Best of 2021

 1) Mefitis - Offscourings

It should be clear that up until this moment all of the albums chosen fit squarely into place within a genre. Whether or not genre defining is in fashion, I tend to rely on the rigorous classifications. It helps me see the big picture. If all the bands I listen to fit neatly into a movement I can see the flow of that movement with time. I can see which bands are producing derivative work, which are combining influences in an attempt to create the new.

Mefitis has me mostly stumped. They self-identify as "dark metal" which doesn't convey anything other than a brazen attempt to eschew genre classification. They broadly take influence from death and black metal, but they are certainly something of an enigma when you start looking closer at the song construction. Listening to these tracks reminds me mostly of the indefinable quality some of the originators of death metal were playing with. The best comparison I can make is to Edge of Sanity. EoS had a song-writing approach that focused on the narrative expression of their music. Not only would the lyrics tell a story, but the song itself, the guitar leads, rhythms, and key changes would be guide along the journey of the listening experience.

This appears to be the approach Mefitis is taking on Offscourings. The music here is following a narrative, and by doing so it doesn't align with genre expectations. When the genre dictates this part should go here, that one there, play a solo here, don't forget a hook, Mefitis says "No thanks, we're busy telling a story." Not only is this album impressive on its own merit, but this is the band I'm most excited to follow from my list this year. These young gents have a clear vision and make no compromises in that vision. As they mature and ask more questions about who they are and what their voice sounds like, I have no doubt the music will do that same.

Best of 2021

 2) Dream Unending - Tide Turns Eternal

Tide Turns Eternal is the kind of record I want to write someday. That isn't to say I have the ability to, but when listening to albums sometimes they just click and you think, "These guys are doing what I want to do." The smart thing to do at that point is to dig in and study it, try to figure out all the influences, try to get familiar with the music theory underneath, and most importantly pick up the damn guitar and practice for a couple hours.

Trying to break apart why this hits so personally, I'm left thinking about the contrasts. This, on the surface, sounds very much like a sorrowful doom record, but reading through interviews I see this from one of the songwriters, "It’s a hopeful record, there’s a real life-affirming thread that runs through the whole thing. We wanted to lean more into that. There’s enough downer stuff out there, that’s just not what we wanna do."

There's also a tendency to lean on dissonance a lot in the chord progressions, but then toss a really melodic lead on top of everything, making the dissonance seem to melt into something bigger, something beautiful. This is an incredibly interesting skill, to be able to take something ugly and say, "See this ugly thing? It's not actually ugly, you just didn't look at it closely enough." This is an album full of beauty, mystery, and skillful deception and it's their debut, so hopefully this isn't just a little project and I can look forward to more from these two guys.

Best of 2021

 3) Worm - Foreverglade

Hey, remember when Evoken's Antithesis of Light came out? And the year after Dolorian released Voidwards, remember that? I sure do because I'm old... As I get older I'm at risk of talking about bands so far out of the commonly known catalog these god damn reviews don't make any sense. There's no context I can rely on because music like this hasn't been produced in over a decade. I'm not saying it was common back then, but I could bet on some band to once in a while write esoteric, atmospheric, funeral doom with death metal tendencies. They just couldn't keep it up.

That being said, Foreverglade is a welcome return to form for this dusty, decayed sub-sub-genre started so long ago by the brilliant Transcendence into the Peripheral by Disembowelment. This stuff is murky and greasy, sludgy and viscous. I love the cheap over-distorted guitar tones, I love all the unnecessary reverb and delay. It sounds like this band is playing on the banks of some subterranean scum covered lake. That's not to say atmosphere is all that's on display here. This is legitimately well written music with plenty of hooks, tension building and release, melodic chord progressions and accompanying leads. Spend enough time with it and you'll undoubtedly have favorite moments that'll grab hold, dragging you down into the muck.

Best of 2021

 4) Mānbryne - Heilsweg: O udręce ciała i tułaczce duszy (Of Carnal Torment and Wandering of the Soul)

I'm a ridiculously harsh judge of black metal, likely why the style is only sparingly mentioned on these year end lists. It has to be both heart-breakingly honest and intimidatingly raw. I've always viewed black metal as the punk rock of metal genres. The musicians shouldn't be virtuosic, the records shouldn't be overproduced with studio magic. Theatrics are ok, but if that begins to be the main motivation, I'm out. Black metal needs to sound like a tortured human being, bleeding, screaming, waging war and succumbing. It needs to rage against the status quo favoring scorched earth over drawn out negotiation. I think the current underground Polish black metal scene is the best example of what I expect black metal to be and Heilsweg, featuring the drummer from Odraza, is the best record from that particular scene to come out this year. I listen to it and experience the heat of raging fire, the smell of rot, visions of death. This is honest black metal and if you do have a chance to listen, do translate the lyrics, it's worth it.

Best of 2021

 5) Archspire - Bleed the Future

Archspire is the bleeding edge of technical death metal, more modern, more complex, more challenging than anyone else currently working in the genre. They achieve this by stretching for something that's constantly out of reach and hoping for the best. Watching the little documentary they produced as a companion to the album release, it became obvious that writing this album was a gamble with enormous risk. Everyone pushed harder than they've pushed themselves in the past writing music they're barely even capable of playing. There was legitimate apprehension expressed when they reflected upon playing this live for an audience. Of course that apprehension was immediately answered with the acceptance that more work lies ahead. The work ethic, the professionalism, the lofty aspirations, all things to be admired and on full display on this record. I also highly recommend guitarist Dean Lamb's youtube channel. He's passionate about teaching and learning and is obviously just a really good dude.

