The Queen of all lists, the annual Albums of The Year list is once again commercial-free, hype-free and it's all about the best music that was released this past year, nothing else. Forget all other headache-giving lists and reminisce...
30. Marilyn Manson: The Pale Emperor
MM's ninth was deservedly a both critical and
commercial success. The album is produced by MM and
acclaimed/promising film composer, Brian Tyler, and musically it
marks the band's departure from their signature industrial sound, to
a more blues, traditional-influenced rock, with Manson himself citing
as sources of inspiration the music of Muddy Waters, The Rolling
Stones and The Doors.
29. Tau Cross: Tau Cross
Tau Cross, comprised of members from Amebix,
Voivod, Misery and War//Plague, didn't disappoint like supergroups'
much talked about records often do. The content of their self titled
debut is not easy to categorize, including elements that vary from
crust and punk to folk. The album is dark, it's fast and diverse, not
suitable for the narrow minded.
28. Krallice: Ygg Huur
After five albums Krallice sound more mature than
ever, taking their kind of black metal to the most technical and most
dramatic it can get. The first impressions, as Ygg Huur is extremely
technical and complex, might leave one thinking that it is a
progressive blabbering mess, but if you look closer, the overall
surreal ambiance of the record makes it stand out as one of the best
extreme metal releases this year.
27. Swervedriver: I Wasn't Born To Lose You
Returning with their first new album in 17 years,
shoegazers Swervedriver put out I Wasn’t Born To Lose You in 2015,
sounding revived, confident and about to reach to younger audiences.
The album is an intriguing comeback record, that may be a bit on the
lighter side of their sound, yet it definitely feels like a proper
Swervedriver record, as if they never went away.
26. Blur: The Magic Whip
Twelve years after Think Tank, Blur add another
chapter to their long and celebrated career. Blur have proved more
than once how they are bigger than britpop and how the chemistry
between them as individual musicians has worked on every occasion, in
different eras. There's never been a weak link among Blur's previous
seven full lengths and certainly their eighth album was neither one.
The Magic Whip is a low key record, exemplary on how comebacks should
be made.
25. Bosse-De-Nage: All Fours
Described as "the soundtrack to someone
having the ultimate mental breakdown", All Fours harmonizes
extreme black metal, post hardcore, post rock and ambient, themed
around mental disintegration and shadowed by impassioned sexuality
that underlines the immorality and the depravity in human nature.
Produced by Jack Shirley, who has also worked with acts like
Deafheaven, Botanist and Whirr, Bosse-De-Nage's fourth album sounds
like their most accomplished effort so far.
24. King Dude: Songs of Flesh & Blood - In The
Key of Light
Dealing with spiritual revelation, death, loss,
love and violence, King Dude's 2015 album feels like the record Lee
Hazlewood, Douglas P. and The Bad Seeds would have made as a whole if
they've been locked up all together in a room. Like always King Dude
sounds dead serious, performing intimate, personal songs as if he
wrote them for himself only.
23. Beach House: Depression Cherry
The world's most successful dream pop duo at the
moment, Beach House, released their fifth album in 2015, returning to
the simpler structures and production of their early material.
Depression Cherry came less than two months before the band's sixth
album, Thank You Lucky Stars, a kind of darker and weirder, still
noteworthy work. Since none of the two releases lacked in anything
and since they both surely sounded like more than decent Beach House
records, this sort of hyper-productivity the band showed in 2015 was
pleasantly welcome.
22. The Telescopes: Hidden Fields
It's been 26 years since The Telescopes'
astonishing debut and the band is still alive and well. Hidden Fields
is a dark, noise-y and drone-y work of abstract shoegaze and probably
their best release since the nineties, that confirms how The
Telescopes is possibly the only of the old legends of the shoegaze
movement that don't treat their art by longingly remembering their
days of glory, but keep moving constantly forward.
21. Loma Prieta: Self Portrait
Post-hardcore dark experimental quartet from San
Francisco, Loma Prieta, released their fifth album on Deathwish Inc.
Produced by the same guy who produced Sunbather, Jack Shirley, Self
Portrait is not as cutting and aggressive as 2012's I.V. was, yet its
clearer production and the balance between cleanness and distortion,
melody and noise, seems to work wonders. After five albums in almost
a decade of doing great in life as a band, Loma Prieta deserve every
right to become more ambitious and Self Portrait is how they became
so.
20. Leviathan: Scar Sighted
Wrest's one man black metal project, Leviathan has
been a force in extreme metal since the nineties. His latest album is
already being considered as maybe the moniker's finest and it's a
massive release, balancing between hateful nihilism and endurance, a
confident work of art from the mastermind of one of the most talented
musicians in USBM today. Wrest (Jef Whitehead), one release after the
other, manages to keep evolving while staying faithful to the genre's
traditional values.
