bgillesp's 2018 Albums-OTY pt. 2
My top 101! Lotta work and listening went into this, but it was all a ton of fun, so no ragrets. Ranked for the most part but looser the farther you get from 1 or the fewer listens I gave it. ***Format*** rating.score (description) number-of-listens |
| 101 |  | Inferi (USA)
Revenant
3.9 (that poor, poor monster on the cover) 2 |
| 100 |  | The Armed
Only Love
3.9 (not quite my cup of tea, but it's easy to see this as pretty innovative and important for the metalcore genre) 2 |
| 99 |  | Bog Wraith
Omen
3.9 (riffage all around) 1 |
| 98 |  | Tierra Whack
Whack World
3.9 (late find for me and while I don’t think this is a *super* enjoyable listen, I definitely deserves a ton of respect for its innovation in style) 1 |
| 97 |  | Rolo Tomassi
Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It
3.9 (took a bit to grow on me and it still might) 2 |
| 96 |  | High on Fire
Electric Messiah
3.9 (some good ol' sludge-y stoner rock) 1 |
| 95 |  | Mouse On The Keys
Tres
3.9 (jazzy, mathy, trip-hop type stuff, really neat sound and well done too, thanks Dewi) 2 |
| 94 |  | Mestis
Eikasia
3.9 (super smooth instru-prog math metal wonder from AAL does it again with his best work since the debut EP) 2 |
| 93 |  | Rosalia
El Mal Querer
3.9 (right on par with LA imo, she went deeper into both the pop and flamenco realms with a really effective blend) 1 |
| 92 |  | Dr. Dog
Critical Equation
3.9 (this one really surprised me, super fun little psyched out indie piece that wont really will blow you away with innovation, but that’s not what they’re going for when they just want to make something fun) 4 |
| 91 |  | Kali Uchis
Isolation
3.9 (one of the best pop-RnB releases of the year, a few tracks really miss the mark but most are dead on) 2 |
| 90 |  | Trampled By Turtles
Life Is Good On The Open Road
3.9 (bluegrass>>>whatever you're listening to now, thanks Lefty) 3 |
| 89 |  | Pijn
Loss
3.9 (man this is some good post-rock/metal, it's heavy and entrancing, thanks Dewi and Sniff) 2 |
| 88 |  | Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids
An Angel Fell
3.9 (groovy jazz that you can sing along to, what else do you want?, thanks Sniff) 2 |
| 87 |  | Toundra
Vortex
3.9 (I like the proggy direction they took this but the moments of post rock are still their best) 2 |
| 86 |  | Arc Iris
Icon of Ego
3.95 (still super weird and more consistent than the last one, just without any super high standouts) 2 |
| 85 |  | Yves Tumor
Safe in the Hands of Love
3.95 (deep and haunting for the most part and the production is pretty great) 2 |
| 84 |  | Hail the Sun
Mental Knife
3.95 (best Circa Survive/Swancore imitation I've ever heard) 1 |
| 83 |  | Dead Can Dance
Dionysus
3.95 (grew on me a lot this one, just a very unique sound, thanks Dewi) 2 |
| 82 |  | Sons of Kemet
Your Queen Is a Reptile
3.95 (fresh jazz with some hip/trip-hop elements that make for a very nice listen, thanks Sniff) 2 |
| 81 |  | Lil Peep
Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 2
3.95 ("Why's everybody act like they care? Why does everybody f***** act like they care? I was dying and nobody was there.") 5 |
| 80 |  | Obscura
Diluvium
3.95 (definitely less inspired than Akroasis but still pretty great and it still has that tasty bass) 2 |
| 79 |  | Skeletonwitch
Devouring Radiant Light
3.95 (tbh I thought this was gonna be some cringey cheese fest but it actually slayed pretty hard) 1 |
| 78 |  | OddAtlas
OddAtlas
3.95 (some sort of fusiony jazz that is real nice, thanks Sniff) 1 |
| 77 |  | Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
Hope Downs
3.95 (good guitar music with surprisingly intricate guitar work) 2 |
| 76 |  | Maxo Kream
Punken
3.95 (dare I say greatest trap album of all time? probably not but for me it could at least be in the convo, awesome storytelling, worthwhile beats, still trap but it's darn good) 2 |
| 75 |  | At The Gates
To Drink from the Night Itself
4.0 (pushing top three ATG, cool to hear they went back to some of their earliest sounds) 2 |
| 74 |  | The Home Team
Better Off
4.0 (where all my pop-punk fans at?) 2 |
