MACHINE MUSIC PRESENTS: THE BEST METAL OF 2023
If you haven't partaken in the Machine Music AOTY Shitshow™ before (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), then it's basically a huge list of ridiculous categories that I made up, from which I choose the best of every made-up category. From then, through the force of advance metrics and algorithms (I think a lot), I conduct the final list. That's basically it.
The question of whether or not to try to continue with my dumb format (one that has, I have noticed, been successfully lifted by at least one other website, which I guess it means it's awesome) resurfaced in force this year. I don't feel funny now, I feel nervous, and afraid, and angry. So, given that's the reality, and given this blog has always been me kind of figuring shit out, it'll take that form. Apologies if you're not entertained – neither am I. I also realize whatever it is I have done with my list makes it, I dunno, less relatable? Not as "shareable"? Which I both recognize and don't care about (that's a huge lie, I love when people share my lists, but I'll take it). This place I have etched out in the world is for me to love music and deal with life, and this is me doing both.
Also, I just released the latest edition of my now five-year-old compilation series, MILIM KASHOT. I'm extremely proud of it and, if I may, extremely proud of actually getting it done given the circumstances. It has incredible music from even better people (Forlesen, Panopticon, Gnaw Their Tongues, a new Sleepwalker/Suffering Hour project and much more), and all the money goes to helping wounded animals. Yes, it is that cute.
As always, check out everything else I do in this dilapidated shack of a website, including interview projects and other cool shit. And if you'd like to keep abreast of the latest, most pressing developments follow me wherever (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and now also a tape-per-day series on TIK TOK!), and listen to my, I guess, active (?) podcast (YouTube, Spotify, Apple), and to check these amazing compilation albums. You can support my unholy work here (Patreon), if you feel like it. Early access to our bigger projects, weekly exclusive recommendations and playlists, and that wonderful feeling that you're encouraging a life-consuming habit.
This list is served in memory of Geordie Walker, the person who, whether he knew it or not (I suspect he might have) is responsible for 90 percent of the music found in it.
PART I: THE CATEGORIES
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE WHAT MY CHEST FEELS LIKE WHEN I FEEL WAR COMING STANDING IN MY HOUSE THE FLOOR DROPPING FROM UNDER MY FEET BLOOD RUNNING FROM MY LEGS WISHING I HAD BEEN RUN OVER BY A CAR A MIX OF LOVE FOR THOSE WHOM I LOVE AND BLACK DREAD THE BIRDS CHIRPING OUTSIDE BUT THEY FEEL LIKE KNIVES
Bríi – Último Ancestral Comum (Independent) – TOP PICK
Crawl – Damned (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK
Trhä – §ºanΩë aglivajsamë cá nëlh¶iha i eddana pi¶e (Independent) – TOP PICK
Ûkcheânsâlâwit – Mjijaqamij (His Wounds) – TOP PICK
Cicada The Burrower – Blight Witch Regalia (Blue Bedroom Records)
Yellow Eyes – Master's Murmur (Independent) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO HEAR AN AIR-RAID SIREN GO OFF AND THEN IMMEDIATELY LOOK AT YOUR KIDS' FACES AND THINKING ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU ARE IN THAT MOMENT SCARED TOO IN THAT KID WAY – THAT THIS IS IN YOUR BONES THIS FEAR AND THAT YOU CAN SEE IT IN THEIR FACES IN THE WAY THEY MOVE AND THE SPEAR-LIKE GUILT OF ALLOWING THESE DARK SHAPES TO TWIST BOTH YOUR SOULS TOGETHER
Bekor Qilish – The Flesh of a New God (I, Voidhanger Records)
HWWAUOCH – Under the Gaze of Dissolution (Amor Fati Productions) – TOP PICK
Kostnatění – Úpal (Willowtip Records) – TOP PICK
Ulthar – Anthronomicon/Helionomicon (20 Buck Spin) – TOP PICK
Impetuous Ritual – Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK
Dryad – The Abyssal Plain (Prosthetic Records) – TOP PICK
Nekus – Sepulchral Divination (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) – TOP PICK
Acausal Intrusion – Panpsychism (I, Voidhanger Records)
Vertebra Atlantis – A Dialogue with the Eeriest Sublime (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE ELATION THE BEAUTY OF FORGETTING EVEN FOR A FEW MINUTES WHERE I LIVE AND WHAT KILLS MY SOUL USUALLY INVOLVING ME LISTENING TO MUSIC AND OR WRESTLING WITH MY KID ON THE SOFA OR SEEING THEM LAUGH AS IF EXPRESSING UNBRIDLED HAPPINESS AS IT JUST ERUPTS BECAUSE YOU'RE BEEING SILLY OR BECAUSE THEY'RE JUST HAPPY IMMEDIATELY MORPHS THEM INTO THEIR BABY FACE HOW THEY WERE WHEN THEY WERE BABIES. IT ALWAYS ENDS.
Рожь – Всё (Reflection Nebula)
Afsky – Om hundrede år (Eisenwald) – TOP PICK
Iravu – A Fate Worse Than Home (Vita Destibilitis / Fiadh Productions)
Ossaert – Offerdier (Argento Records) – TOP PICK
Aara – Triade III: Nyx (Debemur Morti Productions)
Spectral Lore – 11 Days (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK
Loather – Eis (Vendetta Records)
Echushkya – Twilight Murmuration (Independent)
Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze – The Fractal Ouroboros (Fiadh Productions / Vita Detestabilis Records) – TOP PICK
Fen – Monuments to Absence (Prophecy Productions)
THEB BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE FUNCTION OF ART IN MAKING US REALIZE WHAT REAL LIFE IS ACTUALLY NOT LIKE THE SWEET NARRATIVES WE WEAVE FOR OURSELVES AND FOR OUR EGOS BUT THE SLOW VIOLENT CURRENT OF NO MEANING NO GOAL NO END THAT CAN AND WILL EAT US WITHOUT A MOMENT'S NOTICE AND THEN WHEN IT DOES LIFE JUST GOES ON AND HERE I QUOTE THE GREAT HERMAN MELVILLE THEN ALL COLLAPSED AND THE GREAT SHROUD OF THE SEA ROLLED ON AS IT ROLLED FIVE THOUSAND YEARS AGO
夢遊病者 – Skopofoboexoskelett (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) – TOP PICK
Gnaw Their Tongues – The Cessation of Suffering (Consouling Sounds)
Primitive Man and Full of Hell – Suffocating Hallucination (Closed Casket Activities) – TOP PICK
Bedouin Temple – Bedouin Temple (HauRucK!)
