Staff picks

Yes, "French Black Metal" might as well become its own subgenre because, damn, it's usually that good, and this is no exception. Way To End's 50 Shades of... I mean Various Shades of Black is a complex and proggy album and one of an initially perplexing nature but it certainly yields great rewards for the persistent. To clarify, this isn't super-ultra-mega dissonant, rather it's the snaking and morphing progressive structures and avant-garde affectations that make this a bit of a challenge to start with. It's worth sticking with though as those trying moments frequently give way to a rich, mystical tapestry of sights and sounds, often melodic and atmospheric, always intriguing and surprising.