Triple (or quadruple?) update for y'all bros.
#15:
Periphery - Juggernaut Alpha/Juggernaut OmegaProgressive Metal, 2015Album of the year? Not quite... yeah, this section of the list has lots of stuff from this year. Just because this year was amazing!
Periphery have always attracted me but their music was far too complicated and growly to listen to. The songs were too much all over the place. And then this came out, and I saw praising everywhere, so I tried to listen to it.
Turns out that the band went for a more simple approach with the song structure, but fucking went nuts with the songwriting. The djent element is used in a clever way, still sounding aggressive but dense and not that 0000-ish. It's hard to describe really.
So, in this (these) albums we have a concept about a guy escaping from a cult which molested him since he was a child. He kills them all and then regrets doing so, so he kills himself, ending up in hell, where he will ascend from after a while.
The album alternates fun, and pop atmospheres with some of the heaviest shit one could imagine. For example, we have Heavy Heart, Alpha, Rainbow Gravity which could easily go to the mainstream radio, if rearranged in a more popular way. Then. You have. The. Crushing. Things.
The Bad Thing, for instance. That's a mean song. But, oh, that's not heavy. Not heavy enough. Certain sections of Four Lights, the entire Graveless, and oh my god, Hell Below... they truly resemble meanness. If you wanna get scared for how heavy a song can get, go listen to those, especially Hell Below.
Another good thing is the production - Periphery are essentially a super heavy band with THREE guitars, but somehow, the bass comes through in a great way. That's also because this album was produced by Nolly, the band's bassist. He did an amazing job.
So, overall, this is an awesome collection of songs. And fun.
#14:
Rush - HemispheresProgressive Rock, 1978Staple of the top 50 band Rush, release an album where they go insane. Hemispheres is just four songs, but oh my god are these four songs quite the songs.
Hemipsheres is a 17 minutes long epic philosophical journey into two opposing school of thoughts
Circumstances is a straight-forward rocker that rocks my socks off each time I listen to it
The Trees has this strange atmosphere around it, midway wacky and atmospheric
and then La Villa Strangiato. The epitome of Rush, as a progressive band. That's like my favorite classic prog piece, right there.
Nothing to say other than I still think this is one of the best bands ever.
#13:
David Maxim Micic - Bilo 3.0Progressive.. idk, music I guess - 2013David Maxim Micic is Destiny Potato's guitarist and composer, and this is his third solo work. He did something beyond comparison.
This is one of the most unique records I've ever listened to. In its glorious 45 minutes, Bilo 3.0 visits a plethora of genres, but mantains a consistent sound, with an amazing production. It starts with "Everything's Fine" a piano driven classical-music piece. It's beautiful, like its title. Then we get "Where Is Now?" which is a complete groovy mess: it starts almost gospel, then goes to waltz midway through, to blues (there's even a scat solo) and back to gospel at the end. It's truly a journey. But then comes my favorite piece, "Smile". With vocals provided by Potato's Aleksandra Djelmash, this song is possibly in my top ten songs of all time. A light but dark journey through pain and how to overcome it, all with amazing pop metal sensibilities, with a slight jazz influence and crazy electronics. Not to mention, that solo at the end, jeez. Smile is a perfect song. Period. Listen to it, and be amazed. The album then turns fusion-jazz for a bit. Nostalgia, is the reprise of a theme in Smile, only done in a fusion-jazzy type of way. Then Wrinkle Maze provides some more ambient/gospel atmopshere, and it's truly a beautiful composition, which makes me shiver everytime. The album then closes with the epic Daydreamers, which sprints positivity from every side. Amazing vocals from Vladimir Lalic and Aleksandra Radosavljevic (Potato's ex-vocalist), with a nice acoustic instrumental middle.
Now, the last three songs taken alone do not stand that well, but I can assure you that this album listened to as a whole (as with every album really) is quite the thing to witness.
And it was all made in a bedroom.
David is a genious.