Myaelin – Naesekhnaetri (I, Voidhanger Records)
Fawn Limbs & Nadja – Vestigial Spectra (Wolves and Vibrancy / Roman Nvmeral / Sludgelord)
Dead Neanderthals – Specters (Utech Records) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE REALIZATION THAT MY FEAR OF VIOLENCE OF THE VIOLENCE SUFFERED BY MY PARENTS AND BY MY GRANDPARENTS AD INFINITUM IS MANIFESTING IN THE REAL WORLD AS VIOLENCE AGAINST OTHERS, OTHERS WHO ARE AS SCARED AS YOU – IF NOT MORE – AND WHO THEMSELVES LIVE UNDER THE SPECTER OF GENERATIONAL HORROR THAT YOU ARE ENTANGLED NOT ONLY IN YOUR OWN PAST AND PAIN AND HEREDITARY LINES OF PAIN BUT IN OTHERS' AS WELL AND THAT THIS IS NEVER ENDING AND WILL CONSUME YOU
Oldest Sea – A Birdsong, A Ghost (Independent) – TOP PICK
Martina Bertoni – Hypnagogia (Karlrecords) – TOP PICK
Sister Grotto & Yarrow – Song for an Unborn Sun (The Flenser)
Mouth Wound – Nothing Will Belong to Us (Brucia Records)
The Keening – Little Bird (Relapse Records) – TOP PICK
Kali Malone (featuring Stephen O’Malley & Lucy Railton) – Does Spring Hide Its Joy (Ideologic Organ) – TOP PICK – HIGH
Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter – Saved! (Perpetual Flame Ministries) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE RUNNING TO THE BOMB SHELTER
Sonic Poison – Eruption (Me Saco Un Ojo Records)
Closet Witch – Chiaroscuro (Zegema Beach Records, Moment of Collapse Records, Circus Of The Macabre Records)
Gravesend – Gowanus Death Stomp (20 Buck Spin) – TOP PICK
Egregore – Synchronistic Delusions (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
fromjoy – fromjoy (dontstress//flowerpress) – TOP PICK
Cognizant – Inexorable Nature of Adversity (Nerve Altar) – TOP PICK
Chepang – Swatta (Selfmade God Records / GCBT Records)
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT RE RAGING AGAINST THE MATERIAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD LEAD ONE TO BEING IN A BOMB SHELTER
Jerome's Dream – The Grey in Between (Microspy / Iodine Recordings) – TOP PICK
Gel – Only Constant (Convulse Records)
Portrayal of Guilt – Devil Music (Run for Cover Records) – TOP PICK
Katz'on La'tevach – Void (Taklitim Holim / Agonía de Vivir) – TOP PICK
Scalp – Black Tar (Closed Casket Activities)
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE ME DAYDREAMING ABOUT LIVING IN THE U.S. OR FRANCE OR EVEN NEW ZEALAND OR SOME FOREIGN SHIT LIKE THAT AND JUST DRIVING TO THE MARKET IN THOSE WIDE LANES AND GOING INTO THE STORE NOT CARING ABOUT ANY OF THIS OBSCENE BULLSHIT THAT HAS BEEN DOMINATING MY CONSCIOUSNESS EVERY SECOND OF MY LIFE AND YET EVEN THERE I BET I WOULD OBSSES OVER THE NEWS BUT FUCK IT MY KIDS WOULD BE SAFE UNLESS SOME CRAZY GUNMAN SHOOTS THE PLACE WHICH IS ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY MY GOD
Sunrot – The Unfailing Rope (Prosthetic Records)
Witte Wieven – Dwaallict (Babylon Doom Cult Records) – TOP PICK
Anatomy of Habit – Black Openings (Independent) – TOP PICK
Khanate – To Be Cruel (Scared Bones Records)
Miserere Luminis – Ordalie (Sepulchral Productions)
A Constant Knowledge of Death – Dissecting a One-Winged Bird (Independent) – TOP PICK
Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean – Obsession Destruction (Redscroll Records)
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE BEING ALONE AT THE HOUSE THE KIDS ARE AT SCHOOL (FOR THE COUPLE OF DAYS THEY ACTUALLY GO TO SCHOOL) THE BABY IS ASLEEP (HIS KINDERGARTEN DOESN'T HAVE A BOMB SHELTER AND WE'RE NOT TAKING ANY CHANCES) AND THERE'S A COOL AUTUMN BREEZE COMING IN THROUGH THE LIVING ROOM WINDOW AND ALL I CAN THINK OF IS ME BEING DEAD AND THEM BEING DEAD
Hexer – Abyssal (Crawling Chaos) – TOP PICK
Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant for Us (Prosthetic Records)
Slow – Implode (Aural Music) – TOP PICK
Miasma of Occvlt Limbs – Occvlta Caerimonia Putridvm (Independent)
Tideless – Eyes of Water (Chaos Records) – TOP PICK
Bell Witch – Future's Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK
Gateway – Galgendood (Transcending Obscurity Records)
Convocation – No Dawn For The Caliginous Night (Everlasting Spew Records)
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE ME UP AT NIGHT EVERYONE'S ASLEEP WE JUST GOT BACK FROM A SIREN-TYPE EPISODE AND I CAN'T RELAX ALLOWING ALL MANNER OF HORRIFIC THOUGHTS TO DOMINATE MY MIND OBSESSING OVER VIOLENT DETAIL OF SOME HORRIBLE FANTASY AS IF THAT SHIT GAINS ME ANY KIND OF CONTROL OVER CHAOS AS I'M BETTER PREPARED FOR DOOM WHEN I CONJUR IT UP MYSELF WHEN I HURT MYSELF AHEAD OF IT
Oozing Wound – We Cater to Cowards (Thrill Jockey Records)
KEN Mode – Void (Artoffact Records)
Intercourse – Halo Castration Institute (Redscroll Records)
Lanayah – I'm Picking Lights in a Field… (Drongo Tapes) – TOP PICK
Great Falls – Objects Without Pain (Neurot Recordings) – TOP PICK
