Music Top 20, 2009
Yep, the time of year where Craig craps on about what music floated his boat the most is here again.
Each year I say it was an interesting year. This year it was a fucking great year musically. So many good solid quality releases. Inevitably what this means is that my “Worthy Mentions” section that follows the top list, is massive this year. Hideously massive.
No more top 10 in metal and top 10 in ambient/electronic etc, this year. Just one big top 20.
Without further rubbishing in the way of intro, here goes my top 20 for 2009
1 Peste Noire - Ballade Cuntre Lo Anemi Francor
Black country metal. Yep. It sounds as weird as, well, it sounds. Peste Noire for the uninitiated, are a band from Avignon France, formed some years back by one Famine. Famine is a former member of Mortifera, Celestia and Amesoeurs.
I am 100% gossiping and it may be utterly untrue, but since Amesoeurs disbanded and Audrey suddenly joined PN, I am going to theorise that the end of Amesoeurs had something to do with <3 ’s being upset.
Now, the important stuff. This is an amazing release. It really will be hated by a large number of people though. By amazing I don’t mean easy to listen to, pretty, stylish, cool or hip. I mean amazing. The music is reasonably stripped back, with a sense of space in the sound. All the instruments are clear and the recording is surprisingly top notch. I say surprisingly as although i thoroughly enjoyed Folkfuck Folie, the recording quality was quite poor - perhaps intentionally so. The songs are more varied than on previous releases, with an almost country feel at times. The mood the sound creates is raucous, somewhat spiteful, ugly and at times jaunty and lively.
A hybrid of sounds from very different quarter - progressive and folk rock, punk, black metal with female vocals, samples, and Famine’s horrible snarls - with never a dull moment - this album doesn’t fail to fascinate through its entirety
2 Mastodon - Crack The Skye
Yep, from the obscure to the verging on mainstream rock in just 1 place. Think I must be getting all broken and sold out in my old age? Think again. Anyone that writes this album off because of the fact that Mastodon are a reasonably successful and well known band, or because of the hideously poor lyrics/lyrical concept, is really missing out on something special. The fact that even with a deficiency sufficient to derail most albums from my top lists, this is still here, tells you something about the music.
There is no doubt this is a Mastodon release, the vocals are very easily identified and that therefore gives some sense of expectation about what will follow. Those expecting another move in the vein of Blood Mountain will no doubt be disappointed. Replacing the sludge and stoner aesthetic is a prog style 70’s vibe, with a heavier cleaner edge than the band has produced previously. The music sounds simple at first, but deeper focus yields unexpectedly complex but restrained musicianship. The band seemed to have developed an understanding that less really sometimes is more, but at the same time have not lost any flair - they have simply made that flair more appropriate.
Perhaps this is the new Metallica - the easily digested metal of the modern era - and if it is, so be it, because regardless of what else it may or may not be, it is interesting and satisfying musical head foods.
3 Gnaw Their Tongues - All The Dread Magnificence of Perversity
And now for something completely different.
I looked on metal archives to see lyrically what the band, or rather artist was about. It tells me “bondage and torture”. I think maybe they just discerned that from the actual sound of the music.
Gnaw their tongues is the aural version of a horror movie soundscape crashing headlong into a visual torture session, mixed with all the sense of dread that sits within every moment of sorrow or woe you have ever experienced. It is horrific, ugly, disturbed, complicated, thick with layering and above all, suffocating.
Previous albums have been good, but have fallen down at the final hurdle. You can listen to them and tell there are amazing things going on in there, but the recording quality was simply not up to the challenge of adequately carrying it off. As a result, although good, the previous releases tended to shine only on the tracks which were smaller in scale and scope, and the grandiose tracks, where they really should shine, were left sounding muddled and too hazy to be successful.
On the latest release, these issues with recording quality have been well and truly laid to rest. With careful and repeated listens, the layers of the songs begin to come apart, and the incredible depth of the work becomes amazingly apparent. This is not easy, nor happy listening, but it is thoroughly rewarding on many levels - unnerving, able to induce a real sense of discomfort, but satisfying.
4 Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II (Dialogue With The Stars)
I did suggest this may be the best album of the year, when I first heard it, way back in February. In a year of ordinary releases , this may very well have ended up topping the poll, but this has been no ordinary year. I can’t remember a year when so many fantastic and genuinely quality releases have come out.
The spiritual successor to Memoria Vetusta I (Fathers of the Icy Age), Blut Aus Nord go to strange and wonderful places with this release, which has with a heavier focus on structure and bending of sound, rather than outright crushing and mangling. Interestingly, to my ears, this album most logically in a stylistic sense, should follow The Word That Transforms God, with a nod to Memoria Vetusta I in the liner notes. It takes the comparatively straight edge Blackmetal of MV:I, the experimental nature of TWTTG, and adds to them a very clean, modern and melodic touch, without losing any of the dissonance that has so defined their releases of late (excluding the odd sounding Odinist).
One thing that becomes clear early on in the listening to the album, as early as the first track in fact (aske (acceptance)) is that this album almost has an uplifting sense to it. It won’t sound uplifting to those not at all familiar with Blackmetal, as ultimately this is a dissonant Blackmetal release, but BAN do not on this release seem to dwell as deeply in the mire as many of their contemporaries. This may sound like a bit of an OMGQTFBBQ sort of moment for a Blackmetal band with the level of mystery around them that BAN have, but I can assure this is not in any way a deficiency in the music, it is quite intentional and quite wonderful.
5 Harvestman - In a Dark Tongue
When compared to Lashing The Rye (LTR), Steve Von Till’s latest solo masterpiece is less outright folky, with greater emphasis on creating flowing ambient soundscapes, mixed with a stronger Neil Young influence in the guitar meanderings, of which there are a great deal more.
Of course there is a fairly decent dose of the requisite bagpipes that were such a wonderful feature of the first release. A more structured and slightly more congruent feel than on LTR, and as ever, a man of many faces proves he is musically somewhat of a genius.
The album evokes feelings of open dusty fields, humid hot nights, and sleeping bodies around the remnants of log fires, with not a stir but from the bugs in the dirt around them. You can almost feel the grit in your teeth, and yet at the same time the wind somehow blows cold.
For such simply constructed sounds there is an overwhelming depth of emotion and imagery that comes with listening to this album.
6 Urfaust - Einsiedler // Urfaust & Joyless - Split
I have made this single entry on the top list a double, as between both releases there are still only 3 tracks between the two, and they probably only make one EP amongst them, but this is such good shit that it can be forgiven by me at least!
