Best of 2020

[Spectral Burn]

Ahlzagailzehguh just snuck in at the last minute and fucked everything up. Possibly my favourite thing he's ever recorded.

Coupla things I liked:
Star - Last Vestige Of Malehood (total mindfuck project)
Magic Oneohtrix Point Never (and accompanying videos)
Horse Lords - The Common Task (definitely my most listened to release this year)
The return of the son of Vanilla Records.

Troniks/Helicopter/Chondritic Sound deserve lifetime achievement awards.

[Soloman Tump]

[updated 28/12/2020)

Didn't expect to see votes for OPN on here.   I personally didn't enjoy this album and much prefer his earlier synth based releases (Rifts), although I respect him for releasing the music that he has wanted to release for a long time and not churning out more of the same.

As well as the following which is from my bandcamp purchase list and memory, I have some favourite tapes from the year that are currently in storage and I can't reference them properly. Might add later.

Grunt - Spiritual Eugenics (my first Grunt album and I listen to it a lot.  Power and depth)
Kjostad - Extinctionist (structured noise, a departure from previous works)
Kjostad - Red Iron Knife (long static noise blasts, completely different to the album above)
White Nothing - Rhine Maidens in Cut Glass (NY based drone 80s synth backing tracks with distorted spoken word, singing and noisy blasts... a weird blend that works)
Knifedoutofexistence - Just Barely (Dense noise drones from one of my favourite artists of the year)
The Vomit Arsonist - Live at Darkness Descends (Recorded in 2018 and released back in June, a fine snapshot of a powerful live performance)
Minced Oath - Supervene (ambient / rhythmic electronica that never flounders or settles down)
Schwarzgerat - The Dark Precursor (Conjuring dark noise via modular synthesis)
Eros Catheter - Medusa Configuration (Bleak industrial on my favourite label of 2020, Outsiderart)
Himukalt - Sex Worker II (Distorted crunchy drums and mangled words from Sex workers... Himukalt remains an essential project)
Disgusting Cathedral - Adventurers Despised and Rejected (Surprise Dungeon noise project from Cementimental that I found myself listening to a lot)

[Duncan]

https://youtu.be/O4ngYbOYFuA

[PTM Jim]

Close enough to the end.
In no real order.

Noise/PE:
Interracial Sex - Apefrica (I put it out, whatever, it's excellent)
Rogue State - Breakaway Governments (Rogue State University is the best thing in noise right now)
Prurient - Casablanca Flamethrower (His best in years)
Emil Beaulieu - Polio (Welcome back, it's like you never left)
MNEM - Elyktrion (Perfect gloom)
Ahlzagailzehguh - Ex-Life (Welcome back)
Linekraft - Industrialized Criminals History (Toss up between this and the CD)
Jason Crumer - Jason Crumer (So patient. I was lucky to hear this one evolve)
Worth - Roosting in Death-Sized Horn (Amazing)
Crawl Of Time - Operation Black Widow (Another I put out, sue me)
Lussuria - Poison Butterfly Came Day After Autumn Day (Jim makes ambient on another level)
Gnawed - Subterranean Rites (The thought and detail are what noise is all about)
Shredded Nerve - Cruel Intentions (I actually didn't get the CD yet. Just got this special ed and it's excellent)

Metal or other:
Mental Abortion - Abort Your Mind (Perfect Noisecore)
Kommodus - An Imperial Sun Rises (Killer black metal)
Branikald - Струн Натянутых Вдохновенья Сталь (Finally an official release)
Najwyższy - An Orchestration In Shadows (Yes)
Miasmatic Necrosis - Apex Profane (Best goregrind I've heard in well over a decade)
Kenoun - The Root of Severity (Excellent guitar/synth dark ambient)

Reissues:
Female - Pleasures That Kill (Four on the floor greatness)
Vothana - Demos III and IV (now on LP, hope they do V and VI also)
Meat Shits - Sniper At The Fag Parade (Stupidest. Best album behind Fuck Frenzy)
Ennio Morricone/Bruno Nicolai - Dimensioni Sonore (Wow, simply wow)

[JacksonPratt]

Highlights
The Cherry Point - Buried Alive
Without belonging reissue


Lowlights
Eddie Van Halen dying

[smallmercies]

Since I had so much time to listen to tapes and CDs this year I spent a good amount of it obsessing over some projects I didn't know about or hadn't taken the time to check out in depth before. I got really into Omit - Fluid after having stumbled upon it though a late night youtube hole and as a result Omit has become an all time favorite project. I've since managed to track down a few more releases that are all equally interesting and transportative. I really wish there was more material available at an affordable price.

Throughout the year it has been really exciting to see so many contemporary projects present their strongest and most fully realized material to date. The scene here in New York has been especially exciting to be a part of with tons of my favorite releases being from people who live close by.

