Archive for January, 2022

Album of the Week 04-2022: The Cure – Pornography


‘Pornography’ is my favorite album The Cure ever made by a considerable margin. It is considered the final part of their gloomy, downbeat trilogy, after which the band moved into a notably more upbeat, poppy direction. But where its predecessors ‘Seventeen Seconds’ and ‘Faith’ lacked a certain degree of urgency, ‘Pornography’ is a twisted piece of work that forces its message of doom and depression onto the listener in all of its claustrophobic glory. The much denser arrangements and production definitely play a role in making the album sound so different than its predecessors, but the song material allows them to be like this.

In a way, ‘Pornography’ feels more like a studio project than any previous album by The Cure. The three albums they made before this one do feature a bit of studio trickery, but mostly sound like the result of a band playing together and recording the songs once they are rehearsed well enough. Despite the arrangements on ‘Pornography’ being so dense that a lot of thought must have gone into them before recording them, many of the layers feel like they have been attempted spontaneously and stuck around. Unlike on previous albums, it often sounds like there are more than three people playing in a way that benefits the album.

Of course, all of these changes would have been meaningless if the song material was not up to a certain standard. Fortunately, this is the best collection of The Cure songs to date. There is a dark, menacing vibe to all of the songs, but each of them sounds different. It is understandable that ‘The Hanging Garden’ was chosen as the first single, as it is clearly the most accessible of the bunch, with its incessant tom gallop by Lol Tolhurst and the relative memorability of Robert Smith’s lyrics. It is good, but nowhere near as good as the aggressively nightmarish soundscape of the fantastic opener ‘One Hundred Years’, which is probably my favorite song by the band.

While the full album could be described as very dark gothic rock, the second half of ‘Pornography’ is notably more depressed than the first few tracks. This already starts with the stoically downtrodden ‘Siamese Twins’ and is then amplified by the beautifully sad ‘The Figurehead’, which is elevated to near-masterpiece status by Smith’s haunting lead guitar lines. The album ends in a rather experimental fashion, with the synth-laden, but no less dark ‘Cold’ and the very abstract, atmospheric title track. These songs keep building rather than having a traditional song structure, but as an epilogue to an almost impenetrably dark album, that works really well.

‘Disintegration’ has the reputation of being the most depressing pop album of all time, but it is nowhere near as oppressive or hauntingly dark as ‘Pornography’ is. The album certainly is a lot to take in for anyone who hears it for the first time, but it has a couple of characteristics that The Cure has not had before or since. And those characteristics happen to be things I like to hear a lot. Smith’s voice will never be my favorite in gothic rock – Andrew Eldritch and Carl McCoy have that covered – but the tortured character of his voice is a perfect fit for the music here.

Recommended tracks: ‘One Hundred Years’, ‘The Figurehead’, ‘A Strange Day’

2022
01/30
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Album of the Week 03-2022: Angels’ Temptation – Anthem Of The Angels


Once a sound is established within a certain scene, copycats are spawned. Despite my weak spot for the type of symphonic power metal played by many bands in the Japanese visual kei scene, most new bands that appeared in the last fifteen years or so end up sounding like fairly poor Versailles clones. This is exactly why Angels’ Temptation is such a breath of fresh air. Sure, they have similar influences, but singer Mirai is clearly a better songwriter than most of the band’s peers. Moreover, the band has a fresh approach to their arrangements that makes debut album ‘Anthem Of The Angels’ a welcome surprise.

Everything Angels’ Temptation does is ever so slightly different to the norm of twenty-first century visual kei. A mixed-gender line-up is very uncommon in the scene, but what might be more relevant is the fact that one of the women is a keyboard player. Most similarly-styled bands program their symphonic arrangements, but because Angels’ Temptation has Shion in the band, the keyboards are an integral part of songwriting. Melodies are still mostly carried by Mirai’s smooth vocals and the guitars of Hideki and Yuri, but there is a fair share of piano and organ melodies that are enhanced the dynamics of an actual person playing them.