In 2008, Urfaust release 3 untitled tracks on Drei Rituale Jenseits Des Kosmos. They showed a slower, more electronically influenced approach with these three tracks. Einsiedler, despite the deep distorted guitar tones that start proceedings (Verderber), continues with this tradition, although has a more organic feel overall.
The track on the split that was released with Joyless, is a much firmer hark back to the sounds that brought them to where they are today - not in a bad or “we can’t be bothered really writing something new for this” sort of way, but in a wonderful riff of awesome power ++++++++ sort of way.
Anyway. If you have never heard Urfaust, it will confuse and possibly annoy you. Willem’s vocals are extremely unique, at times lovelorn and crooned, at others horribly shrieked, and chortled. They always sit slightly behind the main thrust of the guitars/samples in the mix, and are delivered in long and stretched notes, lending them the air of an extra musical instrument. His vocal style, whilst strange at first, carries an immense weight of emotion and he moves and massages them to match the music magnificently.
If there was a full length release from Urfaust (of which there has not been since 2005, it would almost certainly have made my number 1. This is emotive, challenging, dark and intriguing music at its magnificent best, let down only by how brief it is.
7 Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
Sunn O))) have become somewhat of a “fad” band to like - I realised this when I saw them featured on the cover of WIRE magazine. I find this very odd. The music is far from easy to digest sonically, and in reality is best served live, where it can be felt as well as heard. There are no catchy hooks, very little lyrically to catch people, so i’m not sure what has elevated them in such ways.
Regardless of all that, this is a great album, just as it was always likely to be. Sunn O))) for me are a little like Urfaust - they generally can do no wrong. The inclusion of Attila Csihar as a seemingly integral part of the lineup, has done nothing to weaken the force of nature that this bands sound is. If anything, it has given it a dimension of strangeness it never held before. A sort of regal weird and sometimes violent deconstruction, added to the deeply meditative and “religious” sounds of the band. It may have sounded like a strange combination when it was first spoken of in hushed tones, but what an amazing success. O’Malley and Anderson have become poster children (as ironic as this is given their usual garb) for the rebirth of musical innovation, sonic experimentation, and the open pushing of the boundaries that define just what music is and isn’t.
What really sets this release apart, not only from other Sunn O))) releases, but from the releases of many of their contemporaries, is the new sonic ground that is tread. This is not something you have heard before, nor is it something you have experienced before.
8 Les Discrets and Alcest - Split
I know I know, breaking all the rules, including EP’s and short splits and such, combining all my genre’s this year. I guess I just reached a point where I realised that the really great music often defies such simple categorisation, such boundaries are out of place when dealing with the boundless!
First of all Alcest. I still long for the days of Le Secret, but at least one thing missing from Souvenirs Dun Autre Monde is here on one of these 2 tracks - Neige’s shrieking style of vocals. In fact what is most apparent from the 2 Alcest songs is that as well as the potential for a more Ethereal style of Alcest, Neige’s work in Amesoeurs has rubbed off. The guitars are exquisite and soar with a magical quality.
Les Discrets are a band that to some degree have also sprung from the ashes of Amesoeurs. Fursy didhave this project prior to the end of Amesoeurs, but aside from a few soundscape pieces on myspace, ostensibly written to accompany his work as an animator, there was little to chalk up to the band. The 3 tracks presented here are delightful. They are not all amazing but they certainly hint at something that may be, and one of them does reach lofty heights (L' Échappée). Stylistically the songs sit well within the whole Post-x/blackwave type genres and will appeal to fans of Alcest, Amesoeurs, Caina, Fe, Smohalla and the like.
9 Folkstorm - Ortodox
Folkstorm are one of the many (All Hail the Transcending Ghost, D.I.N., Econocon, Hydra Head Nine, Incinerator International, Körperwelten, L/A/B, Lorv, Mz.412, Muskel, Pouppée Fabrikk, Drakh, Nordvargr, Goatvargr) faces of Henrik Norvargr Bjorkk. A man I have a great deal of respect for musically. The various releases he has let fly under the Folkstorm moniker have covered a wide range of musical ground. This latest album sounds very analogue, with distorted angry vocals sliding, distorted sines and squares, and dissonant droning. This is bleak industrial music at its finest.
Don’t let the fact that this is in at 9 suggest that this is anything short of a masterpiece - its not. It is a bleak reflection of urban society and the malaise that grips so many. Uncompromising, dark, bleak - brilliant.
10 Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs
And here it is. The one and only release from Amesoeurs, who have officially disbanded as at the release of this album. It seems odd how many people are waiting to slay everything that Neige produces. He seems to have become a little too cool for school for some people - the same people no doubt that heaped praise upon his various musical projects and created that very aura. The album was received well in the broader musical community, but amongst the notoriously fickle Post- fans, particularly those that preference the heavier end of the post- genre’s, this album has been a cause of much debate and heated argument.
I for one, chose to judge the man by his music, and not the labels given to it, nor peoples opinions of him. Clearly if i based my love of music around such simple thoughts, i’d have no place liking Burzum.
The music presented on this release is somewhat of a muddle of genre’s. It swings from quite muted post rock/post punk inspired edgy rock, through to heavier almost blackmetal bombast. It does not sound laboured or forced at any time, and is certainly unlike any other album I have heard before. All politics aside, this is an album worth hearing on its musical merits alone, the scenester wrangling is just a strange aside that really leaves me worried about what sort of intellectual capacity those drawn to music I love so dearly, really have. I weep for the youth of today.
11 Black Sun Aeon - Darkness Walks Beside Me
Melodic extreme stuff. Holy crap. A melodic extreme album in my top lists. Another first for a great number of years. What that says immediately is that this is one corker of an album.
Imagine if Opeth focused their song writing around a sense of movement, rather than musicality, and tinged it with range, and a hint of sadness. That’s the best way I can think of to define this release. It is quite simply some of the best melodic metal I have ever heard. The songs are well constructed, thoughtful, epic and never repetitive or boring. There is a welcome mix of vocal styles, and tempo’s throughout. Much of the vocal work is provided by guest vocalists, although this is not immediately apparent as they sing in similar styles through the album. Featured singers include Tomi Koivusaari, Ville Sorvali, Mynni Luukkainen and Mikko Heikkilä.
What really makes this album such an amazing triumph is this is Tuomas Saukkonen’s first real foray into the world of doom and heavy music, and yet it is such a blindingly successful one.
Worth the price of admission for the amazing A Song For My Funeral” alone. Talk about epic and moving.
12 Rome - Flowers From Exile
It was a hard year to be making top lists. This spot could easily have gone to Sieben or Ossein, both of who produced fantastic albums in a vein quite similar to Rome’s Flowers From Exile.
