Does that mean Yuruselem may be added some day soon?

Lots of good stuff came out this year but my favourite is by far Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising. Absolutely incredible from front to back, sends chills down my spine every time I put it on.

One a whim I gave the new Lindemann F&M a listen. I was pleasantly surprised how good it is. I like quite a bit of industrial/popdustrial, but wasn't expecting much from this. I was shocked. It's great.

Try the first one too!

The only non-metal albums I spent much time with this year were the new Swans and Tool albums.

New Swans took a bit for me to come around to. I very much was not impressed upon my first listen, which I wasn't expecting as I love most of what Gira has put out. I think it was the sense that the songs weren't as fully developed and developed by a full band as those on the 2010-2016 albums. However, upon further listens, I definitely appreciate more of the album. There's some really great stuff here, like Annaline, Hanging Man, It's Coming It's Real-- I think my biggest issue now is the length. I'm not sure this really needed to be a 90+ minute, two disk release-- there are definitely a few songs I would've cut.

I'm not sure if the new Tool stands up to 13 years of anticipation, but I mostly really like it. I kind of had the opposite reaction as I did for Swans where I really liked Fear Inoculum upon release, and in the months since my feelings have tapered a bit-- there are some tracks that just don't resonate for me, especially Culling Voices. Much like Swans though, there are definitely fantastic tracks present-- Invincible might be one of my favorite Tool songs.

Also listened a bit to the new Tim Hecker, but not enough to form an opinion.

https://paleowolf.bandcamp.com/album/megalitheon

Paleowolf is a prehistoric themed ritual ambient project and one of my favorite ambient artists this decade. Their new one, Megalitheon, is an instant favorite for me.

Those are mine:
(2019) Tool - Fear Inoculum.
(2019) Yerûšelem - The Sublime.
(2019) Soen - Lotus.
(2019) Panopticon - ...Scars II (The Basics).
(2019) Richard Hawley - Further.

Very interesting list as each band has very specific ties to the metal community besides Richard Hawley.

Yeah, but they could not be in my AOTY list following Metal-Archives standards.

The Panopticon one could have been, I guess. As odd as that is.

Yeah, but it fits better here.

Not as many highlights as the previous 2 years imo but definitely a strong end to the decade. Anyway, I'mma keep this short and sweet:

10. Duster - Duster - Great comeback for this seminal slowcore band. It's no Stratosphere but it's probably the next best thing.

9. Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops - A slight step down from the debut but this is still another worthy addition to Gareth Liddiard's excellent catalog.

8. Lightning Bolt - Sonic Citadel - What a way to end your career.

7. Thee Oh Sees - Face Stabber - Perhaps the most all over the place TOS album but as usual, they make it work. Cover art of the year as well.

6. State Faults - Clairvoyant - Been waiting for a proper follow-up to R//D for quite some time now and this does not disappoint. Great post-rock influenced skramz.

5. Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising - I wasn't entirely sold on her when Front Row Seat to the Earth dropped but goddamn, this is absolutely stellar.

4. Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka - The voice, the production, the whole intimacy of the record. Just so addicting.

3. Swans - Leaving Meaning. - Their best since Soundtracks don't @ me.

2. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal - Hiding Places - Billy's been a favourite of mine for awhile now and I'm so happy to see him get some hype generated around this record. His haunting, off-kilter delivery and lyrical themes combined with an incredibly strong performance from Segal makes for one of the most complete hip-hop efforts of this decade. Future classic without a doubt.

1. Pile - Green and Gray - Proving once again that they are still one of the best and most dynamic offerings within the realm of indie rock.

Other worthy mentions:

Mark Kozelek / Sun Kil Moon - Joey Always Smiled / I Also Want to Die in New Orleans (Mark should really just write a book at this point. Regardless, anything he shits out will still find it's way into my year end lists.)
Bill Callahan - Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest
black MIDI - Schlangenheim
Turnover - Altogether (Sure it sounds like a softcore porn soundtrack, but my god is it ever infectious.)
Fontaines D.C. - Dogrel
Uranium Club - The Cosmo Cleaners
Shin Guard - 2020
The Murder Capital - When I Have Fears
Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
Chat Pile - This Dungeon Earth / Remove Your Skin Please (Technically a pair of EP's but way too good to not include.)



Judging from that list of yours you really ought to look harder, bud.

^^^^
I read Lightning Bolt as Lightning Dust and thought "I didn't hear that was their final record!"

Otoboke Beaver ‘Itekoma Hits’ would have been near the top of my list had I discovered it prior to submitting mine. Such a bonkers fun record!!

Yeah, big ups to Otoboke Beaver, Duster and Michael Kiwanuka, great choices. I'm also a huge fan of the new DIIV album. I'd probably put the new Chai album up there somewhere too.

Ahhh I forgot about DIIV, really enjoyed that one. Honestly their best yet imo, love that they went with more of a full-on shoegaze approach. Greet Death's newest was another within that realm I found to be p good. Also, forgot to make mention of Purple Mountains. I'm a longtime Silver Jews fan and this was an absolutely gutting release, especially given what followed. RIP Dave.

Not a lot of non-metal stuff that I've enjoyed this year. I was too busy listening to old King Crimson live albums. I did enjoyed a few though:

- Thom Yorke - Anima: the best album Thom Yorke has made since In Rainbows. Really great stuff.
- Gold - Why Aren't You Laughing?: great post punk.
- Lankum - The Livelong Day: the most beautiful folk album I've heard in years. Pretty dark stuff.
- Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka: I really love the "old vibes" this album evokes. Hero might be my favourite song of the year.
- Tool - Fear Inoculum: I actually enjoyed it more than 10,000 days. I was expecting a terrible album and it's actually cool. Sure, it has some issues but I still listened it a lot. Kind of related to metal though.

