Apotheosis’ Favorite Albums of 2021
It was one hell of a year wasn’t it. Whether you spent it cooped up for longer than you thought possible, silently crept out into the world or denied that anything was different, it was an exception to a rule that had been set your entire life. While it was by no means the most significant way that things changed in 2021, the way we listened to music felt different too. As novel memories failed to form, there were fewer moments to associate with anything, and as a result, fewer songs and records that made any sort of tangible impact.
But we can’t just throw up our hands and say “well, I guess things were just different this time around.” Sure, things were different, but when are they ever the same? If uncertainty is the only certainty we can hold onto then I’ll go ahead and take it. So in a year full of shifting standards and normalcies, shifting locations and goals, we’re taking a new approach to the best albums.
In the past, this list has been ranked numerically, a practice I’ve always found fruitless and completely overwhelming. So in honor of an unorthodox year, I’ve made the list unorthodox. It’s now separated into five tiers of differing sizes. The albums in each tier are roughly equivalent to each other in their quality (in my opinion) and are not distinctly ordered within each tier. I’ve provided links to the bandcamp page for each album where it was available, and links to Spotify where they were not.
Finally, before we get into the list, view this in your browser rather than email. It’s very long, nearly 6500 words by the latest count, and has more than 50 large images and embedded links so it won’t fit in your inbox. You can view the browser version here. I’ve also assembled a playlist of some key selections from each of the albums (that were available on Spotify) if you’d like a quick sampler rather than spending days listening to each record.
Thank you as always for reading, I look forward to seeing you all on a monthly basis going forward (it fits better with my schedule as I plan a wedding). Let’s get after it.
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Sewerslvt - Sktizofrenia Simulation
In what turned out to be Sewerslvt’s penultimate album, they manage to craft a soundscape that is every bit as unhinged and manic as their previous efforts, but with a greater sense of scale and cohesion. It’s just too bad that Sewerslvt never got to make a soundtrack for F-Zero since their blistering pace and abrasive sonic choices would have paired perfectly with the game’s aesthetic.
The Mountain Goats - Dark in Here
On the one hand, Dark in Here is just another Mountain Goats album, but that’s as much a compliment as it is a criticism. By now, those who are in on the Mountain Goats are in, and those who are not never will be. Keeping that in mind, there are some darker turns and innovative lyrical passages here that make this album sparkle, like all Mountain Goats records do.
Foxing - Draw Down the Moon
Emo is back baby! As one of the premiere emo revival bands, Foxing carries a heavy weight on their shoulders, but you wouldn’t know it from the deftness that they exude on their records. By re-combining the core of emo with the heavier styles of music that it has influenced over the years, Foxing creates an album that is more thrilling and heartbreaking than nearly anything else.
The War on Drugs - I Don’t Live Here Anymore
These days there’s about as much that TWoD does that is worth decrying as there is worth praising, but even when they wallow in the sounds of decades long past, they manage to make things sound fresh and new. I Don’t Live Here Anymore may feel minor compared to their previous two records, but no one does what they do as well as they do it, and that counts for a whole lot.
Amenra - De Doorn
These days, metal is about as patient of a genre as you can imagine. Songs stretch out like horizon lines, endless in all directions. But even in this infinite space, few groups take advantage of the vast terrain like Amenra. Boasting a meager five songs, De Doorn manages to turn slow emptiness into an art all its own, and when fire rains down on the void plains, you know that there’s nowhere to run.
Ski Mask the Slump God - Sin City Mixtape
As you listen to and review more and more music, it can be easy to forget that the whole thing is supposed to be fun, that it’s entertainment at its very core. When I’m feeling too pretentious for my own good, it’s nice to be able to return to someone like Ski Mask the Slump God. The Florida-born wunderkind expertly imbues his music with the same chaotic, overly referential madness for which his home state is renowned. But all the fun and games can soar because everything is so technically precise. There are few rappers with this level of skill, and even then, there are no other Ski Masks.