Why Rome over the others? Well, really because Rome are Rome. Jerome’s sublime voice is unmistakeable and instantly lends the music a sense of the familiar, and comfortable. That isn’t to say this is a rehash of what has come before because its not. This is a unique and as always progressive piece of sound from the Luxembourg based band.
More than any of their recent releases, Flowers From Exile is accessible. The trend towards a more singer songwriter, or straight folk approach is well underway and continues at pace herein. Again, not at all a bad thing. The music remains wistful, romantic and at the same time stark and longing. I read a review somewhere that described the entire album as being bathed in an aural sepia tone. I think that really does describe well how the music sounds.
13 De Magia Veterum - Midgal Bavel
From the beautiful and sublime, to the beastial and shatteringly grinding. De Magia Veterum is a project of Mories (Gnaw Their Tongues) which has a more traditional metal sound. Don’t let the words “more traditional” lead you to think this is anything but a maddening and unsociably punishing noise. By more traditional, I really mean it has some guitars. Basically if you read what i wrote about #3, and apply some guitars and more traditional (again, don’t let that fool you too much :P) song structure, you pretty much have this album.
It is fucking harrowing..... :D!
14 Altar of Plagues - White Tomb
Another of these odd genre strafing bands I have become so fond of. I have seen AoP called everything from Blackmetal to Post-Hardcore, and many strange things in between. As with any of the labels thrown at bands, they may help you to get an idea about a sound, but that is all. I think this may also be the first band from the Republic of Ireland to make my top lists as well.
I remember reading a review that suggested this album was best listened to on headphones at 5am, in the heart of a largely desolated city. I couldn’t agree more. Like Amesoeurs and even to some degree Deathspell Omega, the music presented here speaks of the bleak and urban, the mundane and bleak, without referencing the sound of either of those bands particularly.
Musically, the ground covered is extremely diverse. From the pulse and wall-of-sound style of Wolves In The Throne Room, to the minimalist drone of Earth. And yet there are still further sounds that feel as if they are new and I can’t relate them specifically. This is commanding music, that ebbs and flows, rises and falls and traverses a huge range of territories and moods.
15 Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans
Ahab are a doom band. They make music, mostly about the ocean. Given the depth to the sound they make, and the way it flows and ebbs, always with crushing weight, it seems apt. The sounds on the album lay out a journey. From drifting on wrecked peices of boat in the oceans at night, to being washed ashore and finding oneself stranded. Morose in topic, Ahab do not rely solely on despair and woe, and that is what makes this such a magnificent modern doom album.
Importantly, Ahab seem to understand something many funeral doom bands seem to forget. Without day , the night is nothing out of the ordinary. Light and shade.
16 Nordvargr - Interstellar II
Another HNB project inside my top list. What a surprise. I maintain that my fanboyism does not impede my ability to actually judge his releases on their merit, it simply happens that in the sphere of dark, cold ambient music, Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk is able to make real magic, as opposed to mere card tricks.
Interstellar follows on in the same vein as the original release. Spacey, cold, vaguely sci-fi. Music for dark minds in dark rooms.
17 Mono - Hymn to The Immortal Wind
A band that I can only hope to one day see live. Much like Sunn O))), I am told that the live performance, is a genuine experience, and ads an entire new dimension to the band, that will forever colour what you hear even in their recorded works.
HTTIW is the first release in some 3 years for Mono, so has been quite some time coming. What was immediately obvious to me when I listened to this album, was how mature it sounded. Sure, it still has fits of angst and temper, but they are much less the focus, and play a supporting role. Much more central on this release to my ears, is something far more majestic and complex. The music is as we have come to expect, just more refined, more polished, and with some utterly jaw dropping orchestration. The sound may lose some of the fans who only ever got into Mono because of their more metallic moments, but those who engage their brains and listen closely, will be thoroughly rewarded with something that is more weighty that ever before, even if not as heavy.
18 Lustmord - The Dark Places of Earth
As the album title may suggest, this is a purely dark ambient release from Brian Williams. He has primarily released this style of music under the Lustmord moniker, but there has been the odd variation or two to keep things interesting. One of four albums release during 2009, along with [B E Y O N D], [T R A N S M U T E D] and a reworking of 2008’s O T H E R, [O T H E R D U B]
TDPoE is not an album that can satisfy immediately, it would make no sense to listen to it whilst driving, or during the day, and it lacks any sense of immediacy. So that rules out anyone born after 1985 from liking it.
If you have time, and you want to drift to a darker place, then this is the slow and monotonous soundtrack to your journey.
19 Lustmord - [B E Y O N D]
As with number 18, this is a dark ambient release again. It has much more momentum than TDPoE, and for most people will be a more enjoyable listen. When I say it has more momentum, I should be clear it is still a slow plodding album, it simply sounds more musical than TDPoE, and has a more identifiable structure, with gives the impression therefore of movement and development, rather than floating.
20 Lifelover - Dekadens
Rounding out the top 20, is another EP. A particularly large EP at 6 songs mind you.
There still seems to be a great deal of debate about whether Lifelover are anything other than a joke band. Many people complain about it being hard to take them seriously. I really don’t give a shit if they are taking the piss - if they keep making music this awesome, why should anyone?
Following on in a similar style to Konkurs, the Dekadens EP is most noticeably different in its consistency. Unlike Konkurs, which was quite randomly cluttered together, and seemingly without any specific flow, Dekadens gels nicely and sounds like it makes sense. The music is probably slightly more rockish as well, but ()’s voice ensures it is certainly still confined to the realm of the extreme and avant-garde.
Brilliantly rocking, still ugly and somewhat cheesy - all awesome.
Worthy Mentions
Nadja - Belles Betes
Narrowly missing out on my top list, a fantastic brooding release. Possibly my favourite so far from the duo
Jodis - Secret House
Again a close contender. Beaten out only by Mono, who did a slightly better job of doing what they do
Austere - To Lay Like Old Ashes
Missed the top ten only due to last useless track, because this is otherwise an utterly astounding release. Australian too :D!
Caina - Caina and Caina and Krieg - Split
We need a new full length album. Meanwhile, more oddly recorded post/blackmetal/acoustic meanderings. Wonderful
Axis of Perdition - Urfe (The Great Unwashed)
Fantastic concept album. Worth hearing if only for curiosity sake.
Diamatregon - Crossroad
Fantastic old school balls out blackmetal. Nothing groundbreaking. Just solid and fucking good.
Arcana Coelestia - Le Mirage de L'Idéal
Crushing, slow funeral doom, with post-rock elements making this very interesting.
Beherit - Engram
The very same Beherit, back. Again, nothing groundbreaking, but really great none the less.
