With the second decade of the 2000s coming to an end rock music has rarely seen better years since the turn of century as 2019. Featuring some of the genre’s biggest & most underrated names releasing stellar records up & down the calendar year, 2019 will go down as one of the best years the genre has seen in decades. It’s time to examine the top five rock albums of 2019. (Albums are listed in chronological order by release date)
(Honorable Mentions: Rival Sons – “Feral Roots”; Bad Religion – “Age of Unreason”; The Black Keys – “Lets Rock”; The Appleseed Cast – “The Fleeting Light of Impermanence”; Killswitch Engage – “Atonement”; William DuVall – “One Alone”)
Soen – “Lotus” (Released: February 1st)
The once touted “supergroup” consisting of several lauded metal musicians from multiple bands has seen changes in the line-up and the band’s sound since forming in 2012. Almost two years to the day after the band’s third album “Lykaia” was released, Soen’s self-described “…intoxicating, addictive aural therapies,” allowed listeners to get an understanding as to where Soen is going with its sound. While the analog-recorded “Lykaia” was criticized for poor mastering, “Lotus” features aural crispness throughout starting with the bangers that are the album’s first three tracks (“Opponent”, “Lascivious” & “Martyrs”) where drummer Martin Lopez’s skills really take both songs to different levels.
Not to be outdone on said tracks are Stefan Stenberg & Cody Ford on bass & guitars respectively. Though singer Joel Ekelöf’s vocals are top notch, his almost whisper-like singing that usually evolves into soaring choruses in songs like the title track, “Penance” & “River” are hauntingly beautiful and perfectly offset some of the heavier tempos when they kick. Complimenting Ekelöf’s melodies during the album’s quieter moments like the aforementioned “Lotus” is the keyboard masterwork of Lars Åhlund. The album closes with one of the Soen’s best songs yet (“Lunacy”) that mixes almost everything positive about the band’s performance throughout this record and definitely sets a lofty standard heading into album number five.
(Top Three Tracks: “Lotus”, “Penance” & “Lunacy”)
The Incredible Jolly – “Family” (Released: June 22nd)
After creating a sonically advanced two-part album released over the span of two years, the New York based band found itself receiving a great amount of love from those who supported them throughout their tours: the fans themselves. The loving reciprocation gave birth to the idea for the band’s fourth album simply titled “Family”. As expected from a Jolly album, “Family’s” sound doesn’t take long to embrace the atmospheric nature of their previous works, with the swooning of heavy guitar playing & drumming courtesy of amazing lead vocalist Anadale & Louis Abramson respectively with the latter truly going out of his way to impress during “Circuit Heaven”. Co-vocalist Anthony Rondinone does an incredible job utilizing the bass to set almost every song’s tempo including the opening track “Lie to Me”, “Lazarus”, the “single” “Ava” & “Circuit Heaven”.
Anadale truly shines during the album’s less than chaotic moments & when presenting the highly catchy choruses during songs like “Rain”, “Violet” & “With Me”. A constant highlight throughout “Family” is the fingers of Joe Reilly as he plays the keyboard; adding greater impact to a variety of songs including the aforementioned “Rain”. Though a rock album by definition, Jolly always shows their multi-genre influences on their sleeves with an infusion of R&B elements, jazz, electronica & even some film scores. One of the album’s highlights comes courtesy of its bonus disc, “For Isaac”. A poignant, almost funeral march style presentation that hits an emotional highpoint unlike anything Jolly has ever produced and a true treat in this highly underrated band’s catalogue. Jolly’s slogan professing the band’s love for every listener & fan pours through every second of “Family”.
(Top Three Tracks: “Rain”, “Violet” & “For Isaac”)
Tool – “Fear Inoculum” (Released: August 30th)
Never before has the virtue of patience been associated with Tool fans more than the time between 2006 and 2019. Those dedicated to one of rock’s greatest bands of the last thirty years waited for the follow-up to Tool’s fourth LP “10,000 Days”; being supplemented by outside works like singer Maynard James Keenan’s eclectic band Puscifer and even rejoining Billy Howerdal & James Iha to put out A Perfect Circle’s first album in fourteen years with the highly enjoyable “Eat the Elephant”. Drummer extraordinaire Danny Carey” also became a part of a rock supergroup during “Fear Inoculum’s” gestation period to form the highly underrated Legend of the Seagullmen.
After the title track was released – a song that definitely drew comparisons to some of the band’s previous works – an official date was finally unveiled and anticipation was reasonably high. Yours truly was able to pre-order the original collector’s edition CD set and couldn’t be more like a kid on Christmas morning when the package arrived. Sitting down and hearing “Fear Inoculum” truly proved to be a one-of-a-kind experience with Keenan vocally staying closer to his APC & Puscifer sound than “Undertow” era Tool. Carey somehow outdoes himself throughout the album with some incredible highlights during “Pneuma”, “Invincible”, “Descending”, “Culling Voices”, the heavily layered “Chocolate Chip Trip” & “7empest”.
