What's Sounding Good? 2020 halfway point

Just a list of whats what so far this year...as much for my benefit as anyone else so I don't forget all these fantastic albums. Bandcamp links when available (thank god for bandcamp, I love it).

Greg Saucier Cover Of Angel Rat Album By Voivod
Afterbirth - 4 Dimensional Flesh
Voivod - The End of Dormancy teaser
Head of the Demon - Deadly Black Doom
Behold the Arctopus - Hapleleptic Overtrove
Satan's Cross - Celebration of the Fallen
Drögen - Vorpal Atavists
Cauldron Black Ram - Slaver
Cryptic Shift - Visitations from Enceladus
Esoctrilihum - Eternity of Shaog
Black Funeral - Scourge of Lamashta
White Knights - Into the Lap of the Ancient Mother
Shabazz Palaces - The Don of Diamond Dreams
Kaatayra - Só Quem Viu o Relâmpago à sua Direita Sabe
Sweven - The Eternal Resonance
Winterquilt - H Y M N
Onson Sweeney - SHUT THEIR EYES!
Lugubrum - Plage Chômage
Fen Walker - Sojourns in the Realm of the Undermoon
Sivyj Yar - Grief
Odraza - Rzeczom
SLAVIC FOLK TRAP MUSIC
Grave Circles - Tome II
Koschcoroth - Ozveny melancholie
Mamaleek - Come and See
Lyra Pramuk - Fountain
Pulse Emitter - Swirlings
Mass of the Fermenting Innards - You/Uta Wo Utaeba
Iskalde Morket - Metaphysics of Mass Murder
Azure Emote - The Third Perspective
Fluisteraars - Bloem
Castle ov Yester - ...A Passage to the Sorcerous Hall
Eye of Nix - Ligeia
Turia - Degen van Licht
SouphL - CommérageS
Elfsgedroch - Gedoemd tot de Eeuwige Jacht
Avezuha - grow to prevail
Sardonyx - s/t
Gelassenheit - ...The Kingdom of God is Within You...
lûs - Müde Heim (Zu den Sternen)
Sunken Grove - Precious Solitude

Beast of 2019

Grate year fo Grate Metal

10.  Wędrowcy~Tułacze~Zbiegi  - Marynistyka Suchego Lądu

The big surprise for me was this enigmatic curiosity out of Poland, whose translation means Wandered Exiles Fugitives…post-punk/black-ish/jazznoir-experimental….expertly assembled by Sars from that other hot Polish band Furia ( who happened to put out my fav release of 2016-17). A reviewer on band camp described it as the “In the court of the Crimson King of Post-punk…and really could you think of anything more perfect than that??! 

Ladu

9. Dreams of the Drowned - I

It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything out of the Dreams of the Drowned camp, thankfully the weird metal gods have answered the collective prayers of dozens if not hundreds of avant-garde enthusiasts and delivered a beayootiful Voivodian blastbeat crooning meisterpeace. Complete with a Dodheimsgard cover….the pedigree comes full circle!

Dreams

8. Laetitia in Holocaust - Fauci Tra Fauci

Italian black metal that is self -described as an odd mix of Ved Buens Ende and Spite Extreme Wing, jagged and melodic compositions that are constantly engaging you with their twists and turns …plus great use of fretless bass…really neat.

Fauci

7. Departure Chandelier - Antichrist Rise to Power

Akista + Dom Fenrow + French Legion + haphazard playing = absolute genius…way better than it ought to be and tastier than a trunk full of boston baked beans.

Rise

6. Howling Sycamore - Seven Pathways to Annihilation

I think this second from the avant garde supergroup (Watchtower, Ephel Duath, Alkaloid) has slipped under a lot of people's radar…for shame, because if anything this is a jump forward from their already impressive debut.

Howling

5. LuZi - LuZi

An absolute masterpiece of outsider Italian one-man black metal bands…dissonant leads, Folkish melodies, flutes, recorders, tin cans, groans, drones, babbling brooks and twinkling keys…A raw Pagan experiment in madness that is an absolute delight!

 LuZi

4. Arch/Matheos - Winter Ethereal

Back after 8 years and the dynamic duo are sounding better than ever. I dare say that Winter Ethereal is on par with some of the early Fates Warning material.

Winter

3. Laster - Het wassen oog

Absolutely dreamy smoky Dutch post-black metal…the sound Enslaved really should have morphed into post-Ruun.

Laster

2. Coral Cross - 002

Jorge Elbrecht continues to be one of my favorite musical artists … he’s been scratching my psychedelic metal itch for quite a few years now and Coral Cross’s enchantingly psychotropic take on black metal is giving me more relief than a squirt of gold bond extra medicated.

Coral

1. Rainer Landfermann - Mein Wort in deiner Dunkelheit

Short, and oh so sweet. Mean and Lean as a 2 dollar steak. A stunning mix of his work in Pavor, Bethlehem and beyond Mr. Landfermann is the wild child auteur that metal doesn’t deserve but absolutely needs!

Mein

Most Honorable Mentions

Bethlehem – Lebe dich leer, Blackdeath –Phantasmhassgorie, Kaviar Kavalier - Hotel Intkontinental, Torche - Admission, Nullentropy – The Singularity Recital, Carcariass – Planet Chaos, Enthroned – Cold Black Suns, !T.O.O.H.! – Komous EP, Fen – The Dead Light, Liturgy – H.A.Q.Q., Duster – s/t, Mystal Tree – New Growth, Helheim - Rignir, Primeval Well – s/t, S.U.P. - Dissymmetry, Mystifier – Protogoni Mavri Magiki Dynasteia, Kvelgeyst - Alkahest, Matmos – Plastic Anniversary, Funeral Oration – Eliphas Love, Cave Blind – Sword of Power, Striborg – In Deep Contemplation, Nocturnus AD - Paradox, Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen, Mayhem - Daemon, Cave Blind – Sword of Dreams, Methanol Dreams – Cursed Eternally, Pensees Nocturnes – Grand Guignol Orchestra, Dawn of Nil – Cultivating Ruins, Bergraven – Det framlidnaminnet, Slagmaur - Wildkatze, Hornwood Fell – Damno Lumina Nocte, The Projectionist – Visions from the Nighthag Part 2, Umbrtka – Kominy smrti, Choronzon – Egregore Manifest Destiny, Waxen – Blasphemer in Celestial Courts, Tyranni - Baron Av Ayoghetens Smärta, Faunus – When Eerie Whispers Bridge Human Fate, Mesarthim – Ghost Condensate, Tragediens Trone – s/t, Non Opus Dei - Glod, Castle ov yester – Echoes FromHobgoblin Ha’