| 2019 |
| Hikes Mahal Kita | 3.5 |
| Pluralone To Be One With You | 3.8 |
| Lord Mantis Universal Death Church | 4.2 |
| Blood Incantation Hidden History of the Human Race | 4.3 |
| Vi Som Alskade Varandra Sa Mycket Det Onda. Det Goda. Det Vackra. Det Fula. | 4.5 |
| Sleep Token Sundowning | 2.3 |
| Chat Pile Remove Your Skin Please | 3.5 |
| Origami Angel Somewhere City | 4.0 |
| Hakushi Hasegawa Air Ni Ni | 4.0 |
| FKA Twigs Magdalene | 4.0 |
| Royal Coda Compassion | 3.5 |
| reliably pretty, which is about as much as one could expect from this band at this point |
| Wilderun Veil of Imagination | 4.0 |
| Stake Critical Method | 4.0 |
| Frail Body A Brief Memoriam | 4.3 |
this is really rather gorgeous skramz, has a slightly atmospheric tint to it (reminds me of Portraits of
Past, actually) |
| Chthonic Deity Reassembled In Pain | 3.4 |
| Alcest Spiritual Instinct | 3.3 |
| Norma Jean All Hail | 3.5 |
| Thornhill The Dark Pool | 4.0 |
| Coilguns Watchwinders | 4.0 |
| Navajo Witch Volume III: Season of The Witch | 4.0 |
| Caroline Polachek Pang | 3.0 |
| Patrick Watson Wave | 4.2 |
| gossamer threads as heavy as lead. very fascinating to view this album in light of older, more ornate work. |
| Common Holly When I say to you Black Lightning | 4.6 |
| Parting Ways Meant Well | 3.7 |
| BATS Alter Nature | 3.5 |
| DIIV Deceiver | 3.3 |
| Seizures Reverie of the Revolving Diamond | 4.8 |
| Jakub Zytecki Nothing Lasts, Nothing's Lost | 3.5 |
| Unfurl The Waking Void | 3.8 |
| Lazarus Reflex is a beast of a track, with all the shoegazey sludgy core goodness you could ask for |
| Cult of Luna A Dawn to Fear | 4.0 |
| JPEGMAFIA All My Heroes Are Cornballs | 3.4 |
| Alex G House Of Sugar | 3.8 |
| Parliament Owls A Span Is All That We Can Boast | 4.0 |
| Serpent Column Mirror In Darkness | 4.0 |
| Elle ... | 4.0 |
| Portrayal of Guilt Suffering is a Gift | 3.5 |
| meth. Mother of Red Light | 2.7 |
| WRVTH No Rising Sun | 3.5 |
| Tropical Fuck Storm Braindrops | 3.5 |
| Shadow Of Intent Melancholy | 3.5 |
| Oxx The Skeleton is Just a Coat Hanger... | 3.5 |
| Unprocessed Artificial Void | 3.0 |
| worth listening just for the moment the erhu kicks in on Abandoned |
| The Contortionist Our Bones | 3.2 |
| Sparrows Failed Gods | 3.5 |
| Lichmagick Lichmagick | 3.7 |
| Northlane Alien | 2.0 |
| Mylingar Döda Själar | 3.5 |
| Strange Ranger Remembering the Rockets | 3.2 |
| Rich Brian The Sailor | 3.5 |
| Tomb Mold Planetary Clairvoyance | 3.5 |
| Dorian Electra Flamboyant | 4.0 |
| Jeromes Dream LP | 4.0 |
| screw it, i actually like the vocals. apathy is my aesthetic |
| Jerome Dreams x | 3.3 |
| Joliette Luz Devora | 3.5 |
| Falls of Rauros Patterns in Mythology | 3.0 |
| to borrow from ramon, another nice entry in the Marston Cinematic Universe |
| Yellow Eyes Rare Field Ceiling | 3.0 |
| Prince Daddy and The Hyena Cosmic Thrill Seekers | 3.5 |
| Thom Yorke Anima | 3.8 |
| Shirokuma Clothes I Wear For The Space I'm In | 3.0 |
| Black Midi Schlagenheim | 4.0 |
| State Faults Clairvoyant | 4.3 |
| mfw i stayed away from this band because i thought i didn't really like the vocals but then sput hype actually ends up being right |
