Hive - Working with Sound (1997)

An album of stoney instrumental trip-hop that gets further and further out as it goes on. Nothing like some crackly jazz samples, funky bass-lines, echoing vocal snippets, and skittering beats to kick off a day of eating mushroom chocolates, listening to music (obviously), watching 80s slasher flicks, and at some point putting together this big-ass backyard cover/swing thing that my wife bought the other day.

Track listing:
1. (All Over) The... Prelude
2. Fallout
3. Mood Swings (Act I)
4. Steps into the Light
5. Sphaira
6. Mood Swings (Act II)
7. A Suspended Greeting
8. Practice in Stillness
9. Dreaming Belize
10. Vaya Con Dios (A Suspended Mix)

Inside the hive

Similar vibes:

Depth Charge -
Nine Deadly Venoms (1994)

Mad Doctor X -
Picnic with the Greys (1997)

Joe Henderson - Power to the People (1969)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Joe Henderson - Black Is the Color (1972) + Black Narcissus (1976)
Joe Henderson - Multiple (1973)

One of the first jazz records that ever stuck with me. Loose and energetic pieces that build from a low simmer to chaotic peaks with incredible ease. Unsurprisingly, Herbie Hancock puts in some phenomenal work.

Track listing:
1. Black Narcissus
2. Afro-Centric
3. Opus One-Point-Five
4. Isotope
5. Power to the People
6. Lazy Afternoon
7. Foresight and Afterthought (An Impromptu Suite in Three Movements)

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem

You'll probably also enjoy:

Elvin Jones -
Genesis (1971)

Steve Reid -
Nova (1976)

Svarttjern - Misanthropic Path of Madness (2009)

Norwegian black metal decimation. Tight, precise, and punishing. Rips from front to back.

Track listing:
1. Code Human
2. Ancients Shadows Revelation
3. Upon Human Ending
4. Stillborn Acolyte
5. Misanthropic Path of Madness
6. Finally the Wood Shall Shape
7. Passions of 7
8. Ere Fra det Indre

Carved into the flesh of man

You'd also like:

Triumphator -
Wings of Antichrist (1999)

Au-Delà des Ruines ‎-
Psychose des Barbelés (2013)

Chateaux - Chained and Desperate (1983)

Anthemic, low-rent NWOBHM featuring the vocal stylings of one Steve Grimmett (of Grim Reaper). Somewhere between British Steel and Shout at the Devil, but with maybe 3% of the recording budget.

Track listing:
1. Chained and Desperate
2. Spirit of the Chateaux
3. Burnt Out at Dawn
4. The Dawn Surrendered
5. Straight to the Heart
6. Baton Rouge
7. Son of Seattle
8. Shine On Forever

The boys are runnin', screaming in the night
Flexin' their muscles for the sake of delight

You'd also enjoy:

Blaspheme -
Désir de Vampyr (1985)

Demon Eyes -
Garde à Vue (1987)

Phlebotomized - Devoted to God (1992)

Dutch death/doom. Eerie, atmospheric keyboards, thick guitars, beastly gutturals, songs that rarely stay on the same part for more than 20 seconds or so, and best-case-scenario production for a 90s death metal demo.

Track listing:
1. In Search of Tranquility
2. Subtle Disbalanced Liquidity
3. Desecration of Alleged Christian History
4. Fate of a Devotee
5. Devoted to God
6. Tragic Entanglement
7. Ataraxia

Slowly captivated by the suffocating mass

You should also listen to:

Cryptic Tales -
Anathema (1992)

Fleshcrawl -
Descend into the Absurd (1992)

Moscow Olympics - Cut the World (2008)

Melancholic dream pop/shoegaze with more than a hint of New Order-y post-punk/new wave swoon. All chiming guitars, gauzy synths, wiry rhythms, and whispery vocals. FFO: Beach Fossils, DIIV, Wild Nothing, and all those other new-wave-on-heroin bands.

Track listing:
1. What Is Left Unsaid
2. No Winter, No Autumn
3. Second Trace
4. Safe
5. Carolyn
6. Ocean Sign
7. Cut the World

I think you are a pig
Should be in a zoo

If you like this, try:

Sleep ∞ Over -
Forever (2011)

Au.Ra -
Jane's Lament (2015)

Desire - Infinity... A Timeless Journey Through an Emotional Dream (1996)

Stunning Portuguese atmospheric death/doom. Crushing but melodic, almost absurdly grandiose dirges elevated by a backdrop of drifting, ethereal keyboards.

Track listing:
1. Prologue
2. (Leaving) This Land of the Eternal Desires
3. A Ride in a Dream Crow
4. The Purest Dreamer
5. In Delight with the Mermaid
6. Forever Dreaming... (Shadow Dancer)
7. Epilogue

At last, I can feel it
The burning sky over me

If you like this, you should listen to:

Funeral -
Tragedies (1995)

Void of Silence -
Toward the Dusk (2001)

Tigersmilk - Android Love Cry (2007)

Jazz-based free improvisation with textural electronic flourishes. Sparse, anxious, weird sounds to compliment my hangover.

Track listing:
1. Poured Over Waves Ecstatic Charge
2. Falling Signals Rising
3. The Last Moments After Death
4. Spirit Spore Flash
5. Stillness Among Mercury Trees
6. Love into Earth's Shadow Liquid
7. Before a Blinded Spirit Light Planet
8. Already Crippled by Water and Wind
9. Minimal Distress Code
10. To the Face of Beauty Concealed in Shadow-Wire
11. The City Conducted Conducted
12. Night and Falling Tears
13. Circuit Overlord Demise

There are ghosts

Similar vibes:

William Hooker -
... Is Eternal Life (1977)

Anthony Pateras -
Chasms (2007)

Sühnopfer - Nos sombres chapelles (2010)

Excellent French melodic black metal. Passionate, well-crafted songs, dueling solos, and nonstop tremolo picking -- all performed by one dude.

Track listing:
1. Nos sombres chapelles
2. "Vous, ou la mort!"
3. Partir à l'ost
4. "Espérance!"
5. Errements d'un pestiféré
6. Reliques (part 1)
7. Reliques (part 2)

Suicide under the black moon

You'll also like:

Nehëmah -
Light of a Dead Star (2002)

Grafvitnir -
Semen Serpentis (2014)

The Third Eye Foundation - Semtex (1996)

A genre-defying masterpiece that touches equally on shoegaze/psych, drum n bass, and trip-hop. Densely-layered walls of guitars, piercing feedback, angelic voices, distorted drum loops, and samples. Apocalyptic, hypnotic, sorrowful, and all-out awe-inspiring.

Track listing:
1. Sleep
2. Still Life
3. Dreams on His Fingers
4. Next of Kin
5. Once When I Was an Indian
6. Rain

The day the wind blew out the light

You should also listen to:

Flying Saucer Attack -
Flying Saucer Attack (1993)

The Angelic Process -
Coma Waering (2003)