The Top Ten Post- Punk Albums of 2016

So this list was spawned out of the goth/ industrial list, but the divide is widening with artists both new and old as the punk becomes more predominant, I am also including shoe gaze in this list, though there are only artists who could claim influence by that genre rather than being a hundred percent committed to it. These album's are dark, but at the end of the day not dark enough to be "goth" or too steeped in punk. The top five are really rough , but at the end of the day it falls on the album I listen to the most to rise to the top of this post- apocalyptic heap. So here are the top 10 post punk albums of 2016. Try the links to the full reviews in order to give these albums a listen.



10-Torture Love- They Came Crawling"

 This band from Chicago is much more aggressive than your average post-punk, they are solidly a punk band. "The Big Hand" finds them singing more than shouting, this gives them more of a Bellicose Minds sound. The Misfits would also be a reference point, though their singer is further from Glenn's croon and the vocals sit back further in the mix. One of the better post- punk releases of the year.


 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/08/torture-love-they-came-crawling.html

 9- Bellicose Minds- "the Creature"


It's been three years since the Portland post-punk trio released "the Spine". Their newest opens with a more frantically upbeat number than I remember them having on their 2013 album. One their Bandcamp page the band says that they use big amps and electric drums to make music inspired by rain and cloud. This song seems a little too peppy for rain and clouds. It might take the kinder and gentler version of the band a little more time to warm up to me, but they get the job done. The other bands at the forefront of the post-punk revival have been pretty quiet this year so it's good to hear from these guys. This album came out under the radar last week with no hype around it. If you are a fan then it is worth your time to listen to it and hopefully with Halloween creeping up on us more of this will be coming out to play.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/09/bellicose-minds-creature.html

8-Hollow Sunshine- "Bible Sea"


The drugs must have really kicked in on this one, as the band they once were has given way for a more dreamy electronic sound. I quit doing drugs years ago so I didn't not get much from some of the moods created here and it didn't get a ton of play from me , but I can not deny how well done this was . Fans of forward thinking shoe gaze will like the new direction this duo has taken

 .http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/07/hollow-sunshine-bible-sea.html

7- Okkultokrati- "Raspberry Dawn" 


 The ragged lo-fi punk this band from Norway dives into is somewhat darker, with the more growled vocals of the first song it sounds like something from Darkthrone's black n roll period, which is a comment I also made about a song on the new King Dude, so maybe old black metal is seeing a spike in it's influence on the darker corners of garage punk. The title track makes more sense out of the jagged chaos and packages into a neater punk presentation. This keyboardist that they added to the line-up can't be heard until you get to "We Love You" and then it's not like they have suddenly turned into a dark wave band, it's still raw punk just with more textures to the wall of noise they slam themselves up against.


 -http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/09/okkultokrati-raspberry-dawn.html


 6- Alter- "Embers" 


 Where does the shoe gaze begin and the punk rock end is one question that could stand to be asked of this album. But I am not sure you really want to ask too many questions here as they seem to have a good thing going. The vocals to "Deja Vu" are rather pained and fragile to what other wise moves like a brisk cloud passing you over head as you stared in a stoned haze out of the passenger side window.It does recall some almost emo moments if you think back to bands like Elliot. Fans of moody music be it emo or shoe gaze will find something to like here. http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/11/alter-embers.html


 5-Swans- "the Glowing Man"


 Yea, it is weird to think of Swans at number five rather than number one, but the competition was pretty strong. This is the last album by this incarnation of the re-vamped Swans. It opens with a darker elegance and a get deal of sonic texture. Gira's croon is a little more refined and less like the rants of "To Be Kind". This comes a little closer to what I want from the band though I enjoyed the albums of this phase of the band, the only thing I haven't liked it the hipster hippie crowd that began to show up post- Bonnaroo thinking they were a jam band and Gira's perhaps unintentional indulgence of this. They ride the wave rather than riding the groove here, building into some punches at the end. They go into the sound of an orchestra tuning up on "Cloud of Unknowing". Twenty four minutes is asking a lot of a song.My only real complaint being the length of  the songs that touch the twenty minute mark, the song writing could have been more efficient  and still gotten the point across, allowing them to jam it out more live if they so choose.

   http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/06/swans-glowing-man.html

4-Eagulls-"Ullages"


 The Sophomore effort by the British Post-punk band finds them maturing into a more melodic sound. Their debut had more of a punk energy to it and "Ullages" embraces lush textures of guitar and sharpened sense of song writing that brings a greater emotional depth to the table. The punk in the post-punk equation is taking a back seat much like it would as fellow Brits the Cure would. Overall it doesn't pack the punk punch of their first album, but the songs are well written and they have matured into something with what sounds to be more staying power to my ears.


  http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/05/eagulls-ullages.html


 3-Alaric- End of Mirrors"


 I've been a fan of this band since the whole death rock revival came into my consciousness. Now five years later, my fears that they might have broken up are put to rest making this a very welcome return. All the things that have made them work in the past are in place here. Like a doomed out version of Killing Joke the band plows into the post- apocalyptic wasteland their music conjures. There are varied levels of gloom ridden melody thanks to their bassist. It took a few listens before this slow working drug is fully in my system, but it lives up to the legacy they began.


  http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/04/alaric-end-of-mirrors.html

2- Savages - 'Adore Life" 


 Their new album opens with "the Answer"one of the lead singles that been on the web for a minute  and it rocks harder than when these gals were around last time. The guitar tone is thicker almost to the sludge point of fuzz , but rumbles with more of a "Manic Depression" meets punk drone. This album grew on me and stayed in rotation earning it's spot above the likes of the new Swans.


