My Top 10 Albums of 2018

2018 was an outrageous year for music. To narrow down the hundreds of releases I've heard this year to a top 10 and attempt to sum up what makes them special in less than 250 words each was almost a masochistic process, but this blog has been up for about six months and I've still not uploaded anything 😬. There are some amazing records which didn't make the cut, so I'd still like to shout out:

• Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
• Black Peaks - All That Divides
• Behemoth - I Loved You At Your Darkest
• Architects - Holy Hell
• Frontierer - Unloved
• Can't Swim - This Too Won't Pass
• Ghost - Prequelle
• Cancer Bats - The Spark That Moves
• Gulfer - Dog Bless
• Haggard Cat - Challenger

Alright. Waffle over. Here it is.

10. Idles - Joy As An Act of Resistance

It might sound a bold claim, but I think that in 20 years time, people will look back at Idles (and Joy in particular), and see them as the band of this generation. They perfectly encapsulate the frustrations of young, British counter-culture right now, and Joe Talbot is the best mouthpiece for that anger I could imagine.

Idles’ debut, Brutalism, was staggering in and of itself, but this album takes what songs like Mother and White Privilege set the foundations for and builds upon them in ways perhaps nobody would expect of a snarling post-punk band from Bristol. The musicians in Idles fully embody the idea of “controlled chaos” (until the end of Rottweiler, at which the “controlled” part sort of just slides away), and in amongst it all Talbot’s lyricism still shines through. Often intensely personal and emotive, often unapologetically tongue-in-cheek and political, the witticisms and turns of phrase on this record are what elevate it to the next level.

The fact that Joy is breaking into the mainstream is brilliant. It’s intelligent, violent, passionate, and beautiful, and it’s what we need.

9. Conjurer - Mire

Mire is an album which can make you feel like you’re having the shit kicked out of you by an angry mob for the first half of a song, and then that you’re being slowly stoned to death for the second half. If that doesn’t sound appealing to you, then maybe you shouldn’t be taking recommendations from this blog. Whether it be 8-minute long doom-laden epics like Hadal or violent, spinkick-inducing ragers like Retch, the sheer weight of Mire is an incredible accomplishment, with the stellar production job alone adding 10,000 tonnes. It’s almost inconceivable that this could be Conjurer’s debut LP – everything seems well thought-through and fine-tuned, particularly the dual vocal attack of Dan’s demonic lows and Brady’s often terrifying higher-pitched screams.

Conjurer have created something truly masterful here. It’s well paced, bleak, and probably the heaviest thing I’ve heard all year. The only thing that matches the sonic force of this record is how it’s performed live… but maybe that’s a review for another day.

8. Vein - Errorzone

I’m sure Vein are bored by now of their album being described using phrases like “it sounds like Worship & Tribute, Slipknot, and Calculating Infinity having a threesome”, but if that doesn’t sell you this album, I’m not sure what will.

One of the most exciting artists to emerge from the hardcore/metalcore scene in recent years, Vein are the band coming closest in 2018 to reaching the insanely high bar set last year by Code Orange’s Forever. Their debut EP showed that they weren’t here to fuck around, but Errorzone is the true mission statement. From the implementation of the “amen break” at the beginning of Virus//Vibrance to the dramatic clean vocal lines on the title track, it’s obvious that Vein aren’t afraid to experiment within their violence, contrary to what their earlier release would have you believe. They don’t lose an ounce of aggression in this experimentation, however – this is still probably the wildest record I’ve heard the whole year. Amidst the maniac guitar playing and the mad-dog barking vocals, the drumming clinches the title of “most impressive performance”. Matt Wood performs like Joey Jordison after a sherbet dib-dab too many on this album, and it drives the whole thing just past the brink of sanity.

For Vein to take the best bits of hardcore, metalcore, and nu-metal over the past 20 years and merge them all together near-perfectly on their debut album is mad; something that has to be listened to in order to be believed. So… do that.

