torsdag 16 Jan 2014, 17:46

This Journal was me at a full head of steam in the first 2 months of 2014, when I was really networking and finding new releases… then I got a new job and have been alarmingly busy, to the point of not really even having much time to listen to music. The whole year feels like it's been dragged out from under my feet. Still, this is a comprehensive-ish LIST. I'm confident in it's quality and although I'm just adding the finishing touches, it has some little reflections on each release. Quantity over quality really (in that I'd rather present lots of good bands, than just a few with really carefully written write ups). Admittedly, this year I have been a lot more stringent with what's made it on to the list. there's been lots of good but not mind blowing stuff, so I've kept it off. Also, hardly any bigger name bands, as I see this as a place for discovery (primarily). I can't promise next year I will do a 2015 journal in this format, although I am hoping to actually start a real blog or something (Cartographers of the Fata Morgana). Last FM is very quiet now, and really just a big data-basing tool rather than a networking site. Correct? So there isn't a whole lot of incentive to keep doing this.

2015 JOURNAL

2013 JOURNAL

2012 JOURNAL

2011 JOURNAL

My own DIY project:
Courtsleet - Facebook | SoundCloud | bandcamp |

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Ishmael - Second Perception
57. (75%)
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Ishmael hail from Wisconsin and with Second Perception, deliver some seriously honed elemental black metal. I can feel the sun rising and falling, the ocean tides approaching and departing, a bird of prey's wings beating. It's meditative, it's reflexive and it's emotional tenure is pure. bc.

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Nebelung - Palingenesis
56. (76%)
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I am a huge fan of neo-folk, and objectively, this album is exceedingly strong… it is subtle, it is moody, it evokes a globally appealing essence found in 'Bavarian' culture. It is basically sonic pine smoke… And yet, I have just not had the avenue to properly connect with the album this year. I really should have done more to create a listening scenario to match/honour this album so a connection could be nurtured. Rating albums feels cheap and dirty these days to me, but this being low down in any list is more reflection of my failure to really allow myself to patiently explore some more beautiful music this year. Acoustic guitars and vocals are captured in breathtaking clarity here, and harmonious arpeggios glisten and build with a subtle and gentle tension. bc.

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Vaiya - Remnant Light
55. (77%)
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Vaiya is an Australian post-black metal project and is certainly a worthy addition to a nation whose scene has emerged in a quickened, unique and fertile parturition. As I've mentioned for bands from this region in the past, the natural fury reflected gloriously here feels like the suffocating symptoms of Australasia's climates and habitats. Snakes, spiders, brain swelling heat and lung shredding red dust. And yet it is that same aural essence which represents the glacial, the cascadian, the fjords, the lochs, the mountains, the fens, the frostbitten and the nautical in other resident climes.bc.

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Waning - Never Leave an Imprint
54. (78%)
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One of the most famous cities for metal ever, Gothenburg, is host to this black metal juggernaut. It's great to hear the precision, prestige and competence of Swedish musicians applied to modern black metal in a relatively unknown project like this. I am particularly fond of the closing track 'Do Not Make a Sound' with it's thundering goliath of a central riff. bc.

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Arcana Coelestia - Nomas
53. (79%)
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Arcana Coelestia is an Italian 'Funeral Metal' project. Essentially, it is melodoom ala Swallow the Sun, but with a sense of urgency. Progressive and melodic death metal moments betray the usual keelhauling of funeral doom, and yet that overarching sense of dread, mortality and fantasy is painted with a heavy brush into every riff. It really is like a cross between Esoteric, Funeral (Norway) and Insomnium (might not be evident from my last.fm profile, but those are 3 bands I hold extremely dear). For fans of unrelentingly epic music. bc.

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A Silver Mt Zion - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything
52. (80%)
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I need to return to this at some point. It's awesome to hear Efrim and company going heavy and it has all the seminal moments SMZ and related projects have become so influential by. But I almost find the place in my heart for this stuff is brimming already. It is fantastic and I adored it when it was released, but it actually turned me back to He has left us alone, 13 blues, horses in the sky and born into trouble. When I've needed some of that cold hopeless dying breath in my ear I've been looking further back than Fuck off get free.

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Beroth - Burning Sermons
51. (81%)
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This was another great surprise back in March. A UK black metal band with a punky/ Grindy-death metal edge (think something like 'Lock Up' fused with 'Sun Worship'). To say I haven't really heard Beroth mentioned by any of the locals, these guys are out performing the majority of bands of this ilk, certainly what the UK has to offer. Ferociously underrated/under-acknowledged. You have the power to change this. bc .

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Dementia Senex - Heartworm
50. (82%)
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Very impressive progressive, sludgey, death metal with blackened influences from Illinois. Some awesome groovey and discordant sections with a really meaty and epic production showing the relentless and passionate performances. This is the sort of band I imagine I'd really enjoy in an intimate live setting. bc.

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My Useless Life - Negative Memories
49. (83%)
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California’s My Useless Life is a two piece alpha-to-omega cognizance of the depressive black metal sound. With chagrin, murk impregnated chord progressions, which don't defer from leaking over into the major key, a sturdy wall of sustained woe surges into the listener while the upper guitar parts sponge away all emotional hues except a forthright and astringent sadness. The DSBM dirge is embraced and propelled in the rest of the dynamics and arrangement. ‘Negative Memories’ feels like trying to smile through really bad news, while whoever is bestowing the information on you uncomfortably holds your gaze. I must mention the vocals which sound suitable inhuman and tormented and perfectly juxtapose any of the musical sentiment of some fairly neo-classical melodies in the lead guitar or piano parts. This album is quite remarkable and deserves to be held up and spoken about.

