Biggest Twat of 2018
Hamada, Zekkyou's producer, for being worse than useless with basically everything this year. Zekkyou got super boring, lives happening so far away there's basically no point in trying to ever go see them. On the rare occasion I have the live has been insipid, and apparently Julian's the only person they'll do interesting chekis with anymore. Oh, and Montero not showing up for the UK tour was because he can't be bothered to read visa requirements for Filipinas. Not to mention a whole litany of other screwups around the tour which aren't my story to tell. So yea. Hamada this year.
Biggest Swerve of 2018
When Maboroshi Karen Gene, who I thought were on track to become my top group at the end of last year, did the shittest one man at O-east in existence in January, and announced some regular live show, played a couple of songs to about 60 people and then did the buppan having hired a bunch of freelance staff for the event despite not needing them. I'm guessing the cost of hiring O-east and the staff far outweighed the amount they took on merch and tickets. Probably bankrupt the management company, so a month later all the members quit the management company and graduated from the group, and debuted the next day as Maboroshi.no. Self-produced, with Yumino operating as the boss, Yumachi the choreographer and Ako and Aoyan just there. They hired the same staff as they used to use, and nothing really changed except all the songs and costumes. The members are still fun as hell and down to randomly chat on the street if you ever bump into them though.
Most Pointless Name Change of 2018/Best Linguistic Fail of 2018
callme. Having split from Dorothy Little Happy to self-produce themselves (with often hilarious results. The music and the lyrics are both laughable); callme decided this year that callme was too common and hard to find on the internet without being bombarded with porn sites. The name originated as a mashup of the three members' names. Koumi, Runa and Mimori. Kourumi is close enough to callme in katakana English that it kind of worked, despite all the hot sex tonight call lines. Their new name, however, is kolme. A Finnish word, meaning "three", which makes sense as they have three members. Also probably the number of fans they actually have left. The main problem is that kolme, despite the similarities in appearance to the bastardised English of callme, sounds rather different. Unless Mimori became Memori...
Meanwhile, their 2018 output has been... trash. They've also started even locking their music videos behind a paywall. Imagine paying to watch music videos. Yea, these guys can fuck off.
Best New Idol Group of 2018
Sordid origins aside, the much maligned agency behind Kuromiya Rei has finally decided to try to make money from young girls without needing them to parade around in... well, not very much at all. The result is Lily of the Valley, a 5 member group featuring three members that still do parade around in not very much at all, one member who through some unknown influence has managed to release DVDs on the label without once having a bikini scene, and one who even the agency realises is too young to do that shit yet. On the other hand, they seem to be taking the idol group thing seriously. The songs are pretty good quality, and with the agency having been encouraging its "talents" to do 踊ってみた videos on Niconico for a long time now their dance skill is pretty great. Singing isn't quite there yet; but Sawamura Risa is a guitarist as well and apparently has started playing at lives. Their Tokyo debut live was hilarious as it took place at Village Vanguard, and no one could see anything. The pinchike at the back were hilarious though. The members have personality, and the group seems to work; attaining pretty good success already. Whether that comes from the fact that the fans actually enjoy the music or if they're just people who "enjoyed" the members' previous work I'm not too sure; but giving the members an out of the gravure if they want it is good news to me.
Biggest Disappointment of 2018
Oh so many. Burst Girls' entire existence, their songs being terrible and no Guso fans even turning up because it's such a trainwreck. Chicken Blow the Idol losing so many members I can't even keep up, and the debut live being a one-man, lasting ten minutes and having 20 people show up. Zekkyou's continued boringness. Koto's EP. Chthonic's new album. Kaishin no Ichigeki going on hiatus and coming back wearing shoes. So many.
Best Photobook of 2018
Photobooks are a weird thing with me lately. I try to keep up but there are just too many damn groups that release them nowadays. They all seem to have started fitting into little islands of similarity though. 48 groups for the past two years have been all about implied nudity and boundary pushing. Hello! Project photobooks have been about releasing as little content as possible for the highest price. It's got to the point where photobooks that have 50 pages are being released. That's a leaflet, not a book. Not to mention their DVDs, which have been 10 minutes of footage played at 0.25x speed for the past 10 years. The Nogi/Keyaki books seemed to be somewhat classy until Neru's last year, whereupon they went down the same route as 48. Actress photobooks seem to depend on the photographer and how open the actress is to suggestions; although it's pretty much a given at this point that Kawaguchi Haruna will have a naked bathtub shot. In the end I decided to give it to the photobook which created the most lasting impression. In that regard, there really is only one possible winner.
