Best Albums and Songs of January 2017
3 days late lul. In a crappy month for albums, here's a list of somewhat likable stuff. |
| 22 |  | Pink Guy
Pink Season
--BEST SONGS-- |
| 21 |  | Foxygen
Hang
10. Mrs. Adams: One of two of the only good songs on this album, this song composes the broadway-like tone much more efficiently and pleasing than anything else on Hang. |
| 20 |  | Need
Hegaiamas: A Song For Freedom
9. Tilikum: In an album full of mediocrity, this song definitely shows glimmers of a band that could've been. With great female vocals and keyboard sections, the variety here is pretty great. |
| 19 |  | Black Anvil
As Was
8. The Way of All Flesh: It's much different from the rest of the album, and it's only a 2 minute interlude, but it's such a great one. One of the only interludes that doesn't feel like filler. |
| 18 |  | Sundara Karma
Youth Is Only Ever Fun in Retrospect
7. Happy Family: A really great track that has relatable lyrics with a sound that totally fits the mood. The backstory behind this song is pretty interesting too. |
| 17 |  | Wiley
Godfather
6. Speakerbox: That snare tho. Bars are also really catchy. |
| 16 |  | Emptiness
Not For Music
5. Your Skin Won't Hide You: I wish the rest of the album was as psychedelic and aurally impressive as this. Interesting percussion with great structure and guitar sounds really makes this track a winner, especially given how poor the album is. |
| 15 |  | The Great Old Ones
EOD: A Tale of Dark Legacy
4. Mare Infinitum: The grand finale is indeed grand. |
| 14 |  | Pain of Salvation
In the Passing Light of Day
3. On a Tuesday: First time I heard this song, The Perfect Element Part 1 opener immediately came to mind. It signified an album almost as great too. |
| 13 | | Pain of Salvation
In the Passing Light of Day
2. In the Passing Light of Day: Amazing finisher with essential lyrics to make the album much more powerful. |
| 12 | | The Great Old Ones
EOD: A Tale of Dark Legacy
1. The Ritual: It's been a while since I've seen black metal create atmosphere this perfectly. |
| 11 |  | Neil Cicierega
Mouth Moods
--BEST ALBUMS-- |
| 10 |  | Bonobo
Migration
6.5/10 It gets better every listen. There's a ton of variety, and all the songs are pretty memorable. The problem is that most of the songs with vocals really suck. |
| 9 | | Wiley
Godfather
6.5/10 This is pretty much an efficient rap album. Some tracks, like the aforementioned "Speakerbox", are really catchy and meaningful. Most of the tracks with repetitive hooks get very annoying, and there's qutie a lot of them on here. |
| 8 |  | The xx
I See You
6.5/10 This album's first six songs are great. The others....not so much. |
| 7 |  | Mors Principium Est
Embers of a Dying World
7/10 This album is consistently good death metal, besides a few really awful duds. |
| 6 | | Black Anvil
As Was
7/10 Really good black metal. The guitar work is quite good on here and I really like the vocals. It does get a bit repetitive, and the last song is pretty bad. |
| 5 |  | Deaf Havana
All These Countless Nights
7/10 Once you get past the very generic first two tracks, this album turns very interesting with great riffs and moments to supply. These great moments also last throughout the entire album, and are on many of the tracks. |
| 4 |  | Count to Altek
A Seraphia Entwined
7.5/10 Sputcore iz gr8 m8. Admirable experimentation really shines and makes this album a relaxing, trippy listen. |
| 3 |  | Dryjacket
For Posterity
7.5/10 I like all the songs on here but one. I have no idea why this got such bad reviews on iTunes because this is pretty fantastic. Many of the riffs used reminded me of bands that wouldn't be expected from a band like this (Between the Buried and Me, Hella, Incubus). Surprisingly, Dryjacket takes these sounds and blends them together with impressive success. I just wish the lyrics were a little more consistent. |
| 2 | | Pain of Salvation
In the Passing Light of Day
8.5/10 This was the album that pulled Pain of Salvation out of the writer's block that was the Road Salt series. Of course it took a tragic event in 2014 to do it, but the music this band pulled off is so great. The majority of the songs are really amazing, but I think, despite prog metal standards, the lyrics is what binds this album together the strongest with constant references and interesting metaphors. |
| 1 | | The Great Old Ones
EOD: A Tale of Dark Legacy
9/10 I might not be very experienced in the genre of "Lovecraft Black Metal", but I know that this definitely succeeds at "horror-related" music, if you want to use that term. However, I don't care about how "terrifying" music is, but the way TGOO dedicates to the shadowed mood of the songs for every single second on here automatically makes this amazing. The consistent and subtle, yet brutally powerful riffs here is mostly what makes this such an enjoyable listen. |
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