Mathcore is an amazing genre, full of technicality, creativity, and often also humour and weirdness! But, if you’re here, you probably already know that, so let’s go with our top 5!
Number Five: Pacman, the Movie – 2: Eat Lives VIDEO Pacman, the Movie comes to us from Houston, Texas, and their second album is truly one that should be on everyone’s mathcore playlist this year. Check it out!
Number Four: Frontierer – Oxidized VIDEO The new Frontierer goes hard!
Number Three: Lou Kelly & Friends – Shriek VIDEO On Shriek , Lou Kelly and a bunch of guests came together to release one of the most supremely creative and experimental releases of the year. Lou Kelly is always a name I’m looking out for, whenever he has something new released, I’ll dive into it and most probably totally love it! That’s the case with Shriek . I feel like this is only mathcore “by accident”, which makes it even better! It’s just the result of all the experimentation that’s going on in this album. Maybe you wouldn’t even call this mathcore, but who cares? It’s good!
Number Two: The Sound that Ends Creation – Boomers, Zoomers, Desperate Coomers VIDEO Chris Dearing’s The Sound that Ends Creation is forever one of the most absurd one-man projects to exist. I usually refer to this stuff as mathgrind, because of how abrasive and in-your-face it is, but that alone doesn’t do it justice. There is a lot of stuff going on in any single one of his albums, and BZDC is just another example of that! It’s amazing!
Number One: Gratis – Gratis VIDEO I’m pretty sure this is the wildest shit 2021 had to offer. Yeah, it’s recordings from over 10 years ago, but they were released this year, so that counts. Now imagine the Mars Volta colliding with Naked City, and you’ve got a good idea of what this is about. It’s post-hardcore? with free jazz? and grindcore? and a lot of other stuff? It’s one of the weirdest and most awesome releases of 2021, that’s for sure! Please, more!
Notable Releases Hover over foreign scripts for pronunciation and romanization.
Sunday, 3 January Joseph A Peragine – Missing Memory 44:23 mathcore New Jersey Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Missing Memory [44:23]
Friday, 5 March Drumcorps – Better Days 10:55 mathcore, breakcore Amsterdam, Netherlands Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. The Importance of Stealth [02:31]
2. Hell Yeahhhh [02:10]
3. On a Mission [01:08]
4. Better Days [02:43]
5. Human Nature [02:23]
Friday, 12 Pupil Slicer – Mirrors 37:39 mathcore London, UK Prosthetic
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Martyrs [03:49]
2. Stabbing Spiders [00:47]
3. L’Appel Du Vide [03:36]
4. Panic Defence [01:32]
5. Husk [03:30]
6. Vilified [01:30]
7. Worthless [02:30]
8. Wounds Upon My Skin [04:01]
9. Interlocutor [01:16]
10. Mirrors Are More Fun Than Television [06:59]
11. Save The Dream, Kill Your Friends [01:42]
12. Collective Unconscious [06:27]
Friday, 19 March Nursing – Self Care 27:30 mathcore Eureka, California Dark Trail
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Dining Room Chandelier [02:36]
2. Hydrangea Bouquet [01:26]
3. Charcuterie Plate [00:49]
4. Silk Sheets [02:40]
5. Cedarwood Soap [02:16]
6. Champagne Gift Basket [03:17]
7. Seven Fold Tie [01:57]
8. Floral Wedding Cake [02:21]
9. Dress Shirt [02:49]
10. Skin Care Masking Set [03:04]
11. Silver Cufflinks [04:15]
Thursday, 1 July Lower Automation – Lower Automation 20:41 mathcore Illinois Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. 6 Degrees from Phrenology [01:53]
2. Father’s Shirt is a Dress on Me [02:08]
3. Paper Cuts [02:14]
4. Locust Bean Gum [01:54]
5. Old Sparky [02:54]
6. Dressed in Camo, Hyped to the Teeth [01:28]
7. Dread [01:54]
8. Vegan Neuroscientist [02:15]
9. Combover [01:43]
10. Ruiner [02:18]
Thursday, 22 July Pacman, the Movie – 2: Eat Lives 19:07 mathcore Houston, Texas Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Hiroshima [00:49]
2. Eric Andre [01:13]
3. Trolollapalooza [01:27]
4. Hellzzz Kitchen [03:27]
5. Insomnia [02:22]
6. PacmAnthem [01:37]
7. Folly D [01:26]
8. Horse Dick Fiasco [01:26]
9. Punky Monkey [01:17]
10. Pacmanthegame [00:57]
11. The Last Man [03:12]
Friday, 6 August Drumcorps – For the Living 12:47 mathcore, breakcore Amsterdam, Netherlands Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. One Day [00:42]
2. Monuments to a Poison Logic [02:02]
3. For the Living [02:14]
4. Compromised [03:40]
5. Dead to Me [04:09]
Gratis – Gratis 51:46 mathcore, avant-garde jazz Evansville, Indiana Rebore
Read our review.
