pop/23\rox
ALBUMS
All Is. All Shall Be / In Fear
Album of the Year. Massive farewell album with a wide range of metal flavors in service to a hellscape concept album that parallels Dante’s Inferno. The band’s final show was in October, but I’ll keep jamming until I wake up in purgatory.
Holocene / The Ocean
Positioned as an epilogue to the two-part Phanerozoic album cycle, Holocene began as material for the synth-player’s solo project. This synth foundation, coupled with the use of horns, creates a markedly different soundscape than Phanerozoic. Holocene refers to the “Age of Man”, and the lyrics reflect our inability to accept the limits of mortality and entropy.
Spaces Between Silence / Brave New World
This is the only AI “suggestion” Apple Music has gotten right in 8 years. A catchy band with theatrical sensibilities reminiscent of acts like My Chemical Romance and Panic! At The Disco.
Rated R / Red
More of the same from their eighth album, which is good enough for me. The keyboard-led intros are surprisingly cinematic.
SUPERBLOOM / Silent Planet
Silent Planet’s near-death experience when their tour van flipped in a snowstorm and spilled them into the night inspired this exploration of the paranormal and paranoid. Offworlder is my Music Video of the Year for its John Wick combat choreography.
Fatalism / Polaris
Solid work from the Aussies on their fourth album.
