Jump to content
  • entries
    131
  • comments
    178
  • views
    100,583

My Top 15 Albums of 2014, Part 3 - The Return of the King


Queen of Liars

597 views

5 - Longhena by Gridlink

 

GridlinkLonghena_zps555fb32e.jpg

 

The final album by Gridlink is a ferocious technical grindcore goodbye with incredible musicianship.

Over the course of just 23 minutes Longhena delivers one of the most intense listens of the year. It's fast and brutal, yet filled with a sorrowful beauty.

Farewell, Gridlink.

 

 

4 - Noise by Boris

 

BorisNoise_zps55ceaa81.jpg

 

The 19th Boris album has a rather deceptive title, as there is in fact pretty much no noise contained within.

What it does contain is a trip through several styles across eight tracks, and Boris doing what only Boris do.

Opening with a couple of incredibly catchy and enjoyable stoner rock tracks not too dissimilar form their 2011 Heavy Rocks album, it carries on into highly atmospheric ambient and post-rock, before hitting the listener with a J-pop song.

While all this sounds fantastic and is excellently written, the crown pieces here are without a doubt tracks 6 and 7 - Angel and Quicksilver.

Angel is a 19 minute epic of Boris' experimentation through melancholy and beauty, with both a fantastic build up and an incredibly satisfying climax. Quicksilver on the other hand is the closest the album comes to its title. It's an eccentric and fast-paced 10 minute blast through excellent riffs and melodies, with clean vocals in the foreground and dissonant screams in the back.

Both tracks feature incredible songwriting, accompanied by the usual guitar mastery one has come to expect from Wata. I think at this point it can safely be assumed that she is no mere mortal, and her talent and skill with the guitar are of supernatural origins.

With Noise, Boris continue their constant evolution and refusal to sound the same. Can't wait to see where they go next.

 

 

3 - The Satanist by Behemoth

 

BehemothTheSatanist_zpsf4b47eef.jpg

 

One of the most talked about metal albums of the year, and it deserves all of its attention.

As the first Behemoth album since Nergal's lengthy battle with leukemia, The Satanist stands tall as a statement of his defiance of death.

Incredibly grandiose, and just as brutal and crushing, this album contains the most well written music Behemoth have done. Filled with great riffs and captivating vocals, its an enthralling piece which doesn't let you out of its grip until it's done.

Displaying Nergal's Nietzsche-inspired philosophy on art, it is ugly and beautiful in equal parts, going with ease from fast-paced death metal assault on the ears to enchanting spoken word parts, before it all culminates in the absolutely incredible closing track.

The Satanist is quite the statement.

 

 

2 - Enter by Fire! Orchestra

 

FireOrchestraEnter_zps28ed4e2d.jpg

 

 

Fire! Orchestra are a 28-piece experimental big band/free jazz group, which delivered one of the best jazz albums of the century in 2013, with Exit. They are now back just a year later with Enter - an album that lives up to, and in some areas surpasses, its predecessor.

Like Exit, this album sounds huge. With such a large cast, it is chaotic and organised at the same time, with a ton going on in the music at any given moment. At times it pushes even further into experimental territory than Exit did, but at other times, such as the closing track, it can be a lot more straight forward and easy to follow. Well, by Fire! Orchestra's standards, anyway.

It's a magnificent album unlike anything else.

 

 

1 - Dark Space III I - by Darkspace

 

DarkspaceDarkSpaceIIII_zpsda00a045.jpg

 

Darkspace are an enigmatic band which fuse dark ambient and atmospheric black metal, with lyrics about... well, dark space and the mysteries of the cosmos.

With three tracks adding up to just over an hour of music, Dark Space III I is an absolutely captivating experience with a strong eerie atmosphere and excellent instrumentation. It's an ethereal and terrifying journey through the darkest and blackest depths of space, with only the infinite void surrounding you. Indeed, even the flow of time seems distorted with this album, as throughout its long duration it never once drags or leaves you anywhere else but the edge of your seat.

Listen to it on BandCamp.

The MP3 is also currently stupidly cheap on Amazon, at $3/£3. Do yourself a favour if you like metal or atmospheric music and pick it up.

  • Upvote 1

0 Comments


Recommended Comments

There are no comments to display.

Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...