Black Metal History Month

 

Black metal survived 2021. Not it's most impressive year, as it is no longer in fashion. Nihilistic hate is too real for some people who when it was in fashion must have thought corpse paint was just for laughs and giggles and they were people just pretending to be misanthropic. Granted the genre itself was less than prolific. Only 2 albums made the top 10 metal albums.  It is that time of year to venture back into the crypts to take another listen to some classics as well as see where black metal is heading so far this year. Before you get your little glue sniffing hopes up this doesn't mean I'm settling back for the next 28 days and be alright with blast beats for the sake of blast beats or ease up on the mandate that I passed going into the new year that I would asking more from black metal bands along with every other genre. The days of settling for tremolo picking and the same old same ole, are long gone. I want black metal that stands out from the pack. I want darkness, but I want to to sound beautiful, sonic and hypnotic.

If a band is typically described as raw black metal, then chances are I will be bored quick by anything with production quality less than Horna. If I want to hear something that sounds like old Burzum or Darkthrone, well I own those albums. What I will look for is new depressive suicidal black metal, which is one of the only sub-genres that I am willing to compromise on recording quality for, sometimes as older Cold World has proven a little rough around the edges works to create the atmosphere. Since history is a key component here, we are going to going to take another listen to some of the albums that influenced the genre even though they might not be what kids growing up these days consider black metal, but they don't know shit any way. 

Grab you lighters and spark up the lawns outside of the church in your neighborhood, let's hope for snow after all listening to black metal with the crunch of snow under your boots is the perfect setting. The world is going to hell and certainly deserves the worst coming to it. Some of the best black metal bands preach of a black dragon of chaos that will consume the world and right now that is the gospel we need. So let's celebrate true misanthropy and slap on come corpse paint to praise the coming darkness for Black Metal History month

Deeper Graves : "the Colossal Sleep"

 The debut of Jeff Wilson's excursion from metal into post-punk, as a solo outing was adequate, I feel he has a better handle on this brand of darkness in his other band Chrome Waves. At the time of the first album's release it seemed the trend of ex- metal musicians crossing over into post punk had reached the high-water mark and the band wagon still continued to roll. Though I can hear the blistered traces of Nachtmystium on the opening track despite it being more locked into an atmospheric drone. The vocals are a texture mixed into the back which creates more sonic heaviness. 

This proves to be more effective than what happens on "Escape Velocity".  On second listen the vocals were not as ineffective as they sounded on the first pass through the song, I think the problem is it plays off too many played out revivalist tropes which has become like hearing a cover band play all the radio rock hits you have heard from decades of past Yes, "In Cold Blood" does sound a great deal like Skinny Puppy, but that is a sound that is a lot less imitated, so it is not as stale as being in a bar and hearing a band cover "I Fought the Law" for the 1000th time. Sonically it is a great deal more appealing. "150000 Lives" is more of an atmospheric piece that plays more to his strengths as a guitarist. Despite the shortcomings of the vocals the music compensates on "Corridors" to make it an interesting listen. 

They split the difference with the more Skinny Puppy sound and the post rockish ambiance gone kraut rock on the closing song and the results are pretty stunning perhaps making it the album's best song. The blend perfecting a sound with a melodic flow that proves you can write a great song of a drone; everything just takes balance. They do a great deal more sonically with this album, so it is an improvement for sure. I will give this album a 9 as it shows growth.  

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Benighted in Sodom : "Loathe and Behold"

   

  This album has the kind of murky darkness I enjoy. It wrestles with the demons of sound vs song, though there is a solve vs coagulation kind of dynamic here. After an ambient synth intro the first proper song which is almost eight minutes is like free jazz exploration of chaos that becomes more organic and feels like an actual band coming together by the end. The title track finds Matron's vocals more focused and greatly improved over his past work, they are a low Marilyn Manson like croaking. They seem to be fighting again the clanging of the guitars to maintain a droning hook of sorts. 

They line of chaos into noise begins to be crossed on "You Said You Would Do Anything". Is is more noise and less song while they are dark and more interesting noises to me than say the more abrasive caterwauling of the Body it is still a messy sonic stew. Though listenable. The guitar simmers more on "Helter-skelter Coming Down". The vocals put together a grainy black and white melody that bubbles under the brooding. So far the the most well written song of the album, then there is more of an interlude feel to the sample heavy "Scene Missing" which is highlighted by very experimental guitar. I like that the sample serving as the undercurrent for this is taken from the movie "Once" where Natalie Portman plays a stripper. 

There is more of a song structure to the almost grunge laden dirge that is "Body Negative" . It has the most melody in the dynamic ebb and flow though works off the jarring formula they are out to batter your ears with. Stormy tension brews throughout the almost eight minutes of descent into this sonic hellscape. The closing song "Get off My Planet" does find him returning to a more organic attempt at songwriting, even if it sounds like the Screaming Trees losing their minds in the shadow dimension.  I will give this album a 9, it could be more song focused but what it was intended to be was achieved so it hard to argue against that.  

5.4

Dark Meditation: "Polluted Temples"

 

Hmm I guess this might be Seattle's answer to In Solitude. Which is fine with me as that is a band that left a void yet to be filled for me, so I am still accepting applications in that regard. The first song works off a more punk slanted Merciful Fate influence the second song is more thrashing and goes for the throat in a more overtly aggressive manner. "Strange Caress" summons them back to a darker and more melodic place, this is also closer to more traditional metal with the twin guitar harmonies. The vocals are back in the mix, at times they are delivered with a more commanding aura than others. I think it is probably for the best they are produced in the manner they are as it seems it is all about the attitude and phrasing than any great pipes possessed by vocalist A.D. Vick. This lowers the dynamic range of what they can do as by the third song while I like the mood the vocal melodies are rather uniform thus far.

When the song opens up room for him to sing more, he goes into a breathy coo that is more spoken than notes being sung. Four songs in it works but will an entire album of it grow tedious for me?   "Desolation Days' sounds like it could open up and be more like heavier take on the Cult with the right singer. Instead, we a get a throaty exclamation that is more melodic than Lemmy, but he a more punk singer when they might need someone with more metal talents. The vocals do try harder here and do no hamper this one. There is a faster thrashing vibe to "the Howling Wind", while I appreciate there is more of an attempt to deliver lyrics than just barking or grunting them, a little more vigor might make for a more powerful dynamic and dimension to the song. 

"Drink of the Blade" could have benefitted from more dynamic vocals, but as is the instrumentation compensated for the limitations in that department. It is a great balance of darkness and metal drive. There is more of a 80s metal vibe to "Nocturnal" and sounds like Fields of the Nephilim jamming with Judas Priest, with Rob Halford sitting it out. The title track that closes the album has moodier moments, but overall, it is one of the more straightforward moments. I will give this album an 8.5, I love the sounds and moods it captures the songs are pretty catchy, would prefer more melodic vocals but they work with what they have as a uit. 

