Mix CD #50 - Top Albums Of 2019

So here we are, at the end of not just another year but another decade. Golly gosh and all that. 
As usual, my final blog of the year is a countdown of my favourite albums of the year, from forty all the way down to my favourite. 

It's been a strange year for music in some ways, there seems to have been an absolute ton of it for a start. Normally I'm whittling down from a couple hundred of albums but this year has been twice that. I found it quite hard to place most of them after the first ten-fifteen and I'll admit some of them have been placed so the tracklisting scans a little better. 
There's also been a lot of comeback albums recorded after a lengthy break released this year. I thought The Wildhearts was a lengthy gap as there are ten years between albums but there's several with even bigger gaps. I think there's four artists where's it's been the best part of three decades since their last!

Several of these albums have some really beautiful artwork that my dinky little images don't fully convey so I recommend having a proper nosey at a decent sized image of them, in particular, Flora Greysteel, Lonely Robot, Gloryhammer, Stonefield and Moron Police have especially nice ones. 

I've included a Spotify playlist as well as the download as with previous years. It's about the only blog where every artist will be on there. It's something I'd like to do every time but there ends up being so many omissions that it's just not worth doing. 

There's a few noticeable omissions from this list, and I'm not talking big names like Tool, Opeth, Rammstein etc. I liked those albums, I just liked these ones more. There's a couple of albums that I would absolutely have included if not for the following reasons:

Ginger Wildheart - Headzapoppin
The latest solo album from The Wildhearts mainman is apparently brilliant and one of his best. I say apparently as I haven't heard even a single song from it. The album is out digitally but not physically and I think it's on my Christmas list. This would have been right up at the top no doubt.

Janus Stark - Angel In The Flames
Gizz Butt (from The Prodigy)'s band that last released an album in 2000, the brilliant Great Adventure Cigar. They've reformed and have just released this new album. I've bought it but the CD hasn't arrived yet so I've not heard it. I'm sure it's very good.

Toehider - Concerning Lix & Fairs And Other Cooked Stories
This album was only sent to a certain tier of his Patreon supporters and it's not commercially available so I didn't feel it was eligible. On top of that, most of the songs will be on his new album ( currently titled I Like It but that might change) that WILL be commercially available next year. Look for it in my Top Five next December as it's brilliant.

Finally, you may have noticed this is blog number fifty which I'm taking as a huge achievement. I never thought I'd still be going with it and, truth be told, I was planning on packing it in if I got this far, especially when all the algorithms changed and I went from blogs getting over a thousand views to being lucky if I break a hundred. 
Still, I'm still enjoying compiling them and some of you still seem to enjoy reading them so I'll carry on for now. I've already got the next three blogs pretty much all planned out so I'll crack on with the next one shortly.

I guess that's everything. Have a great December and I'll see you all in the new year! Oh and if you haven't joined the Facebook page then please do! 

Cheers
Luke
x

Download 40-21 HERE
Download 20-1 HERE
Listen to the Spotify playlist HERE

You can find the running order right down at the bottom of the blog so as to avoid spoilers.



40. Starcrawler - Devour You

Devour You is this young band from LA's second album and builds upon the promise they showed on their debut, self-titled album. It's full of sleazy, 70's Glam Rock infused with some snotty Pink energy. It's quite a varied album and takes in a wide array of influences, Bet My Brains stomps along on a groove that reminds me of a rocked up Goldfrapp, Tank Top speeds along  with kind of an X-Ray Spex vibe whereas songs like No More Pennies or Hollywood Ending have a more modern, White Stripesy thing going on. Despite all this retro stuff they still feel like a very fresh, current band and are destined to be one of the leading lights in the modern Rock genre.

39. Bad Religion - Age Of Unreason

The millionth album by these Punk veterans sounds just like all the ones that came before it so if you liked albums like Recipe For Hate, The Gray Race, True North or Against The Grain then you'll like this one.  You know what you expect by now. Greg Graffin's warm and powerful vocals and his boffin-like lyrics. There's a ton of 'Ooozin' Ahhhs', plenty of political anthems as well a lorry load of melody and memorable choruses. Even so, it's not going to change the minds of detractors who thnk them samey and only have the one song structure that they've stuck to rigidly over the decades. I recently read an interview with guitarist Brian Baker where he disputed the preposterous notion that they only have the one song, he says they have, in fact, three.