Best of 2021

 6) Obscura - A Valediction

Upon the release of the first single I was reasonably excited for this record. Then another single dropped and that excitement increased. I was thinking this is going to be the Obscura album that finally makes the list. Then the full album dropped and I didn't know what to make of it at first. The problem is there was a lot of stellar technical death metal released this year and this one sounded a little dated, a little safe. I took some time, re-listened to everything, came back to this album and it started to grow on me. The record started to feel familiar, nostalgic. At first I couldn't put my finger on it and then seeing who they got for the clean vocals on the track When Stars Collide it suddenly occurred to me.

This album sounds like a mature and polished release from the Swedish melodic death metal scene of the late 90's. Once I started looking at this album through that lens the position on my list was secured. In Flames, Soilwork, Dark Tranquility, Arch Enemy, these are the bands that kept me alive during the harder times of my youth. Even though these bands are still producing records they all changed, modernized, sold out. I don't blame them for it, we all gotta make a living and stagnation is boring. The era of great melodic death metal is largely over, so any album that can bring me back to that time, that can remind me why I got into this music to begin with, is welcome here.

Best of 2021

 7) Dread Sovereign - Alchemical Warfare

The first two albums from Dread Sovereign were awful. Maybe one or two tracks were tolerable, but that's being charitable. Anyone listening would've had to make the judgment that Nemtheanga should go back to his day job in Primordial. I forgive anyone who completely dismissed this album without a listen because it was obvious Dread Sovereign was just a little passion project on the side and nothing more.

Those people missed out on something special this year. Nemtheanga found his voice, savage and charismatic, and managed to write a collection of songs that can easily stand up to the best from Venom or Saint Vitus, his primary influences for this project. I no longer look at Primordial as Nemtheanga's primary band and am solidly a Dread Sovereign fan as long as they keep this up. As an additional note, the final track, You Don't Move Me (I Don't Give a Fuck), sounds like a zombified Lemmy back from the grave. It's fucking killer.

Best of 2021

 8) Pupil Slicer - Mirrors

Grinding in at number 8 is Pupil Slicer with Mirrors. One of the aspects of a perfect world is one where women are given a shot and succeed at being just as angry and scary as their sword wielding counterparts. Pupil Slicer and Succumb are two bands from a world trying to be perfect. Both of their albums are impactfully frightening and watching music videos you get the sense that this is the future of equality. If you believe whole-heartedly that women can be dangerous, the world suddenly gets a lot safer for everyone. The only reason Pupil Slicer is here instead of Succumb is the complexity showcased on this record. There are moments that swing between articulate polyrhythms to Pig Destroyer-esque breakdows that make for a really engaging listen. Succumb is a little more direct in their approach, however I'll be watching them closely over the next few years to see if they begin adding some seasoning and spice to their formula of oppressive auditory violence.

Best of 2021

9) Wheel - Preserved in Time

This record can easily be sold to both grizzly old Warning fans and shiny new Pallbearer fans. The classic doom style showcased here is a hard one to get right and great records in the genre become more and more rare as the years pass and the veterans get older. Thankfully, Wheel showed up this year to inject the fading style with a fresh infusion of killer riffs and hooks you can't help but sing along to. The title, Preserved in Time, makes this record sound like you'd have to dig it up from a forgotten crypt and accept that it was from a different era, one operating on reel to reel recording machines. This couldn't be further from the truth however, as the production shines with clarity, each detail nurtured and set free to soar, the result of a masterfully modern mixing job.

Best of 2021

 10) Emma Ruth Rundle - Engine of Hell

It's not the first time Emma's shown up on this list. On Engine of Hell she strips away everything except the most intimate portrayal of herself, her struggle. Other singer-songwriters may sound like they're missing something with this approach, but listen after listen, this record is full to the brim. Supported by the occasional minimal cello or acoustic guitar, the record focuses on the textures of a small number of instruments rather than filling in all the voids in the mix. By doing this the listener is invited inside to scrutinize the turn of the gears, all the little details of performance and production. This is a risky approach because it may expose missteps or awkward moments that don't quite work, chords strummed just a little out of the groove, a space too large slowing the momentum. Nothing like that here, just a woman taking every risk and succeeding in creating a deeply haunting and memorable piece of work.

Best of 2021

How does a pandemic affect behavior? What behaviors are we locked into because of their convenience or resulting pleasure? What behaviors do we avoid because they’re difficult or discouraged by external forces? A multi-year pandemic should bring these questions into focus and time should be spent coming up with answers.

I can’t say this worked for me. My drinking increased, my diet declined, and I spent a lot of time watching tv I’ve seen before, for comfort. I spent a lot of time telling people that this was the year to expect good underground music because the underground is protection against the cancers of society, or at least it attempts to be. I spent the year waiting and waiting, and yeah, there were good albums, but not quite the sterling standouts I was expecting. Among the disasters of the past year, I didn’t really notice any big change, no more or less nihilism, no more or less charity. Status quo with a slight decline.

My perception is if people, including myself, are even marginally comfortable, no matter what they see on the news or no matter what they’re not allowed to do, stick with the status quo with a little decline as they inch closer to demise. Pandemics will become more frequent, droughts more widespread, fires and storms more destructive. You’ll see your neighbor impacted and say, “Damn, I can’t believe it, that could’ve been me.” But, it wasn’t yet, and that’ll be the collective narrative because the collective is constructed of those who survived.

I rely on the music to give me a picture of the zeitgeist, to tell me if people are panicking, comfortable, or thriving. The zeitgeist is comfortable now, but he is dying, not quickly enough to do anything about it. I would advise you to use these words to do something today and maybe tomorrow too. Write something, use less plastics, eat more rice, put down the damn bottle no matter how good your fancy cocktails are, talk more with friends and family no matter how much they annoy you. Make sure it's something you didn't do yesterday. I speak to myself more than anyone else reading this.