Our world collectively blinked, and it’s October. Over the last 3 months artists released some great albums. Read on for our staff favorites.

STAFF WRITER: NATHANIEL FITZGERALD

Slowdive – Everything is Alive

No one was expecting Slowdive to reunite at all, let alone release what might have been their best record in 2017. So when their second post-reunion album was released in September, it was even more of a surprise that they somehow topped themselves again. Everything is Alive finds the shoegaze legends revitalizing their sonic palette with notes of synthpop, goth, and industrial casting shadows on their golden rays of dreamy shoegaze.

Agriculture – Agriculture

“Ecstatic” isn’t usually the first word anyone thinks of when they think of black metal, but when Agriculture uses the phrase “ecstatic black metal” to describe themselves, I’m not sure anyone can come up with anything better. Their self-titled full length takes the typically misanthropic and impenetrable sounds of black metal and uses them to express a transcendent joi de vivre that’s hard to put to tape otherwise. 

Fiddlehead – Death is Nothing To Us

Fiddlehead’s third debut finds them once more circling around grief and loss, but with the sort of nuance that only comes from lived experience, all set to post hardcore that’s catchy without losing any of its potency. 

Kvelertak – Endling

With all the endless bifurcation and speciation within metal’s ever-growing number of subgenres and subsubgenres, it’s easy to lose sight that it’s all just rock and roll. Norway’s Kvelertak returns to remind us of this truth, playing old school rock and roll with black metal textures in a record that sounds like someone put Behemoth and Blue Öyster Cult in a blender and hit purée. 

Teenage Wrist – Still Love

The 90s Alt-Rock revivalists return with a broader version of the decade than most of their peers, revisiting some elements that we’ve convinced ourselves we were all too cool for. Nu metal grooves and a disarming rap rock verse fit alongside a tracklist of shoegaze, space rock riffs, and some trip hop moments. 

STAFF WRITER: PHIL HAWKINS

To Kill Achilles – Recovery

This very well could be a dark horse contender for album of the year for me. It hits on all the right levels. It is raw, honest and visceral. The vocal delivery is both unique and familiar and some could draw comparisons to Shane Oschsner (Hands, Everything In Slow Motion) or TJ Bonnette (As Cities Burn). Musically speaking, some may not find it very heavy, but the heaviness is found in the lyrical content and themes laced throughout the album. Initially, this was barely a blip on my radar, but it has become one of my favorite finds in recent years. Recommended Tracks: “Blue,” “Living In A Memory” and “Ghost Town”

The Sweet Serenades – Everything Dies

There is something that can be said when it comes to creating something so complex within simplistic elements. That is the case with Everything Dies by The Sweet Serenades. Everything Dies is a remarkably composed album that carries a sense of time passing from life to death as the album progresses from start to finish. The Sweet Serenades manage to intricately stand out in a vast musical soundscape where their style isn’t very prominent. It is this very aspect that gives them an edge of sorts. Recommended Tracks: “Akhilia,” “Shapes And Colors” and “Back In Your Arms”

Wolves At The Gate – Lost In Translation

Cover albums can be rather divisive. However, Wolves At The Gate manage to excel at crafting an album chock full of tracks that carry new life with their artistic interpretations. They manage to cover a lot of ground that seems to push them beyond their usual genre lines, but the end product is a remarkable piece of art that exceeds expectations. Recommended Tracks: “Heathens,” “When I Was Older” and “Diamond Eyes”

68-Yes, And…

The dynamic duo of Josh Scogin and Nikko Yamada are back with their blend of rock that runs the gamut of chaos and blues with howling exposition and unbridled honesty. Yes, And… is a diverse and densely packaged indie rock romp that embodies the improvisational ideology that has become synonymous with ’68. It is equal parts fluid and chaotic building upon the “blank slate” approach that has become commonplace for the band. Recommended Tracks: “Removed Their Hooks,” “The Captains Sat” and “Then Got Bored”

STAFF WRITER: ALEX DYE

Armand Hammer – We Buy Diabetic Test Strips

Armand Hammer is easily the best underground hip-hop group on the scene. They consistently put out some incredibly dense and complex music that is equally breathtaking and difficult to get into. It took me years to understand and appreciate Armand Hammer. But once I got it, I was hooked. We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is like a David Lynch film:  weird, uncomfortable, and layered with meaning. Some people will be turned off right away, while others who give into the ride will be greatly rewarded. The duo continues with their uniquely off-kilter cadence and their abstract, at times stream-of-conscious lyrics. On We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, they break from their usual beatmaker/producer Alchemist and instead enlist in a slew of producers including JPEGMAFIA and EL-P. These different voices understood the assignment and made a cohesive project that captures the eerie and sparse soundscape of Armand Hammer.

