Best Improvisation 2021


Improvisation is often seen as inseparable from jazz. Sure, you often have to improvise in jazz, but improvisation is not bound to any one genre, and I’m going to prove that to you. Here are my favourite improvised pieces of music from 2021!


Number Five: i.o – The Complete 2021 Releases


Taken together, Blasted Sentinel, No Guardians for Rusted Remains, and The Same as My Red add up to an insane 2 309 minutes! That’s about 38 hours and a half! And before you ask: yes, I listened through it all. Not in one go, I paused for … Read more

Best of Hardcore 2021


Number Five: Death Goals – The Horrible and the Miserable


With a varied attack from many fronts, Death Goals’s The Horrible and the Miserable is an amazingly diverse hardcore album that totally slays!


Number Four: Tunic – Quitter


How great is this album, eh? Fast-paced hardcore closer to its punk roots than most others on this list, Tunic’s second 2021 album hits just the right spot for me!


Number Three: Anti Ritual – Expel the Leeches


Anti Ritual is hardcore blackened to a char. Expel the Leeches is a relentless album, and it’s totally oppressive. Definitely worth its spot on … Read more

Best of Grindcore 2021


The filthiest, rankiest, dirtiest, grindiest shit out there.


Number Five: Gross Pizza – Pepperonivirus 2: Pizza Variant

“One step on the balls… Two steps on the dick” is perhaps my favourite lyrical passage of the year, and this is all thanks to this amazing and funny discovery I made earlier this year. Indulge.

Number Four: Rat Punch – It’s a Drink


Rat Punch released an awesome album this year. It’s a Drink is fast-paced and chaotic and heavy hitting; it’s all we need from a grindcore album!
Disclaimer: bass player writes for the blog, so take that any way you … Read more

Best of Folk 2021


Folk is the music for the people, from the people. And as our planet is pretty big, there are uncountably many different sorts of “folk” music. So many, in fact, that my top 5 cannot possibly cover all of the immense variety of sounds there are. Nevertheless, it does cover some decent part of it, and so here are the five best folk albums from 2021 in my opinion!


Number Five: Nika Mo – Of Cloven Hoof in Honey


On Of Cloven Hoof in Honey, Australian singer Nika Mo explores many of the lesser known Grimm tales, and turns … Read more

Best of Doom Metal 2021


Number Five: Dream Unending – Tide Turns Eternal


Dream Unending’s Tide Turns Eternal is an amazing progressive doom album that has some of that psychedelic edge that adds a lot to its sound! A great album to start our top 5!


Number Four: Intaglio –


You might’ve noticed it by now, but I’m not really into the whole funeral doom thing. The closest I’m willing to approach it is exampled by Intaglio’s atmospheric doom album. The album has a true sense of beauty through desolation, and it’s one of the stronger candidates for this year!


Number Three: Big, Brave

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