Neptunian Maximalism - Solar Drone Ceremony
Even in the days when hardcore music lovers are accepting ever more grandiose projects and songs, the 52 and ½ minute Solar Drone Ceremony pushes the boundaries of good taste and acceptability. At least, it would were it not so excellent. A patient, lumbering giant of a track, Solar Drone Ceremony begins in silence and gradually unwinds the pillars of creation into a writhing, screaming beast that cannot be contained until the final second loops back to the silence of a new beginning.
Lantlôs - Wildhund
After seven long years of silence since the nigh-perfect Melting Sun was released, Lantlôs finally returns with a new project. Though this wasn’t what I expected when I heard Lantlôs was returning, I’m not particularly mad at it. It contains a greater sense of space and emptiness than its predecessors, and is less immediately furious. But while the record doesn’t display the same hellscape that .neon or Melting Sun, it’s soaring melodies remain chained by a great, lumbering depth that undergirds the entire experience.
Atvm - Famine, Putrid and Fucking Endless
Even in the world of grindcore, death metal and powerviolence, Atvm stands out as more aggressive, impassioned and competent than many of their peers. By blending technical and prog metal elements into the more blistering world of death metal, a trick which has been pulled off before and will be pulled off again in the future, they imbue their tracks with a sense of imagination and gravitas that is so often lacking in the baseline form of the genre. But what is most engaging is their desire to have fun with things, from the lyrics to the instruments to the album cover, nothing is taken too seriously, but neither is anything a joke. This useful sense of perspective grounds the record in a way that invites listen after listen, even when things get too intense.
Julien Baker - Little Oblivions
Have you ever wondered what it might sound like if your youth group worship band decided to stop singing horrible music and apply those sonic cornerstones to a project worth anyone's time? Then you might enjoy what Baker has pulled off on Little Oblivions. By stepping up the production and diversity of her sound on Little Oblivions, Baker manages to draw in more listeners without alienating her core audience. The engaging, almost worshipful sound of her music is immediately engaging, and of course her lyrics remain as heartbreaking as ever. This makes the fourth consecutive triumph for Baker, and I’m not sure that the streak will end anytime soon.
portrayal of guilt - CHRISTFUCKER
You’re clearly trying to say something when you title your album CHRISTFUCKER. In this case, I think portrayal of guilt is trying to say “look how down in the sludge we are” and to be fair to the group, they more than back that up with the musical contents of the record. CHRISTFUCKER is one of the more vile, abrasive and grimy pieces of music that I’ve ever heard, and I love every single second of it. More than anything though, I want to get the merch from this album just to see how many heads I can turn at once.
Body Void - Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth
Speaking of unbearably heavy, down-in-the-muck style music, Body Void’s debut record Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth damn near puts Primitive Man to shame when it comes to intensity and depth. As forbidding as the record may feel at times, the subject matter, which is of course the destruction of the Earth at the hands of humanity, demands it. Body Void uses all the tricks in their bag to summon up riffs that are as searing and colossal as a volcanic eruption or a megatsunami, and they succeed at it every single time.
Mach-Hommy - Pray for Haiti
In a year where I wasn’t always impressed with what the hip-hop genre brought to the table, Mach-Hommy was a major standout. Pray for Haiti drips with incredible beats, buttery flows and hard-hitting lyrics, and never stops bringing the hits. It also bounces through styles effortlessly, so if one song isn’t quite your jam, then there’s still plenty of reason to hold out in hopes that the next one is more to your liking.
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Fire-Toolz - Eternal Home
The fact that Fire-Toolz exists routinely blows my mind. You should not be able to combine black metal vocals and drumming with anything even vaguely related to vaporwave, it simply shouldn’t work. But after a handful of albums, Fire-Toolz remains committed to a sound that I thought was a joke at first. At this point, I’m not laughing, I’m just in awe of how powerfully these two disparate styles have been combined to make something fresh, innovative and endlessly listenable.
BRUIT ≤ - The Machine is Burning and Now Everyone Knows It Could Happen Again
Operating in the heady vein of post rock that was pioneered by revolutionaries like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, BRUIT ≤ shows that there’s still the potential for innovation in this often stagnant genre. By using a sparser sound palette, introducing a greater emphasis on strings and throwing in some truly innovative drumming on these tracks, BRUIT ≤ crafts a cold and empty world that feels as though it could collapse at any moment.
Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark
Not many bands are willing to take their darkness as far as Arab Strap. Whether we’re discussing the grim, repulsive, poetic and debaucherous lyrics, the empty electronic sound or the deadpan delivery, this is a truly difficult album to get through. However, darkness isn’t a negative when it comes to this project, it’s the very point. As society crumbles to bits, we need groups like Arab Strap to turn our dour reality into poetry, and to hover a magnifying glass over the rotting corpse of everything we thought we knew.
Alien Weaponry - Tangaroa
Any writeup I do about this album naturally leans toward highlighting the innovative use of traditional Māori chants in their metal music. As thrilling and groundshifting as this application of an underrecognized style of music is, it wouldn’t work if that was all that Alien Weaponry brought to the table. What really makes the whole album shine is that Alien Weaponry perfectly adapts Māori music into the metal formula using a profound understanding of what makes metal work. By combining their heritage with their musical love they’ve managed to create one of the year’s most magical experiences, and should be lauded for it.
Xiu Xiu - OH NO
At times Xiu Xiu has been too weird for me, which seems weird to say given several of my musical interests, but it’s the truth. On OH NO Xiu Xiu finally found a way to deploy their strange proclivities in a way that was both compelling and boundary shattering. Compared to many of their past records, it stands out as more heartfelt and emotionally profound, and it’s still just as musically creative, if not more musically creative, than virtually all of their preceding works. The utilization of features also helps to keep the album in a constant state of flux, enabling every element of what makes Xiu Xiu special to shine.
McKinley Dixon - For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her
There is an extremely thin line between socially conscious and corny as hell, and it takes an exceptionally skilled rapper in order to toe that line. But when everything comes together and you do get that exceptionally skilled rapper to tiptoe along the extremely thin line and then bring the whole package together with immaculate vision, something magical is created. This jazz-influenced, breezy, profound and musically engaging masterwork is one of those special projects.
Powerwolf - Call of the Wild
Power metal takes joy in the unbearably corny. As a consequence of that, it has a hard time crossing over to fans of more dour styles of extreme music. But sometimes a record is just so cheesy, so goofy, and so damn good that you just can’t help but smile and sing along. Call of the Wild is an absurd record from an absurd band with an absurd name, and every single second of it is utterly infectious and joyous in its excess. The propulsive drums, gritty-yet-operatic vocals and hilariously dramatic choral arrangements let you know exactly what you’re in for from the opening moments of the first track. It’s the second that you go to skip the album that it suddenly grabs you, and you’ll think of nothing else for weeks.
Noga Erez - KIDS
I love having the Gorillaz back in my ears, but it’s obvious that what they’re doing now is not what they were doing back in 2004. While I’m happy for Albarn and Co. for getting to do something new, I wish that more bands would grab onto the wacky, multi-genre insanity of Demon Days and Gorillaz. Luckily, Noga Erez actually did what I was hoping. KIDS offers a wonky, off-kilter vision of indie pop that may not catch on in the wider consciousness, but is wholly unconcerned with whatever everyone else is doing. It’s great fun from front to back, and outside of anything else being done today.
Frontierer - Oxidized
Oxidized may be the year’s most sonically challenging album outside of the harsh noise genre. Featuring some truly unhinged guitar tones and a pace that threatens to give you a heart attack sitting in your office chair, Oxidized is predicated on pummeling you to a pulp. Normally, I don’t love music that refuses to give listeners a breather, but Frontierer changes pace so rapidly that the cacophony never gets boring or monotonous. It’s a wonder that anyone could create something this unhinged, and it’s a marvel to behold.
Maxo Kream - Weight of the World
If gangster rap/trap is going the way of the dodo, then Maxo Kream might end up being the last man standing. With six projects under his belt, two of which are some of the best rap records of the 2010s, Weight of the World might be the most impressive so far. Full of braggadocio, regrets and painful facts, this album is the complete lyrical package. Add to that mixture a slew of beats that are sure to become classics in time and you’ve got a straight across the plate hip-hop record that can go toe to toe with whatever the art students think is hot right now.