This year I was particularly enamored with Gnawed- Subterranean Rites. I find myself thinking about the images of Grant recording for it often while daydreaming and am always left so impressed. The concept, execution, focus, and sheer amount of risk involved in the creation of it is something I find incredibly inspiring in a such critical period of time. Grant has taken his work to another level in a way that only he could, both with Gnawed, and with his engineering work as demonstrated by the mastering credit on something like 85% of my favorite CD releases.

I also spent a lot of time listening to Linekraft - Industrialized Criminals History. I really enjoy the energy of Linekraft live and appreciate his recordings albeit in a different way but don't tend to fixate on them for long periods the way I did with this one. I keep finding "Die Like A Dog" stuck in my head and always end up listening to the entire album. Totally daring and original.

Kyle Flannagan - Purely Psychedelic was probably the tape I recommended to the most friends. I like everything Kyle does but this self release just has a really perfect balance of harsh, zoned out, and weird in a way that had me floored. The length is perfect and makes for a very engaging yet hypnotic experience. Fantastic art/presentation as well.

The other album that was in semi constant rotation was the CD reissue of Robert Turman - Beyond Painting. I hadn't listened to this in a few years and didn't remember it as well as I had thought but after getting my hands on this reissue I have listened probably once a week. Totally jaw dropping and emotionally devastating even after many spins. "Way Down" is one of my all time favorites but with changing tastes as years have gone by I've grown to hold Beyond Painting in possibly even greater esteem. Still digesting the Chapter 11 box set but I'm of course really loving it as well.

Overall one of the more exciting and inspirational years I can recall since I became interested in noise. Great to see so many projects that had been dormant come back with strong releases and so many great reissues. Looking forward to what everyone has in store for 2021.

[HateSermon]

A lot of good stuff came out this year but what comes to my mind immediately is Gnawed - Subterranean Rites and Grunt - Spiritual Eugenics.

[yosef666]

Albums only... no reissues, compilations, live records, demos or EPs/short releases included. Shockingly short on Oi! and punk this year, was this just a terrible year for both or did I somehow miss a lot of great new releases? I usually have at least 5 or 10 great Oi! and punk albums in my list by year's end.



Noise/PE/Industrial
Koufar "Middle Eastern Promises"
Prurient "Casablanca Flamethrower"
Grunt "Spiritual Eugenics"
Herukrat "Darkness over Najaf", "Songs of Religious Devotion"
S.T.A.B. Electronics "Apotheosis (Before Perdition)"
Junta Cadre "Vietnam Forever", "The Red Detachment"
Haus Arafna "Asche"
Interracial Sex "Apefrica"
Meatpacker "An Empty Vessel"
Crawl of Time "Operation Black Widow", "Moments of Pleasure. Years of Pain.", "Sins of the Father"
Serration ‎"The Open Mouth of Infinite Destruction", "Force of Damnation"
Striations "Catalog of Cruelty", "Trauma Code 2"
Hasufel "Winter on the Hill Cumorah"
Gnawed "Subterranean Rites"
Moral Order "Examples of Solipsism"
Hasufel "Winter on the Hill Cumorah", "Lamentations of the Foul High Priest"
Westendhall "Reluctant Resistance"
Droit Divin "Prohibition"

Metal
Serpent Crest "Ritual Euthanasia"
Circle of Dawn "Savonian Supremacy"
Armagedda "Svindeldjup Ättestup"
Herxheim "Incised Arrival"
Bone Awl "An Obelisk Marks the Line"
Frangar "Vomini Vincere"
Vothana "Commando"
Hail Conjurer "Carnal Light"
Starcave "Final Sins"
Faustian Pact "Outojen Tornien Varjoissa"
Hollow Serpent Tooth "Primitive and Isolated"
Tsalal "Transmutation War"
Precambrian "Tectonics"
Kult Ofenzivy "Tak jsem Ji přizval k sobě"

Neofolk
Ostara "Eclipse of the West"
Blood And Sun "Love & Ashes"
Paulus "Illuminate"
Rome "The Lone Furrow"
Steve Von Till "No Wilderness Deep Enough"
Halgadom "Äon des Hammers"

Everything else
The Mountain Goats "Songs for Pierre Chuvin"
Black Magick SS "Rainbow Nights"
Vis Vires "The Fight Goes On"
Brainbombs "Cold Case"
Linea Aspera "II"
Clipping. "Visions of Bodies Being Burned"
Assassination "Seeds of the Master"
Rope Sect "The Great Flood"
Luke Sick and Wolfagram "Yegg War"
JK Flesh "Depersonalization"
Kinbakushi "Construction Site Bondage"
Killfuck "II"

Still waiting to hear the new ones from Hate Forest, Mooncitadel, Young Hustlers, Ymir, Wagner Ödegård, Vassafor, Âmes Sanglantes, Haxenzijrkell, Inquisition and some others...