Body Void – Atrocity Machine (Prosthetic Records) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE ME BEING REMINDED IN THE POWER OF MUSIC TO BREAK EVEN THE HARDEST MENTAL CONCRETE AND MAKE YOU BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE MIRACLES THAT THE ABILITY TO TRANSCEND A PHYSICAL ANCHOR IS REAL EVEN IF IT DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT THAT ANCHOR AND HOW HARD IT CRUSHES AND THEY ALSO RULE
Entropia – Total (Agonia Records)
Liturgy – 93696 (Thrill Jockey Records) – TOP PICK
Krallice – Porous Resonance Abyss (P2) – TOP PICK
Furia – Huta Luna (Pagan Records) – TOP PICK
Victory Over the Sun – Dance You Monster to My Soft Song! (Independent)
Skin Tension – Celebrant (Independent) – TOP PICK
Thantifaxath – Hive Mind Narcosis (Dark Descent Records)
Jute Gyte – Unus Mundus Patet (Independent) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT DESPITE THIS AOTY LIST GOING SUPER REAL ON SOME PERSONAL SHIT THIS STILL GOING TO GET THE PROG-IS-NERD-MUSIC TREATMENT BECAUSE IT'S AMAZING MUSIC MADE BY FUCKING NERDS
Fleshvessel – Promethean Fates Sealed (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK
Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit (20 Buck Spin) – TOP PICK
Contrarian – Sage of Shekhinah (Willowtip)
Baring Teeth – The Path Narrows (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK
Florid Ekstasis – Trepanning (Independent) – TOP PICK
Horrendous – Ontological Mysticism (Season of Mist) – TOP PICK
Demoniac – Nube Negra (Edged Circle Productions)
Thy Catafalque – Alföld (Season of Mist)
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT REMIND ME OF MY FRIENDS – IN THIS CASE CALDER HANNAN WHO OBSESSES SO HARD OVER WHAT'S DISSONANT AND WHAT'S NOT IT REALLY IS KIND OF CUTE. BUT BEING REMINDED OF HIM AND THE FRIENDS I HAVE MADE ALL OVER THE WORLD JUST BECAUSE I WRITE BADLY ABOUT MUSIC IS A VERY RARE SOURCE OF LIGHT IN MY LIFE SHOUT OUT TO CAIO, ALEX, LEV, JOSH, TOMMIE, RYAN, DAN, MIGUEL, LOEK AND ALL YOU COOL PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO CARE ABOUT ME AND MY DUMB SHIT IT'S IRONIC CALDER'S BAND ISN'T IN THIS CATEGORY WHAT A SHIT SHOW OF A LIST (CHECK OUT FLORID EKSTASIS)
Anachronism – Meanders (Unorthodox Emanations)
Teitan – In Oculus Abyss (Onism Productions) – TOP PICK
Mithridatum – Harrowing (Willowtip Records)
Wells Valley – Achamoth (Lavadome Productions)
Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift (Total Dissonance Worship)
Altarage – Worst Case Scenario (Doomentia Records) – TOP PICK
Rorcal – Silence (Sludgelord Records / Hummus Records)
Wyrgher – Panspermic Warlords (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK
THE ANNUAL AWARD IN EXCELLENCE IN BEING AUTOPSY BECAUSE THE VERY EXISTENCE OF AUTOPSY IS A LIFE BRANCH WE CAN ALL HANG ON TO CAN SOMEONE MAKE CHRIS REIFERT EMPEROR OR SOMETHING
Autopsy – Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts (Peaceville Records) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE AIGHT OPENING A NEW CATEGORY FOR THESE TWO ALBUMS SINCE I CAN'T SEEM TO FIT THEM ANYWHERE HERE. NOT SURE WHAT TO CALL THIS CATEGORY BUT I'LL GO WITH "POSSIBLE SECRET ENTRIES INTO THE VED BUENS ENDE / OLD-SCHOOL ULVER DISCOGRAPHY"
Deemtee – Strange Aeons & Deliriums (Independent)
Void – Jadjow (Brucia Records)
Manii – Innerst I Mørket (Terratur Possessions) – TOP PICK
Apovrasma – Archidémon (Independent) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS MADE BY PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY'RE KNIGHTS WHICH IS COOL AND ALL I GET THAT ATTRACTION AND I CAN MAKE AN EVEN BETTER JOKE HERE BUT I WON'T BECAUSE IT ALL FEELS SO FUCKING SILLY AND POINTLESS ALL THIS MASQUERADING AND MUSICAL COSPLAY EXCEPT MAYBE IT ISN'T POINTLESS MAYBE THERE'S VALUE IN FANTASY AND EJECTING YOURSELF OUT OF THE MUD AND SHIT THAT IS REAL LIFE MAYBE THAT'S WHY DESPITE EVERYTHING I HAVE JUST WRITTEN THESE ARE BEAUTIFUL, HARSH WORKS OF MUSICAL ART THAT SOMEHOW BETTER MY LIFE DESPITE BEING ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY PREPOSTEROUS
Esoctrilihum – Funeral (Independent)
Malokarpatan – Vertumnus Caesar (Invictus Productions) – TOP PICK
Arnaut Palve – Transylvania Glare (Amor Fati Productions) – TOP PICK
Spirit Possession – Of the Sign… (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK
Baazlvaat – Incredible World (Independent)
Marthe – Further In Evil (Southern Lord Recordings) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE THUNDER OF PESSIMISM THE LOW-GROWL OF DEATH THE BLAST DOORS OF FATE WHIRRING DOWN AND CLANGING SHUT
Drüben – Volden er naturens mejsel (Independent)
Theophonos – Nightmare Visions (Amor Fati Productions) – TOP PICK
Turpitude – Une interprétation de la dissolution glaciale en quatre mouvements (Moonworshipper Records)
Ushangvagush – Pestmo'qon (Vigor Deconstruct)
Odz Manouk – Ծուռ (Tzurr) (Blood Coloured Beast) – TOP PICK
Odz Manouk – Bosoragazan (Բոսորագազան) (Blood Coloured Beast) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE DEALING WITH THE EVERYDAY TERROR AND HORROR BY DOING WAY TOO MUCH SHIT AT THE SAME TIME ALL IN THE ATTEMPT TO NEVER STOP FOR A SECOND AND TAKE STOCK OF REALITY BECAUSE EVEN THE SLIGHTEST GLIMPSE WILL DROWN YOU IN PAIN – THE LACANIAN "REAL" – AND THUS YOU PADDLE FASTER AND FASTER YOU CHANGE DIRECTION AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN TO JUST KEEP GOING