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Richard Dawson & Circle - Henki
Richard Dawson has always made music that sounds out of time. The particular brand of medieval folk that he creates often sounds like it would be more at home in a renaissance fair than coming out of your car via Bluetooth connection. As anachronistic as his music may feel at times, Henki is the first time where it has felt sonically and spiritually of the present moment. The collaboration with Circle has invited him to expand his boundaries, reaching his branches across disparate tempos and themes, and allowing him to create one of his most impressive works to date.
Grouper - Shade
Gropuer’s music manages to soothe while pushing boundaries, and that’s still the case on Shade. This record includes a more present vocal style and a greater emphasis on acoustic guitar than some of her previous efforts, and the results speak for themselves. An airy, spacious album that invites you to hear the room around you as much as it invites you to hear the music, Shade reminds us that we are part of the experience itself.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!
Any year where GY!BE releases a record is a good year, but in this instance it turned out to be exceptional. G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! is just as impressive as the earlier entries in the storied band’s catalog, and may just be their best post-hiatus record. What really makes G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! shine is the sense of finality that it brings. Always an overtly political group, GY!BE’s latest record invites images of silence after calamity, and of burning apocalypses at the hands of callous governments and corporations. While the fire consumes nearly everything, the outfit takes time to remind us that something is left standing at the end, and something can always become whole again.
Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee
Michelle Zauner, aka Japanese Breakfast has had quite the year. Between the release of what may be her best album yet, Jubilee, and her bestselling book Crying in H Mart, she’s exploded to the forefront of the popular consciousness in a way that once felt impossible. Listening to the record, it’s obvious why this was the record that set things to ignite. By blending exceptional lyricism, infectious melodies, propulsive crescendos and memorable imagery, Jubilee asserts itself as one of the year’s most impressive projects and demands that we find a spot for Japanese Breakfast as one of the greatest indie acts of the 21st century.
Panopticon - …And Again into the Light
Before even discussing why this album is great, we need to take a moment to recognize the impossible feat that Panopticon has accomplished. Not only have they managed to make the American South the beating heart of modern black metal, they’ve also found a way to make black metal appeal to an audience far wider than most thought possible. What they’ve done to accomplish this is blend the natural world, plights against oppressors and Appalachian heart into a single, distinct sound. By utilizing an atmospheric style of black metal, a pitched, whining guitar that calls to mind bluegrass and classic country, and a smattering of fiddle they’ve created something that is wholly them and undeniably powerful.
Porter Robinson - Nurture
A lot of EDM music focuses on happiness or intensity, which makes sense given the function of the genre. But recently there’s been a wave of artists looking to make something more contemplative without sacrificing the core of what makes the genre so beloved. Of all these artists, Porter Robinson stands clearly at the forefront. Nurture follows up the well-lauded Worlds and expands on the sonic and thematic ideas of that excellent record. What really sets this record apart from its peers is a cohesive focus on the album as art, rather than a few high-profile singles. No matter what track you find yourself landing on, you’ll leave it feeling richer and more fulfilled, and that’s a rare feat in any genre.
Origami Angel - GAMI GANG
With some music it’s hard to tell if it's good (yes, yes, I know, objectivism in art is a futile exercise) or if it’s just tailored specifically to my taste. In this case, I’m pretty sure it’s both. Origami Angel makes music that sounds like Fall Out Boy hired the singer from Relient K and if that doesn’t appeal to you then I really don’t know what to tell you. Their latest record GAMI GANG sees a further evolution of this pop punk style that plays directly into its strengths. It’s all Gameboys, nostalgia and broken hearts, but unlike the self-deprecating pop punk of my youth, GAMI GANG throws in a heap of self love and positive outlook that keeps the record from slipping in to dangerously bitter “nice guy” territory, like so many records in the 2000s did.
