Best of 2015

1) Tribulation - The Children of the Night

If there had been someone in the passenger seat of my red mustang on every trip into the crowded streets of Denver this year they’d say something along the lines of, “Tribulation… again… really?” And I’d respond, “Yeah, for realz, until the end of all things, deal with it.” Children of the Night manages to be old-school and modern at the same time, it manages to be classic rock and death metal at the same time, it manages to be melodic and dissonant, catchy and progressive, groovy and unpredictable. This is the album of the year by far and the metal album of the decade. Listening to The Children of the Night right now is making me tremble with excitement and I can think of no better way to spend the final moments of 2015.

Best of 2015

2) Ahab - The Boats of the Glen Carrig

The first time I spun this album the only thing I could think was that it’s just not as good as their last record, “The Giant.” But, then I listened to it a few more times. And after that, I bought the book this album is based on and read it. Then I realized I’m a damn fool for feeling disappointed. In all honesty, as long as a funeral doom band exists who makes an effort to write albums based on classical literature, they’ll be near the top of my list. I love this style of music, love it. And I love literature, and if a band provokes me to read something, then well, I’m going to read it. The combined experience of listening to this, and reading the lyrics, and reading the novel is more than any other band has ever given me. It’s not my number one spot because it’s not as good as The Giant. This record doesn’t have the weight or memorability of tracks like Aeons Elapse or Deliverance, but I still love it more than most other music of 2015.

Best of 2015

3) Vhol - Deeper than Sky

Supergroups usually fail, miserably falling under the weight of combined ego in the writing/recording room. When a supergroup works it’s like distant planets aligning, it’s like two neutron stars colliding, the product of which is pure gold. Deeper than Sky is all about energy and excitement, punky at times, thrashy at times, and always uniquely genuine. This record sounds like the product of a band that has been together for decades. There’s nostalgia here that is so absurdly fun to listen to and I want more. I want them to be together for decades to come. The fact that the lead vocalist also mans the helm of YOB, a man I bearhugged at the end of one of their shows, makes this album that much more meaningful to me.

Best of 2015

4) Horrendous - Anareta

This is my self-indulgent guitarist entry of 2015. The riffs, leads, and solos are just so good. Anareta is a slab of old-school, thrashy as hell death metal and if that’s your jam this is essential. I mean just look at the artwork, damn… Not to speak for the dead, but I think Chuck would be proud to spin this knowing he had a part in its creation.

Best of 2015

5) Abyssal - Antikatastaseis

The skill of harnessing dissonance is lost on most people, but as time goes by, as recording technology advances, as the arms race that is death metal proceeds, I watch in gleeful horror as albums like this are created. Antikatastaseis by Abyssal is this year’s height of dissonance, a winding nightmare of aural abuse. Why on earth would an album like this be appealing? For the simple reason that the hunger for sensation can be an addiction and beauty is only one component of being. Give me the ugly bits too, the rusted, razor sharp edges that cut deeply and leave scars.

Best of 2015

6) Marriages - Salome

I have a different relationship with the female fronted bands that make my list. It’s more than just appreciating the music on display. Call me a big sexist, but I can’t help it. I have a crush on Marriages, it feels like infatuation and each successive spin of this record is like a quiet candlelit rendezvous. Salome brings me a sense of calm the actual females in my life haven’t quite been able to manage. And I’ll be honest, if a girl ever listened to this and said, “Wow, this is a great record,” my response would naturally be, “You wanna makeout?”

Best of 2015

7) Code - Mut

There were three outstanding vocal performances this year that caught my attention, Leprous, Dodheimsgard, and Code. Congregation by Leprous is a remarkable album, but it had too many dull moments to make my list. A Umbra Omega by Dodheimsgard is an eccentric nightmare of a record and it’s possible if I had a more open mind that would occupy this space, but for my taste it was too weird without being charismatic. Mut by Code is the winner for me. The vocal performance is theatrical in all the right ways, charismatic, dynamic, full of texture and passion, and underneath the vocal is a lush piece of progressive music. Mut is at times gentle and beautiful, at times very dissonant and unnerving, and the transition between those two moods feels like a journey that I’ve taken many times over the course of 2015.