Lunar Chamber – Shambhallic Vibrations (20 Buck Spin)
VoidCeremony – Threads of Unknowing (20 Buck Spin) – TOP PICK
Fabricant – Drudge to the Thicket (Profound Lore Records)
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE ESCAPE FROM ANXIETY NOT THROUGH FANTASY OR THE SUBLIME BUT VIA THE INGESTING OF PSYCHEDELIC SUBSTANCES THAT EXPAND THE MIND AND TIE WHAT OFTEN FEELS LIKE AN ISOLATED BLOB OF FLESH AND PAIN TO THE WIDER NETWORK OF NATURE AND THE COSMOS I WISH I COULD BE THE KIND OF PERSON WHO DID THAT ALL I THINK ABOUT IS ALL THOSE TRIPPED OUT PEOPLE WHO GOT SHOT IN THE DESERT I BELIEVE THIS IS THE LARGEST CATEGORY GEE I WONDER WHY
Ôros Kaù – Thantos (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK
Laster – Andermans Mijne (Prophecy Productions)
Kvelgeyst – Blut, Milch und Thränen (Eisenwald) – TOP PICK
Wolvennest – The Dark Path to the Light (Ván Records)
Sea Mosquito – Igitur (Onism Productions) – TOP PICK
Ch'ahom – Knots of Abhorrence (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) – TOP PICK
Ayyur – Prevail (Hidden Rooms Recordings / Xenoglossy Productions / Dead Red Queen Records)
Dødheimsgard – Black Medium Current (Peaceville Records) – TOP PICK
Mahr – Odium (Amor Fati Productions)
Urfaust – Untergang (Ván Records) – TOP PICK
Kryatjurr of Desert Ahd – Underestimate Climate Systems and Suffer Incomprehensible Losses (Vigor Deconstruct)
Blut Aus Nord – Disharmonium (Debemur Morti Productions)
At the Altar of the Horned God – Heart of Silence (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE ALL THESE THINGS ALL THESE THINGS JUST FUNNELED INTO DESPERATION AND RAGE I DON'T SEE HOW PEOPLE CAN LIVE LIKE THIS MAYBE PEOPLE CAN BUT I CAN'T PLEASE SOMEONE JUST FUCKING CALL A FAVOR AT YOUR LOCAL UNIVERSITY TELL THEM A DUDE WHO TEACHES ENGLISH LIT IS ON THE CUSP OF REFUGEEDOM OVER THIS SHIT I MIGHT BE KIDDING BUT I ALSO AM NOT I CAN'T DO THIS SHIT ANYMORE
Immortal – War Against All (Nuclear Blast)
Totenmesse – Fiktionlust (Pagan Records) – TOP PICK
Kommodus – Wreath of Bleeding Snowfall (Goatowarex Records) – TOP PICK
Tsjuder – Helvegr (Season of Mist)
Krieg – Ruiner (Profound Lore Records)
Phantom Fire – Eminente Lucifer Libertad (Edged Circle Productions) – TOP PICK
Dai-Ichi – Dai-Ichi (Crown of Thorns Ltd.) – TOP PICK
Grave Desecrator – Immundissime Spiritus (Caverna de Sangue Productions / From Deepest Records)
Disempirium – Grand Insurgence Upon Despotic Altars ( Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
THE BEST ALBUMS AT BEING DEATH METAL (I SUPPOSE THERE'S SOME SMALL COMFORT IN DEATH METAL IN THAT ITS JUST THE BODY NOTHING MORE AND MAYBE THERE'S A BEAUTY EVEN IN JUST GIVING IN TO THE BODY JUST CRASHING SMASHING SWEATING HURTING WITH YOUR BODY MAYBE IT'S LIKE A SWEAT LODGE OR GYM SESSION OR SCREAMING INTO A MICROPHONE MAYBE IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE SOUL JUST WITH ENDING THE SOUL – ENDING THE SOUL SOUNDS NICE)
Conjureth – The Parasitic Chambers (Memento Mori)
Act of Impalement – Infernal Ordinance (Caligari Records)
Ascended Dead – Evenfall of the Apocalypse (20 Buck Spin)
Torture Rack – Primeval Onslaught (20 Buck Spin)
Fossilization – Leprous Daylight (Everlasting Spew Records) – TOP PICK
Seraphic Entombment – Sickness Particles Gleam (Everlasting Spew Records) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE WONDERING IF THIS WHOLE EXERCISE WILL LOOK LIKE A JOKE BY THE TIME I PUBLISH IT OR WHETHER IT WILL SERVE AS SOME KIND OF MORBID SICK TESTAMENT TO A PERSON WHO USED TO WRITE ABOUT METAL ONLINE AND IS NOW DEAD OR WHO IS "OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE REAL PROBLEMS IN THE WORLD" WHICH IS ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE A COMMUNION WITH THE DEAD PROBABLY INVOLVING A CANDELABRA
Gabestock – Med freden kommer hadet (Strange Aeons Records) – TOP PICK
Daggers – The Fable of the Bees (Independent) – TOP PICK
The Holy Flesh – Herald and Adversary (Independent)
Argwaan – Lief kind, wrede wereld (Independent) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT I PROBABLY CAN'T LISTEN TO ANYMORE I DON'T NEED TO BE REMINDED OF HORROR I DON'T NEED TO PLAY THE VIDEO GAME I CAN'T SUBMIT TO GENERIC DEFINITIONS I CANNOT FLOAT ABOVE REALITY ON WAVES OF RIFFS AND GURGLING VOCALS GOD I WISH I COULD MAYBE IN ABOUT A YEAR OR SO IF I LIVE AND IF WE'RE SAFE WHATEVER THAT MEANS
Afterbirth – In But Not Of (Willowtip Records) – TOP PICK
Nithing – Agonal Hymns (New Standard Elite)
Molested Divinity – The Primordial (New Standard Elite)
Deliquesce – Cursed With Malevolence (Daze)
