Post-metal is often slow and atmospheric, somewhat akin to doom metal with riffs, or post-rock with riffs. There’s been a lot of really good post-metal this year, so here are my favourites!
Number Five: Cave Sermon – Memory Spear
Australia’s Cave Sermon released a jaw-dropping debut this year with Memory Spear, an amazing atmospheric post-metal album with a tinge of black metal inked into it, which makes for a marvellous entry into our top 5!Number Four: Daxma – Unmarked Boxes
Doomgazy post-metal with melodic female vocals over drawn-out chords and slloooww riffs. Is that what you want? Then come in, they’re fresh!
Number Three: Farer – Monad
Filled with four massive tracks, Monad is an impressive collection of slow-building atmospheres and sinking, repetitive riffs. It’s simply one very solid album.
Number Two: Вовод – Ярость и прощение
The Russian band Вовод—romanized as Wowod—came up with Ярость и прощение (Jarost’ i proščenie) early in 2021, and it still confounds me some. The album has a very wide stylistic range, so much as to be somewhat confusing. It’s all good, really good!, but when you go from post-rock to grindcore and to black metal, you don’t remember by which door you entered and where you need to exit! So, I labeled it “post-metal”, but feel free to disagree. This album is great either way!
Number One: Rinuwat – Dua naga
I have to give it to the most out-there album on this list. Is that even post-metal? I think it is, but it is so fundamentally intertwined with Javanese traditional music as to render it unrecognizable. Each song is a ritual to behold and participate in, and the final result is absolutely mesmerizing and tantalizing. Definitely one of the most remarkable albums of the year!
Notable Releases
Hover over foreign scripts for pronunciation and romanization.
Friday, 29 January
Вовод – Ярость и прощение
41:10
post-metal
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Church Road
Divide and Dissolve – Gas Lit
34:07
drone metal
Melbourne, Australia
Independent
Friday, 5 February
Sarin – You Can’t Go Back
32:43
post-metal
Toronto, Ontario
Prosthetic
Seed – Dun Pageant
54:06
doomgaze, post-hardcore
Boston, Massachusetts
Independent
Friday, 30 April
Pamirt – Mausoleum
30:27
post-metal, opera
Groningen, Netherlands
Tartarus
Friday, 2 July
Year of No Light – Cōnsōlāmentum
55:09
post-metal
Bordeaux, France
Pelagic
Sunday, 29 August
Skin Thief – Dust
23:02
post-metal
Melbourne, Australia
Independent
Monday, 30 August
The Mask of the Phantasm – New Axial Age
42:12
progressive metal
Austin, Texas
Independent
Friday, 3 September
Verbian – Irrupção
53:34
post-metal
Porto, Portugal
Independent
Friday, 24
Farer – Monad
52:37
post-metal
Netherlands
Tartarus
Kehlvin – Holistic Dreams
34:47
post-metal
La Chaux De Fonds, Switzerland
Division
LLNN – Unmaker
39:47
post-metal
Copenhagen, Denmark
Pelagic
Friday, 1 October
Stolen Kidneys – Maailma loppuu
31:59
mathcore, noise rock
Finland
Independent
Friday, 8
Shy, Low – Snake behind the Sun
53:15
post-metal
Richmond, Virginia
Pelagic
Friday, 22
A Lake of Ayes – Ouro sobre azul
39:00
post-metal
Manchester, UK
Ripcord
Slow Crush – Hush
45:42
post-metal
Belgium
Church Road
Friday, 12 November
Rinuwat – Dua naga
38:53
experimental post-metal
Australia
Heavy Machinery
Friday, 19
دخمه – Unmarked Boxes
57:19
post-metal
Oakland, California
Blues Funeral
Saturday, 20
Hope Drone – Husk
30:56
blackened post-metal
Brisbane, Australia
Independent
Tuesday, 30 November
See More Glass Project – A New World in Our Hearts
51:03
post-metal
Lisbon, Portugal
Independent
Wednesday, 1 December
Зло – Зачеркни моё имя
37:08
post-metal
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Independent
Friday, 3
Cave Sermon – Memory Spear
35:05
post-metal
Melbourne, Australia
Independent
Juneau – Cloak
34:11
post-metal
Heist Op Den Berg, Belgium
Independent
Tuesday, 21 December
虚症 – 梦寐
22:08
post-black metal
Beijing, China
Independent
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
01/18 – Best of Metalcore
01/19 – Best of Modern Jazz
01/20 – Best of Noise Rock
01/21 – Best of Nu Jazz
01/22 – Best of Nu Prog
01/23 – Best of Pop
01/24 – Best of Post-Hardcore
01/25 – Best of Post-Metal
[…] Nu Jazz 01/22 – Best of Nu Prog 01/23 – Best of Pop 01/24 – Best of Post-Hardcore 01/25 – Best of Post-Metal 01/26 – Best of Post-Rock 01/27 – Best of Progressive […]
[…] Nu Jazz 01/22 – Best of Nu Prog 01/23 – Best of Pop 01/24 – Best of Post-Hardcore 01/25 – Best of Post-Metal 01/26 – Best of Post-Rock 01/27 – Best of Progressive Metal 01/28 – Best of […]
[…] Nu Jazz 01/22 – Best of Nu Prog 01/23 – Best of Pop 01/24 – Best of Post-Hardcore 01/25 – Best of Post-Metal 01/26 – Best of Post-Rock 01/27 – Best of Progressive Metal 01/28 – Best of […]
[…] Nu Jazz 01/22 – Best of Nu Prog 01/23 – Best of Pop 01/24 – Best of Post-Hardcore 01/25 – Best of Post-Metal 01/26 – Best of Post-Rock 01/27 – Best of Progressive Metal 01/28 – Best of […]
[…] Nu Jazz 01/22 – Best of Nu Prog 01/23 – Best of Pop 01/24 – Best of Post-Hardcore 01/25 – Best of Post-Metal 01/26 – Best of Post-Rock 01/27 – Best of Progressive Metal 01/28 – Best of […]
[…] Nu Jazz 01/22 – Best of Nu Prog 01/23 – Best of Pop 01/24 – Best of Post-Hardcore 01/25 – Best of Post-Metal 01/26 – Best of Post-Rock 01/27 – Best of Progressive Metal 01/28 – Best of […]