I try to write about as many of the releases I find personally noteworthy as possible, and as I was looking over my favorite albums from 2021 as the year ends, there’s a handful of really really good releases that slipped through the cracks. So I’ll be catching up on those over the next week or so in preparation for a year-end wrap up post. But there’s also a handful of genres that have done some really cool things this year that I haven’t covered as much as I’d like on an individual album basis. Not sure how many of these I’ll do – definitely one for indie/pop and one for pop-punk – but to kick things off is black metal!
I’m not much for traditional black metal, but I greatly enjoy atmospheric/post-black metal/blackgaze. It’s also really really hard to stand out since most releases focus more on ambiance and atmosphere (to great effect) than specific songs or individual moments, and so many quality acts are producing music in the genre. Of course, Der Weg einer Freiheit released an incredible album that topped the genre in 2021 for me, and genre leaders Deafheaven and An Autumn for Crippled Children dropped excellent releases as well (even if they didn’t quite reach their own loftiest pinnacles), but there were also a lot of more experimental and less recognized acts that deserve mention:
Sadness – april sunset: Heavily on the ambient side of the spectrum, Sadness experiment with lots of post-rock electronics, lo-fi black metal, and even drone elements to create some incredibly emotive work that’s simultaneously moving and calming. Album standout “our whole lives in this moment” blends that ambience and grit with soaring guitar work, crunchy blackgaze shrieks, and emo-tinged clean singing across several movements. Think early Deafheaven meets Define The Great Line-era Underoath. Great stuff for either close listening or background ambience.
Sadness – compilation II: It’s all the more impressive given how prolific a project Sadness is. This “short” (30 minute) three song release is a much brighter and more lush companion to april sunset. From the gorgeous synth work on “in a moment” to almost surf rock riffs on “be happy”, there’s few better albums to show that black metal doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom.
Violet Cold – Empire of Love: This is fun both as a piece of subversive art and just as a fun work of music. Black metal (deservedly) has a reputation as having had trouble with racism, bigotry, and violence since its early days. While post-black metal maybe avoids the worst of that, it’s still cool to see artists actively work against that today, as so many have in the past several years. This takes it a step further, from easily stating its positions via album art and track listing to playing the most upbeat and encouraging take on black metal I’ve heard. There’s so much variety as well! “Pride” combines traditional Deafheaven blackgaze verses with poppy clean female vocals in a sort of repeated chorus. “Be Like Magic” opens with a pounding riff that sounds straight out of early metalcore. “Working Class” has a banjo. I’m surprised not to have heard more about this album, as it could make a big impact outside the black metal niche with its strong production, easy accessibility, and coherent message.
MØL – Diorama: This is as much a progressive rock album as a blackgaze one. Absolutely everything sound so clear and crisp, with frequent undistorted guitars and soaring clean vocals tagging in for blastbeats and black metal shrieks. I fully expect this band to release at least one genre-defining record in their career, and even early on they’ve got quite a few ideas that seem primed to advance the genre forward. If anything, this album isn’t quite ambitious enough, and comes off as a great collection of songs without a whole lot connecting them.
Unreqvited – Beautiful Ghosts: I wish I could get more into Unreqvited. For me it just doesn’t click, but it’s still one of the most noteworthy releases of the year. It’s easily the best production you’ll find among any black metal release, it’s bright, it’s symphonic, the musicianship is clear on everything from pianos to guitars, and it’s the act’s most captivating package yet.
Abstract Void – Wishdream: Synthwave black metal. That’s it. Each release from AV follows this exact same formula with slight improvements, and the usage of lead guitars and synths makes individual tracks much more memorable this time around. Truly pushing the boundaries of what fusion metal genres can be, and it’s a great time. If there was a little more vocal variety, this would easily be on by top albums of the year list.
Harakiri for the Sky – Maere: This is a great album I had forgot was released just this year! Probably one of the more accomplished and dynamic albums on this list, it’s certainly an impressive (and at nearly 90 minutes – imposing) piece of art. There’s so much progression and memorable moments within individual tracks, yet keeping enough of an overall atmosphere I feel fine keeping it on this list (and it deserves recognition somewhere for sure). Vocally it ditches traditional black metal shrieks for more of a melodic hardcore yell (plus plenty of cleans), and draws musical influence from everywhere from folk to traditional black metal to prog to post-hardcore. Tremolo picking and blastbeats straight into a proggy breakdown? Probably the only place you’ll hear that! It’s never bad, but the length does drag at times, and I wonder if it could be a more compelling package if cut down to just the best songs/moments within songs. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few years down the road I dive back into it in the right mood and wonder how I didn’t rank it among my overall favorite 2021 albums.
Soulless – Shine in Purity: Here’s a great example of an album standing out by production. Compositionally, it’s fairly standard post-black metal with some symphonic elements. But it sounds super crisp, especially in transition moments, and even makes use of electronic bass drum drops to add extra punch to certain moments. Just little things that take it from solid and unmemorable to noteworthy.
Nature Morte – Messe Basse: A masterclass in dynamics. There’s so much attention paid to tempo, abruptly shifting from breakneck to sludgy multiple times in (for the genre) relatively short songs. Also, the vocal range is quite impressive for the genre, shifting across a variety of tonal screams, and I think even adding a touch of throat singing or a similar technique at a couple moments. And musically, they play with everything from unexpected dissonance to melodic rock riffs. This album is still a bit on the unpolished side, but I’m very excited to see what comes next! In the meantime, this is still one of the most compelling genre releases of the year.
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