Chicago experimental-metal quartet Murmur’s “Zeta II Reticuli” comprises fuzzy, black-metal menace and obvious punk-rock energy, but toward the end of this seven-minute track, it veers into a caterwauling assault of computer-generated weirdness.
Saving the best for last, we’ve chosen our 51 favorite albums of 2013, pulled from the acclaimed and the unsung — some of the best as well as most boundary-pushing releases from rock and beyond.
Chaostar: Anomima (Season of Mist, 5/28/13)
“Truth Will Prevail”
Opera and experimentation come together in Chaostar, a project whose impetus was Septicflesh guitarist Christos Antoniou’s desire to use a more “classical approach.” With his background in composition, the group released four orchestral albums before a hiatus in 2008. Returning, it started work on an operatic concept album built around the myth of Medea. Though it has since evolved, Anomima has kept that scope intact.
KEN Mode: Entrench (Season of Mist, 3/19/13)
“Counter-Culture Complex”
KEN Mode: “Counter-Culture Complex”
If you’ve picked up Entrench, the latest from Canadian sludge-core band KEN Mode, you likely noticed the artwork — featuring an amorphous creature made of tentacles, bones, and bubbling muck strolling through the dark with a tiny catlike figure perched atop it. This deceptively large piece, Cloudghoultrillghost, is the work of sculptor Ben Bonner, who was asked to lend it for cover photos. We talked to Ben about his creative process, the story behind the sculpture, and how humor and darkness go hand in hand.
Last month ALARM presented its 50 favorite albums of 2012, an eclectic, rock-heavy selection of discs that were in steady rotation in our downtown-Chicago premises. Now, to give some love to tunes that were left out, we have our 50 (+5) favorite songs of last year — singles, B-sides, EP standouts, soundtrack cuts, and more.
French metalcore quartet Vera Cruz makes its mosh-inducing US debut next week, and with it comes “Black Walls,” the album’s most unexpected twist.
The Casualties: Resistance (Season of Mist, 9/25/12)
“My Blood. My Life. Always Forward.”
The Casualties: “My Blood. My Life. Always Forward.”
Twenty years since its first EP, iconic NYC punk quartet The Casualties makes another incensed return with Resistance, its ninth full-length album and first for European metal giant Season of Mist.
