re-discovering the waterfront
non 2023 albums that I enjoyed this year, and a personal story (because the digital void is my therapist). a lot of these are previously unheard albums from bands I used to listen to years ago, and some are totally brand new discoveries |
| 1 |  | Volumes
Happier?
The past couple years have held some of the most rewarding moments listening to music that I have experienced since the early 2010's. 2021 - 2023 have been all about reconnecting with my roots and rekindling my love for music again. |
| 2 |  | A Static Lullaby
Rattlesnake!
I had a pretty varied taste in music while growing up, but 2000s post hardcore and metalcore was my first true love. It's the first type of music that truly brought out a lot of emotions in me, and inspired me to pursue creating music myself. |
| 3 |  | The Devil Wears Prada
Dead Throne
The late 2000s to early 2010s were my glory days for discovering this type of music, and as I continued to grow, my taste became more varied as I began to expand my horizons into other forms of metal, indie rock, electronic, hip hop etc etc... At the time I just had a boundless joy for exploring the fringes of what the human brain could conceptualize as "music". |
| 4 |  | Blessthefall
Awakening
I can't even comprehend the amount of time I spent as a teen, staying up until 3 in the morning buried neck deep in /mu/ sharethreads and sketchy mediafire links. just having the best time and rocking out on the family computer. |
| 5 |  | From Autumn to Ashes
Holding A Wolf By The Ears
but flash forward to around 2013/14, I started to become heavily involved in the local hardcore punk scene. I was young, impressionable, an had a terrible longing for approval and acceptance. I began to shed my old skin and morph into something more palatable for the crowd I surrounded myself with. |
| 6 |  | Bring Me the Horizon
Sempiternal
Cries of internal strife and misunderstanding were replaced by antagonist calls to action against cops, rats, posers, and the wealthy. Swoopy bangs and skinny jeans were replaced by doc martens and torn Minor Threat t shirts. |
| 7 |  | The Amity Affliction
Chasing Ghosts
The music I once loved was now deemed "cringe" and "immature", and as the years went by I started to become increasingly aware of the hardcore scene's obsession with tough guy culture and strange disdain for any emotion or mode of expression outside of anger. sadness was unproductive, and therefore useless. |
| 8 |  | Silverstein
This Is How the Wind Shifts
maybe it's because sadness never toppled a regime or lit the fires of a revolution. or maybe it's because our dads told us to quit actin like a girl too many times until we became cold and emotionally unavailable, even to ourselves. |
| 9 |  | Senses Fail
Renacer
but alas, I was in a hardcore band, touring the US and playing hardcore gigs, so hardcore is what I listened to. |
| 10 |  | Alexisonfire
Watch Out!
I hit a really rough spot around 2018 - 2021 where I almost completely lost all interest in music. I fell out of the loop with new releases and replaced most of time spent listening to music with consuming podcasts and other forms of video based media. |
| 11 |  | Darkest Hour
Godless Prophets and the Migrant Flora
I would open my music player and stare blankly at my library, thinking to myself, "damn, I don't want to listen to ANY of this shit". Every time I hung out with my best friend and he busted out the bluetooth speaker, he would ask me, "you got any new shit to put on?", and every time I had the same response. "Nahh not really." |
| 12 |  | Souveneer
Sleep Study
The truth is I was just getting bored of listening to the same shitty punk demo in a different costume over and over again, and pretending I was into it because at the time, that is what I had based my entire life and identity around. |
| 13 |  | Artifex Pereo
Time in Place
I can't exactly pinpoint the moment when the rusted gears of my musical reawakening started turning, but it was around the time I started to hear things like Vein's "Errorzone" and Code Orange's "Underneath". The brief clean vocal sections and chaotic heavy breakdowns sounded familiar and comforting to me. It was like pulling an old blanket out of the closet. |
| 14 |  | Oceans Ate Alaska
Disparity
I think what really set things in motion was hearing SeeYouSpaceCowboy's "The Romance of Affliction" in 2021. After that, all bets were off. I was sucked straight into a whirlwind, tracing myspace flashbacks via youtube searches and wikipedia hyperlinks. |
| 15 |  | As Cities Burn
Son, I Loved You at Your Darkest
That's what actually led me back to posting on this website again. I remember sputnik fondly from my youth, as a great place to discover new music through user created lists and database generated charts. |
| 16 |  | Skitsystem
Stigmata
I knew my friends in the hardcore scene would probably make fun of me a little bit for listening to that sort of stuff again, but I couldn't give a rats ass. I was enjoying music again for the first time in what felt like years. I was unlocking emotions that I forgot I had and it was so exciting. |
| 17 |  | Disfear
Everyday Slaughter
I have to stress that I still love hardcore and the scene that fostered me throughout my late teens and early twenties. This is actually one of my favourite discoveries of the year. I still play in a d beat band and my bandmate sent me both Skitsystem and Disfear as tonal references while we were recording and mixing our last album. I fell in love with both of them instantly. |
| 18 |  | The Story So Far
Proper Dose
I think the greater lesson here is that I learned to separate my social identity from the things that bring me pleasure. |
| 19 |  | On Broken Wings
Some Of Us May Never See The World
I am no longer a "punk" or a "hardcore kid". I'm just a dude that enjoys listening to music again, and I'm stoked to be catching up on all of the dope music that I missed while I was locked in the prison of my own identity. |
| 20 |  | Beloved
Failure On
TL;DR
Music is awesome. Don't let your social group or sense of identity dictate what is acceptable or not acceptable, or you will become sad and unsatisfied with life. |
| 21 |  | Thin Lizzy
Fighting
Wild One is peak music |
| 22 |  | Make Them Suffer
Old Souls |
| 23 |  | The Black Dahlia Murder
Everblack |
| 24 |  | Moral Collapse
Moral Collapse |
| 25 |  | Crystal Lake
Helix |
| 26 |  | TesseracT
Altered State |
| 27 |  | Born of Osiris
Soul Sphere |
| 28 |  | Staining the Twilight Black
Transforming the Myth |
| 29 |  | Johnny Truant
In the Library of Horrific Events |
| 30 |  | Codeseven
Dancing Echoes / Dead Sounds |
| 31 |  | Iwrestledabearonce
Hail Mary |
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