For me, Angels’ Temptation sounds best at their most melancholic moments. There are plenty of well-written uptempo power metal numbers with almost Matenrou Opera-like upbeat choruses, such as ‘Holy World’ and the powerful single ‘Heaven ~Tenshi No Uta~’ and those do wonders for the balance of the album. But when the melodies take on a more melancholic, almost yearning quality, like they do on opener ‘Fallen Angel’ and the fantastic ‘Ghost’, that’s when Angels’ Temptation sounds at their best. Stylistically, those tracks don’t even sound that much different than the rest of the album, but the character of the melodies elevates them above the already impressive average.

Similarly, the slower ‘Requiem’ pushes the band to almost gothic territories, which I think suits them to a tee. The dark melodies and dramatic arrangements make the song a welcome departure, while the slower tempo allows Rio to add some simple, but really cool bass fills. I also really like the operatic color of voice Mirai goes for in the first verse. The lengthy ‘Seraph ~Seimei No Kiseki~’ brings together the extremities of the band’s sound by building from a theatrical overture to a power metal track with a hopeful, goosebumps-inducing chorus. Closer ‘Anthem ~Tenshi No Hashigo~’ is a fairly unconventional power ballad that convinces with its lack of saccharine melodrama.

Debut albums with such a clear vision of what they want to be are rare in the visual kei scene. It helps that multiple members of Angels’ Temptation are veterans and they appear to be doing everything themselves, without the pressure of a label that wants to squeeze as much money as possible out of them. At just short of forty minutes, ‘Anthem Of The Angels’ is a relatively short album, but it also lacks filler. Real drums probably would have made the album even better, but as it stands, ‘Anthem Of The Angels’ is the best visual kei debut I have heard in a very long time.

Recommended tracks: ‘Ghost’, ‘Requiem’, ‘Seraph ~Seimei No Kiseki~’, ‘Fallen Angel’

2022
01/23
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Album of the Week 02-2022: Loudness – Sunburst ~ Gamushara


For a second, I thought that Loudness had gone the Iron Maiden route by releasing an unnecessary double album. And on the surface, it may seem that way. ‘Sunburst ~ Gamushara’ is barely eighty-five minutes long and could easily have been an even better hour-long album. However, Loudness did go through the effort of at least creating chapters that make sense stylistically within the album. Another reason to give the album the benefit of the doubt is that it is easily one of the best albums Loudness released in the twenty-first century. The key characteristic that makes it so good is spontaneity.

As much as I liked some of Loudness’ recent albums, they were always attempting to be something. They often sounded like Akira Takasaki was trying to keep up with the times by favoring meaty, Pantera-esque riff work over melody, whereas 2018’s highly enjoyable ‘Rise To Glory’ may have tried to overcorrect things a little in its old school-isms. On ‘Sunburst ~ Gamashura’, it seems like the band just wanted to write the best songs they possibly could, with little to no worry which metal trend it would fit. As a result, the album is the most successful blend of classic and modern Loudness the band has released thus far.

Interestingly, this change in approach has made the more contemporary-sounding songs a lot better as well. That might be a result of the more varied context, but twenty-first century Loudness had very few tracks as exciting as the dark, threatening galloper ‘The Nakigara’ or the heavy stomper ‘Kaso Genjitsu’. They feel like an integral part of the album, however, because their sound is equally organic as the more traditional material, such as the yearning melodic opener ‘OEOEO’ (yes, seriously) or ‘Hunger For More’, which could have been on ‘Thunder In The East’. It all fits and it all makes sense.

Creating chapters, as stated in the beginning of the review, is most obvious at the beginning of the second disc, as it starts with four tracks that are obvious nods to the band’s seventies hardrock influences. Not the best songs on the albums from a compositional standpoint, although I really love ‘Emerald No Umi’ due to the massive, goosebumps-inducing riff that carries it, but the joy of playing them is tangible. I also wish all Loudness ballads were at least as good as ‘All Will Be Fine With You’. Closer ‘Wonderland’ also feels like ballad, but more a doomy one, like ‘Rain’, which closed ‘Rise To Glory’.