19. Boduf Songs: Stench Of Exist
The solo project of Mat Sweet from Southampton,
UK, who has previously released four albums on Kranky and a whole
bunch of others on various labels, all of which are worth checking
out, Boduf Songs seems to have reached his peak with his latest
album, Stench Of Exist, a very esoteric and dreamlike work, that
surely deserved more appreciation.
18. Lucifer: Lucifer I
After The Oath split up last year following their
successful self titled album, Johanna Sardonis formed Lucifer, her
new band that focuses heavily on seventies hard rock and metal, with
such obvious influences, from bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin
and Blue Oyster Cult. Having Gaz Jennings, guitarist of the legendary
Cathedral on their roster, Lucifer released one of the most
impressive, occult themed, heavy rock albums of the year.
17. Algiers: Algiers
This amalgam of post-punk, spiritual gospel, no
wave, soul and electronics that comprise Algiers' debut, has been
accurately described as “dystopian soul”. Their astonishing blend
of such diverse genres and notions might sound weird and imbalanced,
but somehow Algiers make it work, having created the by far most
genre-bending album of the year.
16. Clutch: Psychic Warfare
With almost 25 years behind them and after eleven
studio albums, Clutch keep delivering one kick-ass record after
another on a steady pace, with each of them clearly proving to the
world how they're eligible for and most likely to win the title of
the most underrated band ever. Produced by Blast Tyrant and Earth
Rocker producer, Machine, like the aforementioned two, Psychic
Warfare has already a place among Clutch's finest.
15. Demon Lung: A Dracula
Based on the 1977 cult Mexican film by Juan Lopez
Moctezuma, Alucarda and produced by Men Of Porn's Billy Anderson, A
Dracula, their second full length, finds Demon Lung at their best
form yet. Appropriately associating their music with a satanic occult
film like that, Las Vegas' Demon Lung are among the ones to watch in
today's doom metal and so far they've never disappointed. Read our interview with vocalist Shanda Fredrick from a few months back.
14. Windhand: Grief's Infernal Flower
After the well deserved success of Soma two years
ago, Windhand's latest record is another slow burner that without a
doubt establishes the band as one of the frontrunners in contemporary
Sabbath-esque doom metal. Leaning a tiny bit more on the alternative
side (after all the record is produced by Jack Endino), the album's
71 minutes of hazy slow psych doom are twice intercepted by folk
acoustic songs which highlight Dorthia Cottrell's hypnotic singing
and justify the band's attempt for a more digestible record than
their earlier material.
13. Monster Magnet: Cobras And Fire (The
Mastermind Redux)
To include Cobras And Fire on the list, we're
treating it as a proper album release, even though is a renovation of
Monster Magnet's previous work, enhanced with new material. The
dirtier, fuzzier, garage-infused psychedelic heavy rock sound of this
redux version of The Mastermind makes one wonder why they didn't do
the album that way in the first place, a sound that brings to mind
the band's early days, the one that established them as one of the
best in the heavy rock sphere in general.
12. The Black Heart Rebellion: People, When You
See The Smoke, Do Not Think It Is The Fields They’re Burning
TBHR's third album is possibly their most
accomplished work to date. After first having paved the way with Har
Nevo in 2012, the band continues on the same artistic course,
distancing themselves from their initial hardcore punk character.
11. Sannhet: Revisionist
New York's Sannhet returned two years after their
first album, Known Flood, that was quite an impressive debut, that
grabbed the attention of the metal community and beyond.
Experimenting with almost every sub-genre of extreme heavy music,
from black metal to sludge to even grindcore, through post-rock and
shoegazing filters, Sannhet’s excellent sophomore album sounds
noisy, dirty and at the same time deep and overwhelmingly
sentimental.
10. Faith No More: Sol Invictus
On their first album in 18 years, Faith No More
put out a record that doesn't even feel like a comeback. After all
those years of Mike Patton's side projects and the other members
keeping themselves busy with miscellaneous musical ventures, Sol
Invictus feels like FNM confidently picked up where they left off and
that it was totally worth the long wait.
9. Soft Kill: Heresy
Four years after their previous album, An Open
Door, Portland's Soft Kill, released Heresy and went on tour with The
Chameleons UK. The new album is a 28-minute record of darkness, with
rare glimpses of light and hope that strongly resembles 80s post-punk
and dakwave and its only flaw probably being its short length.
8. With The Dead: With The Dead
Legendary Cathedral vocalist, Lee Dorrian and
founding Electric Wizard and Ramesses members, guitarist/bassist Tim
Bagshaw and drummer Mark Greening formed With The Dead, the latest
doom metal supergroup from the UK that released their self-titled
debut through Dorrian's renowned heavy rock label, Rise Above
Records. To fans of those people's previous work, the result is not
surprising at all: occult themed, slow and unbearably heavy doom
rock, with Dorrian's vocal work being grittier than ever.
