There's no place in this year's Top 50 for excellent releases by Ductape, Twin Tribes, Traitrs, Gloom Wizzard, Funeral March of the Marionettes, Esses, Dark, Klammer, Aux Animaux, Vision of the Void, Esses, Who Saw Her Die? and many other deserving projects who have released impressive new music in 2021, such is the breadth and depth of the current goth/post-punk scene. As we reach the middle of the countdown, the focus generally changes from one-off tracks to quality full album releases for the projects featured.
30 Noktva - In Deep
Italian band Noktva released one of the most talked-about LPs of the autumn, Like Seven Forgotten Tales, released on Batcave records, with its full-on goth sound with post-punk tinges. In Deep was a driving brooding delight built around a searing guitar drone that added shoegaze vibes to an overall impressive package.
29 Deliverance - The Danger
Mexico is widely acknowledged as the current world capital of traditional goth rock, with Deliverance MX right at the heart of the movement there. Deliverance's brooding, atmospheric guitar-driven rock on 2021 album A S T R A L features well-crafted songs by Rul Delirio, enhanced on The Danger by the melodic playing of guest guitarist Zac Campbell of The Kentucky Vampires.
28 Anne Marie - Into The Light
Fans of slower, more ethereal gothic balladry will love the mellow debut album by Anne Marie on Swiss Dark Nights. Key track Into The Light's shimmering gossamer guitar strands are reminiscent of vintage Cocteau Twins and form the perfect backing for Anne Marie's warm but distantly echoing vocal.
27 Chronic Twilight - Paradime
Michael Louis' Chronic Twilight project expanded to a duo in 2021 with the addition of vocalist Kyle Andrew for third album Deadlight, with immediately positive results, as can be heard on Paradime, driven as ever by Louis' bass-driven sound, with on this occasion some impressively unpredictable chord changes on a track which is the exception to the straighter goth rock available elsewhere on the album.
26 Future Faces - Halcyon
Swiss band Future Faces followed up the promise of their debut darkwave EP three years ago with inventive and impressively polished debut album Euphoria, which explored broad beat-driven yet intense cinematographic soundscapes, as on Halcyon, which is reminiscent of mid-period Whispering Sons with its insistent backing but with a distant, plaintive male vocal.
25 Sang Froid - Death Came To Me
After a well-received debut EP released at the very start of the year, melancholy French post-punkers Sang Froid returned with the strongly melodic Death Came to Me in October, trailing their forthcoming debut LP in the new year. Death Came To Me builds atmospherically over a solid driving beat and showcases developments in the depth of the band's sound since the earlier EP.
24 Dreamscape - Dreamscape
A one-off track released in aid of charity by the duo of former Sometime The Wolf singer Drew Freeman and Westenra's bassist Dominique, Dreamscape was a wonderfully Nephilimistic treat, with Freeman's instantly recognisable growl dominating a suitably epic slow-burning piece of bombast which built carefully to a multi-layered chorus reminiscent of the Nephs in their early 90's prime.
23 Life Cult - Apparition
More FOTN influenced magick, this time from Australia on Life Cult's debut EP. Apparition chugs along beautifully with an understated crooned vocal over a Lucretia-esque bassline and reverberated arpeggio guitar lines.
22 The Black Capes - The Bride of Frankenstein
Greek trad goth rock The Black Capes did nothing to dispel their trope-filled cartoonish take on the genre with this track recorded for the soundtrack of a horror film remake in their homeland. Alex S Wamp's wonderfully lugubrious de profundis vocal is perfectly offset by some spooky guitar riffs and chilling b-movie bell motifs, with a new album promised for 2022.
21 Nox Novacula - Ascension
US melodic deathrock act Nox Novacula garnered great reviews for their Ascension album, with strong melodies, a powerful, slightly folky (at times) female vocal and some great guitar work very much to the fore on this, the title track, which was typical of the overall sound of a very strong album.
No comments:
Post a Comment