Top 50 LPs: 2021 (Mostly) Hardcore
These are my favorite 50 albums of the year. Did short write ups for the top 10, and critiques are welcome as this is the first time I've written about music in this context. Recommendations also welcome! |
| 50 |  | Ice Nine Kills
The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood |
| 49 |  | Sanguisugabogg
Tortured Whole |
| 48 |  | Silent Planet
Iridescent |
| 47 |  | Spiritbox
Eternal Blue |
| 46 |  | Armand Hammer and The Alchemist
Haram |
| 45 |  | Death Goals
The Horrible and The Miserable |
| 44 |  | Bruiser Wolf
Dope Game Stupid |
| 43 |  | KA
A Martyr's Reward |
| 42 |  | Trivium
In the Court of the Dragon |
| 41 |  | Injury Reserve
By The Time I Get To Phoenix |
| 40 |  | Mouth For War
Life Cast in Glass |
| 39 |  | Wise (CA)
The Essence |
| 38 |  | Phinehas
The Fire Itself |
| 37 |  | Frozen Soul
Crypt Of Ice |
| 36 |  | Enforced
Kill Grid |
| 35 |  | SeeYouSpaceCowboy
The Romance of Affliction |
| 34 |  | MH Chaos
MH Chaos |
| 33 |  | Tyler, the Creator
Call Me If You Get Lost |
| 32 |  | The Armed
Ultrapop |
| 31 |  | Kanye West
Donda |
| 30 |  | Time And Pressure
Halfway Down |
| 29 |  | Manchester Orchestra
The Million Masks of God |
| 28 |  | JPEGMAFIA
LP! (online) |
| 27 |  | Zao
The Crimson Corridor |
| 26 |  | Sanction (NY)
With Blood... |
| 25 |  | Gel (USA-PA)
Violent Closure |
| 24 |  | Ingrown
Gun |
| 23 |  | 200 Stab Wounds
Slave to the Scalpel |
| 22 |  | Vince Staples
Vince Staples |
| 21 |  | Converge
Bloodmoon: I |
| 20 |  | Section H8
Welcome To The Nightmare |
| 19 |  | Maxo Kream
Weight Of The World |
| 18 |  | Dead Heat
World At War |
| 17 |  | '68
Give One Take One |
| 16 |  | Regional Justice Center
Crime and Punishment |
| 15 |  | Erra
Erra |
| 14 |  | Portrayal of Guilt
Christfucker |
| 13 |  | MIKE
Disco! |
| 12 |  | Ekulu
Unscrew My Head |
| 11 |  | God's Hate
God's Hate |
| 10 |  | Scowl (CA)
How Flowers Grow
Ever since Gulch blasted onto the scene late 2019-early 2020, I have been following the bay area hardcore scene very closely. One of the newer bands coming up is Scowl. This band has a very niche aesthetic around flowers, happiness and pretty things. The music sounds like the opposite, it's heavy, abrasive, rough around the edges, and sometimes just straight up mean, but I think the two sides of this band coexist beautifully. I really love the addition of the saxophone in Seeds to Sow and the opening of Idle Roaming Room gets me moving everytime. Very excited to see where they can go from here and here's to hoping more bay area artists getting to the mid-west (I'm looking at you Gulch, two shows in the midwest your entire career then hanging it up, sad). |
| 9 |  | Dare (USA-CA)
Against All Odds
"Proud to be straight edge"
It's not revolutionary, it's not going to convert people to their cause, but that is a line that will stick with you no matter who you are. The way it's delivered on "Different Method" makes you really believe in them, and how important it is to them. Dare brings forth a straight edge message with their band that was much more relevant in the early 2000's, but the music is heavy, groovy, and fits right in with modern hardcore. |
| 8 |  | Shackled
Doubt Surrounds All
What is hardcore all about? To me, it's about bringing people together and releasing an anger or frustration you may feel. Shackled was able to bring these ideas together on a single record. Our Home, and All I Feared are certified hardcore bangers, they have the memorable lines, the heavy breakdown, the two-step bridge, and they're able to take a simple idea and execute it incredibly. |
| 7 |  | Citizen
Life In Your Glass World
Citizen always seems to perplex me when it comes to new records. I got into them with their debut LP, Youth, and it still is my favorite by them. Each subsequent album from that one, I was less and less interested in their sound; I liked Everyone is Going to Heaven, but they lost me with As You Please. Regardless, I was still looking forward to this record when it was announced and luckily, I wasn't disappointed. This albums blends the emo they've always had with a good mix of synths, dance and indie. I really enjoyed this album and I'm very excited to see them (twice) this winter. |
| 6 |  | One Step Closer
This Place You Know