38. Gloryhammer - Legends From Beyond The Galactic Terrorvortex

Ah, Gloryhammer. The third album by these Scottish based Power Metallers is business as usual: huge, bombastic tales of the heroic Angus McFife and his constant battle against evil space wizards. They are as ludicrous and cheesy as they sound but, thankfully, they're very much tongue in cheek and just on the right side of parody. They also have a knack of writing a tune or two too. Songs like The Land Of Unicorns, Masters Of The Galaxy and Legendary Enchanted Jetpack will have you joyfully waving aloft your imaginary claymore and bellowing along mightily.

37. Periphery - Periphery IV: Hail Stan

Periphery IV: Hail Stan is, annoyingly, Periphery's sixth album not their fourth and sees them expanding their boundaries a little. Tracks like Blood Eagle and Chvrch Bvrner are some of the most aggressive the Djent luminaries ever recorded while It's Only Smiles is probably the Poppiest. Also choosing to open the album with a song that's almost seventeen minutes long is a ballsy move but one that pays off I think. Reptile is a monumental track that runs the whole gamut of their repetoir The band get a lot of grief from Prog Snobs, mainly regarding Spencer Sotelo's vocals but I really don't understand why. As far as I'm concerned, he's an excellent singer both in his clean and unclean vocals and the rest of the band are all technically gifted but don't lose sight of 'The song'.

36. The Regrettes - How Do You Love?

Following on from their great debut album, Feel Your Feelings Fool! in 2017, this young Indie Punk quartet have released their second album, How Do You Love?  and it's kind of a concept album, charting the progress of a relationship from the initial attraction to the eventual breakup. The songs edge generally more towards the Punkier, Riot Grrrl side of their style but are still bouncy, Poppyish songs with nice, trade-off harmonies and backing vocals and Lydia Night's distinctive voice is as husky as ever. 
Whether it's because it's a concept album or just because the band have a little more experience now but How Do You Love? feels a lot more cohesive then Feel Your Feelings Fool! Anyway, it's a really good album, along the lines of Sleater-Kinney, Le Tigre, The Julie Ruin etc. 

35. Strand Of Oaks - Eraserland

Like acts such as Bright Eyes or Badly Drawn Boy, Strand Of Oaks are a band in name only and really just a chap called Timothy Showalter, along with a variety of backing musicians. Eraserland is his seventh album in ten years and winds its way through a variety of genres. At the core of it, Eraserland is an Indie Rock album but also wanders off into Folk, Country, Post Punk and Psychedelia territory. Despite this, Eraserland still sounds cohesive and flowing, partly due to Timothy's smooth vocals and some fairly melancholic overtones. I'd not heard of Strand Of Oaks until the last few months or so but I've been listening to this album a fair bit since I have.

34. Life Of Agony - The Sound Of Scars

The Sound Of Scars is Life Of Agony's sixth album and the band consider it to be a follow up to their iconic debut River Runs Red. That 1993 album had several interludes that gradually told the tale of a teenager committing suicide. The interludes are back on The Sound Of Scars, apparently, the suicide was unsuccessful and this album is a story of what happened to him following the attempt. 
Songwise, they've continued down the smoother, Alternative Metal style, though there are a few nods to their Hardcore past to be found here and there which is nice. There's plenty of hooks and riffs throughout the album and Mina has never sounded better vocally. This is definitely their best album for a while.

