Favourite Records of the Year. Selected by: Bosse-De-Nage

von Heavypop am 5. Dezember 2015 in ...in english please!

Behind the imaginative artwork of their fourth album, All Fours, Bosse-De-Nage celebrate an intimate theatre of 55 minutes: the Californians weave together fascinating, desperate lyrics, guitar-spaces filled with claustrophobia and hope, and a breathtaking rhythm-section into a work of art, which not only underlines Bosse-De-Nage’s exceptional status in between bands like Altar of Plagues, Wreck and Reference or Deafheaven, but elevates them onto another level. On day 5 of the Heavy Pop advent calendar the band not only views many colleagues in the rearview mirror, but the year of 2015 (in alphabetical order) as well.

Balms – Balms

Beautiful hazy dreampop/shoegaze from San Francisco. They set themselves apart from the innumerable other bands doing this style right now by their simple, intimate, direct approach. Less wall of sound, more bittersweet hooks and genuine songcraft.

Deafheaven – [amazon_link id=“B0131WIVBS“ target=“_blank“ ]New Bermuda[/amazon_link]

We’ve loved these guys since the demo days, and it’s been really cool to watch their rise in real time. New Bermuda’s a lot more aggressive, more metal, more bleak, but retaining their signature life-affirming catharsis. Love the Oasis outro too.

Dhampyr – Oceanclots

Certainly not the easiest listen, but it’s an album everyone should hear anyway. Almost like a wall of harsh white noise, but somehow totally beautiful at the same time. This is a one-man dreamy black metal album dedicated to the musician’s deceased girlfriend (the last song is incredibly made up completely from manipulated samples of her voice.) Listening is a really exhausting and draining, but I recommend everyone do at least once.

Planning For Burial – [amazon_link id=“B00WYE6PQS“ target=“_blank“ ]Leaving[/amazon_link]

Kind of cheating with this one as it’s a reissue, but it’s never really been readily available before. Incredible one-man monolithic doom/shoegaze/slowcore/post-whatever, sort of like Jesu meets Elliot Smith. Huge, gorgeous and emotionally draining. His 2014 album Desideratum is equally great.

Shape of Despair – [amazon_link id=“B00WOFLWM4″ target=“_blank“ ]Monotony Fields[/amazon_link]

Like any respectable funeral doom band, Shape of Despair waited 11 years since their last full length (Illusions‘ Play, also amazing) to finally put this out. Once again, this is massive, lush, beautiful, melancholy and well worth the wait – almost like new age doom.

Bosse-De-Nage online: Facebook | Bandcamp | The Flenser | Profound Lore

Thanks to Bosse-De-Nage!

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