Takasaki dominates the songwriting on ‘Sunburst ~ Gashamura’, having written most of the music and lyrics, the latter of which were often written by singer Minoru Niihara on recent records. While I expected this to be a problem, ‘Sunburst ~ Gamashura’ easily features Niihara’s best performance on a Loudness album in many years. Yes, his vocal cords still sound worn, but more care has been put into his vocal melodies this time around. Two of the album’s highlights were contributed by other band members, however. The aformentioned ‘The Nakigara’ has contributions from drummer Masayuki Suzuki, while ‘Stand Or Fall’ is prime Masayoshi Yamashita. The way the song builds up to a quasi-prog hardrocker with excellent riffs is very reminiscent of ‘Black Wall’, another excellent composition by the bassist.

‘Sunburst ~ Gamashura’ is much better than I expected it would be. In fact, I am surprised Loudness still had an album this good in them. It is certainly my favorite album of theirs since ‘2012’ and possibly since their self-titled thirty years ago. How little care the band has for what boxes to tick to still be seen as relevant really elevates the album above their other recent output. Even the most modern elements have found their way into the album organically and the songs are generally really good. Bonus points for the cover art, which might just be the first Loudness cover I actually like.

Recommended tracks: ‘The Nakigara’, ‘Stand Or Fall’, ‘Nihon No Kokoro’, ‘Kaso Genjitsu’

2022
01/16
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Album of the Week 01-2022: Gonin-Ish – Shinin Sanka


Let’s start off the year with a challenge by reviewing an album which I really like, but is a nightmare to describe. Even by Japanese standards, Gonin-Ish is a strange band. Comparisons can be drawn to the likes of Sigh, but despite Anoji Matsuoka’s occasionally harsh vocals, Gonin-Ish is not really an extreme metal band. What they are is extremely adventurous and meticulously thought out, which may go a long way in explaining why their third album ‘Shinin Sanka’ was fifteen years in the making despite the band remaining active. It has been worth the wait, however; ‘Shinin Sanka’ may just be their best work yet.

Technically, Gonin-Ish qualifies as progressive metal. The band just does not sound anything like most bands under that moniker. Sure, there are plenty of odd time signatures, but those seem to be influenced by jazz and classical music rather than seventies prog rock or the post-Dream Theater metal landscape. Despite never straying to abstract territory, Gonin-Ish has a fairly avant-garde approach to songwriting in the sense that repetition is not really their thing, many of their songs bordering on being through-composed. Gonin-ish’s songs consist of movements rather than verses and choruses, which keeps the music both surprising and consistently unsettling.

Even without reading the credits, it becomes clear quite quickly that keyboard player Masashi Momota is one of the main songwriters of Gonin-Ish. Melodically, most of the songs are built upon his piano parts and lead guitarist Fu-min Takahashi frequently plays the melody lines in unison with Momota. When he is not, he is often weaving an almost baroque-styled tapestry of harmonic guitar patterns with Matsuoka, though aggressive riffing with an organic, yet surprisingly abrasive rhythm guitar tone is not uncommon. The melodies themselves generally evoke a horror atmosphere, which given the drawings in the booklet and presumably the lyrics is likely exactly what the band intended.

Normally, this is the point where I would recommend a handful relatively accessible songs to help those who are curious get acquainted with the band. Not unlike its predecessor ‘Naishikyo-Sekai’, it would almost be better to jump straight into the deep end with the seventeen-minute closer ‘Tomurai No Tsuki Ni Naku’. It is incredible how Gonin-Ish tosses so many contrasting sections into one song that only repeat within themselves – none of them ever returns later in the song – without sounding even the least bit disjointed. Momota and Matsuoka are smarter songwriters than that. Their goal is to lure the listeners in, not to confuse them out of the album.

While ‘Muge No Hito’ and ‘Akai Kioku’, which closed ‘Naishikyo-Sekai’, will probably always remain the finest half hour of music Gonin-ish ever released, ‘Shinin Sanka’ does feel a bit more consistent than its predecessor. The album is exactly an hour long and that time is over before you know it. I was not a big fan of how Matsuoka doubled herself in unison on a few songs on the previous album, but she sounds fantastic all the way through here. As does the music. Weirdly, as complex and unpredictable as Gonin-Ish tends to be, they aren’t anywhere near as inaccessible as descriptions of their music may suggest.