33. Sacred Reich - Awakening

Back at the height of Sacred Reich's popularity, late '80s/early '90s. I really wasn't keen on them at all. It's only in the last decade that I've gone back to their old albums like Ignorance and The American Way realised that, in fact, they were quality. Maybe it's just that my tastes are a lot broader now than back when I was a fifteen year old Aerosmith nut.
Awakening is their first album since 1996's Heal and also sees former Machine Head drummer, Dave McClain return to the band. The cover art is a glorious throwback to those times and the music is an amalgamation of the Thrash of their first two albums and the more Groove Metal approach of the following two, Phil Rind's huge voice has lost none of its power over the years, if anything it's only improved with age. Awakening is a fine return to the fold and sees them as strong contenders for that now vacant spot in The Big Four. My only complaint is that it's a bit short with only eight songs, one of which had previously been released on their Alive EP earlier in the year.

32. Codename Colin - Escape From Everything

Ska Punk is a genre that's as much maligned these days as Nu Metal is but yet, like Nu Metal, it's a scene that's steadily growing with more and more young bands cropping up, reinvigorating a once faded genre. Codename Colin from Hertfordshire are one such band. Escape From Everything is their debut full album and follows on from the classic sound of '90s bands like Less Than Jake and Big D & The Kids Table etc though keeping it recognisably British. Whilst the cover might suggest a throwaway 'comedy' album, most of the songs are about mental health, depression and failing to cope with day to day life. It's a really well-written album with a lot of strong songs that still manage to be fun despite the darker song subjects.

31. Karine Polwart - Karine Polwart's Scottish Songbook

I'm a big fan of Karine's own work, she's released several albums of quality Contemporary Folk. She has a lovely voice with just the right amount of Scottish twang to it. Karine Polwart's Scottish Songbook, however, is a covers album. All of the artists covered are of Scottish birth and songs by older standards such as Gerry Rafferty, Big Country, Strawberry Switchblade and Deacon Blue rub shoulders with versions of more modern, and quite unlikely artists like Frightened Rabbit, Chvrches and Biffy Clyro. All the songs are well interpreted and this is a gorgeous album.

30. Frozen Crows - How The Crow Stole The Sun

I featured this Swiss band on a previous blog, a couple of months ago and I'm still listening to it now. As I said in the previous inclusion, I was expecting them to be Post Punk or Gothic Rock etc but they're actually a catchy blend of Groove Metal, Stoner, Djent and Metalcore but the real emphasis is on bit meaty riffs. Songs like Aeon, Echoes, and Collapsing chug away at a merry old pace, each with its own selection of impressive riffing. Longer songs like Avidya,  Bodhisattvas and Ascendency, stretch out and let in a little more introspection but are still replete with riff. 

29. Moron Police - A Boat On The Sea

The third album by this Norwegian Progressive Metal band sees them reigning in the Metal and letting loose with the Progressive side with gay abandon. A Boat On The Sea is an absolute joy to listen to, each song sounds massive and awash with grandiose keyboards, the guitars are all still there but much less at the forefront than previous albums. Sondre's voice is bright and clear, the choruses and general melodies are massive. Songs like Beware The Blue Skies and The Invisible King sound so happy and joyful yet, lyrically, they're about war, politics and death. It's a strange juxtaposition and one that's continued through the whole album. 
The only downside to A Boat On The Sea, and one that's stopped it placing much higher, is that it's so short. There are only eight songs and one is more of an intro. The whole thing is only just over half an hour long, I was in two minds whether or not to class it as a mini-album and not include it at all.

28. Leo Moracchioli - Leo Metal Covers Volume 22-27

Leo has been churning out albums full of Metalled up versions of popular songs at an alarming rate for a few years now. This year alone, he's released four full albums plus half of one album that straddled 2018 and half of Volume 27 that will be out in January. That's about fifty tracks that he's mostly performed and recorded himself and made videos for. There would probably have been more but he moved house this year too... Among those fifty, there are some absolute bangers: Thriller, Vogue, All The Things She Said, No Scrubs, Blurred Lines, Circle Of Life, If You're Happy And You Know It, Thunderstruck, Bad Guy, Old Town Road, American Idiot, Firestarter, What's New Pussycat? and more all get his, er, special treatment. He's a talented guy and though he keeps things lighthearted he also plays the majority of these songs straight rather than mocking and they work way better for it. 
Every volume of these covers have the same artwork with just the relevant detail changed, as such I've just included the one cover, you'll have to use your imagination for the others.