Zeal & Ardor : " s/t"

 

+The good news is this album moves in a more focused direction and finds Manuel conceding to the fact that this project has never been black metal, nor is just screaming "where is your fucking god " make it so hear as it holds more in common with Slipknot than Darkthrone no matter what era of Darkthrone you want to compare this to.     The almost tapped vocals of this "Death to the Holy " confirm this, though nu-metal was already a more diverse, here so this is where the hype sets in. To his credit the songwriting here which is nothing groundbreaking is certainly better than the previous albums.  What he was praised for in the past I have felt that the band Algiers always did better.  

Yes, there are brief period of blast beasts going into the more down tempo electronic of " Emersion" and did does at time come close to something Deafheaven would do, but news flash Deafheaven is also not a black metal band. If you are then questioning what black metal is hang tight as next month is Black Metal History month here and that will be cleared up for you. Once again to his credit the vocals are greatly improved. There is more of a Wovenhand vibe to "Golden Liar", it is more like Hozier here and I would say Eugene Edwards out gospels this guy every day of the week. "Erase" brings back the more stompy nu-metal, with touches of death in the vocals though, there were plenty of nu-metal albums with death metal growls, hell even System of a Down did that. Whose names bears repeating as the more I think of them the more this reminds me of them. 

"Bow" marries soulful rock industrial percussion. By the time we get to "Feed the Machine" we are back to less focused songwriting that tries to rely on jarring dynamic but does so in a manner than it much less effective that what say Faith No More does. If the fact this is nu metal does not catch your ear on "I Caught You" then you do not want to hear it. What is funny is all the hipster blogs who would never cover Slipknot because they are too cool for mainstream metal, will praise this to show how diverse their tastes are, and they do not just listen to Deafheaven and Iron & Wine all day.  The lack of focus and dynamic shifts from soulful Hozier like folk to heavier passages continues. By "Church Burns " it begins to become tiring. Metal core would also be a better definition of what they are doing here than black metal when the album reaches its heaviest, but metal core is pretty much nu-metal reaching its final form anyway.  There are some col sounds here and there and nuanced guitar playing they have grown into, but from where this album begins with a better sense of self to devolving back into chaotic denial of their strengths is a disappointment. The electronic piece it ends with is pretty pointless, but I will just write it off as an outro and not count it further again the final score of this album If I was to disregard all the hype and accept this as a new nu-metal album then I can around this to an 8, well produced and performed, but much like fast food it's empty calories. But if I am honest about does this accomplish what they set out to do the lack of self-awareness as song writers forces me to give it a 7.5

Abysmal Dawn : "Nightmare Frontier"

 

It's been two years since there last impressive offering and while I am disappointed that this is an EP with two new original and two covers rather than a full length, I will take what I can get. The opening track is pretty standard death metal though well-crafted and executed, more straight forward than I expected from them. This band has created something that captures the steam rolling aggression of Deicide combined with the ever-shifting grooving riffage of Morbid Angel, meaning they have latched onto the best elements of death metal and woven them into something that is their own. 

They are precise not technical as they do not create riff Twister that gets tied up in the math of the riffs. Are they very capable at pulling out a full shred guitar solo? Yes, they are though the song itself it not just bread to put the solo between.  I am not sure why they chose the In Flames song that they did to cover. I have never been into In Flames so this might as well be an original as well. There are more heavy-handed guitar harmonies which I know plays into the kind of heavy-handed melodic Swedish brand of death metal that the band is known to be the godfathers of. To be honest I would much rather have heard another original from these guys instead. They play the song well; it just does not have clear cut point.  

Now the cover they do of the Candlemass classic "Bewitched" is another story altogether. This kind of underscores the problem they had with covering In Flames, what works with "Bewitched" is it is not the same genre of metal, it is doom so that gives them room to do something different. Where In Flames is kind of redundant as it is not that far removed from what Abysmal Dawn already does as a death metal band. This had already been released as a Flexi single, it is good to have it here. The vocals are the most impressive part as they nailed it.  Overall, I will give this a 9, it is a pretty impressive showing but I think they could have done more yet what we got is still very impressive.  

Old Spirit : 's/t"

This might be this project's debut album, bt it is helmed by Jason Hartman' and from the first song it seems like it is going to be his tribute to Mercyful Fate. Hartman who has played in both Jex Thoth and Vanishing Kids is a very capable musician. King Diamond is one of my favorite singers so if I hear you aspiring to follow in his shoes and seem to be doing it even half as well, then I am going to be impressed. This is more impressive than the other album called Nit Eyez that I was reviewing until I stumbled across this. Not as tightly written as Mercyful Fate, but really for the time they came from who was aside from Iron Maiden and Preist. It sounds like there is more of a Celtic Frost thing going on with the second song as the falsetto vocals are tradeoff for something perhaps less grunting than Tom Warrior but phrased in a similar manner.

The dark and trippy sounds of "Feel the Stars" are more like Psychic TV, but yet again those are some impressive footsteps to follow if you have made an album that draws comparisons to both Psychic TV and Mercyful Fate.  There is more of a jammy feel to this song, but i works for what is going down here and has some more aggressive punches in places. "Catastrophe" brings back the harder rocking though it is less focused and structured as a song, the one 70s style riff is pretty head banging, but some of the solos are over the top and not needed. "Seasons" pretty much keeps the mood going that was established in the previous song but gives the vocals room to be creepier. Not the best produced album you are going to hear all year as it is rather lofi and sounds at times like it could have been recorded at band practice. 

Then lean back in more of a Mercyful Fate direction for the last song. The falsetto vocals are not as polished here, though they are mixed different and less shrouded in reverb. There is more weird ambiance to is and thiungs are more experimental. The solos continue to be haphazrd and random, and drums fall way back in the mix.  I will however round this up to a 9, as I like all the sound and can hear what a diamond in the rough this is.   

Billy Talent : 'Crisis of Faith"

This is the first time I have really given this Canadian rock band much of a listen, I have really only known them in name alone. This is their 6th album. They are fairly aggressive with a slight arena metal influence on the opener then mellow out dramatically to a saxy Pink Floyd extent on the second song. I like the first song better, but it is good to hear they are well rounded. "Beg to Differ" is the kind of pop punk that I was afraid these guys were in the first place and the main reason I did not check them out before this. They are good at what they do, it is just way too happy for me here. This is not the only time they venture in to this as they repeat this with "Reactor" which is more tolerable.  

If pop punk was the only problem, I might be a little more patient but when we come to "the Wolf Up6" it works off ever tired trick of commercial rock and comes across as trying to hard and not original enough, while also lacking balls. "Judged" tries to work off a faster more punk tinged energy, though it does not feel much more convincing. "Hanging Out With All the Wrong People" feels like a harder rock version of Sublime, though this has an endearing 90s quality to it if you are feeling nostalgic for such. From a songwriting perspective it is one of the album's best songs.  

