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1.
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Afterbirth - Four Dimensional Flesh
(prog, brutal death) I like a lot of the grooves, but I think what I like more is the general feeling. More sunny day in extreme metal! These light, warm walls of sound really are great fit for brutal death somehow. Reminds me almost of Elvenefris (though obviously not as expansive as that album). Doesn't overstay its welcome either - with only 35 minutes it's a joy throughout, every second. Also great song titles. |
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2.
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The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic
(post) The long awaited follow-up to what topped my 2018 list is mostly fine and good. It's very consistent, no real duds or problems with it. Flow is a bit weird this time around, with the most exciting track being a two parter that comes right after a bit of an over-indulgent opener. It doesn't reach the heights of Phanerozoic part 1, whose 3 best tracks outshine anything on this one. But it's fine. Still good and catchy, even some giant-squid like melancholy on the outro. I like it. |
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3.
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M.S.W. - Obliviosus
(doom) Some great sad doom. Hell(USA) in general is a really good project, but this one might be my favourite release from him. Funus is a pretty amazing piece (for the piano progression alone), some of the clean vocals sound really divine, the bass is phenomenal, some of the lyrics are fantastic. This might climb higher if I give it more listens. |
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4.
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Drown - Subaqueous
(funeral doom) Same old with Markov Soroka, in this case almost directly. First song from here is the 2017 EP thing afaik, though it sounds a bit different than I remember. Second song is great as well. Who would've thought? Generally this project is one of my favourite doom things now and hits the theme so perfectly. This LP itself needs a bit higher wailing guitars imo, but the strings are a nice addition. Don't remember those from the 2017 version. |
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5.
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Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin Kynsi
(psychedelic black) So this one is again more atmosphere focused, less catchy and riff-tastic than Kosmonument. Which is fine, it's a good album. Especially the synths are great here. It doesn't really blow me away, but I think quarantine is getting to me (I'm listening to slam and pop these days, my god have I fallen low) and that might be the reason. I'll spin it a bunch of more times, but in part - at least right now - out of obligation. Reminds me of the last A Forest Of Stars record, in that it's not groundbreaking, just good. Although that one gripped me more than this one so far too. Having seen it live during their Corona-concert really enhanced this album for me though. It flows extremely well and makes for a great set. It's not fully the same on record though. |
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6.
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Fluisteraars - Bloem
(black) Really love the whole feeling of the record, some really warm guitars, very subtle winds and a good smooth bass. I was gonna say that sunny day black metal needs to be a bigger thing, but it kinda feels like blackgaze? It really really feels like this post black metal approach the young'uns are doing. Just somehow works way better and is much more memorable. |
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7.
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System Of A Down - Protect The Land & Genocidal Humanoidz
(alternative) Holy fucking shit. If you told me there would be new System of a Down songs in 2020 and they would be actually really good? It's really inspiring to see them overcoming all the drama in the band to make new material in light of their ancestral homeland's crisis. "Protect The Land" is actually a pretty good anthem for fighting against imperialism, Genocidal Humanoidz is great fun and more like old system material. Overall I would've liked to see more Serj than Damon, but oh well. Releasing a "single" has the advantage of no filler, which is why this is so high up. |
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8.
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Akhlys - Melinoë
(black) Really rare for a black metal album with this clean of a production to still have this evil sound to it. Love the general feel of the record more than any specific passage, but that really is what black metal does best anyways. Need to overcome my weird (negative) obsession with the debut's cover art and listen to that finally. |
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9.
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Hail Spirit Noir - Eden In Reverse
(prog) So they pretty much completely dropped the black metal aspects, but this album is almost more consistent than the ones before it. The synths are definitely very dominant this time around and while they said they were going for an 80s aesthetic, it's almost feeling more like some 50s sci fi movie. The last two tracks are fucking phenomenal and the rest isn't even mediocre either. I do think they are missing the whacky bm part a bit, but maybe this record would've lost some of its great flow if they still had it. Also even while HSN turned 2016 around for me, I think 2020 is so shit that it feels almost inappropriate to do so? But it would've been nice to see and the one band that could've done it was HSN. But the mellowness works well. Good job. Also again phenomenal song and album titles. Maybe the top album this year, will see. |
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10.
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〇 - Entity
(dsbm, doom) I hate when bands come really close to nailing it, but then ruin it with other influences. The more clean vocals, melodies, and big riffs from time to time ruin what could be some of the best dsbm in years. However it's still really good apart from that. Just solid black metal, with a good atmosphere and ok to phenomenal vocals. Probably need to listen to this more, also the debut. |
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11.
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Göden - Beyond Darkness
(doom) This is cheesy and I hate the narration parts (also the german pronounciation took me out of it a bit), but this has a great feel to it. Real "Gozer the Destroyer" vibes going on here, just end of the world by supreme dark entity is a feeling it really nails. |
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12.
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Godthrymm - Reflections
(epic doom) What a load of fun! Trad doom is not something I often delve into but by god riffs are glorious and the vocals are also pretty good. It's just overall very very enjoyable, nothing more to it. |
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13.