Dead and Dripping – Blackened Cerebral Rifts (Transcending Obscurity Records) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT REALLY YOU KNOW THESE LISTS TAKE TIME TO MAKE SOMETIMES I'M PETRIFIED (I HAD A DAY THE OTHER DAY WHERE ME AND MY WIFE WERE SITTING IN OUR BEDROOM ABSOLUTELY PARALYZED WITH TERROR, SURE THAT WE AND THE KIDS MIGHT DIE FEELING THE WALLS CLOSE IN ON US NOT BECAUSE SOMEONE WAS ACTUALLY GOING TO KILL US BUT JUST THE DESPAIR OF IT ALL AND HAVING TO KEEP UP A BRAVE FRONT FOR THE KIDS WHEN REALLY WE'VE BEEN DEAD INSIDE FOR A MONTH NOW – THIS BLURB IS BEING WRITTEN ON NOV. 7) BUT SOMETIMES I'M NOT SOMETIMES IT'S JUST A DAY. SO: TOUCHY-FEELY BLACK METAL
The Mosaic Window – Plight of Acceptance (Willowtip Records) – TOP PICK
Crystal Coffin – The Curse of Immortality (Independent)
Prieuré – Le départ (Independent)
Derhead – The Grey Zone Phobia (Brucia Records) – TOP PICK
Exulansis – Overtures of Uprising (Bindrune Recordings)
Ashbringer – We Came Here to Grieve (Nothingspace Records)
Passéisme – Alternance (Antiq Records) – TOP PICK
Leipa – Reue (Noisebringer)
Woe – Legacies of Frailty (Vendetta Records) – TOP PICK AOTY
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE SPAWN OF THE CHILEAN/SWEDISH AFFINITY TO WRITE DEATH METAL THAT JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE PERFECT WEIRD MUSIC. I REALIZE THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WAR IT'S CALLED REPRESSION
Blood Oath – Lost in An Eternal Silence (Caligari Records) – TOP PICK
Sepulcrum – Lamentation of Immolated Souls (Chaos Records / CanoMetal Records / Burning Coffin Records)
Haul – Adamar (Transylvanian Recordings)
Thysia – Islands in Cosmic Darkness (Chaos Records) – TOP PICK
Coffin Mulch – Spectral Intercession (Gurgling Gore / Dry Cough) – TOP PICK
Dead Chasm – Sublimis Ignotum Omni (Independent)
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT I JUST REALIZED HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CATEGORY INTO WHICH I HAD INSERTED THEM SO I CREATED A NEW ONE RIGHT TODAY (DEC. 10) SINCE THAT FUCKING PHOBOCOSM WAS TOO SICK TO IGNORE AND IN CASE YOU'RE WONDERING THE STATE OF MIND I'M IN VIS-A-VIS "THE WAR" WELL LET'S JUST PUT IT THIS WAY I FEEL LIKE I'M DROWNING IN A CESSPOOL OF WAR-TIME PATRIOTISM AND IT'S SERIOUSLY SCARING ME MORE THAN WHATEVER IT WAS I WAS SCARED BEFORE MAYBE NOT MORE BECAUSE THAT SHIT WAS EXTREME BUT A LOT
Vastum – Inward to Gethsemane (20 Buck Spin) – TOP PICK
Nothingness – Supraliminal (Everlasting Spew Records) – TOP PICK
Cruciamentum – Obsidian Refractions (Profound Lore Records)
Oreamnos – The Granite Wall (Blood Mountain Records) – TOP PICK
Left Cross – Upon Desecrated Altars (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK
Phobocosm – Foreordained (Dark Descent Records) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE SWEET WHISPER OF POMPOUS GRANDEUR THE KIND CONSTRUCTED BY PEOPLE WHO MIGHT FEEL LIKE THEY'RE WEAK BUT WISHED THEY WERE STRONG BUT NOT THE KIND THAT ARE BEING DICKS ABOUT IT AND WHO EXPRESS THEIR INSECURITIES BY PROJECTING VIOLENCE AGAINST THEIR FELLOW MAN BUT THE KIND OF SUPREME BEINGs THAT DO SO THROUGH BEING NASTY TO KEYBOARDS
Grand Celestial Nightmare – The Great Apocalyptic Desolation (Nuclear War Now! Productions) – TOP PICK
Valdrin – Throne of the Lunar Soul (Blood Harvest Records)
Ringarë – Of Momentous Endless Night (Avantgarde Music) – TOP PICK
And Oceans… – As in Gardens, So in Tombs (Season of Mist)
Arkhtinn – 三度目の災害 (Amor Fati Productions)
Esoctrilihum – Astraal Constellations of the Majickal Zodiac (I, Voidhanger Records)
Schavot – Kronieken Uit de Nevel (Void Wanderer Productions)
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE A CLOUD OF EMOTION AND MEANING RAINING DOWN TEARDROPS OF GRAND MELANCHOLY ONTO A CAMPFIRE OF PAIN THAT SOMEHOW MANGAE TO TAKE OUT SOME OF THE MEANEST FLAMES NOT THAT THAT SHIT REALLY MATTERS EVENTUALLY WE ALL DIE AND BEOME DIRT AND/OR SPACE DUST BUT THERE'S A LOT TO BE SAID FOR NOT BURNING ALL THE FUCKING TIME 24/7
Vosbúð – Heklugjá (Independent)
Vestígio – Vestígios (Independent) – TOP PICK
Wayfarer – American Gothic (Profound Lore Records)
Underdark – Managed Decline (Church Road Records)
Vindkaldr – Mahādevī Mahāsurī (Independent)
Ophanim – Tämpelskläng (Eisenwald) – TOP PICK
Scáth Na Déithe – Virulent Providence (Vendetta Records) – TOP PICK
Mephorash – Krystl-Ah (Shadow Records)
Panopticon – The Rime of Memory (Bindrune Recordings) – TOP PICK
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE IMPORTANT ACT OF STALLING A HAMLET-LIKE STALLING WHEN FACED WITH THE BUBBLING CAULDRON OF VIOLENCE AND REVENGE THAT ARE BENDING THE ARROW OF LINEAR FEELING OF THE LINEAR STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES ABOUT THE WORLD AND HOW IT OPERATES AND HOW WE FIT IN IT AND JUST STALL THAT ARROW THAT REFUSE TO PARTAKE IN THE TIT-FOR-TAT IN WHICH THE WORLD INSISTS YOU MUST PARTAKE YOU DON'T HAVE TO PARTAKE YOU CAN PREFER NOT TO.YOU CAN PREFER NOT TO
ТДК – Nemesta (Repose Records) – TOP PICK
Infinity Ring – Nemesis & Nativity (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK
Godflesh – Purge (Avalanche Recordings)
Gruzja – Koniec Wakacji (Coś Więcej Records) – TOP PICK
Rosa Faenskap – Jeg blir til deg (FysiskFormat) – TOP PICK
