The Dark,Tormented and Metallic Top 30 of 2019 albums by Mathieu St-Onge
I devour music of all kinds while I devote myself to painting. Like a pasta dish in Italy, metal and everything we classify as "dark" is my basic musical diet. Let's put it clear: I'm a music lover without pretending to be a music critic and I'm not constantly on the radar for new releases, so I may have missed two or three essentials! This selection of thirty dark and tortured metallic opuses published in 2019 is very subjective, you will find that some of your essentials of the year may not be there, like the last Slipknot, among others, simply because I don't stick with some styles like nu metal or emo-core. With more concern not to put two albums of the same musical family side by side than to establish a fixed hierarchy, I offer you a long winding path perfect to accompany your occult ceremonies, night walks in the cemetery, philosophical meditations, sporty high, evacuation of overflow, because a little metal and dark atmosphere, there is nothing more invigorating for the body the heart and the spirit. Click on the covers to listen to the albums or extracts.
* photo of me in front of a bunch of dead branches that look like a metal logo: Stéphanie Groulx.
*** please note that most of this text as been translated from french with Google Translate, which explains those kinda weird sentences and words use :P
30. Pensées Nocturnes - Grand Guignol Orchestra ๐ซ๐ท
I choose to introduce you very stiff in your holes with an absolutely unbearable orchestre who sweats the swing robine and the juice of buttocks of old fallen clown. This dazzling porridge of metal, waltz and dilapidated circus music is rowdy, saturated, and the lyrics are crammed with vulgarity and French slang. To make it all the more ridiculous, the burlesque and violent vocal occasionally reminds, with nostalgia, of the one found on the great classic Obscura by Quebecers Gorguts. Kudos to the beautiful Frooooonnnccce, you give me the desire to undo myself in the Ricard to wake up lying in a bidet. Rude and delectable!
29. Hannes Grossmann - Apophenia ๐ฉ๐ช
No more laughs! Shift immediately to a higher speed with this delectable technical metal that will delight discerning music lovers. The famous drummer Hanness Grossmann is well surrounded for Apophenia, an album that literally nails us on the electric chair, wooden stick in mouth as a bonus. Yes madam, the sauce is launched effectively.
28. Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence ๐บ๐ธ
Let's take a breath with Chelsea Wolfe. After her mighty Hiss Spun, she softened so much that she almost missed the chance qualifying here. But there is some mist in her voice and enough sorrow in her music to reassure atrabile souls. Light the candles, have a glass of wine, and decant your melancholy my friend!
27. Djevel - Ormer Til Armer, Maane Til Hode ๐ณ๐ด
You will see it during this list, I am fond of black metal. For neophytes, this type of music can be listened to in the cold, ideally in the middle of the wood, alone. It is rarely optimistic and often demonic. We find on Ormer Til Armer, Maane Til Hode the essentials of what must be included in any self-respecting black metal album: snarling and raucous vocals, loud guitars with distortion, fast and regular drums, with slow and contemplatives sequences, all sinister, straight out of the Norwegian blizzard.
26. Big ‡ Brave - A Gaze Among Them
The Montreal band offers slow, repetitive and minimalist music, sometimes marked with silence, which gives even more strength to the sound loads, pierced by the clear and vigorous voice of singer and guitarist Robin Wattie. They have forced the hand of several metal charts, which have given a place to Big | Brave this year, even if we are at the limit of the genre. It’s very, very heavy, and it's the kind of music I listen to give a special atmosphere to certain activities, like burying the sound of commercial radio while I’m at the supermarket or watching people having fun at La Ronde, it superimposes itself in a beautiful way and underlines the absurdity of an oppressive society which gives itself appearances of lightness.
25. Abbath - Outsrider ๐ณ๐ด
Aaah this good old Abbath! He was first known as the vocalist of Immortal, from whom he separated a few years ago. I had him to find a small place in this list, he who needs all our moral support ... yes, the legend of Norwegian black metal went into rehab after a disastrous concert. His hoarse little naughty demon voice is recognizable among all, we love him! Much better than his first solo effort and more rock than Immortal, Outsrider is entertaining and dynamic. A typical black metal production, but with a slightly garage sound, well-sent earworms and too absurd lyrics to be taken for granted; the recipe works well enough that I wanted to re-listens the record a couple of times. Good road towards sobriety Abbath!