| This Gift Is A Curse A Throne of Ash | 3.5 |
| CHON CHON | 2.7 |
| feels more...sophisticated than their last one, as if the band are asserting themselves a bit further beyond just a typical chill summer sound |
| Chernaa Empyrean Fire | 3.5 |
| Skaphe and Wormlust Kosmískur Hryllingur | 4.5 |
| finally, the truly fucked-sounding icelandic bm release of the year |
| Andavald Undir Skyggðarhaldi | 3.6 |
| well this was a crushingly gorgeous (think: extremely thorny roses) album that i did not expect to discover. another win for the icelandic scene |
| Chat Pile This Dungeon Earth | 3.7 |
| Misthyrming Algleymi | 2.9 |
| Deathspell Omega The Furnaces of Palingenesia | 3.5 |
| Hayden Thorpe Diviner | 4.0 |
| for your health/Shin Guard Death of Spring | 4.5 |
| one of the best skramz releases of this year will be quietly going under the radar huh |
| Glassing Spotted Horse | 3.3 |
| Cult of Luna The Silent Man | 4.0 |
| Pile Green and Gray | 3.5 |
| Snooze Familiaris | 4.0 |
| Inner Space Visitor Floating Cloud Transportation | 3.1 |
| Sielunvihollinen Kuolonkylväjä | 3.3 |
| Numenorean Adore | 2.7 |
| Anderson .Paak Ventura | 3.5 |
| Hath Of Rot And Ruin | 3.5 |
| Fontaines D.C. Dogrel | 3.6 |
| Secret Band LP2 | 3.2 |
| Weyes Blood Titanic Rising | 2.7 |
| PUP Morbid Stuff | 3.5 |
| Periphery Periphery IV: Hail Stan | 3.5 |
| Latitudes Part Island | 3.5 |
| Blessed (CAN) Salt | 3.7 |
| Ceremony Of Silence Oútis | 4.0 |
| it's blackened death al dente, with structural integrity and just the right bite of melody |
| Friolento Destroy All Bad Luck | 4.3 |
| if this album had more content it would be an uncontested AOTY. but as of now it feels like a rough sketch of grief - still masterful in what it does display |
| Billie Eilish When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? | 3.2 |
| Billy Woods and Kenny Segal Hiding Places | 3.5 |
| OLAM I Will Guide Thy Hand | 2.8 |
| Windwaker Empire | 3.7 |
| An Isolated Mind I'm Losing Myself | 3.5 |
| Foals Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1 | 3.0 |
| Sinmara Hvísl Stjarnanna | 4.0 |
| Stella Donnelly Beware of the Dogs | 4.0 |
| Hozier Wasteland, Baby! | 3.0 |
| Vous Autres Champ du Sang | 3.5 |
| Varg (SWE) Evanescence (A Love Letter) | 2.9 |
| Happy Valley Happy Valley | 3.5 |
| Cara Neir Part III / Part IV | 3.2 |
| Shin Guard 2020 | 4.0 |
| Seer Vol. 6 | 3.0 |
| HEALTH VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR | 3.5 |
| Nuvolascura Nuvolascura | 2.8 |
| The Drowned God I'll Always Be The Same | 3.0 |
| Better Oblivion Community Center Better Oblivion Community Center | 3.5 |
| Two People First Body | 3.3 |
| The Twilight Sad It Won/t Be Like This All the Time | 4.0 |
| Mree The Middle | 3.5 |
| Mo'ynoq Dreaming in a Dead Language | 3.5 |
| 2018 |
| Acathexis Acathexis | 4.0 |
| Gudveiki Vængför | 4.0 |
| Existe Vivre et Laisser Mourir | 4.0 |
| Svartidaudi Revelations of the Red Sword | 3.5 |
| Cantique Lepreux Paysages Polaires | 4.0 |
| Milanku Monument du non-être... | 4.5 |
| Chapel of Disease ...And as We Have Seen the Storm | 3.0 |
| Azusa Heavy Yoke | 3.5 |
