Elijah’s Top 5:

Erde 666, Kadavrik (self-released). While they’re new to my awareness, the German quintet’s first album in 11 years certainly sounds like the work of an experienced band. The band knows how to make a sprawling piece of music, knowing when to wax melodic, when to be punishingly sludgy, and how to extend out into gripping instrumental passages.

Dreamcrush, MØL (Nuclear Blast). Seldom does angry music sound so happy. Crushing guitar production and violent screams somehow enhance the exaltation in the Danish project’s major key-driven songwriting.

Empty Hands, Poppy (Sumerian). The ever-eclectic Poppy continues her fruitful writing partnership with Jordan Fish and Stephen Harrison, fusing alternative rock, industrial, and death metal with catchy hooks as if they were always one musical idiom.

Reliance, Soen (Silver Lining). The modern progressive rock powerhouse proves consistent in their ability to produce quality music. They have certainly leaned into heavier sounds since their Tool-esque early days, but their intense emotions are always married flawlessly to undeniably beautiful vocal melodies.

Genotype, Textures (Kscope). After 10 years, 6 of them spent in nonexistence, the sequel to Phenotype sees the light of day and does not disappoint. Heavy grooves and spacious atmosphere come together across the powerfully emotional vocals of singer Daniël de Jongh, bringing a grunge-style grit unheard elsewhere in the realm of metal music.

Adriane’s Top 5:

Aquáticos, Fabiano do Nascimento & E Ruscha V (Music from Memory). I’m a simple pedant: you give me music that sounds like the soundtrack to some kind of water, I’m a happy camper. When the soundtrack involves the nimble classical guitar work of Fabiano do Nascimento, aided by the dreamy synths and beats of producer Eddie Ruscha, well, you’ve got yourself a deal. Mellow and melodic.

Essam, Imarhan (Wedge/City Slang). Imarhan continues to push the tichoumaren envelope on intriguing new release Essam. Made with experimental duo UTO’s Emile Papandreou, who plays modular synths and does real-time sampling throughout, Essam is Imarhan’s most innovative work yet and showcases the group’s impeccable guitar work alongside subtle but thrilling electronic work.

Mahalle, İlhan Erşahin’s Istanbul Sessions (Nublu). When he’s not acting as Nublu label and club manager, İlhan Erşahin plays sax at the forefront of the Istanbul Sessions collective, whose expansive repertoire continues to grow on Mahalle. Mahalle evokes neon lights and smoky clubs, transporting its audience to a fantasy underground scene that goes deeper with each track.

Som sistema, Da Cruz (Boom Jah). Nearly 20 years after the group’s debut album, Portuguese-Swiss group Da Cruz still goes hard on Som sistema, an album packed with sweaty dancefloor grooves and bold lyrics delivered as brilliantly as ever by frontwoman Mariana Da Cruz. No punches pulled here.

Un destello de luz, Adiós Cometa (Spinda/Steadfast). I can throw around labels all day to try and nail down the Adiós Cometa sound: shoegaze, prog, rock, post-punk. At the heart of sophomore album Un destello de luz, though, is less a genre than a feeling of sorrow and righteous fury and a desire to push against the powers-that-be who seem to be forcing the world toward a horrifying future. A colossal album.