24. Russian Doomer Compilations ๐ท๐บ
Little audacity on my part: entry # 24 is neither an album, nor even fresh music. I could make a second effort to find something new in the cold wave or goth rock regions, but why bother with this when we have a dozen Russian “doomer” compilations that popped up on youtube in 2019? Delectable gray surprises every time!
23. Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race ๐บ๐ธ
Bahahaha it is practically under pressure that I place this album in the charts, not to make me say “hey St-Onge where is Blood Injection!?!?” Well I am kidding halfway, because the whole planet metal and I enjoyed this curious thirty-six minute production including an epic eighteen minute song. By listening to metal - there are tons of albums that come out every year, many are very good, but several of them struggle to distinguish themselves - we end up being able to detect the little magic touch that separates the great ones from the rest of the cohort. Hidden History of the Human Race has this special aura. Good old school death reminiscent of Suffocation, played with a flawless technicality, making a wink or two to Death (band), with the added bonus of some instrumental prowess with a cosmic flavor!
22. Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence ๐ฌ๐ง
It's hard to avoid mourning in this must-do list on this damned planet, no wonder you always need your dose of funeral doom to endure the dark days. A good headache that assaults us when we are packed into an Azure at rush hour on the orange line will not be as effective to afflict us as the throbbing A Pyrrhic Existence of Esoteric. Life will leave your veins and the weight of existence will tear you apart. Good listening!
21. Heilung - Futha ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช
I stumbled upon this band of "experimental folk" ... I expected a little acoustic guitar, vintage song and a little buzz to honor the experimental aspect ... but oupelaïe, I was quite speechless. Right at the beginning, it feels like in a merry-go-round style safari-jungle in the dark, and little by little it begins to taste the dragon dungeon, without however pouring in the knight-kitsch-magic style. Funny throat songs (in various Eurasian dialects that have disappeared today) are deployed to evoke themes relating to the Iron Age and the Viking Age. They are accompanied by percussions made with animal horns and human bones, and also recordings of sounds of natural elements, such as cracking ice and fire and crackles. These are just a couple of elements that make up the approach and universe of this group. Unique and stunning!
20. Despised Icon - Purgatory
Sometimes we wake up one good morning with an urgent desire to betting beaten up, so we kill two birds with one stone and we consume local by typing Purgatory of Despised Icon, masters of deathcore.
19. MVTANT - Double Tape EP ๐บ๐ธ
In everything that is purely industrial this year, I have heard nothing that has reached to the compilation of the two EPs from MVTANT, good very old school stock, raw and dry, recorded on cassettes, without modification by computer. Ok it was released on December 31, 2018, but we will tolerate, I know no one who writes his top 30 while everyone is getting stuffed by the Bye Bye or others happy new year/review tv programs
18- Aoratos - Gods Without Name ๐บ๐ธ
Like a gust filled with sand and debris that would whip in our face, Aoratos spoils us with a lugubrious and opaque fast black metal. Reading the lyrics, it is again the forces of death and sin that orchestrated this evil music, hey nice job! I would not start with listening to this album to introduce the genre to inexperienced ears, the sometimes cacophonous melodies approach the limit of tolerable, which, for my part, seduces me. Add to this molasses dark sound arrangements, cries of the damned and suffocating atmospheres, and voila, my stone heart is conquered.
17. The Legendary Pink Dots - Angel in the Detail ๐ณ๐ฑ
I have a real cult following for this group, which had started a darker turn at the start of the decade, followed by a surprising creative push which culminated in the brilliant Pages of Aquarius published in 2016 and Chemical Playschool # 19 and # 20 in 2017. What more could we hope for from the Amsterdam trio? Without being able to rise to the top of their many musical achievements - the bar is high, they have released an average of one album per year since 1980 - Angel in the Detail carves out IMHO a fairly comfortable place in their catalog with one of their most accessible albums. A collection of interesting pieces that draws almost everywhere in the set of musical influences that have marked the group's career: a good dose of disturbing psychedelic, twisted electro, calm and bewitching passages, a bit of folk music ... and always the small fragile and unique voice of Edward K-Spell to take us by the hand. Happy fortieth anniversary Dots!