| 73 |  | Sulphur Aeon
The Scythe Of Cosmic Chaos
4.0 (exhibit A as to why you should wait until the year ends for these lists) 1 |
| 72 |  | Rich Shapero and Elsiane
Rin, Tongue, and Dorner
4.0 (production-wise, this is slower and a bit more bland than the work Elsiane normally do, likely due to Shapero's direction, but it is still quite entrancing and Elsieanne Caplett's voice still blows my mind) 2 |
| 71 |  | Tomb Mold
Manor of Infinite Forms
4.0 (good crushing death) 1 |
| 70 |  | Hop Along
Bark Your Head Off, Dog
4.0 (cool vibing indie from a super talented voice that really grits the emotions into it) 3 |
| 69 |  | Erdve
Vaitojimas
4.0 (well crafted blackened metal for the ears) 1 |
| 68 |  | Cursive
Vitriola
4.0 (please don't be sex offenders, please don't be sex offenders) 2 |
| 67 |  | Frog Eyes
Violet Psalms
4.0 (a Bowie-esque rocker that's just really nice and smooth, but also a little jerky and weird, thanks sammich) 2 |
| 66 |  | Voivod
The Wake
4.0 (these guys just keep killing it, one of the greatest careers in metal) 2 |
| 65 |  | Florence and the Machine
High as Hope
4.0 (songwriting wasn't perfect all the way through, but that voice, ughhh, some of her most passionate work over the course of an entire album, thanks Sowing) 4 |
| 64 |  | Melody's Echo Chamber
Bon Voyage
4.0 (super sweet French dream pop, nice and chilled out without being sickly, thanks Con) 2 |
| 63 |  | Emma Ruth Rundle
On Dark Horses
4.0 (good and dark stuff but I prefer Marked for Death) 2 |
| 62 |  | URSA
Abyss Between the Stars
4.0 (was a low 4 until the last track The Mountain blew me absolutely away) 2 |
| 61 |  | Wout Gooris Trio and Chisholm/Vann
Some Time
4.0 (unexpectedly awesome jazz album, thanks Sniff) 1 |
| 60 |  | Steep Canyon Rangers
Out in the Open
4.0 (great country with a lot of strings, country-OTY) 2 |
| 59 |  | Szun Waves
New Hymn to Freedom
4.0 (some subdued and mellowed out electro-jazz stuff, really cool and unique, thanks Sniff) 3 |
| 58 |  | Amorphis
Queen of Time
4.0 (crazy they've been this good for this long) 3 |
| 57 |  | Rivers of Nihil
Where Owls Know My Name
4.05 (such a frustrating album, normally I have a strong respect for death metal vocalists who can growl in an intelligible manner, but if you can, you need to make sure your lyrics are up to par and these can get cringey, awesome music behind it for the most part too, the jazzy bits are everything White Ward's 2017 debut should have been) 2 |
| 56 |  | Sangre de Muerdago
Noite
4.05 (spanish-celtic(?) dark folk) 2 |
| 55 |  | Dream Wife
Dream Wife
4.05 (grrrl punk with great lyrics, attitude, and energy, thanks Dewi) 2 |
| 54 |  | KEN mode
Loved
4.05 (did not expect this at all from a band named like this, I oughta check more from them it seems) 2 |
| 53 |  | Mid-Air Thief
Crumbling
4.05 (electro-dream folk is a sound that is a whole lot more unique than most of what’s been put out this year, so this is really neat) 2 |
| 52 |  | Denzel Curry
TA13OO
4.05 (some killer tracks for sure but just not quite all of them) 2 |
| 51 |  | Black Tongue
Nadir
4.05 (sludge x dxc x blackened djent? idk bob, but I am confused) 2 |
| 50 |  | The Necks
Body
4.05 (The Necks do The Necks, thanks Tacos) 1 |
| 49 |  | The Wonder Years
Sister Cities
4.05 (pretty awesome return for this legendary band I knew nothing about until last year's EP) 2 |
| 48 |  | YOB
Our Raw Heart
4.05 (really awesome doom album from long time veterans) 4 |
| 47 |  | noname
Room 25
4.05 (flows like Jean Grae but different soundscapes to match with the more playful vibe) 2 |
| 46 |  | Ancestors
Suspended in Reflections
4.05 (production may not be perfect, but gosh darn the writing an execution darn near are, this is flippin' good) 3 |
| 45 |  | Burial Invocation
Abiogenesis
4.05 (some really well done death metal here) 3 |
| 44 |  | Anna von Hausswolff
Dead Magic
4.1 (absolutely hated this on first listen but now I realize that was dumb, don't be a me, jam this and think it's good) 2 |
| 43 |  | Wild Hunt
Afterdream of the Reveller
4.1 (black metal out of nowhere with some really interesting elements in their overall sound, thanks Papi) 2 |