"The End of Me" is another song for sunshine and drinking at the beach, so they are early for the summer. Pop punk was never really my thing so there is that. They are good at making it, this is just way too happy for me. "One Less Problem " has a Green Day like skip in its step. This might be a selling point for some people, I am not one of those people In the more melodic moments like the last song it reminds me more of Styx, who I like a great deal better than Green Day. I will give this album a 7.5, as it is like I have said throughout this review too happy for me, but round it up to an 8 if this is your sort of thing.  

Cloakroom : " Dissolution Wave"

It's been a minute since I listened to this project, but this has a more organic 90s rock feel than I remember coming from them. Where their shoe gazing from 10 years ago might have been more abstract, this finds the vocals with more form and function and adhering somewhat to more conventional song structuring, all while not selling out. There is more of a dreamy glaze to the second song. It is more focused on a sound than the song, but the sound is pretty cool so that is ok. They bounce bounce back with more of an indie rock on " a Force at Play" which works really well, so despite loving the first song, I am not tied down to them having to rock like that. 

It is on "Dottie Back Thrush" that they come to a dynamic compromise between the atmosphere of shoegazing and a more rocking for of post- hard core indie rock. It also does not pigeonhole them into sounding 90s either. The claiming of their identity might be one of the album's high lights. They crank up a fuzzed-out bass done to provide a contrast to the airy space left by the vocals that float around the song like a ghost cloud. It might not stick in your head like the previous song but works really well for what they are going for. 

They return to a breezier version of their jangle indie sound on "Lambspring" there is the undercurrent of more distorted guitar that fades in and out which reminds me of sounds My Bloody Valentine played with. They are not as experimental as MBV , just similar tones in places. "Doubts" finds them drifting even further out, but it is a very cool melodic place they venture off to that has more in common with Pink Floyd. "Dissembler" is another song that blends the varied aspects of what they do to their full effect, allowing sedate vocals so sit along the wavering guitar driving the song. I will give this album a 9.5 as it is an infectious listen that grows on me and can just be allowed to play on a loop. It comes out Jaunary 28th on Relapse Records.

Wiegedood :" There is Always Blood At the End of the Road"

Of the Church of Ra Belgium metal community this is the heaviest of those bands and also up until this point the most black metal of those bands, though this album sees the going off in a rapid grind core like manner. While there are some black metal elements intact the intensity has been elevated to a more extreme level and this album is angry as fuck. The opening track was impressive and had me eager to spend more time with this album. When I did, I found it falls into one of the many pitfalls extreme metal bands so often succumb to. The first song impresses tryout because it is so damn heavy but is not so keen when followed up by asking if they can write a song. By the third song we are stuck in the same blasting darkness, with no dynamics making this sound very uniform. 

"Until It is Not" races more along the tremolo guitar atmosphere of black metal though the pacing causes it to run together with the previous songs. It is however the best song since the opener at this juncture in the album. Melody does not begin to creep in until "Now Will Always Be".  It is more for an intro though at the point I will take anything. The vocals have a more croak throat singing drone to them. There is an interlude that for the purpose of this review I am going to pass over as it contributes nothing. Then there is the invocation of chaos that they have titled "Nuages" until the ends it just blasts off at the same blinding speed the other songs have. It ends by slowing down into a weird, syncopated part that sound like their brain was melting at the time. While it is a cool riff, the rule here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make.  

"Theft and Begging" is more redundant speed blasting with a few passages at more of a creepy throb to break things up. However, as the song progresses there emerges more sonic moods. At one point it sounds like he screams about a slutty dog, but with the exception of the throat singing part earlier on the vocals are just another abrasive texture. Violent is often used as an adjective in metal but I think this album makes a fair argument for it being used here. I will round this one down to an 8, as it does have few impressive song and unearthly rage pouring to it as far as song so that I will want to listen to well I think I have heard enough so they 8 is more because it is effective for people who want one dimensional sonic abuse, as it excels at that.    

Amorphis : " Halo"

 14 albums in you should know what to expect from these guys. They have been at it since 1990, though their current singer joined in 2005, so you have had 17 years to get used to him. The openers are effective melodic death metal for the Progpower crowd. The thing that impresses me on first listen is the hookiest and heaviness of the riffs Sure they are from Finland, but the melodic nature of what they do owes more to Sweden, there are bright melodies, this is not darker music, but then again Nightwish is from Finland. They get proggier on "the Moon" but keep it interesting. Dream Theater could learn from these guys how not to get too wanky.  The synths take a bigger role, and they develop a Tool like tension. 

"Windmane" is pretty solid, perhaps not as inspired as the first three songs as it feels a little more like color by number Amorphis. The same can be said for the more upbeat "A New Land". There are a few flourishes of more exotic scales outside the normal pentatonics . "Seven Roads Come Together" is more middle of the road prog metal, works for what it is but fails to impress like how the album started. "War" has more death metal vocals, but overall has a brighter more soaring power metal feel to it which once again puts this album in a less metal more almost hard rock place on the sonic spectrum. I am fine with it not being a heavy as long as the song writing is either dark or interesting in some way. But the title track could be one of many bands from Europ who do this sort of symphonic prog metal that really sounds more like an anime opening theme than actual metal. 

There is more of a metal gallop to "the Wolf" but the vocal approach to the choruses of this album seem to be following a formula. Two minutes when the song breaks down for the guitar solo, they do weave in some more dynamic sounds that work better here than on previous songs that followed a similar formula. They end the album with a power ballad duet with a female vocalist, which lumps them in with all the other Nightwish wanna bees, a shame as Amorphis is such an established band whose own identity should not pressure them to make this kind of Disney Princess bullshit.  I will give this album an 8 as it starts strong and some of the song that do not get into the symphonic sunshine fluff are pretty solid, nowhere near their best work it comes out February 11th

Fit For an Autopsy : "Oh What the Future Holds"

 The opening track feels about typical for what to expect from modern death metal. Is it also death core and metal core, yes. This can be heard in the break down like riff. Which still works for me as it is not done in a glue sniffing manner.  The second song is more what you expect from death metal, less melodic until we get to the solo section. I hope this is not the formula this album is going to live off. "Far From Heaven" switches it up and has more of a groove. The clean vocals float in but are in the background. The y way the vocals are layered on the chorus reminds me of Gojira. There is more of an epic thrashing groove to "In Shadows" that works well even if falling in the middle of the road in terms of extreme metal standards. 

"Two Towers" is almost more like the Deftones in terms how how the vocals float in. The machine give a machine-like precision to the chugs that hammer the heaviness back into place when things get more death metal again. They do give plenty of beat downs with their guitars if you are into that though they have enough groove to them.  "A Higher Level of Hate" falls into more of a mainstream metal chug and is much more straightforward.  Still in the realm of the more mainstream there is a Slayer like feel to the thrashing that unfolds on "Collateral Damage". This comes with a catchy groove to some of the clever riffs.