Circle of Ouroborus - Tree of Knowledge
This will shit a lot of listeners to tears. It sounds terrible, the singing is out of tune, the guitars seem misplaced, and they ruin other peoples songs when they do covers, but it has some sort of strangely awesome attraction for me.
Code - Resplendent Grotesque
Not as mind bogglingly awesome as the first album. Still good though.
Enmerkar - Starlit Passage
More blackwave/post something/blackmetal awesomeness. In the same basket as Lantlos and such.
Bloodhorse - Horizoner
Good old fashioned heavy doom rock, like modernised Sabbath. Not nearly as wanky as Wolfmother.
Immortal - All Shall Fall
The first album since.. 2003?? I think. Tops! Sure it will shit some purists, just like “Between Two Worlds” did. Likely they are missing the point entirely. Hopefully they tour again and play so hard that my pants rip right off, again.
Nargaroth - Jahreszeiten
Ok, so everyone hates Nargaroth, or wants to have sweaty man sex with him. Who cares if he is a total retard and highly lucky to have escaped his own homelands Activ foundation dragnet. He makes some interesting tunes.
November’s Doom - Into Night's Requiem Infernal
More excellent doom from the ever reliable November’s Doom.
Nurse With Wound - The Surveillance Lounge
More NWW awesomeness.
Sieben - As They Should Sound
My greatest neo-folk discovery of the year. I knew of them before, but never really got it. Now I do. A beautiful and moody album.
Satanismo Calibro 9 - Supernova
One of the weird and wonderful bands I discovered via Old Europa Cafe (www.oldeuropacafe.com/). Kickass electronic/noise/weirdness
Teitanblood - Seven Chalices
I have noticed a great deal of people listing this as their number 1 blackmetal release for 2009. I like it, but definitely don’t see it as that amazing. Still good though if you feel like a really solid old school grindy blackmetal ear bashing.
Cobalt - Gin
Quite different from “Eater of Birds”. With hints of crust punk, drone, doom and god knows what else. Features guest work by Jarboe and Dave Otero. I’ve seen it called “Gonzo Underground Music”. Certainly very popular with the WIRED set and oddly considered quite trendy (is it the military linkage??)
Wumpscutt - Fuckit and Wumpscutt Bunkertor 7.
:W: do what they do, well. Fuckit is no different. Yes I Know Bukertor 7 came out ages ago. It has not been remixed either. It has been entirely re-recorded and updated!
Yoga - Megafauna
The recording quality is low on this, which is a shame, otherwise it’d prolly be top list material. Great grinding black/doom/weirdness.
Den Saakaldte - All Hail Pessimism
Better than whatever crap Shining released this year. I know many people liked the new Shining. I didn’t. I much preferred this. The horns are just <3
Crippled Black Phoenix - The ressurectionists
Beautiful EiTS style post rock, blended with mad 70’s psychadelia influenced rock and loosely strung stoner. Wide variety of sounds, all of it awesome.
Ossein - Fuhrer
Amazing neo-folk. A real journey from the sublime to suffering. I really struggled between choosing this or Rome for my top list.
Wardruna - Runaljod - gap var ginnunga
Features Gaahl of Darkseed (Gorgoroth) as well as Lindy Fay Hella and Arne Sandvoll, amongst others. Norse folk music with a really deep and heaving sound.
Insomnium - Across The Dark
2 melodic albums mentioned in 1 year. Ye gods. Insomnium rock pretty darn hard though.
Njiqahdda - Taegnuub: Ishnji Angma
Doomy, atmospheric metal.
Madder Mortem - Eight Ways
A softer album in terms of outright volume from Madder Mortem, but Agnete’s voice sounds.. desperate and stretched at times. Quite an amazing peice of music
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Another great release by Isis. More thoughtfully constructed than previous releases, but equally as enchanting.
Tamtrum - Fuck you I’m Drunk - Stronger Than Cats
Much less black electronic and more just electronic/Industrial/EBM sounding. Still great, still massively unhinged.
Arckanum - ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ
No idea how i am meant to pronounce the album name. Musically, as bonkers as the album name suggests. And grim. Awesome!
Atrium Carceri - Phrenitis
Ass kicking dark ambient.
Raison D'être - The Stains of the Embodied Sacrifice
Not necessarily his greatest ever work, but certainly up there.
Death in June - Lesson 1: Misanthropy (remastered)
A classic album. Sounds even better now.
Russian Circles - Geneva
Beautifully wrought heavy guitared rock.
The Gathering - The West Pole
Further than ever from their metal heritage, it matters not one iota. Because the music is still really damn good. And that voice <3
Oh Dear
Les tenebres - and the waves came crashing down
Umm. For some reason this got some big write ups. It sounds terrible to my poor ears.
Gorgoroth - Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem (as opposed to the new former Gorgoroth, Darkseed.)
Gaahl really does seem to have been proven right. This is not particularly interesting. Sure its not horrible, but its something much worse - boring!
Katatonia - Night is the new day
I know plenty of people that like it, I just find it too much of the same. I put it in the same basket as the great cold distance. Great at first listen, but lacking any charm when you dig deeper.
Manes - Solve Et Coagula
1 great track then a whole bunch of WTF. Seriously. W T F.
Buckethead - Forensic Follies
I have no idea what happened here. Who’s idea was it to just take normal Bucketheadsongs and add 1/100th of a second of silence for every half second of sound. Another big WTF.
Devin Townsend - Ki
Also a WTF. So tepid, and.. flat.. and.. yuck.
Lacrimosa - Sensucht
Wow. Boooooring. I was expecting this to be great. I could only find one song i didn’t hate so much that i was willing to play on air, even then i still felt bad for everyone listening. Lacks any new ideas or sounds.
Nadja - When I See The Sun Always Shines on TV
Fantastic concept for an album, total failure in reality.
Lonley Island - Incredibad
I love this album. But by admitting that, i am admitting i find farts funny. You do, we all do, but admitting that to someone of the opposite gender (unless you marry them) is like admitting you not only find them funny, but sometimes you totally dig the smells of them, in a proud fatherly sort of way.
Wolves In The Throne Room - Black Cascade / Malevolent Grain
Yes, i do like Black Cascade. Not so Malevolent Grain. Either way, when listened to in isolation, they both are good solid albums. When listened to off the back of Two Hunters or Diadem of 12 Stars, they are a let down.
My Dying Bride - The Lies I Sire
Similarly to WITTR. This album was a let down. Not bad in Isolation.
Releases I am already on the hunt for, due in 2010
Anathema Finally
Death In June - symbols and clouds
Ihsahn - After (listening to it right now. MINT! Heavy use of Saxophone is <3 )
Alcest
Red Sparowes
Abigor - Time Is The Sulphur In The Veins Of The Saint
Burzum
Negura Bunget - Vîrstele Pamîntului
Daughters
Each year I say it was an interesting year. This year it was a fucking great year musically. So many good solid quality releases. Inevitably what this means is that my “Worthy Mentions” section that follows the top list, is massive this year. Hideously massive.
