Hear and There top 30 albums of 2019

I'm doing this slightly earlier than I normally would, but here are my top 30 albums of the year:

30. Opeth - In Cauda Venenum
29. Knocked Loose - A Different Shade of Blue
28. Dub Trio - The Shape of Dub to Come
27. American Football - American Football LP3
26. Motorpsycho - The Crucible
25. Misery Index - Rituals of Power
24. The Menzingers - Hello Exile
23. Monolord - No Comfort
22. Rosalie Cunningham - Rosalie Cunningham
21. The Twilight Sad - It Won't Be Like This All the Time
20. The Appleseed Cast - The Fleeting Light of Impermanence
19. Baroness - Gold and Grey
18. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
17. Ringworm - Death Becomes My Voice
16. The National - I Am Easy to Find
15. Victims - The Horse and Sparrow Theory
14. Cave In - Final Transmission
13. The Tallest Man on Earth - I Love You. It's a Fever Dream
12. Bob Mould - Sunshine Rock
11. Torche - Admission
10. Damien Jurado - In the Shape of a Storm
9. Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear
8. The Devil and the Almighty Blues - Tre
7. Swallow the Sun - When a Shadow is Forced into the Light
6. Rival Sons - Feral Roots
5. Tool - Fear Inoculum
4. Alcest - Spiritual Instinct
3. MONO - Nowhere, Now Here
2. Devin Townsend - Empath 

And the album of the year is: 

1. Insomnium - Heart Like a Grave 

GIG REVIEW: Anneke van Giersbergen, Effenaar, Eindhoven, November 16th, 2019

Headliner: Anneke van Giersbergen

Date: November 16th, 2019

Venue: Effenaar, Eindhoven 

Support: None

Rating: 10/10

There's a tangible excitement even while I'm queuing up outside the Effenaar to see one of my favourite female vocalists of all time. There's a multitude of European languages being spoken, which suggests that the fans here tonight have flocked to Eindhoven from all over Europe to see her, which is not only believable, but testament to how wide Anneke van Giersbergen's audience is. 

At around 8:30pm, Anneke takes to the stage herself, alone, and right from the start, she has the audience captivated and eating out of the palms of her hands. In her only spot playing an instrument over the whole night, she opens proceedings with a glorious rendition of a track she put her name to with the Gathering on If_Then_Else, "Saturnine". The track is greeted with huge applause and cheers from the crowd, subsequently setting the tone for the night. Anneke then introduces us to the would be compere for the evening, singer songwriter and former PSV Eindhoven midfielder (yes, really) Bjorn van der Doelen, who introduces us to the string section of the Kamerata Zuid Chamber Orchestra. We get some of Anneke's solo material, coupled with an Ayreon cover ("Valley of the Queens"), then to close out the symphonic segment of the set, Within Temptation vocalist and friend Sharon den Adel joins proceedings for an excellent Within Temptation cover. 

Part three of the set commences with Agua de Annique joining Anneke on stage. We get another sumptuous blend of Anneke's solo material, a sublime cover of John Wetton and Geoff Downes's "To Catch a Thief", as well as another Gathering cover ("Even the Spirits are Afraid" from Souvenirs) and an Agua de Annique cover ("Sunken Soldiers Ball"). When Agua de Annique leave the stage, Anathema guitarist Danny Cavanagh takes to it, with just him and his guitar providing a neat backdrop for Anneke's fabulous soothing tones. From this we get a scorching cover of Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter", and two "kippenvel momentjes" in the form of two Anathema covers (a glorious version of "A Natural Disaster" and "Untouchable Part 2").

Finally, Vuur take to the stage and we get the metal part of Anneke's set. In this section, Anneke really pulls out all the stops, and we get a superb version of Devin Townsend's "Hyperdrive" and a mouthwateringly sublime solo (ish) version of Amorphis's "Amongst Stars" (the track Anneke did guest vocals on Queen of Time for), and fittingly, closing with the opus about time travel that introduced the world to her on Mandylion way back in 1995, "Strange Machines".

