Honorable Mention: Metz - Metz

The video for “Wet Blanket” from Metz’s self-titled debut features a recurring visual effect that makes everything deeply unhinged and disorienting, like the film is struggling to stay intact against the punishingly loud post-hardcore.  The entire album feels like this, like it's being ripped apart from the inside.  “Headache,” the first track, starts out with heavy, heavily reverbed drums for a few bars before the buzzsaw guitars and feedback come in, and with the exception of “Nausea” and the last track, this sound is maintained throughout.  This album is basically number 26 on my best albums of the year list, and earlier drafts of that list had this album on it, but all eleven songs on this album (with the two aforementioned exceptions) sound very similar to each other, which ultimately pushed it into the honorable mention category.  That sameness would be grating on other albums, but Metz rushes by so quickly and is so invigorating that it’s a minor concern rather than a serious problem.  I recommend listening to this album at a high volume on good headphones.  It will feel like the music is trying to rip your brain out of your skull.

Metz - "Wet Blanket"

Metz - "Headache"