No more top 10 in metal and top 10 in ambient/electronic etc, this year. Just one big top 20.
Without further rubbishing in the way of intro, here goes my top 20 for 2009
1 Peste Noire - Ballade Cuntre Lo Anemi Francor
Black country metal. Yep. It sounds as weird as, well, it sounds. Peste Noire for the uninitiated, are a band from Avignon France, formed some years back by one Famine. Famine is a former member of Mortifera, Celestia and Amesoeurs.
I am 100% gossiping and it may be utterly untrue, but since Amesoeurs disbanded and Audrey suddenly joined PN, I am going to theorise that the end of Amesoeurs had something to do with <3 ’s being upset.
Now, the important stuff. This is an amazing release. It really will be hated by a large number of people though. By amazing I don’t mean easy to listen to, pretty, stylish, cool or hip. I mean amazing. The music is reasonably stripped back, with a sense of space in the sound. All the instruments are clear and the recording is surprisingly top notch. I say surprisingly as although i thoroughly enjoyed Folkfuck Folie, the recording quality was quite poor - perhaps intentionally so. The songs are more varied than on previous releases, with an almost country feel at times. The mood the sound creates is raucous, somewhat spiteful, ugly and at times jaunty and lively.
A hybrid of sounds from very different quarter - progressive and folk rock, punk, black metal with female vocals, samples, and Famine’s horrible snarls - with never a dull moment - this album doesn’t fail to fascinate through its entirety
2 Mastodon - Crack The Skye
Yep, from the obscure to the verging on mainstream rock in just 1 place. Think I must be getting all broken and sold out in my old age? Think again. Anyone that writes this album off because of the fact that Mastodon are a reasonably successful and well known band, or because of the hideously poor lyrics/lyrical concept, is really missing out on something special. The fact that even with a deficiency sufficient to derail most albums from my top lists, this is still here, tells you something about the music.
There is no doubt this is a Mastodon release, the vocals are very easily identified and that therefore gives some sense of expectation about what will follow. Those expecting another move in the vein of Blood Mountain will no doubt be disappointed. Replacing the sludge and stoner aesthetic is a prog style 70’s vibe, with a heavier cleaner edge than the band has produced previously. The music sounds simple at first, but deeper focus yields unexpectedly complex but restrained musicianship. The band seemed to have developed an understanding that less really sometimes is more, but at the same time have not lost any flair - they have simply made that flair more appropriate.
Perhaps this is the new Metallica - the easily digested metal of the modern era - and if it is, so be it, because regardless of what else it may or may not be, it is interesting and satisfying musical head foods.
3 Gnaw Their Tongues - All The Dread Magnificence of Perversity
And now for something completely different.
I looked on metal archives to see lyrically what the band, or rather artist was about. It tells me “bondage and torture”. I think maybe they just discerned that from the actual sound of the music.
Gnaw their tongues is the aural version of a horror movie soundscape crashing headlong into a visual torture session, mixed with all the sense of dread that sits within every moment of sorrow or woe you have ever experienced. It is horrific, ugly, disturbed, complicated, thick with layering and above all, suffocating.
Previous albums have been good, but have fallen down at the final hurdle. You can listen to them and tell there are amazing things going on in there, but the recording quality was simply not up to the challenge of adequately carrying it off. As a result, although good, the previous releases tended to shine only on the tracks which were smaller in scale and scope, and the grandiose tracks, where they really should shine, were left sounding muddled and too hazy to be successful.
On the latest release, these issues with recording quality have been well and truly laid to rest. With careful and repeated listens, the layers of the songs begin to come apart, and the incredible depth of the work becomes amazingly apparent. This is not easy, nor happy listening, but it is thoroughly rewarding on many levels - unnerving, able to induce a real sense of discomfort, but satisfying.
4 Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II (Dialogue With The Stars)
I did suggest this may be the best album of the year, when I first heard it, way back in February. In a year of ordinary releases , this may very well have ended up topping the poll, but this has been no ordinary year. I can’t remember a year when so many fantastic and genuinely quality releases have come out.
The spiritual successor to Memoria Vetusta I (Fathers of the Icy Age), Blut Aus Nord go to strange and wonderful places with this release, which has with a heavier focus on structure and bending of sound, rather than outright crushing and mangling. Interestingly, to my ears, this album most logically in a stylistic sense, should follow The Word That Transforms God, with a nod to Memoria Vetusta I in the liner notes. It takes the comparatively straight edge Blackmetal of MV:I, the experimental nature of TWTTG, and adds to them a very clean, modern and melodic touch, without losing any of the dissonance that has so defined their releases of late (excluding the odd sounding Odinist).
One thing that becomes clear early on in the listening to the album, as early as the first track in fact (aske (acceptance)) is that this album almost has an uplifting sense to it. It won’t sound uplifting to those not at all familiar with Blackmetal, as ultimately this is a dissonant Blackmetal release, but BAN do not on this release seem to dwell as deeply in the mire as many of their contemporaries. This may sound like a bit of an OMGQTFBBQ sort of moment for a Blackmetal band with the level of mystery around them that BAN have, but I can assure this is not in any way a deficiency in the music, it is quite intentional and quite wonderful.
5 Harvestman - In a Dark Tongue
When compared to Lashing The Rye (LTR), Steve Von Till’s latest solo masterpiece is less outright folky, with greater emphasis on creating flowing ambient soundscapes, mixed with a stronger Neil Young influence in the guitar meanderings, of which there are a great deal more.
Of course there is a fairly decent dose of the requisite bagpipes that were such a wonderful feature of the first release. A more structured and slightly more congruent feel than on LTR, and as ever, a man of many faces proves he is musically somewhat of a genius.
The album evokes feelings of open dusty fields, humid hot nights, and sleeping bodies around the remnants of log fires, with not a stir but from the bugs in the dirt around them. You can almost feel the grit in your teeth, and yet at the same time the wind somehow blows cold.
For such simply constructed sounds there is an overwhelming depth of emotion and imagery that comes with listening to this album.
6 Urfaust - Einsiedler // Urfaust & Joyless - Split
I have made this single entry on the top list a double, as between both releases there are still only 3 tracks between the two, and they probably only make one EP amongst them, but this is such good shit that it can be forgiven by me at least!
In 2008, Urfaust release 3 untitled tracks on Drei Rituale Jenseits Des Kosmos. They showed a slower, more electronically influenced approach with these three tracks. Einsiedler, despite the deep distorted guitar tones that start proceedings (Verderber), continues with this tradition, although has a more organic feel overall.
