Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death (1988)

Spectrum of Death, Morbid Saint's only official full-length, may be the greatest thrash metal album of all time. It's a blown-out, raw, raging riff factory, with insane, incomprehensible solos, vicious, raspy, reverb-soaked vocals, and not a single weak spot. Goddamn, this album kills every time. Mandatory metal listening.

Track listing:
1. Lock Up Your Children
2. Burned at the Stake
3. Assassin
4. Damien
5. Crying for Death
6. Spectrum of Death
7. Scars
8. Beyond the Gates of Hell

Kill the white rabbit before it kills you

KTL - 2 (2007)

KTL is a duo consisting of Stephen O'Malley and Peter Rihberg. Their music is a droning, screaming cacophony that is often truly unnerving to behold.

Track listing:
1. Game
2. Theme
3. Abattoir
4. Snow 2

A corpse on the forest floor

Bowery Electric - Lushlife (2000)

Perfect, nocturnal trip-hop. Drum loops, gauzy synths and guitars, smoky female vocals.

Track listing:
1. Floating World
2. Lushlife
3. Shook Ones
4. Psalms of Survival
5. Soul City
6. Freedom Fighter
7. Saved
8. Deep Blue
9. After Landing
10. Passages

On a bed on top of the sheets
In a room that smells like the sea
You will take your body like a saw to me
Living here at the end of the world

Low - Murderer EP (2003)

This one's real special to me, kids. Slowcore titans Low released this miniature masterpiece between the unfairly derided Trust and the more fairly derided The Great Destroyer. This, combined with the fact that it was a somewhat limited run 10", led to it getting largely overlooked. VERY unfortunate, as it contains some of their finest compositions.

The version of "Silver Rider" on here is, in my opinion, vastly superior to the Great Destroyer version -- instead of shouting its prettiness at you, the song glides along in a stately, widescreen haze of keyboard, patient, buoyant floor tom, and angelic vocals.

The real showstopper, though, is the dramatic, chill-inducing title track, in which vocalist Alan Sparhawk, clearly working through some crisis of faith, speaks directly with God, accusing Him of hiding murderous tendencies, and finally, offering his services as a divine killer for hire. This EP has helped get me through some pretty rough times -- really -- and I hope that, should it be needed, it might do the same for you sometime.

Track listing:
1. Murderer
2. Silver Rider
3. From Your Place on Sunset

One more thing before I go
One more thing I ask you, Lord
You may need a murderer
Someone to do your dirty work

Ralph Towner - Solstice (1974)

More ECM excellence, this time from a four-piece group of ECM heavyweights -- saxophonist Jan Garbarek, keyboardist Eberhard Weber, drummer Jon Christensen, and guitarist/bandleader Ralph Towner. While much of Towner's work is placid and sparse, with Solstice, the full-band sound lends a welcome sense of dissonance and unrest to his compositions, leading to one of his most diverse, dynamic, and memorable outings.

Track listing:
1. Oceanus
2. Visitation
3. Drifting Petals
4. Nimbus
5. Winter Solstice
6. Piscean Dreams
7. Red and Black
8. Sand

Distant hills

Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life (1976)

Solo debut from jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. Recorded when he was just 21, Bright Size Life showcases Metheny's dexterous, crystalline guitar work, and a perfectly understated rhythm section composed of Jaco Pastorius (whose self-titled album I really should have posted by now [EDIT: I did]) and drummer Bob Moses.

Track listing:
1. Bright Size Life
2. Sirabhorn
3. Unity Village
4. Missouri Uncompromised
5. Midwestern Nights Dream
6. Unquity Road
7. Omaha Celebration
8. Round Trip / Broadway Blues

The silence of a candle

Nehëmah - Requiem Tenebrae (2004)

Looks like it's time for another entry in my ongoing series, "All of My Favorite Black Metal is French." Compared with that of many of their fellow countrymen, Nehëmah's music is relatively traditional -- icy riffing, choral keys, throaty rasps -- but it's dynamic, emotionally compelling, and masterfully executed, especially on this, their third and (thus far) latest album. The whole record is phenomenal, but the sprawling, hauntingly sorrowful "Taken Away by the Torn Black Shroud" deserves consideration as one of black metal's finest compositions.

Track listing:
1. Creeping Chaos
2. The Great Old Ones
3. Dead But Dreaming in the Eternal Icy Wastes
4. The Elder Gods Awakening
5. In the Mists of Orion's Sword
6. Taken Away by the Torn Black Shroud
7. Conscience in Evil
8. Through the Dark Nebula

I will sleep with the dragon

Islaja - Ulual Yyy (2007)

Abstract, psychedelic, woozily beautiful sounds from Finnish musician Merja Kokkonen. Songs slowly congeal from strange, fragmented guitars, saxophone, organs, cello, singing saw, and many other instruments, eventually revealing, at the heart of this low-key cacophony, a surprisingly tender, relatable emotional core.