| 42 |  | Mol
JORD
4.1 (some really good blackgaze that I wish I got gotten around to more than twice) 2 |
| 41 |  | Tiny Moving Parts
Swell
4.1 (some of their best work yet in terms of consistency, especially great songs in Caution, It's Too Cold Tonight, etc.) 6 |
| 40 |  | Horrendous
Idol
4.1 (sounds to me like early In Flames crossed with Voivod and some OSDM band and I really dig it, not that heavy but the progressive tones are just so smooth) 3 |
| 39 |  | The Ocean
Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic
4.1 (is this the vocalist from Gemini Syndrome? jk but this is very good and had a really nice album structure, super jealous of how nice that box set vinyl package was) 2 |
| 38 |  | Gang Gang Dance
Kazuashita
4.1 (wild and crazy psych indie rock dream stuff, more genreless than anything really, check it cuz the crazies who gave it low ratings are Gang Gang Dunces, just picked up this CD yesterday) 5 |
| 37 |  | Jean Grae/Quelle Chris
Everything's Fine
4.1 (as an enjoyable listen this album does really well, but where it truly excels is as as artistic statement with its theme superbly developed over the course of the album, this deserves a higher ranking than 37 but there were just too many other great releases this year) 2 |
| 36 |  | IDLES
Joy as an Act of Resistance
4.1 (all of this is amazing musically and lyrically except when it isn't, this sticks in my head like crazy in a good and bad way, all this leans more heavily on the good though) 3 |
| 35 |  | The Slow Readers Club
Build A Tower
4.1 (holy crap is this post-punkish stuff catchy and fun and good, please get on these guys Sput, thanks Papi) 5 |
| 34 |  | Obliteration
Cenotaph Obscure
4.1 (back at it again finally with killer riffs and vibes) 2 |
| 33 |  | Tropical Fuck Storm
A Laughing Death in Meatspace
4.1 (post-punk straight from the looney bin) 3 |
| 32 |  | The Necromancers
Of Blood and Wine
4.1 (an amazing follow up to last year's debut that had a SOTY contender but wasn't quite consistent enough, this on the other hand continues the sound they had down well and adds some progressive elements while beefing up their consistency, nice work fellas) 5 |
| 31 |  | Bongripper
Terminal
4.15 (instrumental sludge is underrated, this rumbles around in your head like a monster, a real experience of an album, thanks Dewi) 2 |
| 30 |  | Jon Hopkins
Singularity
4.15 (so pretty) 2 |
| 29 |  | Shylmagoghnar
Transience
4.15 (dis dat good melo-black, like a fusion of Insomnium, Kalmah, and Nokturnal Mortum, been on this band since they blew up on youtube with their 2014 debut) 3 |
| 28 |  | Ill Considered
Ill Considered 3
4.15 (super smooth avant jazz pieces in here, apparently they released some other stuff I didn't get around to sadly, thanks Sniff) 3 |
| 27 |  | Nils Frahm
All Melody
4.15 (aahhhhh, it's almost like Ray Lynch got transported back to his heyday) 2 |
| 26 |  | Spectral Wound
Infernal Decadence
4.15 (some really freakin good black metal, this thing is big, epic, in your face, and gloriously powerful, thanks Papi) 2 |
| 25 |  | L.A. Salami
The City Of Bootmakers
4.15 (pure fun politically driven indie with a punk flair, just found this on CD too, thanks Papi) 4 |
| 24 |  | Sectioned (Metalcore)
Annihilated
4.2 (crazy stuff) 3 |
| 23 |  | Ambrose Akinmusire
Origami Harvest
4.2 (classical, jazz, funk, hip-hop, spoken word beat poetry, this thing has it all with a beautifully contemplative amalgamation of styles, thanks NPR) 1 |
| 22 |  | Panopticon
The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness
4.2 (awesome blend of the folky-bluegrass type sounds I hadn't experienced before with black metal, part 2 was a little better than 1 imo) 2ea |
| 21 |  | Ben Howard
Noonday Dream
4.2 (no highlights quite as good as IFWWW, but still a ton of great songwriting to be found here) 4 |
| 20 |  | Mournful Congregation
The Incubus of Karma
4.2 (funeral doom that isn't boring with a lot of prog metal-style guitar tones) 5 |
| 19 |  | mewithoutYou
[Untitled]
