This year has been nothing short of a great year for music, with many returning artists and even more emerging. Here’s a taste of five albums I really bloody liked this year.
5. Sunn O))) – Life Metal
May as well start with something really heavy. Sunn O))) are no strangers to the game now, and after meeting some mixed opinions from their earlier effort, Kannon, it was paramount that they returned to form, and returned to form they did.
Sunn O)))’s iconic wall of fuzz and riff worship has never sounded so good, and this is probably in part to the legendary Steve Albini recording and mixing the album. Like an aural effigy to their sound, Life Metal takes various elements of the band’s sound, new and old, and sculpts something which is breathtaking. Organs, strings, and vocals all work their way into the dense mix and never overpower or undermine any aspect of the instrumentation. An easy recommendation for drone metal fans or those looking to get into Sunn O))) as a whole.
Lap up Life Metal HERE.
4. Öxxö Xööx – Ÿ
Try saying that five times fast.
Öxxö Xööx (OX) are more of an experience than a band. Masterminded by Laurent Lunoir, alongside frequent collaborators Rïcïnn and Isarnos, OX look to deconstruct our material reality in an effort to search for the “light” we call “God,” with each album being part of that academical process. All this surprisingly comes out very well in the music. With the combination of death/doom, progressive metal, and classical nods, each song is a labyrinth with almost impossibly dense composition.
MIDI metal magician Master Boot Record also lends some of their cyber guitars for the album, and this synthetic texture blends seamlessly into the already chaotic cosmos of OX’s sound.
Check out Ÿ HERE.
3. Leprous – Pitfalls
Usually, when a band rooted in metal goes a bit “poppier,” this can be seen as “selling out” or a general reduction of musical quality. Prog metallers Leprous prove this to be utter nonsense. This less metal-centric ideal is the natural progression their sound, and if anything suits them even more so. After 2017’s Malina, fans were debating if they were going to go back to their roots or continue down this new path. It’s safe to say nearly everyone is pleased to see that they went with the latter.
Still heavy in the places where it counts, Pitfalls is catchy, well-produced, personal, and memorable. When you put it this way, it can be very confusing to see why some fans really don’t like it.
Pick up Pitfalls HERE.
2. Heilung – Futha
This year has been great for Heilung, and the release of Futha was a huge part of that. The group’s mantra of “amplified history” is honestly the best descriptor of their music, and this is pushed to newfound places on their most recent full-length. Taking traditional, European music, from shamanic chants to primal percussion, interspersed with various field recordings and modern day techniques, there isn’t a listen like Heilung.
The collective are able to create atmospheres that are haunting, entrancing, and at times transcendental with the use of fairly “primitive” equipment, but if anything, this serves to only heighten the group’s creativity and is a wonderful reminder that our ancestors were pounding out heavy riffs far before us.
You can find Futha HERE.
1. Alcest – Spiritual Instinct
This list isn’t in any specific order, but it’s no coincidence that this album is at number one. Alcest have come a long way since their debut, and Spiritual Instinct feels like a blossoming of everything band founder and leader Neige has been striving for. It’s more frantic and explosive than their previous full-length, Kodama, and has all the beauty and melancholy of their classic release, Les Voyages de l’Âme. A masterful combination of black metal and post rock, and a further cementing of Alcest being the veritable kings of this movement.
A tear-inducing, headbang-worthy, and all around amazing album, Spiritual Instinct is worth a listen no matter your musical taste. The accompanying short documentary, La lumière autant que l’ombre, gives us a peak into Neige’s world and adds a crucial human element to the whole experience.
The incredible Spiritual Instinct is available HERE.
