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1.
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The Ocean - Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic
(post) So they literally started where Precambrian left of all these years ago. I think this is also my favourite of theirs since that release. Getting goosebumps multiple times throughout this record. BUT it's a tad short and 3 of the tracks just stick out so far in quality compared to the others. Still rarely like the guy's harsh vocals, but clean ones are top notch. They even got Jonas Renkse. The themes are also pretty timely. |
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2.
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Nadja - Sonnborner
(drone, sludge) Now this was a surprise. I never really ever listened to them but I love how this one flows. I love it when bands, midway through a record, just go "fuck it let's do something else". I also really like the drone track though, so I should probably check their previous discography. Amazing cover as well. |
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3.
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Elysian Blaze - The Virtue Of Suffering
(atmospheric black) Holy shit I never expected to witness another Elysian Blaze release to ever come out. 5 years after one of the most monumental releases ever with Blood Geometry he just releases one of his best tracks out of nowhere. With the implication that he'll be able to record another album he has written for years. Amazing. |
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4.
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The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer
(noise) So that's the third contender for title of the year right here ("The Great Dying" and "The Virtue of Suffering" being the others). And it's pretty accurate. Feels like slowly giving up. Album itself is more amazing, the more I listen to it. There's only this one part I absolutely hate for no real reason. Also that last sample is so powerful. Surprisingly uplifting though? Maybe I'm just weird. |
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5.
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A Forest Of Stars - Grave Mounds And Grave Mistakes
(atmo/prog black) The problem with having an even number of releases is, that once you release another record that has a chance of being exactly in the middle of your discography (in terms of quality). We have a situation like that here. It's not bad. In fact I listen to it a lot. But it also doesn't compare to the last two releases. And it's only better than the debut, because the latter falls off so badly after the first one-two songs. BUT they did some cool stuff on here. Last year when that Ashenspire record came out I was like "Ashenspire is so much less interesting and diverse than A Forest Of Stars, what are all of you talking about". Good thing I'm still right. |
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6.
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Alkaloid - Liquid Anatomy
(prog/tech death) So this one is way more proggy than the debut, for better or for worse. I think tracks like "Chaos Theory And Practice", "Liquid Anatomy" and "Azagthoth" are more interesting than anything on the debut (except the Dyson Sphere saga I-IV perhaps), it doesn't reach the emotional heights they had on "Funeral For A Continent" for example (though it gets really really close). Did "Rise of the Cephalopods" really need to be 20 minutes? So far the least interesting song on here. Needs more listening. |
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7.
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Selvans - Faunalia
(folk/symphonic black) I really loved their debut back in 2015 and was kind of let down by their split with Downfal of Nur. This is a much different record to their debut LP, but I really really like most of the atmosphere on here. It has kind of this creepy fairytale vibe half the time (like Pan's Labyrinth, on tracks like "Anna Perenna" or "Ad Malum Finem"), at other times these big epic soundscapes and buildups. Yummy. |
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8.
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Xenward - Xenward
(ambient black, doom) Hey another creepy one! This one mostly hits that "Silent Hill"-nerve, which hasn't happened for a long time. So, great! |
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9.
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Mask - Concrete Reflections And Rust Showers
(dsbm) Love the giant build-ups and soaring guitars on this one. Also the vocals are surprisingly good, even if I don't usually like these kinds of vocals. Catchy at times, mostly dreamy and atmospheric. |
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10.
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Arkheth - 12 Winter Moons Comes The Witches Brew
(psychedelic black) needs a bit more witch and a bit more brew. Maybe a bit more winter moon as well. But this is interesting stuff. Psychedelic black continues to be probably the most interesting sub-genre of black metal. There's tons of influences from other bands here, but none of them too on the nose. Also great cover, because it's psychedelic black metal what did you expect. Ok maybe Saxophone is a tad overdone in black metal at this point. But I'll let it slide. Just this once. Last song is also kinda meh. |
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11.
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Spite - Antimoshiach
(black) What does it say about me, that I get most of my fun experiences from black metal these days? Anyways this is it, chief. |
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12.
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Obscura - Diluvium
(prog/tech death) After like a good 10-20 listens I would say I enjoy this way more than I enjoyed Akroasis. Its atmosphere is so alluring, they still manage to cram some interesting idea in every song on here and it gets catchy as fuck. I really need to refresh my thoughts about Omnivium, because Diluvium so far is my favourite of theirs. Also as always: Klausenitzer's bass makes me cream my pants. Sounds like this japanese metal stuff that's the OST to a fighting game at times, which is somehow funny and also great. |
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13.
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Body Void - I Live Inside A Burning House
(sludge, doom) So I'm in no way knowledgeable on this kind of "funeral sludge" (which I think is a fitting name). I like this album a lot though and every time I listen to it, I recognize it as a great album. However things don't get stuck in my head too much, neither do I seek it out a lot. Hence this low on the list. I think if the darker forms of sludge (excluding post) and stoner were my thing, this would be my aoty. |
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14.
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Khôrada - Salt
(post) So after a few more listens I really like the subtle build-ups, the weird vocals, the production, the highlights, mostly everything. It's weird, atmospheric and has some clasic builds here and there. The post metal I like basically boils down to Neurosis, Amenra and Terra Tenebrosa (maybe a bit of The Ocean), and this is getting nowhere near those, but it's the best post metal I've heard outside of those for a while. |
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15.