7. Delta Sleep - Ghost City

It blows my mind knowing that I’d never even heard of Delta Sleep before 2018. I checked them out after seeing them on the poster for ArcTanGent, and “checking them out” consisted of listening to Ghost City. Since then, I must have listened to it at least four or five times a week, and not once have a felt like I was bored of it.

This record is beautiful. Never before has a concept album so instantly enveloped me in the world it builds. Thematically, the songs paint a pretty bleak picture of a dystopian city which stretches on forever; a world of exhaust fumes and oppressive architecture. The heroine of this story hates the place, and on Dotwork comes to a revelation in the form of some of my favourite lyrics of the year; “…find a place we see the sunset and more than just three stars/There must be more to life than concrete walls” The eighth track, then – El Pastor – in which she finally breaks out into nature and the record explodes into colour - is absolutely stunning.

The genius of the math-rock instrumentation on Ghost City helps conjure the imagery as well as the lyricism, with dreamlike riffs and a man-of-the-match performance from drummer Blake Mostyn (how does he do it?). It provides a seamless and gorgeous journey that is as easily danced along to at points as it is cried to at others.

6. Palm Reader - Braille

If Braille has taught me one thing this year, it’s that Palm Reader are simply the gold standard for heavy music in this country. Their debut and sophomore albums (Bad Weather and Beside The Ones We Love) showcased the talents of a band beyond their years, but  Braille is comfortably the best thing they’ve ever done. It takes the furiously heavy, cathartic hardcore which established them in the underground and adds countless layers, creating an entirely new and unique sound which makes them instantly recognisable.

Every single member of this band brings something exciting to the table. From Josh’s passionate, hypnotising vocals to Dan’s brutal, picture-perfect drumming. Josh Redup’s performance on bass brings a new dimension of heaviness, but it’s the combination of Sam and Andy’s guitar work on Braille that shines the brightest; a point best proven by just listening to the riffage on Internal Winter. Genius brutality.

I don’t want to splurge too much too early on Palm Reader, but I reckon this could be the first of their many masterpieces. Stay tuned.

5. Rolo Tomassi - Time Will Die & Love Will Bury It

Time Will Die & Love Will Bury It is perhaps the most ambitious metal album I’ve listened to this year. The scale of what future-legends Rolo Tomassi accomplish on this record is something to behold, and the 250 word limit I’ve set myself for each album in this top 10 is nowhere near enough to go through it all.

What’s most impressive on Time Will Die… is the band’s use of dynamics and structure. To go from a song as beautiful and luscious as Aftermath straight into one as weighty and brutal as Rituals is a stroke of genius, and not easy to pull off as well as Rolo do. The truly heavy moments of the album are perfectly built-up with inventive instrumentation, and when each crescendo reaches its’ peak, it can feel euphoric as well as unbelievably savage (listen to The Hollow Hour). Breakdowns peppered with bursts of ethereal, choir-like vocals are something I could never have imagined to sound this good. 

This is the sound of a band crassly labelled “nintendocore” for incorporating electronic elements in their early days having grown up; now able to use that mantra as a weapon. The synthesisers on songs like A Flood of Light are stunning in their subtlety, and contribute as much to the canvas of the record as the guitar parts do. Though this isn’t my number one this year, it might be the album I see the most as a true work of art. Get on it.

4. Marmozets - Knowing What You Know Now

After they released their debut album in 2014, my question was “when will Marmozets be the biggest band in Britain?” Now, following this unbelievable sophomore record, the question becomes “why are Marmozets not the biggest band in Britain?”

Knowing What You Know Now features some of the best built-for-stadiums songwriting I’ve heard this decade, and it still manages to retain what made Marmozets such an exciting new prospect upon the release of The Weird and Wonderful. While you won’t necessary find a song as insane as Vibetech on here (and less math-rock influence in general), the drumming is still wild and blood-pumping, the guitar lines are creative, and vocalist Becca Macintyre puts on another vocal masterclass. The way she twists her voice over the musical landscape on this record is almost reminiscent of all-time greats like Mike Patton or Bjork; able to go from unnervingly childlike on songs like Insomnia to vicious and powerful on the verses of Like A Battery.

