Top 13 Releases of 2017

Top 13 Releases of 2017

13

Elder – Reflections of a Floating World

Elder’s songs are looooong.  You might assume to make them that long they would be repeating themselves from time to time, but the beautiful thing about Reflections… is that it is progressive in the most literal sense of the word.  Their psychedelic jams feel like journeys into ever-changing territory, rather than laps of a convoluted circuit.  With a sound that recalls earlier Pelican, some Mogwai, and Baroness, Elder are as committed to melody as they are jamming the heck out of everything.  While post-metal outfits might feel draining because of the sparsity of melody, Elder are never far from delivering you a delightful vocal line or a harmonised guitar sound to send tingles along your spine.

Try listening to: Staving Off Truth

12

Saint Vincent – Masseduction

I still remember the cold I felt listening to Actor for the first time, and while I like that record I was not overly keen to hear more Saint Vincent.  Saint Vincent changed that with its funky passion and dancey poise.  Masseduction continues the trend with lush warmth in every track.  Don’t confuse that musical warmth for a lack of cynicism or fighting spirit though.  Annie Clark still tells it like it is, and her direct, unflinching look at life is what makes her so engaging.  Whether churning out distorted guitar sounds, gently eulogising over piano, or bashing out bass-heavy dance tunes, Annie Clark is a master, and, while entirely her own artist, there is a sense that this generation has its Bowie, Prince, and David Byrne all rolled into one.

Try listening to: Savior

11

Dead Cross – Dead Cross

I guess Mike Patton will be on my best of list every year in some capacity.  On this occasion he has Dave Lomardo (Slayer, Fantômas), Mike Crain (Retox), and Justin Pearson (The Locust) rounding out this supergroup.  While Patton has described it as a straight up hardcore record, he simply can’t help but have other flavours pouring through.  From background chanting and spoken word moments to the Aphex Twin atmospherics of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”, there is an abundance of texture here.  For a hardcore record, the guitars sit a little too low in the mix and there is a need for an injection of anger every now and again, but this is a frantically enjoyable listen.  Lombardo’s insatiable appetite for snare and Patton’s wild screaming will keep you spinning to the end.

Try listening to: Grave Slave

10

Mutoid Man – War Moans

You’ll forgive me for thinking Ben Koller is actually a highly sophisticated drum machine.  Little else could explain his active careers in Converge, All Pigs Must Die, and now Mutoid Man.  Amazingly, his drumming is at the centre of each bands' sound, but War Moans perhaps shows off a greater scope of his skills.  Sounding like a collision between Bad Religion, Danzig, and the aforementioned Converge, Mutoid Man give you big stinking piles of riff, catchy-ass rock vocals, and enough unexpected stylistic twists to make this more than just a "fun" side project.  The undeniably lovable Stephen Brodsky brings the rock cheese but with just enough edge to avoid cliché.  Only problem I have is that he's singing down the corridor from the mic.  Come closer next time.

Try listening to: Headrush

9

Kreator – Gods of Violence

With a thematic shift here and there Kreator’s latest would have benn an incredible heavy metal accompaniment to the Egyptian fever dream that was Gods of Egypt.  But where that film’s mad ambitions and insane scope were let down by literally everyone working on it (except Gerard Butler, of course), Kreator’s ability to deliver pristine, energetic, full force thrash smashes a battering ram through the gates of disbelief.  The album also serves as a quick lesson in Heavy Metal Imagery 101, so is not only entertainment but an education.  Gods of Thrash.

Try listening to: Totalitarian Terror    

8

Obituary – Obituary

Obituary are unlike any other death metal band.  Not only do they have the inimitable John Tardy tearing his cords to shreds on every track, they are also having an endless amount of fun.  That feeling powers through on their most recent record: a hard rock death metal album with welcoming production and insidious hooks.  For newcomers to Obituary or death metal it is a fine place to start, but existing fans should not despair.  Tracks like “Brave”, “Turned to Stone”, and “Ten Thousand Ways to Die” do what Obituary have always done: stomp and thrash.  A simple and heavy album for complex and heavy times.

Try listening to: Turned to Stone 

7

Hark – Machinations

Fusing the playful heaviness of Torche with the riff and vocal hook glory of Clutch, Hark have built a following on the back of their debut album, Crystalline, and confident live performances.  Stoner rock influenced riffing and a rock ‘n’ roll sensibility combine to produce heavy party music equally suited to clubs and bedroom headbanging.  Not as instant as its predecessor, Machinations brings you unexpected time changes, denser arrangements, and a darker overall atmosphere that all reward repeat listens.  Frontman Jimbob Isaac’s standout voice is warm and heavy, and his guitar is just as happy doling out pop hooks and exciting woodly bits as it is thick riffs.

