Best of 2019

Here we are again. Kinda weird making a list this big taking in consideration I don't post that often here, but trust me, I plan to change that. Anyway, these are the records that most impressed me, and made me return to them. Some not that often, but everytime they left me with an "yep, that's REALLY good" impression, for the lack of better adjectives. ALSO, YES, I'm quite aware this is somewhat late in the game (I would even argue that's the ideal time to do this, as you have time to truly absorb everything and catch-up on things you might have lost, but that's just me, I guess...), but hey, Chinese new year is 4 days from now, so there's that!
Will try to be brief.

JAB – Erg Herbe
This is not your dime a dozen, reverb heavy, synth Ambient record. It has well crafted melodies and timbres, microtones, flutes, and interesting concepts. The cover could be better, but, eh... the music more than makes up for it


Sofie Birch - Island Alchemy
And the same could be said for this one (though it's less reliant on concepts, as far as I know, and alternative tunings). When that clarinet hits... Damn!

Sunn O))) - Pyroclasts
The most impressive thing about this record is that it's a bunch of leftovers (more accurately, recorded warm-ups and exercises) that sounds MUCH more interesting than their proper full-lenght, also released this year. Go figure! Some things are better left free, I guess.

Maria W Horn - Epistasis
The new wave of Nordic serious composers, who are also influenced/from the underground. Yes, that's a thing. Maria, Ellen Arkbro, Kali Malone (not from, but based, and also released a pretty good, though bloated, record this year), and a couple more. Take notice of these names. Anyway, computer-controlled pianos, organ duets, and Black Metal inspired string ensembles. Wild, right? But sounds quite soft and cohesive.

Manon Lescaut - Catenaccio; 
Genoasejlet - Seksten Stjerner, En For Hvert Et Minde; 
Mercury Ribbon - Cavalry Whips Of Bamboo; 
Ballista - Peak Hour;
That's the Janushoved quartet right there. If you don't know Janushoved yet, shame on you! The current best label in the game, when it comes to Ambient/Industrial fusions and beautiful collage artworks presentation. Run by a single person (apparently) who also makes most of its roster. Every year, unleashing into the world a dozen or so releases. While I don't care much for the direction the main/flagship project is taking, Internazionale, most of the other minor ones are putting out some 10/10 material. Manon Lescaut doing what it does best, Genoasejlet with another beautiful huge hour-long full, and Mercury Ribbon and Ballista finally presenting us with their full albums. I consider them all the absolute finest hour of each of these projects, if you like one, you'll surely like the others.

Kajsa Lindgren - Everyone Is Here
Beautiful sound collage Ambient, full of tape hiss and narrative. The kind of record that words just won't do it justice.

Sarah Davachi - Pale Bloom
A departure from her pair of records from last year (which I consider her absolute best) but it's very good nonetheless. Side A is Neo-Classical-esque Piano works, with Musique Concrète style vocals add-ons and later some electric organ too, Side B is La Monte Young style string ensemble Drone, but much more complex, harmonically and melodically, with great dynamics, interesting sounds all around that never gets boring.

Ulwhednar - Razor Mesh Fencing
I don't care much for the direction Varg has been taking, since Nordic Flora pt.3, though I respect the man, what he's doing seems honest, I suppose, so that's that... but his project with Anthony Linell (from the sorely missed Abdulla Rashim project [which I thought was his actual name]), Ulwhednar, still rips! The best thing, currently, Northern Electronic has to offer. High quality Techno, with those tasty Industrial/Ambient influences.

Orphan Ann - The Practice of Surrender
Speaking of which, Orphan Ann is the project of Anja Enerud with SARS. SARS who used to be with Varg in, the also sorely missed, Född Död. She made a colab full with Abdulla Rashim, which is very, VERY, great. Listen to that! "The Practice of Surrender" is somewhat like that, just add some Synth Pop, some Puce Mary-esque atmosphere, and there you go. Super underrated.

Alberich - Quantized Angel
He comes back with another full, after almost 10 years of recorded material silence, and is just as good. You would think that, after the massive 3hours-or-so behemoth that is NATO-Uniformen (and then the underrated Psychology of Love), one would empty their creativity and quality well, but not Alberich. No, sir!

Masonna - Absolute Bursting Moods
A lost Masonna record from the early 90's (not only that, it was supposed to be the very first one)?! Are you kidding me?! Of course it would be this good!