Anneke van Giersbergen was treated like the heroine she truly is by the Eindhoven crowd, and it speaks volumes that the tickets for this show sold at such a rate that a second date was added due to popular demand (which also sold out at a rate of knots!). The crowd were eating out of the palms of her hands, every song got deserved applause, cheers and whistles, and it was a nice touch to hear her top and tail her set with songs by the band she initially made her name with all those years ago. A sublime night made all the more sweeter by a musician and performer that knows exactly how to treat her fans.

Setlist

Saturnine

She

Valley of the Queens

Stay

Circles

Somewhere 

Feel Alive

Even the Spirits are Afraid 

Sunken Soldiers Ball

Hey Okay!

To Catch A Thief 

Mental Jungle

The Blower's Daughter 

A Natural Disaster 

Untouchable Part 2

The Storm

On Most Surfaces (Inuït)

Your Glorious Light Will Shine - Helsinki

Hyperdrive

Amongst Stars 

Strange Machines 

Tool - Fear Inoculum

Artist: Tool
Album: Fear Inoculum
Year: 2019
Rating: 94/100

Let me get one thing out of the way right now: Tool are one of the few bands whose entire musical output has been faultless to my ears. This review will be impossible to write without sounding like a fanboy, and even if I were to be disparaging about this album, I'd still sound like a Tool fan. Anyway, after a 13 year wait, Tool are back with the much awaited Fear Inoculum, a sprawling beast of an album clocking in at 86 and a half minutes of music (on the Spotify release) or just shy of 80 (the CD version). That alone is a world away from the early Soundgarden and Melvins-esque stylings of Opiate or Undertow.

What do we get then? Well, album opener and title track "Fear Inoculum" starts us off, with some slow builds that bands such as Neurosis and Cult of Luna would have been proud of, and some almost Puscifer-esque vocals from Maynard James Keenan. As ever, it's sumptuously crafted, and superbly executed. "Pneuma" might just be the greatest song Tool have ever committed to record in memory, with Adam Jones, Danny Carey and Justin Chancellor all playing to their own musical strengths, and "7empest" is a sprawling monster of "Third Eye" level epic proportions, with some almost Meshuggah-esque instrumentation.

However, even with these stand out moments, the real strength of Fear Inoculum is that it plays seamlessly as an album, and that in this instance, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The 13 year wait is finally over, and one set of memes has become redundant in place of an entirely new set of memes in their place. Tool are back, and how!

Track listing

1. Fear Inoculum
2. Pneuma
3. Litanie Contre la Peur
4. Invincible
5. Legion Inoculant
6. Descending
7. Culling Voices
8. Chocolate Chip Trip
9. 7empest
10. Mockingbeat

Cave In - Final Transmission

Artist: Cave In
Album: Final Transmission
Year: 2019
Rating: 91/100

On March 28th, 2018, Cave In bassist Caleb Scofield was killed in a fatal car crash when his truck hit a toll booth in New Hampshire. Before he left this mortal coil, he recorded a final album with his Cave In bandmates Adam McGrath, Stephen Brodsky and John-Robert Conners. This album was called Final Transmission.

So how does it stack up? Despite the fact that it feels as if it was cut short (for obvious reasons), it has all the hallmarks of Cave In that we know and love. Stephen Brodsky brings some of the grittiness of Mutoid Man to proceedings with his guitar playing, adding a bit of bite to the spaced out tones of the album, that evoke what was arguably Cave In's finest musical hour, Jupiter. Tracks such as "All Illusion", "Strange Reflection" and "Shake My Blood" wouldn't have been out of place on that album, with Brodsky in fine voice as always and his cohorts making every note that eminates from their instruments count.

Caleb Scofield may not be on this mortal coil any longer, but with his Cave In (and, of course, Zozobra and Old Man Gloom) bandmates, his musical trajectory hasn't half been an enjoyable one. Having gone to Jupiter and back (no pun intended), and despite it feeling like it had been cut short for obvious reasons, his and Cave In's Final Transmission is a memorable one, for all the right reasons. A fantastic addition to Cave In's canon.