The track on the split that was released with Joyless, is a much firmer hark back to the sounds that brought them to where they are today - not in a bad or “we can’t be bothered really writing something new for this” sort of way, but in a wonderful riff of awesome power ++++++++ sort of way.
Anyway. If you have never heard Urfaust, it will confuse and possibly annoy you. Willem’s vocals are extremely unique, at times lovelorn and crooned, at others horribly shrieked, and chortled. They always sit slightly behind the main thrust of the guitars/samples in the mix, and are delivered in long and stretched notes, lending them the air of an extra musical instrument. His vocal style, whilst strange at first, carries an immense weight of emotion and he moves and massages them to match the music magnificently.
If there was a full length release from Urfaust (of which there has not been since 2005, it would almost certainly have made my number 1. This is emotive, challenging, dark and intriguing music at its magnificent best, let down only by how brief it is.
7 Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
Sunn O))) have become somewhat of a “fad” band to like - I realised this when I saw them featured on the cover of WIRE magazine. I find this very odd. The music is far from easy to digest sonically, and in reality is best served live, where it can be felt as well as heard. There are no catchy hooks, very little lyrically to catch people, so i’m not sure what has elevated them in such ways.
Regardless of all that, this is a great album, just as it was always likely to be. Sunn O))) for me are a little like Urfaust - they generally can do no wrong. The inclusion of Attila Csihar as a seemingly integral part of the lineup, has done nothing to weaken the force of nature that this bands sound is. If anything, it has given it a dimension of strangeness it never held before. A sort of regal weird and sometimes violent deconstruction, added to the deeply meditative and “religious” sounds of the band. It may have sounded like a strange combination when it was first spoken of in hushed tones, but what an amazing success. O’Malley and Anderson have become poster children (as ironic as this is given their usual garb) for the rebirth of musical innovation, sonic experimentation, and the open pushing of the boundaries that define just what music is and isn’t.
What really sets this release apart, not only from other Sunn O))) releases, but from the releases of many of their contemporaries, is the new sonic ground that is tread. This is not something you have heard before, nor is it something you have experienced before.
8 Les Discrets and Alcest - Split
I know I know, breaking all the rules, including EP’s and short splits and such, combining all my genre’s this year. I guess I just reached a point where I realised that the really great music often defies such simple categorisation, such boundaries are out of place when dealing with the boundless!
First of all Alcest. I still long for the days of Le Secret, but at least one thing missing from Souvenirs Dun Autre Monde is here on one of these 2 tracks - Neige’s shrieking style of vocals. In fact what is most apparent from the 2 Alcest songs is that as well as the potential for a more Ethereal style of Alcest, Neige’s work in Amesoeurs has rubbed off. The guitars are exquisite and soar with a magical quality.
Les Discrets are a band that to some degree have also sprung from the ashes of Amesoeurs. Fursy didhave this project prior to the end of Amesoeurs, but aside from a few soundscape pieces on myspace, ostensibly written to accompany his work as an animator, there was little to chalk up to the band. The 3 tracks presented here are delightful. They are not all amazing but they certainly hint at something that may be, and one of them does reach lofty heights (L' Échappée). Stylistically the songs sit well within the whole Post-x/blackwave type genres and will appeal to fans of Alcest, Amesoeurs, Caina, Fe, Smohalla and the like.
9 Folkstorm - Ortodox
Folkstorm are one of the many (All Hail the Transcending Ghost, D.I.N., Econocon, Hydra Head Nine, Incinerator International, Körperwelten, L/A/B, Lorv, Mz.412, Muskel, Pouppée Fabrikk, Drakh, Nordvargr, Goatvargr) faces of Henrik Norvargr Bjorkk. A man I have a great deal of respect for musically. The various releases he has let fly under the Folkstorm moniker have covered a wide range of musical ground. This latest album sounds very analogue, with distorted angry vocals sliding, distorted sines and squares, and dissonant droning. This is bleak industrial music at its finest.
Don’t let the fact that this is in at 9 suggest that this is anything short of a masterpiece - its not. It is a bleak reflection of urban society and the malaise that grips so many. Uncompromising, dark, bleak - brilliant.
10 Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs
And here it is. The one and only release from Amesoeurs, who have officially disbanded as at the release of this album. It seems odd how many people are waiting to slay everything that Neige produces. He seems to have become a little too cool for school for some people - the same people no doubt that heaped praise upon his various musical projects and created that very aura. The album was received well in the broader musical community, but amongst the notoriously fickle Post- fans, particularly those that preference the heavier end of the post- genre’s, this album has been a cause of much debate and heated argument.
I for one, chose to judge the man by his music, and not the labels given to it, nor peoples opinions of him. Clearly if i based my love of music around such simple thoughts, i’d have no place liking Burzum.
The music presented on this release is somewhat of a muddle of genre’s. It swings from quite muted post rock/post punk inspired edgy rock, through to heavier almost blackmetal bombast. It does not sound laboured or forced at any time, and is certainly unlike any other album I have heard before. All politics aside, this is an album worth hearing on its musical merits alone, the scenester wrangling is just a strange aside that really leaves me worried about what sort of intellectual capacity those drawn to music I love so dearly, really have. I weep for the youth of today.
11 Black Sun Aeon - Darkness Walks Beside Me
Melodic extreme stuff. Holy crap. A melodic extreme album in my top lists. Another first for a great number of years. What that says immediately is that this is one corker of an album.
Imagine if Opeth focused their song writing around a sense of movement, rather than musicality, and tinged it with range, and a hint of sadness. That’s the best way I can think of to define this release. It is quite simply some of the best melodic metal I have ever heard. The songs are well constructed, thoughtful, epic and never repetitive or boring. There is a welcome mix of vocal styles, and tempo’s throughout. Much of the vocal work is provided by guest vocalists, although this is not immediately apparent as they sing in similar styles through the album. Featured singers include Tomi Koivusaari, Ville Sorvali, Mynni Luukkainen and Mikko Heikkilä.
What really makes this album such an amazing triumph is this is Tuomas Saukkonen’s first real foray into the world of doom and heavy music, and yet it is such a blindingly successful one.
Worth the price of admission for the amazing A Song For My Funeral” alone. Talk about epic and moving.
12 Rome - Flowers From Exile
It was a hard year to be making top lists. This spot could easily have gone to Sieben or Ossein, both of who produced fantastic albums in a vein quite similar to Rome’s Flowers From Exile.
Why Rome over the others? Well, really because Rome are Rome. Jerome’s sublime voice is unmistakeable and instantly lends the music a sense of the familiar, and comfortable. That isn’t to say this is a rehash of what has come before because its not. This is a unique and as always progressive piece of sound from the Luxembourg based band.