AKB's Kato Rena takes the "implied" out of implied nude and basically just owns it. There is no subtlety to 誰かの仕業 (Someone's Actions). Everything is in your face. A good portion of this book was set in London, which seems to be the norm for photobooks these days. I've seen quite a lot recently. It's also seemingly the spiritual successor to Iriyama Anna's photobook, which was also risque as all hell. Anyway, at least no one can scream "filthy bikinis" anymore. They've gone well beyond that with this.
Best Picture of Dani Filth Looking Like A Spanner in 2018
Music Video Most Likely To Induce Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder of 2018
Anaal Nathrakh doing some exploration of the horror of war with their ever-subtle touch.
Weirdest Stop Motion Conceptual PV of 2018
Saki's PV for her latest single involved random drawings moving on pieces of paper.
Best Song of 2018
Asterism knocked it out of the park with this one. Seeing this live is like a religious experience.
Most Hyperactive Dance Hit of 2018
Ebichuu and Watanabe Naomi just doing their thing.
The Black Metal Band Trying Hardest To Create Nature Documentaries in 2018
This music video has no meaning, no point, and no purpose. But oh look, pretty.
Idol of 2018
This, if you don't know, is Mayumura Chiaki. She's somewhat nuts. She came to my attention when one of the old 2& Family/Gushin guys I've know for years started going to her lives almost exclusively. Then a random video surfaced of her doing a street live in the Kabukicho Square (outside Blaze, next to Toho) where she was playing an acoustic guitar and singing. Then she took her sandals off and carried on barefoot for some reason. Then later when she'd finished playing, she and her fans made a big circle on the floor, invited a bunch of foreigners to join in and started playing duck duck goose. She can do everything. On the stage she switches between the normal idol thing of singing and dancing and the singer songwriter thing of playing an acoustic guitar and singing. Then she messes with you by getting behind the drumkit for a song, or picking up a bass. She really does do everything. She composes on stage, sometimes. She's been on TV a bit recently and randomly written songs in two minutes for challenges. She also does some crazy music videos, like the one above and this one, where the English translator just kind of gave up inside a minute. She's nuts and that makes me happy. Her music doesn't do much for me but still this is great.
Best Throwback to 2008 of 2018
So, Charlie Griffiths, guitarist for Haken, decided to reupload the old Anchorhead demo tapes this year. This is Star Wars Metal (or Darth Metal, in their parlance) done right, unlike that American Galactic Empire ripoff thing.
Best Random Idol Gimmick of 2018
Kobushi Factory bouncing back from last year's scandals by randomly a cappella covering their own songs. Not perfect, but pretty funny.
Most Bizarre Idol Encounter of 2018
During Golden Week I ended up at a show in a venue in Aoyama called Rizm. Ostensibly I was there to see Maboten, newly renamed. What happened before that, however, confused the hell out of me. A girl wearing a rabbit hat and a Chinese dress came out from behind the crowd and decided to dance in the crowd for a while. During the proceedings one of her shoelaces untied so she proceeded to rip her shoes off and throw them in any direction, get on stage and start singing about random shit while beating the shit out of a guitar, and just went weird. Welcome to Rein. Her PVs aren't much more sane, with a low budget aesthetic that I really like but that's really fucked up. They deal with suicide, mayonnaise, eating too much Chinese food and dieting, and the sexual assault of dolls. She's stopped performing live recently because she hates people.
Best Mortiis Song of 2018
So, Mortiis, everyone's favourite ex-Emperor bassist turned Industrial workhorse troll (in the literal sense) seems to have gained an idol follower in the shape of Garuda. I went to her birthday and she played with a live band and it was pretty fun. Certainly better than any of Mortiis' releases lately.
Most Ridiculous Number of Overtly Costumed Extras in a Music Video of 2018
How are Momoclo even still going. This is the only song they've released this year which doesn't totally suck. I see Stardust is still pumping in the money in the hopes they retain a modicum of relevance, but they are now totally irrelevant and so why even bother.