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Spectral Tower - Spectral Tower
48. (83%)
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With alien sounding harmony laden guitar work, synchronic impellent automated drums, a girthy berth of atmospheric ambience and misery-ardent vocals, this two piece project from the US have woven a truly exciting sonic tapestry of six unique progressive, psychedelic, epics which personally subsidize Spectral Tower a preeminent identity. Melodically it reminds me of Worm Ouroboros or Esoteric, but the industrial timbres invite a nightmarish Godflesh element and expanse. The apt and amazing final song ‘Departure’ meets with aspiration and a hopeful yearning erupts out of the fleeting black metal body of the track, which seamlessly erodes into an acoustic/ambient conclusion. bc.

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Toluca - Memoria
47. (83%)
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This was a Great surprise from Russia. A very epic vision realized, where Post-Rock builds from serene shores into Baltic stormy oceans, and occasionally plummeting into the murky swirling waters. Screamo and hardcore vocals give this a very personal touch. bc.

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Walk Through Fire - Hope Is Misery
46. (84%)
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Slow, Desolate, punishing and harrowingly miserable doom from Sweden. Brings to mind early Neurosis & Khanate, but maybe with more chipped teeth, numb legs, bleeding tongue, blurred vision. bc.

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Black Monolith - Passenger
45. (84%)
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Black Monolith's debut LP is a visionary work by sole member Gary Bettencourt. One man feral post/punk/crust infused black metal? I think it's amazing when listening back to a track like 'Adhere', that this project could be as "low" as number 45 in anyone's top albums of the year, but I think that just reflects what kind of a year we've had and how such immensely worthy music is always just a few simple touches away. I must also mention the track Gold Watch. Incredible stuff. bc.

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Voices - London
44. (84%)
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This is one album I wouldn't be at all surprised if we suddenly started hearing a lot more about in 2015. Voices is made up of some of Akercocke's core energy field, and they sound like Progressive avant-garde death metal with an art college perspective. To some, it might lean into quite pretentious territory at times, but to me it rips hard enough to over shadow this and either way, it's just pure brain food. Akercocke were comically pompous and yet, incredibly sophisticated and sinister in their levels of proficiency and this is very similar in that sense. Sometimes the death metal moments here are challenging and discordant, with jazz like dissonance in the guitars juxtaposed to an uplifting piano melody. I am especially fond of the albums most monolithic and structurally 'subtle' track 'The Antidote' yt, which crescendos in a bestial fashion.

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Dirge - Hyperion
43. (84%)
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What attracted me to this band, which I had not heard previously was their decision to Collaborate with Nicolas Dick of one of my absolute favourite bands, KILL THE THRILL. This progressive almost psychedelic doom-laden collective from France create tracks that are huge and ambitious but, perfectly within remit. bc

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Crib45 - Marching Through the Borderlines
42. (85%)
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Here's a release which came to me via a couple of solid recommendations. It is just pure epic. Finland isn't usually associated with this sort of 'Cult of Luna' meets '*Shels' breed of post metal, but it is associated with prestige, precision - no matter the genre. Marching through the Borderlands has both in spades. The final minutes of the third track on the album, 'waiting for deliverance' are particularly heart-wrenching, with soaring vocals, and expressive riffs which build to an impressive and gargantuan climax. bc.

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Dying Sun - Transcendence
41. (85%)
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Dying Sun is a 1.989E30KG heavy post-hardcore project from Maryland USA. Its three members display ideas so massive that their grandiose moniker seems in no way inappropriate. A genuine range is on offer here from monstrous riffs, complemented by a really forlorn production - to more heartfelt and minimal sections, such as the opening of The Weight of Time, which uses sparse doom inherited drumming with a sensational bit of ambience muddled into clean vocals, which haunt the foreground. Dying Sun is extraordinarily consistent and these taut, pensive moments sound mature, experimental and nostalgic. When the heaviness dominating ‘Transcendence’ is locked in, one thing that stands out is the construction of the guitar parts. When compared to the expressive dirge-based chording of your average decent post-hardcore band, these more thoughtful and explorative phrases and ideas blindingly outshine the vast majority of the genre. I love the fuzzy, reverb-y production giving the tender moments a feeling more akin to shoe gaze or post-punk. Further detailed listening unveils a layer of white noise a little bit higher than the other distortions which in a sense of synaesthesia, draws the music into a tunnel where the walls become the kind of static visual disturbance experienced before fainting or during a massive head-rush. Stillness is probably my favourite track here, not just for the finale which throws back to a glimpse of a hint of a chugging pay off, but because from section to section the instrumentation, melody and arrangement is beautifully realized. bc.

