3. Rammstein - Reise, Reise (2004)
Rammstein's career has followed a wide arc. Their first two albums were a dry sort of techno-metal which--while still enjoyable--wasn't about to approach inclusion on this list. Their third, Mutter, began to branch out into some variety, showing a little more emotion and a little less silly BDSM lyrics.
After Reise, Reise, they put out the half-crap, half-masterpiece album I mentioned in the intro to this series and have been hit-or-miss since.
Standing in the middle of this arc is Reise, Reise, the apex of their existence.
The lyrics aren't perfect but they've got enough thought put into them that they're well above average, especially for this genre. More importantly, this album is musically delicious.
"Mein Teil" is a perfect display of the heavy industrial sound the band had toyed with in the past, except way better than they'd ever executed it before. "Ohne Dich" drops all the macho metal bits and aims for the heart of the unsuspecting metalhead. The whole album (with the exception of "Los") is a joy to listen to. In true Rammstein fashion, they complimented this with some damned good music videos as well. In case you've lost count that's four videos for one album, all of which worth a watch in addition to my favorite song from this album, which didn't get a video.
I've listened to this album enough that I should be sick of it by now. The fact that I'm not is an indication of just how good it is.
2. Valravn - Koder På Snor (2009)
Ah, Valravn. We hardly knew ye. After releasing a decent debut EP and a good follow-up album, these Scandinavian electro-folk hippie Vikings dropped this absolute masterpiece on us. A few years later they were in the process of recording what would have been (judging by the only two songs that ever saw the light of day) another masterpiece when they unceremoniously broke up, single-handedly disproving the existence of a benevolent and loving God.
The album's unconventional nature caused it to take a little while to grow on me, but grow it has. It's a beautiful album without a single dud track.
The moods on this album run the gamut from the fun, danceable (at least I assume it is... dancing is something my body doesn't seem capable of) "Seersken" to the slow-building yet somehow frantic "Lysabild" to the goth-industrial-esque finale "Farin Uttan At Verða Vekk."
Vocalist Anna Katrin Egilstrøð does things with her voice you never knew you wanted to hear but you can't get enough of. Electronic-stuff-doer-guy Christopher Juul's contributions help elevate this album and band from their previous good offering (before he joined the band) to the greatness we see here while folk instruments such as hurdy gurdy and hammered dulcimer keep the attention of electronic music haters from wavering.
If Björk quit screwing around and just made some amazingly good music with a few proper instruments thrown in to complement the electronics, it might sound like this. Again, it's unconventional and takes a few listens to really hook you but this is absolutely the best music you've never heard of.
I will forever mourn this band's early demise.
The album's unconventional nature caused it to take a little while to grow on me, but grow it has. It's a beautiful album without a single dud track.
The moods on this album run the gamut from the fun, danceable (at least I assume it is... dancing is something my body doesn't seem capable of) "Seersken" to the slow-building yet somehow frantic "Lysabild" to the goth-industrial-esque finale "Farin Uttan At Verða Vekk."
Vocalist Anna Katrin Egilstrøð does things with her voice you never knew you wanted to hear but you can't get enough of. Electronic-stuff-doer-guy Christopher Juul's contributions help elevate this album and band from their previous good offering (before he joined the band) to the greatness we see here while folk instruments such as hurdy gurdy and hammered dulcimer keep the attention of electronic music haters from wavering.
If Björk quit screwing around and just made some amazingly good music with a few proper instruments thrown in to complement the electronics, it might sound like this. Again, it's unconventional and takes a few listens to really hook you but this is absolutely the best music you've never heard of.
I will forever mourn this band's early demise.
1. Cradle of Filth - Midian (2000)
Oh, sweet Midian.
Given the last decade or so of uninspiring material from Cradle of Filth, it's easy to forget that they were once the friggin' best. Albums like Vempire, Cruelty and the Beast, and Midian's successor Bitter Suites to Succubi could easily have made this list if I weren't limiting each band to one entry, but Midian is the absolute peak of CoF's career.
