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20. Aythis –
Celestial Exile/Lost Lighthouse
Aythis released two related albums, and they are both great. Celestial Exile is like ambient, doomy post-rock, and Lost Lighthouse is more cinematic, neoclassical, and electronic. The albums share some of the same melodies, but are two beautiful, stand-alone works.
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19. Big Big Train – The Likes of Us
BBT are back with a new vocalist and a more complex sound, though the nostalgic purity of their music is not lost. This album features “Love Is the Light”, one of the best songs of the year, along with several other terrific cuts that have me excited for the future of the band.
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18. Caligula’s Horse – Charcoal Grace
I think Charcoal Grace might be CH’s best album yet. It is their most balanced and beautiful, and the band does more with less. The opener “The World Breathes With Me” is one of several astonishing pieces on the album.
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17. Chelsea Wolfe –
She Reaches Out to
She Reaches Out to She
Chelsea released a daring record full of distorted textures, sprawling cathedrals of emotion, buried coffins of cold pain, and confident spikes of humanity and freedom. From the lyrics to the brandished textures, this is a wonderful album. My favorite song is probably “Unseen World”.
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16. Sunburst – Manifesto
After a long wait, the second Sunburst album graced us this year, and it is worth the time. This is hotblooded progressive metal that is fierce, unrelenting, and powerful. The inclusion of orchestrations takes their sound to a whole new level, yet the band simply writes purposeful, rhythmically complex songs that are highly appealing to prog metal fans. “The Flood” is one of the best songs this year.
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15. Fragment Soul – Galois Paradox
The second Fragment Soul album sees a new female vocalist and theoretical, hazy abstractions in full view. You’ll hear a mix of prog metal and doom, rank with hovering moments, musing measures, and song structures that often feel amorphous. My favorite song is “Eternal Night in Death”.
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14. Midas Fall – Cold Waves Divide Us
The new Midas Fall record sees the band expanding their sound, leaning more into post-rock than into electronic. The songwriting is thoroughly beautiful, too, with calculated use of crescendos and a lush atmosphere of hushed vocals and shadowy whispers. I love it. My favorite track is probably “In the Morning We’ll Be Someone Else”.
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13. Tvinna – Wings of Ember
This Tvinna album had grown on me so much. They play progressive dark folk, and utilize interesting song structures and complex playing right up against earthy tones and shadowy auras. One of the bands strongest selling points is their ability to balance these things with electronica-laced edges and synth melodies that are truly beautiful. The band obviously strives for a naturalistic bent, which they achieve through heavy percussion, breathy vocalizations, and novel instruments. The title track is one of my favorite songs this year.
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12. Kristoffer Gildenlöw – Empty
Kristoffer’s solo works just keep getting better. This album is more upbeat than he normally offers, and has more Floydian tendencies, but it doesn’t lose the dark and emotional tone that he owns. My favorite is “Saturated”.
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11. Pallbearer – Mind Burns Alive
Pallbearer have been evolving, and Mind Burns Alive is proof. This album is full of melancholy sounds, downtempo rhythms, elongated riffs, and other doom mainstays, but feels alive because it contrasts those things with bright punches of melody, progressive ideas, and excellent vocal lines. The opener “Where the Light Fades” is another favorite song of the year for me.
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10. Amarok – Hope
Poland’s Amarok released yet another great album this year. Their organic, mystical sound has become more grounded with the expanded use of riffs, but they lose none of the purity in their sound. My favorite song is the opener “Hope Is”.
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9. Colin Masson – Echoes of Albion
Colin has been releasing solo works for 25 years, and Echoes of Albion is one of his best. I like how it reminds me of his debut Isle of Eight in all its Mike Oldfield-inspired, layered sounds, and I like the medieval mysticism that hovers in dark whispers throughout this record. My favorite track here is “On Martin Down”.
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8. Alcest – Les Chants de l’Aurore
The Songs of Dawn is yet another classic from Alcest. It has a bright aura, celestial and celebratory tones, and warm harmonies. The album feels like happiness, life, childhood memories, and the mystical consciousness that lies all around us. My favorite song is “L’Enfant de la Lune” (The Moon Child).
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7. Myrath – Karma
Myrath finally returned with another terrific album. This one is the most energetic album the band has created. From the very beginning, the music has an electricity that slashes and sparks with color and even happiness. There is something joyful that takes hold of me as soon as this album begins. It’s hard to describe; even if the lyrics are dark and meaningful, the music still carries me away with it. Favorite song is “Words Are Failing”.
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6. Marjana Semkina – Sirin
Marjana made a big splash this year with her new solo album. This record is absolutely exquisite, and features guest appearances from Jim Grey (Caligula’s Horse) and Mick Moss (Antimatter). Those collaborations are nothing short of magical, as is the whole album. Favorite song is “Anything But Sleep”.
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5. BleakHeart – Silver Pulse
This album was honestly a surprise for me. I liked their debut from a couple years back, but BleakHeart really brought it on Silver Pulse. Their music is doom-inspired Gothic post-rock with alternative and ambient elements. The music trades between hovering vistas and driving riffs, and on this album, the strings provide a melodic surge in all the right moments, whether accompanying a cinematic, heavy climax or possibly a haunting, floating aura. My favorite songs are “Weeping Willow” and “Falling Softly”—I can’t decide between them.
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4. Iterum Nata – From the Infinite Light
Another surprise for me was Iterum Nata’s new offering. Imagine music with the psychedelic and mystic tendencies of Dead Can Dance, but you will also hear hints of doom, black metal, folk, and progressive rock. All of that is brought together with vocals full of bourbon and grit, but with honey poured on top; like a combination of Brendan Perry with Johnny Cash. This album features two of my favorite songs of the year, “Something Truly Almighty” and “Ambrosia”.
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3. Lo Moon –
I Wish You Way More Than Luck
Lo Moon is fast becoming one of my favorite bands. They play art pop that has some of the classic 70s and 80s pop style in its veins, but it still feels young and fresh. This is their third album, and all three have been amazing. This album itself slightly more pastoral, making it feel golden and nostalgic and lamentful. There’s almost this sense of life passing by and people making choices or having dreams, and the album is something of a celebration of that, I feel. It’s like, whatever road you take, I wish you luck. It makes me tearful sometimes, almost like all of this is something beautiful yet sad, too. My favorite songs are “Borrowed Hills”, “Evidence”, and “Honest”.
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2. Diane Arkenstone
– Aquaria II: Ascension
I would call this yet another surprise. I like Diane Arkenstone’s music, especially her 2001 classic Aquaria, and she finally delivered a follow-up. Her style is New Age ambient and electronic, and on this album she injects it with dreamy vocals, potent and otherworldly auras, spinetingling violin and flute, and various magical grooves. I absolutely adore this album. “Goddessea” is one of my favorite songs of the year, no doubt.
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1. Evergrey – Theories of Emptiness
This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. I’m a huge Evergrey fan, and Theories of Emptiness is a bold, addictive, and sweeping new offering from them. It is tinged with emotion, not just in their signature style, but because it is Jonas Ekdahl’s last album on drums for the band. It feels like both a swansong and the start of a new era. My favorite songs are “Misfortune”, “To Become Someone Else”, and “Cold Dreams”.
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The PROG Mind 