Justin Chancellor’s bass work is as phenomenal as ever, usually being a perfect lead-in to guitarist Adam Jones and his “slide effect” as heard during the mid-portion of the nearly thirteen minute-long “Invincible” (a song capped off by a blistering final two minutes a la “10,000 Days’” “Rosetta Stoned”) and around the one-third mark of “7empest”. But very few songs not only on the album, but any offering from 2019’s entirety matches the immaculate “7empest” – a song that is as Tool as one can get with obvious influences from all the band’s eras (the humor of “Aenima”, the layered nature from something off “Lateralus” & “10,000 Days”, and the aggression of “Opiate” & “Undertow”) spanning fifteen-plus minutes. Like accepting the act of growing older, evolving into a different person alongside the changing personalities around you, and embracing the natural progression of life’s change, “Fear Inoculum” isn’t something that can be wholly consumed in one moment; rewarding those with the patience to let everything about it marinate – absolutely worth the wait.
(Top Three Tracks: “Pneuma”, “Descending” & “7empest”)
Opeth – “In Cauda Venenum” (Released: September 27th)
One of the most heralded death metal bands of all time started transforming itself & its sound around the turn of the decade. While there were obvious signs Opeth wanted to be more than what made them so captivating in the first place with concept albums & songs featuring great length, thumping drums, blistering guitar & bass riffs, and death growls aplenty, it wasn’t until “Heritage” that Opeth abandoned a key part of their sound. Adopting a more prog-influenced style, Opeth crafted masterful works that can stand toe-to-toe with their pre-“Heritage” offerings with “In Cauda Venenum” (“Venom in the Tail” in Latin) continuing the trend. Following the almost otherworldly opening track, Opeth comes roaring in with “Svekets prins”/“Dignity” featuring everything from Martin Axenrot’s drumming, Joakim Svalberg’s rhythmic keyboard work, Fredrik Åkesson absolutely killing it on lead guitar in an early solo not even at the song’s halfway point, and fellow guitarist & lead singer/vocal rambler Mikael Åkerfeldt providing his usual mix of harmonic, whisper-like tone & an empowered yelling that never loses it impact. The technical mastery continues throughout the album’s majority, getting heavier with ever-increasing ferocity like the third track “Hjärtat vet vad handen gör”/“Heart in Hand” that should be pleasing to the ears of Opeth fans who enjoyed the days of “Blackwater Park”, “Ghost Reveries” & “Watershed”.
Almost every song stands out for different reasons instrumentally like the piano playing in “Minnets yta”/“Lovelorn Crime”, the cymbal work in “Kontinuerlig drift”/“Continuum”, and the slow build utilizing an immaculate guitar riff to close out both “Allting tar slut”/“All Things Will Pass” and the overall album. One of the most interesting aspects of “Venenum” has to be the band’s release method with one version being in English while the other is in the band’s native Swedish – the latter having something of a better flow thanks to Åkerfeldt singing in his natural language. For those who have doubted the quality output of Opeth since their stylistic change it’s hard to believe that negative mindset would remain listening to this fantastic tour de force.
(Top Three Tracks: “Svekets prins”/“Dignity”, “Minnets yta”/“Lovelorn Crime” & “Allting tar slut”/“All Things Will Pass”)
BabyMetal – “Metal Galaxy” (Released: October 8th)
The road to Babymetal’s third studio album was a rocky one with founding member Yuimetal having to leave due to health issues. Refusing to let the kawaii metal phenomenon die, remaining members Su-Metal & Moametal bring forth their described “…journey to the Metal Galaxy,” that both doesn’t take itself or the genre too seriously by adding a wider variety of sound from other cultures like the usage of Middle Eastern instrumentation in “Shanti Shanti Shanti” and “Night Night Burn!” having a tempo infused with elements of Latin music. There are some rather J-Pop heavy songs in the first half including “Elevator Girl” & “Brand New Day” that are incredibly catchy without sacrificing the frenetic energy & general heaviness that make up the best BabyMetal songs.
But it’s during the album’s second half that the metal craftsmanship the band’s vocalists and their producer Kobametal are known for comes to the forefront especially with standout track “PA PA YA!!” featuring Thai rapper F. Hero growling throughout. “PA PA YA!!” sounds like something one would’ve found on a System of a Down album almost two decades ago. The track prior to “PA PA YA!!” – “Distortion (ft. Alissa White-Gluz of the band Arch Enemy) – is another metal onslaught that has some of the album’s best drumming. The heaviness starts winding down to present a standout power ballad in “Shine” following the incredible “Starlight” with the latter being a perfect representation of everything BabyMetal is sonically. Instead of ending the album with something perfectly summarizing the end of an extensive trek like “Shine”, BabyMetal caps off this epic “journey” with a thrash-heavy, guitar-centric onslaught to the senses as if the listener is being propelled toward their next voyage, “Arkadia”. BabyMetal has never been conventional especially in the rock & metal worlds, but almost everything about them is unconventional; and it just works masterfully like so much of “Metal Galaxy”.
(Top Three Tracks: “Distortion”, “PA PA YA!!” & “Arkadia”)