 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/01/savages-adore-life.html

1- Merchandise- "a Corpse Wired For Sound"


 I guess the fact the band is on classic goth label 4AD , has finally settled in on them, so  it should not come as a surprise that the trappings of shoe gaze are more prominent in the guitar department on this album. It took a couple listens for me to fully appreciate the opening track.Perspective is a funny thing.  If I went Overall this album is great and Carson once again throws you a sonic curve ball and refuses to replicate past work and forge ahead creatively into the album not knowing it was Carson Cox and co, I would have latched onto the darker tones driving the songs.

 http://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/09/merchandise-corpse-wired-for-sound.html

Bellicose Minds : "the Creature"

It's been three years since the Portland post-punk trio released "the Spine". Their newest opens with a more frantically upbeat number than I remember them having on their 2013 album. One their Bandcamp page the band says that they use big amps and electric drums to make music inspired by rain and cloud. This song seems a little too peppy for rain and clouds. The big amps are creating the great bass tone that opens "Exiled".  This song is tighter and the vocals fit more snugly into the grooves. The title track like the song before it is bass driven. This song glides more smoothly into the shadows. "The Mask" just fades into the background. One thing I have noticed is the vocals are not as aggressive as they once were so his voice isn't commanding you to listen.

There is more punk to the vocals of "Orwell's Troops". They punch out a little more despite being mixed back against the guitar. The mix might be what separates this album from "the Spine" . "Lost" feels more like their earlier work. The guitar coolly coasts around the bouncing bass line.  The chorus doesn't jump out at you but sits back into the moody pace of the song. "A Likely Outcome" is interesting for the first half of the song the vocals take more of a back seat. The vocals when they come in howl in like the wind from the distance.

The album closes with one of the more aggressive songs on the album "Villains" which is another song that will put a slight smile on the pale faces of even the most morose listener who went into this as a fan of "the Spine". There is almost a metal like pattern to the guitar riff. I'll around this up to a 9 it might take the kinder and gentler version of the band a little more time to warm up to me, but they get the job done. The other bands at the forefront of the post-punk revival have been pretty quiet this year so it's good to hear from these guys. This album came out under the radar last week with no hype around it. If you are a fan then it is worth your time to listen to it and hopefully with Halloween creeping up on us more of this will be coming out to play.

The Bellicose Minds: The Spine

The Portland band is one of the front runner in the "death-rock" revival . Their full length the "The Spine" is an impressive slab of dark punk.It opens with "Lessons" that blends a punk aggressiveness with an early cure feel. The vocals are more punk in their intonation and delivery than Robert Smith, much closer to being horror punk than death rock but I think it gives the band a unique edge. The Bass does drive the songs leaving the guitar to cut creepy sonic swathes over the music.

The title track is a sardonic social commentary, the guitar off sets the pound of the bass. The album sounds pretty great for a genre that is typically under produced , my only complaint is the drums are low in the mix making wonder if its a drum machine, because the straightforward disco patterns add to my suspicions in this area. The guitar sound is dead on, and really up front and in your face, pushing its way to the forefront even over the vocals.

In most cases I advise against naming a song after your band name, but it seems to work here. This song also begins to show hints of metal in some of the punches. The lyrics are  despondent but not in the way  goth is often thought of. The song writing on the album is stronger than that of most of their peers.

"Call to Graves" is almost to close to more traditional pun than I prefer, I think playing into this tendency forces them to dummy it down and loses some of the melody that should be injected into the chorus. "The Observer" has a similar feel, where the vocals take on more of a shout, but the guitars swoop in and say the day in this one , a solo even fires out of the darkness.

They turn to more of a goth sound on "Engulfed" that has a wonderfully bleak guitar riff and slinking bass that weaves around it. This sort of post-punk flavor remains on "Visions of Pain" with a Cure vibe draped heavy over it, it is lifted from the more abrasive Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss me and Pornography era Cure, so not the same delay drenched take on those influences. This might even be the albums strongest moment.

An almost more Joy Division element emerges on "Banished Alone" it takes a long winding road into the song, and the vocals are spat in short accented bursts closer to punk than the sort of poetry Ian Curtis once narrated.

I like the militantly anti-religious lyrics to "Bloody Hands" which lets the rallying cry simmer for a moment on the chorus as the death sentence is called out. On the majority of the album the bass tone really stands out and is given more of a spot light on "Destruct, the vocal line here is rather simple and this isn't the album best moment but even their filler is better than most. The Joy Division can be heard more in the bass playing than any where else. the album closes with " In Greed" that combines most of the effective formula, being powerful and confrontational without letting go to the chilling atmosphere, I'll go ahead on the faith that this album will continue to grow on me and give it a 9, a must if you are already a fan of the goth revival.