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Eos - L'Avalé
40. (86%)
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I shouldn't have to type more than Black Metal from Quebec, But I will, as I highly recommend you track down this EP and especially the song 'Katharsis', which really does contain some of the year's highlights as far as atmospheric black metal is concerned. It has a rawness desired and craved but often forgone in modern black metal. This is a rich, primitive, coarse and energetic purging. bc

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Selva - Life Habitual
39. (86%)
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Life Habitual was a truly surprising addition to 2014, where I really thought no other band doing this sort of thing could find any new ways to impress me. Hailing from Italy, It feel's like Selva have shared a product drawing on the past 5 years worth of trends with in the broad umbrella of 'post-metal' with perfect homage to it's important satellite genre's. The specter of Black metal, the emotion of Screamo, the introspection of shoe-gaze and the nostalgia of post-punk make this an album which will be remembered by the few who dared to take another dive into yet another band of this ilk. bc

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Aenaon - Extance
38. (87%)
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In Aenaon, Greek avant-garde/progressive metal seamlessly egresses like an avalanche from the 5 members making up the bands core-force, with countless guest appearances adding further texture and scope to an already breathtakingly ambitious album. It has taken me a couple of listens to get my ear around, in the same way I had to go back to bands like Leprous or Ne Obliviscaris. Aenaon has definite similarities, with complex yet tasteful musicianship reflecting an irrefutable craftsmanship – but what really keeps me sealed in is the mixtures of tonal sapidity, from epic thrashy and melodic death metal, to discordant black metal, all tapered with the succinct vision progressive music needs to not get pulled apart by its own ambition. The song ‘Closer to Scaffold’ bares gravid riffs, and stands out to me for the sheer mirth of hearing stalwart pay-offs in the gripping, bunched up expression of an ultra tense palm muted section, leading on to a sludgey curtain call, accompanied by unique vocals. Released on the 20th of January by code666

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Earth and Pillars - Earth I
37. (87%)
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Earth and Pillars is one of the more celebrated black metal entities to emerge in 2014. Another string to Italy's increasingly glorious bow, this sonic artifact of truly wondrous epic and mystical noise comes from three members whose Identities are currently disguised. This is one of those albums you less listen to and more simply 'behold'. It is unrelenting, like a river, cold and hard like a stone and limitless like the sky. In this sense it reminds me of UK tribal black metal Wodensthrone and the Norwegian legends Vemod. My favourite track is 'Tides', where about 5 minutes in everything dies to an unearthly groan, until a simple pendulum like build up offers a glimpse into a reverse autopsy of the elements making up this truly genius and uniquely accosting soundscape. bc.

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Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
36. (88%)
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If you are reading this journal, chances are Pallbearer certainly need no introduction. The band's deserved and meteoric rise within the metal underground was heartwarming to observe after 2012's Sorrow and Extinction. They needed to do something special with Foundations of Burden, and they truly succeeded at that. This album just feels heavier and more polished in every way. bc

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Aastraal - Tuba Mirum Spargens Sonum Per Sepulcra Regionum, Coget Omnes Ante Thronum
35. (88%)
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This tumultuous project from the Netherlands is definitely the most unique album I've heard so far this year. Bellowed, ceremonious vocals add summoning nectar to frantic evolving layers of avant-garde black metal and when I say frantic, this thing is careening terminally downward toward unfathomable depths of depravity. At first listen, this music might seem somewhat ludicrous, with a driving tempo and low bit-rate drum sounds over a mix heavy with synths, but you'd do yourself a favour to push your ear through any intitial reaction and prevail. My listening habits lead me to attempt to dissect and separate out the complex and chaotic layers melding to make up the melodic body of what Aastraal present, but I actually discovered I find far less reward in the music when doing this – it is much better to let this album befall as a dynamic textural whole, allowing it's harmonic profile to remain an amalgamated mystery. A lot of what is going on is either brass and string pad synths, which dispense a shepherding continuo, rejoicing in twisting the listeners stomach, secreting a bile drenched anxiety. The fuzzy guitars are not easy to separate from this in the mix, which is partly why I prefer to allow this thing to hit me like a wall. My favourite track is Eschew The Physical Realm, where the vocals lull me as the music acts as a physical counterpoint trying to shake me out of the chorally imbued noctambulism. bc.

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Torrid Husk - Caesious
34. (88%)
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Torrid Husk are a black metal band from the US, unable and unwilling to negotiate a pitch of pure contemptible fervour. Caesious is one of those releases that doesn’t reproach boundaries, or make any particularly bold musical claims, but what it does do is present a gloriously auspicious expression of fury - from one riff to the next leaving me disorientated and powerless to compute the invariable quality which cows me with it’s virtuous organic vehemence. The drop in pace in final track ‘Paranoia’ is wholly savored, although if anything, in these terminal moments, the intensity is perhaps already too habituate and the amount of ill-ease felt when the distortion is stripped away just causes deeper sensations of remoteness and vulnerability before the parting cascade vexes, extirpates and eradicates the listener. bc . Released by Grimoire Records on the 4th of February.

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Basarabian Hills - Groping in a Misty Spread
33. (89%)
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I have reviewed this band before, and used the metaphor, watching a tsunami in ultra slow motion and just staying one step ahead of the destruction, which in such unreal detail is like beholding the most mesmerizing and beautiful work of art. Where as most things in my list I feel I would recommend to anyone with great taste, I have a feeling I walk alone a little in my pure fandom of this Moldovan project. I really feel there's a dreamlike magic woven into the almost naive and childlike melodic characteristics of this band. Countless times I've hung out of my skylight at some unsociable hour and let the thick underlayer of distortion and unusual yearning dungeon synths cleanse me. It's very Twin Peaks like. Also, it intrigues me that there's a symmetry to the longevity of all the albums - here the majority of the tracks are exactly 9.55 long (with the exception of one which is 3.55). Also, as before, yes, the band has a logo bordering on the comedic, and the album's title is also a pretty hilarious innuendo. All of this sort of adds a mischief and charm of this bands persona. bc.