More than any of their recent releases, Flowers From Exile is accessible. The trend towards a more singer songwriter, or straight folk approach is well underway and continues at pace herein. Again, not at all a bad thing. The music remains wistful, romantic and at the same time stark and longing. I read a review somewhere that described the entire album as being bathed in an aural sepia tone. I think that really does describe well how the music sounds.
13 De Magia Veterum - Midgal Bavel
From the beautiful and sublime, to the beastial and shatteringly grinding. De Magia Veterum is a project of Mories (Gnaw Their Tongues) which has a more traditional metal sound. Don’t let the words “more traditional” lead you to think this is anything but a maddening and unsociably punishing noise. By more traditional, I really mean it has some guitars. Basically if you read what i wrote about #3, and apply some guitars and more traditional (again, don’t let that fool you too much :P) song structure, you pretty much have this album.
It is fucking harrowing..... :D!
14 Altar of Plagues - White Tomb
Another of these odd genre strafing bands I have become so fond of. I have seen AoP called everything from Blackmetal to Post-Hardcore, and many strange things in between. As with any of the labels thrown at bands, they may help you to get an idea about a sound, but that is all. I think this may also be the first band from the Republic of Ireland to make my top lists as well.
I remember reading a review that suggested this album was best listened to on headphones at 5am, in the heart of a largely desolated city. I couldn’t agree more. Like Amesoeurs and even to some degree Deathspell Omega, the music presented here speaks of the bleak and urban, the mundane and bleak, without referencing the sound of either of those bands particularly.
Musically, the ground covered is extremely diverse. From the pulse and wall-of-sound style of Wolves In The Throne Room, to the minimalist drone of Earth. And yet there are still further sounds that feel as if they are new and I can’t relate them specifically. This is commanding music, that ebbs and flows, rises and falls and traverses a huge range of territories and moods.
15 Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans
Ahab are a doom band. They make music, mostly about the ocean. Given the depth to the sound they make, and the way it flows and ebbs, always with crushing weight, it seems apt. The sounds on the album lay out a journey. From drifting on wrecked peices of boat in the oceans at night, to being washed ashore and finding oneself stranded. Morose in topic, Ahab do not rely solely on despair and woe, and that is what makes this such a magnificent modern doom album.
Importantly, Ahab seem to understand something many funeral doom bands seem to forget. Without day , the night is nothing out of the ordinary. Light and shade.
16 Nordvargr - Interstellar II
Another HNB project inside my top list. What a surprise. I maintain that my fanboyism does not impede my ability to actually judge his releases on their merit, it simply happens that in the sphere of dark, cold ambient music, Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk is able to make real magic, as opposed to mere card tricks.
Interstellar follows on in the same vein as the original release. Spacey, cold, vaguely sci-fi. Music for dark minds in dark rooms.
17 Mono - Hymn to The Immortal Wind
A band that I can only hope to one day see live. Much like Sunn O))), I am told that the live performance, is a genuine experience, and ads an entire new dimension to the band, that will forever colour what you hear even in their recorded works.
HTTIW is the first release in some 3 years for Mono, so has been quite some time coming. What was immediately obvious to me when I listened to this album, was how mature it sounded. Sure, it still has fits of angst and temper, but they are much less the focus, and play a supporting role. Much more central on this release to my ears, is something far more majestic and complex. The music is as we have come to expect, just more refined, more polished, and with some utterly jaw dropping orchestration. The sound may lose some of the fans who only ever got into Mono because of their more metallic moments, but those who engage their brains and listen closely, will be thoroughly rewarded with something that is more weighty that ever before, even if not as heavy.
18 Lustmord - The Dark Places of Earth
As the album title may suggest, this is a purely dark ambient release from Brian Williams. He has primarily released this style of music under the Lustmord moniker, but there has been the odd variation or two to keep things interesting. One of four albums release during 2009, along with [B E Y O N D], [T R A N S M U T E D] and a reworking of 2008’s O T H E R, [O T H E R D U B]
TDPoE is not an album that can satisfy immediately, it would make no sense to listen to it whilst driving, or during the day, and it lacks any sense of immediacy. So that rules out anyone born after 1985 from liking it.
If you have time, and you want to drift to a darker place, then this is the slow and monotonous soundtrack to your journey.
19 Lustmord - [B E Y O N D]
As with number 18, this is a dark ambient release again. It has much more momentum than TDPoE, and for most people will be a more enjoyable listen. When I say it has more momentum, I should be clear it is still a slow plodding album, it simply sounds more musical than TDPoE, and has a more identifiable structure, with gives the impression therefore of movement and development, rather than floating.
20 Lifelover - Dekadens
Rounding out the top 20, is another EP. A particularly large EP at 6 songs mind you.
There still seems to be a great deal of debate about whether Lifelover are anything other than a joke band. Many people complain about it being hard to take them seriously. I really don’t give a shit if they are taking the piss - if they keep making music this awesome, why should anyone?
Following on in a similar style to Konkurs, the Dekadens EP is most noticeably different in its consistency. Unlike Konkurs, which was quite randomly cluttered together, and seemingly without any specific flow, Dekadens gels nicely and sounds like it makes sense. The music is probably slightly more rockish as well, but ()’s voice ensures it is certainly still confined to the realm of the extreme and avant-garde.
Brilliantly rocking, still ugly and somewhat cheesy - all awesome.
Worthy Mentions
Nadja - Belles Betes
Narrowly missing out on my top list, a fantastic brooding release. Possibly my favourite so far from the duo
Jodis - Secret House
Again a close contender. Beaten out only by Mono, who did a slightly better job of doing what they do
Austere - To Lay Like Old Ashes
Missed the top ten only due to last useless track, because this is otherwise an utterly astounding release. Australian too :D!
Caina - Caina and Caina and Krieg - Split
We need a new full length album. Meanwhile, more oddly recorded post/blackmetal/acoustic meanderings. Wonderful
Axis of Perdition - Urfe (The Great Unwashed)
Fantastic concept album. Worth hearing if only for curiosity sake.
Diamatregon - Crossroad
Fantastic old school balls out blackmetal. Nothing groundbreaking. Just solid and fucking good.
Arcana Coelestia - Le Mirage de L'Idéal
Crushing, slow funeral doom, with post-rock elements making this very interesting.
Beherit - Engram
The very same Beherit, back. Again, nothing groundbreaking, but really great none the less.
Circle of Ouroborus - Tree of Knowledge
This will shit a lot of listeners to tears. It sounds terrible, the singing is out of tune, the guitars seem misplaced, and they ruin other peoples songs when they do covers, but it has some sort of strangely awesome attraction for me.
