01 Jan Wagner Considers Some Albums from 2019
I don’t do rankings anymore. With albums changing meaning and gravity over time, sometimes with each listen, it’s futile to restrict them to a ranking.
This year, lots of veterans caught my attention, and that’s likely because many younger bands I hear are caught in a cycle of imitation and variations on a now-familiar theme, as capable as they might be.
Beyond that, no explanations and no excuses. – JW
Toppermost
Bent Knee, You Know What They Mean
Deathspell Omega, The Furnaces of Palingenesia
Kayo Dot, Blasphemy
Leprous, Pitfalls
Very High Tier
Gaahls Wyrd – Gastir – Ghosts Invited
No-Man, Love You to Bits
Opeth, In Cauda Venenum
Tool, Fear Inoculum
Thom Yorke, Anima
Really Good, w/Minor Issues
Arch/Matheos, Winter Ethereal
Blut Aus Nord, Hallucinogen
Tim Bowness, Flowers at the Scene
Laster, Het Wassen Oog
Mayhem, Daemon
Baroness, Gold and Grey
Dream Theater, Distance Over Time
Saint Vitus, Saint Vitus
Harnell Sounding Fantastic Amongst Good-to-Mediocre Material
Starbreaker, Dysphoria
Can’t Help Myself
Rob Halford, Celestial
If Someone Stole This CD From Me, I’d Live
Candlemass, The Door to Doom
Bought, Listened Twice, Got Rid Of
Ulver – Drone Activity
Angel Witch, Angel of Light
Bought, Listened Once, Got Rid Of. The Old 7” Still Rules
Mortem, Ravnsvart
Amazing Vocals, Great Live Band, But Guess I’m a One-Album-CattleDecapMan (2012’s Monolith of Inhumanity):
Cattle Decapitation – Death Atlas
Something Keeping Me From It
Alcest – Spiritual Instinct (aren’t they just spinning the wheels by now? Will check out at some future point.)
ALL OTHERS: FOAD!!!, MEH., or I LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU ONE DAY.