"Savages" marks another song where the innovation we heard on the first half of the album stands aside for more common place metal riffing. Similar could be said for "Conditional Healing" that relies on a heavy-handed guitar chug more than drawing you in with anything other than hyper aggression. They are polished at doing this, I just think there is more that can be brought to the table here. The album closes with 'the Man Who Was Not" which has more to it as a song and offers melody along with sung vocals in places. They break things up with ambiance which makes the more aggressive parts work better. This is really well done, and I like it more than I thought I would so I will go ahead and give this album a 9 despite more of the mainstream metal leaning as this album is what it is, and they do what they set out to. This is being released on Nuclear Blast.      

Ereb Altor : " Vargtimman"

 The pagan metal label could fall into many sub genres, power metal, folk metal and black metal all being contenders. The Swedish band gallops with epic triumph into things on the first rack that owes more to power metal. It is however a little darker, so this works for me, this darker feel even leans into doom going into the second song. Along with the tremolo picked guitar and switch over into more scowling vocals black metal is also a shade being used here. Two minutes in and things break down into more of a tense chant before the dynamic flips back to big chords. When it flips into more snarled vocals there is more of a black metal feel, but the song itself is pretty cohesive. 

There is almost an Iron Maiden feel to "Fenris". The vocals are not belted in that style, but the mood is minus the more mournful vocal harmonies.   The vocals feel more emotive and less dramatic than Dickinson. "Rise of the Destroyer" find the pace picked up by the drive of double bass. This also finds it conforming more to what you expect of today's metal. There is a more folk tinged sway to "Alvablot".  It waltzes into some pretty standard vicing metal triumph but works well.  There are some theatrics leading into "Den dighra Doden". Which has more of a mid-paced throb that reminds me a little of Primordial.  A little of theatrics goes a long way as it can kill a song's momentum, and this is coming from someone who loves King Diamond.  

"Ner i Morkret" is a little less focused and at times falls closer to what their peers do. Though it is almost hard to fault them because it is so dynamic."Heimdal's Horn" balances out atmosphere, melody and the big Lord of the Rings scale of sound captured here. I will give this one a 9.5 and see how it sits with me as the year unfold, one of the best albums of this kin I have heard in some time. This is being released on Hammerheart Records.  

Boris :" W"

 

Japanese curators of weird are now delving deeper into the sonics of a shoe gaze like wonderland of sound. Wata handles all of the vocals on this release. She barely rises above a meager whisper on the first song. This one is heavier on the drone than the metal. They have been a little bit everywhere over the course of their career, so this does not surprise me and fits well with who they are. Things get even more atmospheric on the second song, and she sounds like a memory of a schoolgirl who got lost in the woods on acid. You can hear her as she passes between dimensions, though I am not sure if this is really singing. It feels like this piece is more about the sounds than actually writing a song.  Eventually it does drift into something more melodic, but that is after 4 minutes of floating around. 

"Drowning By Numbers" finds them dialing up the weird. There is distortion but this is perhaps less abrasive than some of the ambiance some of the other numbers on this album are drowned in. Four songs in and still do not know if she can thing. There is a lot of chanted whispered. This is like shoe gaze ASMR. She wants "the Fallen" to be more of a song, but the rest of the band was not at the practice where this was decided. Midway they do go into the song and kind of rock out though it is very discordant like a marching band on acid at a Tom Waits concert. "Beyond Good and Evil" they make even less of an effort to write a song. In the last 30 seconds they do play some metal, but we needed that energy four minutes ago. 

I might appreciate their artsy cult status, but that does not mean they get a pass when it comes to writing songs, as I have already heard them do much better than this. Some of this swathing ambiance is still pretty listenable but is that the bar they deserve to set for themselves. "Old Projector" is a song that had potential but could use some of the sonic fat being trimmed. "You Will Know" is all sonic fat but it is also pretty music just a guitar interlude. The last song fidns them getting heavier but is also draped in a great deal of noise. It takes almost two minutes for them to get into some kind of song, rather than a sound. It ends up not really going anywhere. Which is a fitting metaphor for this album as a whole, I will round it down to a 6.5. This is being released January 21st on Sacred Bones .

 

Marissa Nadler : "Wrath of Clouds"

 This EP consists of three unreleased songs and two covers. The originals she had forgotten about during the "Path of Clouds sessions", She went back into the studio and emerged with this. It splits the difference between the more atmospheric tone of her early work and where she is currently at with a more layered sound.   It opens with the ghostly drone of "Guns on the Sundeck" which is written from the point of view of the ghost haunting the Queen Mary Ship. Given the context, it makes sense why it lulls you into the dreaminess. There is a similar take on ambiance though it flows more thanks to the percussion of the song "All the Eclipses". Black Mountain's Amber Webber joins her voice with Nadler's . Lyrically Nadler has state it is supposed to feel like describing the after math of a fire. I can hear how it should feel that way and the song is more tangible than the ghost that haunted the first song. 

'Some Secret Existence" is a little darker. I like how her voice is layered. She has really gotten comfortable in the studio and while the dreamy siren sound has gotten more popular in the past decade, she has carved out a place for herself that is very much her own and not too much like any of her peers in this regard. Then come the two covers. The first being a cover by a more obscure country singer Sammi Smith. Nadler keeps a great deal of the original's smoky groove. It is much closer to the original than expected and very fitting for her voice, which she comes out from behind some of the reverb and ambiance she normally allows herself to sit back into. 

The second song sees a theme developing as it is a more obscure song from the 70s. Once again, she comes close to the original, though it is safe to say her version has perfected it as the Alessi Brothers were not really even one hit wonders. They would have been the equivalent of a Youtube star in the disco scene. There is less disco and it sound more like 70s country when it hit that really weird slick radio crossover feel that feels like California lounge music. But it works for her.  I will round this up to a 10 as it works really well, and she made the covers better than the originals.  

 

Infected Rain : "Ecdysis"

 

Falling in the modern metal spectrum of metal core, djent and nu-metal, this band from Moldova blends the elements well. This is their 5th album, so they have perfected both their melodic side and their denser more aggressive one. Bands like Jinger and Spirit Box have made impressive names for themselves by creating metal in a similar zip code, but on the opening track I am hearing a big more symphonic sound that owes more to Within Temptation when she soars into clean vocals. I think at their heart they are more of a metal band than those two bigger name bands. When clean vocals appear, they are pop oriented in their hooks. The second song opens with more simmering darkness until they begin to dish out the beatdowns.

So far the closest they get to having a sense of pop hooks is on some of the syncopated sung vocals found on "Longing". Another interesting element is when you take the metal core moments into consideration there is very little on the hard-core side of that equation. They never feel like tough guys setting you up for a break down. When it comes close to that place sonically like on "Goodbye" there is more of a nu metal bounce to it. There is a constant shifting of riffs. They never try to jerk you around with these tricks. Her voice drops down into more of a purr for this song which works well. "The Realm of the Dead" is dark enough with the grind of its riffs but finds the band settling into more of a formula, even amid the chaos of their arrangements. "Everlasting Lethargy" takes unexpected turns that pay off.  "These Walls" continues to find the band making interesting choices in regard to where to take things like melody. 

