50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 | EP/Live/Compilation

10. Nostromo (CHE) – Narrenschiff

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

Sailing Narrenschiff (aka “Ship of Fools”) is like getting your ass kicked for 20 minutes straight by a bunch of deranged Swiss freaks. Nevertheless, this massive display of power never really gets out of control, just like an experienced fighter who always delivers his blows at the right moments. Nostromo’s 2019 EP mirrors maturity and capacity for synthesis without ever losing irreverence. It’s a relentless slab of European grindcore, whose lethal riffs, fierce vocals, and tight musicianship should not pass under the radar. –TheNoTrap

9. Sodom – Out of the Frontline Trench

[Official site] // [Spotify]

8. DJ Python – Derretirse

[Soundcloud] // [Spotify]

Latinx influence on popular music in 2019 is hard to overstate, but most online music discussion seems to circle back to maybe five different artists. Bad Bunny and Rosalia are certainly progress for the milquetoast AOTY lists, but there’s more work to be done, more artists to be recognized. DJ Python is one of them. Originally a techno artist, he has found success recently producing deep reggaeton, music that melts together traditional IDM stylings over dembow beats. With equal influence from Boards of Canada, early Kompakt, Miami Bass and reggaeton parties, DJ Python has created a genuinely refreshing sound, something anyone interested in electronica that moves at the pace of life should check out. Listen, relax, and keep looking. –granitenotebook

7. Benny The Butcher – The Plugs I Met

[Official site] // [Spotify]

The Plugs I Met is a pitiless display of remorseless entrepreneurship and relentless bars nestled inside hypnotically menacing beats of tinkling keys, muggy horns, and thicc bass. Benny The Butcher’s no-nonsense flows and rhyme schemes are so effortlessly fluid and polished, that it’s actually almost easy to dismiss the project as less impressive than it actually is. While it may sound like he’s barely breaking a sweat, Benny undeniably brings the heat. Also, “18 Wheeler” has one of the most monolithic and hard-hitting beats fucking ever. –Slex

6. Drei Affen – Seguimos Ciegxs

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

There’s something wonderfully paradoxical about Drei Affen’s sound. Though firmly rooted in emotional hardcore, its influences include bands that have taken wildly different approaches to the genre, from Orchid’s railgun-chaotic emoviolence to City of Caterpillar’s deliberately paced post-rock hybrid. As a result, the songs on Seguimos Ciegxs are all of average length, but feel simultaneously sprawling and abrupt — as if they can be alternately described as emoviolence epics or post-rock on amphetamines. But however you prefer to describe the end result, Seguimos Ciegxs is a stunningly well-written, face-melting slice of screamo that more than delivers on the promise of their 2016 debut. –hesperus

5. Elder (USA-MA) – The Gold and Silver Sessions

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

Normally known for their workings in the stoner rock-meets-doom departmentalisation, Elder have slowly but surely been shaping their sounds into pristine, fluid jams. The Gold and Silver Sessions is a building record, and its crescendos come fleetingly. Elder’s rather desert psych-rock meanders and floats around a core sound of expansive doom and hints of things to come as this Massachusetts group move towards another full-length. –Nocte

4. Tricot – Repeat

[Label site] // [Spotify]

Tricot have spent much of the last decade refining their chic brand of math rock from the emo-tinged energy of their debut T H E into something increasingly slick and stylistically diverse. For my money, Repeat is their most cohesive offering to date, a bold step forwards from 2017’s palatable 3 that smacks of great confidence in its impeccable sequencing, breadth of ideas, and newfound sensibility for vocal arrangements. The latter seems to be the magic ingredient that was missing from past Tricot albums; previously, they came across as a guitar band lucky enough to have a competent lead vocalist, but on Repeat they flesh out their vocal textures and harmonies with a depth and nuance I don’t think anyone saw coming. For the first time on a Tricot release, the instrumental section feels like a foundation and not the primary focus; the result is a deeply satisfying sound with ambitious songwriting and a keen sense of subtlety. Nowhere is this more apparent than on “Reflection”, an understated career highlight and one of the most sophisticated tracks you’ll hear from any math rock band playing today. As a whole, Repeat feels less like a low key game-changer for Tricot that prompts a cocked eyebrow in the direction of their major label debut, due out at the end of the month. Fingers crossed they’ll retain this level of inspiration and flourish. –JohnnyoftheWell

3. Burial – Tunes 2011 – 2019

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

Since Untrue, Burial fans have been begging for a new LP. That’s understandable, since many have copied the signature sound, but nobody has been truly successful. Anyone can insert vinyl samples, but nobody makes it crackle like a fireplace — except Burial. And while another album’s worth of music was dropped by 2013, it was just drippings after that. Brief singles marked skeletons of previous complexities, finding increasing listener disappointment. Some people wondered aloud if he would even come close to his former glory while the rest of us wondered in secret. Meanwhile, as always, Will Bevan was one step ahead. Consciously or not, a project was under construction that made any doubts of the ability to upscale completely falter. This is a massive compilation — two and a half hours of music — crossing numerous genres, and it all flows together somehow. I can’t emphasize this enough. This would have deserved praise if it was merely a compilation of Burial music, but it’s not. This is 150 minutes with a clear progression. Ambience flows into ghosts of beats, vocal samples slowly glitch themselves more and more into the forefront, teasing BPMs yet to come. “Hiders” marks the transition from emotional air to solid ground, as it was always meant to. Breakneck paces and rave beats carry much of the second act, with many fan favorites (ever) hustling forward. The finale consists of the earliest work of the decade, most closely resembling the garage and dubstep variants that gave the Burial name fame initially. Like all the best albums, Tunes 2011 – 2019 is, despite the characteristically humble name, much more than the sum of its parts, which would be and were worth plenty of recognition on their own. This recontextualizes some of Bevan’s most misunderstood work and presents a new light on Burial. It is the dissection and rehabilitation of origins, a passion project only made possible by someone who deeply reveres an era and was too young to experience any way but by proxy, and a love letter to fans and the future. –granitenotebook

2. Portrayal of Guilt – Suffering is a Gift

[Official site] // [Spotify]

If you locked a group of scientists in a room and told them they couldn’t come out until they had figured out how many different expressions of dissonance, anger, and chaos they could pack into 10 minutes of music, they would spend the rest of their lives in that room because anything they could create would pale in comparison to Suffering Is a Gift. –hesperus

1. Ghost (SWE) – Seven Inches of Satanic Panic

[Official site] // [Spotify]

A vibrant celebration of all things satanic, Seven Inches of Satanic Panic‘s colorful cover playfully expresses everything that makes this EP kick ass. Leaning into the psychedelic side of their recent pop stylings, they manage to infuse a sonic adventurousness that we haven’t seen at full blast since Infestissumam. While it may not reach the creative heights of that record or Meliora, it shows huge promise following what seemed like the logical end of their pop-metal journey in their most recent outing. Cartwheeling from buoyant choruses to unexpected chiming organs and synths, this EP makes clear that Ghost remain beyond simply lampooning genres to create anti-pop parodies, and it becomes the most exciting proof of their willingness to bend popular music to their will, instead of just clashing it against their heavy metal roots. –neekafat

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