| Portrayal of Guilt Let Pain Be Your Guide | 3.5 |
| Imagine Dragons Origins | 1.0 |
| Cult Leader A Patient Man | 2.8 |
| Voices from the Fuselage Odyssey: The Founder of Dreams | 3.5 |
| The Ocean Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic | 3.5 |
| It Looks Sad. Sky Lake | 3.5 |
| Noise Trail Immersion Symbology of Shelter | 3.5 |
| Drug Church CHEER | 4.0 |
| Richard Spaven Real Time | 4.0 |
| Joji BALLADS 1 | 3.0 |
| Serocs The Phobos / Deimos Suite | 3.0 |
| Street Sects The Kicking Mule | 3.5 |
| Krukh Безглуздість! | 3.5 |
| Yuxa Yuxa | 3.5 |
| Neurosis vibes but also fun and engaging (which are terms I wouldn't normally apply to Neurosis, all respect notwithstanding) |
| Erosion (CAN) Maximum Suffering | 3.0 |
| imagine Baptists, but better and by better I mean sludgier/noisier/nastier |
| VOLA Applause of a Distant Crowd | 3.0 |
| Polyphia New Levels New Devils | 3.5 |
| Deadbird III: The Forest Within The Tree | 3.5 |
| Windhand Eternal Return | 3.0 |
| Ice Nine Kills The Silver Scream | 3.5 |
| Behemoth I Loved You at Your Darkest | 3.5 |
| yeah these titles are alarmingly close to "edgy teenager who learns how to keep an online diary" |
| Author and Punisher Beastland | 3.5 |
| Black Peaks All That Divides | 3.5 |
| Carpe Noctem Vitrun | 3.8 |
| High on Fire Electric Messiah | 4.0 |
| Cursive Vitriola | 4.0 |
who knew that we would get a new Cursive album in the year of our lord 2018
and that it would be arguably better than anything since The Ugly Organ |
| The Black Queen Infinite Games | 3.5 |
| this is lush and seductive and the production's dynamic, get on it |
| Horrendous Idol | 3.5 |
| Un Sentiment | 3.5 |
| Hail the Sun Mental Knife | 4.0 |
| hyped to see if this is as good as Wake, but i'll settle for Secret Wars-level too |
| Dodsrit Spirit Crusher | 4.0 |
| Toby Driver They Are the Shield | 3.5 |
| SUMAC Love In Shadow | 4.0 |
| Infernal Coil Within a World Forgotten | 3.5 |
| Horsewhip Horsewhip | 3.5 |
| Holy Fawn Death Spells | 3.7 |
| Low Double Negative | 4.0 |
| We Were Promised Jetpacks The More I Sleep The Less I Dream | 3.0 |
| Old Guard/Perfect Blue Split | 4.0 |
| Allfather (UK) And All Will Be Desolation | 3.5 |
| Yves Tumor Safe in the Hands of Love | 4.3 |
| The Nietzsche Finals. | 4.0 |
| Thou Magus | 3.5 |
| IDLES Joy as an Act of Resistance | 3.5 |
| KEN mode Loved | 4.0 |
| Jesus Piece Only Self | 3.0 |
| Leeched You Took The Sun When You Left | 3.0 |
| Exhalants Exhalants | 3.0 |
| noisy post-hardcore and 90s indie rock vibes, a fun time was had |
| Le Kraken De paille et d'or | 3.5 |
| Ancestors Suspended in Reflections | 3.8 |
| wonderfully expansive and dreamlike. probably the most gorgeous thing I've heard from 2018 |
| Convulsing Grievous | 3.5 |
| Earthists. Lifebinder | 3.0 |
| Delta Sleep Ghost City | 2.5 |
| ERRA Neon | 3.0 |
| Foxing Nearer My God | 3.5 |
| Mid-Air Thief Crumbling | 3.5 |
| Tides of Man Every Nothing | 3.0 |
| Plini Sunhead | 3.0 |
| overall, a more laid back, jazzy effort; Flaneur shows surprising groove from Plini |
| Frontierer Unloved | 3.5 |
| this is probably what your parents think all metal sounds like |
