The trailblazing Gothic doom group's 17th long-player, Ascension, builds on the gloomy architecture of 2020’s Obsidian, delivering muscular, melancholic melodeath-doom infused with subtle electronic flourishes and lyrics rooted in the cold certainty of mortality.

For their second LP, they've boosted their pop-psych influences, adding to the atmospherics of this music without slipping into silliness, especially on the trippy coda "Gonna Catch You." And the strength of Bill Schalda's songwriting continues to impress here.

On One Mississippi, the songs, production, and inspired performances offer honest emotions and direct messages, elevating this record above his other recordings, and most 21st century albums in the genre.

A mercurial debut album that's also quite theatrical -- think Kurt Weill and rock opera -- it indulges in multiple genre send-ups during its alt-rocky journey through the head of a frankly loathsome narrator.

Understated as they are, his songs are also not without weight and his fifth album, Against the Dying of the Light, is his heaviest to date.

MEMORIALS have upped their game in a massive way on All Clouds Bring Not Rain, building on their already impressive skills as crafters of sound by adding truckloads of drama, plumbing some deep emotional depths, and stretching their arrangements in fascinating and very satisfying ways.

Taken together, it's a set that, like much of Stereolab's output, welcomes the art-school kids, stoners, and indie pop sentimentalists alike.

Much more than just more of the same, Badges is a step forward for the group. Sounding more confident and comfortable, it's clear that they've gotten over the shock of being together again and have settled into being the kind of thoughtful and dramatic indie pop group one always hoped they would be.

OOIOO and Lightning Bolt both make adventurous, awe-inspiring music, and their split LP feels like a triumph for both acts.

With Two Dancers, the Wild Beasts move from fascinating to accomplished, and that they did so just over a year after releasing "Limbo, Panto" makes that achievement all the more impressive.

Songs like "Woke Up to the Light," with its seemingly innocuous Alphaville "Forever Young"-inspired foundation and the churning "Mirage Year," the latter of which explodes into a full-on sonic assault that sounds like it must have taken weeks to clean up after, present themselves as measured and somewhat even-tempered, but like the majority of Heal, they're barely contained time capsules on the verge of catharsis, and whatever beauty they possess will ultimately burn up upon re-entry.

With any due credit to Mills, who not only produced but shares instrument duty here, Memories Are Now is exquisite-sounding while it contends with a songwriter who not only has a few things to get off her chest, but seems to make a call to action.

Most suited for a contemplative Sunday morning, Small Changes soothes even in its many moments of unease. Whether the songs express loneliness and numbness, or heartache and dejection, each has a conciliatory effect, like Kiwanuka -- his voice more upfront than ever -- knows that anyone in vaguely similar circumstances can relate.

Bookended by the rousing title track and radiant "Magic Man," it's a success from start to finish, offering a deft blend of surprise and satisfaction.

Diehards and newbies alike will revel in its weird, wild well-roundedness.

Much like Sinephro's debut, Endlessness is refreshing, enlightening, and awe-inspiring all at once.

Autobiography is unquestionably a vast step forward for Jlin, further confirming her status as a visionary artist. If it wasn't obvious already, following her long, illustrious career will be tremendously exciting.

Fantasize Your Ghost is less playful and edgier than Parts; at the same time, it's more thematically and musically ambitious, and Ohmme sound stronger and more assured here, even when they paradoxically sound their most uncertain.

It's unrelentingly grim, relieved only by Snider's dark humor.

Saying this is Viagra Boys' best album to date is as much a reflection of taste as a matter of quality, but Viagr Aboys shows they're only getting better at channeling their sonic havoc into workable form, and it's some sort of wild triumph.

While there's certainly an audible sense of collaboration on Petals for Armor, it's Williams' ability to turn her dark, personal moments into anthems of survival that stick with you.

This is an album that's impossible to play quietly, and if this music is an assault, by the time Segall is midway through "Fuzz War," don't be surprised if you're signing on for this particular fight club.

Soft Sounds from Another Planet is a giant leap forward for Japanese Breakfast; the move to a bigger sound results in a sure-handed modern pop record full of memorable songs, heart-wrenching vocals, and bottomless emotional depth.

Much like on her debut, every song here offers its own treasures, and Heynderickx still sounds like no one else.

It's definitely a milestone and a career highlight, as well as a release that anyone who likes real live, breathing and bleeding rock & roll should be glad exists.

The interchangeability of the songs and artists is one of the best parts of the hypnotic, detached, and ultimately insular sound.

Dixon judiciously edited over one-third of the tracks to facilitate flow, his craftiness most evident in the way Talc's breezy part-soft rock/part-Daft Punk hybrid melts into one of Beady Belle's graceful lounge laments. Dixon's taste dips back several decades, but he keeps it relatively contemporary all the way through.

The epic Senjutsu is another distended late-career triumph, albeit one that requires multiple spins to set up camp in your Homeric metal-craving cranium.