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1.
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Torres - Torres
Singer-Songwriter/Alt-Rock. A loveable blend of traditional singer-songwriter stuff like Sharon van Etten, some more intense PJ-Harveyisms, the slowcore angst of Lisa Germano and perhaps even the warm Americana of Fist Aid Kit. Great melodies, fuzzy guitar and an emotional, expressive voice. 4/5. |
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2.
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Magic Circle - Magic Circle
Traditional Doom. NWOBHM-inspired guitar work, dirty production and a powerful voice. A thoroughly traditional but exhilaratingly memorable riff monster. "White Light" is a perfect song. 4/5. |
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3.
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Pintandwefall - Be My Baby
Indie/Art Pop. Finland's best garage rock/punk pop band ditched their guitars and crazy intensity for a minimal, synth-heavy sound. That might be unfortunate, but they've really grown as songwriters. 3,5/5. |
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4.
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The Flight Of Sleipnir - Saga
Doom/Folk Metal. Continues where Essence of Nine left off, combining Agalloch-style folk black with stoner grooves. Even more solid than the predecessor. 3,5/5. |
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5.
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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away
Art Rock/Chamber Pop. Pretty sleek and polished for a Bad Seeds record - the aesthetic reminds of last year's Tindersticks album. Some hits and some misses, and gorgeous string arrangements from Warren Ellis. 3,5/5. |
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6.
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Mourning Beloveth - Formless
Death Doom. A bit of a return to form. Solid and coherent work with a warm, well-rounded sound and simple yet effective songwriting. I am very fond of the heavier emphasis on clean vocal leads; they seem to be the centerpiece of several tracks here. 3,5/5. |
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7.
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Implodes - Recurring Dream
Shoegaze/Drone. The band plays a really distinctive blend of drone and gloomy shoegaze. At times it's purely ambient, and at other times (see: Melted Candle) it almost reminds me of Jesu. Rocks a little harder and isn't quite as hazy as Black Earth, I think. 3,5/5. |
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8.
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Cult Of Luna - Vertikal
Post-Metal. Hypnotic and futuristic. The detail and texture is breathtaking, and at best the songs are devastating. 3,5/5. |
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9.
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Eight Bells - The Captain's Daughter
Math Rock/Black Metal/Krautrock/Noise Rock/Post-Rock. Really hard to label this angular, psychedelic and experimental affair. It evokes comparisons to Aluk Todolo, Slint and even Blut Aus Nord but maintains strong melody and spaciousness. Too short, I want more. 3,5/5. |
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10.
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Grouper - The Man Who Died In His Boat
Ambient Folk. Recorded around the same time as Dragging a Dead Deer, it's a "return" to the reverb-soaked folk she made her breakthrough with. It has more appeal for me (and probably for most people) than her pure drone and ambient works, but I suspect it was a passing phase for her as an artist. We'll see. 3,5/5. |
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11.
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The Black Heart Rebellion - Har Nevo
Neofolk/Experimental Metal/Atmosludge/Post-Rock. A really unique blend of folky tunes with some thick textures and drawn-out instrumentals. 3,5/5. |
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12.
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Terra Tenebrosa - The Purging
Avantgarde Metal. Creepy and ugly, based loosely on black metal and sludge. More riff-oriented and not as good as the debut, but unique nonetheless. 3,5/5. |
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13.
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Voices - Voices From The Human Forest Create A Fugue Of Imaginary Rain
Avantgarde Black Metal. The great production, memorable riffs and clever songwriting of Akercocke in an intense black metal guise. Brutally fun. 3,5/5. |
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14.
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Them Bird Things - Pachyderm Nightmares
Americana. From Finland! An unusually original band, taking various traditional elements for their own, dark and down-to-earth style. 3,5/5. |
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15.
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Low - The Invisible Way
Slowcore. For a change, the album is a laid-back and stripped-down incarnation of the band. It feels a bit like a step back after some more massive, successfully experimental albums. But even at their most mundane, I can't help but enjoy Low. 3,5/5. |
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16.
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Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
Alternative Singer-Songwriter. Her 2012 debut was a naked and fragile thing of impenetrable gloom. Now her guitar is joined by bass, percussion and a "better" production, losing much of the intimate intensity of that perfect album. The magic is gone, but there are still great songs here. 3,5/5. |
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17.
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Dream Death - Somnium Excessum
Doom/Thrash/Sludge. A great blend of thrashy riffs, some sludge and doom. Celtic Frost is the obvious point of comparison. A successful modernization of their sound. I love the meaty sound and the prominence of the bass. 3,5/5. |
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18.
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Universe217 - Never
Avantgarde Doom Metal. The shrill female vocals are a bit too close in your face sometimes, but I guess it's part of the charm too. Nice dynamics of rolling riffs and laid-back jams. What they lack in memorable melodies they make up for in personal style. 3,5/5. |
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19.
