The Nicsperiment's Top Nine Albums of 2021
There's been a flaw in my yearly "Favorite Albums" lists. The problem is that I've let in certain albums that don't belong. Those albums have had one or two tracks that I've loved so much, I've glossed over the fact that I don't really love the remaining songs. Not this year. This year, I've made a new rule, and gone back to my original "Top Nine" format. This year, I've made sure that the only albums I've included are ones I've constantly found myself listening to from front-to-back since they were released, and will likely continue to listen to from front-to-back in the years ahead. Hundreds of thousands of albums were released this year...of those I've only heard several hundred...and of those, here are my Top Nine.
9. Failure -- Wild Type Droid
Failure are best known for the 70-minutes of grungy space rock found on their 1996 artistic (though not quite commercial) breakthrough, Fantastic Planet. Three albums, yet 25-years later, Failure's excellent Wild Type Droid cuts out any filler, and is most definitely all killer, ten tracks of rocking bliss. That unique, deeply pitched, unpredictable identity is still here, but I love the earthy, organic quality of this 40-minute album. According to the band, these ten diverse and emotive tracks were born from jam sessions, yet somehow, despite these origins, not one wastes a second, from start to incredibly cathartic finish.
8. Spiritbox -- Eternal Blue
On Spiritbox's debut full-length, Eternal Blue, the band play a form of streamlined, djent-influenced metal, which seems tailor-made to complement Courtney LaPlante's alternatingly soaring and brutal vocals. The magic here comes in the way LaPlante is successfully able to drop a memorable, yet non-cloying pop hook into one song, then menacingly scream her head off in the next (or in the same song) with seamless authenticity. This music feels legit, and not like any label-mandated product, which is apt considering this band have been independent from the first note. The result is an album with virtually infinite replayability, a rarity in a genre full of cookie-cutter, interchangeable acts.
7. Chevelle -- Niratias
Speaking of authenticity, as Chevelle began their career in the late 90's, their music was often derided as mere Tool and Deftones worship. However, the band quickly carved out a unique hard rock musical identity of their own, and they've held true to that over the last 20 years. Niratias features an avalanche of crunchy riffs and headbanging grooves, coupled with the maturity of a time-tested band who know their strengths, but aren't afraid to stretch their legs a little. Meanwhile, Pete Loeffler's melodic and sometimes purposely not-so-melodic vocals are still emotive as ever. I hope Chevelle keep cranking out these albums for as long as they can hold guitars and drumsticks. I'll be listening.
6. White Moth Black Butterfly -- The Cost of Dreaming
My first The Cost of Dreaming listen was a bit of a disappointment. The prog-pop group seemed to have left behind most of the medieval textures and progressive rock leanings of their debut for an increased usage of electronics. However, it's counterintuitive to judge something by what it isn't. You have to judge things by what they are, and since that first listen, I haven't stopped listening to this addictive album. Daniel Tompkins and Jordan Bethany's vocals still work so well together, and despite the change in instrumentation, the songwriting here is just as strong. The organic instrumentation isn't gone, either, just utilized differently, from piano, to electric guitar, to classical strings, amongst many others. The Cost of Dreaming, which lyrically explores all aspects of its title, is ear candy, and despite my initial disappointment, I've now listened to it MORE than I have the band's first album.
5. Between the Buried and Me -- Colors II
Between the Buried and Me's 2007 progressive metal album, Colors, is a landmark of the genre, featuring lengthy, invigorating, genre-jumping songs, and lyrical content evocative of the struggle of human existence that's just vague enough for the listener to attach their own meaning. The band have released a lot of music since, and while I've enjoyed a lot of that material, I've always yearned for Between the Buried and Me to take another shot at that musically diverse and epic Colors style. 14 years after the original, enter Colors II, which finds the band exploring those sounds and feelings again in way that honors its predecessor (in some very cool ways!), yet manages to forge its own unique, very 2021 path. With that said, I've found Colors II to be just as lasting an experience as the original, and I've lost count of just how many times I've listened, dissecting each insanely skilled musicians' performance, each genre and movement change. I just can't get enough. Colors II is brilliant.
4. Weezer -- OK Human
By now, it's clear that Weezer frontman, Rivers Cuomo, is a restless creative. Over the last 27 years, no two Weezer albums have sounded the same. The band's 14th album, OK Human, finds them ditching traditional rock for an orchestral pop sound, with Cuomo on the piano and singing along with an orchestra, as the three other members make fitting contributions with their instruments. On paper, this album should not work, but on record, OK Human is sublime, featuring some of the band's greatest songwriting, brilliant arrangements, and an ornate, yet intimate sound across 30 cohesive minutes. Invoking visions of a sun-drenched parlor blessed with dense greenery and intricate carpeting, with lyrics centering around unplugging, OK Human may be Weezer's most satisfying and comforting work.