Best Dearth of Lyrical Ideas of 2018
The Ocean, having run out of Biblical prophecies to write lyrics about, have turned to palaeontology for their latest album.
Most Misheard Lyrics of 2018
Lonely Lonely Lonely Lonely Lonely Lonely Kong. Koto is mental. So is this song. The video, with the kindergarten, elementary and junior high school clothing; and the lyrics, with the very easily misheard Lonely Kong, definitely pointing to a specific demographic. On the other hand Koto herself turned 20 this year. She signed a deal with a major label, and released this, her catchiest earworm in years. Unfortunately the EP she released afterwards is pretty weak.
Most Ridiculous Fashion Trend of 2018
Imada Mio is cute. This year there was a spiritual sequel to the original Japanese Hana Yori Dango drama called Hana Nochi Hare; where the F4 was replaced by the C5 and Imada Mio was one of the members. Her character was totally insane, driven mostly by yandere tendencies. Despite this, her sometimes clingy, sometimes cold-as-ice persona became the breakout success of the show. Why? Her hair. Japan has become a sucker for flash in the pan new trends (remember the boob ribbon a few years ago?) and so the bondage corset-esque hairstyle immediately sent competitive parents into a tizzy who immediately started grooming their little daughters into what became known as "Airi-chan hair". It looks like it takes forever to make, and that the mothers were so into it they've managed to make kids as young as six (from what I've seen) sit still long enough to complete it just shows how far parents are willing to compete in Japan.
Best Lowkey Advertising of 2018
This video was on every person I know's Youtube recommendations. Those who listen to idols, those who listen to metal, those who listen to neither. On the other hand, it is fucking gorgeous. I think the Mongolian government or tourism campaign must have helped fund it, because the visuals are some of the best I've ever seen in a music video. Oh, and the music is awesome too. Folk rock without any rock instruments. Also throat singing for the win.
Most Random Guest Appearance of 2018
Yukueshirezutsurezure are Codomomental's heavier unit, and so the odd bit of screaming is to be expected. But that they approached metalcore security-suckerpuncher Fronz and that he accepted is proof that money talks, I guess. Next I'm looking forward to seeing Burst Girl's Rei on a Crass song.
Best Black Metal Sellout of 2018
Mayhem, purest of the pure; truest of the true; kvltest of the kvlt. Their 2000 album, the widely maligned (but perfect) Grand Declaration of War got a makeover this year. Normally black metal bands shun any kind of crass commercialism. Albums have been released which sound like (and probably were) recorded in a basement with a microphone two floors above. When Grand Declaration of War was released, the traditionalist wing of the black metal elite deemed it too sterile, too polished, too produced, too perfect. 18 years later, they have busted out the original master tapes and added fuzz, removed the drum triggers, pushed the bass up ridiculously high, and generally dirtied up the sound. It's the first time I've ever heard a remaster which aims to sound worse than the original.
On the other hand, by removing the triggers it showcases Hellhammer all the more for what a phenomenal fucking freak he is. No human should be able to play this album at that speed with that many fills. The original triggered version sounded so ridiculous you couldn't quite be sure some of it hadn't been programmed. Now, we know. He really is that fucking good. The guitars sound grimy and evil instead of mildly uninterested. And Maniac still sounds like Maniac.
Ultimately I'm torn over it. I loved the original. It's my favourite Mayhem album; and I'm possibly one of the very few people in the world that would ever say that. The polished sound was so disconnected from anything else in black metal that it was glorious for prog fans in black metal. It split the community, but that's what black metal does. By releasing this remake, are they pandering to those who didn't like it originally? Regretting their production decisions 18 years later? Who knows. It's still an amazing album, production notwithstanding. Give both versions a try. See what you like.
Best Windows Movie Maker Effects of 2018
Minna no Kodomochan having fun with effects and filters. On the other hand, I love the grimy and low production value of the video. Really fits in nicely with those dirty, dirty synths. And that doom metal. And the random In The Hall of the Mountain King.
The Best Reasons Everyone Should Listen To Indochine of 2018
Best Music Video of 2018
So, if you're not from mainland Europe or Québec you probably have no idea who Indochine are. They are quite possibly French music's best gift to the world, from their 80s new-wave beginnings where they'd have given Duran Duran a run for their money had they not been singing in French to their current synthy-rock output.