As to the new Swans album, I think it's the worst album Gira has recorded since The Burning World. What a mess, it sounds like a parody album. "Sunfucker" is some of the cringiest stuff I've heard recently.

I might be one of the only ones that likes A Moon Shaped Pool more than In Rainbows (obviously they're both better than King Of Limbs), but yeah, ANIMA is incredible.

I really wanted to like A Moon Shaped Pool but to me it felt too disjointed and incoherent. The fact that it opens with Burn the Witch didn't help either (I don't really like that song, not sure why).

Not to completely hi-jack my own thread here, but: did you by any chance see them live on the Moon Shaped Pool tour? I loved the record, but I also felt some of the songs juxtaposed each other. Then I saw a bunch of them live, and it all started to click more.

Sadly, I haven't been able to see them. I can't even remember when was the last time they played here. Sigur Ros and Radiohead are probably the non-metal bands I'm more eager to see live right now but my hopes aren't too high to be honest.

Don't get me wrong, I still think it's better than The King of Limbs and it has some pretty cool songs (Identikit is great!) but I really really like this new album a lot more than Moon Shaped Pool.

Dawn Chorus gets me everytime. What a beautifully sad song.

I almost forgot about the Billy Woods + Kenny Sagal album, Hiding Spaces. Really dark and abstract hip hop. You should really listen to it if you're into experimental beats.

Here's mine, unranked, listed alphabetically:


Blink 182-Nine. This turned out way better than I was expecting. Way better.

Brutus-Nest. A major step down from Burst (at best, a lateral move), but still a tremendous listen nonetheless.

FKA Twigs-Magdalene. Not much more to say past what others have said. Really brilliant and emotionally resonant.

Flying Colors-Third Degree. Yet another hook-filled alt prog-pop album from Portnoy and co.

Geowulf-My Resignation. A slightly less lush indie/dream pop compared to Great Big Blue, but full of earworms nonetheless.

Gost-Valediction. Brutal synthwave, bordering on black metal at times.

Jimmy Eat World-Surviving. This band keeps introducing new subtle twists while keeping their core foundation solid.

Mono-Nowhere Now Here. The fact that this band has made as many albums as they have and can still make emotionally gripping instrumental post rock is impressive.

No Man-Love You To Bits. Did not see this one coming; an excellent fusing of the melancholy later works over danceable beats reminiscent of their earlier stuff.

Tim Bowness-Flowers At The Scene. The reason I didn't see the No Man coming was because Bowness had already put out this outstanding post-prog/singer-songwriter album.

Tool-Fear Inoculum. Not much to be said other than I personally feel Tool delivered big time despite the 13 year wait.

White Reaper-You Deserve Love. Not as good as The World's Greatest American Band, but still a damn fine simple, hook-y rock album.

Yeruselem-The Sublime. This is metal to me, the same way Godflesh is metal, but nonetheless, this is a super twisted listen.


Honorable Mentions to:

Coldplay-Everyday Life
Filthy Friends-Emerald Valley

Biggest Disappointment:

Bad Religion-Age Of Unreason. I get that this band now has a motivator in Trump and the lyrical bent on this album deserves respect and praise, but man, they just are starting to show their age here. They sound old and tired, and the loss of Brooks Wackerman was a particularly huge blow.

I've been low-key obsessed with Dori Freeman for several years now, and I can't stop listening her latest Every Single Star. Dori Freeman "Darlin' Boy"

Forgot one: the new self titled Duster album. Really well done lo-fi space rock.

^

That White Reaper album reminded me so much of Thin Lizzy at times, I wish it had been released in the summer.

1. Mono-Nowhere Now Here
2. Cave In-Final Transmission
3. Seizures-Reviere Of The Revolting Diamond
4. Show Me The Body-Dog Whistle
5. Brutus-Nest
6. Seeyouspacecowboy-Songs For The Firing Squad
7. Car Bomb-Mordial
8. Suldusk-Lunar Fall
9. Ceremony-In The Spirit World Now
10. HarborLights-Isolation Ritual

Daniel Lopatin's soundtrack for Uncut Gems is definitely in my top 10 records of 2019, incredible krautrock/berlin school style synth excursions.

Here's my top 10. A lot of stellar releases this year btw.

1. Moor Mother - Analog Fluids Of Sonic Black Holes
2. Sarah Davachi - Pale Bloom
3. Tool - Fear Inoculum
4. JPEGMAFIA - All My Heroes Are Cornballs
5. Rome - Le Ceneri Di Heliodoro
6. Tyler, the Creator - Igor
7. King Midas Sound - Solitude
8. FKA twigs - Magdalene
9. Grip - Snubnose
10. These New Puritans - Inside The Rose

For a while, this was up near the top of my list. I still really really like it, but I personally burned myself out on it. I listened to it non-stop for over a month when it first came out. Opening track is insanely good.

Hey jimbies, I just got my "exclusive never to be released again 1-time only mystery Griselda hoodie" today. I'm so hyped. I can't really explain how much I'm obsessed with the whole crew, from the big 3 on down to nobodies like RJ Payne and Flee Lord. It's like discovering Wu Tang all over again.

I've got you and a few others here to thank for that. Seriously, life changing shit.