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Une Misère - Wounds
(hardcore) Saw these guys live at Roadburn and they blew me away. This is the kind of hardcore I want, very groovy and riff-based with good vocals. It's only 1 song because 2018 sucks, but eh. |
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16.
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Get Well Soon - The Horror
(pop, jazz?) This year's sadboy record for me. In a genre I usually don't care about. Love the lyrics and themes at time ("I don't think I can relax here anyways with Nazi bitches speaking in my hood" is a tattoo-worthy line) and the general compositions are catchy and don't meander too much. Well, the first 7-8 songs that is. After that it gets way less exciting. |
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17.
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Volahn - Gods Of Pandemonium [Split]
(black) Black Twighlight Circle has long been my go-to label for more lo-fi black metal now and Volahn is one of, if not the greatest band on the collective (Arizmenda reaches bigger heights but Volahn - partly by virtue of having not released that much yet - is more consistent). In true black twilight fashion this is catchy, fun, interesting, raw and impossible to get because you can't buy the fucking thing again why???? Volahn is as good as ever and Xaxamatza as a new edition to the label sounds phenomenal. |
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18.
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Muyubyosha - 一期一会
(avant-garde black) I hate the label "avant-garde", but it's just easier than to have like 10 descriptors here. Creepy, weird melodies, odd noises and the buried vocals with a black metal groundwork. For anyone saying that black metal is to monotonous or same-y. Reminds me of the 2000s weird french & finnish bm, with a japanese edge to it. Nightmarish and beautiful at the same time, which reminds me of Blut aus Nord in that aspect. |
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19.
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Khanus - Flammarion
(epic pagan black/death??) Yooooo this is epic as fuck and has this shamanic pagan vibe to it. Sounds viking but also like you climb mount Olympus to fight the gods or something. Fun, catchy, heavy. Not so high on the list yet because of only few listens so far. |
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20.
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Amarok - Devoured
(doom) Some great, slow, melodic and heavy as fuck doom. Nothing much more to say really. It's a fairly simple concept, but it's always great to see it executed so well. |
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21.
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Secret Cutter - Self Titled
(doom/grind/noise) Did someone order crushing riffs and a load of fun? |
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22.
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Chthe'ilist - Passage Into The Xexanotth
(death) I'm not really a fan of death metal at all, but Chthe'ilist have this weird epic dreamy quality to them. It's hard to describe. Kind of reminds me of Susumu Hirasawa's "Aria" from the Berserk movies. Production is a bit odd and the bass part doesn't fit in my opinion, but who am I to judge death metal. Not as good as the Majora song (also of course best Zelda title, they've proven good taste) on their last LP. |
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23.
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Cynic - Humanoid
(prog) Really just because it's so damn catchy and that bass makes my ears cum. |
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24.
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Hardcore Anal Hydrogen - HyperCut
(cybergrind) I wanted to call this experimental cybergrind but honestly aren't most of them fucking around with their music constantly? This one is throwing so much stuff at you, while still leaving you tons of time to breathe and they even have actual song lengths???? |
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25.
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Dark Buddha Rising - II
(psychedelic doom) DBR is one of those bands that just nails these repeating psychedelic interlocked riffs. You start out with "that's pretty good" and then suddenly 10 minutes have passed and you reached a higher form of existence, fought your inner demons and then came back to realize it's still going on and getting better every second. Now if they would just record the Waste of Space Orchestra performance ~~~ |
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26.
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Utzalu - Idiot Hell
(black, punk) Upping the punk influence on this record, it gets catchy and fun as all hell. Starting to like Vrasubatlat more and more. |
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27.
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Portal - ION
(experimental death) I've never been a huge Portal fan. I always wanted to be, because their sound is unique and interesting, their stage performance insane. But the dissonant, chaotic barrage sounds is not that fun to listen to and hasn't gripped me like other works have. That changes on ION: Mainly because they nail the theme so well. It really feels like buzzing electricity throughout and the theme is thoroughly explored. I need to check their older stuff again because this release actually got stuck in my head. |
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28.
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Striborg - Blackwave
(electronic stuff) I never hated Striborg as much as everyone here seems to be. But this new stuff is fun, his ambient/dungeon synth tracks were always my favourite and this one isn't totally like them, but still fun. |
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29.
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Abyssal Vacuum - MMXVII
(blackened death) I like the more psychedelic approach to blackened death here. Really the whole sub genre has been pretty strong for a few years now, even if rarely that exciting. |
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30.
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Between The Buried And Me - Automata I
(prog metalcore) Look, I get it. Metalcore _and_ prog? While I await for people to lynch me now I have something fun and catchy to listen to. I don't like it as much as their last few releases. "Blot" is killer though and the rest is still pretty good. But it doesn't compare to any of their previous releases in overall quality. Automata II adds a bit (it isn't as good as Automata I though), but even together I don't like them as much as a full release. Hope they catch their step after this one. |
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31.
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32.
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33.
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Disappointment section |
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34.
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Tribulation - Down Below
(goth rock) Hey guys remember when riffs where a thing? Those were the days. Sadly Tribulation doesn't remember anymore. |
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35.
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Urfaust - The Constellatory Practice
(ambient black) Their previous album "Empty Space Meditation" was kind of a L'Enfant Sauvage for me. Different, way more meandering than the respetive band's previous stuff, but pulled off really really well. Seems like Constellatory Particle is Urfaust's Magma then. Which fits, because it's pretty boring mostly. Though "Trail of the Conscience of the Dead" is an amazing song. |
. However that's sick! Valtiel is such an underappreciated "character" compared to Pyramid Head.
))))