[piisti]

I chose only ten;

Aprapat - Ultimate Freedom
Beherit - Bardo Exist
Bizarre Uproar - Melting Pot of Cultures
Emil Beaulieu - Polio
Form Hunter - Form Hunter
Grunt - Spiritual Eugenics
The Rita/Treriskröset - The Rita/Treriskröset
Sadio - Copycay Killer
Terässinfonia - I&II
Worth - Roosting In Death-Sized Horn

[bogskaggmannen]

No real surprises in my list I guess - these five were the most played and the truly impressive ones:

Timo Van Luijk & Frederik Croene – Ipnopedion LP (La Scie Dorée) - just perfectly executed all the way through
Mnem – Elyktrion LP (Verlautbarung) - biased, so won't comment much but satisfies all my needs
Asra, La Poupée Délirante – s/t LP (Astres d'Or) - too bad it was way too limited as the material is tops
Michael Lightborne – Ring road ring LP (Gruenrekorder) - slightly rhythmic field rec's, bit up the Vacant Lights or Curfew Rec's alley
Anla Courtis & Daniel Menche – Cuspa llullu LP (Moving Furniture) - great match of both small and rougher organic sounds

A few more very good ones:

H Ö H – Superorganism LP (Freak Animal)
Kassel Jaeger – Swamps / Things DLP (Shelter Press)
Testicle Hazard – Fifty-sixty LP (WCN)
Steve Roden / Small Cruel Party – Stratégies obliques ø LP (Ferns)
+ both Alice Kemp tapes

Lots of good reissues of course, most notably Zoviet France's "Shadow, thief of the sun" DLP on Vinyl On Demand which I hadn't heard before. Still waiting to hear "Skogsvakan" by Kristian Olsson, Jim Haynes "Incomplete", Haare LP, Skin Crime "Stories and studies..." etc...

[Decrepitude]

There's still a lot of stuff I need to digest fully (Haare, Test Hazard, Grunt, Linekraft CD to name a few) but these have made a big impression this year:
Gnawed - Subterranean Rites
Linekraft tape on Hospital
K2 - They Live We Slave 3CS (my favorite noise release this year)
Skin Crime - Stories... tape
AntiChildLeague - Entrenched Extreme CD
Kinbakushi - Construction Site Bondage
O/H - No Contact CS
Axebreaker - They Wear The Mask...
Bacillus - Anti-Vaxxer
Kjostad - Red Iron Knife CD
VMS Elit - Quark Tape
Vigilantism - Nox Ultra CD
Aprapat tapes
Limbs Bin - Unrelenting Barrage Of Flowers And Amethyst Energy CDR

Lots of great reissues this year.

I also want to mention these metal releases:
Omega Vortex - Black Abomination Spawn LP
Bastard Priest - Vengeance... Of The Damned 12"
Resent - Crosshairs LP
Tolerance - Last Days Of Capitalism LP

[Zeno Marx]

As I spent most of 2020 revisiting specific styles from the past, I didn't listen to much new music.  One reason why I need these threads as reference.  Same shit, another year.

best:
Jason Crumer - s/t
Gnawed - Subterranean Rites
Gruppe Eulenspiegel- Eulentanz
H.A.R.M. 7"
Metamorphic Mindphase - Liberation  *Jim Wilson from Voice of Eye
Metamorphic Mindphase - Lockdown  *Jim Wilson from Voice of Eye
Dave Phillips - Post Homo Sapiens
John Wall - M - B
VA - Deriva

not heard, but on the radar:
Sangre de Meurdago - Xuntas
Francisco López & Suso Saiz - Conscious Polarize
Grunt - Spiritual Eugenics
Inade/Circular split
Dave Phillips other releases
Henning Christiansen reissues

related highlights for the year:
Martin Sturtzer and Steve Roach for their live youtube streams.
A couple quality industrial metal albums released by Realize (Machine Violence) and Black Magnet (Hallucination Scene).

most anticipated to hear (had several releases this year.  I can't keep up.):
Dave Phillips
Martin Sturtzer/Phelios
Sissy Spacek

[burdizzo1]

Close enough to the end.
In no real order.

Noise/PE:
Interracial Sex - Apefrica (I put it out, whatever, it's excellent)

When's the CD?!

[MyrtleLake]

That is a clear winner. Unfortunately, it was overwhelmed by the shortly-thereafter shut-down and horribleness of the remainder of the year. As well, it was far too small a pressing and didn't reach its deserved, wider audience. The vocals were new and distinctly perfect given the subject matter. I agree: a re-release is duly welcome.

[PTM Jim]

Close enough to the end.
In no real order.

Noise/PE:
Interracial Sex - Apefrica (I put it out, whatever, it's excellent)

When's the CD?!

It's coming. I have to get the art together for it.

That is a clear winner. Unfortunately, it was overwhelmed by the shortly-thereafter shut-down and horribleness of the remainder of the year. As well, it was far too small a pressing and didn't reach its deserved, wider audience. The vocals were new and distinctly perfect given the subject matter. I agree: a re-release is duly welcome.

Yep the shut down destroyed the idea of a repress because I couldn't get the masks and I refuse to do another vinyl edition without them. So CD it is.