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Clouds Collide - NYC
32. (89%)
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Chris Clouds Pandolfo makes handsome music which feels seasonal and is totally imbued with his spirit and emotions. This is a particularly brave release. Stark, clean and ambient, it is a side to clouds collide we heard on 'until the wind stops blowing', but here it is quite ingeniously pulled into focus. There's almost a Sigur Ros-esque quality to this delicate, alien and brittle music which shimmers around the listener. Perfect late night listening. bc

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Oubliette - Apparitions
31. (89%)
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bc.

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Dust Sculptures - Far Above the Pines
30. (89%)
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bc.

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Botanist - VI: Flora
29. (90%)
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bc.

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Epistasis - Light Through Dead Glass
28. (90%)
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New York based avant-garde Blackmetal? Full of Groove, experimentation, discordance and some almost lupine howling woodwind sections. It is absolutely great, which is fucking standard for the location, but I think for me this actually rivals the scenes greats new and old such as Krallice, Castevet and Imperial Triumphant. Have to mention the production is just organic to the point of the sound coalescing into a strange claymation fellow from a Jan Švankmajer film and dancing in front of the speakers. Favourite track is Witch - the intro and the doomy break in the second half of the track are so unbelievably powerful. bc.

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Horizon Ablaze - Dødsverk
27. (90%)
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Horizon Ablaze is acrimonious, grinding death metal with black metal elements. The band is made up of a star studded cast, with members featuring in bands such as 1349, Absu and Blood Red Throne! The statement this album makes is evident from the very opening, ‘Nekrosis’ sees eerie swells of harmonics met with a rambling chant of vocals, building from a standard death metal growl to a fit of utter hysterics. One can deduce very quickly the listener is not in for an easy ride. What follows is some of the loudest fuzzed out and cacophonous riff worship I’ve heard in a long time - with all relevant extreme sub-genres featuring heavily. From upbeat ‘black'n'roll’ and melodic thrash riffs, to despairingly epic black metal and doom to daemonic drops, plunging the whole experience half a mile into the earth with huge staccato kick patterns punctuated by pummeling palm muting and rhythm work. Der Untergang is easily the heaviest and most immediate limb of this album of coarsely stapled together severed appendages, with some disgustingly crushing guitar parts initiating a nautical metallic sludge, which has these maddeningly moorish bends. The immediacy of the thrashing waves of sound are an experience reminiscent of the first time I listened to Anaal Nathrakh’s 'Total fucking Necro' demo compilation - perhaps throw in some Disma and Pensees Nocturnes to get the full picture. Unfortunately at the time of posting, there's still a wait for this to be released. Coming out on Code666 - February 28th. (bc.

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Hexis - Abalam
26. (91%)
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One sniff of a sample from this Danish blackened sludge juggernaut caused me to immediately stop what I was doing and acquire Abalam for a rare, compelling listening session where I removed all visual stimuli, found a silent place and just let the music access my spirit. The barbed riffs assault my ear and enter my central nervous system, grating around my brain which sends signals to quicken my pulse, shorten the time between my breaths. My legs begin to cramp up. A fixed stare occupies my face as normal functions go on stand by. This albums intense metabolic rampaging statement is an immensely welcome addition to a sound which I've become progressively enamoured with. Hexis are issuing an approach which falls directly in the middle of the discordant anarchistic grooves of Rorcal, the spirit crushing diseased onslaught of Celeste and the devastating sense of timing and song craft presented by Redwood Hill (who not only are of the same nationality, but actually joined Hexis in a split release last year). bc.

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Indian - From All Purity
25. (91%)
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Fierce and emotionally exhausting Chicago based sludge/noise which flagellates the listener with devastating riffs bracketed by an unholy cacophony of disillusioning feedback. The vocals are mixed incredibly well, with an extremely dry and immediate sound which denotes a sense of urgency and commands attention of the listener. Where most sludge bands succeed in having a violating sound, Indians have found a higher plain of anxiety ridden aural hatred by keeping certain aspects of their arsenal in reserve, giving them a unique device I think I’ll call ‘the sliding scale of maliciousness'. They achieve this by not using their lowest string in every riff. When they do add it, it isn't as an octave to the tonic of their chord, but usually to the perfect fifth, giving the impression that a huge undercurrent of distortion suddenly colours out the low frequencies. The drummer also has a wetter higher frequency cymbal he moves on to create more contrast when the darkest moments are taking place. bc.

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Seirom - and The Light Swallowed Everything
24. (91%)
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I reviewed Seirom's 'Sparkle Night' in a previous year. I have to say it was one of the most enjoyable EP's to write about ever for me. This is a much anticipated follow up. What got me about this release was that I could experience it in 2 polar opposite ways. Either quietly as a settling ambient background soundscape, or loudly as a very challenging collection of impeccable over layered textures. When I say 'loudly', I sort of mean attentively, without distraction, maybe in a quiet dark room. Sadly I mainly listen to music while on a busy and haranguing commute, which is simply not at all ideal for the consumption of this album. It might seem like a textural thing you can zone out to, but it really really isn't. Trust me - good headphones, plenty of volume and more importantly, no other stimulus. bc.

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Sun Worship - Elder Giants
23. (92%)
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Crucially epic German Post-Black metal. One thing that really shines with Sun Worship is the movement between chords/blasts into actual riffs. It seems simple, but it's rarely seen these days, and certainly not done with this level of panache. I like that 'We Sleep' takes near enough two and half minutes to kick in, but I think anyone listening can decide before the full weight of the band comes crushing down, just based on the chords and energy, this is the genuine article. Speaking of actual riffs engendering the original spirit of black metal, check out 07:56 into the aforementioned track. Like getting in a Time machine. Simply amazing stuff. bc.