Track listing

1. Final Transmission
2. All Illusion
3. Shake My Blood
4. Night Crawler
5. Lunar Day
6. Winter Window
7. Lanterna
8. Strange Reflection
9. Led to the Wolves

SINGLE REVIEW: Hidden Mothers - The Longest Journey Yet

Artist: Hidden Mothers
Single: The Longest Journey Yet
Year: 2019
Rating: 8/10

Sheffield based black metal shoegaze quintet Hidden Mothers are an interesting and invigorating proposition. The band's members were in such bands as Hayfever, Ba'al, Relics, and Fly On Bird, Fly On, and assembled as Hidden Mothers through a mutual love of bands such as Downfall of Gaia, Deafheaven, Alcest, Converge, Oathbreaker and Amenra. "The Longest Journey Yet" is their debut single. How does it stack up?

Well, it's a finely executed balance of post-metal atmospheric sounds that you would associate with bands like MØL, Year of no Light, Sumac, and Rosetta, on the one hand, and on the other hand its assault is more traditional black metal fare: coruscating buzzsaw guitars, vocalist Steffan Benham's banshee howl delivery and fierce blastbeats from drummer Adam Kossowicz. It might not be a wholly original musical idea, but the delivery is superb, and clocking in at four and a half minutes long, is sufficient to get the listener interested enough to wish for them to record an EP. Give them a listen, it's worth your time.

Swallow the Sun - When a Shadow is Forced into the Light

Artist: Swallow the Sun
Album: When a Shadow is Forced into the Light
Year: 2019
Rating: 93/100

Finnish death/doom metallers Swallow the Sun have come a long way since their 2003 debut album, The Morning Never Came, was foisted onto the world. Their sonic approach of crushing intensity and finely tuned atmospherics has served them well, and nothing exemplifies this quite like their seventh album, When a Shadow is Forced into the Light.

The band's main songwriter, rhythm guitarist Juha Raivio, had lost his partner, Aleah Stanbridge (who has a songwriting credit on the track "Clouds on Your Side") prior to the recording of this album, and this plays a significant role in the songwriting on it. New keyboardist Jaani Peuhu clearly got the memo that atmosphere has always been a big part of Swallow the Sun's sound, and this is exemplified on tracks such as "Firelights", "The Crimson Crown", and "Here on the Black Earth", the former of which is one of their most sonically accessible listens.

When a Shadow is Forced into the Light is Swallow the Sun at their best: sonorous, sorrowful and melodic without crossing over and becoming their evil twins, saccharine and maudlin. It's a bit more stripped back than some of their previous albums, and more accessible as a result. A highly recommended starting point for those looking to get into Swallow the Sun.

Track listing

1. When a Shadow is Forced into the Light
2. The Crimson Crown
3. Firelights
4. Upon the Water
5. Stone Wings
6. Clouds on Your Side
7. Here on the Black Earth
8. Never Left

Motorpsycho - The Crucible

Artist: Motorpsycho
Album: The Crucible
Year: 2019
Rating: 87/100

Norwegian psych-rockers are one of those bands who seem to slip under the radar of most people, yet you hear their name mentioned frequently. Then, when you finally get around to listening to them, you wonder why (and, to a lesser extent, how) they have managed to stay under your radar for so long. Since forming in Trondheim in 1989, the trio have given us album after album of delightfully off-kilter psychedelic rock, and their twenty-third album (yes, twenty-three albums in a thirty year career. Impressive) The Crucible is a 41 minute long, three track magnum opus.

Opener "Psychotzar" is the shortest track of the album, clocking in at just shy of nine minutes, and it's a treat for the ears. Whenever Motorpsycho decide an idea needs to be changed up, they don't let it outstay its welcome and take the song on a completely different trajectory. It's a trick that has served them well for their entire career, and does so here. "Lux Aeterna" is slightly longer, starting with some intricate acoustic guitar before taking the listener on a journey of trumpets, mellotron, and countless other instruments before returning to the sonic starting point to close the song off. Finally, the title track is 21 minutes in length, but Motorpsycho do plenty to keep things interesting, not just with the instrumentation, but with the angular time signatures, too, giving it the edge of a track by instrumental titans Dysrhythmia, changing things up brilliantly without making it sound unnecessarily random.

