I’ve already started a tradition with the 2021 final roundup: I laboriously write up one-sentence reviews for (almost) every album I listened to that came out last year AND wasn’t covered in any Newer Release Roundup features. Since I wasn’t as active at keeping up with Newer Release Roundups last year, that’s gonna be whole fuckton of albums to cover.

It’s so many that I don’t feel like covering them all! I listened to over 300, but I’m settling on a nice, reasonable, 198 albums. Not even 200! Isn’t that funny??

So let me get right to it! Green means go, red means stop, and yellow means caution. Just like your friendly neighborhood traffic light.

Abest – Molten Husk
Incredibly good, pummeling blackened sludge that’s a little crispy around the edges, just the way I like it.

Alison Cotton – The Portrait You Painted of Me
Moody, drone-y modern classical music that EVOKES EMOTIONS, so it does its job.

Altars – Ascetic Reflection
Crushing piles of dissonant death metal that relies too hard on repetition in lieu of dynamic progressions.

Alvvays – Blue Rev
The best release yet from a really good indie pop band, and it deserved all the critical acclaim that it got.

Amorphis – Halo
I suppose after 30 years and 14 albums it’s hard to make your steady formula of generic progressive metal stand out among the rest anymore, but it’s not without its moments.

Anteloper – Pink Dolphins
Holy shit, this hits all sorts of jazz styles including nu-jazz, ambient dark jazz, some real Miles Davis Bitches Brew shit; it’s Top 25 material for sure, maybe even Top 10, and I’m sorry that I heard it too late.

Arctic Monkeys – The Car
Sorry, but this sucks.

Artificial Brain – Artificial Brain
Moody dissonant death metal has never sound so… moody and dissonant.

Astral Tomb – Soulgazer
Psychedelic death metal is always a cool concept, but Soulgazer meanders too much to be a truly compelling listen.

Author & Punisher – Krüller
Howling, desolate industrial music that sounds like a cross between Swans and Neurosis with some actual positive-sounding atmospherics thrown into the mix as well — it’s ok.

Autonoesis – Moon of Foul Magics
Wonderfully melodic old school black metal that’s the closest you’ll find all year of the classic lo-fi black metal sound.

Babe Rainbow – The Organic Album
The Organic Album sounds like if Yo La Tengo took some funk pills and then dropped just a little bit of acid.

Band of Horses – Things Are Great
Band of Horses’ glory days are behind them, but if you want to vibe to some ’00s-era indie rock then this album is adequately nostalgic and consistent.

Batu – Opal
Industrial IDM mixed with floral ambience makes for a compelling listen in a genre that I usually don’t find that charming.

Beach House – Once Twice Melody
There is no love lost when it comes to my relationship with Beach House anyway, but 84 minutes of Beach House is too much fucking Beach House.

Belushi Speed Ball – What, Us Worry?
Jokey thrash metal band that’s super fun sometimes and obnoxious a lot of the other times, especially with the skits.

The Beths – Expert in a Dying Field
Loaded with hooks and strong melodies, these New Zealanders have made their best album to date.

Björk – Fossora
Of course this is good, Björk is a goddamned genius.

Blind Guardian – The God Machine
Blind Guardian are one of the best at what they do, but I feel like twelve albums of Blind Guardian is just a teensy bit too much Blind Guardian.

Blut Aus Nord – Disharmonium / Undreamable Abysses
Certainly unsettling and atmospheric stuff, but I’ve heard way more compelling avantgarde black metal from the Blut Aus Nord of the past.

Bob Vylan – Bob Vylan Presents the Price of Life
Bob Vylan’s fast-paced mix of hip-hop/grime, punk, and electro-industrial is a very cool combination that more than makes up for the Spongebob reference on Track 1.

Boris – Heavy Rocks 2022
Boris doesn’t know how to play normal rock music, and they flaunt this in every way possible with the third Heavy Rocks installment since 2002.

Boyhood – My Dread
Caylie Runciman is like a much more interesting and cynical Phoebe Bridgers or Lucy Dacus or Julien Baker — instead of “Boyhood” she should be called “boygenius” hahahahahaha!!!

Brainwaltzera – ITSAME
Immersive, ambient Boards of Canada-style IDM that really does take you places, man, so just sit back and let it take you awwaaaaaaay…

Broken Bells – Into the Blue
Broken Bells plays sleepy indie rock that makes me wish they’d spend a little more effort trying to fix those bells!

Brymir – Voices in the Sky
There are already a million albums like this one and 100,000 of them came out this year alone.

The Callous Daoboys – Celebrity Therapist
Very, very similar to the Dillinger Escape Plan with much more emphasis on Mr. Bungle antics; once upon a time I’d be ALL OVER that shit, but the formula is getting tired.

Carpenter Brut – Leather Terror
Aggressive synthwave with edge and bite and chomp and grit and pluck and moxie, baby!

Cave In – Heavy Pendulum
When this is good, it’s really good, but 70 minutes is way too fucking long for a metal album you dinguses.

Cavernlight – As I Cast Ruin Upon the Lens That Reveals My Every Flaw
As I Cast Judgement Upon the Album That Reveals I Thought It Was Boring.

Cities Aviv – MAN PLAYS THE HORN
The gems are few and far between in this bloated 900,000-minute mentally draining album, but you certainly can’t knock its title.

