Archelirion
Arche
User

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Soundoffs 108
News Articles 2
Band Edits + Tags 334
Album Edits 409

Album Ratings 251
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Last Active 10-08-21 11:02 pm
Joined 05-22-12

Review Comments 6,594

 Lists
05.22.22 10 years of fading in and out like a kn 10.08.21 Remember when Sput had last.fm integrat
11.11.20 pls rec me cosy jangly lady indie rock 09.06.20 10 more songs not to listen to while ri
10.06.19 Arche's great 2019 bm catch up 09.12.19 2019 ambient for comfy sleeps and peace
12.23.18 Arche's 2018 12.23.17 Arche's 50 from '17
10.29.17 Diddle Arche 6: math10.21.17 Diddle Arche 5: rec anything 2 (electri
10.14.17 Diddle Arche 4: Asia10.11.17 Diddle Arche 3: Musicals/OSTs/films
10.09.17 Diddle Arche Round 2: Finland10.08.17 (a comp) Diddle your boi Arche's earpie
10.07.17 NYP grabs / transferring ratings to RYM09.12.17 So I met CalculatingInfinity, and he me
07.03.17 Arche's best bits - Jan to Jun05.01.17 Arche's April
More »

4 years, 101 albums: time well wasted

When I signed up for this site 4 years ago under the moniker AaronIsCrunchy, I didn't think it'd become as large a segment of my life as it has done. This was initially gonna be a 2 year one for when I started community-ing, but it turns out 4 years worked out a lot better. If I've chatted to you on Dubtrack, you've offered me support on a review, or we've simply had some kinda positive interaction across this site: thanks. You're awesome :]
101Akelei
De Zwaarte van het Doorstane


Best track: Duett - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFFiHHWBa98
100Pierce the Veil
Collide with the Sky


Best track: One Hundred Sleepless Nights - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S-ODexQkFo
99Black Sabbath
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath


Best track: A National Acrobat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1baNhqKLev8
98Keeper
The Space Between Your Teeth


Best track: The King - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaR040efJ0I
97Cult of Luna
Vertikal


Best track: In Awe Of - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPJoge1wDs4
96Converge
All We Love We Leave Behind


Best track: No Light Escapes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zLiIYhImqo
95Damien Rice
O


Best track: Delicate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnL3NfhOsBM
94Metallica
Master of Puppets


Best track: Battery - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md3B3I7Nmvw
93Bloodbath
Grand Morbid Funeral


Best track: Famine of God's Word - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtIA0IF9hK0
92Roxy Music
For Your Pleasure


Best track: In Every Dream Home A Heartache - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSniBxXjK_8
91Zuriaake
Afterimage of Autumn


Best track: River Metempsychosis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=citLcH2elbY
90Tarsius Tarsier
Ceremonia de Atadura de Manos


Best track: Mataviudas - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_3li66s0CA (whole thing)
89Amenra
Mass III


Best track: Némelèndèlle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH71rARl4jY
88Fightstar
One Day Son This Will All Be Yours


Best track: Our Last Common Ancestor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myznet9PERc
87Karnivool
Themata


Best track: C.O.T.E. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUmARJ0o6Hw
86Agalloch
The Mantle


Best track: Odal - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w5cLn0oL5g
85Converge
You Fail Me


Best track: In Her Shadow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHMvYovAaNM
84Isis
Panopticon


Best track: In Fiction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7KdSSfYG7M
83Trentemoller
The Last Resort


Best track: The Very Last Resort - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m9aZwQOFwM
82The Smith Street Band
Throw Me in the River


Best track: Calgary Girls - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3DNbAvrMFI
81Downfall of Gaia
Suffocating in the Swarm of Cranes


Best track: Drowning By Wing Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaAEJXU7JHY
80Jeff Buckley
Grace


Best track: Dream Brother - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7z_2QRELhw
79Dir En Grey
Dum Spiro Spero


Best track: Decaying Crow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIuu_Y1SafQ
78Amenra
Mass V


Best track: Boden - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NZRzIVURvI
77Carissa's Wierd
Songs About Leaving


Best track: They'll Only Miss You When You Leave - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHEJ8TH_XRM
76Queens of the Stone Age
...Like Clockwork


Best track: I Appear Missing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9s69kXFkAw
75Beecher
Breaking the Fourth Wall


