever bought vinyl. No, Houck brings together his penchant for lo-fi recording and sad melodies together with an uplifting religious undertone that sits surprisingly well with me. Having taken Marissa Nadler under his wing for those few shows was definitely kosher, and I only wish I could've witnessed it. Both can put on quite a heartfelt performance, so I've read. That voice definitely helps seal the deal.42. Hypothermia - Rakbladsvalsen
41. Weedeater - God Luck and Good Speed
40. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
Aesop has gone a long way since Labor Days, and his signature beats and delivery are still in tact. The fact that he still manages to fly over heads is a sad monument to this year's output (I spit on JMT's last effort, and I never got around to 8 Diagrams, so). Multi-faceted and sharp as daggers, this guy's always gonna be on top for a variety of reasons, one of which I must admit isn't his voice. I shouldn't be that shallow that I have to weigh in the fact that he STILL sounds pre-pubescent, even though he spits out at the rate of 3,000 stings per second. Hell of a production job on this record, though.39. Psychedelic Horseshit - Magic Flowers Droned
These guys understand. This music is similar to a broken relative who was probably a drug-addled gambit who survived the housing crash and the war on drugs, a few gang stints and perhaps even a back alley abortion or three, and in their cold grimace you see the stark urgency that you can only taste from their bleeding odour. Being 15 and a hispanic woman, you turn back to your T-mobile sidekick, passing up on the goldmine that is a ruined life with willing lips to decry. Magic Flowers Droned is a compact unpredictable bitch, and there's a lot happening here that I wouldn't understand even if I went out out of my way. After all, I am that slut who just won't listen. After a few tries though, you understand just how much it means to these guys to be able to purposely butcher the music, and the people it's intended for.38. Amon Tobin - Foley Room
37. Wold - Screech Owl
I've only ever really been impressed by two or three other black-noise acts since I heard of its inception. Dead Raven Choir are probably the biggest band spearheading this movement, and have always had a pretty impeccable approach, and then there's Abruptum who are a fucking joke and should be euthanized on sight. Despite the self-proclaimed black-noise label that Wold use, there's a certain level of atmosphere and cohesion that really obstructs me from calling them genuine noise. Perhaps black-noise for its own sake has to include a certain amount of overlapping dissonant tunefulness that allows it to exist as an entity apart from both dark ambient and harsh noise as well as straying away from the ritual black ambient bands that have been associated with the Midwest and USBM. In any case, Screech Owl delivers, and shouldn't be passed up by enthusiasts of said music genres.36. Battles - Mirrored
35. Secret Mommy - Plays
Alright, the gimmick is pretty clear. Everyone uses a slew of not very common instruments, plays them like a gang of mong-eaters, leaves the skinny guy with the laptop to copypasta and there you have it. It should, by all account, sound sillier than this, but in its own way, there's a craft here that can be explored and exploited to make serious shit unlike anything seen before on urth. I gasped at least twice during this album to how much the arrangements worked, although someone tell these people not to drown in their own novelty.34. Inquisition - Nefarious Dismal Orations
I love the outerlying cum-crust that a lot of bands have that completely make listening to them a giant negative for a nice portion of the population. My countrymen Inquisition have always been shat on because Dagon croaks like an oversized bullfrog getting stuffed with dicks. Lucky for me, I love Dagon and the artwork alone for the majority of Inquisition's album covers is so over the top, that I can't help to want to strangle naysayers for not worshiping these fellas (at least for not loving the covers). The record itself is as truly Inquisition as droning ritualism gets. What's great is that through the lacerating frequencies, you can still get a slight peek at some of of the more quality guitarwork to grace this specific blend of sludge-esque black metal in a while. Also, doesn't the title sound like it could've been by Demon Burger?33. Band of Horses - Cease To Exist
32. Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum
Sound judgment tells me I should have never cared about this album to begin with. It's ghastly and unoriginal. Assholes probably listen to this. But I can't stop that now, not after I've exchanged Elephant 6 for the crystal meth that fuels my faggotry.31. Totalitär - Vi Är Eliten