Recommended tracks: ‘Tomurai No Tsuki Ni Naku’, ‘Soshite Mu Ni Kaesu’, ‘Dokuyaku To Saisei’

2022
01/09
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Album of the Week 52-2021: Slash – Living The Dream


Upon release, ‘Living the Dream’ sort of flew under my radar, because the previous album that Slash released with Myles Kennedy and his backing band, ‘World on Fire’, wore out its welcome a little too quickly. The album was not without its strengths, but it was much longer than it should have been. It may not have helped that ‘Living the Dream’ has an equally hideous album cover, but credit where credit is due: it is a far better album. Being twenty-five minutes shorter definitely helped focus on the band’s strengths a little more, but the songs are simply better as well.

As a whole, ‘Living The Dream’ sounds a bit more lively than its predecessor, as if the material was road-tested or at least well-rehearsed before the recordings. Rhythm guitarist Frank Sidoris was actually part of the recordings this time around, which might help, but the individual songs stand out a little more as well. Again, this might be an effect of having twelve songs on the record rather than seventeen, but every song has at least one passage most listeners will remember it by. Interestingly, this passage may not always be the chorus, as some of the most catchy musical ideas on the album are guitar riffs.

Whether it is due to producer Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette having more experience working with him, also through Alter Bridge and his solo albums, is unclear to me, but Kennedy notably gets more room to explore the possibilities of his range here. The mixed register voice he is known for is omnipresent on ‘Living The Dream’, which is understandable, as making his voice rise above the loud rock ‘n’ roll on the album is necessary often, but he is also provided with opportunities to equip a much lower voice in the first verses of ‘Serve You Right’ and ‘Read Between the Lines’ as well. And naturally, he sounds great doing it.

Similar variation can be found in the way the band explores how far they can stretch their hardrock sound without sacrificing their identity. Each song on this album sounds like it has been done by the same band, but the leap from the uptempo, almost punky ‘Mind Your Manners’ to the surprisingly good power ballad ‘Lost Inside The Girl’ is about as big as you could possibly get within the style. Slash’s trademark more metallic riffs are a a bit more rare than usual, but when there are songs like the supreme melodic hardrocker ‘Boulevard of Broken Hearts’ and the powerful opener ‘The Call of the Wild’, this should hardly be a problem.

Rock stars rarely learn from their mistakes, but Slash appears to be an exception to the rule. ‘Living the Dream’ basically takes a look at the flaws from ‘World on Fire’ – too many songs, not enough variation – and corrects them with a set of songs that are both well-written and expertly executed. The album as a whole is incredibly energetic, but the band makes sure that the melodic hooks stand out enough to give every song its own character. So if you like this type of rock ‘n’ roll, please do yourself a favor and look past that eyesore of an album cover. It hides a pretty damn good album.

Recommended tracks: ‘Boulevard of Broken Hearts’, ‘Serve You Right’, ‘The Call of the Wild’

2022
01/02
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Best of 2021: The Albums

Here is something you are not going to read very often: 2021 was a fantastic year. Not for the world as a whole, of course, but in terms of new quality releases, it was easily the best year in a very long time. Naturally, it is difficult to see this as a seperate thing from the ongoing pandemic. Established names suddenly had the time to put together excellent albums rather than rushing them out as a reason to go on tour again. It has been harder for relatively new names, though – spoiler alert – they are not entirely absent from my list of the best albums released in the last twelve months.

In order to celebrate the large amount of excellent new releases, I thought it would be appropriate to bring the number of titles in my list back from fifteen to twenty. While it has been difficult to even come up with fifteen releases for some of the last few “best of the year” lists, selecting twenty has been ridiculously easy this year, with the only difficulty being to decide who would not make the cut. There are a few that have not that would easily have made it in most of the past few years.

Truth be told: it is quite a relief not having to make any cynical remarks about the state of the music business in the opening paragraphs of this post for a change. Hopefully it will not be the last time. Alright, I have stalled long enough, let’s jump straight in.