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Means and Ends [06:48]
2. II [04:33]
3. Tot Finder [04:50]
4. IV [05:40]
5. Depend On Us [03:59]
6. Hee Haw [04:03]
7. 121305 [09:12]
8. 122505 [05:36]
9. Crass Pollination [04:53]
10. Booth Scene [02:12]
Friday, 13 Fawn Limbs – Darwin Falls 34:42 mathcore United States Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Nesting Lumens [06:12]
2. Wound Hiss [06:32]
3. Dead Horse Cavern [03:30]
4. Noose Gestures [03:03]
5. Caesura [02:30]
6. Twitching, Lapsing [05:11]
7. Dissolver [07:44]
Mouthbreather – I’m Sorry Mr. Salesman 23:50 mathcore Boston, Massachusetts Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Wasted Life [01:40]
2. Cotton Shot [02:09]
3. Daunt [00:56]
4. Tension Underbite [02:37]
5. Deems [02:57]
6. Wasted Science [02:46]
7. Don’t Bring Me Back [01:57]
8. Why Am I In a Hospital [01:52]
9. I Leave [02:30]
10. Burnout [02:11]
11. I’m Sorry Mr. Salesman [02:15]
Tuesday, 28 September 30 Seconds Go! – A Self-Help Guide to Your Nervous Breakdown 22:23 mathcore Maine Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Did You Remember Your Reusable Shopping Bags? [03:25]
2. I’d Rather Have A Bottle In Front Of Me, Than A Frontal Lobotomy (Ft. Sean Richmond) [04:11]
3. Mantis [05:01]
4. Theres A Matador Named Matt At The Door (Ft. Robbie Smith) [03:27]
5. Heavy On The Apple, Light On The Tini [02:26]
6. Alpaca Lips (Interlude) [00:44]
7. Why Do All This Mouth Breathing When I Could Spontaneously Combust [03:09]
Friday, 1 October Frontierer – Oxidized 49:30 mathcore Scotland, UK Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Heirloom [03:18]
2. Corrosive Wash [03:27]
3. Opaque Horizon [02:58]
4. Death/ [02:25]
5. Disintegrative [03:32]
6. This Magnetic Drift [04:27]
7. LK WX [02:32]
8. Southern Hemorrhage [02:45]
9. SVVANS [02:01]
10. Stereopticon [03:20]
11. Removal Of The Copper Iris And The Lightning Pill [02:38]
12. Motherboard [02:20]
13. Daydark [04:12]
14. Glacial Plasma [03:23]
15. The Damage And The Sift [03:21]
16. /Hope [02:51]
Lou Kelly & Friends – Shriek 27:38 experimental rock California Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Humdrum Hysteria [00:55]
2. Jungle Chain Gangs [02:03]
3. White Tourists [02:29]
4. Primal Appropriation [02:08]
5. Functioning Under Crisis [02:21]
6. The Elf Man [00:58]
7. Smooth Jazz Implies The Existence Of Rough Jazz [01:04]
8. What’s The Deal With Anxiety? [02:24]
9. Shopping Center Ennui [01:05]
10. The Shape Of Punk’s Receding Hairline [03:27]
11. Panic Huggers [01:56]
12. Pathetic [01:51]
13. Bonehead [02:21]
14. Screaming Into The Void Like A Normal Person [02:36]
Friday, 8 October Under the Pier – An Exercise in Discontent 28:32 mathcore Baltimore, Maryland Dark Trail
Tracklist (click to display) 1. The Night the Line Was Crossed [01:29]
2. Subtext and Make Believe Fact [02:52]
3. Fabulous [02:30]
4. Fetch Me Wanna Dem Personalities [03:00]
5. Glower [02:50]
6. Enter Lube [01:28]
7. Breaking Point 1 Karen 0 [02:29]
8. Left in the Lurch [03:02]
9. The Best Advice I Never Got [02:13]
10. That Song About Thorns and Roses and Shit [02:33]
11. In Vogue [04:06]
Friday, 5 November The Sound that Ends Creation – Boomers, Zoomers, Desperate Coomers 21:36 mathgrind Allen, Texas Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Jivin’ And Vibin’ [00:41]
2. Just As You Have Planted Your Seed, I Will Plant My Seed In You [01:42]
3. Get Your Shirt Off… It’s Pervert Time (Feat. Cameron Mcbride) [01:26]
4. Stops Frequent Urination, Causes Explosive Diarrhea [01:43]
5. I’m Sorry, I Can’t Hear You Over The Sound Of How Wealthy I Am [01:53]
6. I Hate ICE, I Don’t Even Put It In My Water (Feat. Carson Pace) [02:26]
7. I Tried To Be A Programmer, But Couldn’t Hack It [01:59]
8. You’re A Loose Cannon, But You Get Results (Feat. Kate Davies) [01:59]
9. What’s The Difference Between A Politician And A Flying Pig [02:28]
10. When I Take Out The Recycling, I Look Like A Raging Alcoholic [03:17]
11. It’s Going To Be A No From Me Dawg [02:02]
Friday, 24 December Recent Ancestors – Recent Ancestors 9:10 math rock, noise rock New York, New York Independent
Tracklist (click to display) 1. satisfied [01:01]
2. vain
3. surrounded
4. mirrorscape
5. discussed
6. protected
Best of 2021 01/01 – Best of Afrobeat 01/02 – Best of Atmospheric Black Metal 01/03 – Best of Avant-Garde Black Metal 01/04 – Best of Brutal Death Metal 01/05 – Best of Classical 01/06 – Best of Death Metal 01/07 – Best of Deathcore 01/08 – Best of Doom Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore 01/12 – Best Improvisation 01/13 – Best of Indie Rock 01/14 – Best of Jazz Fusion 01/15 – Best of Jazzcore 01/16 – Best of Math Rock 01/17 – Best of Mathcore