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High Priest Of Saturn - High Priest Of Saturn
Traditional Doom. Monotonous, swaying doom with good female vocals and a bit of an occult feel (must be the organ). It plods along lazily but manages to captivate the listener for its reasonable runtime. Delivers what it promises, if not much more. 3/5. |
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20.
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The Fall Of Every Season - Amends
Death Doom. With a bit of post-rock and a truckload of melancholia. At times like modern Katatonia, Swallow the Sun or Before the Dawn, but nowhere near as bad. It sidesteps the worst pitfalls of sugar and cheese, but it's a little sterile for my taste. 3/5. |
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21.
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Void Of Sleep - Tales Between Reality And Madness
Sludge/Stoner. Something like a doomier Mastodon, flirting with prog. 3/5. |
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22.
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Huldra - Monuments, Monoliths
Atmospheric Sludge. Fairly generic. The ambient interludes, twinkling piano and light post-rock jams especially are a bit tasteless. Cool clean vocals, a nice round sound and some impressive buildups. 3/5. |
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23.
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Sannhet - Known Flood
Instrumental Atmoblack. It wades frequently into bombastic post-rock which makes for a very dynamic and accessible experience, while retaining the intensity of black metal. 3/5. |
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24.
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Caladan Brood - Echoes Of Battle
Epic Black Metal. There's something rather camp about this Tolkienesque escapade, but it also evokes strong nostalgia. Fans of the Summoning, but also Windir or Bal-Sagoth, should find a lot to like. I bet that opening keyboard riff is lifted from a Might & Magic game or something. 3/5. |
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25.
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Kvelertak - Meir
Hardcore Punk/Metal. It's not that the debut was necessarily better, but it's just not as exciting the second time around. Well-crafted to be sure, but I would appreciate some more filth and anger to give an edge to their catchy rock'n'roll. 3/5. |
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26.
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Brokeback - Brokeback and the Black Rock
Post-Rock/Psychedelic Rock. Veterans of ambient, experimental and jazzy post-rock return after almost a decade. Their most accessible record, it quite reminds me of modern Earth in its rustic, swaying guitar riffs. 3/5. |
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27.
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The Knife - Shaking The Habitual
Experimental Electronic. Frustrating. They're experimenting with their sound, adding tribal percussions, long jams and ambient tracks. Some of it works, some of it doesn't, but it's altogether too long. And besides, I don't want my ambient sprinkled between conventional music - it's a different ballpark entirely. But when they bother to write real songs, it works really well. A band blessed with such talent for unique melodies shouldn't be ashamed of it. Ranges from garbage to godly. 3/5. |
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28.
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bvdub - A Careful Ecstasy
Ambient Techno. This dude releases way too many albums a year to keep track of. Lush and chilled-out, slightly dubby electronica. 3/5. |
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29.
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Ulrich Schnauss - A Long Way To Fall
Electronica. Reverb-laden, dreamy music. Boards of Canada continue to be a reference point for him, but he flirts much more with shoegaze. 3/5. |
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30.
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Pantha du Prince & The Bell Laboratory - Elements Of Light
Microhouse. Delicate and detailed textures. I'm not really sure what bells and whistles they've used here, but it all sounds very pure and organic. The album breathes and pulsates easily, blending modern classical with dance music. 3/5. |
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31.
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Autechre - Exai
IDM. Angular, challenging electronica. On the less accessible end of the Autechre spectrum. It's top-quality craft but doesn't stir any emotion. 3/5. |
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32.
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My Bloody Valentine - m b v
Shoegaze. I must confess: I was never that crazy about MBV. Their unique sound gave direction to two decades of indie and noise rock to follow, but I've always had other favorites on the dream pop and shoegaze bandwagon. Anyhow: m b v is a solid, unsurprising follow-up to Loveless, one that could have been released twenty years ago. It's slightly more subdued affair, the vocals are higher/clearer in the mix, and there are two experimental tracks. Other than that, not much to report. 3/5. |
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33.
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The Joy Formidable - Wolf's Law
Indie Rock/Noise Pop. Big, powerful, feel-good rock with hooks. Perhaps not as intense as the first time around. 3/5. |
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34.
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Daughter - If You Leave
Indie/Art Pop. Not unlike the latest Bat For Lashes or something - alternative pop with some ethereal female mystique. We've had variations of this theme in Florence + the Machine, Lykke Li, Warpaint etc. Derivative but very competent. 3/5. |
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35.
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Esben And The Witch - Wash The Sins Not Only The Face
Ethereal Wave. A nice step up from their debut which had a cool aesthetic but completely forgettable songwriting. The production is meatier and clearer, and the melodies are actually memorable. Still uneven. Not unlike This Mortal Coil, or Zola Jesus for a modern comparison, just with a bit of wall-of-sound noise. 3/5. |
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36.