4.25 (up near their best, and it took a while to grow on me to the level of the EP but they're equal to me now) 5 |
| 18 |  | Deafheaven
Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
4.25 (doing just enough different to avoid becoming stale, they really just made this a more into a dream pop album and for the most part did very well with that) 5 |
| 17 |  | Birds in Row
We Already Lost The World
4.25 (one of the best metalcore/emo/hardcore/posthardcore/whatever-on-this-spectrum albums I've heard in a long while due to the killer basslines, thanks Papi) 3 |
| 16 |  | Son Lux
Brighter Wounds
4.25 (my most listened to artist of 2018 on Spotify, some of their most subdued work to date, but the compositions are still incredible, such an underrated artist/group, thanks Papi) 8 |
| 15 |  | Greyhaven
Empty Black
4.25 (sort of like ETID but fresher and cool in its own ways, SOTY contender in Echoes and Dust pt 1, _-core-OTY) 2 |
| 14 |  | Soccer Mommy
Clean
4.3 (soundtrack to something familiar and homey, quite comforting and dreamy while still remaining grounded, Scorpio Rising is near SOTY, thanks Dylan620) 3 |
| 13 |  | Beach House
7
4.3 (fuzzy gorgeousness that honestly seems like what they've been working towards their whole career, their crown jewel so far) 5 |
| 12 |  | Flying Horseman
Rooms/Ruins
4.3 (really interesting dark post-punk blues, etc. genre blend stuff that's pretty hard to describe but well worth your time, thanks Papi) 3 |
| 11 |  | Murder by Death
The Other Shore
4.3 (my review: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/78567/Murder-by-Death-The-Other-Shore/, one of the most unique releases from the year with a folk heavy base and tons of other influences piled on, the atmosphere and subtlety is great on this) 5 |
| 10 |  | Thou
Magus
4.35 (best I've heard from em that's for sure, although I'm now inclined to give their other stuff a more proper chance now since I'm not confident I have) 3 |
| 9 |  | Khemmis
Desolation
4.35 (equally great work from the classic soundings epic doomers who put out Hunted, love these guys) 4 |
| 8 |  | Shakey Graves
Can't Wake Up
4.4 (a huge improvement from his earlier work, not so much in songwriting or originality, but in cohesiveness and production, this album works together in a way that makes it his best flowing output yet with several SOTY contenders, Album Art-OTY, folk-OTY) 5 |
| 7 |  | Pusha T
DAYTONA
4.4 (real good, great production, awesome lyrics, and the perfect length to beg you to put it on replay, hip-hop-OTY) 6 |
| 6 |  | The Bamboos
Night Time People
4.4 (holy funk this is good stuff, like a modern EWF a la Spirit, ahhhhhh more people need to jam thisssss, admittedly the songwriting here is predictable and not the strongest suit of the album, but if this isn't the most fun vibing album of the year idk what is, several SOTY contenders, funkepop-OTY) 10 |
| 5 |  | Makaya McCraven
Universal Beings
4.45 (some jazz albums make you want to move, some make you feel, still others make you think, this however is one of those rare gems that, through its extensive journey, takes you through each of those, jazz-OTY, actually picked this up on CD yesterday too, thanks NPR) 4 |
| 4 |  | Nekrogoblikon
Welcome to Bonkers
4.45 (2018 was the year for self-aware metal it seems, not quite as musically amazing as Slugdge but maybe more conceptually entertaining and much funnier, Darkness is near SOTY, thanks BallsToTheWall) 9 |
| 3 |  | Rainbow Kitten Surprise
How to: Friend, Love, Freefall
4.55 (my review: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/77427/Rainbow-Kitten-Surprise-How-to-Friend-Love-Freefall/, several SOTY contenders here but mainly It's Called: Freefall) 10 |
| 2 |  | Slugdge
Esoteric Malacology
4.65 (prog death that knows how to not be too serious and really own their cheesiness, some really talented writing and playing, some SOTY contenders for sure, metal-OTY) 6 |
| 1 |  | Typhoon (USA-OR)
Offerings
4.95 (my review: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/75775/Typhoon-USA-OR-Offerings/, AOTY, Ariadne is my SOTY) 16 |
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