Code - Resplendent Grotesque
Not as mind bogglingly awesome as the first album. Still good though.
Enmerkar - Starlit Passage
More blackwave/post something/blackmetal awesomeness. In the same basket as Lantlos and such.
Bloodhorse - Horizoner
Good old fashioned heavy doom rock, like modernised Sabbath. Not nearly as wanky as Wolfmother.
Immortal - All Shall Fall
The first album since.. 2003?? I think. Tops! Sure it will shit some purists, just like “Between Two Worlds” did. Likely they are missing the point entirely. Hopefully they tour again and play so hard that my pants rip right off, again.
Nargaroth - Jahreszeiten
Ok, so everyone hates Nargaroth, or wants to have sweaty man sex with him. Who cares if he is a total retard and highly lucky to have escaped his own homelands Activ foundation dragnet. He makes some interesting tunes.
November’s Doom - Into Night's Requiem Infernal
More excellent doom from the ever reliable November’s Doom.
Nurse With Wound - The Surveillance Lounge
More NWW awesomeness.
Sieben - As They Should Sound
My greatest neo-folk discovery of the year. I knew of them before, but never really got it. Now I do. A beautiful and moody album.
Satanismo Calibro 9 - Supernova
One of the weird and wonderful bands I discovered via Old Europa Cafe (www.oldeuropacafe.com/). Kickass electronic/noise/weirdness
Teitanblood - Seven Chalices
I have noticed a great deal of people listing this as their number 1 blackmetal release for 2009. I like it, but definitely don’t see it as that amazing. Still good though if you feel like a really solid old school grindy blackmetal ear bashing.
Cobalt - Gin
Quite different from “Eater of Birds”. With hints of crust punk, drone, doom and god knows what else. Features guest work by Jarboe and Dave Otero. I’ve seen it called “Gonzo Underground Music”. Certainly very popular with the WIRED set and oddly considered quite trendy (is it the military linkage??)
Wumpscutt - Fuckit and Wumpscutt Bunkertor 7.
:W: do what they do, well. Fuckit is no different. Yes I Know Bukertor 7 came out ages ago. It has not been remixed either. It has been entirely re-recorded and updated!
Yoga - Megafauna
The recording quality is low on this, which is a shame, otherwise it’d prolly be top list material. Great grinding black/doom/weirdness.
Den Saakaldte - All Hail Pessimism
Better than whatever crap Shining released this year. I know many people liked the new Shining. I didn’t. I much preferred this. The horns are just <3
Crippled Black Phoenix - The ressurectionists
Beautiful EiTS style post rock, blended with mad 70’s psychadelia influenced rock and loosely strung stoner. Wide variety of sounds, all of it awesome.
Ossein - Fuhrer
Amazing neo-folk. A real journey from the sublime to suffering. I really struggled between choosing this or Rome for my top list.
Wardruna - Runaljod - gap var ginnunga
Features Gaahl of Darkseed (Gorgoroth) as well as Lindy Fay Hella and Arne Sandvoll, amongst others. Norse folk music with a really deep and heaving sound.
Insomnium - Across The Dark
2 melodic albums mentioned in 1 year. Ye gods. Insomnium rock pretty darn hard though.
Njiqahdda - Taegnuub: Ishnji Angma
Doomy, atmospheric metal.
Madder Mortem - Eight Ways
A softer album in terms of outright volume from Madder Mortem, but Agnete’s voice sounds.. desperate and stretched at times. Quite an amazing peice of music
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Another great release by Isis. More thoughtfully constructed than previous releases, but equally as enchanting.
Tamtrum - Fuck you I’m Drunk - Stronger Than Cats
Much less black electronic and more just electronic/Industrial/EBM sounding. Still great, still massively unhinged.
Arckanum - ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ
No idea how i am meant to pronounce the album name. Musically, as bonkers as the album name suggests. And grim. Awesome!
Atrium Carceri - Phrenitis
Ass kicking dark ambient.
Raison D'être - The Stains of the Embodied Sacrifice
Not necessarily his greatest ever work, but certainly up there.
Death in June - Lesson 1: Misanthropy (remastered)
A classic album. Sounds even better now.
Russian Circles - Geneva
Beautifully wrought heavy guitared rock.
The Gathering - The West Pole
Further than ever from their metal heritage, it matters not one iota. Because the music is still really damn good. And that voice <3
Oh Dear
Les tenebres - and the waves came crashing down
Umm. For some reason this got some big write ups. It sounds terrible to my poor ears.
Gorgoroth - Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem (as opposed to the new former Gorgoroth, Darkseed.)
Gaahl really does seem to have been proven right. This is not particularly interesting. Sure its not horrible, but its something much worse - boring!
Katatonia - Night is the new day
I know plenty of people that like it, I just find it too much of the same. I put it in the same basket as the great cold distance. Great at first listen, but lacking any charm when you dig deeper.
Manes - Solve Et Coagula
1 great track then a whole bunch of WTF. Seriously. W T F.
Buckethead - Forensic Follies
I have no idea what happened here. Who’s idea was it to just take normal Bucketheadsongs and add 1/100th of a second of silence for every half second of sound. Another big WTF.
Devin Townsend - Ki
Also a WTF. So tepid, and.. flat.. and.. yuck.
Lacrimosa - Sensucht
Wow. Boooooring. I was expecting this to be great. I could only find one song i didn’t hate so much that i was willing to play on air, even then i still felt bad for everyone listening. Lacks any new ideas or sounds.
Nadja - When I See The Sun Always Shines on TV
Fantastic concept for an album, total failure in reality.
Lonley Island - Incredibad
I love this album. But by admitting that, i am admitting i find farts funny. You do, we all do, but admitting that to someone of the opposite gender (unless you marry them) is like admitting you not only find them funny, but sometimes you totally dig the smells of them, in a proud fatherly sort of way.
Wolves In The Throne Room - Black Cascade / Malevolent Grain
Yes, i do like Black Cascade. Not so Malevolent Grain. Either way, when listened to in isolation, they both are good solid albums. When listened to off the back of Two Hunters or Diadem of 12 Stars, they are a let down.
My Dying Bride - The Lies I Sire
Similarly to WITTR. This album was a let down. Not bad in Isolation.
Releases I am already on the hunt for, due in 2010
Anathema Finally
Death In June - symbols and clouds
Ihsahn - After (listening to it right now. MINT! Heavy use of Saxophone is <3 )
Alcest
Red Sparowes
Abigor - Time Is The Sulphur In The Veins Of The Saint
Burzum
Negura Bunget - Vîrstele Pamîntului
Daughters