Dan Hillier
With mere hours of 2021 left remaining, we present the third and final part of our albums of the year list. It may have been a nightmare ranking this list as a whole, but cracking down the top ten records of this nightmare year was a challenge like none other. Nevertheless, after hours of debate we got there in the end. If you haven’t read the first two parts of our end of year list, you can catch part one here and part two here. Now without further ado, here’s our top ten records of this year.
It still seems that only yesterday, Trivium were a fresh-faced promising new metal band from the hotbed of metal that is the Florida scene. Since their 2004 breakthrough album Ascendancy, they’ve weathered all manner of storms; a near-constant revolving lineup of drummers since original drummer Travis Smith’s departure and something of a critical nadir over a few albums. All that changed with the addition of Alex Bent on drums; now the strongest, and arguably best lineup of their career, they’ve delivered three phenomenal albums since The Sin And The Sentence. In The Court Of The Dragon is everything a modern metal album should be; there’s towering riffs, soaring melodies and arena-ready choruses built on a bedrock of phenomenal drumming and basslines. The opening run of the title track, Like A Sword Over Damocles and Feast Of Fire is incendiary and they keep the momentum up throughout. There’s callbacks to the proggier days of Shogun on the utterly phenomenal ‘The Shadow of the Abbatoir’ while closer ‘The Phalanx’ has been kicking around since those days and has perhaps the best final few minutes of music that Trivium have ever committed to tape. In The Court Of The Dragon is the sound of Trivium on top form and firing on all cylinders. – Will Marshall
From the murky and foggy valley of Where Owls Know My Name, Pennsylvania’s prog-death dealers Rivers of Nihil open up to the howling, dark, and beautiful expanse on The Work. The temptation to deliver another riff centric and megalithic record was eschewed for a record that swims through moments of vibrant colour and poignant, melodic emotion, while pushing the boundaries with suffocating soundscapes that contain some of the most pervasive darkness in the band’s discography. This is a record that has no qualms about incorporating the sonic sensibilities of Steven Wilson in its lighter moments as it does from the most abrasive noise rock bands in its heaviest. The band has pushed themselves instrumentally further out in all directions than ever before, and though there are glimpses of trademarks like the sax on certain tracks, this is a band hell bent on breaking all of their own expectations and gloriously succeeding. The musicianship and care put into the songcraft is astounding, and the lyrical growth shows great maturity; speaking to a deeply personal and colloquial examination of the meaning of struggle in this life, and hitting an aching, resonant core all can understand. “The Work” is an unbelievable and beautiful watermark for the band. – Kris Kielich
Mastodon are no strangers to concept albums, but Hushed And Grim is arguably their greatest achievement so far in this regard. Putting to one side the allegory and fantastical imagery that has cropped up in the past, the band instead opted to embark on an exploration of the shared grief they experienced in the wake of the death of their manager, Nick John. The result is a raw, emotional journey that captivates from start to finish, effortlessly segueing from more traditionally Mastodon material like ‘Teardrinker’ to the likes of ‘Skeleton of Splendor’ and ‘Had it All’, more brooding and spacious than past material but darkly atmospheric and lyrically heavier than ever. The influence of 70s prog is also very apparent, serving not only to broaden the sonic palette, but also providing a very worthy tribute to the favourite music of their departed friend. To craft a double album that remains engaging from start to finish is no mean feat, but Mastodon are one of the few modern metal bands that can be trusted with such a daunting task, and they have succeeded – Hushed and Grim is nothing less than enthralling. – Matt Watts