Try listening to: Nine Fates

6

Crystal Fairy – Crystal Fairy

The swampy riffing and heavy drumming are on point and all you’d expect from King Buzzo and Dale Crover, but the hooky bass lines and attitude-packed vocals, from Omar Rodríguez-López and Teri Gender Bender respectively, revitalise the efforts of the legendary Melvins core.  While Teri sings in her own band, Le Butcherettes, the Melvins sludge brings out a Julie Christmas-esque tortured quality to her voice.  Hints of Peaches, Liam Lynch, and Saint Vincent come through, but the vocal stands on its own atop this mountain of rock to produce an uplifting, truly dance-worthy record.

Try listening to: Drugs on the Bus  

5

OHHMS – The Fool

No point in trying to tell you what sub-genre OHHMS belong to because they don’t know or care.  It is rock music that organically draws on sludge, doom, classic rock, prog, and the earth around them.  Previous records have been tightly focused two-track thematic musings.  On The Fool the band have expanded to a mammoth six tracks dealing with tarot card interpretations of the world.  If you’re put off by any sense of pretension, don’t be.  OHHMS’ strength is in their direct and honest passion.  Whether it’s a big riff or gently gliding soundscapes, a near spoken word delivery or an angry roar, OHHMS mean every note or moment of silence.  Music for an open mind. 

Try listening to: The Lovers

4

SikTh – The Future In Whose Eyes?

In 2016, the Opacities EP brought SikTh back to an eagerly waiting original fanbase, and a whole new generation of kids into schizo-math-djent-prog metal.  Luckily there was only a short time to wait for a full-length dose of the same, but there is no point trying to pin down SikTh.  The joy is in finding out what lunacy is coming your way.  Whether it is late stage capitalism rebel anthem “Golden Cufflinks”, or spoken word tracks with multiple characters all voiced by one brilliant orator, SikTh want you to revel in their oddness.  In amongst it all, with tracks like “Cracks of Light” and “No Wishbones”, SikTh have written the best album of their career.

Try listening to: Golden Cufflinks  

3

Royal Thunder – Wick

Let’s start by clearing up one thing: Wick is not better than Crooked Doors.  However, I rated Crooked Doors so highly that I will probably unconsciously refuse to allow another Royal Thunder album to topple it.  Wick takes the pared down aesthetic of its predecessor even further, allowing Mlny Parsonz’s phenomenal voice yet more control of our souls.  “Burning Tree” is as confident an opening track on a rock album as you’re likely to hear.  Slow, deliberate, impassioned, and entrancing.  “Plans” seems to grow right out of the hearts of its performers.  “Wick” expertly plays with anticipation and payoff, dark and light.  “The Well” is the most beautiful song I’ve heard this year.  The rock music available to you here is as pure as you’ll find.

Try listening to: Plans

2

Converge – The Dusk In Us

Roaming the metal section of my local music shop, I picked up Converge’s latest more out of habit than anything else.  I mean, it’s Converge.  They have, somehow, become a mainstay of just-off-the-beaten-path heavy music.  And somehow they’ve surprised me again with the quality of this record.  Somehow the brutal assaults are as hellish and fresh as ever.  Somehow the riffs are all killer.  Somehow the more diverse, clean, and experimental passages are encapsulating and emotional.  Somehow it is both metal and hardcore without losing an ounce of purity from either.  Somehow Converge just keeping doing it.  Somehow.

Try listening to: Cannibals

1

Amenra – Mass VI

This time last year I was hoping to start my music blog with a top 13 list that would have anointed Neurosis’ Fires Within Fires as my favourite album of 2016.  While I couldn’t get my finger out long enough to actually write the damn thing, it’s still fitting that a band Neurosis signed to their own Neurot Recordings and seemingly inspired has taken 2017’s honours.  Mass VI is a startling reminder that when doom-laden post-metal strikes, it strikes hard.  Stirring heaviness, exciting departures into foreign aural landscapes, and a bold dedication to desolation make this the most memorable album of 2017.

