Huh, it appears that I blinked and a whole year went by just like that. Luckily there was metal, a lot of it in fact, to the extent that none of the albums on my list ended up on our staff’s combined list, which shows just how much diversity there is, in terms of releases, genres and our respective tastes and preferences. With majestic hails to the bands whose releases enriched my life in the past 12 months, the following contains my 20 favorite albums of the year. I hope you will find something that intrigues, excites and animates you.
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The Nine Circles Audio Thing: Year Of No Light was July 2021’s Album of the Month!
Episode 92 of The Nine Circles Audio Thing covers the fifth full length from Year Of No Light, Consolamentum. Buke once again captains the episode with Hera, Ian, Angela, and Vincent in tow as they break down the album, band, and how this one lands in the trajectory of one of post metal’s shining lights.
Continue readingCANTO: Wolves in the Throne Room, Year Of No Light, Down, and More
Work is dumb. I leave for California in three days? Weird times.
- Let’s start with Wolves in the Throne Room, who released another new track from Primordial Arcana. Here’s a visualizer for “Spirit of Lightning”, which a whole new level of epic from Wolves. A reminder that their debut with Relapse Records is set for an August 20th release. Pre-order it here.
- Capra have announced a North American headlining tour, set to begin on October 4th. Support will be local for each of the 18 dates. Looks like more dates are going to be announced as well, which is cool. I expect to have a pretty full concert calendar this fall, and I’m not complaining.
- Down have announced the NOLA Town Throwdown, which will take place at the Fillmore in New Orleans on August 13th. In-person and virtual tickets are available as well. It’s nice of them to make this event accessible to those outside of NOLA, even though I would argue this is probably only worth attending in-person. Shrug emoji.
- Let’s wrap up with the new video from Year Of No Light for “Objurgation”. That track is, of course, taken from Consolamentum, which dropped on July 2nd through Pelagic Records.
“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb
Album Review: Year of No Light — “Consolamentum”
From what I understand, post-metal is a genre that can either lull you into a sense of security or gut you so hard that you wonder who hurt the people who make music in that genre. My experience with post-metal has been very minimal, and that can be attributed to two bands on opposite sides of the spectrum: Cult of Luna and Kontinuum. However, after watching Roadburn Redux this year, I found myself wondering if my musical education needed to be expanded upon once again; after all, the more I continued watching several sets throughout those two or so days, the more astounded and enamored I became of how bands seemed to push past the limits of their own creativity in order to play their sets. It was during this flurry of events that I went through the majority of the Pelagic Presents roster showcase, and I met a band that pulled the rug under me and let me believe that, perhaps, there may be something avant-garde about post-metal after all. Get ready to ascend and pass into eternity, because that is what Year of No Light wants to do on their newest album, Consolamentum.
Continue readingInitial Descent: June 27 – July 3, 2021
Much like past new release lists of late, this is another one as packed as I am when readying bourbon for a vacation…or just a weekend away…or, you get the idea. Anyway, Diabolizer kick things off with one of the best examples of ass kickin’, speed demon death metal that I’ve heard all year. ALL. YEAR. Next up, Sewer Fiend get nasty on their all too quick death metal EP that I wish had at least 30 more minutes of runtime, Year of No Light continue to expand post-metal’s limits, and brutal death metallers Anthropophagus Depravity (say that 10 times fast) snap necks and cash checks. I DON’T KNOW, it just came out of my head, sounded good, and here we are. Moving on, the comment section is open so you can flood us with all the shit we missed or need to hear. After all, we’re one site and can’t know or hear them all despite what anyone else tells you. Pop a top, folks.
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