NATE GARRETT'S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2021
The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings
I heard this on college radio in Silver City, New Mexico as I was driving back to Texas after finishing Forge Your Future. I love psychedelic music with lots of layers, and this is definitely that. Thanks to whoever was playing this stuff on their show! I love those sort of serendipitous discoveries.
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell remaster
Still better than everything else.
Black Sabbath - The Mob Rules remaster
See above
Black Sabbath - Sabotage remaster
My favorite album ever made. Also still better than everything else.
Cannibal Corpse - Violence Unimagined
One of the best albums to date by the ultimate death metal band. Rutan really brought some new vibes to this. Cannibal is still at the absolute top of the heap. It’s about SONGS.
Duel - In Carne Persona
Legit, bad ass rock music. Duel was the first band I saw post-lockdown, supporting High on Fire. And it was awesome. There are moments here that remind me of the great, slightly more obscure '70s stuff like Captain Beyond and Sir Lord Baltimore. Jeff Henson’s unique production makes the whole thing even more interesting.
Frozen Soul - Crypt of Ice
Beast-mode death metal. Straightforward, burly, mean, bad ass. Scary vocals that sound like an actual monster instead of a dude trying to do stuff he learned from a vocal coach on YouTube. Sounding scary is way cooler than using correct technique or whatever.
Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon
Definitely my most listened to album this year. We were always listening to these guys at the old psychedelic, chaos-filled haunted house my bandmates and I lived at in West Fork, Arkansas back around 2007/2008. I was excited about the comeback, and I dig the new style even more than the old style.
Turnstile - Glow On
Duh. The first track is one of those rare songs that is objectively perfect. The rest of the album is hit or miss for me personally, but again… it’s just sort of objectively great stuff. Top-tier songwriting, production, and ambition.
Worm - Foreverglade
I don’t know if it’s because I’m technically a Floridaman, but I love this stuff. And I don’t love a whole lot of music that’s similar to this. But this stuff is weird, quirky, fearless, bizarre, and heavy. They’re taking a lot of chances, which most current death metal bands don’t really do. Respect.
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More year-end lists here.