1. Smith/Kotzen – Smith/Kotzen


Serves me right for thinking this was one of those hastily tossed together Frontiers Records all-star projects. Frontiers had nothing to do with it and fortunately, the involvement of Adrian Smith – probably my favorite songwriter in Iron Maiden – made me curious enough to check out his project with Richie Kotzen. It has been a very long time since I heard such good songwriting and such spirited performances come together on a single album. Kotzen is clearly more flamboyant, both vocally and in terms of guitar solos, but he leaves plenty of room for Smith to play and sing his heart out. They also harmonize really well. Bluesy, incredibly soulful and always melodic: Smith/Kotzen’s first album might just be my favorite rock debut since Bad Company’s nearly fifty years ago.

Recommended tracks: ‘Scars’, ‘Glory Road’, ”Til Tomorrow’

2. Rakshasa – Hyakka Sousei


Another surprise I may not have been ready for. Rakshasa’s debut album showed promise, but also had a few too many upbeat J-Rock detours. Sophomore album ‘Hyakka Sousei’ shows so much unexpected growth that it is almost difficult to believe. The riffs of guitarist Kikka and bassist Yama are straight out of the melodic end of the extreme metal playbook, but the haunting, melancholic melodies and Yuri’s yearning, at times dreamy vocal performance give ‘Hyakka Sousei’ a rather unique character that I happen to love. All the band really did different than on its predecessor was a bit of streamlining, but that shifted the focus towards Rakshasa’s immense strengths. Folk metal without the occasional party atmosphere? J-rock-influenced progressive power metal? I have no idea either, but I do know that it still gives me goosebumps every time I put it on.

Recommended tracks: ‘Mihata No Motoni’, ‘Genren’, ‘Ryojyun’, ‘Harukanaru Wadatsumi’

3. Flotsam And Jetsam – Blood In The Water


Flotsam And Jetsam has been balancing on the tightrope between aging gracefully and being a husk of its former self for ages. ‘Blood In The Water’ finds them more firmly on the right side of that equation than I expected. Eric ‘A.K.’ Knutson is one of the best thrash metal singers to this day, but some of their twenty-first century output saw the band either desperately holding on to their past or only partially succeeding to adapt to modern trends. Weirdly, ‘Blood In The Water’ is a bit of both. The abundance of melodies is classic heavy metal, but the bite of the production and the riff work is remarkably contemporary, sometimes feeling like Nevermore reinterpreting eighties Metallica. All of this was hinted at on its predecessor ‘The End Of Chaos’. I just had not anticipated the songwriting improving enough to have the band churn out the best thrash metal album of the year just yet.

Recommended tracks: ‘Seven Seconds ‘Til The End Of The World’, ‘Grey Dragon’, ‘Blood In The Water’

4. Galneryus – Union Gives Strength


Galneryus themselves call ‘Union Gives Strength’ a “special album”, likely because they were apprehensive about calling an album with 46 minutes of new music and two remakes a full-length. However, the change in format is exactly what Galneryus’ increasingly predictable and formulaic album output needed. It’s not just the different format that makes ‘Union Gives Strength’ so good though. The songwriting is simply excellent here. Overall, the songs a bit darker and more aggressive than one would expect from the band’s anthemic power metal, but everything is still instantly recognizable as Galneryus. ‘The Howling Darkness’ is their best opener in nearly a decade and worth getting the album for by itself. Let’s hope that this special album inspires a new norm for Galneryus.

Recommended tracks: ‘The Howling Darkness’, ‘Flames Of Rage’, ‘Bleeding Sanity’

5. Obscura – A Valediction


Obscura was always my favorite out of the wave of technical death metal bands that popped up around a decade and a half ago. They were better songwriters and far more melodic than their peers. ‘A Valediction’ takes this melodic approach and runs with it. Though instantly recognizable as Obscura, the band has never sounded this overtly melodic. They should though. I rarely come across albums on which melody, complexity and aggression are in such perfect balance. Not unlike their breakthrough album ‘Cosmogenesis’, ‘A Valediction’ proves that you do not have to sacrifice any memorability when making an intricate album. Maybe it has something to do with ‘Cosmogenesis’ and ‘Omnivium’ alumni Christian Münzner and Jeroen Paul Thesseling returning to the band.