Chris Corsano/Bill Orcutt - Made out of Sound
Somehow this record was made by only two people. That may not sound all that impressive if you’ve yet to listen to it, but upon hearing it it seems impossible that two people, one with a guitar and one behind a drum kit, could make this much noise in such a complex manner. Even if it weren’t just two people playing what has to be an improvisational, jazz-like set, then it would still be mind boggling. Made out of Sound is at turns soothing, enthralling and overwhelming, often within the same track, and there are few albums that could hope to match its brilliance.
Black Country, New Road - For the first time
After releasing some of the most impressive single’s I’ve ever heard from a rookie band, Black Country, New Road followed it up with an impeccable first effort. While I still think that the single versions of some of these tracks, in particular “Sunglasses” were better than what we got on the album, the willingness to throw new things at the wall is one of the group’s most appealing aspects. Even though they readily get lumped in with a lot of other post-punk leaning Brits, BC,NR shows, in my mind, the most potential to become a long time favorite of our generation.
King Woman - Celestial Blues
Even if this album didn’t flawlessly adapt John Milton’s Paradise Lost into an extended allegory for the abuses of modern Christianity and the struggles of womanhood, it would still have found its way onto this list. This doomy excursion through the eternal damnation of a regretful Lucifer has everything a metal fan could want and more. It sizzles with huge, lurching riffs, swirling drum patterns and clear, precise vocals. Were this not an exceptional year in the world of metal it would have been a shoe in for the best metal record of the year, and even then it’s not far off from that title.
Hail the Sun - New Age Filth
Post-hardcore seems to have fallen out of favor as of late. But even as the genre struggles to maintain a foothold in the wider consciousness, Hail the Sun keeps on plugging away. New Age Filth, the latest edition to the catalog, is among their most effective efforts to date. A stunning exploration of addiction, relapse and isolation, New Age Filth leans into the more aggressive elements of post-hardcore while retaining its flightier instrumentals and vocal styles. For such an intense record, it is shockingly catchy, and has a way of digging its hooks into you and demanding to be played over and over.
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Snail Mail - Valentine
I have a confession to make, I don’t really listen to lyrics until the third or fourth listen of an album. That was not the case with Valentine. As soon as “Valentine” kicked off with “Let’s go be alone, where nobody can see us honey” I was hooked. It’s a simple enough lyric, but it perfectly encompasses the themes of this immaculate portrait of heartbreak and self-discovery through your early twenties. From that line all the way to the closing moments of “Mia” we’re walked through a journey that we were never meant to be a part of, but like those “parasitic cameras” we can’t help but stop and stare.
Anna B Savage - A Common Turn
Great albums usually have a single element that you can point to and go “that’s what makes this amazing.” Remarkable records usually have two or more of these elements. In A Common Turn you can clearly point to both Anna B Savage’s unbelievable voice and stunning lyrical clarity. Every song puts you directly in a specific place and moment in time and then arrests you there with one of the most stellar voices in music. For a record that is often sparse, these two elements, coupled with an impressive sense of how to deploy intensity, make everything feel full of life and importance, even when the stories being told are simple.
Tyler, The Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost
At this point it feels like a given to have Tyler, the Creator on a year end list, but it’s always warranted. Of all the albums since Cherry Bomb, Call Me If You Get Lost may the be superstar. It combines all of the pop sensibilities of IGOR with the more typical hip-hop and indie elements found on Flower Boy, resulting in an album that is catchier, more thought provoking and ultimately more compelling than any of its predecessors.
Turnstile - GLOW ON
GLOW ON is a triumph. It manages to smash together elements of hardcore punk and pop punk in order to make an album that is giddily infectious without selling away its hard edge. For an example of the album’s ethos, you need look no further than Holiday, which feels like it would be just as comfortable on a classic punk station as it would be on a pop playlist. It’s the type of record that puts a smile on your face and a swagger in your step no matter where you listen to it.
For Those I Love - For Those I Love
Spoken albums are rarely a thing that I enjoy. I’m on the side of keeping things melodic (or harsh) when it comes to vocals, and if you plan not to then I’d prefer that the music be instrumental. For Those I Love showed me that I was being dull and close-minded yet again (I expect this to happen every year for the rest of my life). The vocals on this record, which are composed of spoken word confessions of brotherly love and regret, are some of the most deeply affecting lyrics that were put to music in 2021. That the dancey, electronic music is as good as it is just puts icing on the cake.