IJdelheid – Alas, I Am Morbid! (Onism Productions)
Nothing and Full of Hell – When No Birds Sang (Closed Casket Activties)
THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE SURPRISINGLY CALMING EFFECT EXTREME VIOLENCE HAS ON MY BRAIN AS IF MY IDEA OF SERENITY AND PEACE IS WEIRD SHIT LIKE THIS WHICH I GUESS GOES TO SHOW THE LENGTHS TO WHICH I AM FUCKED AS A PERSON THE GLARING EXAMPLE OF WHICH IS THAT EVEN IN THIS STATE I SUBJECT MYSELF TO THE UNSPEAKABLE TERROR OF YEAR-END LISTS
FesterDecay – Reality Rotten To The Core (Everlasting Spew)
Abyssal Rift – Extirpation Dirge (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
Kruelty – Untopia (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK
Ceremonial Bloodbath – Genesis of Malignant Entropy (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
Ruin Lust – Dissimulant (20 Buck Spin) – TOP PICK
Sulfuric Hatred – Sulpheric Hatred (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) – TOP PICK
THE BEST SPLITS I'M OUT OF FUNNY STUFF I'M TIRED
Abyssal / Ellorsith – Supercorporeal (Dark Descent Records) – TOP PICK
Trhä / Sankaku (Independent)
Trhä/Seht – Dlahdlhë (Canti Erectici) – TOP PICK
Friisk / Hallig (Vendetta Records)
Zerest + Ketoret / Wyatt E. (Shalosh Cult)
Night Hag / Burial – Utterances from Below (Rotted Life)
Gnaw Their Tongues / Sator (Argonauta Records) – TOP PICK
Silent Thunder / Zmyrna (GoatowaRex)
Worm / Dream Unending – Starpath (20 Buck Spin)
Sadness / Vulning – (Independent) – TOP PICK
THE BEST EP/DEMOS OR SOMETHING YES I REALIZE THE WORLD AND ITS SUFFERING ISN'T ALL ABOUT ME I REALIZE PEOPLE ARE BEING PULVERIZED FAMILIES ARE BEING VAPORIZED I REALIZE VIOLENCE AND HORROR TO COME IS AS WE SPEAK BEGINNING TO TAKE ROOT AND OVERTAKE OUR FUTURE AND MY CHILDREN'S FUTURE YES I REALIZE LISTS AND MUSIC DON'T DO ANYTHING AND I REALIZE THE NEED FOR REAL POLITICAL ACTION WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT MEANS AND . YET HERE I AM. YOU KNOW SOMETIMES THAT'S THE HARD WORK NOT FIGURING OUT THE CHARTS AND MAPS OF HUMAN LIFE (YES I AM WRITING THESE THINGS WHILE MAKING A LIST I GET IT) BUT RECOGNIZING THAT SOMEONE'S THERE SO FOR WHATEVER THIS IS WORTH: I AM HERE
Trhä – rhejde qhaominvac tla aglhaonamëc (Independent) – TOP PICK
Tumulation – Savage Blood Domain (Independent)
Fluisteraars – De Kronieken Van Het Verdwenen Kasteel – II – Nergena (Eisenwald) – TOP PICK
Kuolevan Rukous – Demo 2023 (Vita Destibalitis)
Sunken Basilica – Vaulted Dome of the Eurypterid (Fiadh Productions) – TOP PICK
Decoherence – Breathed Into Forms (Independent)
Necrovation – Storm the Void / Starving Grave (Blood Harvest Records) – TOP PICK
Radon – Demo (Independent)
Krallice – Mass Cathexis 2 (P2) – TOP PICK
Annihilation Cult – Demonstration MMXXIII (Independent)
Dione – Cosmosphere (Independent + GraMuzyka Nagrania)
Throat Breach – /H/L/ (Independent)
Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean – Consumed by the Vitriol of Life (Redscroll Records)
Ifryt – Płuca (Godz Ov War Productions)
Blood Incantation – Luminecsent Bridge (Century Media Records) – TOP PICK
Locrian – Solar Lodge (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK
Pyrkagion – The Katechon and the Unending Fire (Cestrum Nocturnum Records) – TOP PICK
Innumerable Forms – The Fall Down (Iron Lung Records)
Wolves in the Throne Room – Crypt of Ancestral Knowledge (Relapse Records)
Solipnosis – Síntesis Silenciosa (Virupi) TOP PICK
Donjon Sentence – Transcendance Malfaisante (Antenore Records) – TOP PICK
Celeste – Epilogue(s) (Nuclear Blast Records)
PART II – THE LIST
ALBUMS THAT GOT ME THROUGH THE DAY
109. Sister Grotto & Yarrow – Song for an Unborn Sun (The Flenser)
108. Dead Neanderthals – Specters (Utech Records)
107. Gnaw Their Tongues / Sator (Argonauta Records)
106. Pyrkagion – The Katechon and the Unending Fire (Cestrum Nocturnum Records)
105. Abyssal/Ellorsith – Supercorporeal (Dark Descent Records)
104. fromjoy – fromjoy (dontstress//flowerpress)
103. Lanayah – I'm Picking Lights in a Field… (Drongo Tapes)
102. The Mosaic Window – Plight of Acceptance (Willowtip Records)
101. Autopsy – Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts (Peaceville Records)
100. Oldest Sea – A Birdsong, A Ghost (Independent)
99. Passéisme – Alternance (Antiq Records)
98. Ruin Lust – Dissimulant (20 Buck Spin)
97. Portrayal of Guilt – Devil Music (Run for Cover Records)
96. Horrendous – Ontological Mysticism (Season of Mist)
95. VoidCeremony – Threads of Unknowing (20 Buck Spin)
94. Slow – Implode (Aural Music)
93. Infinity Ring – Nemesis & Nativity (Profound Lore Records)
92. Necrovation – Storm the Void / Starving Grave (Blood Harvest Records)
91. Florid Ekstasis – Trepanning (Independent)
ALBUMS THAT GOT ME THROUGH A WHOLE MONTH
90. Katz'on La'tevach – Void (Taklitim Holim / Agonía de Vivir)
89. Solipnosis – Síntesis Silenciosa (Virupi)
88. Dead and Dripping – Blackened Cerebral Rifts (Transcending Obscurity Records)
87. Rosa Faenskap – Jeg blir til deg (FysiskFormat)
