Thursday, December 31, 2015
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.
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.
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
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.
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?”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
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.
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