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Mark Kozelek - Like Rats
The master of sad and lovelorn playing acoustic folk covers of all sorts of songs. And yes: that's a Godflesh cover the album takes its name from. He actually sounds quite a bit like Michael Gira on the song. The album is short and sweet, with some really successful choices (Right Back Where We Started From, I Killed Mommy). I actually like it better than Sun Kil Moon's 2012 album. 3/5. |
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37.
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Matti Johannes Koivu - Matti Johannes Koivu
Singer-Songwriter. Sunny, lazy folk pop songs - melancholia with major chords. Probably his softest album, giving rather large role to the piano. Inconsistent but occasionally breathtaking. 3/5. |
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38.
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Lisa Germano - No Elephants
Alternative Singer-Songwriter. Fairly stripped down piano ballads with strange electronic bleeps, bloops and cellphone sounds. As angsty and ethereal as ever, but not one of her stronger albums. 3/5. |
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39.
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Boduf Songs - Burnt Upon Re-Entry
Psychedelic/Experimental Folk/Electronica. Very nice at its folkiest, when it reminds me of Mount Eerie. The electronic parts don't really mesh well (except on Long Divider, the second best track). 3/5. |
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40.
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Filthy Huns - Filthy Huns
Psychedelic Lo-Fi Indie Rock or whatever. Dirty, droning songs with some electronic flourishes. Not sure what to make of it, it's almost like Krautrock at times. 3/5. |
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41.
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Iceage - You're Nothing
Post-Punk. Noisy, abrasive and angry. Takes a lot of influence from hardcore punk and noise rock. 3/5. |
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42.
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Föllakzoikd - II
Krautrock/Space Rock/Psychedelic Rock. Strangely soothing in the genre's context. 3/5. |
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43.
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Anthroprophh - Anthroprophh
Space Rock/Noise Rock/Drone. Some pretty hypnotic jams and quieter drone pieces. 3/5. |
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44.
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Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats - Mind Control
Traditional Doom/Heavy Psych. I don't know what it is that makes or breaks a retro doom/psych rock album, but these guys don't get it quite right. There's nothing wrong with the music or performance, but I don't personally feel the soul. Half-hearted. 2,5/5. |
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45.
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Portal - Vexovoid
Death Metal. I tried to like this, but they're a one-trick pony and it's getting a bit old. With songs as straightforward as these, mere aesthetic can only go so far. It sounds good but doesn't engage. 2,5/5. |
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46.
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Todtgelichter - Apnoe
Progressive Metal. A transformation from black metal to sleek prog. I was never crazy about anything the band did, but this is too clean for me. Some cool moments suffocating in mediocrity. 2,5/5. |
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47.
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And So I Watch You From Afar - All Hail Bright Futures
Math Rock/Post-Rock. Nowhere near as fresh and raw as their debut. Strange world music flourishes, annoying vocals and flimsy guitar wankery. As far as light and fun math-rock goes, this is very average. 2,5/5. |
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48.
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TenHornedBeast - Elphame
Dark Ambient/Drone. The scope of this is extremely limited: three tracks with slightly different tones but no unique sounds or structures. The sound is pleasant and it works on the background, but TenHornedBeast has made more dynamic albums in the past. 2,5/5. |
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49.
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Abyssal - Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius
Death Metal |
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50.
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Sulphur Aeon - Swallowed By The Ocean's Tide
Death Metal |
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51.
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Consciousness Removal Project - Tacit
Post-Rock/Post-Metal |
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52.
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Pascal Pinon - Twosomeness
Indie Folk |
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53.
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Ludovico Einaudi - In A Time Lapse
Modern Classical |
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54.
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Ethernet - Opus 2
Ambient (Techno). Lush and pulsating. |
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55.
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Kobol - Centipede
Nu Jazz, with some post-rock elements. |
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56.
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Manilla Road - Mysterium
Heavy Metal |
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57.
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Emancipator - Dusk To Dawn
Downtempo/Trip Hop |
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58.
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Bong - ...Yet Another Dose
Psychedelic Drone Doom |
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59.
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The Fall Of Mammoth - Tcsinga
Death Doom/Post-Metal |
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60.
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Archon - Ouroboros Collapsing
Death Doom/Sludge |
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61.
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Head Of The Demon - Head Of The Demon
Blackened Traditional Doom. |
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62.
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Black Boned Angel - The End
Drone Doom |
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63.
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Paysage d'Hiver - Das Tor
Atmospheric Black Metal |
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64.
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David Bowie - The Next Day
Art Rock |
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65.
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Keaton Henson - Birthdays
Indie Folk/Singer-Songwriter. Fragile, sad and stripped-down. |
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66.
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Botanist - IV: Mandragora
Avantgarde Black Metal |
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67.
