Outkast - Stankonia The best rap album of all time. Nuff said.

Miséricorde - Self Deprivation This album goes so hard. It is a very heavy technical black metal record with Dissonant riffs that crash into each other and some insanely fun vocal performances. Heavy recommend.

Ildjarn- Forest Poetry

Super raw. Super cruel. A fucking great place to start to get into raw black metal imo. 22 songs that each feel frigid and whispey. Like a ghost hurtling past your ear at a thousand miles per hour. But like in a really good way.

Sargeist- Let The Devil In

This album is black metal done well! There aren’t a lot of frills on this thing. Not long melodic passages, not folk instrumentation or a spooky organ. What you have is riffs on riffs on riffs. Just pounding waves of Icey cold tremolo riffs rolling through your body and filling you with the devil. Shits sooo fun. Definitely a terrific way to get you in the October mood.

Outkast - Aquemini

To me there is an objective answer to who the greatest rapper of all time is and it’s Andre 3000. This album is likely one of, if not the greatest rap album of all time. Every song has a perfect combination of beautiful musical composition and beat production, fucking amazingly poignant, catchy, and creative rapping, and all of it wrapped up together in an extremely appealing aesthetic presentation. I fucking love outkast so much. They truly are one of the greatest bands of all time. There’s nothing like them and there’s nothing quite like this album.

If you’re a metal head and you haven’t heard this thing. Don’t think you’re a big rap fan. Just give it a shot. Try something new. Please. This is an amazing record and if you give it the chance to work for you it will.

The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy, & the Lash

So my Mom went to elementary school in London and was an Irish American who’s only friend was an Irish girl who’s mom ran a pub. She told me that they’d play this shit pretty much 24/7 at this spot and she’d been addicted ever since. Well since I’m her kid it’s been drilled into my brain as well and I absolutely love this record. There’s lines her or there where the lingo they’re using is offensive, or they have the facts of the situation wrong (for instance the song ‘Jesse James’ dude was a terrorist for the confederacy and a racist snd deserved to be killed, and I’m literally his relative) but their heart is often in the right place! They’re singing songs for the little guy. They’re like the drunk guy at the bar who can’t use the right words but is a better ally then the liberal college educated scum bag. Incredible record.

Agnostic Front - Something’s Got To Give

Probably one of, if not, Agnostic Fronts most famous album. I personally prefer the rawer energy of their earlier work. The vocals on this feel a little underwhelming in comparison. That said, this is still AF and this album is them coming out swinging with some of their most quotable songs. This is the kinda shit you listen before street boxing. Just pure liquid rage.

Krallice - Years Past Matter

An incredibly album from Black Metal Legends Krallice. This thing is dense as hell. If you want to listen to what might be one of the most complex, technical, and progressive black metal records out there this is the record for you. The drumming on this thing feels particularly powerful. This constant rumbling beneath the insane riffs that pushes the whole thing forward. I know that a lot of "TRU KVLT" losers hate any black metal that doesn't sound like it was recorded in a Norwegian Nazi's basement, but this shit fucks so incredibly hard. From the mastering to all elements of composition and technical performance. A classic for a reason.

Bedhead - Whatfunlifewas

This is an incredibly relaxing album. The feeling of a slow rainy Sunday morning distilled into fifty minutes of slowcore indie rock goodness. The guitar playing in this is incredibly engaging, plucking and dancing it’s way slowly through this wonderfully mastered passages that provide the perfect backdropped for some subdued and touching lyrics. The overall experience never attempts to jump out at you, but what cons from that is a wonderful experience that soothes out anxieties. Definitely a heavy recommend if you like bands like Duster or indie rock from the 90’s in general.

Thantifaxath - Hive Mind Necrosis

Let it be known that I’ve had this painting longer then this albums been out!!

So thank fucking God that this album fucks as hard as it does! This is one of the most riff heavy and ear wormy avant-garde black metal albums I have ever heard! It’s not just an experimental black metal album you put on and enjoy and love but can’t really rock out to in the same way you could one of the more popy metal songs that are out there. This thing is head banging atmospheric and ambient. It goes so incredibly hard, and it’s always a shock when I put it on how much I want to jump up and bounce around. Incredible record.

1349 - Hellfire

There’s something about this album that just separates it from so much of the Norwegian black metal coming out from 1992-2005. Maybe it’s the incredibly clean and professional production, making the harsh tremolo riffs sparkle and the low end chanting rumble in your ears. Maybe it’s the melodic riff construction, almost taking on some death metal influences in the punchy-ness and the complexity of off kilter, brutal, and yet still melodic and an ear worm-esc, that really elevates the record. Maybe it’s vocals that are actually audible and incredibly well performed, playing more of a leading roll and less of a embellishment for the riffs. I think ultimately it’s the evil and absolutely unhinged energy of the band. One that feels more ghoulish or cartoon esc then some of the more melodramatic or self serious forms of “evil” You saw in some of the more cringe bands from the era. Definitely a great listen. One of the best for sure.

SunnO))) - Monoliths and Dimensions

Fuck. What sets this album apart from the rest of SunnO)))‘s legendary discography for me is its vocal performances on this thing just… are mastered so well and performed so fucking well they just have that little bit of extra OOMF. From the slow elongated spoken word performances of the first and third song to the overlapping babble screaming of the second. This thing is just filled to the brim with amazing vocal compositions. On top of that the stretched thin riffs of droning and pounding low end notes just hit so hard on this thing. Every second is so clean and smooth yet jagged. Like a polished saw ready to cut you in two. A fucking amazing amazing listen that stands out among a sea of other amazing records by the band. Somehow, still able to hold its head above.

Male Tears - Trauma Club

This thing is incredibly fun! It’s a great poppy electronic / gothy new wave esc album that has super melodic and hard hitting darkwave esc beats with super well performed vocal tracks. Such a great album to put on and just slip deeper and deeper into like the tar pits in LA.

Jute Gyte - Unus Mundus Patet

New album from Avant Garde legend Jute Gyte and boy does it fuck so hard. It starts off in such a noisey note with these songs filled with microtonal riffs of harsh tremolo picking, waves of screeching noise, and these firey tenor screaming vocals of anguish. This intensity slowly fades away leading to a more atmospheric or dark ambient experience in the second half where the harsh noise is replaced with rolling waves of static and much of the tremolo picking replaced with long synth waves that waver and grow, wriggling into your ear like a brain parasite. Amazing listen from an amazing artist.

Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism Classic record from Black Metal band Immortal. This has that classic raw and underproduced edge that a lot of the best Norwegian Black Metal has. On top of that there are some cool moments of experimentation on this thing that I can see helped set the stage for other bands like Dissection. Lord knows if that's specifically a straight line one could draw, but the introduction of more and more melodic / traditional folk instruments into the black metal presentation, certainly was one of the factors that kept the genre so fresh for so long. A fun listen!

Woe - Legacies of Frailty

I was having a really tough day yesterday, so I didn't even make it all the way through my first listen, and so many albums never get a second shot with me because I can be so God Damn Finicky! BUt you know what! I am so God damn glad that I woke up and just put this shit on on a whim because it is soooo God Damn good. It is exactly the sort of black metal that I just cannot get enough of, and it comes from a band that I am fairly confident isn't filled with raving lunitics, so that is always a plus. Extremely fun and engaging riffs, great atmospheric composition, super harsh vocals and an overall great presentation. This thing came out yesterday, so you better get listening. Don't want to miss the train.

Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Five: In The Garden

Amazing album that gave me so much emotions that I’m having a hard time being normal at work. I fucking love Matana Roberts. Please do a deep dive into their work. They’re one of the jazz greats imo.