Best track: Ladder Theory - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOobPWUYeFs (It's actually Red Diesel but I couldn't find a vid for it)
74Inside The Beehive
Drink Bleach; Live Forever


Best track: Bio-Feedback - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh1P16PcRiQ
73The Dillinger Escape Plan
Ire Works


Best track: Lurch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBAbl2b2cck
72A Forest of Stars
A Shadowplay for Yesterdays


Best track: The Underside of Eden - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZp5RsrdecA
71Pig Destroyer
Terrifyer


Best track: Carrion Fairy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88cm6ghqxdM
70Fightstar
Be Human


Best track: Damocles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPwpUIVOBSM
69The Great Old Ones
Tekeli-Li


Best track: Antarctica - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-J_iCrjW0U
68Burzum
Hvis Lyset Tar Oss


Best track: Det Som En Gang Var - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wry9G6rcdQw
67Ulcerate
Vermis


Best track: Clutching Revulsion - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mGE9DH68xI
66Black Sabbath
Master of Reality


Best track: Into the Void - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3hsCiGS9Uc
65Queens of the Stone Age
Songs for the Deaf


Best track: A Song for the Dead - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-8H3gE9dUo
64Brand New
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me


Best track: You Won't Know - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5mm8ex8Vd4
63Coheed and Cambria
No World for Tomorrow


Best track: The Hound (Of Blood and Rank) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wUBUjkoXjU
62Cara Neir
Portals To A Better, Dead World


Best track: Closing Doors - https://caraneir.bandcamp.com/track/closing-doors
61Vi Som Alskade Varandra Sa Mycket
Den sorgligaste musiken i varlden


Best track: Vi Som Försvann - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGx90zUBOns
60Emperor
In the Nightside Eclipse


Best track: I Am The Black Wizards - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgQRRI9goFg
59The Cure
Pornography


Best track: The Figurehead - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yls_lhHdfPc
58Slugdge
Born of Slime


Best track: Slime Traveler - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblFjsutZI4
57Barrow
Though I'm Alone


Best track: Wither - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg_GGnNco8E
56Captain, We're Sinking
The Future Is Cancelled


Best track: The Future is Cancelled, Pt. 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56FkcxpMlwk
55Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3


Best track: The Crowing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXCsR6tBE-Q
54Converge
Axe to Fall


Best track: Reap What You Sow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2jPlkcv_rg
53Gackt
Mizerable


Best track: Story - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=685F7pCj4V0
52Them Crooked Vultures
Them Crooked Vultures


Best track: Elephants - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2zIMyjQh8s
51Fightstar
Grand Unification


Best track: Waste A Moment - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVh-J11h9XQ
50Emperor
Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk


Best track: Ensorcelled by Khaos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N_cQOy6OOs
49Coheed and Cambria
From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness


Best track: The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_6DBLb0jSQ
48Meshuggah
obZen


Best track: Dancers to a Discordant System - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J4Ye7nRT0s
47Kamijo
Symphony of the Vampire


Best track: Sonata - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juqxEY1j8sw
46Harvey Danger
King James Version


Best track: Loyalty Bldg. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbH5Z_ImkpM
45Altar of Plagues
Teethed Glory and Injury


Best track: Burnt Year - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok454hznwoc
44Rorcal
Heliogabalus


Best track: Heliogabalus (duh) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Rt3fNpBCU
43Amenra
Mass IIII


Best track: Aorte. Nous Sommes et Mèmes Sang - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHfHnu3QH4E
42A Forest of Stars
The Corpse of Rebirth


Best track: God - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZHtPaaLTzA
41Reuben
In Nothing We Trust


Best track: Three Hail Marys - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpdVthaY_uw
40The Pogues
Rum Sodomy & the Lash


Best track: A Rainy Night in Soho - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSyL-TrD_2g
39Converge
Jane Doe


Best track: Heaven In Her Arms - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsLzD1R-QdU
38Autopsy
Mental Funeral


Best track: In The Grip of Winter - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XsWyihKQoI
37Reuben
Very Fast Very Dangerous


Best track: Return of the Jedi - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6p-gpkibPw
36Converge
When Forever Comes Crashing


Best track: Year of the Swine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS3_vXOAkHA
35Ben Howard
I Forget Where We Were


Best track: End of the Affair - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unz9gWteR1s
34Fall of Efrafa
Elil