| Mutilation Rites Chasm | 3.5 |
| this slathers on the filth and more importantly brings on the riffs |
| Pale Pale | 4.0 |
| Deafheaven Ordinary Corrupt Human Love | 2.5 |
| Birds in Row We Already Lost The World | 3.5 |
| Churchburn None Shall Live... The Hymns of Misery | 3.5 |
| Imperial Triumphant Vile Luxury | 4.0 |
| ostraca enemy | 2.5 |
| Dwellings Lavender Town | 3.5 |
| Converge Beautiful Ruin | 3.5 |
| Night Verses From the Gallery of Sleep | 4.8 |
| There's an aura of mystery that keeps bringing me back to this. Also the production is amazing (almost feels cool to the touch) |
| Vein.fm Errorzone | 3.5 |
| Khemmis Desolation | 4.0 |
| Sophie Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides | 3.0 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Artificial Selection | 3.5 |
| Zeal and Ardor Stranger Fruit | 3.5 |
| Tomb Mold Manor of Infinite Forms | 3.5 |
| YOB Our Raw Heart | 3.5 |
| Lesser Glow Ruined | 3.5 |
| Spectral Wound Infernal Decadence | 3.0 |
| Owl City Cinematic | 2.0 |
| Split Cranium I'm The Devil and I'm OK | 2.5 |
| Baptists Beacon of Faith | 2.5 |
Listening to this puts me in a weird position - I think Beacon of Faith might be better than
Bloodmines, but it also has Baptists sounding like Converge more than ever...so what, exactly, are
Baptists? |
| Nequient Wolves at the Door | 3.5 |
| now this is what I wish Baptists were - furious, eclectic d-beat/sludge |
| Big Ups Two Parts Together | 3.5 |
| Chabanel Play Queue | 3.5 |
| Aeviterne Sireless | 3.0 |
| Jon Hopkins Singularity | 3.5 |
| Thy Catafalque Geometria | 3.5 |
| Arms / Seizures Split | 4.0 |
| The Armed Only Love | 3.5 |
| Royal Coda Royal Coda | 3.5 |
| Sectioned Annihilated | 3.5 |
| LLNN Deads | 3.5 |
| Boss Keloid Melted on the Inch | 4.0 |
| Inferi (USA) Revenant | 3.0 |
| TesseracT Sonder | 3.0 |
| The Canyon Observer NØLL | 3.5 |
| Yashira Shrine | 2.8 |
| The Reign of Kindo Happy However After | 3.5 |
| Garroted Of Damnation and Abyssal Terrors | 3.5 |
| Spanish Love Songs Schmaltz | 2.0 |
| Augury Illusive Golden Age | 3.5 |
| ITEM Sad Light | 4.7 |
| this sounds like the best aspects of all the indie records i like combined into one record and also doesn't sound like anything else i've heard |
| meth. I Love You | 3.5 |
| Coilguns Millennials | 3.5 |
| Replicant Negative Life | 3.5 |
| A Beacon School Cola | 4.0 |
| Bog Wraith Omen | 3.0 |
| Kid, Feral Live And Let's Die | 3.0 |
| Slaves BC Lo, and I Am Burning | 3.5 |
| melt-your-face pummelling that pulls no punches...satisfying for the masochist at heart |
| Greyhaven Empty Black | 4.0 |
| The Skull Eclipses The Skull Eclipses | 3.5 |
| Rolo Tomassi Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It | 3.0 |
| Slugdge Esoteric Malacology | 3.0 |
| Haley Heynderickx I Need to Start a Garden | 4.0 |
| Conjurer (UK) Mire | 2.5 |
| Lo Moon Lo Moon | 3.0 |
| Kero Kero Bonito TOTEP | 2.5 |
| Mahr Antelux | 3.5 |
| Thornhill Butterfly | 4.0 |
| Marijannah Till Marijannah | 3.5 |
| Basalte Vertige | 4.0 |
| Empress Reminiscence | 3.0 |
| Pole Younger Barren Scum Ethics | 1.0 |
| butcher, you're a very skilled artist. nice work |