27. Flora Greysteel - From The Ground

From The Ground is the debut album from this duo, based in my home town of York and named after a character from a book. They're like a more whimsical and less belligerent version of The Dresden Dolls, though Emily Rowan's voice is clearer and less raw than Amanda Palmer's. From The Ground is a charming little album and frequently makes use of xylophone and glockenspiels etc to create and often tense and haunting atmosphere but also in moments of lighthearted tweeness. Lyrically the album is often at odds with itself too, for example. from the intellectual and bleak Vonnegut Was Right to the Bunny Song. Which is about bunnies.

26. Redwolves - Future Becomes Past

I'd not previously heard of this Danish Hard Rock band before reviewing Future Becomes Past, but I was impressed with it and have continued listening to it pretty frequently since the review. It's a reasonably short album, with just eight tracks, although none of the last four are under five minutes long, it packs a lot of ideas into those eight. There's a lot of Proggy and Stoner influences (no surprised why I like them there then) and Rasmus Cundell has a fine voice that can handle wailing and fragility by equal measure. Songs like Fenris and Rigid Generation are brilliant, catchy Rock songs while longer tracks like The Pioneer and Voyagers are more thoughtful and introspective.
You can read my review HERE if you like

25. Acid Reign - The Age Of Entitlement

The Age Of Entitlement is these British Thrashers' third album and first since Obnoxious in 1990, twenty nine years ago! Of the original line up only vocalist H (not that one) remains. He rebooted the band back in 2013 so they've had a while to work together and it shows. The Age Of Enlightenment has all the fast, chuggy riffs and shouty vocals of old school Thrash but makes full use of modern technology and sounds fantastic. There's plenty of high speed bangers like The New Low or My Piece Of Hell but #newagenarccisist and Within The Woods are longer and make use of the extra space to flex their wings a bit. In contrast, Ripping Flesh, a reworked version of an early demo and a brilliant cover of Suzanne Vega's Blood Makes Noise are barely more than two minutes long.

24. Lonely Robot - Under Stars

 

John Mitchell is a man with many fingers in many pies. In addition to either singing or playing guitar in several; Prog bands (It Bites, Arena, Frost*, etc) he's also a prolific producer of bands like Architects, Lower Than Atlantis, Enter Shikari and so on. Lonely Robot is a solo project of sorts, wth John handling most things with a few guests here and there and Under Stars is the third in a trilogy of albums about the creation of humanity, God or Alien and all that sort of thing. Musically it's Progressive Rock with an unsurprisingly Outer Spacey vibe to it. I've always loved John's voice and he knows how to write a stirring tune or two. Under Stars flows smoothly between songs and sucks you into its orbit without ever meandering, waffling or, y'know, getting a bit boring.

23. Frank Turner - No Man's Land

 No Man's Land has received quite a lot of negative feedback since its release that I'm a little confused by. Its title alludes to the fact that each of the songs is written about a woman of influence who perhaps hasn't had the recognition she deserves, some were musicians and poets but others were unnamed prostitutes, an Egyptian feminist, an astronaut and even a serial killer. 
The majority of the aforementioned criticism stems from the notion that it's all just presumptuous mansplaining; maybe it's because I'm a straight white cis male (and a Frank fan) but I don't see this album as anything but a good thing. The songs are either supportive or admiring, never condescending of the protagonist and I'd not previously been aware of all but a handful of them so I've learned stuff too so all the complaints just seem a bit 'Did you just assume my gender?!' to me.

22. Stonefield - Bent

Stonefield are four Australian sisters who churn out some synth-heavy, psychedelic Stoner Rock. Bent is their fourth album that sounds for the world like it was recorded in about 1973. Fuzzed up guitars draped in epic, atmospheric synths vie for attention while vocalist/drummer Amy keeps everything in line. Personally, I don't think Bent is quite as good as their previous album, Far From Earth but it's still a very good one and as good a place as any to start with the band if you're unfamiliar.

