It’s been an incredible year for music and choosing only six releases for any kind of list is a tough event.
The UK has a wide-ranging amount of bands – from doom to sludge, black metal to grind and everything in between – and there’s been a lot to take in this year. Still though, I feel like I haven’t heard anywhere near enough from the homeland this year so this list will be the top 6 UK releases that I’ve been particularly drawn to and actually managed to listen to.
As per personal custom, this list is alphabetical.
Carcass – Surgical Steel (Nuclear Blast)
Does this really need any explanation? Carcass are Gods within the UK grind scene and they are rightly revered for their ability to constantly push forward their genre. Many thought that after 1996s Swansong the band were done with releasing music and while they played live often they never got around to a new album. Then 2013 came around and holy shit, “Captive Bolt Pistol” found its way online and everything was right with the world.
Fen – Dustwalker (Code666 Records)
Dustwalker marked Fen’s third foray into the full length and the intervening years between this and 2011s Epoch allowed them to grow and change and create a record that is most certainly a career highlight. The English gents use contrasting colours of sound to bring a truth and honesty to their music and Dustwalker, despite its very early release in 2013 is a record that shouldn’t be forgotten.
Light Bearer – Silver Tongue (Halo of Flies/Self Released)
Light Bearer have one of the most intriguing stories of any band in the UK right now, or the world (probably). Their music is post-hardcore in essence, tinged with progressive features that lift the sound to the heaven and with a narrative that takes on the fall of Lucifer and a war against the patriarchal God. It’s a concept best explained by the band itself and one that provokes and enchants.
Saor – Roots (Darker Than Black Records)
Formerly known as Àrsaidh, Saor’s Roots is one of the most moving records of the year. Taking in epic sweeps, gestures of honour and pride and more beauty that you can possibly want, Roots ebbs with a distinctly Scottish tone and a wonderful edge and with Austin Lunn of Panopticon on board for drumming duties for the next full length, rest assured this won’t be the last you hear of Saor.
Uncle Acid & the deadbeats – Mind Control (Rise Above Records)
Uncle Acid has been the breakout group of 2013 with Mind Control cementing their place as a very real proposition in the UK scene. Their brand of psychedelic doom rock saw them to a support slot with Black Sabbath and a Roadburn Festival appearance this year. Not bad for a group that up until recently, no one was sure actually existed.
Voices – From the Human Forest Create a Fugue of Imaginary Rain (Candlelight Records)
Voices heritage is rooted in one of the UK’s most acclaimed blackened bands, namely Akercocke, and their demise has (un)fortunately led to this band rising from the depths of hell. Voices are on a level that we can only ever hope to achieve. Witness the disgust.
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