86. Bell Witch – Future's Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate (Profound Lore Records)
85. Gravesend – Gowanus Death Stomp (20 Buck Spin)
84. Wyrgher – Panspermic Warlords (I, Voidhanger Records)
83. Sulfuric Hatred – Sulfuric Hatred (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
82. The Keening – Little Bird (Relapse Records)
81. At the Altar of the Horned God – Heart of Silence (I, Voidhanger Records)
80. Blood Oath – Lost in An Eternal Silence (Caligari Records)
79. Afsky – Om hundrede år (Eisenwald)
78. Vertebra Atlantis – A Dialogue with the Eeriest Sublime (I, Voidhanger Records)
77. Ossaert – Offerdier (Argento Records)
76. Anatomy of Habit – Black Openings (Independent)
75. Afterbirth – In But Not Of (Willowtip Records)
74. Fossilization – Leprous Daylight (Everlasting Spew Records)
– Phobocosm – Foreordained (Dark Descent Records)
73. Kommodus – Wreath of Bleeding Snowfall (Goatowarex Records)
ALBUMS THAT BASICALLY SAVED MY YEAR
72. Donjon Sentence – Transcendance Malfaisante (Antenore Records)
– Left Cross – Upon Desecrated Altars (Profound Lore Records)
71. Totenmesse – Fiktionlust (Pagan Records)
– Thysia – Islands in Cosmic Darkness (Chaos Records)
70. Dryad – The Abyssal Plain (Prosthetic Records)
69. Kruelty – Untopia (Profound Lore Records)
68. ТДК – Nemesta (Repose Records)
67. Grand Celestial Nightmare – The Great Apocalyptic Desolation (Nuclear War Now! Productions)
66. Teitan – In Oculus Abyss (Onism Productions)
65. Coffin Mulch – Spectral Intercession (Gurgling Gore / Dry Cough)
– Oreamnos – The Granite Wall (Blood Mountain Records)
64. Cognizant – Inexorable Nature of Adversity (Nerve Altar)
63. Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit (20 Buck Spin)
62. Ôros Kaù – Thantos (I, Voidhanger Records)
61. Tideless – Eyes of Water (Chaos Records)
60. Dai-Ichi – Dai-Ichi (Crown of Thorns Ltd.)
59. Solipnosis – Síntesis Silenciosa (Virupi)
58. Altarage – Worst Case Scenario (Doomentia Records)
57. Gabestock – Med freden kommer hadet (Strange Aeons Records)
56. Fluisteraars – De Kronieken Van Het Verdwenen Kasteel – II – Nergena (Eisenwald)
55. Blood Incantation – Luminecsent Bridge (Century Media Records)
54. Phantom Fire – Eminente Lucifer Libertad (Edged Circle Productions)
– Sunken Basilica – Vaulted Dome of the Eurypterid (Fiadh Productions)
53. Gruzja – Koniec Wakacji (Coś Więcej Records)
52. Seraphic Entombment – Sickness Particles Gleam (Everlasting Spew Records)
51. Arnaut Palve – Transylvania Glare (Amor Fati Productions)
50. Trhä/Seht – Dlahdlhë (Canti Erectici)
49. Great Falls – Objects Without Pain (Neurot Recordings)
48. Hexer – Abyssal (Crawling Chaos)
47. Jerome's Dream – The Grey in Between (Microspy / Iodine Recordings)
46. Sadness / Vulning – (Independent)
45. Martina Bertoni – Hypnagogia (Karlrecords)
– Skin Tension – Celebrant (Independent)
44. Spirit Possession – Of the Sign… (Profound Lore Records)
ALBUMS THAT SAVED MY LIFE
43. Body Void – Atrocity Machine (Prosthetic Records)
42. Primitive Man and Full of Hell – Suffocating Hallucination (Closed Casket Activities)
– A Constant Knowledge of Death – Dissecting a One-Winged Bird (Independent)
41. Witte Wieven – Dwaallict (Babylon Doom Cult Records)
40. Daggers – The Fable of the Bees (Independent)
39. Locrian – Solar Lodge (Profound Lore Records)
38. 夢遊病者 – Skopofoboexoskelett (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
37. Sea Mosquito – Igitur (Onism Productions)
– Argwaan – Lief kind, wrede wereld (Independent)
36. Furia – Huta Luna (Pagan Records)
– Krallice – Mass Cathexis 2 (P2)
35. Ophanim – Tämpelskläng (Eisenwald)
– Manii – Innerst I Mørket (Terratur Possessions)
34. Crawl – Damned (Profound Lore Records)
33. Ringarë – Of Momentous Endless Night (Avantgarde Music)
32. Nekus – Sepulchral Divination (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
31. Nothingness – Supraliminal (Everlasting Spew Records)
– Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze – The Fractal Ouroboros (Fiadh Productions / Vita Detestabilis Records)
30. Vestígio – Vestígios (Independent)
– Apovrasma – Archidémon (Independent)
29. Urfaust – Untergang (Ván Records)
28. Odz Manouk – Bosoragazan (Բոսորագազան) (Blood Coloured Beast)
27. Baring Teeth – The Path Narrows (I, Voidhanger Records)
26. Derhead – The Grey Zone Phobia (Brucia Records)
– Marthe – Further In Evil (Southern Lord Recordings)
25. Panopticon – The Rime of Memory (Bindrune Recordings)
24. Bríi – Último Ancestral Comum (Independent)
23. Theophonos – Nightmare Visions (Amor Fati Productions)
– HWWAUOCH – Under the Gaze of Dissolution (Amor Fati Productions)
22. Spectral Lore – 11 Days (I, Voidhanger Records)
21. Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter – Saved! (Perpetual Flame Ministries)
20. Ulthar – Anthronomicon/Helionomicon (20 Buck Spin)
19. Scáth Na Déithe – Virulent Providence (Vendetta Records)
18. Malokarpatan – Vertumnus Caesar (Invictus Productions)
17. Woe – Legacies of Frailty (Vendetta Records)