Best track: Dominion Theology - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqCi-x87ec0
33Thou
Tyrant


Best track: Monstrance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8ei6cRluUY
32The Mortal
I Am Mortal


Best track: Pain Drop - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hSk1jUurmo
31Rosetta
Wake/Lift


Best track: Monument - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQLndlzHHxQ
30Reuben
Racecar Is Racecar Backwards


Best track: Fall of the Bastille - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiU02zXizXQ
29Thou
Summit


Best track: Grissecon - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dIaTn9ogo0
28Fall of Efrafa
Owsla


Best track: Pity the Weak - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWYR9WuAuhU
27Ulcerate
The Destroyers of All


Best track: Cold Becoming - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIr2kMWdc3c
26Metallica
Ride the Lightning


Best track: Fight Fire With Fire - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjlgUx7_aN0
25Alexisonfire
Crisis


Best track: Boiled Frogs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgkMlEn8L2E
24The Smiths
The Queen Is Dead


Best track: Bigmouth Strikes Again - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgxEJOi6GtA
23Darkthrone
Under a Funeral Moon


Best track: Inn I De Dype Skogens Fabn - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQQD1UjiqEc
22The Ruins Of Beverast
Rain Upon The Impure


Best track: 50 Forts Along the Rhine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQQD1UjiqEc
21Thou
Peasant


Best track: They Stretch Out Their Hands - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOsVlNHmxRA
20Converge
No Heroes


My first exposure to Converge remains my favourite. The first tracks of 'No Heroes' pumps me up like very few other things do, and the title track remains, in my opinion at least, one of their finest moments (alongside Heaven In Her Arms and In Her Shadow). The drumming on here in particular is nowt short of staggering.

Best tracks: Vengeance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQg9oz5Btn8
No Heroes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sq8ZlyvH6E
To The Lions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAAs5B5cvho
19The War on Drugs
Lost in the Dream


Why do I like this as much as I do? Absolutely no idea. It's repetitive and doesn't really seek to push itself further than it deems necessary. Yet, I keep coming back to it, to the point that it's now arguably my favourite album from the last 3 years. Something about it puts me at ease, taking me back to sunny days.

Best tracks: Burning - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEdwRRK-Hy4
In Reverse - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI3H8myhJBI
Under the Pressure - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkLOg252KRE
18Pulp
This is Hardcore


Pulp's 'anti-pop' album, 'This Is Hardcore' is actually pretty damn bleak. Jarvis Cocker's vocals are still mesmerising, the tunes are still (largely) catchy and less-than-glamorous outlook still remains, but this eschews the hit-appeal of 'Different Class' for something far less pleasant. Could honestly do without the 10 minutes of sweet sod all at the end, but aside from that this is a sobering look inside Jarvis Cocker's head, told through humour, self-awareness, and an uncomfortable presence.

Best tracks: The Fear - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxPu7XIX2Pc
This Is Hardcore - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXbLyi5wgeg
Glory Days - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zULEAMOcOP4
17A Forest of Stars
Opportunistic Thieves of Spring


A bizarre album, 'Opportunistic Thieves of Spring' is arguably A Forest of Stars' most convincing foray into their self-styled 'Victorian Black Metal' sound. Melancholic, sometimes kinda sideshow-y strings bounce seamlessly off of furious blast beats and a mixture of howls and very British snarls to create a sound unmistakeably theirs; for 72 minutes, it truly is. I always get a feeling of wanting more after listening, and while their entire discography is impressive, this is definitely their finest moment.

Best tracks: Sorrow's Impetus - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMd-Z8ZdIRg
Summertide's Approach - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHTnE8DWNRc
Starfire's Memory - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUHV1j3gwLk
16Cryptopsy
None So Vile


RUH RUH RUH RUH RUH. Riffs. Savage drumming. Yeah. Shit rules.

Best tracks: Benedictine Convulsions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvoZBB79h58
Phobophile - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbSPRpwZPbs
Lichmistress - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68TmPFFZxsA
15Rosetta
The Galilean Satellites


Even when placed alongside Michael Armine's throat-shredding roars, there's something incredibly mournful about the guitar work on Rosetta's 'The Galilean Satellites' that really creates a fascinating juxtaposition of emotions, culminating in a truly desperate sound. The whole 'one disc post-metal, other disc ambient, but they can be played together' thing doesn't even come across as all that gimmicky. Fantastic stuff.