Sometimes the choices they make fall more in line with a progressive direction. Some of this is thanks to the drummer. The guitars do not take up much time wanking around. Mood is important even when she is screaming at you in a hostile manner. They are subtle songwriters who hit you with a huge sound but balance it out with cool little haunting sections. Regular readers here know this sort of thing is not my normal go to when it comes to metal, so for it to be pulled off in a manner that catches my ear says something.  The flux of the vocal is not a predictable good cop/ bad cop thing. Is it perfect in its heavy-handed battery of your ear drums that is executed like a machine at times? Well, I think they pull off what they intended to. This drew me in, more so in the melodic moments, as that helped even the spectrum this album falls upon in the blend of modern metal at hand. With "Nine Ten" this is more ambient than expected, but still works.  I will give this one a 9, much better than expected. 

   

40 Watt Sun : "Perfect Light"

 The third studio album from this project is the first that was created without the structure of a formal band. Which is all the explanation you need to understand the more folk direction this on has veered off into from the first song. This is a long way from what happened on "the Inside Room". Hia vocal style has not changed, but the dense distortion that provided a contrast is missing.  This plays into making this album not as dark or depressing which would have been a deal breaker for me, except for the fact it sounds like Pink Floyd and I love Pink Floyd., so I cur Patrick some slack. However Pink Floyd only does this very stripped-down vocals and guitar thing for a song or two, so it is unlikely that if the opening track is the sole indicator of what lies ahead from the album's entirety, then it is not going to fly with me.   

There is a little more percussion in the second song to provide movement. This one begins to sound more like an outtake from R.E.M's "Automatic for the People" album. Back when I was smoking a ton of weed and popping pills, I would have been into drifting off to sleep to something like this. Even with a sober mind I can appreciate the melody. It is thoughtful but not dark.  I would not call "Until" rock music, but it has the kind of edge to its longing that I like. There is as low melodic single not guitar solo. This is more of a smolder where rock music has a fire. His voice sounds much better than the more plaintive croon he used on the first two songs. This creates a much richer dynamic. Things are less impressive on "Colours" which is a quaint folk ballad. His tenor voice comes across as reedy here. While it is still on the more balladic side of folk "the Spaces in Between" has more going on sonically. 

"Riase Me Up" bringing back some of the longing to his voice. Really just forcing himself to sing in such a stripped-down atmosphere is not doing wonders for his voice as he is not that kind of singer. Sure, he is making it work, but while his phrasing is stronger than his pipes, this is not allowing him to play to his strengths as a song writer. A little bit of distortion creeps in, but the change is marginal. At almost ten minutes there needs to be more to engage me here. "A Thousand Miles" sounds almost just like the previous song. I did not notice I was listening to a new song until I looked up at the screen. The last song is not a hug departure from what we have already heard. I will give this album an 8, if you are looking for some folk that is moodier than your typical granola variety, then this will work. If you are a fan of their earlier work, then you have been warned. It scored as high as it did only because this is what he set out to accomplish and he did that well.   

       

Boy Harsher : "the Runner"

 This is the soundtrack to a movie the dark wave duo made during the pandemic. They did meet while studying film in Savannah, GA so it makes sense that they would turn to another art form when touring in the plague new world was taken out of the equation. Just because this is a soundtrack does not mean it is just an atmospheric back drop for the movies as these are fully formed songs that stand on their own. This does not mean it is just business as usual for them and they are picking up where they left off. The production is less murky, making the overall sound not as dark. There is more of an 80's analog synth sound. Her vocals are also more refined, with more noticeable polish on the first song. "Give Me a Reason" is closer in the way the vocal melody works to their older material. The changes at hand will still appease older fans .

For "Autonomy" features Cooper B Handy of Lucy handling the vocals. It works well for a more upbeat dancey take on new wave. Then things get darker and more atmospheric for "the Ride Home" which is one of the few instances where it feels more like a soundtrack and less like a song on a stand-alone album. Most of this is due to the vocals not really being a focal point.  "Escape " finds them splitting the difference between atmosphere and conventional song writing, with something more lo fi and introspective in it's throb, it works much better than the previous piece. It even sounds like there are some single guitar notes played in a few places. Mariana Saldana of BOAN .adds a guest vocal to "Machina". This one finds them leaning more heavily into the direction of 80s new wave. Robotic synth vocals accent the chorus, to create what science fiction sounded like to pop producers in the 80s. 

There is an untitled piece that is more of an instrumental interlude before the last actual song. "I Understand" is more heavily atmospheric with the vocals at more of a whisper against creeping dream like synths.  So the album starts strong then the more mood pieces begin to overshadow song writing, which scoring a film and writing songs for goth night are two different things. Not that I would call this dark wave album but can see where it crosses over into their fans from that genre. I will give this album a 9 as it shows growth in their songwriting even when the clouds of ambience obscure things later on.   

  

5.7

A Place to Bury Strangers : " See Through You"

 Before the current wave of post punk revivalists were a thing this band was at it. They continue to be more experimental and put together a rather bleak tapestry of sound. It gets darker as it progresses. The opening track being more accessible than the cavernous catharsis that is "I'm Hurt". The vocals are cold and detached through a filter of reverb. It drones with guitars makes catching scrapes to your ears. i can hear equal amounts of both Throbbing Gristle and Love & Rockets influence here. On a song like "Let's See Each Other" even some Wire and Suicide, in the jammy amble of angular guitar tension. Not as loudly abrasive of what I remember these guys doing. This would transition well live, though once onstage this band has always cranked up the intensity. 

Where they would have normally weaponized feedback and noise on a song like "So Low" the drums help pull things together and keep them moving in a more song-oriented direction. Distortion coats the vocals and the bass on "Dragged In a Hole" to create something very heavy in the sonic sense. Though so blown out it drowns your speaker in the sound. There more electronic elements on this album though when they hit you with the dense pounding like "Ringing Bells" you almost do not notice.  I prefer the more deliberate despondence to "I Disappear" than the new wave pep in the step of "Anyone but You". Not tht there is anything wrong with the latter, I just feel the pound of the previous song more.  I really like the subtle melody lurking in the dense shadows of "My Head is Bleeding".  With the hazey production of shoe gaze, but more often than not at more of a punk tempo the noise and weird is typically more balance than not. 

The bass playing on this album often steals the show. "Hold On Tight" is the most straight forward song on the album that is more like 70's outsider rock. A melodic Cure like feel comes over "I Don't Know How You Do It". The Jesus and Mary Chain is also a fair frame of reference with this album as a whole when trying to pinpoint the sonic zip code. Though on the weird closing track there is very little of that kind of thing. Not the album's catchiest song, but it works for what it is. This album sits in good company with the rest of their legacy without coming across like they are punching the clock in any way. I will round it down to a 9 only because some of the more abrasive sonics might make this an album you have to be in a mood for, but the execution is excellent. This album drops February 4th.     