Try listening to: Diaken

52 Albums That Shaped My Life - #20

Zao – The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here

(Ferret, 2006)

Buy the album here

Metalcore is dogged by the reputation that its bands all sound the same.  It is the heavy metal scene’s heavy metal.  But as heavy metal fans we know nothing is this straight forward.  The sub-genre has highs and lows like any other, and for every complete turd there is a hidden gem somewhere.  One of these is Zao’s 2006 effort produced by the incomparably great Steve Albini.  For every over-produced, slick, almost sickly sweet metalcore album Zao have delivered a minor antidote, and as the modern metal world fawned over Killswitch Engage’s all-too-earnest End of Heartache, Zao were working on giving up control in the studio and bringing something raw back to the scene.  The result was the deeply scary The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here.

Built on live performances transferred to analogue tape and over-driven vocals, The Fear… is testament to the immediacy and brutality that can be squeezed out of one of metal’s most maligned sub-genres.  Zao have no fear taking inspiration from hardcore and black metal simultaneously to make a that has its listeners clinging on in more ways than one.  And with Steve Albini helping to craft that sound, it is a cliff-edge experience throughout: the raucous sound is constantly seconds away from imploding, testing the limits of your speakers.  To keep listeners teetering on the brink the whole record without actually dropping them off and losing them forever is a skill, but one that Zao have mastered here.

With the addition of Martin Lunn and Jeff Gretz, surviving members Dan Weyandt and Scott Mellinger pushed the band towards this new sound, and though they’ve looked elsewhere since, it is their most impactful and memorable album.  From the dark, patient, then explosive opening of “Cancer Eater” to the rolling, punk-infused spirit of “A Last Time For Everything” with its petrifying, over-amplified outro, The Fear… is designed to make you feel uncomfortable throughout.  Unlike much of metalcore, and indeed Zao’s other albums, little is offered in terms of melodic escape.  Weyandt’s vocals are almost exclusively growled and screamed with a near black metal intensity, while the live production style lends itself more keenly to aural aggression and abrasiveness.  The lyrics focus on humanity’s helplessness and lack of control in the face of death, loneliness, failure, and the fear these generate.  There is no hopeful and uplifting chorus to look forward to, the listener must endure and somehow come out stronger under their own willpower.  Weyandt reminds us of the simple, dark truths of life, and refuses to see the positive side on this album:

Everything you love will fly away
On the wings of an unknown destiny
Behind the sun and disappearing sky
Everyone you love will pass away

This is not music made to make you happy, but crafted to move you and make you contemplate your own fears.

“Physician Heal Thyself” builds a wall of sound with furious, dirty riffs and cascading drums which Weyandt’s vocals attempt to pull down with vicious growls and Converge-esque grunts.  The breakdown towards the end reminds us that this is metalcore, but third track “Everything You Love Will Soon Fly Away” discards this balance in favour of bleak blackened hardcore.  It rips into existence with the sounds of furious instruments bleeding out through one another, and not until the isolated melodic chorus vocal of “It’s Hard Not to Shake With a Gun In Your Mouth” do we have a reprieve.  The spoken word section and key change explosion of the bridge in this track is the most idiosyncratically Zao, and one of many highlights.  “There is No Such Thing as Paranoia” slows the pace momentarily, but this only allows the sheer weight of the creeping fear to rest heavier on your chest.  With each wretched scream, cymbal crash, and twisted riff it becomes harder and harder to breathe.  The lyrically questionable “Pudgy Young Blondes With Lobotomy Eyes” does nothing to alleviate this feeling with coiled hardcore riffing and an expansive bridge section with sheet ice riffing.  It all comes to a head with “A Last Time for Everything” in which one of the lightest and punkiest songs of the album also succumbs to the fear, being swamped by the deafening mantra, “the fear is what keeps us here”, until it collapses under the strain of its own distorted, broken sound.

This is not an album to be listened to in a darkened room, not as release from hard times in your life, not to be visited in your loneliest moments.  You’d better be ready to listen to this.  It pins you to a wall and asks you all the questions you would rather avoid.  It is relentless in pursuing negativity with horrid sounds, crushing lyrics, and no obvious points of escape.  The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here denies you the cheap “pop” moments that make metalcore so easy to like, and instead invites you to look in to the darkest parts of your life.  If you survive that process you might just find a place in your heart for this record.    