This year they released three music videos from their album 13 which was released last year (Black Sabbath ripoff, much?) which basically ruined the competition for best video this year, because I could have given it to two of them.
Worst Music Video of 2018
Himegoto Zettaichi are one of only two acts left in Daichi's stable what with the death of Guso Drop, the abandonment of 2& and Fumimi and breaking off from Aminor to form McDog. For this PV they got a cute girl to give up ten minutes of her day and just look at the camera. What the fuck is even the point.
Best Nightwish Knockoff of 2018
So this year Dimmu returned from their 8 year sojourn to wherever the fuck they disappeared to and their first reminder that they were alive was... this. Disco light pentagram. Choirs. Galder gurning like he's never gurned before. It gave everyone a fit of laughter. That pop hook using a black metal riff at 2:22 is fucking amazing. Many people, myself included, joked that Xanthochroid's Dimmu ripoff April Fool's Day joke from years ago sounded more like Dimmu than Dimmu do now. Remarkably, the album itself was pretty fucking good. It got 8.1, which I think is the most I've given to a Dimmu Borgir album since the original Stormblåst. Didn't make it to my top ten though. Just proof of how fucked up this year has been.
Best How-To Manual of How To Perform a Song In Reverse of 2018
Unlucky Morpheus showing that turning the score upside down works. Kind of. Revadac turned out better than the original, Cadaver did. Also Fuki. Fucking hell she's still the best Japanese power metal vocalist.
Top 5 EPs/Mini-Albums of 2018
Because I did it last year, and as this year there were 4 good EPs and one reasonable one released, I figured I'd do it again. It's worth noting that one EP on this list is longer than one of the albums on my top albums list, showing that my statement about definitions of EPs last year was almost certainly bullshit; another one would probably have been disqualified by dint of having too many songs too. Oh well. Arbitrary is my stock in trade after all.
5. xoxo (Kiss&Hug) Extreme - Works Collection #1
Song picks: 鬱-utsu-, キグルミ惑星 -Kigurumi Planet-.
So, this is supposedly some kind of best of collection? Best-ofs are never eligible for top albums or EPs. But I can't find three of the songs on their other releases, and it says it's a collection of early singles which seem to be out of print or something, so it's on here. This is on here by dint of one song. xoxo claim to be prog-rock idols, which in itself piqued my interest. But sometimes the music can lack any progressive elements. However, the first song on this, 鬱-utsu- has mellotron flutes and so brings things like Änglagård to mind, along with some harder King Crimson stuff at the beginning. Having said that, it's not amazing. It's passable, though. The 2nd and 3rd songs are kind of just regular idol music, with some hammonds in track 2. However, the 4th song is pure sex. Progressive metal and opera. The girl in the group who can sing opera is amazing. Not something I ever thought I'd hear from idols. The last song is again just upbeat pop. It's kind of jarring. They have done some other crazy stuff, like an 11:26 song and a seven minute one; but this genre shifts between the progressive stuff and the overly idol too much to work effectively as a proper EP or album.
7.1/10
4. Asterism - The Session Vol.2
Song picks: Rising Moon, YYZ, Yunagi
After taking top spot on my EP list last year; their January EP fell somewhat short. Whilst the leading song, Rising Moon, is fantastic and should be top of any good metalhead's playlist, the band made some pretty basic mistakes when putting their cover repertoire together for this one. Whilst the cover of Rush's YYZ is amazing (having no vocals needing Haruka to shred in lieu of gives them freedom to reinterpret the song a lot more heavily); the lacklustre version of Ace of Spades, which has been covered so many times it's a bit pointless was a let down. Not to mention Lemmy's singing would have been better imitated by Miyu's bass thrown through several layers of distortion instead of the guitar. The cover of Rage Against The Machine's Guerrilla Radio borrows far too heavily from the original; down to the exact guitar tone. Add to that the misplaced addition of vocals by a pissed off Japanese woman yelling Engrish makes it impossible to enjoy. Finally, however, Yunagi is fabulous. Funky, delicious and showing off a different side of complexity to these prodigial youths. Not as good as Vol.1; but I'll give it a pass.