Best of 2015

8) Protolith - Dark

Back in 2010 (OMG 5 years ago…) I featured a band named Questioner on my list. They were there because they managed to show a mastery of several different styles of extreme metal while keeping everything cohesive and organic. They were a bandcamp discovery, a product of looking through pages and pages of new releases by new bands that have near zero recognition in the scene. Finding and appreciating Dark by Protolith was a very similar experience. They’re a modest, unsigned outfit showcasing a remarkably diverse flavor of extreme metal. This is a progressive sort of blackened death metal, slightly reminiscent of Withered, but with more space in the mix, more wandering in the compositions. I say wandering but never without purpose, feeling more along the lines of introspection eventually resolved with big memorable riffage. This is a skill Opeth perfected a long time ago, but very few bands have managed to be so effective with it since. Protolith may just be a one-hitter of a band just like Questioner, never to be heard from again, but this album is worthy of attention as one of the best of 2015.

Best of 2015

9) Elder - Lore

This is the only album on my list this year that can be considered even slightly accessible. That may say something about my labyrinthine experience with 2015, but the amount of fun these guys have making music is enough to make the sourest of sourpusses romp with glee over riffs somewhere between Skynyrd and early Baroness. And as fun as this is, the composition is rife with key changes and unanticipated interludes, melodies that come out of nowhere, that make you very aware of the songwriting ability on display here. Lore may as well be titled “How to make a 12 minute song compelling from start to finish.” More people should take note of this band because they deserve it and so far they have passed well under the radar of recognition.

Best of 2015

10) Valborg - Romantik

My list for the past few years has begun with an album that sets a certain mood, a gentle introduction to the high weirdness that is to follow. I can think of no better album to set the tone than this. Valborg has an undeniably uncanny ability to create music that seems on the surface monotonous, yet, with a little patient exposure, infectiously hypnotic. Upon first spin of this I couldn’t help but long for the bludgeoning weight of their high water mark, Barbarian, but this is a much different album. Romantik is stripped down minimalism with anthemic chants that make the overall experience reminiscent of a funeral march, steady, measured, and filled with purpose.

Movie: The Lobster

I make no secret of loving surrealism. Artistic expression that pushes the limits of reality is a source of untapped emotions, a perception of the new, the opportunity to be reborn and see something for the first time. I've found myself focused on things that don't seem to change, the violence, the shortsightedness, the stubbornness presented in the scroll of daily events. The Lobster is a film that wipes it all away for a moment and replaces it with something different, something initially absurd, but with reflection, something allegorical, something intimately poetic. The heart of the story reminded me of 1984, forbidden love in a world incapable of allowing individual freedom. The context of that love shined a light on the expectations of love from the outside, the subtlety of judgment between couples and loners was magnified, the line between them turned into a wall of violence and metamorphosis. As a viewer, I was rooting for love, but there was an ultimate cost which presented a question. Do we seek the opportunity to learn from a partner, to learn from each other's vulnerabilities, or do we seek a partner with the same vulnerabilities, a chance to not feel alone with our individual flaws? Personally speaking, this is a very hard question to answer.

Movie: Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

All films have the potential to provoke thoughtful discourse, even if they're awful. Awful films beg questions about the spirit of the times, about the social climate in which they were developed. The point is that too often in my generation, as soon as the credits roll, there is no discussion. The experience is locked away as a temporal event, not considered or reflected upon, forgotten. Some of this has to do with the "haunting" possibility of a spoiler. We need to protect those who haven't seen a particular film from ever knowing a single detail about the film as if a single conflict, a general brush stroke carries the essence, the entire importance of the film. I would first like to highlight how ridiculous this is. Sure, awful films where hardly anything happens, with mundane characters and a big obvious twist may be hurt by knowing that twist in advance. But with good films, I'll have to mention a suitable cliche, "The destination isn't as important as the journey." I don't care what the major conflict of the film is. I care about how each character creates or encounters that conflict and how they attempt to resolve it. Given that, I don't give a damn if someone spoils the ending of a film to me, if I know it's going to be good, I'll still spend the time to drink up every detail, every nuance that leads up to that ending.