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In Vain - Ænigma
Progressive Death Metal |
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68.
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Intronaut - Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)
Progressive Metal |
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69.
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Benoît Pioulard - Hymnal
Dream Pop/Singer-Songwriter |
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70.
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KEN mode - Entrench
Sludge/Hardcore/Noise Rock |
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71.
|
Old Gray - An Autobiography
Screamo/Emo |
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72.
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Marnie Stern - Chronicles Of Marnia
Noise Pop/Math Rock |
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73.
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Ólafur Arnalds - For Now I Am Winter
Modern Classical |
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74.
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Lotte Kestner - The Bluebird Of Happiness
Contemporary Folk |
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75.
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Lotte Kestner - Until
Contemporary Folk. EP. |
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76.
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Hookworms - Pearl Mystic
Psychedelic Rock/Noise Rock |
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77.
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Giles Corey - Hinterkaifeck
Lo-Fi Slowcore |
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78.
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Kurt Vile - Wakin On A Pretty Daze
Folk Rock |
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79.
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Thrawsunblat - Thrawsunblat II: Wanderer On The Continent Of Saplings
Folk Black Metal |
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80.
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Agrypnie - Aetas Cineris
Post Black Metal. Apparently. |
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81.
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The Drones - I See Seaweed
Garage Rock/Punk Blues. |
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82.
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Shannon Wright - In Film Sound
Alternative Rock/Singer-Songwriter |
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83.
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Officium Triste - Mors Viri
Death Doom |
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84.
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Ensemble Pearl - Ensemble Pearl
Drone |
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85.
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The Meads Of Asphodel - Sonderkommando
Avantgarde Black Metal |
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86.
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Husky Rescue - The Long Lost Friend
Electropop |
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87.
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Altaar - Altaar
Atmosludge/Drone Metal |
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88.
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Orchid - The Mouths Of Madness
Traditional Doom |
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89.
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Devil - Gather The Sinners
Traditional Doom. A slower, sloppier, less professional or energetic version of Orchid's old school worship. |
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90.
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Entropia - Vesper
Atmospheric Sludge/Blackgaze |
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91.
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Fabrizio Paterlini - Now
Minimalism/Modern Classical |
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92.
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Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light
Experimental/Avant-Garde Jazz |
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93.
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Mohammad - Som Sakrifis
Electroacoustic Drone |
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94.
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The Appleseed Cast - Illumination Ritual
Post-Rock/Indie Rock |
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95.
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Riitaoja - Mantereelle
Americana/Neofolk. Saw them warming up for Mount Eerie and was really impressed. A curious blend of genres, pretty dark and earthy stuff. |
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96.
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Procession - To Reap Heavens Apart
Epic Doom |
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97.
|
Retribution Gospel Choir - 3
Psychedelic Rock from Alan Sparhawk and co. |
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98.
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Cathedral - The Last Spire
Doom Metal |
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99.
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Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle - Perils From The Sea
Slowcore/Folktronica/Post-Rock? That's what RYM labels it as, anyhow. Mark joins forces with multi-instrumentalist LaValle (The Album Leaf). Fairly typical, melancholy Kozelek melodies with some electronic textures. |
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100.
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Lady Lamb The Beekeeper - Ripely Pine
Alternative Singer-Songwriter |
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101.
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Barn Owl - V
Drone |
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102.
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Anaïs Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer - Child Ballads
English Folk Music |
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103.
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Serafina Steer - The Moths Are Real
Singer-Songwriter |
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104.
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Jenny Hval - Innocence Is Kinky
Experimental/Alternative Singer-Songwriter |
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105.
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Pan•American - Cloud Room, Glass Room
Ambient |
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106.
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New Keepers Of The Water Towers - Cosmic Child
Stoner/Sludge |
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107.
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Félicia Atkinson - Visions / Voices
Ambient/Psychedelic Folk |
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108.
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Julia Kent - Character
Modern Classical |
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109.
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Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks - Ghost Ballads
Gothic Country. Cool atmosphere, if somewhat mediocre songwriting. |
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110.
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Lychgate - Lychgate
Experimental Black Metal |
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111.
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Progenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A.
Space Black Metal? |
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112.
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The Handsome Family - Wilderness
Alternative Country |
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113.
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------------------------------------------------------------ LOOKING FORWARD TO ------------------------------------------------------------ |
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114.
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Boards Of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest |
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115.
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Baths - Obsidian |
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116.
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Eluvium - Nightmare Ending |
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117.
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Ophis - Effigies Of Desolation |
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118.
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Atlantean Kodex - The White Goddess |
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119.
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Deafheaven - Sunbather |
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120.
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Have A Nice Life - The Unnatural World |
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121.
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Owen Pallett - In Conflict |
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122.
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Queens Of The Stone Age - TBA |
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123.
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Tool - TBA |