Wait : "the End of Noise"

 

I have no regrets in regard to things I have said about djent here. Most of it sucks, and I once like Meshuggah, I just do not need to hear their riffs turned into nu-metal or some kind of emo pop. These guys learned from the mistakes of bands that came before them as well as having a wealth of experience from playing in some pretty note worth bands like Cynic, Defeated Sanity and Sabbath Assembly. I was surprised by the vocals of the first song were sun and did not go in a death metal direction, making this more progressive, the death metal vocals do come in the second song, along with some adventurous guitar solos. These guys have a great deal of technical refinement and shift through time signatures like you know who, but still care about songs.  

There is a marginally more mainstream metal sound on "Lone Presence Supreme". The vocals have more hook on the song that follows this one, the ever-weaving grooves in this twisting maze of riffs does dazzle the ears a bit but by the time we get to the fourth song, it is clear that even in this more progressive approach formulas can still fall into place. They veer from this for the most part with the more deliberate "End of Noise". There is a jazzy middle section that the solo sits in. Rather than ebbing back and forth the entire second half of the song is death metal.  

"I Climb Downhill" is the album's most Meshuggah moment, though the vocals being more tortured, and less drill sergeant help to hide this fact a little. There is more of a melodic dynamic to the last song. It features the album's best sung vocal performance. There are some harsher vocals, but they are less frequent and not really the kind of predictable good cop bad cop thing. The varied vocals on this album are one element that does separate them from the other worshipper of Meshuggah. This album is really well done, and despite the fact this would not normally be my thing, they won me over so I will give this one a 9.  This comes out February 11th on the Artisan Era.

Nocturnal Graves : "An Outlaw's Stand"

 

Falling somewhere on the more extreme end of the metal sphere, there are elements of both black and metal found in the aggressive attack of this Australian band.  Some of it drawing inspiration from the place in time when thrash collided with them at this dark crossroads. Thus, comparisons could be made to both Bathory and a more methed out version of Venom. For what this is the production is refined to create an organic raw sound paying homage to the late 80s when this sort of of thing first crawled up from the bowels of hell, while granting them a sonic place next to bands like Watain. The vocals are not as deliberate as Watain, the croak is more feral, and chaos runs a little wilder in the frenzy they attack their instruments with here. 

Not as familiar with their first three album it does feel like a more of an effort was made here in the song writing department. It makes sense former Destroyer 666 guitarist Shrapnel plays with these guys. Not as bullet belt metal as that band, they blend more closely with black metal bands. By the third song their straightforward attack finds a uniformity. The drumming is the most impressive element of the first three songs. They drop to more of a mid-paced death metal feel for " No Mercy For Weakness" which is certainly a sentiment I agree with.  I like this song but after this if things do not switch up dynamically, I will begin to get bored with the album. And as it happens the album begins to go downhill when such a change does not occur, and everything becomes a blur as the songs begin to sound the same. That is not to say a cool riff or two doesn't crop up on "Beyond the Flesh", however the rule around here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make. 

The last song takes a stab at the black metal side of their equation. There is also a touch of Morbid Angel like death metal in the rapid-fire darkness of melody hidden in the riffs. Most of the Morbidity lies in the phrasing of the vocals These guys are good at what they do. What they do just happens to be a void filled by other bands, who do this with more sonic colors. If you like your metal very cut and dry in your face with no questions asked, you are a simpler man than I , though you will also enjoy this more than I did. I got bored in a few places but overall found this to be well produced, performed and entertaining for the listens I gave it so I will give this an 8.5   

Age of Apocalypse : " Grim Wisdom"

 I am a little confused as to what is going on here, but I like. Crooned vocals offset what might be a rock n roll ringed hardcore album if the more typical shouted vocals were a thing here. Yes, it sounds like "River Runs Red" era Life of Agony to some extent. AFI could also be another reference point. The vocals are a little hookier in terms of the melody on the second song, The guitar is also more metal than hard core most of the time. The vocals get more aggressive on "Fury". As someone who is old enough to remember when Life of Agony came out, they leaned in a more Biohazard direction, but were never as aggressive as what goes down here though they did play faster. They are not a Life of Agony tribute band and once you get to this song that fact is fully beat downed into your head. 

They pick up things to more of a thrashing speed at times on the title track and prove themselves capable of locking into a groove when they feel like. I how these guys show that being melodic and heavy are not two things that cannot exist at the same time. It is one of the heaviest albums with sung vocals that i have heard in a minute.  "Begging the Reaper" backs off on the heaviness and opts for more introspection. This is in a more 90s emo manner but with darker atmosphere.  "Rotten Kingdom" finds them finally speeding up to more of a punk pace. It is the first song that also does not connect with me on the first listen.  "Ghost" kicks you with a very powerful stomping groove. The vocals do not forget their purpose even in the heaviest chug that hits you. It commands you to bang you head that is how killer the riffs in this song are. 

"Pain of Creation" offers another beating but with the metal factor in the guitar dialed as high as it can go before, they have to rip out guitar solos. The last song opens with what sounds like it is going to be a hard core beating them finds new melodic groove to twist into. This is an incredible album It comes out January 21st, on Closed Casket Activities my only regret is that I have to wait for the promo I can download and pop it into my iPod to listen to all the time, this is one of those discoveries that make doing this worthwhile. If you want some dark emotive metallic hardcore of sorts that pays homage to the 90s this is the band you did not know you were hoping to to find.  I give this one a 10 for sure. 

Abraham : "Debris de Mondes Perdus"

 This Swiss band blends the raw attack of noise rock with the heavy oppressive weight of sludge. The punk roots are always known. The throaty yells of the vocals that open the album and the rest of the music gathers around it in a very dark and discordant fashion. The second listen through this album finds it all making a bit more sense though the first listen I was still pretty impressed. It is always a little weird when the drummer is handling the vocals. This explains how they are placed when the pace picks up on the second song. "Maudissements" finds sung vocals coming in which are debatable as to how in key they are, though with all the dissonance going down in this song, tuneful vocals are the least of the worries as they are busy making unsettling sounds. 

Things click together in a more cohesive fashion but with more of a old school Neurosis like menace when they crash into the brooding sonic storm that is "Ravenous is the Night".  There is more metal to what they do here and less of the angular noise rock ghosts haunting this one. They are not afraid to build things up into a cacophony of sorts. There is a tension to " Our Words Born in Fire" that drones rather than gives the more typical metal release you expect. Yes the vocals are howled with a fury but otherwise they use restrain by not giving you the aggression release you are expecting. By the time we get to "Fear Overthrown" it feels like we are hanging from the same cliff waiting to jump until the dynamic ebbs down, the vocals are very similar to those of the previous song. 