If I were to recommend a single album from this year to someone who might not listen to rock and metal, it’d be Knowing What You Know Now. It’s original, creative, and wholly unique whilst utilising the songwriting power of an album like Biffy Clyro’s Only Revolutions, and to top it off they’re fronted by perhaps the best vocalist in the country right now.

3. The Dirty Nil - Master Volume

The Dirty Nil are not only the coolest band in the world right now, they’re also a band spreading an important message; punk rock is fucking fun. Master Volume is an album which, whilst dealing with some serious themes, is made to smash beer cans over your head to. The opening salvo of That’s What Heaven Feels Like, Bathed In Light, and Pain of Infinity alone would have made it onto this list if the album ended there, but the deeper cuts are equally as memorable. Smoking Is Magic has the best shout-along refrain of the year (“MAYBE WHEN YOU’RE OOOOLDEEERRRR”), Super 8 is pure, unadulterated joy to listen to, and Evil Side is the perfect way to end the whole thing.

The rhythm section of this band (Kyle Fisher on drums and Ross Miller on bass) are to be commended massively - providing huge stomping moments as well as fast, hard-edged, rollicking punk beats – but at the eye of the storm at all times is vocalist and guitarist Luke Bentham. His often-near-screamed vocals and great guitar work all over Master Volume are the heart and soul of The Dirty Nil, making every single second of every single song drip with swagger and natural charisma.

Like Marmozets, it’s full-on depressing that The Dirty Nil aren’t one of the biggest bands in the world right now, but if they keep putting out material like this, it’ll surely only be a matter of time.

2. Turnstile - Time & Space

Turnstile represent something special for hardcore. If there’s one band to pull us out of the days of horseshoe pits and crowdkill-centric shows and into a new age of wild, stagedive-heavy sweatfests with everyone singing every word, it’s this one. They stay true to the roots of the genre, with incredible staccato riffs and frontman Brendan Yates’ yelping vocals, but also pull from many different areas of the musical landscape. From thrash to R&B, alt-rock to disco, there are so many subtle nods and influences on Time & Space that it becomes more than just a hardcore album, which is why it seems to have transcended that insular scene.

Still, though, every reason I love hardcore is embodied within the songs on show here. The sheer energy and bombast of the performances is blood-pumping, infectious, and joyous to listen to. The opening 1-2-3 punch of Real Thing, Big Smile, and Generator gets me going no matter the situation, and later tracks like Right To Be and Can’t Get Away are some of the best straight-ahead hardcore songs I’ve heard all year. What many consider to be this album’s best track, though, is Moon - an alt-rock banger with a brilliantly catchy vocal performance from bassist Franz Lyons. Lyons’ bass-playing, too, combined with drums from Daniel Fang, means that this rhythm section matches the ingenuity of the riffage with ease – and considering the opening riff of Generator is threatening to be the best riff I’ve EVER heard, that’s no mean feat.

1. The Armed - Only Love

My album of the year, then, has to be the sophomore release from Detroit-based enigmas The Armed – Only Love.

Listening to Only Love feels like how I imagine Jill Masterton felt in Goldfinger; being suffocated to death by a delicate layer of gold paint. It’s surreal, it’s beautiful, and it’s heavy as fuck. None of the instrumentation sounds like it could even be played by a human being, and combined with the incredibly well woven-in synths and electronic elements, such a towering wall of noise is created that at points it can feel overwhelming. Despite that, though, every single song on this record is catchy. There are more hooks than an amputee pirate crew here, whether it be the manic female vocal lines on Parody Warning or the haunting “It's a town of broken homes/It's a time of broken hope” refrain on Middle Homes.

I don’t have room here to even really begin to touch upon everything that makes this album a masterpiece. There’s the poignant and bizarre lyricism, the outstanding production job by Kurt Ballou, the ambition and might of the near-eight-minute closer On Jupiter, the absolutely stunning visuals and videos to accompany all of it, and so much more. If you haven’t heard this album yet, and feel like being aurally probed by aliens is something you like the sound of, I urge you to listen to it. The Armed, here, have produced the best album of 2018 – a year of incredible music.