16. Kali Malone (featuring Stephen O’Malley & Lucy Railton) – Does Spring Hide Its Joy (Ideologic Organ)
15. Kvelgeyst – Blut, Milch und Thränen (Eisenwald)
14. Yellow Eyes – Master's Murmur (Independent)
13. Trhä – §ºanΩë aglivajsamë cá nëlh¶iha i eddana pi¶e (Independent)
12. Impetuous Ritual – Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis (Profound Lore Records)
11. Ch'ahom – Knots of Abhorrence (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
10. Dødheimsgard – Black Medium Current (Peaceville Records)
9. Odz Manouk – Ծուռ (Tzurr) (Blood Coloured Beast)
8. Jute Gyte – Unus Mundus Patet (Independent)
7. Ûkcheânsâlâwit – Mjijaqamij (His Wounds)
THE SEEMINGLY ANNUAL "IF THIS EP WAS AN ALBUM IT WOULD REIGN SUPREME" (LAST YEAR IT WAS THIS)
6. Trhä – rhejde qhaominvac tla aglhaonamëc (Independent)
ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
5. Krallice – Porous Resonance Abyss (P2)
What would it take for me to person-up and just call a Krallice album the best album of the year? I have no idea. Krallice has been with me for a decade now, and I think I feel comfortable saying they are the single most important black metal band of my adult life (along with Yellow Eyes, of course). This most recent album represents an interesting twist in the winding path of these avant-garde weirdo giants. More space, more atmosphere (a bit of a theme in this top bunch) while still maintaining the "being murdered by a swam of bees" vibe they do so well. Another masterpiece in one of the most storied, ambitious, and mind-melting discographies of all time.
4. Liturgy – 93696 (Thrill Jockey Records)
Liturgy's progression through the years is basically a case of an incredibly focused, singular artistic voice honing itself further and further. Like someone sharpening a stick, or someone polishing a gem. And with every iteration, seeing that the intent and the talent are both always there, the end result is the best Liturgy album ever. That is indeed the case with this massive, multi-LP monster of an album. The secret sauce this time around – given that we're already past the "Liturgy is basically more classical music than it is black metal" stage a while back – is dynamics. Yes, Liturgy have always been dynamic. But it feels like here they took their time to figure out what the journey would be like not only for them but for us the listeners as well, embedding moments of quiet and silence amid the hallmark Liturgy grandiose attack. The best part? The next album will somehow be even better.
3. Vastum – Inward to Gethsemane (20 Buck Spin)
Vastum, who took the AOTY crown the last time they released an album (+ an AOTY interview), are exactly like Liturgy in everything I said, except in the way in which change is manifest. Vastum's force is not spewing the combined force of the Western Liturgical Tradition and Black Metal thorough a Penderecki prism. No. Their force is a club, or a bat. It's the kind of metal made in pre-historic times by (dead) neanderthals. And yet, and I will keep saying this until I'm Vastum in the face, they are, for my money, the best of their generation and among the best ever – up there with Carcass and Autopsy – at wielding that club with intelligence, and feeling, and absolute brute force. Every Vastum album, impossibly, is the best Vastum album. And here's another.
2. Kostnatění – Úpal (Willowtip Records)
How blessed are we – allow me this digression, please – to be alive when people as talented as this are making meaningful, effective art? Last time Kostnatění released anything it was the magical **Kostnatění-does-Turkey** EP, that nearly got last year's AOTY. It was original, it was thoughtful and challenging, and it ripped my fucking face off. This album, while not necessarily coming from the same aesthetic space, is a swallowing whole and ingesting of that EP, producing in the process what might be their best album yet. Cannot wait for the sick shit to come. And since it has been my custom to share an AOTY interview, I'm happy to report I already did.
1. Fleshvessel – Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed (I, Voidhanger Records)
We can joke, we can have our moments of levity and nonsense. Hell, we can ever start a blog dedicated to music, the pillars of which will be our own demented little quirks. Quirks like, say, AOTY lists that make absolutely zero sense. But there is music in this world that forces us out of our fortress of traps and self-preserving defenses and leaves us entirely exposed as humans. The pain is there, the wonderment is there, the agony and confusion, as well as the hope, maybe of one day making it through the maze in one piece. Or, probably, making it in pieces, but threading those broken bits into a rosary of art. That's Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed and that's what it means to me. (I did an interview with the band, I released it in video form to my Patreon supporters. Given my life situation, I won't get to it soon, but I promise to try.)
