 Greetings, weary traveler! We've collectively made it to the half-way point o' the year, and that can only mean one thing: a reflection on the music that has made the past six months a little more bearable. However, rather than hogging the soapbox and allowing my own personal taste to dictate the direction of proceedings, this big ol' list is a collaborative effort, with sixteen distinct music writers, musicians, and fans lending a few words. Hopefully the variety of perspective results in a list containing at least one or two releases that speak to you. For ease of reading, we've split the list in twain: the first half sits before ye now, and the second half shall follow tomorrow. This, obviously, is far from exhaustive, and represents but a fraction of our collective favorites. If I had the time and resources, my contributions alone would surely run into the triple digits. As such, please feel free to leave a comment with a recommendation or two! List season is a great time to show the musicians that we love a little well-deserved support, and if you wanna shout someone out, this is as good a time as any. In that spirit, I'd like to offer a heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make this list a reality. We slumbering scribes offer our endless appreciation--we couldn't have done it without ye. Enough rambling! Without further ado:  FROST* - Day and Age (May 14, Inside Out Music) Find it here! Review by: Loveloth Only the greatest bands exist in pockets that defy staleness and breed creativity. Frost* are absolutely one of those bands and with Day And Age, they continue their streak of great records while pushing the envelope for progressive music by being... themselves. Despite tackling darker themes, the record bleeds with character and is extremely fun to listen to. And even with all the complex playing, the trio never lose sight of what's important--memorable moments, and Day And Age is stacked with them. This is why I adore prog: the potential to inspire, amaze, and make you feel, but unfortunately, too many bands fail at evoking emotions. Frost* however have no such issues, which is why I believe Day And Age is their finest hour yet and so far my favorite record of 2021. Author's Bio: Loveloth is an eldritchian entity, and typically writes reviews at Loveloth's Art Gazebo  STEEL BEARING HAND - Slay In Hell (April 2nd, Carbonized Records) Find it here! Review by: David Gupta (of World Eaters) Hey, ya like riffs? Of course you do, otherwise you’d be a coward. If you want your riff fix give the latest Steel Bearing Hand album a listen because, wheeeeew it rips. This album gives me the energy to run through a concrete wall from the second I hit play. From blistering thrash, to blasting death metal, to trudging doom, Slay in Hell has everything you need to get drenched in beer (or blood) and open up a circle pit anywhere, anytime. With a healthy sprinkling of twin harmonized guitar leads on top, this album stays interesting and engaging from start to finish. Go on then, give ‘er a listen. Don’t be a coward. Author's Bio: David Gupta is of World Eaters fame, and, as such, knows a thing out two about death metal prowess. Find him at Bandcamp, Twitter. and Instagram.  GAOTH - The Obsidian Dialogue (February 26th, Independently Released) Find it here! Review by: John and Sophie Fraser (of Hand of Kalliach) Firstly, big shout out to @metldetectr on Twitter who put us onto this artist release in the first place, he picks out a lot of excellent and often underexposed recommendations that we enjoy! Our favourite of the year so far is The Obsidian Dialogue by Ireland-based one-man project Gaoth. Being huge fans of genre-bending metal ourselves, this black/post-metal release is incredibly rich in its diversity, with each track taking the listener on an emotive and thoughtful journey, coloured heavily with melancholy. The just-under-20mins total of tracks 3 “Three Stars” and 4 “Divine the Path to Ascend” are some of the most beautifully crafted and poignant black metal we have heard, and while the whole album is excellent start to finish if you can put aside the time to listen to these two tracks all the way through, you may find something truly unique in the already lush 2021 metal landscape. Then listen again from the start! Author's Bio: John and Sophie Fraser of Hand of Kalliach, who hail from Scotland and play a blend of atmospheric Celtic metal (folk/melodeath) that you can check out below! Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  GOAT SANCTUARY - CHTHONIC (June 4th, Independently Released) Find it here! Review by: Arbitrary Archives On June 4, 2021 the world first met CHTHONIC, the debut EP from Goat Sanctuary, a band who hail from Seattle and bring an opulence of thrash metal infused with elements punk and speed. From the opening of “Cthulhu” to the closing of “Out Of The Light,” this EP supplies ear-bleeding riffs, separated by grinding melodies and seasoned with wonderfully guttural vocals. My biggest pet peeve in music is monotony, but this EP kept it fresh by varying pace and style on each track. Overall, the album only clocks in at slightly over 11 minutes, but you’re almost certain to enjoy every zeptosecond of it! Have a listen for yourself here! Author's Bio: Arbitrary Archives can be found on twitter.  HERR NOX – Where Shadows Fade (February 5th, Independently Released) Find it here! Review by: Étienne “Ozymandias” Boötis Darkwave bangers, far-out saxophone interludes, goth anthems and pummeling industrial riffs--Herr Nox’s Where Shadows Fade has it all in just under 33 minutes. Nox also knows how to write hooks: the album’s lead single “Black Butterfly” has been stuck in my head ever since I first heard it! Like a veritable chameleon, he guides us through the surprising twists and turns of the music. One moment he’s softly crooning at our ears, the next he’s howling and screaming like the furies. The guests appearances by Lindsay Schoolcraft on vocals and Jørgen Munkeby (Shining) on saxophone make this already diverse record even more enthralling, and the production is lush, clear and vibrant. Author's Bio: Hailing from the land of poutine, Gorguts and Arcade Fire, Étienne is a musician and unabashed nerd. While not listening to music, he can be found writing for one of his numerous musical projects or remixing metal/rock into synthpop/retrowave. Follow him on Twitter.  