Sleep Token decimated the emotional landscape of 2021 with one of the most anticipated albums of the year. This Place Will Become Your Tomb divided fans and critics alike with many claiming a loss of power from its predecessor. Yet listeners came in their droves, still hoping to unravel the mystery at the heart of Sleep Token. What greeted them was a slow burn of mental anguish. Opening ‘Atlantis’ drowns with a drip feed of delectable vulnerability. It’s this less is more approach that reminds heaviness comes in more sizes than brain rattling breakdowns. ‘Fall For Me’ and ‘The Love You Want’ draw weight from layered vocals, resulting in stunning allegories for unrequited desire. Sleep Token sated fans with the dark pulsating synths of Mine and the delicious solo of Telomeres. It’s this delightful marriage of analogue piano melodies and dense guitar riffs with the electronic synths permeating through songs such as Distraction which set so many souls alight. Wonderfully insidious in its execution, it’s a less immediate collection of songs than its predecessor but This Place Will Become Your Tomb plumbs the depths of emotion to craft its odes to love and loss. – Tasha Brown
You could label The Live Long After a doom record. You could label it a post-metal record. You could call it hardcore, shoegaze and post-rock. Yet whilst would you be correct in applying such generic labels, to call it any one of these things is ultimately redundant to the point of being borderline insulting. With this debut LP, Sugar Horse disregard the notion of genre and have forged something that is truly cutting edge, groundbreaking and invigorating. This is a genrephobic masterpiece of unhindered creativity that serves as a darkly kaleidoscopic rumination of the unknowns that lie beyond the veil of understanding, a pondering of what awaits us in the void that calls out to us all. Whilst Sugar Horse displayed great promise with their initial extended plays, The Live Long After truly surpasses all expectations and firmly proves that they are undeniably one of the best acts to emerge in recent years. – Dan Hillier
The Greatest Mistake Of My Life took Holding Absence’s beautiful blend of alternative rock and emotive lyrical content and stepped it up to a level that saw them enter a new era and echelon in terms of their musical maturity and prowess. Stemming from an idea by vocalist Lucas Woodland to incorporate the lyric “The Greatest Mistake of My Life”, found through a chance circumstance that led him to stumbling across a song of the same name from the 1930s by Gracie Fields. This laid the groundwork for the music to follow. From the theme of the album to their general aesthetic the band showed thoughtful progression stepping into colour in all their visual content as opposed to their earlier black and white. However, the biggest strength on The Greatest Mistake… is the level of depth in storytelling, whether it be “In Circles” that questions the mundane everyday lives of people and how so many will settle and never try to achieve their dreams, or “Beyond Belief” that takes a dive into human emotion and the concept of love. The album is packed full of moments to connect to and cherish. When Holding Absence eventually look back and reflect on their career this will be remembered as their crowning moment, their breakthrough into a truly iconic band destined for greatness. They are without a doubt one of the breakout bands of 2021. – Jac Holloway
Woking bruisers Employed To Serve made their name in the UK underground with their abrasive metallic hardcore across three full-lengths, but their sights have always been set higher; this time around, they went back and revisited the albums that made them the musicians they are, and poured all that into their fourth album, Conquering. Without losing any of their edge or aggression, Conquering ups the ante on riffs and the sheer amount of groove on display. ‘Universal Chokehold’ is exactly that; the opening motif gives way to cascading drums, blastbeats and a monster of a riff that goes straight for the throat. Justine Jones sounds as pissed off as ever, and guitarist Sammy Urwin takes on even more vocal duties, resulting in a twin attack that takes no prisoners. ‘Sun Up To Sun Down’ sees them not only trade barbs but roar in unison atop a churning, stomping riff that’s guaranteed to start pits. They could’ve crafted an album that raged at the world but instead, Conquering uses rage as a fuel to overcome life’s hurdles and emerge stronger – literally, conquering. There’s not a minute wasted and the closing trifecta of ‘World Ender’, ‘Conquering’ and ‘Stand Alone’ might just be the hardest song run of the year. If you love riffs, groove metal and giving the world the middle finger as it all goes to shit, Conquering has all of that and more. – Will Marshall