16- Schammash - Hearts of No Light ๐จ๐ญ
An epic metal set with skillfully worked arrangements. We would be tempted to put the style in the black metal section, but it is much more prog, heavy and focused more on the drums games than the snare hammering to get the label attached. During the journey, we indulge in quieter, rich and dizzying atmospheres, long instrumental passages, doom atmospheres and dismal songs. An immersive experience that will break down the boundaries between your body and your mind, which will then rise to leave matter. Your conscience and your ideals will be dissolved in a cataclysm where the four elements will meet, in a fight between light and darkness. Ok, that's going to make spirituality, I have a load of laundry waiting for me and late books at the Rosemont library, the body release is postponed to 2020.
15. Infant Annihilator - The Battle of Yaldabaoth ๐ฌ๐ง
This is where the purists will jump and see that this list is not that of a REAL musical critic. Infant Annihilator is squeezed out of the picture by several metal lovers because it is riddled with passes that are definitely too fast to not be rigged by the studio. AAH FAKE! But chalice that it is so brutal! So much that it makes me laugh. When I get there, if that makes me happy, I don't give a damn about the real technical capacities of the band members and I turn up the volume for a good condensed discharge of extreme metal perfect for sickening your neighbors (I say "your neighbors", because my own neighbors I like them well and I don't want to disturb their peace).
14. Amygdala - Our Voices Will Soar Forever ๐บ๐ธ
We were wondering about the musical authenticity of the previous entry but here it is real raw meat that we are thrown into the mouth with this hardcore that addresses the theme of roughness in the healing process with an open heart trauma. Powerful unadorned diatribes against political injustice, violence against women and racism. My nose bleeds.
13. Waste of Space Orchestra - Syntheosis ๐ซ๐ฎ
A real U.F.O. who has interfered in this list; metal regulars will be confused. This project which unites the members of the groups Oransi Pazuzu and Dark Buddha Rising has generated a mix between post-hardcore, progressive, noise, psychedelic and tribal music. Rises in intensity that tear everything and hypnotizing atmospheres, lets start a fire under a big cauldron, call a shaman and hop! A little dance in a circle! To discover absolutely!
12. King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard - Infest the Rat’s Nest ๐ฆ๐บ
We are dealing here with one of the most hyperactive groups of the decade who chose in 2019 to surprise us with a metal album, while remaining faithful to their sound identity, which oscillates mainly between jazz and rock. The mix is โโatypical if we compare it to what is done in the metal scene, and the result is refreshing, with an approach decidedly more edgy than dark. It's festive, you can listen to it even with a large smile, I refrain from shouting Yabadabadou during the drum passes.
11. Rotting Christ - The Heretics ๐ฌ๐ท
Take out the amphorae of resinous wine and the gallons of lube because the hour has just struck for the big Greek orgy, everyone is invited, and we put some Rotting Christ to dilate. These veterans have moved away from their black metal roots to refine their style over the years and they are now at the top of their game with The Heretics, which offers us sweet and epic compositions set with mystical choirs that give you the taste of the conquest, or even take steps to replace the God of Christians with a whole pantheon of deities! Take of your panties and let the party begin!
10. Mononc Serge - Réchauffé
I was lukewarm at the idea of โโhaving the same dump used by Mononc again, but after one or two listenings I was conquered. On Réchauffé, the friendly blasphemer leveled the sound of a couple of his song to bring them back to a filthy punk rock level. The amps were reconnected for five songs from Pourquoi joues-tu du rock'n'roll and the scream was skimmed over three songs from Musique Barbare; in both cases the result is highly effective. Add to that a very dirty rereading of his two song where he sang with the Colocs, two new pieces including Colonel Sanders then a few other "garbage songs" as he likes to call his creations, and suddenly we have a lot of leftovers to eat before being served the next resistance piece.
