Favorite Albums of 2019

[SM Rollinger]

Really? I know we love our lists here and NOBODY has started one for this yet?

Ok I'm tied for my favorite this year...

Malibu Ken - s/t
Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind

Both of these albums push the boundaries, I haven't heard much Tobacco, but I'm a huge Aesop Rock fan. This album is just as good as the outstanding Bazooka Tooth, I really hope these guys do another album together. As far as the 'knot, I only like about half of All Hope Is Gone and nothing on The Grey Chapter resonated with me at all. But this new one they knocked it out of the park, adventurous and they sound like a band reinvegorated! (Also helps I got to see them this summer for the first time in 15 years, in the best seat in the house)

Runners up are...
Rammstein - untitled
Tool - Fear Inoculum

I love both of these albums, not weak song on them, but IMO they both just play it TOO safe.

Honorable Mention...
Ghost - Seven Inches of Satanic Panic

Just a fun little EP, I love the retro feel of the songs and it was great to see Papa back in the video for Kiss the Go-Goat.

What's your favorites???

[MrLobster]

"Educated Woman" by Amy Nelson
"Unknown Room" by Download
"nipiy" by nêhiyawak
"dreams are not enough" by telefon tel aviv
"The Gereg" by The Hu
"In The End" by The Cranberries
"Abbey Road - Anniversary Edition" by The Beatles
"Invaders Must Die (reissue)" by The Prodigy

[GavinCollins420]

15. Desert Sessions - Vols. 11 & 12: Arrivederci Despair/Tightwads & Nitwits & Critics & Heels

14. Foals - Part 2 Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost

13. Tyler, The Creator - IGOR

12. Dream Theater - Distance Over Time

11. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow

10. Malibu Ken - Malibu Ken

09. HEALTH - VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR

08. Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

07. SebastiAn - Thirst

06. Nilüfer Yanya - Miss Universe

05. clipping. - There Existed an Addiction to Blood

04. TOOL - Fear Inoculum

03. PUP - Morbid Stuff

02. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen

01. The Twilight Sad - IT WON/T BE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME

Sent from my H8416 using Tapatalk

[Archive_Reports]

We Never Learned to Live - The Sleepwalk Transmissions
Numenorean - Adore
Violet Cold - Kosmik
Kelsey Kopecky - We'll Talk About This in the Morning
Wristmeetrazor - Misery Never Forgets
See You Space Cowboy - The Correlation Between Entrance and Exit Wounds
Employed to Serve - Eternal Forward Motion

[Jon]

https://is4-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music113/v4/26/60/54/2660547c-d992-daf8-17ae-28cd04c8fda5/19UMGIM38109.rgb.jpg/600x0.jpg

[BRoswell]

Volume Massimo - Alessandro Cortini
Life Goes On EP - Beak>
Midsommar OST - Bobby Krlic
Closer To Grey - Chromatics
Persuasion System - Com Truise
Uncut Gems OST - Daniel Lopatin
Our Pathetic Age - DJ Shadow
Modern Mirror - Drab Majesty
Centipede Wisdom - HOO
A Bath Full Of Ecstasy - Hot Chip
On The Line - Jenny Lewis
Us OST - Michael Abels
Ghosteen - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
High Life OST - Stuart A. Staples
Dreams Are Not Enough - Telefon Tel Aviv
No Geography - The Chemical Brothers
Help Us Stranger - The Raconteurs
Anima - Thom Yorke
Malibu Ken - Tobacco & Aesop Rock
Bird Box/Watchmen/Waves OSTs - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

[richardp]

1. Tool - Fear Inoculum
2. HEALTH - Vol. 4 :: Slaves of Fear
3. Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind
4. Foals - Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost
5. Trent and Atticus - Watchmen
6. Coldplay - Everyday Life
7. Drab Majesty - Modern Mirror
8. Thom Yorke - Anima
9. Rammstein - Rammstein
10. Telefon Tel Aviv - Dreams Are Not Enough

[sonic_discord]

Tool – Fear Inoculum
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Watchmen Volumes 1-3
Rammstein – Untitled
Atmosphere – Whenever
Baroness – Gold & Grey
Ghost – Seven Inches of Satanic Panic (if that counts)