21. Clowns - Nature/Nurture

The fourth album by these riotous Aussie Punks is a mass of intentional contradictions and juxtapositions, both musically and lyrically, with several songs playing off the nature side of influence and the others, obviously, from a nurtured perspective. Songs like Prick and Bland Is The New Black are as furious, spiky and breakneck as the band have ever been but they've also experimented with the lighter side of things too. Nurture is pretty much a ballad and features some surprisingly cool sitar on it, There are keyboards on 1.19 and Soul For Sale is probably the most melodic Punk song they've done. With new(ish) bassist Hanny adding female vocals she thickens out their sound and is a great addition, particularly when she adds lead vocals on tracks like Nature.

20. Exhorder - Mourn The Southern Stars

Mourn The Southern Stars is Exhorder's third album and comes a mere 27 years after their second, The Law. They split back in 1994 and have only recently reformed, albeit with just two original members. Vocalist Kyle Thomas has been occupying himself with several bands in the interim, most notably Doom and Stoner legends Trouble and Alabama Thunderpussy. He was also in the Southern Metal/Stoner band Floodgate, whose only album, Penalty, is a favourite of mine.
Mourn The Southern Stars sounds fantastic, the guitars growl and snarl and Kyle roars over the top, sounding in fine form. The riffs pound away, occasionally slowing down for the longer, sludgy tracks like Yesterday's Bones and the title track. This is a very fine comeback, how about a Floodgate one now?

19. Astronoid - Astronoid

Astronoid are a band that are forging a path down unexplored territory and don't really sound like anyone else, although their influences are easily traceable. I guess they fall under the vague heading of Post-Metal though they call themselves Dream Thrash. 

Musically, songs like I Dream In Lines, Fault and Ideal World are very much Metal, with intricate dual guitars and pummelling, blastbeating drums, but Brett Bollard's ethereal vocals are pure Shoegaze. It means that they have a sound that's both soothing but also very air drummy. Astronoid (the album) is a beautiful, emotive listen but also lively and invigorating. 

18. Cokie The Clown - You're Welcome

Fat Mike is better known as the frontman of legendary Punks, NOFX and the head of Fat Wreck Chords. Cokie The Clown is his alter-ego and You're Welcome is pretty much really just a solo album. It's a solo album that I can probably recommend you both should and shouldn't listen to, both for the same reason. You're Welcome is a brutally honest and raw recounting of some of the hardest parts of Mike's... eventful life. 
It opens with the story of the time he inexplicably woke in the middle of the night to find his then girlfriend OD'd in the bath. Elsewhere there's a song about showing his friend's parents exactly where he cut down their hanging son and there's the, quite frankly, horrific but self-explanatory That Time I Killed My Mom.
You're Welcome is an uncomfortable and difficult album to listen to, partly due to the lyrical nature but also, with the best will in the world, Mike is no Jeff Buckley and some people aren't going to appreciate him accompanied by some sparse strings and piano. Personally, I think it adds to the authenticity of what he's trying to achieve and makes it that much more traumatic to listen to. 
So yeah, it's an incredible piece of work but not one you'd want to stick on at a party.

17. Drunktank - Return Of The Infamous Four

Two Dutch bands in a row now, the first is the Skatepunk quartet, Drunktank. On their second album, they have bolstered their sound with some 80's style classic Metal riffs and solos. It's an odd combination but one that works really well. It gives them an edge that helps them stand out in a saturated market but not enough to distance older, purist fans. The's plenty of big shouty choruses and gang vocals that help make this a thoroughly entertaining album. It's also another one that I reviewed for Down The Front Media and you can read my review HERE

16. Diggeth - Gringos Galacticos

Here are Diggeth and their third album of Bluesy Stoner Rock and this Dutch trio pound out some very satisfying riffs throughout. Worship The Sun was the lead single and one of my favourite songs of the year, mostly down to the big, groovy riff. The album is quite varied pace-wise, from acoustic passages to full-on, Thrashy Rockers like Keep On Diggin' and Straight-Shooter though they never lose sight of a good hook or melody. I dig Diggeth very much.

