TONEwood's Top 10 Albums of 2019

While preparing the write-up for my top 10 albums of 2019, I realised that most of the albums I had listened to only really felt like top 10 material because, as a whole, I haven't felt very strongly about many releases this year.

I had looked forward to the new albums by Tinariwen, The Budos Band, Death Hawks, Lord Gore, Power Glove, Black Mountain, Grand Magus, and more. But they all sounded aggressively "okay" to my ears.

So, rather than doing an elaborate triple-entendre of top 10 metal and top 10 non-metal albums and runner-ups like I normally would, I ended up deciding on a more concise 10 album format with 5 runner-ups.

TONEwood's Top 10 Non-Metal Albums of 2018

On a personal level 2018 has been one of the more stressful ones in recent memory for me, with the birth of my first child ranking as probably the biggest change in my life. The way your priorities change has definitely made it harder to find the time to delve into new music. Even so, I've managed to listen to hundreds of new tracks in 2018 - though my year-end list does definitely lean heavily toward bands and groups I was already acquainted with, and albums that released before I became a parent.

Fedrespor: "Tid"

Through experimentation, Tid leaps into uncertainty with great success

With norse-themed folk I've come to except the likes of Wardruna, who seem obsessed - at least from a laymans point of view - with quote unquote authenticity and historical accuracy in their instrumentation. With the popularity of the soundtrack of the Vikings series, that style has in its own niche become almost commonplace, altough precious few do it well.

Botanist: "Collective: The Shape of He to Come"

Difficult to enjoy, but more than just haphazardly composed black metal

Not being familiar with the works of Botanist, you'll have to excuse me for expecting something a bit different than what Collective: The Shape of He to Come is. In a way you could easily argue that the cover for this 2017 album is indeed very fitting of the obscure, yet oddly naturalistic sounds found on the disc. Whatever it was I originally had thought this album would sound like, that notion was blown to bits and pieces.

Nebulosa: "Crepuscular Battle in a Distant Woodland Town"

Naturalistic synths and unusual folk

Nebulosa welcomes you to an abstract fantasy universe with his latest offering. In this universe he calls upon a simple and bare-bone set of instruments to conjure up an image of this world with an instrumentation that feels desolate, windy and lonesome, yet strangely ominous, brooding and imposing

Homegas: "Homegas"

American country folk for those willing to listen

Homegas is one of those gems that you just come randombly across once in a while. And like so often before, it of course comes at a kind of steep price if you want it physically, and you just might have to get the vinyl if you want to legitimately listen to the album as it's not present on any streaming sites.

H.P. Lovecraft: "I-II"

Highly overlooked band from one of the most exciting eras in music

It was far from horrific or esoteric when H.P. Lovecraft, the American rock band named after the famed weird horror author of the same name, rode the wave of psychedelia in the late 1960s in the US. Created partly by folk singer George Edwards, H.P. Lovecraft's only two true albums (a few others were later released under Lovecraft and Love Craft without Edwards) feels a bit more backwards-reaching than similar contemporary bands.

Kimi Kärki: "Eye for an Eye"

Partially derivative, but much more so coloured through by his own style and aesthetic

Kimi Kärki should be known to most fans of doom metal as the lead guitarist of Reverend Bizarre and Lord Vicar. But he's a man of many talents, as his lengthy career would suggest; He's also involved in progressive rock outfit Orne, psychonauts Uhrijuhla and Berliner Schule-revivalists E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr. Furthermore, he's quite adept as a classic folk guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, as evident on both his solo debut, The Bone of My Bones, and now on his sophomore effort, Eye for an Eye.

The Handsome Family: "Unseen"

In the absence of excellence, Unseen becomes almost ordinary

By 2016 the songwriting duo The Handsome Family have built quite a following on the merit of several albums. Their latest album, Unseen, doesn't seem to be about elaborating on their sound, and this shouldn't come as a surprise or even a prerequisite for a new Handsome Family album. Few do the style that the duo have hunkered down in better than they do, and so they keep it simple by staying within their comfort zone.

