#rain is my favorite song by them also ascensionism

[pipulp]

i only started listening to just pretend in september but i managed to listen to it over 300 times. that's yearning babe!

[transmechanicus]

Overall i would say i liked all of the songs with two exceptions (Vore and Gods). the b iggest hit of all is Ascensionism. second place goes to both The Apparition and DYWTYLM. I also loved The Night Does Not Belong To God, Sugar, The Love You Want, Distraction, The Summoning, Aqua Regia, Take Me Back to Eden and Euclid. Also very very good: Give, Say That You Will, Atlantic, Mine, Fall For Me, Alkaline, Chokehold, Granite, Are You Really Okay?, Rain. I still need to listen to them all while following the lyrics so this is just a first impression list of favorite

Apparition 2nd place let’s go let’s goooooo!!! The only thing saving you from my wrath for being a Vore hater lmaooo🖤

[aturnipsingularity]

Turnip, what's YOUR album of the year if you had to pick one? Pitch it to me, infect me with ur music taste

Okay, so I can't pick just one, so I'll throw a handful of my faves that I discovered this year into the ring. The most recent would be Eternal Blue by Spiritbox. Underrated alt/prog metal band, and I haven't heard a whole lot of others talking about them. I really like the way the first couple of tracks blend together, and the lead vocalist has an amazing voice. She has this really melodic singing that meshes well with her death growl. I also really like that there's a good mix of slower songs with the harder music. There's a lot of good variety, and the pacing is really nice.

Favorite song: Silk In The Strings

I also finally listened to The Death of Peace of Mind by Bad Omens this year. I had heard a couple of their singles before, but I hadn't checked out the full work until recently. I was really glad I did, because it's amazing. Lots of bangers in there, 10/10 would recommend. I really enjoy metal/post-hardcore in general, but the synths and electronics give the music a really nice boost to the energy (see one of my fave albums of all time -- Trauma by I Prevail). It makes it really punchy, and I love that!

Favorite song: ARTIFICIAL SUICIDE or bad decisions

I also want to recommend Take Me Back to Eden by Sleep Token, because I was very hyped for it to come out this year. However, I was let down a little bit and do have a few reservations about the album in general. I think it's great. The vibe of it is really ethereal, and I appreciate the fluidity of the songs in terms of tone and sound. But, it suffers from a lack of variety in tempo. A lot of the songs are slower, and the sequencing itself doesn't lend any room for picking up the energy it loses after the first 5 songs. I also hate the songs Are You Really Okay? and DYWTYLM. They don't feel like they belong. At all. They feel like filler/billboard top 100 and less of this otherworldy, almost ghostly sound they're trying to go for. It also took me a few listens to come around to Ascensionism and The Apparition, but I do really appreciate those songs, and I really quite like them now. It's a really good album that took a few misteps. The Summoning is so good, though. There's a reason it's their most popular song. If you're going to listen to it, I would recommend listening in the following order, because it's the best one I've found for right now. Although it's also not perfect by far, and you can hear the tonal shift after the first three songs, I think it feels a bit more balanced. I can't say I'm quite satisfied with it, but it's still a lot better imo

Drop Are You Really Okay? and DYWTYLM. Don't put them in the playlist.

1. Chokehold

2. Vore

3. The Summoning

4. Aqua Regia

5. Ascensionism

6. The Apparition

7. Granite

8. Rain

9. Euclid

10. Take Me Back to Eden

Favorite song: Euclid or Chokehold

And a small honorable mention to these albums that I finally got to listen to, but don't have enough thoughts on (yet) to rant about:

So Much (For) Stardust by Fall Out Boy

Rain City Drive by Rain City Drive

The Click (Deluxe Edition) by AJR (don't judge me I really like them)

Opal (original soundtrack) by Jack Stauber

Frontiers by Journey

Empire by Queensrÿche

4 by Foreigner

I really should have listened to the older albums sooner, but I just never got around to it -- even though I know multiple songs from each one.

I'll eventually talk about all of the other entries on this list, as well as my all-time favorites (not listed) and the other couple of recents I have yet to finish. Mostly just because I like talking about music lmao but today is not that day. Also you have to tell me about your music taste now!

[foundationsofdecay]

Pardon my adding to this, it's not nearly as introspective but I wanted to chime in because I am absolutely obsessed with both of those songs

My favorite lines from Aqua Regia also play heavily into the notion of being completely stuck in the past, reacting like he is still in that situation in the sense of not just flashbacks but akin to a complete temporal dissociation. He doesn't want to keep reacting to 'alarm bells' but still hears them, and he doesn't want to keep resisting changing and towards some kind of healing, but he still instinctively pushes away anything that could provide that.

It certainly sounds like he wants to move past his past trauma, but feels like he keeps falling back into it anyways, instead moving backwards when he tries to move forwards. Aqua Regia itself being a substance that can dissolve gold, an element that comes up prominently in the song itself as a reflection of Vessel. It does really come off as him wanting to be fully dissolved like you said, which plays heavily into the themes of Rain as well, except by that point he's moved towards wanting to be cleansed of his pain instead of him being so inherently tainted that the only option for cleansing is to disappear entirely. The journey from Aqua Regia to Rain is something I don't really have a coherent theory for yet, but I think what you said about Vore and the lead-in to Ascensionism is critical to it.

(One line that does stick in my head in relation to this, though, is the earlier "putting down the roses, picking up the sword". I'm not entirely sure how that fits with the line about fighting off change - perhaps the contradiction is part of that back-and-forth struggle? I'm not really sure yet.)

Thinking about the TMBTE album and it's themes of how trauma stays with you, even when you try to move on

Like- I read this as him seeing shades of a past abuser in his current partner and trying to pull himself out of it constantly. He's just a template of a person, trying to put himself back together, but he's not responding to things "right" and just wants to be dissolved so he just doesn't have to think anymore

I have a constantly evolving read on this album, but I've been noticing this theme more and more, as well as themes of knowing something is awful and destructive and still craving it.

Like- Vore is him giving into those impulses one last time and being horrified at himself afterwards, thus leading into Ascensionism.