15. The Odious - Vesica Piscis

According to Google translate, Vesica Pescis is Latin for Independent Noise and that's a perfect title for this bizarre collection of songs. There are elements of Death Metal, Funk, Hardcore, Progressive Metal, Djent, Stoner, Grunge and more to their music as well. Patrick Jobe's vocals are an anger-filled guttural roar but guitarist Spencer Linn's clean vocals kind of sound like Layne Staley a little bit. What should sound like a convoluted mess actually works! The songs twist and turn in a way that sounds natural and the two rival vocal styles trade-off and compliment each other.
Like Astronoid further above, The Odious don't really sound like anyone else and that's a nice thing to find these days.

14. The Super Pumas - Ambient Animal

This Scottish band is one I was drawn to because of their mildly amusing name but I'm slightly disappointed to discover a Super Puma is a type of helicopter and not, well, a super puma. 
Ambient Animal is their debut album and is choc full of catchy Alternative Rock with Scots-tinged vocals along the lines of Biffy Clyro, Twin Atlantic, The Xcerts etc. 
Some of the tracks, like single Circles Roaming and Eclipse are softer and almost balladic whereas songs like Psycho Silhouette and ATM are ferocious Rock anthems along the lines of classic era Therapy?. Yet another very promising debut from 2019.

13. Jade Bird - Jade Bird

Sometime last year, I stumbled onto a youtube video of a young girl sneering her way through a Country-tinged acoustic song about the girl her boyfriend left her for cheating on him in turn. It turned about to be Uh Huh by Jade Bird and is on her debut, self-titled album. 
Refreshingly for a Country Folk album, a lot of the songs are quite uptempo and many are less than three minutes long so it's quite short. Her voice is fantastic, particularly when she properly lets rip and there are flashes of Janis Joplin's ragged howl in there. I think she's more popular in the states than her native UK but she deserves to be popular everywhere. I really like this album.

12. Deever - You Need This

Over the last few years, there's been a rapidly growing scene of young bands playing Classic Rock that sounds like it's straight out of my teenage years. One of the leading lights of that scene (unofficially called the New Wave Of Classic Rock or NWOCR) is Deever. Personally, I think it's because (other than sharp songwriting, punchy riffs and big choruses) is that they've no interest in replicating the sounds of the past and have created a fine Hard Rock album that feels contemporary and fresh. You Need This is an excellent debut that should see Deever have a lucrative future. That they're from my adoptive home of Co. Durham makes it all the better.

11. Vintersea - Illuminated

With their second album, Vintersea have opted for the most tested of tools in the Prog armoury, The Concept Album. The story of Illuminated is set in a future where humanity has been wiped out. Over time, a new generation of humans evolve in a huge pod deep within the earth's core and begin the journey out onto the surface. There are only six songs on the album, each representing a stage of the story, though the shortest is still over five minutes long. 
Avienne's vocals are as strong as ever, she flits from clean vocals to harsh Black Metal screams and an unearthly roar with ease. The rest of the band are no slouches either, the music ebbs and flows from gentle atmospherics to crushing blastbeats seamlessly. At just under 40 minutes long Illuminated is surprisingly short for an epic Prog Metal concept album but they've just done away with some of the chaff to create an album of naught but quality.

10. Ulysses - On Safari

I downloaded this album without ever hearing of the band previously and, judging it solely on appearance, was expecting some fairly generic Stoner Rock. What it actually is an infectiously joyful bridge between modern Indie Rock and 70's Glam Rock with a few offshoots into Power Pop. It's full of massive choruses, bouncy tunes and is funny without being a comedy album. Parts of it remind me of The Darkness, others sound a bit like early Supergrass. It's such a joyous album and songs like Dragons, Bad Tattoo and Doctors & Nurses have been stuck in my head for weeks at a time. 

9. Ihlo - Union

Union is the debut album by this Progressive Metal band from the UK and is pretty much what you'd expect it to be: Djenty riffs, soaring vocals, and atmospheric soundscapes. There are some bleepy electronics in there too which helps them stand out somewhat too. 
A self-congratulatory curmudgeon might grumble that they're a little derivative of bigger names in the scene but they have plenty of time to iron out their own style, plus this entire album is flawlessly written and played so, so what if it's a bit too similar to Tesseract or Caligula's Horse in places? I've been playing this album a ton since it came out in May and think it's great.