Merzbow & Vanity Productions - Coastal Erosion
Yes, for these couple last decades, Akita-sensei's discography has been really patchy, in terms of quality. It has been ages since I liked a new record of his. But pairing Merzbow with 1/2 of Posh Isolation (even though also not in their best years currently), could most probably lead into something great. And, oh boy, it did! They both did what they do best, and successfully put it together.

Pedestrian Deposit - Dyers' Hands
Oh, man... that's a huge one! Quite some time too since their last, the amazing "The Architector", from 2015. Worth the wait, just as good. Still not so Harsh, but that's not a issue. Extremely well crafted anxious inducing ambience.

Mattias Gustafsson - Frånvarande
Speaking of "well crafted"; Mattias Gustafsson's Altar Of Flies has been a favorite for a long time, and once I discovered he also releases under his own name, wow... "Frånvarande" is an amazing (see? the adjectives well is already empty...) Ambient record, constructed mainly with tape loops (I believe, since reel-to-reels are his main weapons). Super underrated. Get this now!

Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs
She just keeps getting better, doesn't she? 70's flavored soft Folk, so peaceful, and melancholic sounding. Her voice, my god, her voice! 😍

Yazz Ahmed - Polyhymnia
She just got better too. Arabic influenced Jazz Fusion. Upbeat, super groovy, complex arrangements, in contrast to her previous, more sparse, Ambient-ish, record.

Matana Roberts - Coin Coin, Chapter Four: Memphis
Oh, yeah, women just dominated Jazz this year, for me. The true musical successor to "[...]Chapter One[...]". Just as wild and well crafted as that one, even better, dare I say. If you like your Jazz free, but also Folk-ish? With a lot of dynamics? That's the one. But also...

Michiyo Yagi - Into The Forest
... this one too, but it's just not so upfront, and with a smaller ensemble; I was eagerly waiting this new record of hers, as she became one of my favorite Japanese Jazz musicians, since I found out about her (just about last year, if I recall correctly). Was expecting it to be good, but not THIS GOOD! And she also sings a lot?! Goddammit, 'Song of the Steppes' is so beautiful!

Sartegos - O Sangue da Noite
Spain is THE place for filthy Death/Black, and Sartegos is one of my, if not THE, favorite of this whole geographic niche, also of bands that are yet to release a full ("were" in this case). Didn't expect them to up the Thrash influence and to clean that much the sound, but no matter, it delivers, it rips! Also, love the Galician language.

Teitanblood - The Baneful Choir
Another group that took their sweet time until they decided to unleash something new. Again, worth the wait. Again, didn't expect it to sound so clean, but it still rips.

Sulphuric Night - Forever Cursed
In a sea of half-assed Raw Black Metal demos, Sulphuric Night reigns supreme (and is sadly underrated). You know, the usual: Hypnotic riffs, anguished screams, hiss everywhere. Won't change the game, but it's so goddamn well executed! Take notice!

Abysmal Lord - Exaltation of the Infernal Cabal
Another one that stands out, for me, among dozens of clones. Bestial Metal (or War Metal, or whatever you wanna call it) this time. So raw, so evil, so passionate. They do it extremely well. Love that drum sound.

False - Portent
False represents the best that USBM has to offer, which is, bands that sound like Weakling. Long form, complex songs, raw and melodic, atmospheric and pissed off, all in the same package. A band that started out great and hasn't faltered once since.

Funereal Presence - Achatius
Kinda hard to explain this band sound and just how good this is. Old-school styled Black Metal, some Heavy Metal influences, some Medieval nods here and there. Great vintage sounding production. Long songs, tightly written and executed. Can't praise this enough.

Perverted Ceremony / Witchcraft – Nighermancie / Black Candle
First time I've ever included a split release in a best of list, and first time since a long time that a split has impressed me this much (specially a Metal split). Both bands execute some filthy, Beherit influenced, Death/Black, including the occasional weird production/instrumentation choices. Top notch stuff. P.S.: Witchcraft needs to release a full asap

Mayhem - Daemon
The true successor to Ordo Ad Chao, after a stream of disappointing new material releases and endless "De Mysteriies[...]" era demos and lives (stop the ca$h grabbing already, guys). This is just some great quality Black Metal, with inventive guitar work, great vocal performance (as expected) and (surprisingly) organic sounding production. Just a great, solid work.

Deathwomb - Moonless Night Sacraments
A great surprise. Super strong debut full of raw Death/Black (Bestial or whatever) with more keyboards than bands of the genre usually dare to use, but not crossing into the Symphonic territory, don't worry. Look out for these guys!