9. 1349 - The Infernal Pathway ๐ณ๐ด
The Infernal Pathway has this charismatic vibes that made me smile right from its first riffs to the end. What a nice black metal drenched in very aggressive and jerky death. What more can be said? Another safe bet straight out of Norwegian satanic hell to offer a solid sepulchral counterweight to François Legault who claimed that all queb are cathos.
8. Humanoid - Door
Humanoïd is the solo project of Mathieu Marcotte, guitarist of the excellent Quebec metal group Augury. Virtuoso acoustic guitar games accompanied by keyboard arrangements are mainly found on Door. The strings are sometimes soaring and meditative, then they suddenly drape in distortion to take us into more dramatic regions. This work, both ambient and dynamic, has harmonized wonderfully with my brushstrokes and brainstorms this year.
7. Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear ๐ธ๐ช
I have regarded Neurosis as the most creative leaders in the post-hardcore style. After Given to the Rising, published in 2007, Neurosis was a little treading water, while Cult of Luna was carving out an increasingly important place in this musical niche. The Swedish team has just taken the lead with A Dawn to Fear, a grand journey of one hour and twenty. From the end of the first listening, we feel that we are in the presence of a giant; we put the album aside to catch our breath. Then comes the urge to return to try to assimilate all the richness of the compositions, to understand everything that is deployed through this warm emotional intensity coupled with a coldness of execution. A slow and sumptuous musical sequence, both distressing and explosive, in short, a masterpiece of remarkable beauty.
6. Mayhem - Daemon ๐ณ๐ด
The year 2019 revealed to the general public the story of Mayhem with the film Lord of Chaos, a saga that black metal fans have known for a long time and which has taken on the appearance of legend: the escapades surrounding the performances of the singer Dead, his suicide, the assassination of guitarist Euronymous by Varg Vikerness and the composition of the cult album De Mysteris Dom Sathanas, which is considered to be the foundation of "real Norwegian black metal". These events took place between 1987 and 1993 approximately. Subsequently, Mayhem made their compositions more complex and were able to acquire a certain avant-garde that broke with their roots. The refinement of their style is at its apotheosis with the dark Daemon. Led by the very grim vocal of Attila Csihar, Mayhem plunges back into tradition while filling us with a heavy and chaotic off-piste. A satanic soundtrack ideal for surviving our passage on this planet siphoned off by the suffocating Christianity, its tyrannical Christmas and its mass consumption. Aeon Daemonium !!! Hey while you're there, about movie Lord of Chaos: it looks like you shouldn't believe a word of it: Varg said on his youtube channel that history was far from being true to the actual course of events. I would give you a link to his vlogs so you can hear his version of the facts, but he got banned this year for comments that YouTube considered unacceptable. Consolation: you can always watch the videos of his sweet half Marie Cachet who talks about permaculture, school at home and in which we sometimes see Varg, who now bears the name of Louis Cachet, take care of his kids in his small self-sufficient hamlet, as proof that a peaceful life after black metal and prison is possible.
5. Rammstein - Rammstein ๐ฉ๐ช
Things should be put into perspective to properly assess the successor to Liebe Ist Für Alle Da, published in 2009. Like many, I was paralyzed in the 90s by the music of Rammstein, which I discovered at the age of fifteen years on the soundtrack of the movie Lost Highway: deep and cold German song, fleshy guitars, powerful and stripped rhythm: a winning recipe for my eardrums already charmed by Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and Marylin Manson. The first two albums, Herzleid and Sehnsucht attracted worldwide attention to Rammstein, then Mutters in 2001 consecrated the Berlin formation in the pantheon of the big names in industrial music. The surprise effect of a mainstream metal band singing in German has naturally faded over the years. The arrival of a song like Deutshchland in 2019 could not have had the same impact on people's minds as Du Hast had more than 20 years ago; we could hardly compare the importance of this new opus with the previous ones. That said, Rammstein has just created a quality album that exceeds expectations by offering exactly what fans love about the group, while finding new ways to reinvent themselves, including the dancing Ausländer and the twisted Puppe. There are some less striking moments but no mediocre song appears on this eponymous album. Their creaky humor is still well established and the three music videos from this work are in a class of their own. The target was small and the angle of fire restricted; Rammstein hit the nail on the head.
