This is... Odd. It's like I'm listening to top 40 rock songs but with black metal screams replacing the original vocals. Who is high, me or them?
One of the most prolific rappers in the underground hip-hop world today, Yungmorpheus is here to delight with his first proper studio release since 2019's "Mazal," and he is once again in top form. His flow is one of the most naturally groovy in the game, and his lyrics some of the most topically pertinent. And the production here by Ewonee is equally important to the success of this record, as the instrumentals have this chill, low-fi hip-hop-meets - jazz rap vibe that easily make ... read more
One of the most important records in metal of the past twenty years, and perhaps ever. Especially for black metal, this is a signal that you can love and participate in this musical world without being an ignorant bigot without concern for the social issues of the day. Not only is the message of this record phenomenal, but so too is the music itself. Traditional black spiritual music with avant-garde black metal may not be the most intuitive of combinations, but the end result, with the lyrics ... read more
The vocal stylings weave effortlessly between traditional folk and pop balladry, while the instrumentation evokes a sense of transcendence with its soaring strings, ethereal keys, and psychedelic guitars. An infinitely pleasant listen.
The Estonian math rock quartet wows with their precision as well as their compositional creativity on this release. Demonstrating that they know exactly when to play a lot and when to play a little, the band finds the perfect balance between technical showcasing and melodic hypnotism as the listeners are carried off into trance-like bliss over the course of Zenith's ideally succinct run time.
The juxtaposition of downtuned metal guitars and saxophone is nifty, and the compositions are pretty well done. It's just really hard to be fully satisfied by anything calling itself "jazz metal" these days when it has to compete with Neptunian Maximalism. Having said that, it's a very good album, and I'm glad I listened to it.
Genesis Owusu's debut LP delivers on everything his scattered material up to this point promised, and a lot more. I do think it's perhaps a tad bit bloated for what it is, but the track variety and creativity on display throughout means that its runtime doesn't start to become obvious until the whole thing is only about three tracks from the end, anyway. The fact that he holds our interest for so long even with all the content crammed onto this record proves that he's onto something worth ... read more
One of the most hauntingly beautiful modern classical records in recent memory, Flood Dream quickly gets its hooks in you with its mysterious opener, and continues to entrance you with its string of subsequent arias that seem to emerge from an ethereal plain too terrible and wondrous to be fully understood by mere mortals. One of the best albums of 2020 that nobody heard of.
A fragmented string of incomplete ideas for songs, followed by a bloated attempt at an "epic" composition. One of the most imbalanced releases of the year to my ear.
This whole emo revival thing is lasting longer than I expected, but I'm just as unmoved by it now as I was by its original incarnation. Nothing special or stand out about this one to me. "Calendars" has kind of a nifty intro, though---before it devolves into the same bland formula we've all heard a thousand times.
It's fun enough while listening, but I'm damned if I can remember a single detail of the music afterwards. In another year chock full of really amazing and groundbreaking post-punk (much like 2020), this release just happens to fall through the cracks. It's not a bad record by any means, but it isn't nearly as good as its 2021 brethren.
As far as "exotic" compilations go this year, I find "Indaba Is" and "Yaral Sa Doom" to be far more consistent throughout in terms of quality and being able to hold my interest, but this one is still very much a worthwhile listen despite its more hit-and-miss track listing.
Can't say I was all that impressed or moved by this record. The meandering nature of the stagnant compositions, as well as the half-asleep vocal delivery by Berninger, made listening to Serpentine Prison a bit of a chore.
Dreamlike, lush, and inspired, Jilian Medford's latest is art pop for the 21st century. Her voice is just one of many layered elements in this vibrant mix, making the whole project feel big and bold as her lovely melodic narration weaves seamlessly in and out of the sonic metropolis she has constructed here. Every instrument, vocal track, or synthesized soundscape has room to breathe, helping us feel the distance between the elements and get a sense of the scale Medford wants us to feel. The ... read more
I have to hand it to the Loeffler boys. They have truly pushed their sound, as narrow as it is, to its farthest corners here. But that sound is still fairly stagnant and repetitive at the end of the day. To me, their peak was still "This Type of Thinking," and they never progressed beyond that. Here we now are, 17 years later, and Chevelle still sounds like exactly the same band they were back then. No progression. No thirst for broader artistic sweeps. No creative ambition, frankly. ... read more
The beats are infectious and the spoken word monologs overtop of them add a dramatic weight. In many ways, despite having lyrics, this is an instrumental album. Because the focus of the mix and compositional style is on the instrumentation and the sonic layering, while Aidan Moffat's soothing voice accompaniment is more like a friend who is coming along on the ride with you and serving as a northern star for meaningful thematic connections amid the vast eclectic ocean of guitars, keys, dub ... read more
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