Archaval

Eerie, haunting, then after what retroactively served as a 2 minute warning, it crushes you. What is most palpable is the weight that the guitars bury you under while the haunting vocals sing at you from above. There is an unrelenting quality to the album, but its not quite as impenetrable as it may appear. While for some listeners the ominous, deliberateness of doom juxtaposed with the soaring but bleak melodies of shoegaze can come off as a bit unexpected, it does try to be accommodating to ... read more

And here I thought I already knew what I'd choose as my top pick of the year. Austin, you've really outdone yourself with this one.
Will need to listen to it a bunch more to see if this gets up in my favorites, but this is a truly fantastic album.

Edit: Okay, I'm convinced.

I'm wheels

Returning to this album after a while, I had felt that perhaps I had judged it too harshly upon first listening - I had not. This album simply just fails at living up to the greatness of what precedes it beyond Epitomes VII and VIII, which very much follow directly from the soundscape of Sect(s), specifically its more melodic concluding note on Epitome VI. Epitome IX however ventures into almost introspective ambient territory which is a sharp left turn that feels both unearned and uncecessary. ... read more