Rate the album you last listened to

[killer_roach]

Amon Düül II - Phallus Dei (2006 reissue)
9.5/10

Absolutely stunning, ethereal album. Incredibly varied instrumentation (Turkish drums? Soprano saxophone?) with a heavy emphasis on creating a spacey, trance-like atmosphere, and the chant-like vocals contribute greatly to this. Apart from the epic title track, the bonus track "I Want The Sun To Shine" is a standout as well.

[Boskov]

Iceburn/Engine Kid Split

All kinds of giddy. More of a past digging than a new album, but both sets are intense, awesome and lost pieces of hardcore/sludge/Densley/Anderson goodness that rarely get any credit. Pre Sunn O))) Anderson and the genius behind Iceburn make a fantastic split (which probably led to Ascend's Ample Fire Within), and definitely for those interested in either Kid Engine or Iceburn's take on experimental slabs of Hardcore.

[_mg3b_]

Talking Heads '77
Been a while since I listened to this, so I'll have to give it a few spins to get into it again. Amazingly ahead of its time though, and I love the rhythm. Massive shout out for Tina Weymouth, too, for really laying it on.

[Rocket2Russia]

Khanate: Things Viral
7.5/10
AMAZING dissonant, droney, sparse tones with highly impassioned vocals. Very emotionally affecting. Will be coming back to this one often.

(done with my 2003 to-listen list. if only RYM would stop being down so i could update my list and make it public...)

[_mg3b_]

I would give TV more, but I wouldn't view it as music rather as performance poetry.

[Boskov]

Unexpect - Fables of the Sleepless Empire

I can't get over how much I like this album. Easily my favorite metal release of the year, and keeps inching up my overall list; never seems to dull or tire, even with repeated use. Notches above their sophomore, which I found fantastic, the album just does not stop--my only, ever so minor, gripe would be the track placement for the last half--3 interlude tracks splicing the last 2 songs seems like a bad idea, and it really is. All of the songs are pure gold, however.

[killer_roach]

Arcturus - Aspera Hiems Symfonia
5.25/10

Interesting enough symphonic metal that about two-thirds in seems to become painfully clear that the band didn't have all that many ideas for this album, as instrumental passages and melodic ideas seem to be re-used wholesale. Despite its repetitive and derivative nature, the sound of their approach is relatively good apart from some overly bright swells on their synthesized string parts.

[RHCPfan96]

Flyleaf - Memento Mori
9.5/10

Flyleaf had really matured since their 2005 debut, although All Around Me is one of my all-time favorites. The layers on the guitar are fantastic, and Lacey outdoes herself on the record. Songwriting is incredible, every song is not only listenable, but easily enjoyable. Songs switch between heavy ("In the Dark," "Chasm") and lighter songs, such as "Arise" and "Circle."
I recommend the whole album, but if you can't, at least buy:
In the Dark
Arise
Again
Set Apart this Dream

[_mg3b_]

Choking Victim - No Gods, No Managers
8/10
Stupid but fun, and I always end up spamming a few tracks off it when I feel like dancing.

[Boskov]

Dalek - Absence

It's been a long time since I've actively been interested in a hip hop group, or even hip hop in general. The feeling comes and goes; I've known about Dalek for some time, in passing and in relation (it's on Ipecac, after all), but after passing it on my weekly trip to the record store, I grabbed. Hot damn. Loved every minute of it--I've always been a heavily instrumental type of listener, so hip hop albums that, even having great MCs, flow and delivery, have boring or basic production, I'll generally pass. Not so. The combination of drone, industrial, dark ambient and noise samples layered over broody, dirge hip hop beats was just fantastic for me.