Recommended tracks: ‘Forsaken’, ‘In Adversity’, ‘When Stars Collide’, ‘A Valediction’

6. Cryptosis – Bionic Swarm


What a debut! As far as I am concerned, Cryptosis is the breath of fresh air that the technical thrash metal scene needed. While most new bands are trying to emulate Vektor to the best of their ability, Cryptosis really does something unique by blending their thrash riffs and hyperspeed progressive rhythms with black metal-esque dissonance and nearly psychedelic synth work. It was the admirable precision in their blazing riff work that drew me in, but once you let ‘Bionic Swarm’ wash over you, it becomes an experience. The album proves that technical thrash metal with sci-fi themes can be so much different than how most bands choose to do it and I hope Cryptosis will lead the scene by example from now on.

Recommended tracks: ‘Transcendence’, ‘Flux Divergence’, ‘Conjuring The Egoist’

7. Rage – Resurrection Day


Peter ‘Peavy’ Wagner is a great songwriter. And yet, I have not enjoyed a full Rage album for nearly two decades. Until ‘Resurrection Day’. It is not completely flawless, but there are too many good riffs and memorable melodies on the album to let ‘Monetary Gods’ and the occasional clunky lyric ruin my enjoyment. Stylistically, ‘Resurrection Day’ finds middle ground between the borderline hardrock of their mid-nineties records and the modern power metal of the earliest albums with Victor Smolski on guitar. A winning combination that I hope the Germans will be able to build on for a few more albums. As I stated in the full review: I honestly thought Peavy did not have an album this good in him anymore.

Recommended tracks: ‘Arrogance And Ignorance’, ‘Man In Chains’, ‘Virginity’

8. Mastodon – Hushed And Grim


Whenever Mastodon manages to combine their more melodic side with clear progressive leanings, the results are spectacular. ‘Hushed And Grim’ is a double album full of dynamic songwriting, sludgy riffs and haunting guitar melodies. And unlike the next title on this list, I think the double album format works in the music’s favor. It would have nearly fit on one cd, but the album is divided into two acts this way, the former ever so slightly more accessible and the latter a bit more riff-driven. One thing I always loved about Mastodon compared to their peers is how organic and natural everything sounds, particularly when it comes to Brann Dailor’s drums. Mastodon will probably never be able to top ‘Crack The Skye’ for me, but ‘Hushed And Grim’ is the closest they have come since.

Recommended tracks: ‘Savage Lands’, ‘Dagger’, ‘Pushing The Tides’

9. Iron Maiden – Senjutsu


Let’s get my main criticism out of the way: ‘Senjutsu’ is the second Iron Maiden studio release in a row that really did not need to be a double album. A bit of trimming in Steve Harris’ solo compositions and it would have been an even better single-disc album. Every song Adrian Smith and Janick Gers contributed to is a winner, however, and the performances on ‘Senjutsu’ are good enough to make even some of the more long-winded songs an engaging enough listen. At its best moments, ‘Senjutsu’ is a reminder that Iron Maiden still has not forgotten how to write a fantastic heavy metal song. There are plenty of much younger bands that can learn a lesson or two from ‘Senjutsu’. Just not from its lack of self-editing skills.

Recommended tracks: ‘Stratego’, ‘Senjutsu’, ‘The Writing On The Wall’

10. Crystal Viper – The Cult


Despite having a weak spot for Marta Gabriel’s passion for good old-fashioned heavy metal, I gradually lost interest in Crystal Viper over the years. The band’s 2019 release ‘Tales Of Fire And Ice’ finally shook things up a bit with its hypermelodic approach and now that Crystal Viper returns to full-on heavy metal with ‘The Cult’, they seem reinvigorated. Gabriel welcomed significant input from her band mates this time around and especially drummer Cederick Forsberg contributed some lively riffs and melodies to the album. Gabriel’s own voice sounds better than ever as well. ‘The Cult’ was the first pleasant surprise of the year for me and I still listen to the album with a big smile on my face.