[LaneSax]

KoRn - The Nothing
Refused - War Music
Liam Gallagher - Why Me? Why Not.
Karen O & Dangermouse - Lux Prima
Rammstein - Untitled
Beck - Hyperspace

[botley]

Anderson .Paak's Ventura
FKA Twigs' Magdalene
Hildur Guðnadóttir's Chernobyl soundtrack
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram's Kingfish
Jenny Lewis' On the Line
Lizzo's Cuz I Love You
Gary Numan & Skaparis Orchestra's When the Sky Came Down
Pixies' Beneath the Eyrie
Stonefield's Bent
Telefon Tel Aviv's Dreams Are Not Enough
Tinariwen's Amadjar

Yeah yeah, TNIN & Tool & whatever else, but these were good

[Jinsai]

Twelve Twenty Two by Anthony Baldino (https://methlabagency.bandcamp.com/album/twelve-twenty-two)

I also really liked the Thom Yorke, Health, Nick Cave, and Tool albumz

[brotha52]

Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
TOOL - Fear Inoculum
Malibu Ken - Malibu Ken
Trent and Atticus – Watchmen
Atmosphere – Whenever
Saul Williams – Tomorrow Reveals Today

[tricil]

My favorite record of the year was HEALTH’s Vol 04: SLAVES OF FEAR

Phenomenal fucking record.

[ManBurning]

2019 was a stacked year for music.
What a way to end the decade. 2020 is going to be a hard year to follow-up to be honest. I don't know if 2020 is going to be able to live up to 2019.

With that said, my album of the year goes to...

Rammstein - Untitled (9/10). Is easily album of the year for me. First time I heard it, fell in love right away. Didn't grow bored or tired of the songs. It's the one record I can listen to start to finish without skipping anything.

It's great to see Rammstein on so many of your guys' lists this year too!
I watched many "top albums" of the year videos on youtube and on metal sites etc and they all left them off. Real shame. It's a great record.

Generally I tend to play it safe and gravitate to the bands I've come to know and love, as I find it hard to find new music that resonates with me.
With that said, I actually Discovered a few new bands I never knew about before, that released records I really came to enjoy more than my "usual suspects"

Some other really solid records this year were:

Skold - Never is Now (8/10)
Blanck Mass - Animated Violence Mild (8/10)
Bring Me The Horizon - Amo (8/10)
New Years Day - Unbreakable (7.5)
Billie Eilish - When we all fall asleep... (7/10)
The 69 Eyes - West End (7/10)
Ghost - 7 inches of Satanic Panic EP (7/10)
The Faint - Egowerk (7/10)
Pup - Morbid Stuff (7/10)
Priest - Obey EP (7/10)
Fever 333 - Strength in Numb333rs (6/10)
KMFDM - Paradise (6/10)

[PhoenixML]

Tool - Fear Inoculum
The National - I Am Easy To Find
Karen O & Danger Mouse - Lux Prima
TR & AR - Watchmen Vol. 1-3
Radiohead - Anima
Silversun Pickups - Widow's Weed

[neorev]

Alessandro Cortini - Volume Massimo
https://www.discogs.com/Alessandro-Cortini-Volume-Massimo/master/1613067

Amon Tobin - Long Stories
https://www.discogs.com/Amȯn-Tȯbin-Long-Stories/master/1630404

The Chemical Brothers - No Geography
https://www.discogs.com/The-Chemical-Brothers-No-Geography/master/1522509

Drab Majesty - Modern Mirror
https://www.discogs.com/Drab-Majesty-Modern-Mirror/master/1572198

Empirion - Resume
https://www.discogs.com/Empirion-Resume/master/1594814

Health - Vol. 4 :: Slaves Of Fear
https://www.discogs.com/HEALTH-Vol4--Slaves-of-Fear/master/1497287

Lorn - Rarities
https://www.discogs.com/Lorn-Rarities/master/1495301

Meat Beat Manifesto - Opaque Couché
https://www.discogs.com/Meat-Beat-Manifesto-Opaque-Couché/master/1547331

Principleasure - I
https://www.discogs.com/Principleasure-I/master/1578543

Underworld - Drift Series 1
https://www.discogs.com/Underworld-Drift-Series-1/master/1630513

[Substance242]

I had to consult this with my media server, but yes - in 2019, NOTHING. Just Waves and Telefon Tel Aviv, neither really working for me. But it's OK, no need to be overwhelmed by new stuff all the time, or god forbid try something completely new ;-), so all is fine.