John Garcia: "The Coyote Who Spoke In Tongues"

Better stick with Kyuss and Vista Chino

If you're even superficially interested in stoner rock, you should know who John Garcia is. He is the legendary voice of stoner rock, having lent his gruff singing to the likes of Kyuss, Unida, Slo Burn, Hermano and Vista Chino over the course of his 30 year career.

2016 Top 10 - Part II: The Non-Metal Part

Here is the second Top 10 for 2016 - The non-metal part. Again, there has been several worthy contenders, and some must be left out. After all, there's not much sense in the end of the year list if you're not forced to make some choices. And in 2016, these choices are as follows:

Anno Domini: "On This New Day"

Progressive folk rock for fans of the hard-to-find

Anno Domini are a well kept secret of the Irish 70s rock scene. The quartet only ever amounted to one LP and a single in '71 in the usual semi-progressive, folky, half-psychedelic sound of the early part of the decade. Fetching hundreds of Euros the two original pressings (on Deram in the UK and Polydor in Germany) are probably too rich for any but the hardest core of collectors. Should this be the case, South Korean label Wohn Records did a reissue in 2010 faithful to the original Deram pressing.

Nicola Cruz: "Prender El Alma"

The ethnotronic El Dorado the world has been waiting for

Ecuadorian musician Nicola Cruz' musical upbringing in both Western and traditional folkloric tunes serves him very well on his first full length record, Prender El Alma. Though he started out as a percussionist before becoming the electronic music producer and DJ that he is today, his music is still tightly bound to flexible rhythmics. Cruz testified that his ambition for the album was to be a direct result of his many years of musical exploration, and in that I would say he succeeds.

Xasthur: "Parole Fearing"

A legend returns in a new guise

Xasthur shouldn't need much of an introduction to fans of black metal. Created originally in 1995 by Scott "Malefic" Conner, the entity was a cornerstone of American black metal until he ceased the project in 2010. In 2012 Conner started Nocturnal Poisoning, an acoustic folk project with stripped down aesthetics, vocalless and not always accompanied by rhythm instrumentation or percussion.

Though not an actual continuation of the depressive tunes of his former project, the melodies in many ways felt akin to those of Xasthur. In 2015 Conner announced that he would be performing Nocturnal Poisoning material under the Xasthur name, and on April 29th 2016, a new song surfaced.

Bombino: "Azel"

Another wide-brushed stroke of rocking desert tunes from the Tuareg darling

As a bluesy sandstorm of Tuareg folk rock sweaps across the land in the form of bands like Terakaft, Tinariwen and Tamikrest, few bands stand out like Bombino. The style has become synonymous with the virtually untapped and largely ignored potential of the African music scene, with Grammy-award winning group Tinariwen being the prime example. Bombino, however, didn't exactly go by unnoticed when his first internationally released album Agadez came out in 2011. Attracting the attention of, among many others, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys fame, it culminated in the 2013 album Nomad which Auerbach himself produced. Through Nonesuch Records the album received incredible reviews from international critics and fans alike. Now Bombino, also known by his common name Goumar Almoctar - or Omara Moctar, returns with Azel.

Messenger: "Illusory Blues"

Highly recommendable variety in murky depths

Messenger from the UK may not have the most original of band names, but the trio played as warm-up on Katatonia's acoustic tour in England and comes recommended by none other than Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg of Ulver fame. Credentials like that aren't easy to come by, and with Messenger they seem very well deserved.

Den Sorte Skole: "Indians & Cowboys"

Den Sorte Skole stand out through the complete dedication to their craft - This is REAL DJ'ing!

Every so often an act pops up that is so tenacious, different and well-crafted that you can do nothing more than stare in awe at what you've come across. Den Sorte Skole from Denmark are one such act, and though they've only been around in this incarnation since 2004, their legacy is already mindblowing. They started out as pioneers of Danish mash-up DJ'ing, captivating audiences with unlikely combinations, but ultimately evolved into the form we see before us today: The duo that sample their way through the history of music.