7.6/10
3. 鳥籠 - I Can Fly
Song picks: Escape, Gomibako, 森
Toricago are a group I know basically nothing about aside from the fact that they're young as hell and a bunch of 2& fans are going too much. This has too many songs for an EP but it's short as fuck so it's on this list instead. It's wonderfully heavy with tints of shoegaze, and that makes me happy. The vocals, surprisingly for a group with the members so young, are quite impressive. The fact that every song is soaked in ridiculous levels of reverb regardless of its character is great. There are a few songs which don't sound amazing, but honestly it's pretty strong throughout leaving me with not a great deal to talk about. If the reverb is how you get your kicks, give it a try.
7.8/10
2. The Meads of Asphodel - The Voiceless Dust of Ages
Song picks:A Forgotten Key To A Conundrum of Hate, The Angel With One Eye, Hark The Potter's Field
Meads really need to give us a new fucking album, which they apparently are next year. In the meantime, this tide-over release (they released it physically as a split with Chinese group Rerthro a week later without the "bonus" 5th and 6th tracks) is typically Meads. The production sounds unchanged since 2003. The songs still sound like some weird mashup of 70s prog and 2000s black metal, despite less Hawkwind involvement than usual (Alan Davey only appearing on one track this time). The Oriental influences still abound, whether in the lyrics which reference Middle Eastern themes pretty exclusively; to the fact that it's ostensibly a split with a Chinese band; to the presence of Sigh's Kawashima Mirai on one of the tracks. Ultimately, raw and punishing. Lyrically this is just as mired in allegory as their previous releases, with the anti-Zionism taken not from the actual beliefs of Metatron but as part of the overarching narrative drawing in trends from the Middle East and the actual feelings between the people of the region. Still crazy and provocative as ever. Though still nothing on this.
8.6/10
1. みんなのこどもちゃん - 起きたら死んでたい
Song picks: All of them.
This EP, coming before their album, was fantastic. It introduced a lot of the album songs, with more interesting mixes and some more stripped back arrangements. The concept of the group is hilarious, with a literal "wall" coming between them and their fans (it's attached to their backs), and the music holds up. I can't find a lot to criticise. The electronic elements are done well, the rockier elements are done well, and the singing is adorably bad. The lyrics are kind of emo, but it plays well with the concept and overall insanity. Ano ne (Umm...) has some wonderful electronic elements supported by one of the nicest guitar hooks ever. Shinebaii (It'd be best if you died) is nice and heavy. The switch from breakneck speed digital hardcore to soft flutes in Okitarashindetai (I want to die if I wake up) is amazing. Also that shoegazey middle8. Asa wo Koroshitai (I want to kill the morning) has some brutal fucking riffs. Futari ha Nakayoshi (Us two're good friends) is as close to a ballad as they probably get, with pounding double bass drums and a decent BPM. The middle 8 goes jungle. Finally, Nakunaru Watashi (I'm going to pass away) is evil. The video is up above somewhere. The dirtiest fucking bass synth I've ever heard is evil. All the synths in this are perfect. Then doom metal. Good grief that is some pure sexy evil. Honestly, this is glorious. You should listen to it.
9.3/10
Top Ten Albums of 2018
So, this year there was a good deal of severe competition at the top of this list. Actually throughout most of it. As usual I asked a few people for recommendations but they either hated all but one album released in 2018 or just had stuff I'd mostly already listened to. So, here we are. Ten good albums.
10. みんなのこどもちゃん - 壁のない世界
Song picks: 深爪, 15の夜, 亡くなる私, 不番の花
So, you might be wondering how they came first on my EP list but only 10th on my album list when all six songs from the EP are on the album. That's the exact problem. The other songs are good, I'll give it that. But the songs from the EP, understandably, have been somewhat re-recorded to give the fans a reason to purchase both. Unfortunately what they've done on the re-recordings is not particularly good. The song quality is still good, but the production has taken a step back in most cases, and sounds murky or otherwise somewhat shit. In this case as well I think it might come down to preferring the version you first heard. Everyone has biases, and I was looping the EP pretty heavily the first part of this year. The album I haven't, and so I'm not particularly convinced by the random solos and stuff they've added. The new songs, even if there are only four of them, are pretty cool though.