Guitarist Paul Allender had recently returned to the band--apparently with some great material in tow--and Martin Powell had just joined to temporarily shut down the revolving door that is CoF's keyboard position.
Without taking anything away from the other band members, this album can be summed up as "Martin Powell's masterpiece." The keyboards on this album are beyond reproach. Without overpowering the rest of the music they provide the creepy horror-movie-soundtrack vibe that makes this album so haunting and evil-sounding that it prompted the band's amusing but unimpressive attempt at making their own horror movie. Everything Powell does here is great, whether subtle or foreground.
The vocals are top-notch as well; Dani's voice is in its prime and Sarah Jezebel Deva proves that it isn't necessarily over when the fat lady sings.
Lyrically, Dani's output over time has ranged from "Excellent poetry with no hope of fitting the music rhythmically" (Dusk and Her Embrace) to "Well, it's crap but it's in line with the music" (Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder and thereafter). Midian falls in the sweet spot between these two extremes, sporting well-written lyrics that actually fit the music. I recall learning in English class about alliteration, assonance, metaphor, simile, and all the various mechanisms that "good" poetry employs, and realizing that "Lord Abortion" (of all songs) is a master class on them.
Doug Bradley's cameos as Pinhead from the Hellraiser series work much better than one would expect, and the album flows well as a whole. Tracks lead perfectly into one another without a disjointed, broken-up feel. This is much harder to achieve than one might think, and turns Midian into a cohesive unit rather than just a collection of songs.
Is it perfect? Well no, nothing is. The production's a little wonky and "Satanic Mantra" is silly and unnecessary, but with its run time only being about a minute it's a minor offense.
These complaints are but tiny blips in the great glorious shadow of songs like Saffron's Curse and Her Ghost in the Fog. The songwriting is impeccable throughout on every instrument, and Powell's perfect keyboard performance elevates it to legendary status.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the best album ever.
Given the last decade or so of uninspiring material from Cradle of Filth, it's easy to forget that they were once the friggin' best. Albums like Vempire, Cruelty and the Beast, and Midian's successor Bitter Suites to Succubi could easily have made this list if I weren't limiting each band to one entry, but Midian is the absolute peak of CoF's career.
Guitarist Paul Allender had recently returned to the band--apparently with some great material in tow--and Martin Powell had just joined to temporarily shut down the revolving door that is CoF's keyboard position.
Without taking anything away from the other band members, this album can be summed up as "Martin Powell's masterpiece." The keyboards on this album are beyond reproach. Without overpowering the rest of the music they provide the creepy horror-movie-soundtrack vibe that makes this album so haunting and evil-sounding that it prompted the band's amusing but unimpressive attempt at making their own horror movie. Everything Powell does here is great, whether subtle or foreground.
The vocals are top-notch as well; Dani's voice is in its prime and Sarah Jezebel Deva proves that it isn't necessarily over when the fat lady sings.
Lyrically, Dani's output over time has ranged from "Excellent poetry with no hope of fitting the music rhythmically" (Dusk and Her Embrace) to "Well, it's crap but it's in line with the music" (Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder and thereafter). Midian falls in the sweet spot between these two extremes, sporting well-written lyrics that actually fit the music. I recall learning in English class about alliteration, assonance, metaphor, simile, and all the various mechanisms that "good" poetry employs, and realizing that "Lord Abortion" (of all songs) is a master class on them.
Doug Bradley's cameos as Pinhead from the Hellraiser series work much better than one would expect, and the album flows well as a whole. Tracks lead perfectly into one another without a disjointed, broken-up feel. This is much harder to achieve than one might think, and turns Midian into a cohesive unit rather than just a collection of songs.
Is it perfect? Well no, nothing is. The production's a little wonky and "Satanic Mantra" is silly and unnecessary, but with its run time only being about a minute it's a minor offense.
These complaints are but tiny blips in the great glorious shadow of songs like Saffron's Curse and Her Ghost in the Fog. The songwriting is impeccable throughout on every instrument, and Powell's perfect keyboard performance elevates it to legendary status.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the best album ever.
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