7. Mgła: Exercises In Futility
Exercises In Futility is only the third full
length album by Polish black metal act Mgła (pronounced "mgwa"
/ meaning “fog” in Polish), but since 2005 they've been
delivering a few more solid EPs, earning the appropriate respect of
the black metal community with each release. Their 2015 record is
probably their most impressive so far, however it's does not differ
much from the artistry of either Groza or With Hearts Towards None;
it's melodic, brilliantly riffed orthodox black metal that stands out
from the vast amount of bands that mean the same business. Mgła's
comprehension of the genre they're serving and their ability to
expand while remaining “trve” to their values is really
astounding and that makes Exercises In Futility a triumphant release.
Even for the slightest interested in black metal, this is an
essential listen.
6. Kylesa: Exhausting Fire
On their seventh studio album, Georgia's Kylesa
got once again out of their comfort zone and while remaining sludgy
and punk, they showed how their appetite for experimentation was more
alive than ever. Exhausting Fire is still a contemporary metal album,
exploring different genres and experimenting with different sounds
like most of their recent entries on their catalog, but this time the
songwriting is sharper and those heavyweights' curious flirtation
with alternative rock is more engaging than ever.
5. Grave Babies: Holographic Violence
Setting aside the lo-fi sound of their previous
records and moving towards more eighties post-punk aesthetics, Grave
Babies from Seattle did a pleasantly surprising change in their
direction and came up with an amazing gothic punk album, that
strongly feels like the start of a brand new chapter for the band.
4. New Order: Music Complete
The fact that the best pop album of the year came
from a veteran band with forty years and dozens of releases on its
back, tells so much about the current state of pop music in general.
Music Complete is a perfect pop album and a landmark in New Order's
rich career, but probably people these days were too busy, staring at
their own faces on their phones all the time, to notice.
3. Liturgy: The Ark Work
It's not easy to incorporate so many contemporary
elements in black metal and get away with it without sounding like
you're trying too hard or end up with something nonsensical, but
Liturgy are bound to take the genre to a whole other level. So far
they've been calling it “transcendental black metal”, but
regarding their third album, The Ark Work, trying to categorize it
and hang labels on it seems kind of pointless. It is based on black
metal, it is highly artistic, progressive and extreme and it's quite
difficult to take in, but once you do, you'll learn to love it.
2. John Carpenter: Lost Themes
It feels weird having to refer to Lost Themes as
“Carpenter's debut solo album”, him at 67 years of age and
already a much experienced composer through his film music and all
around genius artist. Now that the synthwave movement is in full
bloom, with dozens of releases attempting to mimic what Carpenter has
been doing since the eighties, it is about time for the man to earn
some more appreciation for his brilliance from yet one more
generation. Lost Themes feels and sounds like a classic for the ages
from start to finish and for the first time in so many years,
Carpenter's music doesn't have to justify its existence through a
film.
1. Chelsea Wolfe: Abyss
It's quite a surprise seeing Chelsea Wolfe's
latest album ignored on almost every major website's and music
magazine's lists this year. Even though musically Abyss isn't much
different than her previous one, Pain Is Beauty (which scored at #2
on our list last year), it clearly shows how Wolfe has evolved as a
songwriter, from experimental songstress to gothic queen in only a
few years. Although Abyss is a dark and eerie work of art, it is much
easier to consume than her early material, proving how Wolfe is by
now ready for the mainstream audience. It's a damn shame the
mainstream is not ready for her.
Again, in actual list form...
-
Chelsea Wolfe: Abyss
-
John Carpenter: Lost Themes
-
Liturgy: The Ark Work
-
New Order: Music Complete
-
Grave Babies: Holographic Violence
-
Kylesa: Exhausting Fire
-
Mgła: Exercises In Futility
-
With The Dead: With The Dead
-
Soft Kill: Heresy
-
Faith No More: Sol Invictus
-
Sannhet: Revisionist
-
The Black Heart Rebellion: People, When You See The Smoke, Do Not Think It Is The Fields They’re Burning
-
Monster Magnet: Cobras And Fire (The Mastermind Redux)
-
Windhand: Grief's Infernal Flower
-
Demon Lung: A Dracula
-
Clutch: Psychic Warfare
-
Algiers: Algiers
-
Lucifer: Lucifer I
-
Boduf Songs: Stench Of Exist
-
Leviathan: Scar Sighted
-
Loma Prieta: Self Portrait
-
The Telescopes: Hidden Fields
-
Beach House: Depression Cherry
-
King Dude: Songs of Flesh & Blood - In The Key of Light
-
Bosse-De-Nage: All Fours
-
Blur: The Magic Whip
-
Swervedriver: I Wasn't Born To Lose You
-
Krallice: Ygg Huur
-
Tau Cross: Tau Cross
-
Marilyn Manson
ZR