8.3/10
9. Necronomidol - Voidhymn
Song Picks: thanatogenesis, Samhain, psychopomp, Strange Aeons
So, when I started listening to Voidhymn for the first time, I was immediately pissed off. They had utterly ruined one of my favourite Necroma songs, Dawnslayer, with really crappy production quality. I know they're going for the black metal aesthetic and everything, but after Minna no Kodomochan and Mayhem doing the same thing it's kind of annoying. Is 2018 the year of going back and ruining old songs? Luckily, the rest of the album is utterly fantastic. thanatogenesis is actually grim as fuck, one of the most bleak, frostbitten and kvlt idol songs I've ever heard. In Black is a creepy bitching song, which is nice. Would have fit Hotaru's era amazingly. The synths are great. Samhain is ska. Horrorska. I love ska. What's not to like. It's so bouncy. Innsmouth sounds like the Mass Effect soundtrack. psychopomp is still glorious, and still my favourite Necroma song. Strange Aeons is a sexy little number, with very Japanese pop hooks inscribed over its metal foundations. Brings Babymetal to mind a little actually. Les tenebres sans visages (The Faceless Darkness) is another nice little darkwave track. Kadath is Necroma's Finnish metal song. Sounds like a folk metal song a la Finntroll or Korpiklaani, with a little less bounce. Some Turisas elements too. And lastly, the now obligatory inclusion of Skulls in the Stars, this time with added guitars. All over, with the exception of ruining Dawnslayer a damn good album.
8.5/10
8. Haken - Vector
Song picks: Puzzle Box, Nil By Mouth, A Cell Divides
I never thought I'd see Haken this far down a list. But I think I said that a couple of years back for the last album too. Again, it's a good album, but the concept this time is a little unclear and the music a little less on the interesting side than the last four albums. On the other hand, a less interesting Haken album is still a phenomenally interesting album. Just when you have a back catalogue as strong as theirs it must get hard to try to top it every time. Once again the musicianship is top notch and Ross's singing is still highest class. This album is also pretty short for a prog album only 44 minutes. Still, worthy addition to the collection.
8.7/10
7. Asterism - Ignition
Song picks: Light In The Darkness, Midnight Hunter, Warning, Dawn, Disperse
Asterism are one of the best live bands on the planet. Their shows are tight, their musicianship is beyond anything anyone else their age is doing, and they impress basically anyone who comes to see them. Their first EP was fantastic, their second EP was solid (see above), and their first album is very good, although not without its problems. The first major issue is the production. Asterism is a power trio. This album has been overproduced to excess, as evidenced by the sheer number of staff involved. Why they need so many rhythm guitar tracks I don't know. Miyu's bass is perfectly capable of providing rhythm, chord progressions and heaviness at the same time. Some of it is wall of sound level, especially the Bootsy Collins-produced tracks Blaze and Warning. That brings us to problem number two, which is Bootsy stamping his trademark all over the aforementioned songs. Asterism is an instrumental band. The second EP's RATM cover showed that a vocalist was more in the way of the music rather than contributing to it. So in comes Bootsy adding some really weird narration. It's kind of a disconnect. Problem three is the fact that, never mind Bootsy Collins and his bass, they have Buckethead on this album as well. All he does is add some dissonant guitar noises in Warning, and on Blaze he apparently has a guitar battle with Haruka but I can't tell which is which. If you're having a guy as renowned as Buckethead on your album, you should give him something interesting to do. Despite me listing so many problems, the songs themself are fantastic. Blaze when played live without all the overdubs is great. Light in the Darkness has one of the best choruses of any instrumental song ever; Midnight Hunter is short but violent. Warning, despite the singing, is damn impressive. Dawn is a nearly 10 minute epic with plenty of heavy and soft parts resulting in much sexy. Up the Horns is a bluesy little metal number with some impressive shredding. Stand Up And Shout goes NWOBHM on our asses. Helter Skelter takes the original proto-metal song by the Beatles and makes it shred. Needed more blisters on Mio's fingers though. Overdrive is solo heaven. Basically just a bunch of solos by all three, then into some funky as hell stuff. It's good. God Speed You is back to the NWOBHM end of the scale, and then Disperse is the sexiest song created in 2018. This really is a great album. Without the production misses it'd be even higher. In any normal year this would probably be top 5. Not bad for two 16 year olds and an 18 year old.