" A Celestial Funeral" is more chilling but also very Neurosis like, this could be said for many bands of the genre so I do not hold it against them, however not as inventive as the last song which includes ghostly female vocals that create a more Chelsea Wolfe effect. The drummer sings more on this song and croons a little better. I will round this down to a 9 which is still going to be better than most of the sludge you hear this year. I am only rounding it down as sometimes there is a uniform aspect to the sound, but over all a compelling listen. This does not come out until February 25th. 

The Weeknd : " Dawn FM"

The 5th album by Tesfaye finds him hovering in a synth wave direction not unlike what he did with the last album. To his credit he does employ a little different vocal approach on the verses to the first actual song. "How Do I Make You Love Me", finds him coasting on familiar futuristic grooves that take less chances than he did on the first song.  I know I am never going to get him to go in a direction as dark as "House of Balloons" again, so I am just asking for the shadows of "Starboy" disco, instead we are getting upbeat fragrance counter muzak . I am ok with this even up until "Take My Breath" which as formulaic as it finds him settling still works as a song. 

This all goes down in a much less offensive manner than what happens on Lil Nas X's "Montero" album it does highlight some of the problems with the pop music hit making machine of today. He is one producer shy of Lil Nas X's 15, for a frame of reference, Pink Floyd's "the Wall" has two not including David Gilmore and Roger Waters. he also has only had a handful of engineers compared to the 23 that works on "Montero".  You would think the more songwriters an album has the better it would be, the more the merrier and all, well he beats out Lil Nas X with a whopping 27.  By the time we get halfway into the album it is clear this is not the case. "Sacrafice" still holds my attention with its more organic feel. The production does have this as sleek and plastic as you could want pop music. "Out of Time" however sounds like something Quicny Jones has the good sense to cut from " Thriller".  

Jim Carrey's DJ narrations were done better on Queens of the Stoneage's "Songs for the Deaf" album.  Once we get mired down in ballads things really go south. I am not opposed to him doing ballads, we have just gotten better from him, so why settle for this boring clock punching.  I am still rooting for him to redeem himself on "Best Friend" as the syncopation takes more chances than your normal color by numbers pop. The self-help cliches that color some of the lyrics clue us in to the fact that perhaps he is not doing drugs in the same way he has in the past which is giving a silver lining to the songs that keeps him from being as soul wretched as he was on his better material. His smooth jam ability flies better on "Is There Someone Else" . "Starry Eyes " feels like a much less interesting continuation of the previous song and makes you wonder how all 27 songwriters were asleep at the wheel on this one.  If the vocals were not spoken on "Every Angel is Terrifying" it might have been a pretty decent song instead of an interlude.     

"Don't Break My Heart" finds him taking a few more chances and keeping total disappointment at bay.  He falls back into his comfort zone with "I Heard You are Married". It's not boring like most of the radio so it works for what he is trying to do here. "Less Than a Zero" has a 70s post-disco feel. It is better than the bulk of the songs on this album. I think an 8.5 is a fair score for this album, making it the lowest scoring album thus far and I have been reviewing his work since 2015. If you were going to call it a sellout you are in the right direction although did have double digit producers on "Beauty Behind the Madness " you can tell he had more passion for his job then as a factory worker.    

Dance With the Dead ; " Driven to Madness"

The music I review in January certainly sets the tone for where the year is headed. There were a few albums last year who made it into top 10 lists for the year. This is different as it is a synth wave project that leans heavily onto analog synth sounds to create a version of metal in some form thanks to the more aggressive guitars. Their 6th album finds them with an abundance of 80s sounds. It is more dancey than head banging. They did use some organic instruments on these songs, but I would say this a more electronic effort than not. There is a more party 80s metal tone to "Sledge". By 80s metal I am thinking the more progressive bands from that time. 

There is supposed to be a horror them to this album, but nothing feels all that dark and spooky when the major chords to the chorus of "Sledge" feel more triumphant than not. John Carpenter and his song Cody guest on this album but it is nothing that stands out or add all that eerie of a tone to things.  We are back to a neon sounding sonic glaze to the more video game like " Kiss of the Creature" which sound more like a pizza party at the rolling rink than anything to do with monsters.  There are even disco and funk elements to it.  "Wyrm of Doom"  is not doom but packs a little more of a bunch before going off into a more dramatic symphonic syncopation that sounds like something from an anime soundtrack. By "Start the Thaw" the synth grooves begin to sound the same to me. To their credit this has held my attention longer than most instrumental albums would. 

The guitar melody to "I'm You Passenger" could have just as well come from a Depeche Mode song. The edm like groove to this makes it more memorable than the other songs that close out the album as there is more of a sonic blur in terms of the range of color in the sounds brough to the table. If not for the strong retro current of the synth the last song could have been a prog metal number. I will round this down to a 9 as it works off a formula that creates a uniform feel, but it is impressive a instrumental album got this many listens out of me.

Robin Guthrie: "Springtime"

One of My favorite guitarists has marked his 60th birthday by releasing a new album. This is an instrumental effort that is not far removed with his work in the Cocteau Twins. It floats like something from a David Lynch soundtrack. I would be down for him doing an album with Juliee Cruise. The first song is high ambient, aside from the opening notes that are allowed to ring out the textured guitar blends more with the synths on the first song.  You do not hear the more classic Cocteau Twins sound shimmer out from his guitar until the heave kissed notes float through the sonic clouds of " the Faraway". Much like I said with Johnny Marr's newest solo albums these artists work will always be measure against their past glories. If you know Guthrie's name you are not clicking on this not because of Violet Indiana, but because of the Cocteau Twins. 

There is a dreamier drone to " Another Part of Nowhere". I found myself having to back and listen to this song a few times before it clicked, and I was able to think of it as a composition that stood on its own two feet and not just a movement in this atmospheric symphony of sorts. It hangs on a single note melody, not unlike some of the Coteau's earlier work. This is all pretty bright mood wise, sure I can hear drifting off upon a silky throb of narcotics to this, but there is not a fey land wonderment without Elizabeth's voice on this thought for what this is it is an easy listen and pleasent on the ears.  Not fitting neatly into being dream pop, shoe gaze or post rock the sounds here will still appeal to fans all of those sub-genres. 

The last song is more synth focused at first. The drum programming is what shifts the dynamics as things get more dense sound wise. There is less clear-cut melody and more experimental bending of sounds. Until perhaps the last minute of this song. I will give this a 9 for all the reason that I have previously stated this works, Chances are when I am in the mood to listen to this sort of thing, I will just pull out my Cocteau Twins albums, but for what this is and given the current state of that band I am happy with this and think fans of his work will be as well. 