8. Tardigrade Inferno - Mastermind

This peculiar Russian band describe themselves as Dark Cabaret Metal and I guess that's a fair description. There are satisfyingly crunchy riffs that remind me of Rammstein topped off with church organs, Wurlitzers, kazoos and Darya Pavlovich's distinctive vocals. The band have an endearing sense of humour that stops Mastermind sounding pompous or irritatingly quirky. The lead video from it is a song called We Are Number One that's funny and ridiculously catchy and, bizarrely, a cover of a song from a kiddies TV show, Lazy Town. I had no idea!

7. Last Crack - The Up Rising

Last Crack are an eclectic Progressive Metal band from Wisconsin and yet another band who have almost 30 years between album releases. Their last, Burning Time, came out back in 1991 when I was 16/17, it's challenging, varied songs and Buddo's fantastic voice had a massive impact on me and it sounds almost as fresh today as it did then. It's still one of my very favourite albums. 
The Up Rising is a more streamlined album and more Alternate Rock than Progressive Metal but Buddo's voice and lyrics are as top notch as ever and the musicianship excellent. I was squealy excited about the prospect of this album and it didn't disappoint. It might not be at the same level as Burning Time but it hasn't had 28 years of emotional attachment either.

6. Lullwater - Voodoo

A band I discovered on one of many late night Youtube wanderings, they're a  Hard Rock/Grunge band from Athens, Georgia and Voodoo is their third album. At times it sounds like it could have been recorded in 1993 but also has enough of a modern edge to keep it from sounding derivative or retro. Frontman, John Strickland has a fantastic voice that's along similar lines as Eddie Vedder's. There's a ton of great songs and pounding riffs on Voodoo and I'm very glad I stumbled across the band. It's an album full of rocking songs like Empty Chamber, Fight Of Your Life and Similar Skin with a couple of power ballads like Yellow Bird and Godlike. The ten minute long closer Suffer Not leads everything out with an epic jam section and it's pretty cool.

5. Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts - This Is The Sound

This Is The Sound is their first album released via a major label and also under the Harlequin Ghosts title (the were previously Ryan Hamilton & The Traitors) and sees a slight shift away from his previous Indie Rock into Country and Heartland Rock. It feels more like a gradual change rather than a drastic one thankfully and Ryan's talent for writing both humorous and moving songs with big hooks remains unaffected. This is a wonderful album written by one of the nicest people in the business. The last I heard he'd taken himself off on a solo road trip across America following his understandably upsetting divorce so I hope he's doing okay.

4. Dunes - Take Me To The Nasties

There are a couple of bands called Dunes knocking about but the one we're dealing with here is the Stoner/Desert Rock trio from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Take Me To The Nasties is their debut album and follows a couple of really good EPs. They take the bass heavy groove of bands like Kyuss and mix it up with contemporary Alternative Rock and catchy tunes that, by rights, should be bringing Dunes great success. It's an album the band should be proud of as there's not a weak moment to be found on it. 
They play sporadic dates all around the country so keep an eye out for them near you (in the UK) as they're great live too.
This is the third and final album featured in this list that I've reviewed this year and you can read that HERE if you like.

3. Dog Fashion Disco - Committed To A Bright Future 2.0 / Tres Pendejos

I'm not sure on the exact details of why* but DFD have spent the last few years completely rerecording their older albums and releasing them via their own record label (Razor To Wrist Records). The really older '90s stuff has definitely benefited from the renovation, some songs getting a complete overhaul but Committed To A Bright Future (the 2003 version) is probably my favourite album of theirs so I had concerns. 
To the band's credit this time they've tried to stay close to the originals as they can for this one and there are only really slight changes, my heart still lies with the originals but this is still a fantastic album and a perfect gateway into the band if you're unaware of their pervy, twisted genius.