The other reason for silence is the idea that movies are purely entertainment, a temporary escape from the norm. When the credits roll the norm returns and there is nothing to be said. As much as I sympathize with people too busy to reflect, I could never empathize with them because it's the reflection that nurtures growth. Watching films without a follow-up discussion is missing an opportunity to learn, to mature, to be a better person. A lack of reflection is the simple acceptance of stagnation as an individual which is and has always been a widely ignored epidemic of the human race. There's nothing more dangerous than a person unwilling to accept new ideas.

Now why all this discussion leading up to a few words on Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter? I say the above because this is a film that would be very easy to dismiss without a word of reflection because the premise is absolutely ridiculous. A premise this ridiculous is sure to make a good number of people question the importance of the film. It may have even caused a whole lot of people to walk right out of the theater well before the credits. But, as I said above, people focused on the major conflict of a film have missed the journey, and that is precisely what this film is about. Kumiko expresses very charmingly that no matter what your goal is, it's incredibly important to seek that goal passionately and not let anyone slow you down or prevent you from attaining it. Kumiko understands very well how short life is, how tedious the people currently surrounding her are, and how the treasure she seeks will bring her a better life. This is a film that will easily win you over if you're open enough to let it. Of course if you're closed to the new and strange, if you'd rather stagnate in self-importance with pride in an unchanging identity, steer clear of this film, also steer clear of me.

5/5

Movie: A Zed and Two Naughts by Peter Greenaway

Another Greenaway, this time with a much more direct artistic intention than others I've seen so far. His other films have revolved around vivid characterizations and the delicate or intense conflict that can arise between them. Zed is less about characters and more about the concept of symmetry in as many forms as possible.

The most easily recognizable form is the frame composition. Almost every set is purposefully symmetrical and the characters within these sets are themselves symmetrical, twin brothers being the protagonists. There are reoccurring shapes and words presented that have this quality, circles of various materials, the word Zoo shown both forward and backward during various sequences.

But the film goes so much deeper than being simply visual by analyzing the complementary nature of existence. The relationship between life and death is the central theme which becomes an obsession of the protagonists. After a tragic car accident that kills both of the brother's wives they seek to reconcile their loss with research attempting to find some reason behind the event. One brother becomes obsessed with the birth phase of existence from the very beginning of biological life progressively to the human condition. The other analyzes death, taking time lapse film of the decay of biological life using the same progression. Eventually they combine their efforts in what to them would be considered a masterpiece, an ambitious undertaking brought to a perfect conclusion, but to any bystander, a deeply deranged and horrifying result of madness.

However, this explanation only touches the surface of what this movie is about. Greenaway's films absolutely require more than one time through and luckily for me I look forward to revisiting them again and again because this is what the art of film is all about.

Movie: The Belly of an Architect by Peter Greenaway

Greenaway is becoming one of my favorite filmmakers, a development slowed only by the limited availability of his films. He has a very recognizable style behind the camera, a good portion of the time spent being absolutely stationary. He seems to favor standing back for a wide angle view and letting the actors do their job. The way some of these shots develop is stunning, using every inch of the screen, using vivid color to his advantage, using clever and aesthetically pleasing composition to express something truly memorable.

The story was a classic one. I wouldn't say it's an overdone plot but it speaks of a theme common in modern society. We seek immortality in various ways, one of which is to seek a young mate, someone vital and virile and excitable, someone to make us feel young. But, beyond a certain point these relationships are unsustainable because the older partner can't keep up physically and the younger partner can't keep up intellectually. This film takes the theme and brings it to the extreme. The protagonist's health begins to fail as he's commissioned to work on an exhibit in Rome celebrating a classical architect. His younger, pretty wife begins to feel lonely because he only spends time with the project and his descent into infirmity. His wife is pursued by another and he is diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer.

Ultimately that's what the story is about, not too complex, no twists, not many surprises, but it's in the way the story is told that makes this film special. Using the ruinous architecture of Rome as a backdrop to Greenaway's obsessively intricate set design and frame composition, this film manages to be one of the most visually stunning of any I've ever seen.

Movie: Dreams by Ingmar Bergman

Love and happiness are transient and so idealized that when we have it it's never enough and when it's gone we forget immediately how inadequate it was and try over and over to recreate that exact moment. The protagonists in this film try so hard to return to the happiness they remember which has been blurred, smoothed by the erosion of time. They hope, for a moment, that it's going to be just as good as that distorted memory and once they have it in their hands the moment lasts all of a couple minutes before it crumbles under the weight of the despair that has become the norm of their lives. The narrative leaves the audience with a frightening question: Which is better, transient whimsy or constant reflection. Luckily hope will force all to choose the former, but the zero sum game laughs at our attempt.