52 Albums That Shaped My Life - #41

Converge – Jane Doe

(Equal Vision, 2001)

Buy the album here

Living in Japan as a foreigner is a strange experience. Parts of your life become diluted to unrecognisable levels, other things become so concentrated and focused you can see them in new and wonderful ways, such as the phenomenon of the Japanese super tour. Bands who would sell out mid-sized venues independently throughout Europe and America find themselves having to combine their tours with other such bands to make ends meet or drum up enough buzz. Previously unimaginable line-ups for club gigs became a stirring reality and dizzying prospect for me while in Japan. The pinnacle of this was the confusingly named “Extreme The Dojo Vol. 11” tour in 2005 featuring Isis, Mastodon, and headliners Converge. All three bands had just released arguably their best ever albums months prior and fans were dying to see new material from Panopticon by Isis, Mastodon's Leviathan, and You Fail Me by Converge. But for me it was the first chance I'd had to see Converge live and my mind started grappling with what it would be like to experience the ferocity of Jane Doe live. The thin walls of my house barely protected the ears of my neighbours as I hit the “repeat” button on my stereo and prepared myself over and over for the frighteningly unhinged pit I expected for songs like “Homewrecker”.

Converge combine hardcore and punk attitude and aggression with the heaviness and technical prowess of extreme metal. It's a frightening concoction, and nowhere is that more clearly evidenced than in “Thaw” with its frantically stabbing main riff, caustic vocals, and gigantic grooves. The coldness of its title is reflected in the unfeeling nature of that malevolent riff, but the passion of Jacob Bannon's vocals, the fury of Ben Koller's drumming, and the big bass sound provide points of emotional connection in the ice storm of pain that is created. “Fault and Fracture” also accomplishes the incredible feat of scaring and welcoming the listener at the same time. Every riff angle and cymbal hit feels like glass is being shattered on your head, but there's always enough to grab hold of in the panic to make sure you don't lose consciousness. In “Heaven In Her Arms” it is the feeling of being irresistibly pulled in to the emotional death of which Bannon writes that creates fear for the listener. The riffs, time changes, drum fills, Nate Newton's rolling bass, and screams come at you from everywhere, giving you no time to defend yourself, and, just as you have given in to the inevitability that you won't survive this song, Kurt Ballou breaks it all down with one of the grooviest riffs on the entire album. It acts as an epitaph to the person who has metaphorically died “in her arms”, but also as glorious respite from the emotional and aural violence surrounding it.

Converge understand that their belligerent metalcore needs shaping and texturing, and we find that in the alt-hardcore of “Distance and Meaning”, and the hypnotic, bass-led, sludginess of “Hell to Pay”. Back to back it's a combination that will throw the new Converge listener way off track, before the vicious attack of “Homewrecker” drags them back in to the maelstrom. And, let's be honest, this is what Converge fans have come for, aggressive riffs, fast drumming, and barked vocals; exactly what they get on the Napalm Death-like opening of “The Broken Vow”, and on metalcore blueprint “Bitter and Then Some”. The latter is as perfectly concentrated a metallic hardcore track as you could hope to find. The main riff is frantic but with the full-bodied sound you might expect from Hatebreed, while the vocals are equally potent going with the riff or against it, and each drum fill is perfectly timed and delivered. And at 1:27 in duration, it shakes you up quickly and leaves you gasping. By contrast, title track and album closer, “Jane Doe” is a heavy, patient, epic, post-hardcore plea for the pain to be killed. It contextualises all of the violence that has preceded it, giving way to bare-chested honesty, hope, and even a sense of understanding. In fact, if you are seeking to understand who Converge are, simply listen to album opener “Concubine” and “Jane Doe”, read Bannon's beautiful, poetic lyrics, and listen again. You shall have all you need to know.

I was seeing a nice Japanese girl at the time of the “Extreme the Dojo” tour in 2005, and there was a bit of a language barrier. There's a sense that it's degrees harder to know and understand a person when you can't communicate easily or express yourself as you normally would, but we got on well. I told her about the gig and how excited I was to see all these bands together and this one album in particular. She asked to hear Jane Doe, so I simply hit “play”. After twenty seconds of “Concubine” she was gone. Out the door, in to her car, and, I assumed, ready to speed home. I convinced her to stay and watch some equally disturbing Japanese game show instead. Months later she confided to me that she had never been that scared by anything before, and spent most of that night wondering if I was an actual maniac. This is what Jane Doe does. It scares people. It makes people question their lovers' character and sanity. It makes people think about what they want from their lives. And for an album written about a relationship painfully deteriorating, it came really close to ending another.