Track listing:
1. Kutsukaa Sydant
2. Sydanten Ahmija
3. Pete P
4. Laulu Jo Menneesta
5. Pysahtyneet Planeetat
6. Muusimaa
7. Varjokuvastin
8. Muukalais-Silma
9. Suru Ei

Travel light

Abruptum - Vi Sonus Veris Nigrae Malitiaes (1997)

One long, unsettling, seemingly improvised blackened horrorscape. Thunderous drums, demonic growls, tortured screams, droning feedback. Vi Sonus Veris Nigrae Malitiaes came with a helpful reminder that Abruptum is "the audial essence of pure black evil," and a warning that they "do not take responsibility for any actions taken under the influence of this album."

Track listing:
1. Vi Sonus Veris Nigrae Malitiaes

Ancient chambers of inhuman sorrow

Mineral - The Power of Failing (1995)

I just read that vaguely Christian emo favorites Mineral are doing a reunion (probably because they heard that Sunny Day Real Estate already did one -- get it?) so here's their awesome, ragged first full-length. Get ready to lock yourself in your bedroom, writing poetry, smoking cigarettes, and pining for that rad girl who likes pharmaceuticals and has a boyfriend who's in a band that sounds like Archers of Loaf -- just like we all did in high school.

Track listing:
1. Five, Eight, and Ten
2. Gloria
3. Slower
4. Dolorosa
5. 80-37
6. If I Could
7. July
8. Silver
9. Take the Picture Now
10. Parking Lot

Rejoice, my soul
How long will you fear

Gaza - I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die (2006)

Chaotic, dark, dissonant, sludgy, restless, inventive hardcore. Reminds me of a time and place in which it wasn't out of the ordinary to see Pg. 99, Majority Rule, and Darkest Hour at the same show. I managed to sleep on Gaza until after they broke up because I suck, so in case you have done the same, here's their phenomenal first album.

Track listing:
1. Calf
2. I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die
3. Hospital Fat Bags
4. Gristle
5. Sire
6. Slutmaker
7. Hell Crown
8. Moth
9. Cult
10. Pork Finder
11. Untitled

I love you for the same reasons I could not shoot crippled horses

Sabbat - The Dwelling (1996)

A low-budget epic of raw Japanese black/thrash. The Dwelling consists of one hour-long track that, against all odds, doesn't come across as just a bunch of songs strung together, and completely kicks ass throughout. Lots of meat and potatoes blackened thrash, killer riffs, and off-kilter ritualistic sections, complete with cheesy keyboards and ghostly, pseudo-operatic clean vox. All metalheads must hear this.

Track listing:
1. The Dwelling: The Melody of Death Mask

The forests create the black night,
The black nights create the darkness,
The darkness raises a red full moon,
The moon raises the ancient winds,
The ancient winds create the storms,
The storms create a grand silence,
The silence raises a golden shadow,
The shadow raises an eternal blood...
The birth of the unseen evil

Throne of Ahaz - Nifelheim (1995)

Old school Swedish black metal. Blast beats, tremolo picking, raspy vocals, war-like mid-paced bits, wind SFX -- sounds like black metal. Nifelheim was recorded in 1993 - notably, the same year as the musically similar Under a Funeral Moon - but it didn't come out 'til '95, causing virtually every discussion of the album to included speculation that Throne of Ahaz would currently be considered a more historically significant band if Nifelheim's release had not been delayed. What really matters, though, is that Nifelheim kicks a lot of ass, and that you can't rightly say that you like black metal if you don't like this album.

Track listing:
1. Northern Thrones
2. An Arctic Star of Blackness
3. Where Ancient Lords Gather
4. The Dawn of War
5. Nifelheim
6. The Calling Blaze
7. A Winter Chant
8. The Kings that Were...

I saw them summon under the droning moon
I drowned in their eyes so black and cold

Christine Perfect - Christine Perfect (1974)

Shortly before joining Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie, assuming the moniker Christine Perfect, recorded and released her first solo album. While its blues- and soul-tinged rock sound isn't terribly unique, the songs are all quite well written and performed, and regardless, McVie's melancholic, soulful vocals could elevate to greatness even the most tepid of songs. Highly recommended to any fans of Fleetwood Mac or 70s rock in general.

Track listing:
1. Crazy 'Bout You Baby
2. I'm on My Way
3. Let Me Go
4. Wait and See
5. Close to Me
6. I'd Rather Go Blind
7. When You Say
8. And That's Saying a Lot
9. No Road Is the Right Road
10. For You
11. I'm Too Far Gone [Bonus]
12. I Want You [Bonus]

I would rather go blind, boy
Than to see you walk away from me

Misery - Disease Ridden (2013) + Frozen (2013)

Dark, gnarly, tough hardcore from Grand Rapids, MI. Simple but extremely effective -- gruff vocals, blastbeats, sludgy breakdowns, and feedback. Two EPs, free (or name your price) via their bandcamp. Strangely, they're charging 7 bucks for their demo.

Track listing:
-Disease Ridden-
1. Paranoia
2. Pale and Gray
3. Night Terror
4. Disease Ridden
-Frozen-
1. Intro
2. Frozen
3. No Mercy
4. Blackout
5. Hellfrost
6. Nameless