Recommended tracks: ‘Down In The Crypt’, ‘The Cult’, ‘Forgotten Lands’

11. At The Gates – The Nightmare Of Being


This one took me an excessively long time to get into. At The Gates is focusing on their atmospheric side here, with a greater emphasis on clean and acoustic guitars, keyboards, even including a string section and multiple other classical instruments. There is still an abundance of the melodic death metal riffs At The Gates helped pioneer, however, and it was a smart move to place the songs that most prominently feature them at the beginning of the album in order to ease the listener into the album’s direction. Truth be told, I prefer ‘The Nightmare Of Being’ when it is at its least typically At The Gates, most prominently the oppressive post-punky darkness of ‘Cosmic Pessimism’. Give this album the time it needs to sink in and you might enjoy it as much as I do now.

Recommended tracks: ‘Cosmic Pessimism’, ‘Cult Of Salvation’, ‘Eternal Winter Of Reason’

12. Kiyoshi – Kiyoshi6


Japanese bass virtuoso Kiyoshi broke with her tradition of releasing albums on October 31st this year, but she fortunately continued to make interesting – and incredibly catchy – music using only bass, drums and vocals. It sounds like she embraced the possibilities of layering parts even more than before, to the point that she could trick listeners into thinking there are guitars added to the mix. Kiyoshi’s approach was always interesting, but her songwriting chops have improved massively over the last few years and ‘Kiyoshi6’ is all the better for it. The amount of variation is also admirable, especially given the limited number of instruments used. Most of it broadly falls under the alternative rock banner, but Kiyoshi’s fairly aggressive right hand technique frequently gives the proceedings a delightfully funky edge.

Recommended tracks: ‘Change’, ‘I Don’t Need’, ‘Glorious Days’

13. Myles Kennedy – The Ides Of March


As much as I love Myles Kennedy’s voice, the thing I appreciate most about him is how he continues to stretch the boundaries of accessible rock music on everything he does. His emotional, largely acoustic solo debut ‘Year Of The Tiger’ was about as far removed from the borderline metal of Alter Bridge and with the same group of musicians, he recorded the much harder rocking, but still fairly rootsy ‘The Ides Of March’. Kennedy’s voice is in excellent shape as always, but it is mainly his guitar playing that impressed me here. He tackles muscular rock riffs, bluesy slide work, jazzy chord voicings, americana-styled acoustic songs, southern rock harmonies and impressive solos in every one of those styles. One of the most talented musicians and songwriters of his generation and an extremely friendly guy to boot.

Recommended tracks: ‘A Thousand Words’, ‘The Ides Of March’, ‘Get Along’

14. Steve Hackett – Under A Mediterranean Sky


Steve Hackett released two albums in 2021. Perhaps surprisingly, the one on which he plays acoustic instruments exclusively is my clear favorite of the two. ‘Under A Mediterranean Sky’ is different from Hackett’s previous acoustic albums, because the main focus is not just Hackett playing his classical guitar. Roger King’s orchestrations are of vital importance to many of the arrangements, adding so much more depth than an album full of classical guitar could have had. In addition, Hackett never explored the folk music traditions of the regions he honored so thoroughly as on ‘Under A Mediterranean Sky’. For a project that was basically born out of lockdown restrictions, it is surprisingly realized and full of compositional brilliance. And the playing is spectacular, but would you have expected anything else from Hackett?

Recommended tracks: ‘The Dervish And The Djinn’, ‘Mdina (The Walled City)’, ‘The Memory Of Myth’

15. Jerry Cantrell – Brighten


Jerry Cantrell’s previous solo album ‘Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2’ is my favorite album of all time. Given the fact that I prefer fourteen albums from this year alone to it, it is clear that ‘Brighten’ did not have the same impact on me. But it is still evidence of Cantrell’s songwriting excellence. Not unlike his solo debut ‘Boggy Depot’, the album sounds a bit more positive what he is known for, but darkness is never far from Cantrell. The americana influences are more prominent than on anything he has done to date, as are the keyboards, but his fingerprint is all over the vocal harmonies and guitar work. Having said that, my favorite moments on ‘Brighten’ are admittedly the ones that sound closest to Alice In Chains.

