4. Kardashev - "Liminal Rite"

An utterly, utterly unique record that I have lived with for many months but still feel I am nowhere near being able to unravel. I still have no idea what it actually is. What I do know is that I am utterly spellbound by it. It is an emotive, atmospheric, and ultimately heart-breaking concept album, narrated as opposed to sung. 

What is extraordinary is how they take a musical form that is known for being detached, macho and emotionless (Death Metal) and completely transform it into the most extraordinary heart-wrenching lament. It is rich with pathos and passion and thick with soul-searching honesty. This is metal reinvented as an articulate purveyor of fragile nihilistic pain. It strips away all the bravado and masculine bullshit. What we are left with is a raw emotional state that pulls the heartstrings like frankly nothing I have heard before. 

It stretches musical boundaries in a self-assured manner. This is not about sticking to one genre’s particular template, this is about using the music to tell a story and channel the contents of the artist’s soul. Its use of texture is simply stunning. It baths you in waves of distorted melody that get under the skin and into the tear ducts. An astonishing record that is truly unique and proves once and for all that metal can wear its heart and its soul on its sleeve.