Best of 2012

3) Purity Ring - Shrines

A friend offered an idea for what might provide a considerable influence on my musical taste. Sometimes I like bands that have nothing to do with my identity as a metal-head and are generally unremarkable to the people who have a much wider range of musical exposure. The friend remarked that the one thing these bands have in common is the female vocal. In the moment he told me I reflected on all those "it" bands, the indescribable ones that don't fit anywhere else in my attention span and he was right. They all feature a charming female presence that lulled me into submission. The Birthday Massacre is undoubtedly an example of this affinity and Purity Ring deserves a spot right next to them at #3.

 I'm not really sure if the female leads have anything specific in common. If I were to describe them, I would remark on their strength but also fragility, their lightness and cheer but also full awareness of the darkest aspects of the human conflict. And it is very possible my bias toward them could offer no objective description. The truth is that when some female musicians enter into my field of vision I become enamored, fascinated, drawn into their music like a helpless comet to a black hole. At that point my powers of relative objectivity are dashed to bits. So I'll just submit to calling this album absolutely perfect. I love the flow, the gentle rhythms, tonal contrasts, lyrical imagery, and the girl that showed them to me.

Best of 2012

4) The Birthday Massacre - Hide and Seek

It's important to be self-aware. Self-awareness helps to guide you. Self-awareness provides the ability to know what you'll like and what you'll be better off avoiding. When it comes to music, I have a pretty clear picture of how my tastes formed, with bands that guided my preferences down a constantly winding road. The Birthday Massacre confused me when I first heard them because they're a gothy synth-pop band, and I liked them a lot. I won't say that this style is completely foreign to me. I spin Shiny Toy Guns, I toss on some M83 when the moment feels right. But this band is particularly polished. One look at a band photo and it's obvious that any and all merch is readily available in the most accessible racks in Hot Topic.

Me liking this band is in stark contrast to my entire identity, so it took me a little while to swallow my pride and relent to the elation I feel whenever the delicate but assertive vocal of Chibi fills the air around me. Ever since then I've been quietly waiting for each subsequent release. Hide and Seek affirms my allegiance and it's time to stop hiding them away in the shadowy corner of my attention known as guilty pleasures and give them my #4 spot for 2012. This album is an example of perfect song-writing with unbelievably memorable hooks, great synth-soaked atmosphere, and unwavering leadership by a vocal with a charming presence but also mature restraint.

Best of 2012

5) Whourkr - 4247 Snare Drums

I have an image in my mind of what a true artist is: someone who is bombarded by images and sounds to the point of insanity, the only respite from this suffocating burden being expression. The true artist in my mind doesn't sleep often, doesn't have many friends, struggles with normal every day requirements like food and cleanliness because he spends every waking hour translating the images to paper, to canvas, to staff. You can tell these sorts of people by the art they create. It's raw, unrelenting, incomprehensibly complex, and certainly takes some time to "get."

The project of Whourkr is composed by one guy, a guy who goes by the name Igorrr. And from what I've heard of his body of work so far, he is the eponymous artist of which I speak. This album is dense, it's chaotic, it's razor sharp, but also a whole lot of fun to listen to. Each riff is sliced and diced into maybe 20 parts of varying rhythmic complexity, the same for each vocal part. But, with all the rough edges this album succeeds at being thoroughly fun to listen to. I don't know how that's possible. I don't know how a person can use so many rhythmic and melodic ideas in one track, much less a full record and strike gold with each variation. I can only hope that Igorrr, along with being the perfect image of the obsessive artist, is generously prolific for the next few years.

Best of 2012

6) Evoken - Atra Mors

Evoken have been around for a long time. They're one of the bands that originally defined funeral doom and with every release they contribute more ideas for other members of the genre to take influence from. Bands like this are untouchable because they're not trying to compose music for the sake of music. They're trying to express very personal emotions as accurately as they possibly can. And with age and experience the emotions the band is trying to express become more complex, having a direct relation to the complexity and texture of each new release. So in that respect, in the respect of creating crushingly emotional music, Evoken can do no wrong.

I would be dishonest by omission if I didn't mention my one criticism of this album. I've spent months trying  to lock down exactly how to describe this criticism and this is the best I can come up with: The production is confusing... I honestly don't think it's poorly done or mishandled. It might very well be that whoever did the final mix had the intention of confusing fans like me. It might contribute to the overall other-worldly, spacious environment the composers had in mind. Some parts have gobs of reverb, some parts are crystal clear, some parts strike with almost preemptive attack, some parts have strange pre-delays, the drums sound damp in the mix, the guitar has no mid-range presence whatsoever. All of this confuses me, and for the longest time I wanted to say it distracts from the overall experience. It could have been more organic, cohesive. But, I do feel this album, it does effect me in a profound way, and it's possible that is partly due to the tactics used in production. I've never heard an album like this before and I wouldn't be surprised if my confusion evolves into a deep admiration given more time.