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Last Active 11-16-22 4:15 pm
Joined 11-01-07

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 Lists
01.10.22 202101.19.16 my 2015, part 2
01.03.15 My Humble 2014 Top 1001.15.14 A List
10.20.09 Where'd All The Metal Reviewers Go?08.30.09 Give Me D-beat
06.18.09 Eye Surgery Sucks04.29.09 What I Will Review Soon (list Is Tentat
04.03.09 My Top 5 Most Hated List Types03.28.09 Waiter, There's A Duck In My Soup. ....
03.06.09 Some More Diggs01.22.09 Things To Expect From Me In The Next Fe
12.31.08 A Two Year Toast08.22.08 Moar Late Listening
05.11.08 My Latest Delvings

my 2015, part 2

First edition was rejected by some HTML error and I lost all my work, so this is what's left. top 10 are in order Okay, all set, finally back to where it was. It's been a pretty good year for music as far as I am concerned. I am hoping this year is equally as fruitful :]
20Sadistik x Kno
Phantom Limbs

It's no secret that I love Sadistik, and Cunninlynguists have received no share of undue praise for their excellent production. The combination of these two powerful forces leads to a very good EP, with strong lyricism and memorable beats abound. 3.8
19Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp a Butterfly

I don't care for To Pimp A Butterfly as much as I did for GKMC, but the scope of this album cannot be understated. Even more so is the fact that despite the vast swath of musical realms that Kendrick Lamar explores on this album, he sounds out of place in absolutely none of them. Moments of immaturity still rise to the top, holding Kendrick back from being as good as he could be. 4.0
18Horrendous
Anareta

My taste in Death Metal has fallen over the years, to where I rarely listen to it at all anymore. However, Anareta is a special beast, deftly walking the line between imitation and originality. Channeling Death as strongly as they can without becoming a clone, Anareta is a fantastic album that succeeds on all fronts without having an particularly glaring flaw. 4.2
17Ad Nauseam
Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est

Ad Nauseam's Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est exists in the same space as VI's De Praestigiis Angelorum, but isn't quite as good. This album sounds a lot like what I would imagine Portal would sound like if they were black metal. 3.9
16SikTh
Opacities

I did not expect to like this as much as I did. I have always been a fan of SikTh, but in recent years I have been completely apathetic about anything related to Djent, but SikTh has a certain esoteric charisma that other bands have tried to emulate. The succinct nature of this EP is what allows it to work as well as it does. 3.8
15Ingrain
Aembers

This one man effort out of Israel is a real surprise. This short, 30 minute folk-tinged black metal affair shows more promise and maturity than most bands can manage by their third or fourth album. Some of my favorite black metal moments can be found on this little record. 4.3
14Batushka
Litourgiya

What can be said about Batushka that hasn't been already said? Their hymned and chanted vocals elevates what would otherwise be an excellent black metal album into musical greatness. There is something unnerving and disturbing about how well these two deeply contrasting sounds exist so perfectly alongside each other. 4.1
13Akhlys
The Dreaming I

Akhlys' record continues to explore the nightmarish void that sister band Nightbringer explores on each outing. Lacking the symphonics that make up much of Nightbringer's sound, The Dreaming I is a solid slab of horrifying black metal, a swirling miasma of terror. The album suffers from repetition, however - this album would work just as well if it was an EP, a flaw that denies it from being as great as it could be. 3.8
12George Clanton
100% Electronica

Clanton's ability to channel the 1980s into a modern electronic album without indulging in gimmicks and cheese is astonishing. 100% Electronica sounds like it could have been released 30 years ago, and no one would have batted an eye. More surprising is that an album that could have been released 30 years ago still works today, containing all the charm, sleeze and self indulgence that made 80s media great and terrible. 4.2
11The Wonder Years
No Closer to Heaven

Soupy's ability to capture that sense of existential destitution brought about by the directionless introspective period of the mid 20s and early 30s is scary. Anyone with any sense of self doubt can immediately relate, and TWY's ability to capture that in pop-punk sound remains unchanged on this album. Although it leans more towards depression than aimlessness, No Closer to Heaven still serves as an emotional punch without many equals in its genre from 2015. 4.0
10Kauan
Sorni Nai

I am embarrassed to say that I had never heard Kauan before. Sorni Nai is the realization and merging of artistic vision and conceptual vision that few artists ever hope to accomplish, let alone achieve. The album so easily and deftly transports you to the Dyatlov Pass, deep in the Ural mountains, that it seems improbable that the members of the band weren't there themselves. 4.6
9VI
De Praestigiis Angelorum

De Praestigiis Angelorum exists in the realm of chaotic, unhinged madness that only a special type of crazed black metal can bring itself to. Strong Thantifaxath vibes shine through. This sound is just something I have a personal weakness for. 4.6
8bansheebeat
Lumine

Lumine is the logical progression and maturation from Spiral Power. Retaining the sense of whimsical nostalgia that was present in every nook and cranny of SP, Lumine doubles down on holding on to that while also expanding its influences and ambition. The album remains light and airy enough to be consumed as musical popcorn, but listening to it, one gets the sense that behind that surface cheer, there is something deeply personal about each and every song here. 4.3
7The Oh Hellos
Dear Wormwood

Dear Wormwood, each time I listen to it, sounds like The Oh Hellos are playing in my own home, a impossibly personal and close experience. The warm and inviting presence that The Oh Hellos bring on this record was hard to match for me this year, and there's something magical about their rendition of The Dance Macabre. 4.3
6Leviathan
Scar Sighted

Scar Sighted is the product of a flawed, troubled mind, as intimate and personal as it is scarred and cathartic. This album is the perfect blend of black and death metal, sounding like a natural combination of the two without straying into the "blackened death metal" subgenre. Jef has improved on all fronts, producing one of metal's finest efforts in 2015. 4.4
5Bosse-de-Nage
All Fours

All Fours sees BDN improving on all fronts, forging their screamo-tinged blackgaze into one of the strongest black metal albums of the year. The whole album is brimming with emotion, and not a song goes by without their drummer completely outshining everyone else - easily the best drumming performance in black metal this year. 4.6
4Galar
De Gjenlevende

Probably the last album to make it on this list, De Glenlevende (The Survivors) perfect blend of lightly symphonic, folk inspired epic black metal is as consistent as it is excellent. I kind of wonder if I would like this album as much if I understood Norwegian, because I am in love with the clean vocals sung in Norwegian on this album. This is the perfect record to hold you over while we wait on new Moonsorrow to drop. 4.6
3Deafheaven
New Bermuda

2015 is the year I fully embracedmy shameless adoration for Deafheaven, and that is no different for New Bermuda. Their more straightforward and dark metal sound on this is not perfect, but the flaws that mar this record elevate it. In a way, the imperfection that dominates this album speaks to the distillation of the human condiition that Deafheaven often strive to convey. I fully understand every piece of criticism that is said about this album, and I can't disagree with any of them, but I love this album regardless. 4.7
2Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld
Never Were The Way She Was

This album blew me away. I'm not the most advanced listener of classical or minimalism, but the combination found here is truly powerful. The album carries an ethereal, wispy and light magic to it that manifests itself right out the gate. Never Were The Way She Was is easily my favorite song from 2015. 4.6
1Panopticon
Autumn Eternal

Was there any question that this would end up being my favorite album this year? I was in love with it from the moment I heard it, and that love has not wavered even remotely. Austin has taken everything that worked on Roads, channeled it into a more Agalloch and black metal inspired outing, and the result is wonderful. 4.8
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