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Woods of Desolation - As the Stars
22. (92%)
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Woods of Desolation needs no introduction. 'D.' is a main player in one of the more espied scenes in modern black metal as of late - there is an exceedingly innovative artistic gene pool in Australia where ideas are bouncing off emerging figures in a way that totally parallels how the French shoegaze black metal crew (Neige/Winterhalter/Fursy) seemed to keep thriving off an insular fraternity to grow and mature and consistently produce superlative tour-de-force albums. One such parallel for me (totally subjective I might add) is that of the Australian scene, Tim Yatras (a past contributor to Woods of Desolation) appears to be regarded the central obelisk in the same way that over in France, the title and responsibility is popularly adorned to Neige. However, I think ‘As the Stars’ is vastly superior to anything else to come from the Australian scene, and soul member of Woods of Desolation ‘D.’ is my personal champion of the region in the same way Fursy Teyssier of Amesoeurs and Les Discrets fame is easily my favourite musician to arrive from the French scene. The standout tracks for me here are ‘This Autumn Light’ and ‘Withering Field’. Hearing this album is overwhelming and almost triggers that shattering feeling you can get from witnessing something truly sublime, like a coastal storm or first time view from a mountains summit. Before sitting down to write this review, I’d been on a hike to admire the stars. Tonight was first clear night in the north of the UK for quite some time so I portably enjoyed ‘As the Stars’ while I tunneled deeper into the woods, before settling for a suitable clearing to absorb the ancient light of the Pleiades, The Beehive Cluster and The Great Andromeda Galaxy (some favourite easy binocular targets I’ve missed since things got foggy around here) as well as feel the sheer delight of Jupiter’s Galilean Moons and exploring the constellations of Perseus, Cassiopeia and Cygnus, which light up remarkably with all their fainter stars when observed away from light pollution. My session was drawn to a conclusion when the dark sky was flooded with light from a 90% waning gibbous moon, hurriedly rising up over the horizon, while low in the atmosphere being magnified spectacularly, also distorting the light into gorgeous red and orange hues and although breathtaking, the intensity of its shadow-casting light actually pollutes and masks the deeper-sky challenges. Without Woods of Desolation’s music as a soundtrack, this activity still gives me a feeling of purpose and provides my spirit a sense of renewal, but with ‘As the Stars’ an accompaniment, the universe truly opened it’s iris to me and the feeling was kaleidoscopic, emotional, effervescent revelatory and inspirational. For now the album is being streamed HERE.

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Hypnologica - Sonar
21. (92%)
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This is deeply unique and personal post-black metal from the bone and tissue behind UK based solo project self-inflicted violence. Even though I've been taking in a lot of great new music lately, this is the first release in a while to really excite me on an emotional level. I think it is past due I explain why I sometimes use Twin Peaks (The 90s David Lynch Television series) as a reference point for the feeling a band conveys. Firstly, if the music really gets under your skin and stirs your emotional weather in a way you haven't felt prior. Secondly, if there's that sense of reality being obscured or occulting a very sinister under-layer. Thirdly the aesthetic and musical combination of Twin Peaks had this astral almost meditative perspective to it. If ever I say a band has twin peaks vibes, I mean it ticks all the above boxes. The structure of each song means every moment has tension or release and nothing falls flat. I had the urge to force this band on all my closest musical comrades (although it's not so easy to do this now as I've unsubscribed from social networking) I am impatient to see this find its audience. bc.

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Woman Is the Earth - Depths
20. (92%)
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This is about as left-field as black metal comes right now. It is faultless with the same qualities as Wolves in the Throne Room's debut, Diadem of 12 Stars. It feels every bit as sincere too, with all the earthly magic woven between the overlapping layers of instrumentation and atmosphere. A robust DIY ethic seems to just reflect these artists combined vision and determined graft. In a year when "Post" is almost becoming a synonym for "Avoid" to most people (NOT ME), Woman is the Earth show this form of music is not just a trend and when done correctly is elemental, altruistic, shamanic and pure. bc.

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Deadwood - Picturing a Sense of Loss
19. (93%)
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We have to be careful here, as there seems to be a handful of bands using this moniker (and by the looks of it they are all relatively extreme and have a pretty strong following). In this instance I am talking about the debut album of the German post black metal band (Facebook). From the first moments of Picturing a Sense of Loss I feel a flood of qualities gushing forth – with an immense (apparently DIY!) production and totally overwhelming riffing, Deadwood’s emotive mission statement is instantaneously clear to the listener. A couple of minutes into opening track ‘Burden of Remembrance’, the fury is suddenly stripped away and an incredibly sensitive wave of clean guitar unfolds with massive, heartbreaking brass-like sounds harmonizing in the background. These sections, which flare up frequently, feeling new each time and teeming with quality, ring of the same compositional panache as post-rock titans ‘*Shels’, only when Deadwood up the ante, they’re being torn apart by bellowing storms on some exposed and isolated peak in the Black Forests of the Bavarian wilderness. The long chord progressions remind of Deafheaven’s ecstatic approach to the genre on their celebrated album Sunbather (which love or hate it, both commercially and as an entity on it’s own, is a milestone within post black metal). Deadwood’s expression seems to extend beyond what emotional climax Sunbather offers and when build-ups begin at a fever pitch, the effect this music has on me is literally dizzying, with each moment I fight for air that’s instantly stripped away from my lungs. Get into this while the band is still unsigned. Stream and buy on bc.