WODE - Burn In Many Mirrors (April 2nd, 20 Buck Spin) Find it here! Review by: Blackie Skulless I really can’t believe that my favorite release of the year mid-way through is a black metal album, but I guess that just tells you how much I appreciate the things I’ve found to like about it. Wode is a serious anomaly, and Burn In Many Mirrors is dense with combos of ferocious riffing and incredible atmosphere. The linear flow and advanced songwriting is boosted high by layering every instrument perfectly. The level of chops is untouchable, and the narrative/poetic lyrics are just icing on the cake. The Sleeping Village is host to a review in full--check it out here. Author's Bio: From the American city of Lancaster Pennsylvania rises Blackie Skulless and his brigade of glam and gore. Check out his many reviews here at the Village.  MORBIFIC - Ominous Seep Of Putridity (April 1st, Headsplit Records) Find it here! Review by: Blackie Skulless (the Prolific) On a far more disgusting scale, Morbific have delivered my favorite disc from the death metal realm thus far. Ominous Seep Of Putridity hearkens back to the Old School Death Metal tactics, adding lots of personality with grueling tones and bare/dry production. This allows the tin-like drums to pop, and their use of transitions and high-tech licks within a filth pool will forever impress me. To-the-point, but not simplified in structure. If this sounds up your alley, check out a full review here! Author's Bio: Look, Blackie Skulless simply doesn't do stuff halfway. Both segments of this mid-year list will feature a couple of his reviews.  SILVER TALON - Decadence and Decay (May 28th, M-Theory Audio) Find it here! Review by: Hipergerman Silver Talon is an American group formed in 2017 in Oregon by members of bands like Leathürbitch or Spellcaster. Its sound is a mix of heavy metal and early power metal. After two demos, an EP and a single, in 2021 the band releases its first LP, Decadence and Decay. What sounds will you find here? Intense rhythmic sections, sharpened and powerful melodic guitars and talented vocals that remind the gold era of heavy/speed/power metal. All of this in 8 songs in a roughly 46 minutes album. Special mention to the track "Resistance 2029" that includes a guitar solo by Andy LaRocque. Highly recommended! Author's Bio: Hipergerman can be found on Instagram.  VULGARIS - Asundre (February 26th, Independently Released) Find it here! Review by: The Administrator I wrote about this fantastic album just a few weeks back, and, thus, feel justified in stealing liberally from said review. To provide a bit of an unsolicited update, I still haven't slowed down when it comes to spinning this thing on repeat. Anyways: "Asundre is a very good debut. Beyond that, it’s a very good album, regardless of its spot in what I can only hope will be a burgeoning discography. While one always runs a risk of alienating the fans of component genres when creating something that pulls from various aspects of established sounds, Vulgaris have succeeded inordinately well at creating a piece of work that holds up to scrutiny from multiple angles. Asundre is harsh, and elegant, and high-octane, and somber, and frenetic, and, above all, consistently interesting. It is an album that simply works. Despite a whole lot of listens under my belt, I highly doubt I’ll be shelving it anytime soon. Vulgaris is the Latin term for the unremarkable common masses, but in a clever twist of irony, Vulgaris are most decidedly anything but." Author's Bio: Running a quaint little village requires, alas, a little bureaucracy. Someone needs to be responsible for de-mucking the decidedly medieval sewer system and rousing this rag-tag band of Villagers into fighting shape, should the marauders ever come a-marauding. Read his reviews here.  The Sun Came Up Upon The Left / Everson Poe - Ancestral Memory (January 22nd, Trepanation Recordings) Find it here! Review by: The Administrator I've been sitting on a half-finished review of this stunning split for the better part of six months, and I pledge to finish it in short order. In the meantime, however, please know that this is one of my very favorite albums of the year thusfar. Ancestral Memory represents a brilliant meeting and melding of minds, the result of which is a harrowing, crushing, and otherwise tastefully overwhelming experience. The Sun Came Up Upon The Left excels at creating oppressive environments that feel, for lack of a better term, subtly in-organic. It's an approach that intrinsically creates a sense of distrust and discomfort, yet draws the listener in with quicksand-esque influence. In contrast, the sample-heavy Everson Poe half lends gloom and doom, alongside a more outwardly aggressive bite. Nominally blackened doom, the aesthetic is equally intimidating, albeit in a more somber and melancholic sense--a quality that has become her calling card across a variety of genres. Despite sonic distinctions, the two acts work together with a rare precision, demonstrating their impressive individual abilities without ever overshadowing the other's strengths. Expect more words at a later point, but in the meantime: just check this thing out. You won't regret it. Author's Bio: Yours truly was raised in the (honest-to-god) wilderness on a diet of prog, classic metal, and coyote flesh. His tastes grew to envelop the doomiest and deathiest subgenres, and his subsequent travels led him here, to the Sleeping Village--a place he is pleased to call home. Read his reviews here. Thanks again to everyone who contributed a review to this list! Tune in tomorrow for part 2!
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We provide thoughtful reviews of music that is heavy, gloomy...and loud enough to wake us from slumber. Written by a highfalutin peasantry!
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