Esoctrilihum - Dy’th Requiem for the Serpent Telepath
In 2020 I asked Santa to bring me more excellent death metal that isn’t trying to change literally everything about the genre and he brought me another Esoctrilihum album, and he was right to do so. This pounding , violent, and often unnerving record has some of the most dramatic passages, excessive riffs, unrelenting drumming and disgusting vocals in metal this year. I truly would not have it any other way, this rules.
The Armed - ULTRAPOP
The way that The Armed has managed to combine the ultra-loud pop production with metalcore on this album is positively awe inspiring. In truth, outside of the opening track “ULTRAPOP” there is very little “pop” in ULTRAPOP. It’s a violent, aggressive thrill ride from start to finish, but along the way it introduces several concepts that had previously been underutilized in metalcore. A smattering of electronic production, pitchy, yelped vocals and an ever present static cacophony make this record a truly innovative piece of work in a world of musical stagnation.
Magdalena Bay - Mercurial World
Those who have remained up to date on indie pop trends over the past several years will find themselves unsurprised by the direction that Magdalena Bay’s Mercurial World has taken. But in this instance, predictability does not indicate a lack of originality, instead, Magdalena Bay makes good on all the promises of the past decade of indie pop. The group flawlessly blends influences from artists like Poppy, CHVRCHES, Purity Ring and even Robyn to create a record that is as danceable as it is emotional, and as catchy as it is curious.
Fucked Up - Year of the Horse (I-IV)
Albums that have nearly 100 songs spanning over 90 minutes are supposed to be gimmicks. It hasn’t been since the Magnetic Fields released 69 Love Songs that an album this excessive has shambled its way so far into the critical consensus. In what is almost assuredly their best record since the era-defining David Comes to Life, Fucked Up manages to make 94 minutes feel like 20 and 100 songs feel like too few. It leans into all their strengths and then adds new ones, like a more epic scope to the guitar tone and a grander scale to the space between notes, to create something truly compelling.
Black Dresses - Forever in Your Heart
Forever in Your Heart is a mindblowing record. It’s one of the most intense things to come out this year, even when compared to harsh noise and extreme metal records, but at the same time it’s oodles more fun than all of them, while also being more depressing than all of them. There are more contradictions in this album than just about anything else you could listen to, but they don’t feel like contradictions when you’re listening, it just feels like the facts of life. And at its core, that’s what this is, an album about the pains and joys and violence of day to day life, and how we’re all doing our best even if it’s “kind of whatever.”
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black midi - Cavalcade
It’s difficult to make music dense and enjoyable at the same time. That style can certainly attract its fair share of fanboys who praise virtuosity above all other components of music, but more often than not it ends up sounding self-aggrandizing and masturbatory. Cavalcade paints black midi as the rare exception to the rule. They showed feints toward this level of competency on their more bombastic debut record, Schalgenheim, but were unable or unwilling to commit to the idea that their intensity could be heightened by a softer touch. On Cavalcade, black midi continues their foray into the dark recesses of math rock, but add a greater touch of goofiness and absurdity by pulling heavily from Primus and other noodly prog-metal outfits that refused to take themselves too seriously. Their decision to combine those influences with subdued lounge music and near-ambient interludes makes the record a vastly more complete experience that manages to comment on the overwhelming deluge of stimulation we face without having to say a word about it.
Lucy Dacus - Home Video
Home Video is a borderline masterpiece. As a piece of musical documentary, it shows Lucy Dacus as someone who has been placed on the ropes by life but refuses to go down without landing at least a few punches. Throughout history, both the musical industry and society at large has refused to allow women the same level of nuance and complexity that we allow men to have. They are expected to be mistake free and utterly perfect. Dacus refuses that charge, and reveals her inner life in stunning detail for us. Whether she’s threatening to kill the father of a companion or reminiscing about the sexual awakenings of youth, she only presents herself as she is and not how society would prefer her. That she has done this with such a level of control and musical excellence makes the record one of the best in modern indie rock, and makes Dacus one of the preeminent voices in modern music.
