..different. The resulting mix of technical death metal and sample-heavy glitch electronica is as catchy as it is weird, and the cover of The Police’s ‘Synchronicity II’ (here labeled ‘Synchronicity Too’) sounds like Devin Townsend on mushrooms. This was one of my biggest surprises of the year.

...crushing metal riffs with all manner of electronic oddness to create something original and unique.

Neural Glitch, on the other hand, is a relatively new band, with Convinced To Obey standing as the project’s debut, and while it shares a lot of DNA with Igorrr, the end result is fascinatingly..

...weeks as of this writing, it's simply too new to have made enough of an impact. Igorrr’s Amen, on the other hand, made a significant impact over the back half of this year. Amen is very much in line with Igorrr's last couple albums (which is to say his Metal Blade Records releases), mixing...

...Ourselves In The Dark’ and ‘Beautifully Human’. It may not be their best work, but it's still better than a lot of what was released this year, and it's definitely proven to have more staying power than I would have initially guessed.

...recent ranking of the BTBAM discography I did on Bluesky it only made it up to number 7. Still, that's more a testament to how much I like the band's other work. The Blue Nowhere feels a little more disjointed than other albums, but it's got some excellent songs, like ‘Things We Tell...

...their take on Gothenburg melodeath is outstanding. It's modern-sounding, but it's rooted in the classic origins of the style, and the result is exemplary.

...between Dummer and Älvestam called Stillborn Fate, which I'm looking forward to.

As for The Halo Effect, they're a band entirely comprised of former members of In Flames (from various points in that band’s career) spearheaded by Dark Tranquillity frontman Mikael Stanne, and as you'd expect...

Buried Realm, the solo project of Josh Dummer, always features eyebrow-raising guest stars, but The Dormant Darkness took this to the next level with multi-song contributions from Bjorn “Speed” Strid and Christian Älvestam, among others. The latter actually led to an upcoming full-on collaboration..

One of the great all-time punk albums.

...really reminded me of the late, great Black Fast, thanks to an emphasis on great fucking riffs. Leave The Light Behind has those in spades.

The Last Argument Of Kings by Joe Abercrombie. Or something by Chuck Tingle.

...or Queen Of Time, but it's Amorphis, and that means it's pretty damn good.

...about Borderland is going to be largely influenced on how you feel about modern Amorphis, as it doesn't really offer anything new to the formula, but I'm a fan of the band's output, and Borderland is solid. It doesn't quite reach the highs of some of their recent albums like Under The Red Cloud..