But perhaps a continuation, even a retrospective, of the sounds that have made Katatonia great. Nevertheless, there’s definitely an argument to be made that Sky Void of Stars helms closer to the sounds that made the band a household name in the progressive metal world than their last offering. So viewing Sky Void of Stars as a return to form feels inaccurate to me, as in my humble estimation there isn’t any form that Katatonia have lost and returned to. Coming off a career high in The Fall of Hearts, it felt like a somber, exploratory breath of fresh air from a band still capable of surprising and delighting. In a weirdly controversial stance, I’m one of those folks who adored City Burials. Calder Dougherty Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars (Prog Metal) Between eschewing the standard cavernous dissodeath cacophony for a more straightforward tech metal tone and an airier production à la Cynic, Anachronism have crafted an extreme album that is as infinitely replayable as it is labyrinthine. In a weird way, this is perhaps the most relaxing dissodeath album I’ve ever heard. There are even nods to acts like The Contortionist on tracks like “Prism”, an Exoplanet B-side if I’ve ever heard one. There are plenty of moments that channel the near-absurdity of acts like Behold… The Arctopus that crest and break into gorgeous pools of melody, scintillating mirages in a desert of dissonance. The tracks undulate endlessly, thanks in no small part to the heavy basswork and technical angularity of Anachronism’s approach. The album itself operates in much the same way creepy, teetering atonal riffs dissect the listener from reality before launching them heavenward through soaring galactic leads that inspire awe as much as terror throughout much of the record. In yet another example of artist Adam Burke nailing the essence of an album’s contents, Meanders’ cover depicts a tributary flowing through a blasted lunar landscape, its cool neutrals invoking a sense of reflective mysticism and life among death as much as unknowable cosmic desolation. Enter Switzerland’s Anachronism, whose aptly titled new album Meanders takes its listeners on a sonic sojourn the likes of which only Ulcerate and Gorguts could even fathom. Between its increasing prevalence in progressive, avante-garde circles and the general quality of albums being released, it couldn’t be a better time to dive in. It should be no surprise to our readers that I’ve been on a heavy dissodeath kick for a while now. EK Anachronism - Meanders (progressive death metal, technical dissodeath) And so, for the first time this year, let us move on to our excellent selections. From crushing, dissonant death metal, through melancholic progressive rock, and all the way to expansive, heart-bursting black metal, January and February's vintage (OK, we cheated a bit and included some early March releases in there), has been especially fine. Good thing we have plenty of that for you right here, as 2023 wastes absolutely zero time on getting great music out of the door. Well, hello there! Welcome to the first "proper" Editors' Picks of 2023! As always, we took a little break for the first two months of the year, letting a monstrous amount of music pile up which didn't stress us out at all, no sir! But, as I've said on the blog many times before, taking breaks is important and it's how we're still doing this thing! By the way, this year marks ten years (in December) that I've been writing/running the blog! That's not crazy at all and definitely doesn't make me feel the march of time breathing down my neck! Everything is fine! In fact, every is so fine, that I would like to listen to a metric ton of music so I can drawn out the voices in my head whispering to me of my own ensuing demise.
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