On the strength of The Crucible, I'm stumped as to how I haven't paid Motorpsycho any significant attention before now. Considering they've been doing this sort of thing for thirty years now, and this is their 23rd album, they've got a strong track record of delivering excellent music, and this is an excellent album. A good starting point for anyone looking to investigate them further.

Track listing

1. Psychotzar
2. Lux Aeterna
3. The Crucible

Carnal Forge - Gun to Mouth Salvation

Artist: Carnal Forge
Album: Gun to Mouth Salvation
Year: 2019
Rating: 59/100

When the Swedish death metal explosion happened in the early 1990s, the wave upon wave of bands that left an indelible mark on the music scene there was simply huge. In Stockholm, there was Entombed, Dismember, Tiamat, Katatonia and Opeth; over on the west coast in Gothenburg, At the Gates, In Flames and Dark Tranquillity emerged. Down the road from Stockholm in Västerås, a death/thrash quintet called Carnal Forge (taken from the song by Carcass) gained recognition with albums such as Who's Gonna Burn and Aren't You Dead Yet?, then returned with a new line up and a first new album in twelve years, called Gun to Mouth Salvation.

Unlike their contemporaries, however, Carnal Forge have never been as innovative or as ground breaking. There's no doubt that they're solid enough musically, as the first two tracks from the album, "Parasites" and "Reforged" show, but by the time track three, "Aftermath" starts, it's hardly challenging to spot how their songwriting patterns work; formulaic "angry" growled vocals here, an otherwise good guitar solo here, drumming so stiff and wooden you'd get splinters in your ears if you endured an entire album of it, all wrapped up in some surprisingly glossy production.

I don't doubt there'll be a few people who will have missed Carnal Forge and what they brought to the table sonically, but I'm not one of them. In their time away, their peers and contemporaries have evolved into some of the biggest names in metal around the world, and in returning with a death/thrash metal by numbers damp squib, Carnal Forge are only going to see themselves get lost in the shuffle and left behind.

Track listing

1. Parasites
2. Reforged
3. Aftermath
4. Endless War
5. Bound in Flames
6. King Chaos
7. The Order
8. Hellride
9. State of Pain
10. Sin Feast Paradise
11. The Stench

Ithaca - The Language of Injury

Artist: Ithaca
Album: The Language of Injury
Year: 2019
Rating: 84/100

Holy Roar Records have been on something of a creative roll of late. They know a good band when they hear one, and that testament can be provided by them giving bands such as Boss Keloid, Conjurer and Employed to Serve (and that's just the tip of the iceberg) a home for their music, and now they can add metallic hardcore quintet Ithaca to that list. The Language of Injury is their first full length album, and as far as debut records go, it's a strong one.

"New Covenant" sets the tone tidily as the album's opener, with powerful, hard hitting drums clattering away against a backdrop of wonderfully discordant guitars and the feral roar of vocalist Djamila. However, it is the excellent "Impulse Crush" (for which the band made a video), "Gilt", "Secretspace", the title track and "Youth vs Wisdom" where it feels like Ithaca really come into their own. The discordant guitars are at the forefront again, and they're a treat. Djamila's roar is backed up in some cases by a soothing clean vocal, that on occasion feels like it's a bit too far back in the mix to really shine through. Similarly, the drums, while good, feel like they're a bit too far forward and almost overpower everything else. These are just minor points, however, and take nothing away from the overall quality of the album.

Ithaca have crafted a minor unorthodox gem with The Language of Injury. It remains to be seen where they will go from here, but with a little bit of time and development they'll be one of the best metallic hardcore bands UK shores will have seen for a while. Keep an eye out for them.