Recommended tracks: ‘Siren Song’, ‘Atone’, ‘Had To Know’

16. Thunder – All The Right Noises


Great British rock songwriters are hard to come by these days, but at least Thunder guitarist Luke Morley is keeping the tradition alive. Sure, it helps that Danny Bowes’ voice is still every bit as good as it was when ‘Backstreet Symphony’ was released more than thirty years ago and that the performances on ‘All The Right Noises’ are among the most lively in the band’s career, almost sounding like a particularly well-recorded live performance of the world’s best bar band, but the best Thunder albums start with great songs. ‘All The Right Noises’ has plenty of them, all recorded with a mildly soulful swagger that makes the album stand out among the band’s discography. The limited edition of the album contains four more new songs, all of which are good enough to have made it onto the regular album.

Recommended tracks: ‘Don’t Forget To Live Before You Die’, ‘Destruction’, ‘The Smoking Gun’

17. Edu Falaschi – Vera Cruz


Another album I did not expect the artist to have in him anymore. Despite the constant risk of collapsing under the weight of its own ambition, this comeback album of former Angra singer Edu Falaschi holds up surprisingly well. Falaschi wrote a bunch of fantastic power metal songs for ‘Vera Cruz’ and the guitar work on the album is nothing short of spectacular. The subtle touches of Brazilian folk and pop music definitely make ‘Vera Cruz’ more than just another above average power metal album and I think I would like to hear more of that on a next album. While it is not quite as good as what Angra is doing these days, Falaschi seems reinvigorated as a songwriter. Hopefully he can keep the creative juices flowing and his excellent backing band together for a few more albums.

Recommended tracks: ‘The Ancestry’, ‘Land Ahoy’, ‘Crosses’

18. Ningen Isu – Kuraku


As a power trio that gets more powerful with age, Ningen Isu has consistently been releasing some of their best material in the last decade. ‘Kuraku’ is not quite at the same level as ‘Shin Seinen’ or the incredible ‘Kaidan Soshite Shi To Eros’, but it does feature the band doing what they do best: jamming on heavy riffs that would make Tony Iommi proud. In fact, ‘Kuraku’ might be one of the most Sabbath sounding records in the band’s discography. It is admirable how Ningen Isu can engage in spirited jams without losing track of their strong compositions and that is exactly what makes ‘Kuraku’ such a solid album. Nothing fancy, just great riffs and even better performances.

Recommended tracks: ‘Kanagami No Koshin’, ‘Uchu Kaizoku’, ‘Akuma No Shohosen’

19. Witherfall – Curse Of Autumn


A handful of overly repetitive choruses keep ‘Curse Of Autumn’ from being the masterpiece that Witherfall’s sophomore album ‘A Prelude To Woe’ was. However, the combination of influences is something I wish more younger bands would attempt. And when Witherfall hits their marks on ‘Curse Of Autumn’, it is clear that they are one of the most talented metal bands – possibly the most talented – that started less than ten years ago. Dark and heavy riffs, elegant melodies and song structures that demand your attention are everywhere on ‘Curse Of Autumn’. While some of the songs are streamlined a bit more than they should, especially the longer tracks are more evidence of Witherfall’s exceptional compositional skills. It is also the best-sounding album recorded at Morrisound since Scott Burns quit.

Recommended tracks: ‘…And They All Blew Away’, ‘Tempest’, ‘The Last Scar’

20. Helloween – Helloween


The return of Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske to Helloween understandably came with a lot of fanfare. But at the end of the day, ‘Helloween’ is simply another twenty-first century Helloween album. Certainly one that is better than anything they released over the last decade, but not really anything they could not have done without Hansen and Kiske. With one exception: the band really makes the best out of all the opportunities it has vocally. Especially Andi Deris seems to get a kick out of contrasting his own rougher-edged vocals with Kiske’s higher ultra-cleans and harmonizing appropriately. In true Helloween fashion, the album is inconsistent and a bit too silly at times, but when ‘Helloween’ is good, it is amazing.

Recommended tracks: ‘Best Time’, ‘Angels’, ‘Fear Of The Fallen’

2022
01/01
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