Scuro's 2015 Ranked
It's been an interesting year, both in life and for music. Here's all the 2015 albums I've rated ranked. There wasn't a lot of albums that I was expressly looking forward to this year but I found a lot of cool stuff and a few surprises too, also managed to completely miss anything terrible from this year too besides maybe a couple quick encounters. Happy New Years everyone. |
| 34 |  | Cloudkicker
Woum
2.5 - Electronic - (I'm not too good with these 'electronic' genre tags so you're getting the most inclusive). Just a pretty average album overall, nothing terrible but pretty much only good for background music. Still, can't complain if this is the lowest point of my 2015. |
| 33 |  | Blood Gemini
Snow Season
3.0 - Electronic - Interesting album but again nothing special, it managed to bring me back a few times simply because there's a lot of different things going down and that makes it a bit elusive. |
| 32 |  | AGERASIA
Malice
3.0 - Deathcore - Loved their first EP, but unfortunately the band lost eveything that made that album so interesting for me. The clean production and constant variety gave the album that spark, the follow-up is your typical deathcore fare and its a shame they couldn't keep the dynamics. Now it's gritty production and chuggy chug chugs. |
| 31 |  | Trvth
Endurance
3.0 - I'm not quite sure what to tag this with, all I know is that it's a decent album but not quite my thing. Worth a listen though for sure and I come back to this one when I'm studying sometimes but again nothing piques my interest. |
| 30 |  | Stalingrad
Stalingrad
3.0 - Powerviolence - Yak's attempt at pv manages to be both interesting, effective and cliché - but it's exaclty what it intends to be, powerful and violent. |
| 29 |  | Doda Lov
Allt Vi Har Kvar
3.0 - Screamo - The pained vocals are divisive but the whole atmosphere of this album is really cool, and I dig the kind of subdued beauty of the intruments mixed with the utter despair of the thin screams. |
| 28 |  | Bleed the Pigs
Mind and Matter
3.0 - Hardcore/Powerviolence/Sludge - Really short album but it's great, however it's brevity does it in because there's no danger in it. No chance for the band to put themselves out there, build an atmosphere, or potentially grow stale so it's hard to gauge what might come next. |
| 27 |  | Disturbed
Immortalized
3.0 - Metal/Nu-Metal/Heavy Metal - I was really looking forward to this and pumped that the band were back, and I guess I still kind of am. Nostalgia. Unfortunately this album dashed those high expectations and manage to be incredibly average for the most part, cringe-worthy in some obvious places and great or surprising in others. The first few tracks and the Sound of Silence cover are stand-outs but at the end of the day it's not the come back I was hoping for. |
| 26 |  | Faith No More
Sol Invictus
3.0 - Alternative Rock - first time I've really delved into FNM and it was a perplexing experience. There's a lot of cool ideas and a couple excellent songs on this album but a huge chunk of it is aimless and sub-par. Nothing particularly bad either, just a lot of good-but-not-great rock. That said there's some lyrical phrases, vocal melodies and instrumental riffs that will get stuck in your head. "Leader of meeennnn". |
| 25 |  | Crooked Sun
Sick Songs
3.5 - Bedroom pop/folk/low-fi - Gmemberkills delivers again with another great EP. Seriously check this out guys, can't wait for the full length. |
| 24 |  | Caged Grave
Mortsafe
3.5 - Powerviolence - Caged Grave do what Caged Grave do, their over the top powerviolence is replicated once again. Band is consistently great, too bad it's their last outing. |
| 23 |  | Venomspitter
Live On WRIR 97.3 FM
3.5 - Hardcore - A live album that delivers. Theese can either be terrible or great and fortunately the production for this album is spot on regardless of it being recorded live. They really nailed this one and I'm excited to hear studio versions of these tracks sometime soon. |
| 22 |  | Lonney(s)
Kind Self
3.5 - Folk/Rock - I've said it before but this album sounds kinda like Opeth with an emphasis on their more melodic breaks and removal of the dm aspect, replaced instead with a haunting metal backbone that places more emphasis on aesthetic than aggression. |
| 21 |  | Deep Sands
Catalyst for Change
3.5 - Rock (I suppose?) - Bit hard to pin down what exactly this is but its unique and really well done. |
| 20 |  | Carnist
Hellish
3.5 - Hardcore/Death Metal - great album made even cooler by the misanthropic lyrics and pessimistic fuck-it-all attitude. |
| 19 |  | Erraunt
The Portent