Track listing

1. New Covenant
2. Impulse Crush
3. Secretspace
4. Slow Negative Order
5. (No Translation)
6. The Language of Injury
7. CLSR
8. Youth vs. Wisdom
9. Gilt
10. Better Abuse

MONO - Nowhere, Now Here

Artist: MONO
Album: Nowhere, Now Here
Year: 2019
Rating: 95/100

Japanese post-rock band MONO have an innate knack for creating some of the most beautiful music I've ever laid my ears on. Their 2004 album Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined is a masterpiece comprising some utterly stunning soundscapes, such as "2 Candles, 1 Wish" and "A Thousand Paper Cranes", to name but two, and now, ten albums and twenty years into their career, it seems that knack hasn't eluded them even slightly on their new effort, Nowhere, Now Here.

The album opens with "God Bless", an ethereal, haunting number led by strings and trumpet, leading into the guitars of "After You Comes the Flood" just to set the tone perfectly. "Breathe" is a spooky, synth heavy number that's best not so much listened to as absorbed, with it being the only track on the album to feature any vocals of any kind. The title track is also a stand out, the first one of the album to clock in at longer than ten minutes, beginning with a sumptuous mix of clean tone guitars, trumpet and strings, beginning slowly, pulling back slightly, then exploding brilliantly into life where the listener least expects it to. Elsewhere, "Far and Further" is a low key blend of jangling guitars and strings, "Sorrow" is a beautiful melancholic slow burning eight minute epic, while closing track, "Vanishing, Vanishing Maybe" is a powerful soundscape to bring proceedings to an end.

I'm rarely stuck on finding words to describe how good an album honestly is, but "Nowhere, Now Here" is one I truly cannot recommend highly enough. This sumptuous beauty of an album is best listened to through headphones without distraction, as it seems to be the only real way to do it justice.

Track listing

1. God Bless
2. After You Comes the Flood
3. Breathe
4. Nowhere, Now Here
5. Far and Further
6. Sorrow
7. Parting
8. Meet Us Where the Night Ends
9. Funeral Song
10. Vanishing, Vanishing Maybe

Rival Sons - Feral Roots

Artist: Rival Sons
Album: Feral Roots
Year: 2019
Rating: 93/100

Well, bloody hell. Where do I start with this? Everyone seems to be acquainted with Rival Sons and their energetic, high octane brand of hard rock, only this time it seems to have been cranked up to 11, and unlike Greta Van Fleet, the LA quartet are absolutely the real deal. They've seemingly been on a creative roll since Great Western Valkyrie dropped in 2014, and album number five, Feral Roots, is their first album for Atlantic Records.

It doesn't feel like Rival Sons have elected to polish their sound to excess, which is an encouraging start. Opening track "Do Your Worst" is very much business as usual, with the taut rhythm section of Dave Beste and Mike Miley holding a steady groove down, while guitarist Scott Holiday makes his guitar squeal in a way that only he can against the soaring holler of Jay Buchanan's vocals. Elsewhere, the acoustic intros of "Look Away", "End of Forever" and the title track provide a welcome change of pace, while gospel-tinged closing number "Shooting Stars" winds things down perfectly.

While Feral Roots is certainly more accessible than its predecessor Hollow Bones was, that's something that works in its favour. This album feels very much like the album that would deservedly propel Rival Sons into rock's big leagues, and not a moment too soon, either. I can't recommend this highly enough.

Track listing

1. Do Your Worst
2. Sugar on the Bone
3. Back in the Woods
4. Look Away
5. Feral Roots
6. Too Bad
7. Stood By Me
8. Imperial Joy
9. All Directions
10. End of Forever
11. Shooting Stars

The Twilight Sad - It Won't Be Like This All the Time

Artist: The Twilight Sad
Album: It Won't Be Like This All the Time
Year: 2019
Rating: 88/100

It's been a little over a decade since Scottish shoegaze quintet The Twilight Sad first arrived on the scene with a sonic arsenal that both assaulted and delighted our ears. It Won't Be Like This All the Time is the fifth album in their canon, released on Rock Action Records, a label owned by legendary post-rockers Mogwai. So how does this one stack up?

Well, the album gets off to a strong start with the track "[10 Good Reasons For Modern Drugs]", a heavily layered wall of sound with some stop-start drumming, dense guitars and keyboards from Andy MacFarlane and Brendan Smith respectively, set against the backdrop of the plaintive, mournful vocals of James Graham. Elsewhere, the brightest spots include "VTr", with its strong Brian Eno influences shining through in the music, and lead off single "Videograms" closing the album in fine fashion. 