Sweden is still a hotbed for hardcore and death metal, despite the beatings and mediocrity that has plagued them since the mid-90's. Known to me through their split with Dropdead, Totalitär bring a helping of that second generation crust that's in such dire need of making a comeback. The rundown's pretty orthodox, and there's nothing here that would displease Anti Cimex or their ilk. Violently political, these veterans don't get down like a lot of the watered down crust-by-affiliation bands that have been getting so much attention at festivals like Obscene Extreme. 30. Bongripper - Hippie Killer
An epic sludge 10-piece with an uptempo pizzazz that would play pretty well as a one-track full-length but is broken down for accessibility's purpose. It has it's calm eerie moments, but the innovation is consistent making the entire album and all its different movements work well as a concept one-piece, from the loud amp-exterminating riffage to the obvious Neurosis passages.29. The Fiery Furnaces - Widow City
28. Forgotten Woods - Race of Cain
Ever since Neige took over vocal duties, I knew this was an album I'd have to come across. Lo and behold, it turned out to be better than the godawful Peste Noire compilation released this same year. That, plus Amesoeurs doesn't seem to have a full-length headed our way any time soon, and Alcest is entirely fucking overrated. 27. Yacøpsæ - Tanz Grosny Tanz
26. Gallhammer - Ill Innocence
25. The Pax Cecilia - Blessed Are the Bonds
This gets the award for cross-pollination effort 2007. Granted a lot of teh post-post-hardcore nowadays leans towards the mathy apocalyptic side, few really try to apply this epic post-rock template as principle. A not too shabby hybrid has resulted, combining the labyrinthine crust-influenced post-hardcore (emo violence lulz) with the doomy post-life sounds of Explosions in the Sky to create something which makes complete sense. How this didn't happen sooner is anybody's guess.24. Behold... The Arctopus - Skullgrid
23. Tartar Lamb - Sixty Metonymies
22. Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
I'm gonna risk sounding like a clitshaft by announcing that I've liked this band since before their release of Diadem of 12 Stars, and I couldn't for the life of me have predicted their untimely snowball into hipster canon. Yeah yeah, post-metal is a fabricated genre meant to produce hype -- Jesu's kind of bland -- Southern Lord doesn't have a single decent band on their current roster -- I know what the vernacular states. Politics tossed aside, this is the beauty of experimental USBM to the core. The Twilight collective (i.e. the spice girls of USBM) is tired and uninspired, and I would rather hear the death-rattle of my only child than sit through a Xasthur album. But in between Vrolok and WIITR, things might ending up not seeming so bleak for our locals after all. In spite of their self-centered claims at having breakthrough ideologies.21. A Whisper in the Noise - Dry Land
Steve Albini makes a better producer nowadays than he does attempting to catch lightning in a bottle for a second time. I love the man, but 'At Action Park' is never going to repeat itself. The substance here is undeniable, and kept to a bare minimum. Very unlike the steamroller-type projects Albini is known to be involved with, aWitN travel the road of soft-sounding aurally pleasing melodies drenched in darkness and ambiguity. To clear up things, Albini's not actually in aWitN, I only mentioned him because of my own gaping disappointment with 'Excellent Italian Greyhound', which save for Spoke (which could actually be my favorite song of the year) is a bona fide piece of dick.20. Blood Freak - Multiplex Massacre
Maniac Neil has long ago established himself and all his incarnations to be Razorback's grandest. Two consecutively sexy albums in under two years makes Neil the man with the keys to my heart. It would be the tits if Blood Freak played a New York show, now that they've decided to start performing live. Or MDF.19. Akron/Family - Love is Simple
Because I refuse to acknowledge Panda Bear.18. Burial - Untrue
17. Deathspell Omega - Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeturnum
Mikko Aspa can't do wrong. Sure, the momentum behind this band has spiraled out of control and this material doesn't sound half as dense as their last three albums, but as far as an avant-garde record goes, this shit isn't the pits. It definitely makes up for the abortion known as Supervillain Outcast.16. Weekend Nachos - Punish and Destroy
How is powerviolence fairing off these days anyway? I've now solely been keeping up with Sylvester Staline as well as going back to the reliably awesome Infest and at times No Comment, but these guys put the a much-needed punch to the back of the head of this dead prostitot. For a genre that's pretty much hit rock bottom (Mind Eraser...), there are a few bands out there that still like to not make a mockery of the music.15. Akitsa - La Grande Infamie
14. Fall of Efrafa - Elil
