Well, once again I’ve listened to far less than I would have liked to this year (excuses range from alien invasion to the lack of 25 hours in a day to pure ninja-level laziness)… and yet, I have absolutely no complaints about the contents of my ‘top ten’ (your mileage, of course, may vary).

In the proverbial no particular order…

Blood Quartet
“Until My Darkness Leaves”
(Feeding Tube Records, Gandula, Moorworks, zOna wAtuSa)

“…doom-noise clatter, uninhibited expression, dissonance and derangement, odd synth textures, guitar torture (of course!), romance tunes for dead lovers, hints of Eastern revolution, and fallen angel song illuminating the shadows.” Full review here.

 

Inhumankind
“Self-Extinction”
(I, Voidhanger Records)

“…limited and non-traditional instrumentation provides a fresh sonic language and perspective for adventurous black metal fans, and for the rest of us…” Full review here.

Schneider Collaborations
Volumes 01 to 04
(self-published)

The first four albums in a series of collaborations by drummer, Jörg A. Schneider; each carries something indefinably special – I refuse to choose between them! Interview here.

 

Møster!
“States of Minds”
(Hubro Music)

“80+ minutes of widely varied and dynamic textures, rhythms and tones that coheres beautifully into a single, extended experience.” Full review here

Sam Fendrich
“Blue Tears”
(Linear Obsessional)

“…this is “the blues as anguish”…  a highly personal, angular, dissonant, almost deranged, and shattered vision of the blues.. ” Full review here.

 

The Noise Eating Monsters
“Roaring”
(Muteant Sounds)

This power-noise-jazz-improv trio were on the list last year and, no surprises, their second disc of gripping explorations utterly fails to disappoint. What’s that cliché, a ‘worthy successor’…?

Ikizukuri
“Hexum”
(Zona Watusa)

Grinding doomjazz? Prog-ish flights of fancy? Heavyweight improvising trio with a featherlight swing.

 

J Frisco
“naked”
(self-published)

Raw, honest, free experimentation with an incredibly delicate (at times) brutality. Quite frankly, this album blew me away. Interview here.

eris 136199
S/T
(Buster and Friends)

Exquisitely constructed, spontaneously messed-up, endless depth, kind of like letting an insane brain surgeon in through your ear. Interviews with all three orbiting explorers here.

 

The End
“Svårmod och vemod är värdesinnen”
(RareNoise)

“…twin bari sax onslaught with pummelling dislocated drums and throat-shredding, down-in-the-cellar cries for sanity.” Full Review here.

That’s all folks…

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