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to accurately sum up Diorama, the second album from Danish blackgazers MØL. Their debut, Jord, sought to capture the essence of the genre, balancing blackened fury against ethereal beauty and melodicism; Diorama not only does that, but surpasses what blackgaze was before, in a watershed moment for the genre. Every song is expertly crafted and honed; no longer do black metal and melody collide, but instead they’re fused seamlessly. Take ‘Serf’; its serene opening moments soon give way to a searing lead and its chorus is transcendent, yet at no point does it lose any harshness. There’s not a single moment that doesn’t work; always carefully considered, the creative risks taken pay back in full, such as the cleanly sung chorus to ‘Itinerari’ that’s not only instantly memorable but heart-wrenchingly beautiful. They delve further into death metal as well, such as on ‘Tvesind’ with guitar lines reminiscent of Gojira in parts, unafraid to push the borders of their sound further than ever before. Inspired by the film Hereditary, Diorama crafts sonic models of deeply personal topics of trauma and upbringing across its run time, before reaching the summit in its closing title track. Examining all that came before, it ends on a note of hope with guest vocals from Sylvaine for a truly stirring, transcendent experience. Diorama is, simply put, a masterpiece. – Will Marshall
Hardcore has seen an explosion in quality and popularity over the last few years, not only because of the work of archivists like Hate5Six shining a light on so many bands but also because of bands being unafraid to nail their colours to the mast and boldly push hardcore into brand new directions. Baltimore’s Turnstile are one of them, and on their third album GLOW ON, they take cues from its predecessor but also a myriad of other genres to make something that’s hardcore, but also something that’s so much more. Mesmerising, light synths such as those that open ‘Mystery’ are like the parting of clouds, a poppy counterpoint to the more punk inflections of ‘Blackout’ or ‘Don’t Play’. There’s also collaborations with singer-songwriter Blood Orange on the R&B-drenched ‘Alien Love Call’ and closer ‘Lonely Dezires’, the former of which is a blissed-out departure from the energy, a welcome break before segueing into the high-octane ‘Wild Wrld’. You’d be hard-pressed to find another album that’s quintessentially hardcore while still dragging it into the mainstream, with dance and R&B elements all folded into its summery, anthemic songs. ‘T.L.C. (Turnstile Love Connection)’ has the audacity to drop in a mosh call that’s just “boom boom boom!” before it continues full steam ahead – it’s a bold move that shouldn’t work, but here, in Turnstile’s hands, it just does. It’s the sound of a band boldly taking hardcore forwards into pastures new without sacrificing its ethos or energy. – Will Marshall
“There’s more to life than anyone allows you.” So sayeth Keith Buckley, the modern heavy music bodhisattva of our age on Every Time I Die’s stunning ninth studio album Radical. It’s not hyperbole to say that Buckley’s lyrics have never been more potently needed than right now. The lyrical realisation has never been stronger from Buckley than on Radical, as his travails of self actualisation, leaving his suffocating marriage, and for the first time in his life, embarking on that journey of what it means to truly live are laid bare. The catharsis on songs like “People Verses” and “The Whip” in relation to our existence in this world and within the perpetual flame of our own hearts is stunning in the truth it delivers. We witness revelation in motion. This is Every Time I Die’s best lyrical and vocal record, because Buckley is as enlightened as he has ever been, and he’s imparting true wisdom few learn until it’s too late. Every scream and note is delivered from the bowels of a man amidst his own rebirth.
Related: Every Time I Die – Radical | Album Review
But if you’re here for the riffs and instrumentation, boy howdy do you have a treat in front of you as well. “Dark Distance” is the most slamming ETID intro track to date, and whether it’s the whirlwind guitar frenzy of “Planet Shit,” the massive sludge hooks of “White Void,” or the ethereal lilt of “Thing With Feathers,” this is certainly the most musically diverse and remarkably well executed ETID record ever. The whole record is a cacophonous epiphany on tape, available for all. And as ETID plays on through this existence of ours, the riffs, licks, and cracking thunder of a band in full Will Putney produced force, become the vehicle of, to quote the great Joseph Campbell, “learning to recognize our own depths.” – Kris Kielich