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Laster - Der Verste Verte is Hier
18. (93%)
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bc.

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Darkher - The Kingdom Field
17. (93%)
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bc.

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Have a Nice Life - The Unnatural World
16. (93%)
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The Flenser (record label responsible for this) had a fantastic year. The unnatural World is an album to return to and grow with. One that becomes quite imprinted on us/you/the listener. It is essentially a perfectly timed post-punk release, with that gorgeous timeless sense of sonic nostalgia (where did it come from and how on earth do bands tap into it?). It's just sepia, liquid, dreamy, warm, vibrations, lifting, breathing - full of joy and wrenching away and returning… Brilliant. bc.

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Chaos Moon - Resurrection Extract
15. (93%)
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Easilly the most under-discussed Black Metal release this year for me. Epic, unique, cold, dream-like… It arrived with me around the same time as the devastating announcement that Wilhelm of Khrysanthoney Records had passed away in his sleep (as also discussed in the Clouds Collide Sleeping Peonies Split). Whenever I listened to this album I found myself drifting away into morbid and really depressing thoughts… it felt very strange knowing this is the sort of album Wilhelm would've utterly adored, but he is no longer able to hear. and most likely used his infamy to spread the word far and wide of Resurrection Extract. bc.

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Gnaw Their Tongues & Alkerdeel - Dyodyo Asema
14. (94%)
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Dyodyo Asema is one of those rare collaborations, similar to those symbiotic compositions Nadja have done with relevant groups who've had room in their sound to let another's unique essence in. When a band has a vital essence which feeds its character, it can be sprinkled lightly or poured extensively over other projects, coating them in a musical plasma which would other wise have been unachievable. The best of these two bands is on offer here, with Alkerdeel (black metal from Belgium) we're getting a commodiously raw and baneful body of guitars and drums, while Gnaw Their Tongues (from the Netherlands) famously provides utterly terrifying experimental noise, which stimulates the same emotional responses as really frigid black metal. A visual treatment has been offered up with the 19 minute long composition, crossing over short film, collaboration and in some ways challenging conventional release paradigms. This video sees parasitic creatures interacting with the flesh in ultra exposed, high contrast and macro focus. The treatment ends with a man preparing heroin, injecting it and convulsing disturbingly on a bed. the feeling I get from the video reminds me of the "Dead" video by Khanate. I want to look away, but the whole piece is so well orchestrated aurally and aesthetically, I'd be doing myself a more damaging disservice if I did. Depressive anguished cries, disorientating sound design and soul wrenching riffing all eventually plume from the contused doom, which cleverly builds during the first third. There is a compelling moment at 12:30, it feels like a myriad of hands punch through my chest, grab all of my vital organs and with a sharp simultaneous tug release them from the confines of my torso. The icey lead melody freezes me, empty, bewildered, catatonic and alone. The song finally dissolves into more of the darker and sadder chaos we’re used to from Gnaw Their Tongues, folding in on itself, giving off lifeless and cold energies. My only regret is I’ve not been able to get just the sound for this single collaboration yet, but even still, I can pretty much guarantee if you press play on this video, you’ll be transfixed for one of the most stimulating 19 minute long music visuals you'll ever see. bc.

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Nightbringer - Ego Dominus Tuus
13. (95%)
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bc.

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Conan - Blood Eagle
12. (95%)
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I'd heard people talk of Conan's heaviness live for a while, and had assumed it wouldn't be the sort of thing that would translate well to record. So I never actively sought out any of Conan's recordings. Word of mouth of their devastating performance at Roadburn reached my ears, so I went ahead and gave Blood Eagle a spin. My previous judgement was just ridiculous. I have kicked myself for not getting in on this sooner. Blood Eagle really is one of the most massive and imposing doom albums I have ever heard and it has delighted me tracking the band as they've played the biggest festivals and, from what I can make out, have absolutely stolen the show on every occasion.

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Kriegsmaschine - Enemy of Man
11. (95%)
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Poland is a land rejoiced near and far for its extreme exports of which Kriegsmaschine are probably simultaneously one of the least celebrated, but most ferocious powerhouses. Discordant riffs ooze out over slithering groove-based drumming with a vocal approach so hateful and empowered, it causes my core to literally tremble. Music themed on Satanism often caries primal and almost Neanderthal energetic synergies, which although convey aesthetics and concepts wonderfully - are usually about the exhibition of abhorrence and disdain - so are often produced and composed in a way that reflects that (abhorrently). The evil in satanic music is in mistreatment of wildly wielded compositional devices and this lack of beauty and finesse makes the ill sentiments of the artist more frigid and tangible. I make this observation so I can strip the relevance of it from the deeply Satanic Kriegsmaschine, as they successfully maintain a choking misanthropy and morally testing levels of evil in a confrontational sound which is also full of intricacies and shows a mindfully intelligent level of craft. I must remark on the interesting choice of pace for this album, pretty much staking every riff around mid-paced grooves. For this reason, it sounds like a death metal album to me, certainly more so than Mgla, who are perhaps the more well known of these two projects that do in fact share key members. As a musician, I can often comprehend the techniques and thought gone into the creation of a bands sound and although this can demystify my experiences, it doesn’t necessarily cheapen it in anyway and probably heightens my appreciation for artist’s output. However, I honestly can not fathom the ability, scope and creativity gone in to this particularly splendid form of obscure and cerebral blackened-death metal.