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Evaporated Sores - Ulcerous Dimensions
(black, doom, noise) This is one of those really dirty and filthy sounding records just like this genre mix should be. Fairly chunky riffs as well as grimy noise paired with some good vocals. There's not much to say here but the music is very solid and I'm sad I only found out about this in 2021. |
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14.
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Bríi - Entre Tudo Que É Visto E Oculto
(electronic, black) This record is a thing I've wanted for a long long time. Black metal mixed with rave music, in a way that works really really well. It's great to listen to, I think the sample is a bit out of place (or it was just on me, thinking I had a youtube video that was playing), but it's definitely something I'm really happy exists. Hope this will find a lot of play (but it's not on spotify so we'll see...) |
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15.
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Lurker Of Chalice - Tellurian Slaked Furnace
(black, ambient, trip hop) It's a demo and sounds like it, but it's also Lurker of Chalice material and sounds like it. So... Make of that what you will. There's some really good stuff on here, but it's also really unpolished. |
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16.
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An Axis Of Perdition - Effluvia
(dark ambient) I always liked Axis of Perdition's background soundscapes (my favourite of theirs is Urfe so...) and this showcases them really well. Makes for great music for taking walks alone at night. Or not. |
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17.
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Porta Nigra - Schöpfungswut
(black) This was simultaneously disappointing (since they went so far away from their old sound) and surprising (cause the new, very bare-bones sound kind of fits well). It's really a 50/50 record - half the songs are great, half of them are totally forgettable. Still lyrics are one of the best parts, and "Rad des Ixion" and the title track are some great music. |
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18.
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The Ruins Of Beverast - Don't Walk On The Mass Graves [Split]
(black) I really like the Ruins of Beverast side on this. Sometimes I miss Meilenwalds pure black output, the samples also fit really really well and it has an overall haunting atmosphere. I never listened to Mourning Beloveth and based on their track I don't know if I will in the future. But the RoB side is gonna be one of my most played tracks this year I bet. Seems like Meilenwald trying dsbm, really really glorious. One of my favourites of his in a while. For some reason he even managed to get good vocals this time. Like Porta Nigra this is a bit lower on the list simply due to the fact that I enjoy about 50% of this record. |
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19.
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Bell Witch - Stygian Bough: Volume I [Collaboration]
(funeral doom, acoustic) In a year like 2020 what good is there really in releasing something somber and sad? I brought this up during my thoughts on HSN, but for Bell Witch it's even more blatant. I think it's fine probably. I like Bastard Wind. But all the other albums before had this monumental feeling to it that this one just doesn't reach. And this comes from someone who's favourite isn't Mirror Reaper but Four Phantoms. There's just something of that magic missing. Maybe they've become too formulaic, maybe it's Aerial Ruin's side that makes it just a bit more meh than usual. Or maybe it's 2020. All I know is that it's not all that exciting to me. Which is really a bummer. |
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20.
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Amenra - De Messe / De Metanoia
(ambient/drone soundtrack) I really like how this builds and builds. It's obviously a far cry away from their usual post-metal escapades or acoustic sermons. But I think it works really well and wish the band would explore this side more often maybe? Some drone parts in future maybe? Maybe whole drone tracks? I don't know how they recorded this, cause usually they don't use much ambient music? Hope this is not the last of this. |
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21.
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At The Altar Of The Horned God - Through Doors Of Moonlight
(folk, black, electronic) A very hypnotic album, with tribal drumming, mesmerizing synths and flowing tremolo soundscapes and distant chants. You know the drill. I don't think this is something groundbreaking or anything, but it sure is effective. |
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22.
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Malokarpatan - Krupinské Ohne
(black, heavy) As someone who grew up on a bunch of soviet fairy tale movies, this album - and this entire band really - is just so nostalgic for me. This oozes that whacky spirit these movies had and definitely has a fun side to it. What's the slavic folklore equivalent of viking metal? Well this is it. Love the overall atmosphere, the synths, even the vocals kind of grow on me? I feel like it's longer than it should be though. |
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23.
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Circle Of Ouroborus - Viimeinen Juoksu
(black) I really like this. Guitars are more typical but they have the underwater vocals still and it has a serious groove and some good melodies. Now if this fucking band would somehow make their goddamn albums accessible, then I could listen to the back catalogue. These guys have released 9 (!) full lengths since the last one I heard in full (which I had to hunt down on discogs somewhere) and it's a damn shame it's so hard to find their stuff. Just give in and start streaming. Nothing matters anyways. |
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24.
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Thy Catafalque - Naiv
(prog) Thy Catafalque is one of those projects that are stupidly consistent. While this record doesn't blow me away it's still a great joy to listen to. |
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25.
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Black Curse - Endless Wound
(blackened death) Again a record I love the general sound and feel of, but this one is not that catchy sadly. The cover really fits the music too, with the combusting guitar tone (yes I just said that, it sounds like fire a bit gimme a break I know it's dumb). I think it's too long and could maybe be slightly more catchy, but overall really good. |
