Year of No Light – Tocsin

Review Coming Soon

   

tags: black metal metal post-black post-metal post-rock

Foofer’s Top Picks of 2013

 Welcome to Staff Picks week here at Postrockstar! This week our writers will be going over their favorite albums of 2013.

Please click the album art to go to the artist’s Bandcamp/Website/Facebook/etc .

Set & Setting – Equanimity

“Easily my album of the year. Not a single note out of place, not a single song that doesn’t make you want more. It’s almost as if This Will Destroy You and Pelican had a child, and hired Mono as its nanny.”

Cloudkicker – Subsume

“There isn’t much to say about this that others haven’t. It knocks you off your feet and kicks you while you’re down, but he means it in the nicest way possible.”

Russian Circles – Memorial

“Less of a heavy hitter and more of a technical success, it still maintains the intensity of previous Russian Circles albums. After listening to Empros so many times, I felt that this was the right direction for them to take.”

The Shaking Sensations – Start Stop Worrying

“Six wonderful pieces of art, bookended by 10-minute epics. Everything about this albums just feels so right, it just feels no organic and natural. Even vegans would love this stuff.”

Nathaniel Noton-Freeman – Seabirds

“Criminally underrated experimental/acoustic post-rock, Nathaniel Noton-Freeman make some of the most beautiful sounds you’ll ever hear. The perfect soundtrack to a friend guiding you through the forest by hand. His music will never cease to be a source of inspiration, and a cause for relaxation.”

Lavinia – Take Shelter EP

“It’s only two songs, but what a great two songs they are. ‘New Blood’ is one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time. It makes me very excited for their upcoming full length album.”

Owel – self-titled

“When everyone was listening to The World Is A Beautiful Place And I’m No Longer Afraid To Die’s ‘Whenever, if Ever’ I was listening to Owel. With less math and more dreaming, it’s a wonderful alternative for when you tire of ridiculously long band names.”

Intronaut – Habitual Levitations (Instilling words with tones)

“Intronaut’s come a long way since their first album. With each release, they’ve strayed farther from hardcore metal, and drifted closer to stoner metal. This is the culmination of their journey, and it is glorious.”

Hannibal Montana – 28-20 EP

“These twenty minutes of musical excellence are far too fleeting. From the progressive jazz, to the reggae overtones, to the sheer noise, it’s all so perfect in every way. I was released in late December, but it made a big enough impact with me to be on this list. I think their upcoming album will be one for the ages.”

Deafheaven – Sunbather

“In my opinion, this is what post-rock is meant to be like; Listening to two seperate post-rock albums means something wildly different now than it did in its early years. This isn’t a plethora of twinkly guitars and prolonged crescendos, it’s varied and diverse. This is what I want to see more of in 2014.”

 

Biggest personal disappointment: Explosions In The Sky & David Wingo’s “Prince Avalanche” OST.

“That Indie Drone attempt was beyond annoying.”

 

Honorable mentions:

Pelican – Forever Becoming

Degree of Arc – Halls In Hospitals

Lights And Motion – Reanimation

Mooncake – Zaris

The Octopus Project – Fever Forms

She Dreamt She Was Alone In An Empty Field (I Will Be Okay) – I Will Be Okay EP

The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die – Whenever, If Ever

Caspian – Hymn For The Greatest Generation EP

Geodesics – Self-titled EP

Ohne-ka And The Burning River – Where The Real Wind Blows