Best of 2023

 7) Fires in the Distance - Air Not Meant For Us

This was certainly one of my more stubborn moments of 2023. I kept seeing ridiculously positive reviews of this record, enough to cause me to listen to 30 seconds here, 30 seconds there, but I wasn't sold. There was something about the unconditional praise I didn't trust, and those little listens didn't change my mind. So I dismissed this record without much regret. Then comes the end of the year and once again I see it everywhere. It's on everyone's list. So I put my pride in short assessments I've nurtured over decades to the side and sat down for a full listen. This is a great album, it just has the uncanny ability to be unremarkable taken in little chunks. I think it has to do with how the songs are composed. Each track is quite long and uses the length to win the listener over with these long majestic passages rife with melodramatic piano backing. Each little riff on its own if dissected is quite simple, lots of palm muted pedalling without much tonal variation, but all these little parts add up to a remarkable whole.

I think what this album lacks is showmanship, and that's ultimately why I'm putting it here in my list. The musicians sound mature and they balance each other's presence so well, I found myself in deep admiration of the restraint. Of all the genres of music I've always believed metal bands have a talent for this kind of restraint, for each musician to quiet themselves in sacrifice to a greater whole, and this album is a prime example.