| Son Lux Brighter Wounds | 3.0 |
| Erdve Vaitojimas | 3.0 |
| The Atlas Moth Coma Noir | 3.5 |
| Good Tiger We Will All be Gone | 3.0 |
| Justin Timberlake Man of the Woods | 2.0 |
| Greber Cemetery Preston | 3.0 |
| Portal ION | 3.5 |
| Aviations The Light Years | 3.0 |
| Djent-jazz fusion that comes out rather gorgeously. This'll satisfy those looking for a fix of adventure-filled, upbeat prog. |
| Night Verses Copper Wasp | 4.0 |
| Abigor Höllenzwang - Chronicles Of Perdition | 3.0 |
| Lil Goldberg and the Star Boyz White Hendrix Vol. 3: Filth | 1.0 |
| Coletta Mind and Time | 3.5 |
| 2017 |
| Brockhampton SATURATION III | 2.5 |
| Jakub Zytecki Ladder Head | 3.5 |
| Intervals The Way Forward | 2.5 |
| Almyrkvi Umbra | 3.0 |
| Thantifaxath Void Masquerading as Matter | 3.5 |
| Genevieve Regressionism | 4.0 |
| YLVA M E T A | 3.5 |
| Desolate Shrine Deliverance from the Godless Void | 3.5 |
| Hail the Sun Secret Wars | 4.4 |
| The Dreadnoughts Foreign Skies | 4.5 |
| i NEED to see this band live, you can tell that this drunken (but also occasionally sombre/sober) folk punk will make for a fun time |
| Hobo Johnson The Rise of Hobo Johnson | 1.0 |
| Maroon 5 Red Pill Blues | 1.0 |
| Joji In Tongues | 2.0 |
| Converge The Dusk in Us | 3.5 |
| Malokarpatan Nordkarpatenland | 3.5 |
| Leeched Nothing Will Grow from the Rotten Ground | 3.5 |
| Ne Obliviscaris Urn | 4.0 |
| Rina Sawayama RINA | 4.0 |
| Common Holly Playing House | 4.0 |
| Yellow Eyes Immersion Trench Reverie | 3.0 |
| God Mother Vilseledd | 3.0 |
| Amenra Mass VI | 4.5 |
| Drive45 Have You Seen Me? | 4.5 |
| St. Vincent Masseduction | 2.5 |
| Dodsrit Dödsrit | 3.0 |
| Spectral Voice Eroded Corridors of Unbeing | 3.5 |
| Small Leaks Sink Ships Golden Calf | 3.0 |
| Lo! Vestigial | 3.5 |
| Nesseria Cette érosion de nous-mêmes | 3.5 |
| Iglooghost Neo Wax Bloom | 4.0 |
| Chelsea Wolfe Hiss Spun | 3.5 |
| Circa Survive The Amulet | 3.5 |
| Sutrah (CAN) Dunes | 3.5 |
| Implore Subjugate | 3.5 |
| Antarktis Ildlaante | 3.5 |
| Moses Sumney Aromanticism | 4.0 |
| Sufferer Sufferer | 4.0 |
| Drouth Knives, Labyrinths, Mirrors | 3.5 |
| Caligula's Horse In Contact | 3.0 |
| Peach Pit Being So Normal | 4.0 |
| Glassing Light and Death | 4.0 |
| this is remarkably overlooked - unearthly fusion of sludge, atmospheric BM, and the drive of post-hardcore. |
| Yves Tumor Experiencing the Deposit of Faith | 3.0 |
| Phoebe Bridgers Stranger in the Alps | 3.5 |
| Pardoner Uncontrollable Salvation | 3.5 |
| Helpless Debt | 4.0 |
| White Moth Black Butterfly Atone | 3.5 |
| Tera Melos Trash Generator | 3.0 |
| Leprous Malina | 4.0 |
| Grizzly Bear Painted Ruins | 3.5 |
| Gang of Youths Go Farther in Lightness | 3.5 |
| Speech Patterns Without a Sound | 4.0 |
| Kesha Rainbow | 3.0 |
| Cormorant Diaspora | 3.5 |
| A twisting behemoth of an album, working within the frameworks of patience and anticipation. Grand in scope and theme. |
| Pyrrhon What Passes for Survival | 3.5 |
| Milo Who Told You To Think??!!?!?!?! | 4.0 |
| Hell (USA) Hell | 3.5 |
| Young Lions Mr. Spaceman | 3.5 |
| Converge I Can Tell You About Pain | 4.0 |