8.9/10
6. Ihsahn - Àmr
Song picks:Arcana Imperii, Sámr, Where You Are Lost And I Belong, Twin Black Angels
Ihsahn is back with another album. Arktis was ridiculous. It blew away most people. It's not surprising he can't top it; but Ámr is still a great album in its own right with some glorious little songs and showcasing his full range of genre flitting. His vocals are great as ever, and with fewer guests this time around (Fredrik Åkesson from Opeth doing some guitars on Arcana Imperii, and some marching drummer on Where You Are Lost And I Belong) Ihsahn's working less to incorporate his disparate influences and more on jarring the listener. Sámr is almost radio friendly with Ihsahn's clean vocals providing nice harmonies. It's a wonderful little pop song. One Less Enemy kind of dissects Black Metal riffs piece by piece. It's quite interesting. Marble Soul sounds very like Arktis and Eremita. Twin Black Angels is a glorious mix of soft, post-metal like ramblings and a catchy chorus. Wake is a nice little closer. Overall a good addition to the Ihsahn catalogue, full of little catchy moments amongst the violence.
9/10
5. Tokyo Blade - Unbroken
Song picks: Bullet Made of Stone, Burn Down The Night, Bad Blood, Black Water, The Last Samurai
Tokyo Blade are a special band for anyone growing up in Salisbury who is into metal. As the only band from the area to have "made it" they were an inspiration for all of us aiming to actually have careers in music from a time when the city was only known for Stonehenge and a rather large phallic structure where people did some weird rituals to a divine entity or something. Of course, this year the city has been ground zero for Russian interference in world politics, what with the Novichok poisonings and such. In any case, Tokyo Blade, a decade after reforming with a bunch of Americans, then a German and most of the original lineup, then bringing one American back, then rehiring their second vocalist Vic Wright for a few gigs, decided to go the whole hog and bring back the original vocalist Alan Marsh. This is good news as he was the best vocalist the band ever had, and had it not been for record label interference in the 80s he probably would never have been replaced by Vic in the first place. As it was, the second album was ready to be released when they fired Alan and sent Vic into the studio to re-record the vocals. I might be a bit biased in this story as Alan was a great help in the early days of my band, providing vocals for some songs and giving useful advice for everything. Unbroken is a NWONWOBHM album, if you will. New wave of NWOBHM for the 21st century. Whilst Maiden, Priest, Venom and the like never really stopped; the second tier of the movement have stepped it back up this side of the millenium, with Tygers of Pan Tang also still releasing stuff. The songs are great, a lot of them are a lot more polished than the 80s stuff but still retaining the character that made NWOBHM the style that all current metal owes its roots to. There are hints of more modern songwriting, notably Burn Down The Night, but it works amazingly well. The Last Samurai is a spiritual successor to Warrior of the Rising Sun from Night of the Blade, and My Kind of Heaven is a weird continuation of the first album's If Heaven is Hell. The mix of modern and traditional make this album a great success. The musicianship is top notch, with Andy Boulton in particular bashing out some speedy solos I haven't heard him pull off this well in a while. The rhythm section is tight as hell, and Alan is as good as he ever was. He might not be able to hit the really high notes he used to, but he's still punching way above his weight in the Di'Anno class of NWOBHM style vocalists. Also worth remembering these guys are all in their 50s and still making awesome music. Not many bands can claim that. Also notable is the middle finger to Iron Maiden. During the early 2000s especially a lot of Tokyo Blade riffs seemingly made their way onto Maiden albums, Dance of Death being the most egregious example. In this album Dead Again has a very familiar sounding vocal hook; and Bad Blood a very famous chord progression. What's a little borrowing between NWOBHM bands...
9.2/10
4. ・・・・・・・・・ - 「 」
Song picks: ねぇ, ソーダフロート気分, 星屑フィードバック, サテライト, スライド, 1998-
As idols, Dots do very little for me. Their anonymity gives me no incentive to spend money on chekis with them. But as a musical project, and as complete trolls, they have my full approval. The album name consists of 9 spaces. The band name is 9 dots. This makes it impossible to type into a search engine. But after releasing a 72 minute single consisting mostly of noise, a 0 minute single with no songs, and existing solely to challenge people's preconceived notions of idol, nothing surprises me anymore. The music on this album is shoegazey as hell and relaxing as all hell. Those drowned in reverb guitars. The wall of sound distortion. The vocals that are weak and seem to just float on top of, around the side of or slightly drowned by the music. It's glorious, gorgeous and easily the best idol album this year. Even though I obtained it last year. For free. Because Dots also like just releasing shit for free sometimes.