3. Emma Ruth Rundle -- Engine of Hell
I thought I was going to make it through the entirety of 2021 without experiencing a depressive period. However, by mid-autumn, that old feeling, or rather, lack of feeling returned to pay a visit. Thankfully, I had a musical companion in the darkness. Emma Ruth Rundle wrote and recorded Engine of Hell under heavy mental duress, but has created a stark and sparse album that nevertheless feels like an old friend. The majority of this music is just Ruth's voice and a piano or acoustic guitar, with a small handful of visits from some light strings. Albums like this can either be overbearingly heavy, or fall prey to the repetitive qualities minimalism can bring, but Rundle's songwriting and compositions here are brilliant, with poetic, brutally honest, and self-reflective lyrics feeling like faint lights strung around skeletal limbs. Just beautiful.
2. Converge and Chelsea Wolfe -- Bloodmoon: I
While I love Converge's relentless musical brutality, I've often found myself hitting repeat on their slower, more melodically and instrumentally diverse tracks, like "Cruel Bloom" and "Wretched World." Apparently, that's a point of interest for the band, as well, as Bloodmoon: I sees them teaming up with gothic rocker, Chelsea Wolfe, and Cave In's Stephen Brodsky to create an album full of massive, epic, ground-shaking, doom-filled, gothic metal tracks. The collaborators fit miraculously together here, creating dark, haunting, and ancient sounding music, as the monstrous bellow of Converge frontman, Jacob Bannon, fits perfectly next to the spectral wail of Wolfe. This is a special album.
1. Zao -- The Crimson Corridor
Metal pioneers, Zao, have been at it for nearly 30 years, consistently proving they are nowhere past their peak. The Crimson Corridor finds the band experimenting with doomier and more progressive textures and elements, with three songs cracking the five-minute mark, and the finale cracking ten. Zao have been known for introducing unexpected, yet welcome elements like this into the so-called metalcore sound they pioneered, but The Crimson Corridor might be the greatest example yet of how far this band can stretch their legs. This album is absolutely terrifying, gliding through its halls of horror on crushing waves of violence, suddenly turning down dark and winding, meditative instrumental passages that feel as old as the moon. Meanwhile, Dan Weyandt's dark poetry (this time focused on the bleakest corridors of the mind) continues to impress, just as much as his harsh and guttural vocals erupt like Old Faithful. I never thought the band would be able to top their late 90's/early 00's work, but it's tough to argue that The Crimson Corridor isn't the best album they've ever released
* * *
9. Failure -- Wild Type Droid
Failure are best known for the 70-minutes of grungy space rock found on their 1996 artistic (though not quite commercial) breakthrough, Fantastic Planet. Three albums, yet 25-years later, Failure's excellent Wild Type Droid cuts out any filler, and is most definitely all killer, ten tracks of rocking bliss. That unique, deeply pitched, unpredictable identity is still here, but I love the earthy, organic quality of this 40-minute album. According to the band, these ten diverse and emotive tracks were born from jam sessions, yet somehow, despite these origins, not one wastes a second, from start to incredibly cathartic finish.
8. Spiritbox -- Eternal Blue
On Spiritbox's debut full-length, Eternal Blue, the band play a form of streamlined, djent-influenced metal, which seems tailor-made to complement Courtney LaPlante's alternatingly soaring and brutal vocals. The magic here comes in the way LaPlante is successfully able to drop a memorable, yet non-cloying pop hook into one song, then menacingly scream her head off in the next (or in the same song) with seamless authenticity. This music feels legit, and not like any label-mandated product, which is apt considering this band have been independent from the first note. The result is an album with virtually infinite replayability, a rarity in a genre full of cookie-cutter, interchangeable acts.
7. Chevelle -- Niratias
Speaking of authenticity, as Chevelle began their career in the late 90's, their music was often derided as mere Tool and Deftones worship. However, the band quickly carved out a unique hard rock musical identity of their own, and they've held true to that over the last 20 years. Niratias features an avalanche of crunchy riffs and headbanging grooves, coupled with the maturity of a time-tested band who know their strengths, but aren't afraid to stretch their legs a little. Meanwhile, Pete Loeffler's melodic and sometimes purposely not-so-melodic vocals are still emotive as ever. I hope Chevelle keep cranking out these albums for as long as they can hold guitars and drumsticks. I'll be listening.