[dlb]

I'm having a really hard time coming up with my most favorite records or event artists during 2019. It just wasn't a good year of music for me, yet I still have piles of releases to go through that I haven't gotten around to.

Big names left me underwhelmed and even a tad diassapointed like Tool and Rammstein. New Nick Cave isn't doing much for me (he never has to be honest...) and even Mark Lanegan felt too rushed and lackluster. I'm excited to dig into Watchmen though and see if TR can live up to his name, I sure hope so as I'm really hyped for more NIN in 2020.

Things I definitely enjoyed in 2019:

Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
Ioanna Gicka - Thalassa
The Murder Capital - When I have fears
Orville Peck - Pony
Slump - flashbacks from from black dusk country
Jamhed - gelee royale
Refused - war music
Slipknot - we are not your kind
Lana Del Rey - norman fucking rockwell
Drab Majesty - modern mirror
Kid Kapichi - sugar tax
Marissa Nadler - droneflower

[Jord]

Not all albums, I bought surprisingly little albums in 2019, mainly EP and standalone songs by Artists and stuff I've been hearing on BBC6Music.

Gruff Rhys - Pang!
Four Tet - Anna Painting (EP)
Loraine James - For You & I
Squid - Town Centre (EP)
Friendly Fires - Offline (EP)
Glok - Dissident
Rammstein - Untitled
Cigarettes After Sex - Cry
Working Men's Club - Teeth (Single)
Kim Gordon - No Home Record

The Rammstein record doesn't hold up to me anything like their previous ones, and the Tool record was an immense disappointment once I got over the wow factor of having new material by them so it's not on here.

Hopefully 2020 will bring more new releases by the bands I love.

[buckaroo]

There were so many releases I was excited for in 2019 that just fell flat for me. None of them were bad, in fact they were pretty good, but overall nothing that stood out as an obvious choice for album of 2019.

The few that really stood out were:

TRAR - Watchemn (of course)
Soilwork - Verkligheten
Comaduster - Darker Matter
Life of Agony - The Sound of Scars
Borknagar - True North
Cave In - Final Transmission
Pelican - Nighttime Stories

I also really enjoyed:

Death Angel - Hummanicide
Witechapel - The Valley
Devin Townsend - Empath
Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas
Lacuna Coil - Black Anima
Nightrage - Wolf to Man

Stuff that was hyped, but just felt "OK:"

Tool, Rammstein, Opeth, Dream Theater, Killswitch Engage, Big Wreck, In Flames, Front Line Assembly, Insomnium, Russian Circles, Silversun Pickups, Smashing Pumpkins

[bobbie solo]

Nightrage - Wolf to Man

I get why they don't, but man I wish they would tour the US again.

[Space Suicide]

No order but listed alphabetically (probably missed a few)

Abbath - Outstrider
Amon Amarth - Berserker
Baroness - Gold & Grey
Bring Me The Horizon - amo
Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas
Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence
Darkthrone - Old Star
Drab Majesty - Modern Mirror
Exhumed - Horror
Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell
Lindemann - F&M
Mayhem - Daemon
Motionless In White - Disguise
Rammstein - Rammstein
Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind
Tool - Fear Inoculum
Wear Your Wounds - Rust On The Gates of Heaven
Whitechapel - The Valley

[ManBurning]

Motionless In White - Disguise


I couldn't get into this record. I absolutely loved Graveyard shift, and had high hopes for Disguise after hearing the lead singles they released before the record dropped, but I was left disappointed overall by the rest of the record.

[Space Suicide]

I couldn't get into this record. I absolutely loved Graveyard shift, and had high hopes for Disguise after hearing the lead singles they released before the record dropped, but I was left disappointed overall by the rest of the record.

There's some good on it. It's a grower for sure. Another Life and Legacy rules. Reincarnate is my favorite album by them but I also love Graveyard Shift. Difficult stuff!

