My Top 10 Albums Of 2017

Another year rolls around and looking back over my posts there was a lot of good music enjoyed which I struggled to narrow into a list of ten. With almost ninety new releases covered this year I have noticed to no surprise a bit to much Metal. I think that's why my top ten is proportionately less metallic than the bulk of music I enjoyed. I think next years goal should be to avoid predictably dull Metal records and get into new sounds that can have a bigger impact on me!
 
(10) Trivium "The Sin And The Sentence" link

I was a little hesitant to put this one on the list, its all a bit fresh to me still but given their reputation I don't think Trivium's music will fade on me anytime soon, this record is so well crafted, all its hooks and riffs are balanced so well, the fuel tank never runs out from start to finish it has you in its grasp.

(9) Lorde "Melodrama" link

 

Some albums take a little time to show themselves. On release It was obviously impressive but later in the year revisiting this record the emotions flowed and all the intricacies of the production come washing over like a flood, especially Lorde's voice which has certainly shown its charm.

(8) Wiley "Godfather" link

Hes a name brand! Or at least that's how the hook goes. This was actually my introduction to Wiley, I name I've heard of since the early days of Grime. I was blown back by how tight the production and rhymes are, Godfather is a solid record loaded with fun hooks and goofy bad man characters that are so much fun given the technicality of Wileys flows. Looking forward to the sequel in 2018!

(7) Cavalera Conspiracy "Psychosis" link

Its hard to get excited for straight up balls to the wall metallic heaviness these days but from an unexpected place comes an album so tightly crafted its groove and heavy bombastic noise is tuned to full throttled. With a fantastic scope of creativity in the instrumentation beyond Metal's bare bones, the record is elevated to a place where the best of old and new ideas meet in flawless execution.

(6) Kendrick Lamar "DAMN." link

I don't think anything comes close in terms of Hip Hop this year. Kendrick is serving the old generation and new with fresh creative beats and a fiery, ambitious flow loaded with intelligent lyrics to chew into. It was a slow burn for me at first but I enjoyed it most when my phones shuffle feature would pull me back into the record time and time again, that's when it really clicked for me.

(5) Erang "Songs Of Scars" link

Although its part of the Anti Future off shoot, Songs Of Scars is Erang's best work yet. In this vision the music really hits its stride, delivering cinematic music drenched in a mysterious eighties nostalgia that's creepy, playful and adventurous. The instrumentation is lush and the production right on point for a riveting listen that holds you from start to end.

(4) Godflesh "Post Self" link

Broadrick has out done himself here, twenty eight years on from his prolific Streetcleaner album you wouldn't expect that stroke of genius again but with Post Self he has reinvented the Godflesh sound for something truly riveting. It wasn't actually until I sat down to write up on this record that its genius really struck me. There is so much brilliance in the intricacies that it engulfs you with ease.

(3) Fever Ray "Plunge" link

I have been thrilled by the release of this record! Given the large silence since Fever Ray I thought it may never come! Plunge is a similar beast but more experimental with Noise and Industrial influences making an earthly racket on an album that feels initially challenging but doesn't interrupt the core of the music which is very much in the same vein, its not as good as her self titled but still one heck of a record you can place alongside it.

(2) Horsebeach "Beauty & Sadness" link

 A viewer was kind enough to share their bands bandcamp with me, I had no clue what was in store, least of all did expect to find such a gem! I adore this record, the music, its aesthetics the quirky interlude tracks. It feels like a slice of time frozen, the mood and tone frozen, only to come to life when you hit play. Really blown away by this one, its a gorgeous swell of emotion and passion.

(1) Sikth "The Future In Whose Eyes" link

With each and every listen this album failed to loose the charm it bestowed after only a few listens. I thought these riffs and hooks might fade with repetition but it has held up so well over the months making up this year. Time and time again it has delivered, I think the lack of intentionally bombastic or obvious moments lets the craft of the songs hold up. I also got to catch a couple of the songs live which was a real treat!

Cavalera Conspiracy "Psychosis" (2017)

"From beneath the slums of a third world, a two headed Brazilian Godzilla was born, destined to leave permanent sound scares on all under pale grey skies. Hell, chaos, pandemonium, the massacre continues and with no end in sight". That's the records closing lyric and It would be equally fitting as a tone setting mission statement. "Psychosis" is one heck of a record from the Cavalera brothers who have cast a lasting influence in the world of all things Metal, between them they have amassed around thirty records since their debut with Sepultura in 1985, a phenomenal output. Cavalera Conspiracy was a chapter in the legacy I could care less for, back in 2008 their debut Inflikted was a mediocre release and I had since failed to follow their releases and so I very nearly passed this one by.

What a mistake that would of been! Psychosis is one of the tightest, mean and hard hitting Metal records Ive heard in some time. The riffs are roaring with intensity, the grooves mammoth, full of swaying rigor and the album steadily sinks into the depths as the ferocity of sound borders into Industrial territory, even Black Metal with the frightening "Judas Pariah". The whole record is tinged with a retroactive ideology once heard on old Thrash Metal records, the demonic reverberations of vocal lines have been resurrected and executed with utter class and inspiration. Max's screams and shouts can creep in from the distance or shuffle across the stereo spectrum and often shatter into the vast chambers of space these effects can muster. Its a demonic pleasure that shrouds the record in classically evil overtones while shedding the cheese that old sound carried.

The records production is a treat, everything is loud, present and punchy without feeling "overloud". A crisp creation that squeezes the texture and power from the guitars alongside a devastating kit with a deep thudding base kick and ear piercing high pitched tom rolls that burst into the music, cutting like a devilish cascades of daggers descending upon the listener, gives me chills every time. The album's songs are pulled together for an album experience with atmospheric interludes of ambiguous dystopian obscurity. Vague voices can be heard in the rumblings of sound too, these cryptic themes often creep into the main sections of songs too, providing another layer of depth to the onslaught of riveting, thrashing music.

The album starts to push hard with "Hellfire", loading clattering industrial drum stomps behind the harsh, over distorted guitars that seem to intentionally peak the mix as supernatural synths drop in for a outlandish wall of sound that has grown on me much with familiarity. Its unusual amounting of sounds satisfyingly leads into a stomping breakdown groove with a violent snare drum striking like the snap of a whip. It leads into the aforementioned "Judas Periah", the deployment of blast beats and satanic snaky tremolo guitar riffs lead give it a very Black Metal tone that diverts us from the diabolical storm into another romp of a breakdown, big slamming guitars and light synths accenting the bounce will have your head swinging!

After dragging us through fires, the title track offers respite in an equally impressive esoteric soundscape track that slowly leads its rich layers of swamping sound, vibrant synths and effect soaked acoustics, into a collapsing of noise as the track falls in on itself. These ambitious clattering of experimentation in noise finds its final statement on the following and final song, ending with hellish alien sounds of suffering and a malevolent mechanical heartbeat that's truly as terrifying as it is vivid. This dimension gives the album a depth you can't help but feel can be peeled back to reveal more. Whatever vision the two have behind such a frighting ordeal becomes irrelevant in the impact of its reality. This is an all around flawless record that I have yet to tire from an inch in my binging of the hailstorm that is "Psychosis". Kudos Cavalera brothers, the fire still burns bright in Brazil.

Rating: 9/10