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Kayo Dot - Coffins on Io
10. (96%)
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Pogavranjen - Sebi Jesi Meni Nisi
9. (96%)
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This Croatian avant-garde black metal project is, simply put, a classic in the making. It is without question the most sincere and enraged black metal release of the year. It feels like, without taking itself seriously, or in other words, not giving a fuck what anyone thinks, the band has stumbled onto a feral energy that can't really be described in words. It's a very foreign, real and threatening sort of vibration. Grindcore like frenzied performances by the musicians, but the songs are filled with these soaring riffs… layers upon layers of malaise… and the vocals are completely demented. Due to the unrelenting pulses of epic wrath in the last half of the track 'Jeziva Suša', I am very happy to name it, without contention, my personal favourite 'most powerful black metal song' of the year. This band requires your attention immediately. bc.

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Clouds Collide/Sleeping Peonies - Opal/Elestial
8. (96%)
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Two of my favourite artists in black metal, Chris Pandolfo and Nic Smith come together for Opalestial (known individually as Opal and Elestial). A third person also played a huge part in this album, and that was Wilhelm, as mentioned in the opening sentiments of this journal. I am indebted to Wilhelm for introducing me to these two projects/people. Without whom, I certainly wouldn't have returned to making music at home. This material carries devastating weight as it was during the early manufacturing stages of the album the Wilhelm passed away. The songs are really the purest and strongest reflection of each project respectively. As I write this, I'm really low. I have listened through again and am now onto 'patience', and there's just so much beauty and strength on display in this release. sp bc - cc bc.

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Dama/Libra - Claw
7. (96%)
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One of my favourite composers at the moment, Stuart Dahlquist had been writing music, essentially by letters over long distance to his dear friend and fellow musician Joel Phelps (former vocalist of Silkworm). Sound bites of this immensely fertile creative bond were being shared under the temporary moniker of 'Thine'. As a huge Asva fan, I was really excited by what I was hearing. The end result is a stunning, challenging, poignant and genuinely moving collection of emotive musical postcards, far more accessible in length and structure than the monolithic compositions of Asva. I acquired the album right around the time my second born son started nursery, which was a lot harder this time round than it was with my first born, who was just really ready for it. After I dropped him off, and was filled with doubt and confusion, I put "been to the water" from Claw on. The song was like having emotional acupuncture… all the tension in my body was ebbing away, and in that moment when the vocal and organ kick in "…and I've never before, been to the water" a huge shift occurred in me. The usual hair standing on end and tingling, but with each breath the feeling got more intense. My chest felt like it had swollen up, and there was a universe of love growing at an alarming rate till it was seeping through my rib cage. The feeling suddenly shot up my back like fire. My brain poured out a chemical that dowsed all the fear and anxiety and adrenaline in an instant and I just rained out a sort of happy, hopeful blissful rain. I live my life in pretty much constant anxiety, always mentally negotiation and navigating with low moods to not let them really get a hold of me, as they have in the past. So when my brain is stimulated into giving me some endorphins, it's genuine fireworks for me. If you could bottle what Dama/Libra gave me in that moment, you'd be a billionaire.

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Birds of Passage - This Kindly Slumber
6. (96%)
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Birds of Passage is the stirring lamentations of Alicia Merz, taking the form of pensive and haunting drones escalating under a unique vocal, whispering deeply introspective poetry. It's been a while since I listened to 2011's ‘Winter Lady’, and hoped this would take me to the same broken-down, desolate and forgotten places. Seconds into ‘This Kindly Slumber’ and I have arrived at the same destination where Winter Lady cruelly abandoned me. Sincerely brave, beautiful and poignant tones build like a storm of sleet masking an auroral display. To refer to birds of passage as drone almost does this a disservice. This isn't just a collection of eerie hums, noises and feedbacks endlessly yearning, as much drone which claims to be far more, simply is. It is a very precisely conveyed harmonic showcase, which is so connective, in sheer spite of it’s simplicity you'd probably need to look into neural science to find out exactly why our emotional buttons are titillated with such military precision during these moving, otherworldly sonnets. Alicia sings an airy falsetto, which is mixed closely in unison to an overdub of a close-miced whisper. This confessional conveyance is the force by which we experience the artistic purging of self, which is both harrowing and humbling to behold.

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Anathema - Distant Satellites
5. (96%)
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At the start of the year, I had the Universal live DVD on repeat. If you haven't checked this out, you simply must! My word, the emotions! The feeeelings! It's just immense. The audio of the live concert is also just unbelievable. Anyway, this was perfect for getting me extremely excited for Distant Satellites. I instantly liked the album, although until I was familiar with the tracks, I sort of found the band was working too hard on piling in as many vocal crescendos as they could. But all the same, this is anathema, and the vocal crescendos are just perfect, so why complain? I love the electronic elements in the last third of the album and think the title track and Take Shelter are my favourite songs here. I also love the track 'Anathema'… I really can take or leave guitar solos these days, it just doesn't impress or intrigue me - but it has to be said this songs story telling solo utterly rips. I recommend you listen to it as if every bar is going to be the last bar of the solo. I think that's why I love it… Solo's should peak at their end, and this just sounds like it's peaking over and over again. I have had this on constant rotation since it came out and can't wait to see them perform at Leeds Minster in March.