6. White Moth Black Butterfly -- The Cost of Dreaming
My first The Cost of Dreaming listen was a bit of a disappointment. The prog-pop group seemed to have left behind most of the medieval textures and progressive rock leanings of their debut for an increased usage of electronics. However, it's counterintuitive to judge something by what it isn't. You have to judge things by what they are, and since that first listen, I haven't stopped listening to this addictive album. Daniel Tompkins and Jordan Bethany's vocals still work so well together, and despite the change in instrumentation, the songwriting here is just as strong. The organic instrumentation isn't gone, either, just utilized differently, from piano, to electric guitar, to classical strings, amongst many others. The Cost of Dreaming, which lyrically explores all aspects of its title, is ear candy, and despite my initial disappointment, I've now listened to it MORE than I have the band's first album.
5. Between the Buried and Me -- Colors II
Between the Buried and Me's 2007 progressive metal album, Colors, is a landmark of the genre, featuring lengthy, invigorating, genre-jumping songs, and lyrical content evocative of the struggle of human existence that's just vague enough for the listener to attach their own meaning. The band have released a lot of music since, and while I've enjoyed a lot of that material, I've always yearned for Between the Buried and Me to take another shot at that musically diverse and epic Colors style. 14 years after the original, enter Colors II, which finds the band exploring those sounds and feelings again in way that honors its predecessor (in some very cool ways!), yet manages to forge its own unique, very 2021 path. With that said, I've found Colors II to be just as lasting an experience as the original, and I've lost count of just how many times I've listened, dissecting each insanely skilled musicians' performance, each genre and movement change. I just can't get enough. Colors II is brilliant.
4. Weezer -- OK Human
By now, it's clear that Weezer frontman, Rivers Cuomo, is a restless creative. Over the last 27 years, no two Weezer albums have sounded the same. The band's 14th album, OK Human, finds them ditching traditional rock for an orchestral pop sound, with Cuomo on the piano and singing along with an orchestra, as the three other members make fitting contributions with their instruments. On paper, this album should not work, but on record, OK Human is sublime, featuring some of the band's greatest songwriting, brilliant arrangements, and an ornate, yet intimate sound across 30 cohesive minutes. Invoking visions of a sun-drenched parlor blessed with dense greenery and intricate carpeting, with lyrics centering around unplugging, OK Human may be Weezer's most satisfying and comforting work.
3. Emma Ruth Rundle -- Engine of Hell
I thought I was going to make it through the entirety of 2021 without experiencing a depressive period. However, by mid-autumn, that old feeling, or rather, lack of feeling returned to pay a visit. Thankfully, I had a musical companion in the darkness. Emma Ruth Rundle wrote and recorded Engine of Hell under heavy mental duress, but has created a stark and sparse album that nevertheless feels like an old friend. The majority of this music is just Ruth's voice and a piano or acoustic guitar, with a small handful of visits from some light strings. Albums like this can either be overbearingly heavy, or fall prey to the repetitive qualities minimalism can bring, but Rundle's songwriting and compositions here are brilliant, with poetic, brutally honest, and self-reflective lyrics feeling like faint lights strung around skeletal limbs. Just beautiful.
2. Converge and Chelsea Wolfe -- Bloodmoon: I
While I love Converge's relentless musical brutality, I've often found myself hitting repeat on their slower, more melodically and instrumentally diverse tracks, like "Cruel Bloom" and "Wretched World." Apparently, that's a point of interest for the band, as well, as Bloodmoon: I sees them teaming up with gothic rocker, Chelsea Wolfe, and Cave In's Stephen Brodsky to create an album full of massive, epic, ground-shaking, doom-filled, gothic metal tracks. The collaborators fit miraculously together here, creating dark, haunting, and ancient sounding music, as the monstrous bellow of Converge frontman, Jacob Bannon, fits perfectly next to the spectral wail of Wolfe. This is a special album.
1. Zao -- The Crimson Corridor
Metal pioneers, Zao, have been at it for nearly 30 years, consistently proving they are nowhere past their peak. The Crimson Corridor finds the band experimenting with doomier and more progressive textures and elements, with three songs cracking the five-minute mark, and the finale cracking ten. Zao have been known for introducing unexpected, yet welcome elements like this into the so-called metalcore sound they pioneered, but The Crimson Corridor might be the greatest example yet of how far this band can stretch their legs. This album is absolutely terrifying, gliding through its halls of horror on crushing waves of violence, suddenly turning down dark and winding, meditative instrumental passages that feel as old as the moon. Meanwhile, Dan Weyandt's dark poetry (this time focused on the bleakest corridors of the mind) continues to impress, just as much as his harsh and guttural vocals erupt like Old Faithful. I never thought the band would be able to top their late 90's/early 00's work, but it's tough to argue that The Crimson Corridor isn't the best album they've ever released
Comments
I came across this (old) song recently and thought you might appreciate it. It's crude at times, but overall, I find its lyrics to be very clever. No harm done if you're not interested though. ;)
https://youtu.be/o6AShxoqK9Q
I'm not generally much of a Say Anything fan, but that song is hilarious! I don't know when it was released, but it's still timely.