In November they also released a second album, a mostly acoustic one that features reworked versions of DFD songs as well a couple by side projects, Knives Out!, The Alter Boys and a handful of varied covers. It's a twisted, eerily beautiful set of songs and it's weird to hear proper heavy songs like Give Up The Ghost in such a mellow way.

*There's been a few line up changes over the years and I think there were issues with their old record labels allowing the albums to be on streaming services possibly. They were stinky poo heads whatever by all accounts.

2. The Wildhearts - Renaissance Men

Renaissance Men is an album that a lot of fans, myself included, assumed they would never see. Their last full album was Chutzpah! back in 2009 and the band all went their separate ways with both CJ and Ginger releasing several (brilliant) solo albums with nothing but sporadic anniversary shows for fans to look forward to. But now they're back with original bassist Danny McCormack where he belongs and one of the best albums they've made in a long, long time.
Kicking off with Dislocated and its frenetic riff, some Punk Metal gems like Emergency (Fentanyl Babylon), Let 'Em Go, Little Flower and My Kinda Movie, the glorious Pop Rock of the title track. The centre point of the whole album though is Diagnosis, a song about mental health and how the medical profession just sees you as a statistic or a case study. You're more than your diagnosis, you're someone and deserve to be treated as such. It's important lyrically but it's also bolted onto a brilliant Status Quo style boogie riff which is ace.
Normally a new Wildhearts album would easily sail to the top of any best of list I compiled but this year it was pipped to the top by a man who was actually the guitarist in The Wildhearts for a short while.

1. Devin Townsend - Empath

While Devin has written a plethora of albums, Empath is the first album he's released since eschewing his Devin Townsend Project name and parting ways with his former bandmates. There are several guest musicians (Steve Vai, Anneke Van Giersbergen, 66Samus and Chad Kroeger among others) on Empath but this is very much all about Devin and his vision to produce an album that encapsulated all of his various styles together. 
It's a breathtakingly epic album that's and does exactly what he set out to do. From the crushing Metal of Hear Me to the orchestral Prog Rock of Spirits Will Collide and Evermore, the Broadway musical of Why?, the sprawling, atmospherics of Borderlands and the staggering scope of Singularity that's almost 24 minutes long and flows through a variety of genres along its way... 
Added to that, with the deluxe version there's a bonus disc of an album's worth of demo songs that are so well written and produced that they could have just been released as an album on their own and would have still finished pretty damn high up this list.
Devin has not only released the best album of the year but possibly also the best album of his career. And there are some right good ones in there.

Tracklisting Part One - 40-21
Starcrawler - She Gets Around
Bad Religion - Downfall
Gloryhammer - The Land Of Unicorns
Periphery - Follow Your Ghost
The Regrettes - Dress Up
Strand Of Oaks - Moon Landing
Life Of Agony - Stone
Sacred Reich - Salvation
Codename Colin - Kelly's Missing
Karine Polwart - Dignity
Frozen Crows - Echoes
Moron Police - The Invisible King
Leo Moracchioli - Loser
Flora Greysteel - Afraid Of The Dark
Redwolves - Rigid Generation
Acid Reign - My Peace Of Hell
Lonely Robot - When Gravity Fails
Frank Turner - The Graveyard Of The Outcast Dead
Stonefield - Dead Alive
Clowns - Prick

Tracklisting Part Two 20 -1
Exhorder - Rumination
Astronoid - Ideal World
Cokie The Clown - That Time I Killed My Mom
Drunktank - Green Button
Diggeth - Worship The Sun
The Odious -  Heavy Rhetoric
The Super Pumas - Let It Lie
Jade Bird - Going Gone
Deever - Alright
Vintersea - Fiery Tongue
Ulysses - Dragons
Ihlo - Union
Tardigrade Inferno - Clown Therapy
Last Crack - Icicle
Lullwater - Empty Chamber
Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts - So Gone
Dunes - Denim Casket
Dog Fashion Disco - Acid Memoirs
The Wildhearts - Fine Art Of Deception
Devin Townsend - Genesis