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Best of 2021: Josh’s List

Josh2 Comments
Best of 2021

One more year and one more list. AND, I’m in pole position for main lists. How is that possible? Right, who cares… Anywho, 2021 was yet another dumpster fire globally, but personally it’s been a good year, for the most part. The road we’re on with supply chains and inflation has to hit a ceiling soon or dumpster fire won’t even begin to brand what we’ll be facing in 2022. But, before I get too far down the road we’re all too familiar with, ENOUGH of that shit. I’ve had it up to my ass with all of it. Metal, again, had a great year. Some genres fared better than others, as you’ll see in the list below, but overall it was a very good year, as Sinatra once said. All the anger and hatred and frustration pushed artists to a level of creativity, and for some a level of vitriol, we haven’t seen in a long time and I don’t expect that trend to change anytime soon. So, on that point, score.

List season. We all love them for one reason or another and love bitchin’ about them. It’s human nature. With that said, here’s all the albums that meant the most to me throughout 2021 and as usual, I’m in the top nine and nine honorable mentions format because, branding. Jump in and enjoy what made me tick this year.

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 208 (12.04.2021)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

It’s late…so late I can barely keep my eyes open. As I write this I’m coasting on the fumes of a Brown’s Oatmeal Stout and Bloodmoon: I, the collaboration between Converge, Stephen Brodsky and Chelsea Wolfe. The week was rough, and we’re staring down the barrel of some serious evil, so why not grab a drink and toast to the end of the world, huh? Maybe the 208th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist is the one that plays as the world burns to ash…we’ll see.

We’re kicking things off with some classic Gwar before turning to a pair of great black metal tracks I recently discovered from Ferriterium and svrm. Vincent reminds us that Eight Bells are back after a long absence, and tunes into my wavelength with some sonic heaviness courtesy of Boris. Anton continues to hold down the fort with the newest single from post-metal masters Cult of Luna but sprinkles in some madness with Dessiderium. Then it’s Buke’s turn and he holds the classic metal torch high, blazing the light on some Death Angel, Edge of Sanity, and Entombed. Want something a little more extreme? Josh reminds us how incredible Imperial Triumphant are with a cut from their new live set, and also hammers us with some Alchemy of Flesh and Bongzilla. Angela gets some fury in as well, bringing in Carcass and MØL before Vincent takes us home with the latest from 40 Watt Sun.

Let’s do better, humanity. I’m tired and just want to see the daylight…preferably with some good tunes in my ears.

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– Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 179 (5.1.2021)

VincentLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

Greetings, fellow travelers of the path, and welcome to another Nine Circles Saturday morning mixtape. This time around, we’ve got a slew of death metal tracks, BIG|BRAVE’s noisy, glorious sludge, a little Alcest, and some classic Tom Waits & newer Steve Von Till to round things out. Check it out below.

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– Vincent

Embracing the Descent: April 25 – May 1, 2021

Josh1 Comment
EMBRACING TEMP LOGO

Spotty this column may be, but fulfillments go unfilled, expectations ain’t what they used to be, and so on and so forth. So, expect the unexpected or whatever. Anyway, there’s a handful that flipped a switch this week and I had some extra time and here we are. Oh, and one from a couple weeks ago because…reasons. Try these on for size and don’t forget to check out the full listing from Monday’s Initial Descent.

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Initial Descent: April 18 – 24, 2021

JoshLeave a comment
Capra

No bitchin’ this week. I could, don’t get me wrong. Rather, I’ll just keep it all in my head and see visions equal to that Cannibal Corpse album that came out last week. As the kids say, what a banger. Moving on, new week and new metal so let’s do it…Capra explodes with some vicious hardcore and punk infused metal this side of, well, a very long time and the fact that this is a debut? Snap! A name I was excited to see that I haven’t in a long stretch is Bongzilla who returns with an album I’m stok(n)ed on and you should be too, Akiavel are back with a blistering sophomore death metal effort, and Altarage keep the violence going with their brand of blackened death metal that keeps the needle pegged to extreme. Alrighty then, these top four are worth your time, but there’s a lot more to follow that bears the same worth. Do it.

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