Best tracks: Departe/Deneb - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXgiY9eDFl4
Absent/Beta Aquilae - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eGDAQrp7sk
Au Pays Natal/Sol - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftHiF4fIDfQ
14Supercell
Today is a Beautiful Day


'Today Is A Beautiful Day' seems to revel in taking the listener on an emotional rollercoaster of sorts - up, down, up, down, all seemingly at the whim of Ryo and his band of versatile Japanese troubadours. It's Yanagi Nagi who truly steals the show here though, with a truly impeccable vocal performance that can switch between fun and carefree (see Love & Roll) to bittersweet (Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari).

Best tracks: Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLPs_w-FepA
Love & Roll - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiiPwZR1trs
Utakata Hanabi - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS91FpbGuF8
13Karnivool
Sound Awake


The first album I remember thinking was 100% totally perfect. While I'm not quite as hyperbolic about Sound Awake nowadays, I still feel it is a ridiculously good album. Ian Kenny's vocals are absolutely majestic, and the usage of bass - especially in Simple Boy and Umbra - is simply fantastic. Is ageing very well for me.

Best tracks: Simple Boy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjvtx3HMUks
Umbra - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA05U0_S2y8
Deadman - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbLEYQo98t0
12BUCK-TICK
Yume Miru Uchuu


The bookends of Yume Miru Uchuu highlight perfectly what makes Buck-Tick's 18th LP such a fantastic listen. Opener 'Elise no Tame ni' makes a statement with a boisterous, infectious hook right off the bat and an equally catchy chorus, while 'Yume Miru Uchuu' at the other end of the album utilises their innate capacity to sound huge to absolutely breathtaking effect. What these two highlight (and indeed the rest of the album) is how Buck-Tick refuse to make the same song twice on Yume Miru Uchuu, yet nearly every one is an absolute joy to listen to, through being fun, beautiful, or even a little bit pervy. If Ningyo isn't the most fun song ever I don't know what is.

Best tracks: Ningyo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yndf2Ym9pHM
Kinji Rareta Asobi - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-KdT-0zl9c
Yume Miru uchuu - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B2nYjhpbAw
11Gackt
MARS


Absolutely flooded with compositional nuances in every section, MARS is particularly notable for how perfectly created it seems to have been. Listen once just for the bass, and you'll have a blast. Do so again for the strings, then for the guitars, then for the synths... and that's not even counting Gackt's fantastic vocal performance. Indulgent it almost certainly is, but it's still totally brilliant.

Best tracks: U+K - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYN7QRNtxdc
Freesia ~op.1~ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hp3wnSDOk0
Mirror - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRnaxrnwWqE
10Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
Murder Ballads


Murder Ballads appeals to my morbid sense of humour. Nick Cave's distinctive croon is the perfect vehicle for stories of mass murder and revenge killings; only this album could get away with a musically repetitive 14 minute romp about shooting up everyone in a bar. It's absolute best feature though is how it mixes the blackest of humour with some genuinely affecting tales - Song of Joy is legitimately creepy, and The Kindness of Strangers brings out the horror of the songs events in a mature, respectful manner.

Best tracks: Song of Joy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENnmG3B3tvI
Curse of Millhaven - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvnkTUbssbI
O'Malley's Bar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTSpvCV34Ok
9Yanagi Nagi
Euaru


'Euaru' just makes me really, really happy. Following her collaboration with Supercell and then working with Jun Maeda gave Yanagi Nagi some extra funds and materials to work with, and it shows. An eclectic mixture of J-Pop, downtempo, rock, metal and jazz, her voice seems to work with everything equally well. Euaru is an album I can listen to if I want something familiar and cosy, but it warrants closer listening just as easily.

Best tracks: Ao No Parade - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9J70q6f1pE
Concent - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqXlQoXVrHk
Laterality - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbvBCxMvQms
8Pulp
Different Class


I think I mentioned how much I liked Jarvis Cocker's voice, didn't I? My parents used to play this in the car when we went on holiday so this kinda holds a special place for me because of that, but this is definitely the best album from the Britpop era. Funny yet bitter, it's possibly to be greatly amused by this, yet simply by taking a different perspective becoming somewhat morose.