3.5 - Black metal - I'm sure this was made by a sputnik user but I can't remember who or even verify that. Regardless, this is a really solid BM album that builds a lot of atmosphere and matches the album cover perfectly. |
| 18 |  | Sithu Aye
Senpai
3.5 - Electronic/Something Else (super specific I know) - I didn't expect to like this as much as I did but here we are. Sithu Aye create an album based on clichè anime score/soundtracks and it pays off, even if like me you're casual with your anime you can't help getting caught up in the positivity and energy of the tracks. |
| 17 |  | Goolagoon
Patrickviolence Demo
3.5 - Powerviolence - Actually rules despite how it looks, could've been better without the Spongebob samples between tracks but hey I'm not complaining, they add a certain levity to the album and the surf-rock influenced powerviolence is well worth it regardless. |
| 16 |  | Svffer
Empathist
3.5 - Powerviolence/Hardcore - Not as great as they're previous release but still very good. Fast and unrelenting, just the way it should be. |
| 15 |  | Thy Art Is Murder
Holy War
3.5 - Deathcore - I wasn't really feeling this one and it's certainly no 'Hate' but all in all its a solid release with a couple great tracks. What really kills it is the overall lack of diversity, songs tend to blend into each other and some of the energy is lost from previous albums. |
| 14 |  | Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp a Butterfly
3.5 - Hip-Hop - I didn't take to it the first time I listened to it like I expected, but months later and many spins afterwards my overall opinion wasn't swayed all that much. 3.5 sums up how I feel about the album, there are 5/5 tracks scattered throughout, but then you have overlong interludes and speeches that fail to resonate with me, and a bunch of merely 'okay' tracks in between. The production is fantastic though and I tried to feel the album live up to its hype but it never got there for me. |
| 13 |  | Venomspitter
Venomspitter
4.0 - Hardcore - Rules hard, Tom Araya-esque vocals over a super enjoyable hardcore backbone. |
| 12 |  | Axis of Light
L'appel du vide
4.0 - Black metal - A bit abrasive procuction wise (intentionally) but beyond that minor gripe the songwriting, riffs, and atmosphere of this album are excellent and it's certianly one of the best black metal albums of the year. |
| 11 |  | Elvis Depressedly
New Alhambra
4.0 - Bedroom pop/folk - Not quite as good as the previous album (which I consider their best so far) but this album continues on in that direction but with a fresh sound and slightly more upbeat vibe. |
| 10 |  | Misthyrming
Söngvar elds og óreiðu
4.0 - Black metal - It took me a little while to submerse myself completely into this release, mostly because it's quite different from what I've come to expect out of black metal, but for that very same reason it's also a fantastic and original album. |
| 9 |  | Bay Faction
Bay Faction
4.0 - Emo/Pop/Rock - really enjoyed this album and it quickly became one of my favourites. |
| 8 |  | Lindemann
Skills In Pills
4.0 - industrial - This album is so much fun I don't care what anyone says. Sure the lyrics are stupid and the music is straightforward but it's downright enjoyable. |
| 7 |  | Enslaved
In Times
4.0 - Progressive metal - A very diverse album this time, another excellent album by Enlaved. |
| 6 |  | Napalm Death
Apex Predator - Easy Meat
4.0 - Grindcore/Death metal - Utilitarian was better, but that doesn't take away from how good the follow up is or how consistently excellent Napalm are. This albumin a different beast from their previous alvum and I appluad the band for changing things up while remaining with their core sound. |
| 5 |  | Marduk
Frontschwein
4.0 - Black metal - album rules, Marduk doing their thing. Heavy, chunky black metal with death metal tendencies. |
| 4 |  | Hiatus Kaiyote
Choose Your Weapon
4.0 - Soul/Jazz - One of those albums I didn't realky know what to expect with or if I'd enjoy it but, well, here it is at number 4. Album is really enjoyable and expertly performed. "Borderline, with-a-my, my atoms" |
| 3 |  | Slugdge
Dim and Slimeridden Kingdoms
4.5 - Sludge metal - Thick oozy snail slimy album, beats Gastronomicon and that's saying a lot. |
| 2 |  | Cradle of Filth
Hammer of the Witches
4.5 - Black metal/gothic metal - This album surprised me by how much it blew me away. Whatever Cradle are doing they're doing it right. Did not expect to love this as much as I do. |
| 1 |  | Ghost (SWE)
Meliora
5.0 - Doom rock - Ghost do what they do perfectly and I'm very interested in seeing where they go next time. |
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