Poemss plays like a journey, musically, but it's a journey of discovery and boundaries as the two differing producers find their common ground, a process you can hear throughout the album.

This is music of pure catharsis, making Hardcore Traxx not only an invaluable historical document but a hell of a great time.

The eight-part suite greatly expands on Thug Entrancer's previous efforts, yet still finds the producer relying solely on analog synthesizers and drum machines

With Ghosts of Then and Now, Illum Sphere strives to balance the ethereal with the earworm and, for the most part, succeeds.

Stuffed with guitar histrionics, Cheatahs do fall prey to hero-worship, but they nevertheless deliver an album worthy of its influences.

It isn't easy listening, akin to catching up with an over-sharing friend going through troubled times, but the stories are sad, funny and surprising, and the rewards are plentiful.

Sun Structures is a simply wonderful record.

A band that could forever rely on their fascinating back-story and critical adoration alone, Tinariwen strives for much more on Emmaar.

Although the album may carry a serious and meaningful message, Rostron has enough hard-won maturity as an artist to know that vinegar only attracts flies, and All Love's Legal is a perfect marriage of thought-provoking and hip-shaking.

Compiled by Sofrito's Hugo Mendez, Haiti Direct is an amazing collection from Haiti's illustrious but sadly unsung musical history.

Nothin' But Blood is religious music for people who are too drunk and high to give a damn what God may think.

Moody moves away the deep soulful grooves that made his name and instead focuses on creating a new sound that, while retaining the breaks and drum machines that are his trademark, is now coloured with live instrumentation and Kenny's delightfully sleazy croon.

Instead of cowering, Behemoth have triumphantly returned with characteristic ugliness and chaos, though this is skillfully juxtaposed with a newfound delicacy.

With no shortage of hooks and crescendos, Wonderland continues to revel in the spirit of TTA, demonstrating more greatness by this industry anomaly.

Ethereal strings, guitar and softly humming bass arise in delicate arrangements around them.

Sure, there are more awesome parts on Wolves Within than you can shake a (drum) stick at, but so too are there plenty of misplaced ones.

Oblique's songs are intricately woven into a dark, discordant tapestry, alternating between longer, more atmospheric songs and straight-up destructive doom.

Celeste put out a sludgy doom-inflected black metal record; this year, Indian turned the equation on its head and put out a blackened doom record, that's equally depraved, nihilistic, and crucial for any fan of truly heavy music.

The depth of Cantrell's songwriting is best appreciated the second or third time around, once you're over the sheer prettiness of her voice.

Essentially a pared down version of last year's singles box set--minus the singles, of course, and with a couple of additional tracks--it brings together acoustic takes on old favourites, a handful of covers and a muddy live cut.

An easy listen it isn't, but Ghettoville is full of such textural subtlety, rubbed-raw sound design and spatial aural play that it will leave you somewhat discombobulated yet curious for more.

Songwriters Brendan Kelly and Chris McCaughan are in peak form and are far too self-aware to fall into that old trap; they know better than to chase capricious youth.

Not only is Steppington the first must-own rap record of 2014, but it represents freedom for its makers.

Sure, they sound more focused and professional on Do Not Engage, but they have done that on every album they've released.

What Trouble lacks in focus, it largely makes up for with ambition and dexterity.

No matter how many times Dee Dee alludes to heartbreak and ritualistic evil, Too True is a joyful career pinnacle.

Although Köhncke may have released stronger singles in the past, Justus Köhncke & the Wonderful Frequency Band stands as his most all-around complete full-length to date.

The record is much more interested in problems than problem-solving, and that's what marks its maturity.