Neo-crust the way it was meant to get down. This is the sequel to Owsla, and part two in the group's concept trilogy. With each song clocking in at approximately 20 minutes each, the amount of work and cyclic progression which revisits passages from other FoE works to form a sort of chain of concepts around which this chapter is built is astounding, and difficult to really encapsulate with anywhere less than three listens. A bit drawn out, if you're not into the depth of most contemporary doom, but pays off in the end when all the bits and pieces form a carefully-orchestrated work of a collective WTF.13. Walknut - Graveforests and Their Shadows
Slavic NS is about the most ridiculous and comically misinformed ideology you can try to formulate and rationalize. However, loving the smell of their own shit and failing to come to terms with history has never stopped half the buffoons from Blazebirth from making tragedy in the form of black metal. Regardless, this album stands out beautifully, and has some of the best atmosphere this side of Belketre. Formed by members of the Nitberg and Temnozor camps (hence a lot of the pagan imagery), Graveforests may be the sole reason I don't completely discard Russia into its own self-ingesting potluck of ratty underachievement.12. The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls with Sand
11. Rome - Confessions d'un voleur d'âmes
The Top 10
10. Diagnose: Lebensgefahr - TransformalinEver since 'Death - Pierce Me', the thunderous hypestorm that Nattramn has managed to conjure isn't very much unlike the hipster-posturing non-existent allure of complete scat brulee extravaganzas akin to this year's 'Sound of Silver'. The harrowing stories of dementia and ward-house isolation coupled with aversion therapy and electroshock treatment have become legend, and I have to be honest, played a big part in my interest in Transformalin. Now, I'm no idgit. Anyone with a cubic liter's worth of brain fluid can tell it's clearly a pitch, though fetching. That being said, this album is pretty linear in its diverse take on ambient. Aside for being predictably haunting (the pitch, THE PITCH), it has its incredibly spectral moments. Particularly the last track, which as I try to describe to the best of my ability, is harking HARD on Axis of Perdition, though the album draws influence from a lot of contemporaries in both the dark ambient (think Lustmord) and post-industrial/noise (think Masonna when he's not trying to kill your face) worlds.9. Atrium Carceri - Ptahil
Quintessential ambient album of the year. The bleak minimalism which gives way to the running wild of the human mind, helped along at times only be the eerie samples scattered about is what sells this record. True, that can be said about any dark ambient act, but not to the extent of Atrium Carceri, who incorporate so many elements of neo-classical suspense, that this makes for a simultaneously soothing yet murderous listen, doubling the apocalyptic factor behind its merit. Not the most relaxing of music, and definitely not for people who don't appreciate the effect suspense can have on a listening experience.8. Ulver - Shadows of the Sun
Beautiful. Black Sabbath cover and everything. Garm is a free-thinker if I've ever seen one, and has proved time and time again that genre confines serve to diminish the cause of music, rather than to elevate it to its next form. Shadows of the Sun isn't the type of music you'd want to pump through speakers or play while there's a multitude of people around you. It works best in solitude, with the freedom to close your eyes and really dive into the exponential amounts of atmosphere being brought to the table.7. Marissa Nadler - Songs III: Bird on the Water
The vocals take incredible prominence to the work Nadler tries to present, and if I'm to delve into intense female songwriting tradition, I definitely prefer her stylings over the cholesterol ball of pretense of Joanna Newsom. Trying to re-capture the past isn't a feat at all to Marissa, who's incredibly cute to boot, and pours her soul into painting the withered image of lost hope and despair. The lyrical content is some of the most realistically depressing I've read in a while, taken to an extreme by the somberness of her voice. She's not the best at displaying variety in terms of lyrical or emotional range, but what she lacks in diversity she makes up with being able to hone herself with mass precision.6. Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today
There's absolutely no one who has any valid excuse for not liking this album. The dirty slutty awesomeness is still served by the buckets, even though the amps aren't receiving the ample amount of punishment of previous releases. It grooves and wrecks, and definitely urges me to bang my head, in the most genuine of ways. Much more accessible and less wall-of-sound than Dopethrone and Come my Fanatics, but all the while more infectious. As the epitome of good taste, you'd best stay the hell away if you're not gonna salivate once it's done. And shame on you.5. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times