Defcee-The Golem of Brooklyn

Author Adam Mansbach enlisted Chicago emcee Defcee to craft an audio companion to his newest book The Golem of Brooklyn, a modern fantasy novel that explores traditional Jewish folklore, religious history, and the challenges of being Jewish in modern day America. The golem, a clay effigy that is brought to life in order to enact justice on their enemies, is both the central character of the album as well as the keystone for disseminating Jewish history. It’s an interesting concept that could have easily sunk beneath the weight of the mythos. Instead, it’s fascinating, educational, and makes me want to go out and buy the book. Also, the beats from Messiah Musik and Defcee’s delivery are on point, elevating this project to something truly special.

Mutoid Man-Mutants

This album took me by surprise this summer. Mutoid Man has always been on my radar, but I’ve never paid close attention to them. I checked this out on a week where there weren’t many new releases that interested me. And now I’m obsessed. It’s the most fun album I’ve heard all year. Mutants sounds like if Mastodon, He Is Legend, and Judas Priest had a baby. Which makes sense since Mutoid Man is made up of members of Cave In, Converge, and High on Fire. I know it’s kind of their joke band, but tbh I like Mutoid Man better than any of the individual bands represented. If you like heavy riffs, blistering guitar solos, headbanging breakdowns, and shout along choruses, then do yourself a favor and check out Mutants.

Colter Wall-Little Songs

One of my favorite movie lines comes from Blues Brothers. When asked by Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd) what kind of music they usually have played at their place, the bartender cheerily replies “Oh we got both kinds of music, we got country AND western!” Colter Wall has built his brand on this idea, and for some reason it’s really working. There’s nothing modern or pop about his traditional style of country and western, yet somehow Wall is absolutely huge. But there’s something so cozy and comforting about his baritone and stories of the high plains, even as I live in Midwest Ohio and basically can’t relate to anything he sings about. It’s not the kind of music I would usually choose to listen to, but Little Songs has proved to be an enchanting, quirky standout in my rotation this year.

Angel Du$t – Brand New Soul

I love Angel Du$t. They’re such a fun band, and Justice Tripp is a great frontman. It’s a shame they haven’t gotten the same kind of following as Turnstile because besides sharing members, they’ve both been challenging the perception of hardcore music in their brief tenures. Angel Du$t have merged traditional hardcore with 90’s alternative and acoustic jams for something that is totally their own. Brand New Soul walks the line between the alternative pop sound of Pretty Buff and Yak Songs and the heavier hardcore of Rock the Fuck On Forever. They employ some different sounds on this record, using synthesizers, horns, and even clackers that highlight their weirdness and outsider approach to hardcore. Brand New Soul is a cuddly, lovable little hardcore album that makes for a pleasant, dreamy listening experience.

Magnitude-Of Days Renewed…

North Carolina hardcore band Magnitude released their first album in 4 years, which also happens to be their first post-pandemic album. Of Days Renewed… sits at just under 20 minutes of blistering, New York Style hardcore, with enough heart, heaviness, and breakdowns to keep fans of that classic hardcore sound happy. The eight tracks are straight edge anthems that even edge breakers would gladly crowd a mic to shout along. Magnitude doesn’t do anything particularly new on Of Days Renewed… but the heaviness and 20-minute runtime make it a record I continue to return to.  

Open Mike Eagle – another triumph of ghetto engineering

Not satisfied to rest on last year’s incredible Component System with the Auto Reverse, Open Mike Eagle is at it again with another set of fire hip-hop tracks. I really wish OME was bigger. He deserves it. He fits squarely in the underground realm, but has the chops to transcend, not necessarily to mainstream rap radio (which is a different animal) but certainly to the upper echelon of indie hip-hop. He’s one of the hardest working cats in the industry, making music, hosting a podcast, and touring. Coming off a recent support tour for AJJ, OME hopefully got some new listeners. In any case, another triumph of ghetto engineering is a fantastic album. It’s deeply personal. He’s shed most of the humor that defined his early releases in favor of an intimate look at his inside life. The production is just off the chain. Definitely experimental, but much smoother and easier to digest than artists like Armand Hammer or most releases by Alchemist (both of whom I love). If you haven’t checked him out yet, stop sleeping on this artist or this project.