Best tracks: I Spy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mimLpZCO5k8
Monday Morning - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWheWmDbd6s
Bar Italia - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=773fnQDq60I
7Ulcerate
Everything Is Fire


N.B. - Anything from this point upwards could feasibly have been number one.

The Kiwis' masterpiece, Everything Is Fire is basically all I could want from a death metal record, and quite a bit more. Monstrously heavy riffs and crushing atmosphere is one thing, but Jamie Saint-Merat's ridiculous drumming ability and the excellent way that Paul Kelland and Michael Hoggard intertwine their guitar and basswork truly puts this on a whole other plane.

Best tracks: We Are Nil - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgFY3wkNbYI
Withered and Obsolete - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnBBRx4YGVo
Everything Is Fire - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk2MZptsmdk
6The Cure
Disintegration


As soon as the synths break out in opener 'Plainsong', Disintegration grabs me like very few other albums do. Where the first half offers up at least something remotely resembling light, from 'The Same Deep Water As You' onwards, this is pure synthy bleakness. With the exception of the slightly less good 'Love Song' (which is still excellent), it's hard to find flaw with a single second of this.

Best tracks: Plainsong - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSaNXpD49Qw
The Same Deep Water As You - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA-RUfE1MOg
Disintegration - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Prpk5KKfBA
5BUCK-TICK
Kurutta Taiyou


A surging rock album, 'Kurutta Taiyou' is what happens when you take post-punk, J-rock, a smidge of goth and severe sleep deprivation and decide to make gold from it. It's not an instant love - Speed and Sakura stood out early on for me - but it all starts to come together gloriously. Catchy choruses and excellent guitar lines are found everywhere. For me, this album is the embodiment of 3 a.m. bursts of manic energy, where nothing is quite level, but everything seems so right.

Best tracks: Machine
Angelfish - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06rVwSH0rWQ
Sakura - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7__ZsHBJNo

Can't find a decent Machine, so Jupiter is a damn fine track too - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BvTBUGGyDU
4Fall of Efrafa
Inle


I wrote a review on this which basically puts my love for this album in much better perspective, so I will refer you to that instead of writing another monolith, but yeah - the perfect end to a stunning trilogy.

Best tracks: Fu Inle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2o0J8VHYfk
Republic of Heaven - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p1ffhSTeBo
The Warren of Snares - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18AiWl0zjZQ
3BUCK-TICK
13-kai wa Gekkou


Loosely based on Stravinsky's ballet 'Petrushka' (allegedly... I haven't seen it), Buck-Tick's '13kai wa Gekkou' is a fantastic mixture of theatre and music. Some of the most impeccably performed J-rock is interspersed with genuinely creepy atmosphere, and it's well worth looking up the lyrics to this as some of the imagery (particularly in Passion) is amazing. The live performance of this, 13th Floor with Diana, is the very final piece in a truly special jigsaw.

Best tracks: Ijin no Yoru - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8HY5L1P6_w
Passion - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esht4GgoV6Y
Romance -incubo- - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR2XtoRz9hE
2Cult of Luna
Somewhere Along the Highway


This album took ages for it to finally click with me. It was never an album I disliked (I wouldn't have listened to it enough if I did hate it), but I thought segments meandered, opportunities were wasted and the vocals were, frankly, a bit dull. However, this past 18 months, I've started to appreciate it as a compositional masterpiece. Through not listening closely enough, I missed the gorgeous layering, the hugely important drumming... 'Back to Chapel Town''s bassline. 'Dark City, Dead Town' is arguably one of the best things put to record.

Best tracks: Finland - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDtTI9ryibc
Back to Chapel Town - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGVizr0-WqU
Dark City, Dead Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvcdxObKQ6o
1Giant Squid
The Ichthyologist


Giant Squid's tale of a man losing his humanity to the sea is, quite frankly, an incredible work of art. Sitting loosely within the post-metal bracket, I suspect that's because trying to figure out where to actually put it would be far too much ballache. Aaron Gregory's hoarse musings and manic episodes are absolutely captivating, especially when used as a counterpoint to Jackie Perez Gratz's jazzy vocals. The variety, power and excellent instrumentation here means I still get excited about listening to this 5 years after my first time. If I had one desert island album, it'd be this.

Best tracks: Sevengill - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mst4S-0nv3I
Dead Man Slough - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwM1zXEgeA4
Rubicon Wall - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gn68oPCLv0
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