The Twilight Sad have carved out a reputation for being one of the loudest, most musically intense bands on the live stage, and It Won't Be Like This All the Time embodies this perfectly. The album is consistently strong and the songs are exquisitely crafted. A highly recommended listen.

Track listing

1. [10 Good Reasons For Modern Drugs]
2. Shooting Dennis Hopper Shooting
3. The Arbor
4. VTr
5. Sunday Day13
6. I/m Not Here [Missing Face]
7. Auge/Maschine
8. Keep it All to Myself
9. Girl Chewing Gum
10. Let/s Get Lost
11. Videograms

Soilwork - Verkligheten

Artist: Soilwork
Album: Verkligheten
Year: 2019
Rating: 76/100

With a long and illustrious career behind them now, Helsingborg melodic death metal stalwarts Soilwork gear up to give us their eleventh studio album, "Verkligheten" (in English: Reality). This also gives them the opportunity to announce new drummer Bastian Thusgaard, who replaced Dirk Verbeuren when he went to join Megadeth. So how does this one stack up?

The title track "Verkligheten" sets the tone for what comes before "Arrival" launches itself into life with a barrage of blastbeats, buzzsaw guitars and Björn "Speed" Strid's ability to switch between a mid pitch scream and his excellent clean tones. We get a few other gems among the standard Soilwork fare, like "Bleeder Despoiler", "The Nurturing Glance", and "Needles and Kin", featuring a solid guest growled vocal turn from Amorphis frontman Tomi Joutsen. Elsewhere, Arch Enemy frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz appears on "Stålfågel", one of the more interesting numbers on the album.

"Verkligheten" is a solid album on the whole, but it's not an album that will win Soilwork any new fans, unlike some of its more spectacular predecessors like "The Chainheart Machine" and "Natural Born Chaos", or even "The Living Infinite". However, it serves as a solid introduction to the band for new drummer Bastian Thusgaard, who can deliver some solid blastbeats as well as the slower numbers.

Track listing

1. Verkligheten (instrumental)
2. Arrival
3. Bleeder Despoiler
4. Full Moon Shoals
5. The Nurturing Glance
6. When the Universe Spoke
7. Stålfågel
8. The Wolves are Back in Town
9. Witan
10. The Ageless Whisper
11. Needles and Kin (featuring Tomi Joutsen)
12. You Aquiver (featuring Dave Sheldon)

John Garcia and the Band of Gold - John Garcia and the Band of Gold

Artist: John Garcia and the Band of Gold
Album: John Garcia and the Band of Gold
Year: 2019
Rating: 82/100

It's no secret that I've always been a fan of John Garcia's work since his days fronting Kyuss. From Kyuss, Slo Burn, Unida, Hermano and Vista Chino, to the Band of Gold, his distinctive trademark holler has been delighting the ears of stoner rock fans since 1991, and with the self titled effort from him and the Band of Gold, this is his third solo effort.

If there's one old adage that John Garcia seems to firmly believe, it's "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". More of the same is very much the order of the day: taut drumming, thunderous bass grooves that jolt the ears and buzzsaw guitars, topped off with Garcia's vocals, and it works a treat. "Jim's Whiskers" sets the tone of the album nicely, sounding not wholly different to something you'd have heard by Vista Chino or latter day Hermano. "Kentucky II" is a rollicking groover with a tidy opening riff and more of the same, as are "Lillianna" and "Apache Junction".

If there is a criticism of the album to be made, it's that the album won't gain a lot of traction outside of Garcia's and Kyuss's fan base. Those who know and love Kyuss, and Garcia, by extension, will doubtless find something to enjoy here. More of the same, but that's not a bad thing.

Track listing

1. Space Vato
2. Jim's Whiskers
3. Chicken Delight
4. Kentucky II
5. My Everything
6. Lillianna
7. Popcorn (Hit Me When You Can)
8. Apache Junction
9. Don't Even Think About It
10. Cheyletiella
11. Softer Side