The zenith of performance avant-fuck deliver once again, this time indulging in the metallier side of things without qualm. The parabolas of bi-polar behavior in this record are a testament to SGM's true virtuosity, but it's not as if anything less was expected. Sprinkled with about three dozen different styles of music, the content is unrelenting, and given their perfectionist streak, downright excellent. From their quirkpop to their soulful funk, back through a series of gargled intersections, this is a trip worth listening to at least for its novel fragmentation. If they don't touch upon what your heart desires in one of their episodes of schizophrenia, you my friend, have a Marklar's taste in music.4. Bone Awl - Meaningless Leaning Mess
The amount of Amebix worship is worthy of a tribute album, although abstaining from a lot of the old-school nihilist sounds of our godfathers by having a holdover elements from raw visionaries Ildjarn. In fact, these guys have been dubbed Ildjarn clones, but why would that imply even slightly being a negative thing? It's raw, fuzzy and frantic, with your occasional outburst to keep you off-guard. In a year heavily lacking in good crust punk, the black metal camp has stepped up to fill the void in our tumultuous hearts. 3. EAQuartett - Electroacoustiquarett
2. Kemialliset Ystävät - Kemialliset Ystävät
Romanians are such a blast. By Romanians, I mean the Finns, but being ignorant of the diaspora mechanisms behind eastern Europe, I dare not comment on its intricacies. This sounds Romanian, though. Can't pinpoint exactly what I mean by that, but if it's Finns playing Romanian music for an Italian film score, than I'd win the lightning round. Psychedelia confounds me, and when it doesn't, it leaves me utterly devastated at how frequently I've shat on it.. it sucks being in a lake of ignorance. About this record: it's a procession. A caravan of different cultures that strike me as innumerable and seductive to the core. The palette requirement of this multi-culturist multi-instrumentalist smörgåsbord has been pleasantly fulfilled, while I whip my head back and try to imagine who are the curious people that travel this landscape.
1. Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia
What's in a name? Do you ever wonder if people's names influence the outcome of their personality, or have the capacity of metamorphosing their every physical nook and cranny, just because? Would I act or look any differently if my name was Sergio (allegedly it almost was)? We already perceive other people differently based on the phonetics of their name's pronunciation, in coherence with our past experiences with people of the same moniker. But let me stop contemplating any further out of fear of validating the useless self-absorbed bullshit that's got shallow parents everywhere throwing millions of dollars into something as entirely loathsome and unnecessary as the baby-naming industry. Sweden definitely knows what I'm talking about. I'm anxious to meet a 15-year old girl with an invisalign mouthpiece and a Conway tiara named Bathsheba, and shake her parent's hands and buy them a drink for not being modernist assholes.Romanians are such a blast. By Romanians, I mean the Finns, but being ignorant of the diaspora mechanisms behind eastern Europe, I dare not comment on its intricacies. This sounds Romanian, though. Can't pinpoint exactly what I mean by that, but if it's Finns playing Romanian music for an Italian film score, than I'd win the lightning round. Psychedelia confounds me, and when it doesn't, it leaves me utterly devastated at how frequently I've shat on it.. it sucks being in a lake of ignorance. About this record: it's a procession. A caravan of different cultures that strike me as innumerable and seductive to the core. The palette requirement of this multi-culturist multi-instrumentalist smörgåsbord has been pleasantly fulfilled, while I whip my head back and try to imagine who are the curious people that travel this landscape.1. Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia
I bring this up because I can't think of the last time I thought to myself of how a band's name fit their music so freakishly well. These are the tracks to which unicellular pseudopods gyrate, and would perhaps find themselves sharing the stage with Alexander the Great and the Marquis de Sade (read: violently imposing queers). Nebular is the word for this strobe light parade, and one of the better things to have risen from Australia this year, although stellar seems to be a running theme with the Aussies (Stargazer comes to mind). Seemingly mindless (these guys have more depth than your average shlomo jocking a false genre named indie rave) fun is to be had, with a nice dose of X-Files mixed in with dizzyingly well-executed after-hours roller rink nostalgia. Dirty and shameless, this flickering spotlight and extraterrestrial falsetto cuntiness describes my current self down to a tee.
- Christian
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