9.3/10
3. Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Song picks: You Without End, Honeycomb, Canary Yellow, Glint, Worthless Animal
Deafheaven get a bad rap in the black metal community for being unkvlt, unpure, hipster trash. My reaction is, so what? They're not Alcest, they don't quite have Neige's gift for impressing the ephemerality of the human condition and they're a lot more immediate. But as much as Alcest developed the blackgaze genre and pushed its boundaries sonically; Deafheaven are the band that somehow took the impenetrable wall of sound distortion and shrieking paired with dainty melodies to the mainstream. And unlike New Bermuda, which I felt was subpar for the amount of praise the music press were wanking over it, this album is actually really fucking good. You Without End kinda surfy at the start, Honeycomb is just reverby perfection. Canary Yellow is slow and then builds in surfy black metal. It's just a slab of sexy music. Near is all ambience and relaxation. Glint is the most Alcest-y thing Deafheaven have done yet, and it's beautiful. Night People is kind of weird, but Worthless Animal delivers. Overall a fantastic album. Debate all you want about blackgaze and whether it's still metal, or whether genre even exists anymore. It's good shit.
9.4/10
2. Anaal Nathrakh - A New Kind of Horror
Song picks: Obscene As Cancer, The Reek of Fear, Forward!, New Bethlehem/Mass Death Futures, The Apocalypse Is About You, Mother of Satan, The Horrid Strife.
Anaal Nathrakh are pure, unadulterated terror played at breakneck speeds. I have lost count of the number of times I've listened to this album. At first, I found it less rewarding than 2016's The Whole of the Law, but repeated listens have given me deeper and darker understanding and now it's only just been beaten to the top by a band who will almost always be at the top. This album is violent, and almost gleeful in it. Forward! in particular has no qualms in using a machine gun instead of a bass drum to push its message across. The vocals are the usual black metal screaming, but with a dose of King Diamond and operatic stuff thrown in for good measure. This album is short as hell. 33 minutes of condensed chaos. But those 33 minutes provide no short measure of amazing songs. Gear up.
9.6/10
1. Sigh - Heir To Despair
Song picks: All of them.
The cover art looks positively normal at first glance, until you notice the smashed glass behind her, that she's watering a dead plant, that her arm is a leg, and the shadow in the other room. Sigh are once again back at their most insane, and it's glorious. It could almost be a direct follow-up to Imaginary Sonicscape. The first notes of Aletheia are the Middle Eastern melodies, the weirdness and odd beats that defined that album. Of course, Sigh have changed a bit in the past few years. They fired their long time guitarist Shinichi and replaced him with Oshima You from Kadenzza because apparently Shinichi was following around a pre-teen idol and spending all his money on her. Mirai has never had a particularly good impression of Japanese music in general, in the past he's hated on visual kei bands, gagaku, idols and Japanese pop in general, as well as Japanese metal bands who try so hard to sound so Western. A blog like this that specialises in idols and black metal must be Mirai's worst nightmare. But I digress. Oshima's guitar work is fabulous, and the rhythms are tight. Mirai and Dr. Mikannibal sound as psychopathic vocally as ever. The Heresy suite is just that. Completely heretical. I've seen many black metaller piss themselves at its "hipsterness". My view is as unchanged as ever. Good music is good music. Hands of the String Puller has some great flute, sounding like the merging of Venom and Focus. Heir To Despair (the song) is a ten minute tour de force of everything Sigh. It's great. This album is insane but fun. Go for it, if you think you can handle it.
9.7/10
See you next year. Pozdrav fuckers.
Krv
Oh fuck. I didn't notice the shadow in the other room in that Sigh cover. That's terrifying. Sigh always have the most delightful cover art. I think my favorite is "In Somniphobia" -- the one with the people in town ooh'ing and aah'ing in admiration of the proud-looking lady pushing her cart of dead babies. Their sick covers are always indicative of the sick music that's contained within.
ReplyDeleteOtsukaresama for this post, you fucker.
I still remember the combined post we all did on Beats where you were jizzing all over that cover.
Delete