Messa : "Close"

 

The opening track feels like a very logical progression in the next step of the band's songwriting, there are new tricks up their sleeve as forays into jazz and progressive rock color the dismal blues inflected exploration of their shadowy souls. The pace picks up on the second song which has a more rock feel before drifting into morose trippiness on the verse. It has a much more metallic attack than anything from "Feast For Water".  Snake charming brass opens "Orphalese" and she goes up more into her upper register. Normally she a more belted blues soaked alto so it is good to hear a wider range of vocal colors from her. The go into more Middle Eastern passages that are very cool on this one. 

"Rubedo" finds them going into a more aggressive harder rock feel. Thye jam this one out with some guitar solos that are pretty impressive.  Going into "Pilgrim" they are beginning to make me think they are from Turkey not Italy. Then things get more Sabbath like at the three-minute mark and they do not let up with the doomy metal. It is perhaps hookier in the punches than doom normally is. This song is nine and a half minutes, yet they keep your attention every second of it not letting up. While very adventurous and melodic with a great many tricks up their sleeve I do not think the song "0 =2" is sharply written as the previous songs. It does help me decide this album is more prog than it is doom. 

There is more of a tighter classic rock feel to the guitar wizardry that propels "If You Want Her to Be Taken" that finds the vocals having more of a ghostly atmosphere against the creeping guitar to create a Chelsea Wolfe like feel . The song builds dynamically to gain a more metal momentum as it gathers speed. This carries over even further into the punksih blast of "Leffotrak" which really does fit or make sense for the album except to prove they can get as heavy as they want.  "Serving Him" is closer to more of a middle ground for them. The guitar is very nuanced. More rock n roll than the bulk of the album. Atmospherically the riffs simmer to allow the vocals to do their thing. I will give this album a 9.5, it is encouraging that the first album I reviewed this year knocked it out of the park even though this album does not drop until March 11th . 

the Top 10 Albums of 2021

 

At the end of the day...year these are the albums I listened to the most. The reason that makes these the best is because I listened to over 2000 albums this year and these are the ones that endured the influx of new music that hit My in box every morning and made me want to hear them again and again. Yes, this is the culmination of all the other lists done up to this point for other blogs and was refined down to this master list of all genres.  So here ya go...

10-Converge & Chelsea Wolfe - " Blood Moon "

I like these two artists almost equally it brings out Converge's best side as I prefer their dark creepy melodic stuff over when they are just a total punk rock freak out the album leans in more of a sludge direction though by the highly experimental definition of that sub-genre, Wolfe's solo work had those elements previously, so this is not a surprise. They work together in a masterful way to create heavy music that is still beautiful in different ways. The range of sonic colors beats out Witnesses. 

Abysmal Hymns: November is Doom - Converge & Chelsea Wolfe :"Blood Moon"

9-Hypocrisy- "Worship"

The 90s never left. This is the vibe I get from the first album in over a decade from one of Sweden's best death metal acts. I first got into them back in 1994 with the 'Fourth Dimension" album. They were ahead of the curve when it came to lyrics dealing with alien conspiracies. Their experience as song writers prevails and makes this better than what a younger band eager to prove how heavy they are would do. Lyrically it is very fitting for the past year so wish it had come out earlier but will take it. They impressively beat out Converge and Ms. Wolfe's collab as these songs hooked me in more. 

Abysmal Hymns: Hypocrisy : " Worship"

8-Bloody Hammers - "Songs of Unspeakable Terror"

What gave these guys the edge is that this album came out back in January and hung tough as an album I would return to at least once a week or so. An impressive feat when you consider how much new music I ingest. This time the band leaned into the punk side of their influences, and it works much better. It is not total Danzig as the Elvis side of the coin is toned down. The vocals are great and very catchy. I can appreciate how this is married to an almost edgy cock rock side of 80s metal, but all horror anthems which earned their place at the top of this list. They beat out Hypocrisy because I just got a little more mileage out of this one. 

Abysmal Hymns: Bloody Hammers : "Songs of Unspeakable Terror"

7-The Pretty Reckless - Death By Rock N Roll" 

Over the course of this year this album grew on me. Which is why it is taking the number 7 spot. They manage to make new rock sounds from fairly blues based Led Zeppelin styled riffs that couple well with her smoky sex dripping vocals. They have been at it for 12 years, so their efforts paid off for everything falling into place for them.  

Abysmal Hymns: the Pretty Reckless : "Death By Rock N Roll"

6-Slothrust- "Parallel Timeline" 

Things are different. The mood has changed and matured. Where "|the Pact" was a much more polished effort than their previous albums, this one is another step forward in the refinement of their sound. They are less grunge than their earlier work, but still pack more punch than say HAIM. At the end of the day

Abysmal Hymns: Slothrust : "Parallel Timeline"

 5-Danny Elfman - "Big Mess" 

Elfman has an ear to what is going on in music for sure. It is heavier than what you might expect from him, yet theater lies in the panned vocals that bounce around these songs.  It is progressive without really trying to be. Like I tell my daughter when she hears Oingo Boingo this is Kack Skellington singing! The drums and guitars are way harder edged than what you would find in Oingo Boingo, which explains why this is not being done under that name. He has both Josh Freese and Robin Finck playing on this album. Guitar is also provided by Warren from the Vandals, so both the Vandals and Nine Inch Nails figures in the mix

Abysmal Hymns: Danny Elfman - "Big Mess"

4-Iron Maiden - "Senjutsu" 

There is no real filler on this album, the first single is the weakest song on the album and that is a relative term as it is still better than anything another band trying to be them could do, and a solid song in its own right even if it is not just what I showed up for, If this is their last album it is a fine summary of their legacy.  They beat out Danny Elfman with more concise and hooky songwriting,  

Abysmal Hymns: Iron Maiden : "Senjutsu"

3-Portrayal of Guilt - "We are Always Alone"

This time around they brought the more sonic kind of heavy I love. They are pretty deliberate using very chilling chord structures.  From the first listen I knew that this was going to be the fucking album to beat this year this shit kicks your face in and is a beautiful dark mess, just what the world needs right now/The parts that did not tug at me right away grew on me, making this an almost perfect album and the best of the heaviest. Beating out Maiden because they took more chances.      

Abysmal Hymns: Portrayal of Guilt : "We Are Always Alone"

2-Chrvches -" Screen Violence"

The Scottish pop band's 4th album. The title come from how they made this album remotely during the pandemic. It picks up where they left off at first and then goes in more interesting places as the album progresses. Mayberry may not employ a great deal of new tools in her arsenal, apart from production tricks, but continues to sharpen what she has been doing. Her growth comes more in the form of her lyrics. 

Abysmal Hymns: Chvrches : "Screen Violence"

1-Amigo the Devil -"Born Against"

After "Everything's Fine" the bar is pretty high going into this one. There is a bigger slicker production sometimes bringing more of a rock dynamic sometimes sounding like a drunk romp arounds the streets of New Orleans. His singing is more dynamic, and lyrics refined his sense of storytelling to bring fresh wallop to the punch of his songs here and worth many repeat listens. 

Abysmal Hymns: Amigo the Devil : "Born Against"