Best of 2014

1) YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend

YOB open Clearing the Path to Ascend with a sample of philosopher Alan Watts saying "Time to wake up," preparing the listener for transcendence. Clearing the Path to Ascend is a swan song of an album beckoning us to reflect, to ignore all the shit from our parents, priests, politicians, corporations, and unashamed charlatans of our time and realize the inner truths, the things we feel in our heart, in our marrow. The way Clearing the Path to Ascend approaches the human conflict isn't gentle, it isn't comforting, it wails, it screams, it threatens, and it asks really difficult questions with brash intensity and expectation. This is bold music for bold people, my number one pick for 2014, and one of my favorite albums of all time.

Best of 2014

2) Voices - London

Voices is a band formed from the ashes (and most band members) of the satanic inferno that was Akercocke. When Akercocke announced they were splitting up I was heartbroken. No other band could claim to be so unabashedly evil, but maintain an unmistakable sense of humor. They had an approach to song-writing that was equal parts technical, destructive, and silly and I loved them for it. The first Voices album was a bit underwhelming. It was just as destructive, but it didn't have the tongue in cheek swagger Akercocke was known for. With London, Voices have designed an album on par with any previous Akercocke release. London is razor sharp and full of evil riffing, but unlike the first album it has a story, a sense of humor, and a poignancy unlike any other blackened death metal album in recent memory. Akercocke is dead. Long live Voices.

Best of 2014

3) Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden

First albums are so full of excitement and ideas, often raw and searching for an identity. The second album for any band is a test. Second albums are often stark realizations that a band just didn't have enough ideas to have real staying power. They can also be an affirmation of the identity explored on the first, a more cohesive composition with depth and sharper song-writing. Foundations of Burden is exactly that album. I wasn't very impressed with Pallbearer's first full-length because it sounded too much like a throwback doom album. It had obvious potential but it didn't have the modern edge necessary to compete with other bands in the scene. Foundations of Burden still has an old-school flavor, but Pallbearer have taken advantage of modern resources to transcend their first attempt. The production is fuller and warmer, the vocals have a touch of reverb and they're brought forward in the mix allowing them to soar above slow electric harmonies. The songs themselves have a much deeper emotional presence. Each track on Foundations of Burden has a strong identity, but they all belong together. This is a masterwork of modern doom and it deserves that level of praise.

Best of 2014

4) Mastodon - Once More 'round the Sun

I have to admit being a hater of Mastodon's last few albums. Remission is my favorite and ever since then they've been getting more and more silly, gradually shifting their sound from balls out sludge to more accessible arena metal. Given that, I had zero interest in taking this album seriously, but I'll be damned if this isn't the most fun I've had all year. I can't even really say what changed; there's just something about this album that sounds so alive. The riffs are incredibly aggressive and have so much forward momentum as they churn up just the right amount of tension before unleashing the biggest most memorable choruses I've ever heard. The song structures are as formulaic as they get, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, but each track manages to be exciting and addictive. This album makes me question everything about my stubborn, curmudgeonly self and it feels great.

Best of 2014

5) Godflesh - World Lit Only By Fire

This album marks the end of 13 years of silence from Godflesh. Just being aware of the lengthy hiatus made me fairly excited to sample World Lit Only By Fire, but I have to admit being initially disappointed. Luckily, after a few spins my perception was better aligned to accept this for what it is and love it fully. Godflesh has always had a remarkably infectious sense of rhythm and that's just as apparent now as on previous albums, but World Lit Only By Fire has this incredible weight and purity, stripped down to bare essentials: heavy rhythms, dark atmosphere, and even darker lyrical imagery. When older bands fight the ebbing tide of creativity by adding flare and density to their sound, Godflesh refocused their efforts on exactly what they're great at which is creating devilishly dark, viral rhythms. Taken as a metal album I could see one easily dismissing this for not having enough going on. Taken as a minimalist industrial nightmare this is brilliant and with patience World Lit Only By Fire will charm the most hardened skeptic.