파란노을 (Parannoul) - To See the Next Part of the Dream
Seeing things that aren’t meant for us is inherently alluring. It lets us in on something secret, something that now belongs to us and only a few others. In a way, stumbling across Parannoul felt a bit like uncovering a long lost secret, but not for the reasons you might expect. While it is notable for anyone outside of the K-pop genre to explode out from Korea and garner international fame, the circumstances that brought us Parannoul are even rarer. Written and recorded by a down on their luck student who didn’t think his work was any good, To See the Next Part of the Dream was the kind of project that often sits on the shelf, only to be discovered by loved ones and treated as a curiosity long after the dreams of the record have been laid to rest. Yes, the compelling, beautifully raw blend of shoegaze, dream pop and pop punk are what landed the album on this list, and it deserves to be enjoyed outside of the remarkable circumstances that brought it to us. But we cannot deny that the circumstances are indeed remarkable. Because when we watch someone’s dreams come true in real time, it reminds us that ours might too.
The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Illusory Walls
If the past two years have taught us anything, it has been that we aren’t all that important. The world turns unblinkingly at the hands of a select few whose decisions to add an extra cent to their coin purse or a few more zeros to an already intangible sum. This knowledge may be new to many, but the facts have rested unchanged for much of human history. The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die (TWIABP) understands the state of humanity, but is keenly aware that the whole of humanity is less vital than the individual stories it experiences through its component parts. Illusory Walls springs forth from this understanding, taking both the macro and micro view in the same breath. We see the destruction of the wilderness and the destruction of industry in the same moments that we see the annihilation of those who depended on their continued existence for their livelihood. There are countless reasons to recommend this record, but if you only want the key points, then the combined thrust of the two closing tracks, which both run for nearly twenty minutes each, will be your skeleton key. Because they reveal that despite our diminutive influence, that the world is only what we make it, and we can only shape it when we see each other for what we all are.
The Bug - Fire
If TWIABP sees humanity as a struggling thing begging to be saved, then The Bug sees it as something already doomed. I throw out the word “apocalyptic” often when discussing music, but it rarely refers to anything more than volume and intensity. Fire is actually apocalyptic, both in sound and in theme. Inspired by two key failures of the British government, their handling of the pandemic and the lack of action in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, it paints a stark picture of a cruel, dystopian where violence against oppressors is the only answer. The farther you wade into the record, the more suffocating it becomes. Protests and marches and petitions are all declared “(not to) make a difference (to) the cause.” With the state of the album’s world, and ultimately our world, being as bleak as it is, it’s difficult to argue against the record’s central thesis. It’s not something taken lightly or treated with joy, it’s merely a fact that we are called to see as plainly as it is presented, and then a call to do the only thing we can in the face of such indignity.
Black Sheep Wall - Songs for the Enamel Queen
Metal is often discussed in terms of volume, intensity, scope and complexity. All these things are nice to be sure, but they are window dressing compared to what the genre is really about; catharsis. On the surface Songs for the Enamel Queen is petulant, misogynistic and impotent. It follows a pathetic man whose only saving grace is being aware of their own pathetic nature. He rallies against the women who have wronged him, spews sermons of self doubt and prophecies his own suicide numerous times. But as much time as we spend with this unnamed man, and how much we are dragged into his own twisted psyche, we never feel as though we are on his side or supposed to sympathize with his plight. That Black Sheep Wall, a relatively small sludge and post-metal outfit from the town right next to where I grew up in, has managed to craft such a vile narrative without endorsing or fully condemning the actions of the protagonist is a remarkable testament to their restraint. Of course, this narrative only works because the musicianship behind it is easily among the year’s best. The long, winding tracks take frequent unexpected turns though their instrument choice, tempos and melodies, that demand you stay engaged even as the imagery grows ever more sickening. Few bands have the ability to pull off a feat as powerfully rendered as this, and many of those that have the skill lack the ambition to break so far from the mold. When it comes to declaring the best metal album of the year, it’s not even a question.