Contemporary classical is a Pandora’s box. You don’t know what you’ll find, and you have no idea how it could affect you! The new classical composers are always after something new, on the brink of knowledge and theory, they’re like post-doctorate fellows, and I’m sure some of them actually are! So, new compositions are fascinating, but new recordings of modern composers or even older ones can be truly satisfying as well. And on top of that, there’s another branch of composers; they might not be after a new sound, and don’t tread old ground either, but rather make new music … Read more
Best of Brutal Death Metal 2021
It’s all in the name: brutal death metal. Brootal! That’s what I want from my BDM: riffs that punch me in the face, drums that gravity blast my boding into a black hole, and a stiff neck. Sure, you might find some progressive and technical death metal in that category, they sometimes cross over each other, but points will be given for pitiless riffs here. If it has the St. Anger snare, that’s bonus points! So let’s jump right in!
Number Five: Purulence – Xenarch
This is a new name for me, and they legitimized their place on this top … Read more
Best of Avant-Garde Black Metal 2021
Avant-garde black metal is when expectations are defied, challenged. The listener is a gladiator fighting an arena full of wolves, bears, and lions. So, let’s see which albums managed to kill me this year.
Number Five: Issolei – Devouring Current
Devouring Current was released in two parts, but I’ll take it whole. The album is filled with intricate, banger riffs that are only at home on the fringes. While the album is more in line with the norms of the genre than the others on this list, it does such a good job of it that I could not let … Read more
Best of Atmospheric Black Metal 2021
Then comes “atmospheric black metal”. This tag alone bears a lot of weight, and I’ve decided to include all of the post-black and blackgaze releases under that umbrella term. There might also hide a few “avant-garde” or more experimental entities in there, but at the end of the day it was an arbitrary call to include them or not. When I first started this blog, I wasn’t much into black metal, but it’s one of the first new genres to which I warmed, thanks to the amazingly diverse and creative minds sowing their seeds on the fertile soil of black … Read more
Best of Afrobeat 2021
Welcome to the first of this year’s best of lists, curated by yours truly! As you might have noticed by now, this year is going to be separated by genre, or style, or attribute… it’s rather inconsistent between categories! On top of that, some categories are rather spread-out within themselves! I mean, there’s more than one kind of “hardcore” music out there for example, and I’m trying my best to keep my categories straight, but it’s often difficult to decide in which category such and such album should go, especially with the miscegenous music I usually listen to! Nevertheless, in … Read more