In 2020, I got into this band really hard for the span of 6 months. At the time, they had a grand total of 7 songs released, so it was safe to say I was very excited when they announced their debut LP for 2021. I had extremely high expectations for this record and even though it may not have hit everything I was hoping it would, it's still a very solid record with very high moments. Specifically, the re-recording of Lead to Grey, Autumn, and Chrysanthemum. |
| 5 |  | Dying Wish
Fragments of a Bitter Memory
Coming into this album, I had little expectations, and what little expectations I had were ultimately blown to bits. I was expecting another plain-jane, basic metalcore album, and that may be what this album really is. But the basic metalcore formula is done so incredibly well here that it's hard to criticize it. The highlight on this record being "Enemies in Red" and my personal favorite riff of the year coming from "Blood Laced Misery". I don't think this band has realized their potential yet and if they can expand outside their comfort zone then I can't wait for what's next. |
| 4 |  | Every Time I Die
Radical
Who would have know 20 years after the release on ETID's first album, Hot Damn(!), the band would be dropping their best work to date. It's pretty safe to say Keith is pissed off on this record, from the pace and heaviness of All This and War, the screaming and pleading on AWOL, and the soft ballad of Thing with Feathers might be the best cool-down song I've heard. These songs do an amazing job of showing off the range this band has been able to keep up after all these years. Here's to 20 more years of ETID... hopefully. |
| 3 |  | Turnstile
Glow On
Glow On was a very polarizing album to the hardcore community. Whatever you categorize this as, the boys came out swinging with their strongest outing yet. This record didn't do much for me on my first few listens, and I thought Time and Space was better for a while. Now, listening to Time & Space makes me feel like Glow On was always the direction they were supposed to go. Once I really started digging into the deeper cuts like T.L.C, Dance-off, or Fly Again, things started to click. I can't get enough of this now and I'm excited to see them next year. |
| 2 |  | Between the Buried and Me
Colors II
Flashback to February 2020, I was supposed to watch BTBAM perform The Great Misdirect in full. Of course, everyone knows what happened next and obviously, it was postponed to August 2021. I was just ready to hear The Great Misdirect live (and it was really amazing), but I was overlooking some of their best work that was coming up. Looking back, that show felt like it defined the end of the pandemic for me. As far as the record goes, it's among the top tier of their collection; funky time signatures, incredible drumming work, vocal styles I haven't heard from them before. It's hard to compare it to the original Colors as I feel it defines two different eras of the band. Colors felt like a true metalcore epic, for it's time it's still genre defining, and obviously still holds up today. The production on Colors II however feels cleaner, more crisp and fresh. There may be more lulled moments on Colors II, but I believe when it's all said and done, this will be among the top tier. |
| 1 |  | Fiddlehead
Between the Richness
"No one cares, It's just a name, You are more than a degree."
I can't remember the last time lyrics on a record really felt like they put my emotions into words like this. There's always been a feeling I've had that no matter how hard I worked there is always that next step to take. Always feeling like my work or education needs to take a priority over my health. Recently, I've been feeling the weight of graduating college, feeling stuck or at a dead end, wondering what is next. Coming to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter what's next, it's about enjoying life for what it is.
Musically, it's on par with what Pat has done in his career, highlights being The Years, Heart to Heart, and Down University. The record doesn't feel like anything new from a post-hardcore perspective, nor is it really any new ideas from the band overall. Instead, it really feels like the culmination of all the work Pat and the rest of the guys have done over the years, to a formula that really works. |
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