Clutch – Sunrise on Slaughter Beach
The only thing I don’t like about this great album by the always great Clutch is that it’s a hair too short.

Confidence Man – TILT
I liked the first Confidence Man album, but all the dance pop on TILT is so very, very bland (like this sentence!).

Crowbar – Zero and Below
Heard it all before already.

Daal – Daedalus
King Crimson ripoff band that adds nothing — nothing — new to the table.

Daeva – Through Sheer Will and Black Magic…
Intense black/thrash/speed metal, perhaps the best of the year, but maybe not the best thrash/speed/black OR speed/black/thrash of the year!

Daphni – Cherry
I’m not sure why Dan Snaith releases some music under Caribou and some under Daphnit, since they both sound the same, but he’s always consistent and good.

dälek – Precipice
One of the most unique and innovative underground hip hop groups of the late ’90s and early ’00s is really uninteresting now, and this album sucks, and their next album will suck too.

Dark Funeral – We Are the Apocalypse
Dark Funeral gets about as meat-and-potatoes as you can get when it comes to black metal, but man does this stuff slap for an old-fart band that’s been around since the early ’90s.

Darkher – The Buried Storm
Dark folk in the vein of Chelsea Wolfe, and the few moments of brilliance are bookended by some frustratingly plodding music.

De Profundis – The Corruption of Virtue
This English outfit blasts full-bodied, proggy death metal in your ears, and then it leaves your ears on the floor and you’ll have to either pick up your ears or get new ears.

death’s dynamic shroud – Darklife
This is one of those projects that’s just a colorful mess of electronic noise pop and glitch hop that takes 400 listens to nail down, and if you think this is a complaint then you don’t know me at all.

Decapitated – Cancer Culture
Say what you will about all the post-Organic Hallucinosis output, Decapitated always rules and this album is no exception.

Decius – Decius Vol. 1
This EDM album is super sweaty and gross and, like, you can smell the music through your earbuds.

Dehd – Blue Skies
I suppose I can see the appeal, but I find this kind of indie rock so dull it’s making my ears build up wax just to stop hearing more of it.

Destroyer – LABYRINTHITIS
The least interesting member of the New Pornographers makes another sleepy solo album full of sleepy wryness and I don’t want to listen to it again, so I won’t.

Devenial Verdict – Ash Blind
Skirting the experimental side of death metal, Devenial Verdict hits all angles of metal and produces a very pleasing listen!

The Devils of Loudun – Escaping Eternity
Fucking excellent symphonic death metal that proves you can put the word “symphonic” in something and not be completely boring about it.

Disillusion – Ayam
Hell yeah Opethian prog-death metal, this would be Top 25 material if I had gotten to it earlier.

Dopplereffekt – Neurotelepathy
Sci-fi IDM that makes me feel like I’m dropping acid on a spaceship full of really hot alien women.

Dreadnought – The Endless
I don’t even know what to call this mix of dream pop female vocals, minor key post-metal meanderings, and breathy screaming, but it’s Top 25-caliber and I’m sorry I discovered it too late.

Dream Unending – Song of Salvation
Sludgy doom metal with PLENTY of atmosphere, like I’m walking on the moon (which has NO atmosphere, ironically).

Dysgnostic – Scar Echoes
Chunky, yet cerebral, dissonant death metal that is surprisingly colorful and accessible — far out, man.

Earthless – Night Parade of One Hundred Demons
Enormous tracks packed to the brim with classic rock era psychedelic jamming, it’s just what your doctor ordered when he was high on LSD.

Emeka Ogboh- 6°30′33.372″N 3°22′0.66″E
On one hand, some of this Nigerian ambient stuff is VERY compelling, and on the other hand, some of this stuff is just people speaking in Nigerian and car horns honking without any music behind it.

Empath – Visitor
Interesting combination of quirky poppiness with laid-back dream poppiness, but, honestly, it’s disposable.

The Ephemeron Loop – Psychonautic Escapism
An hour and twenty minutes of dull ephemeron loops, whatever the fuck that means.

Epoch of Unlight – At War with the Multiverse
Riff-heavy sci-fi death metal band that does all the things a riff-heavy sci-fi death metal band SHOULD be doing!

Evergrey – A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)
My coworker decided that this moody slog was Album of the Year before he even listened to it, which tells you everything you need to know about fuckin’ Steve.

Falls of Rauros – Key to a Vanishing Future
Stick any atmospheric sludge album in my ears and I’m a happy guy regardless, so I can’t even tell you if this album is good or bad!

Fellowship – The Saberlight Chronicles
Overlong, over-positive power metal for people who want something to bang their head to after listening to “A Whole New World” on a 40-minute loop.

Five Finger Death Punch – AfterLife
I didn’t expect to like this at all, but I cannot believe how hooky the melodies are on this record — just don’t pay attention to the lyrics.

Fly Anakin – Frank
Decent, but I don’t like this guy’s voice — it’s all eehh ehhhehhe eehehehe!

Foals – Life Is Yours
These math rock nerds are now making sappy synth pop that sounds like disco filtered through through a poop sock.

Fontaines D.C. – Skinty Fia
Hey, it’s another Fontaines D.C. album!

Frank Zappa – Zappa ’75 Zagreb/Ljubljana
Zappa spends a couple of nights tearing up Eastern Europe, the most happening place to be in 1975.