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Paramnesia - Paramnesia
4. (97%)
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This French post-black metal bands, rather 'blank' story continues with their third release since reforming. Two 20 minute long compositions, following the trend of their previous releases. Now we're on to track 'IV' and track 'V'. I adore this bands sound and their willingness to let their creations be to the listener, what ever the listener divines. The post-black metal genre is, as I've said in previous reviews going back almost a year now, becoming exceedingly over-saturated - I often wonder why musicians even dare to try this combination of influences if they're not going to produce something really excellent. Bland post-black metal is really horrendously boring. Paramnesia are quite conventional, but they utterly excel in every way from strong performances, a dense and suffocating atmosphere, impossibly gargantuan compositions and a not too overstated, almost punk like aesthetic. I also find the only way to appreciate Paramnesia are creating masterpiece after masterpiece with their songs is by "really" putting your ear into what they are doing, and listening with anticipation. The temptation to just let the fury wash over you is strong, and listening closely is quite an exhausting experience, but I certainly recommend it. The music translates into a sense of sublime longing, storms out at sea, a reflection on our daily burdens, the beauty and a stillness of a predawn sky. bc.

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IDYLLS - Prayer For Terrene
3. (97%)
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Brisbane based IDYLLS first came to my attention last year with their awesome EP, Indian Circle. I knew they were a band to follow despite the fact they were making the kind of music I don't usually feel a strong emotional association with. Prayer For Terrene is a masterfully delivered expression of angst… Pummelling statement of anger… Eviscerating declaration of rage… An active swirling black hole masticating the soul of its listener… Escalating discordant but catchy ideas spiral out of control, more feral and pissed off than any punk or grind album I've experienced previously. Dare I say, if this album had come before Jane Doe, people would be saying "Jane Doe is trying to be Prayer for Terrene, but it's far less intense with less experimentation". That's hard for me to say, because Jane Doe is a very important album to me (and probably everyone who heard it when it first arrived), and also, I doubt IDYLLS would have arrived at this horrendous sonic identity without the guidance of Converge's back catalogue. The performances on this album just reek of sweat, beer and intensity. Musicians bouncing off the walls with the records intent felt in every electrified fibre of their being. Without the grit teeth and tears behind the playing, this could be a pretty different album, or at least in the sentiments it propagates. The opening two tracks are LIED TO, and FAGGED OUT ON THE BEACH - the first a 7 minute epic, the second just over a minute long Riff (harking back to and idea in the first track) which has to be heard to be believed. There's sand in my eyes I swear it. The first time I heard this album, I hung out of my attic bedroom window at 2 in the morning with a cheap beer, watching a fox skulk around my neighbours' gardens. It was special. Five Aussie dollars. Go pay. bc.

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A Dead Forest Index - Cast of Lines
2. (98%)
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Australia's stunningly odd platonic Noire-Folk duet return with their second EP 'Cast Of Lines', and it is one of the deepest most magical dirges I have ever heard. Four songs all snap with the structural aplomb of any good alternative pop song, but Adam and Sam Sherry stir in the meditations of their morbid catalogue, reaching back some 360 million years to the first carboniferous flora, how these lived in abundance, and where they have now faded into deserts or drowned in oceans. The group have become known for their vocal harmonies and the use of vocal loops in the live performance to create entire choirs from their two voices. Androgenic husky and almost seductive tones add an eerie surrealism to A Dead Forest Index's conveyance. The final track, which is also the EP's title track, Cast of Lines feels like a cross between a culling poem and lounge music, with nautical under currents which ebb the listeners spirit out to some extremely dark and lifeless place in a sea without a name. I'm very excited for what may come next for this band. bc.

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Lord Mantis - Death Mask
1. (98%)
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Death Mask is quite simply grotesque in it's heaviness. There is nothing refined about this. Dare I say there's nothing 'clever' about this. It is just pouring out a primal intoxicating testosterone - sweat drenched and stained with vomit and other bodily secretions, this is epic and cold and vastly, hauntingly, anxiously compelling. The 'sound' of this album is just... unbelievable. With vocals which rasp and cry in a desperate rage, Guitars which tumble along with fuzzed out tonal walls of monolithic disdain. If you'd have told me the most genuinely depraved thing I'd hear this year would also be the very best thing I would've croaked out a laugh. Feel the raw power of 'Body Choke', as it grinds out neurosis-esque misery which builds into swathes of grooving sludge malevolence. The band occasional speeds up at which point they hit the same levels of discordant black metal genius as band like Altars of Plagues, however this is never in juxtaposition to the remise of the Lord Mantis' grinding, punky and old school death metal core. It is a perfect amalgamation of extreme sounds. The only track which turns away from being a volatile, scathing attack on the listener/the world is the final song 'Three Crosses'. I took this album on a trek with me shortly after acquiring it and managed to reach the precipice of my climb just in time for the soaring lead guitar sections in the opening sections of this titanic curtain call. Really push your ear into the final minutes of this song, listen with anticipation and all I can say is I hope someone out there feels even a quarter of what I felt as this song meets it's ferine demise. bc.

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Also, whether some catfish stunt or a case of boy who cried wolf, goodbye Wilhelm. I've not really said it yet… I've only had one person I could speak to about his passing, and even then it felt strange. He was loved and loathed in equal measure, but either way he was the pillar of a community I felt a genuine fraternity to and his passing in whatever form has torn a gaping void. He was the soul patron, selflessly dedicated to getting blackgaze bands and projects out there and the genre will very likely starve without him.

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