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 inbox 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-Vision Video- "Haunted Hours"
Athens based band won a spot on this list due to the catchy and melodic nature of what they do drew me in for more repeat listens. They remind me of the Twilight Sad, so I am fine with that. They are also huge fans of the 80s and pay homage while crafting wonderfully infectious songs.
9-Zola Jesus - "Arkhon"
6-(16) - "Into Dust"
After 2020's "Dream Squasher" proved to be a slab of sonic devastation I am still listening to 2 years later, the bar could not be higher for this California band. The continued to bring it with this album firing from all cylinders with their foot to the gas of this tank. The weighty sludge rolls over you, but with a bit of swing and hook. There is more rock n roll flowing through their veins this time around. It is most commonly bled out on the frets of the guitars. Catchy song writing does not mean they are any less in your face or forceful in their intentions.
Abysmal Hymns: November is Doom- (16) : " Into Dust"
5-Hangman's Chair- "A Loner"
The French band's 2018 album took the top spot as the doom album of the year. Their reign of bleak continues, even though the more over metallic edges is dialed back. They make up for this is the mood they have captured which is as dark as the glory days of Katatonia. There is a driving riff when the opening track kicks in once the clouds of atmosphere have lifted. The lead single "Cold & Distant" is more accessible than anything we have heard from them thus far. Driving hooks with being too poppy. Songwriting is where they dominated and just because there is a more accessible slant to this album it is not a sign of weakness.
Abysmal Hymns: Hangman's Chair : "A Loner"
4-Bush- ' the Art of Survival"
Here is an album that grew on me with each listen. In some ways this is a Bush album in name only, as Gavin Rossdale is the only original member. It does still retain the gritty grunge feel of their 90s work. This band came across as a less of a band wagon jumper in their prime and had an emotional grit that told me Rossdale had deep personal wounds he was processing through his music. At the same time, he had record companies breathing down his neck and pressure on his to get radio hits. He has delivered more solidly than most of his peers from this era have yet to
3-Brutus - "Unison Life"
Thankfully this Belgian band is back. I was a big fan of their last album. This time around they are leaning more into the atmosphere set against a bigger more rock like sound as the Bjork like quality still lingers in her voice. It can be hard to define what they are doing here, though at their core this is shoe gaze with a post-hard-core punch. This is run through a filter of matured songwriting. It is this song writing that earned the number one spot because not only is this the best of the shoe gazing album released this year, but these songs stand up against albums of other genres as well.
Abysmal Hymns: Brutus : "Unison Life"
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2-Birds in Row- "Gris Klein"
This French hard-core band is ready to live up to the anticipation for their newest album bringing all the explosive energy and urgent emotional catharsis. The shouted vocals are very serious even though their anguished screams at time sound more like punk than what we think of as hard core today, but the term hardcore, used to be hard core punk, and this is a good example of what that is, while not just sticking to the most commonplace blueprint. The sonic passages, feel more like what screamo bands have been doing over the past twenty years. Even in the fact of all the intensity they are expelling in these outbursts, they have still crafted dynamic, melodic songs. The nuanced interplay between the bass and drums, proves what great musicians these guys are. They do not need mathematic acrobatics but work of jerking grooves. This album is a must for anyone who wants emotional hard core with a sense of adventure
Abysmal Hymns: Birds in Row: "Gris Klein"
1-Taylor Swift - "Midnights"
Imagine a pop album not overrun by an assembly line of producers and outside songwriters. Taylor has got you covered with that. Having started off as a musician and song writer before fully wading into the pop waters, she has an advantage over her peers with whom she shares the radio waves. Taylor continues to excel while making music in a genre that normally vomits up disposable jingles for audiences who fall for anything sold to them, so imagine pop music with some thought behind it, what a concept. She writes great songs with clever lyrics which carries an infectious nature that found her beating out everyone else.
Abysmal Hymns: Taylor Swift: "Midnights"
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