Surprised to see another fan of them on here. I never bring them up since I assume they'd get shit on. I'm seeing them with Beartooth at the end of the month in Charlotte. I'm only attending the 4 band show for MIW. :S

[ManBurning]

There's some good on it. It's a grower for sure. Another Life and Legacy rules. Reincarnate is my favorite album by them but I also love Graveyard Shift. Difficult stuff!

Surprised to see another fan of them on here. I never bring them up since I assume they'd get shit on. I'm seeing them with Beartooth at the end of the month in Charlotte. I'm only attending the 4 band show for MIW. :S

Yeah, they defiantly get shit on here... I posted in the NIN spotting once a photo of the band with Chris wearing a NIN shirt, and the comments.... holy smokes, the comments section went nuts on MIW lol.
I actually tried for years to get into them, because the looked interesting. Back in 2012, 2013 there was an ad in the local paper for them playing a show here, and they looked interesting, so I YouTubbed them, but couldn't get into them. Then in 2015, they opened for Slipknot, still never really got into them, until Graveyard shift came out. I gave it a listen, and it clicked. Saw 'em here on that run in... 2018? And was sad they weren't coming back on the Beartooth run. They just did a joint tour with Skold in Europe (I follow both bands on Instagram) and was jealous as hell. That would've been one hell of a show. Especially to hear "Final Dictum" live. Skold came out and played that song with them. Good stuff.

But I know what you mean, I would have only attended that MIW/Beartooth show for MIW as well. There is a 4 band show coming to town in March (Carnifex, The Browning, 3Teeth and Skold) and I am only mainly attending for Skold, haha. 3teeth are interesting too, so I'll stick around to see them. They've been on my radar, but they're one of those bands where you listen to their stuff, and it just doesn't click. You want to like them, but there is just something not clicking. Maybe seeing them live will be the moment of truth. But I do really like their cover of "Pumped Up kicks"

[elevenism]

1. Billie Eilish-When We All Fall Asleep
2. Tool-Fear Innoculum
3. Tyler, The Creator- Igor

I also listened to this Ghostemane x Parvo EP called Human Error, a LOT, but the thing is only like 6 or 7 minutes long.
But, it's fucking great, as I'm sure the other 3 of you who like Ghoste already know.

I'm getting old, guys, and not listening to a whole bunch of new shit.

[Alpha 60]

I wish I could get into HEALTH’s last record. I like their other three albums and Get Color is on of favorite records from any artist. I tried several times this year, but I just don’t like it at all.
Gnoomes – MU!
Daniel Lopatin – Uncut Gems
G.A.M.S. – G.A.M.S.
Bill Orcutt – Odds Against Tomorrow
Matt Valentine – Preserves
Pharmakon – Devour
Jung Jaeil – Parasite
Keiji Haino/Charles Hayward – A Loss Permitted…
YATTA – WAHALA
Klein - Lifetime
Black Midi – Schlagenheim
Jenny Hval – The Practice Of Love
Thom Yorke – ANIMA

[elevenism]

I wish I could get into HEALTH’s last record. I like their other three albums and Get Color is on of favorite records from any artist. I tried several times this year, but I just don’t like it at all.
Gnoomes – MU!
Daniel Lopatin – Uncut Gems
G.A.M.S. – G.A.M.S.
Bill Orcutt – Odds Against Tomorrow
Matt Valentine – Preserves
Pharmakon – Devour
Jung Jaeil – Parasite
Keiji Haino/Charles Hayward – A Loss Permitted…
YATTA – WAHALA
Klein - Lifetime
Black Midi – Schlagenheim
Jenny Hval – The Practice Of Love
Thom Yorke – ANIMAJesus christ.
I need friends like you.
I've honestly only heard of ONE of those artists

[Alpha 60]

Haha-maybe not, you could think they are all shit and then you would definitely not want to be friends.
Besides Yorke, Danial Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) and Haino, I would say my list were things that my local record shop guy was into that I checked out or just things that caught my eye on Warp’s Bleep shop.
A couple things on my list I hated or was very annoyed by when I first listened, but more and more as I get older it is those things that I come back to just because they stand out from things that don’t make an impression at all or things that just fall immediately into my personal taste.

[Jinsai]

late addition...

Tipper - Jettison Mind Hatch