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4. Mgลa - Age of Excuses ๐ต๐ฑ
What this bunch of life coaches who are multiplying at a staggering rate will never tell you is that, yeah, it's cool positive thinking and all that it brings in health benefits, but nothing beats a good day devoted to stirring up dark ideas and despising the human race. I am very indebted to Mgลa - it is pronounced "mm'gwa" - for offered me in 2019 the ideal accompaniment to let yourself be transported by bitter but oh delicious misanthropic thoughts, with their black metal at the same time melodic, discordant and disdainful. While remaining consistent with the genre, they manage to stand out with unusual harmonies, creative drums, keeping the hard line, without feeling the need to impress with fancies or technical prowess. I do not know how objectively we can consider Age of Excuses as one of the best albums in the history of black metal, but for my part, that's exactly my type.
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3. Kid Kouna
I have kept you a bold choice for position # 3. Keith Kouna (formerly singer of the group Les Goules) decided that it was in 2019 that he was going to make a Henri Dès of himself, and that succeeded him wonderfully. My five-year-old son had a really good time, and a child who loves something goes on and on, so much so that Kid Kouna is the album that officially grinded my speakers the most this year. But what is it trumpeting in this list tortured in front of Mayhem and Rammstein you will say to me? Although it is very funny from one end to the other, there is a somewhat dark background with Kid Kouna, among others a rabbit which is eaten, a running gag of hedgehog which is made hide by vehicles and a song about a monkey trapped in a zoo. the song Picotine is a punk toune who tells the story of a dog torn between his freedom and loyalty to his master. There is a piece that speaks brutally of poo and a glimpse of metal psychedelic pass called Babino. Moreover: funny scenarios in classrooms and especially two touching songs, Bruno and Lichou, about children who have trouble adjusting with others ... I shed a tear! A burst and brilliant work, we want our VIP tickets for his concert!
2. Lingua Ignota - Caligula ๐บ๐ธ
It is well known that monotheistic religions, macho men and other patriarchal fools do not like women to lose control and turn aggressive rather than being gentle and reserved. Kristin Hayte, the multi-instrumentalist behind Lingua Ignota, doesn't give a damn, and it was with an unleashed performance that she chose to lift the veil on her past marked by domestic violence. Her music would be classified at first sight in the Gothic style, because of the omnipresence of piano and chants inspired by the liturgical orchestres, but quickly the borders fly apart. We are witnessing a hymn to the survivors on Caligula, a real tour de force noise artist to repair broken souls, an occult trance, solemn, brimming with beauty and rage, which pushes the audience to the confines of itself . Hayte commands respect by the mere presence of her golden voice, overlooking music spattered with blood. Overwhelming and grand!
1. Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas ๐บ๐ธ
We are announcing dark times for humanity and the influence of all the excellent extreme music presented in this list makes us almost jubilant, we, cynics, pessimists and nihilists, at the idea of โโwitnessing the decimation of the masses by the old viruses released by the melting ice, courtesy of climate change. The anti-human vegans from Cattle Decapitation will certainly join this show, celebrating in all sorts of ways on Death Atlas the imminent purge of the eight billion cancer cells with which the globe will invariably be relieved. Their destructive music has won the honors of this list, with a style that brings together the three epithets of metallic, dark and tormented. The performance is fast, compact and melodic. The songs are built to last in memory, thanks to that little whining goblin voice that comes up often, which I like, but which risks to irritate more than one. A salvo of cold and pure hatred - but one that has a certain je ne sais quoi of sympathy anyway - to harmonize harmoniously with the slow, but certain march of civilizations towards their own loss.
Take care of your black hearts, friends, see you next year for another compilation