| Rings of Saturn Ultu Ulla | 2.0 |
| Less Art Strangled Light | 3.0 |
| Dvne Asheran | 4.2 |
| Sarin (CAN) Darker Lakes | 3.0 |
| Sinmara Within the Weaves of Infinity | 3.5 |
| Polyphia The Most Hated | 2.0 |
| Foster the People Sacred Hearts Club | 2.5 |
| Serpent Column Ornuthi Thalassa | 3.0 |
| Jakub Zytecki Feather Bed | 3.5 |
| Wren (UK) Auburn Rule | 3.0 |
| Plini Singles (2012-2014) | 4.0 |
| Jute Gyte Oviri | 2.5 |
| Beyond the Woods Roots | 2.5 |
| Sivu Sweet Sweet Silent | 3.5 |
| Tchornobog Tchornobog | 3.0 |
| Sir Sly Don't You Worry, Honey | 3.0 |
| Kafirun Eschaton | 3.5 |
| CHON Homey | 3.3 |
| Zeta (UK) Zeta | 3.5 |
| Get on your groove, get ready to move, there's nothing more I need to prove |
| Bestia Arcana Holokauston | 3.8 |
| Brockhampton SATURATION | 2.5 |
| Stevens/Dessner/Muhly/McAlister Planetarium | 3.5 |
| Meandering gorgeousness with a touch of mythology. The only enemy is my attention span. |
| Necrot Blood Offerings | 3.5 |
| Hikes Lilt | 3.5 |
| Eidola To Speak, to Listen | 3.0 |
| '68 Two Parts Viper | 3.5 |
| Mutoid Man War Moans | 3.5 |
| Elder (USA-MA) Reflections of a Floating World | 3.5 |
| Smidley Smidley | 3.5 |
| Time Lurker Time Lurker | 3.5 |
| Wode Servants of the Countercosmos | 3.0 |
| Au-Dessus End of Chapter | 3.0 |
| Demen Nektyr | 3.2 |
| White Ward Futility Report | 3.0 |
| Son Lux Remedy | 3.0 |
| Voyager Ghost Mile | 3.0 |
| Wormwitch Strike Mortal Soil | 3.5 |
| Philippe B La grande nuit vidéo | 4.0 |
| A Lot Like Birds DIVISI | 3.0 |
| The Ruins of Beverast Exuvia | 3.5 |
| Frail Body those that left those that remain | 3.5 |
| Portrayal of Guilt Portrayal of Guilt | 4.0 |
| Tetrafusion Dreaming Of Sleep | 3.5 |
| Progressive metal/rock that somehow feels cool to the touch. |
| Blessed (CAN) II | 4.0 |
| The Hallowed Catharsis Solar Cremation | 4.0 |
| Artificial Brain Infrared Horizon | 3.5 |
| IU Palette | 3.5 |
| Post War Glamour Girls Swan Songs | 4.5 |
| Dynfari The Four Doors of the Mind | 2.5 |
| The Chainsmokers Memories...Do Not Open | 1.0 |
| Ulver The Assassination of Julius Caesar | 3.5 |
| Stella Donnelly Thrush Metal | 4.0 |
| Somi Petite Afrique | 3.5 |
| Devouring Star Antihedron | 3.0 |
| Rebirth of Nefast Tabernaculum | 3.5 |
| Pallbearer Heartless | 4.0 |
| Malebranche Enlisé | 2.0 |
| Fit for an Autopsy The Great Collapse | 3.5 |
| Venenum Trance of Death | 3.5 |
| Glad Hand Be Kind | 3.0 |
| More quirky art-pop from the group formerly known as Fun Adults. Honestly, I think I liked the Fun Adults singles more, but this ain't half bad either. |
| IDLES Brutalism | 3.5 |
| Entheos (CAN) Le Zahir | 4.3 |
| non- non - | 3.9 |
| Locust Leaves A Subtler Kind Of Light | 3.5 |
| Disperse Foreword | 3.0 |
| Sunless Urraca | 3.0 |
| Cranial Dark Towers, Bright Lights | 3.5 |
| Sampha Process | 4.0 |
| Palehorse/Palerider Burial Songs | 4.0 |
| The Great Old Ones EOD: A Tale of Dark Legacy | 3.5 |
| Jacob Sartorius Last Text | 1.0 |
| Fleece Voyager | 3.0 |
| Shaarimoth Temple of the Adversarial Fire | 3.0 |
| Draugsol Volaða Land | 3.5 |
| The Drowned God Moonbearer | 3.5 |
| Adrift for Days A Sleepless Grey | 3.0 |
