Mathcore Index’s Best of 2016

Christian:





I hate ranking things I love (especially when it comes to music), and because this year was so exceptionally challenging, I decided to organize my lists based upon pure volume of listens. I also took the time to make a list for unsigned/underground acts, another for signed/major acts (bands that are well known within our scene), and finally 2 smaller lists for EPs and honorable mentions, respectively. Lastly, most of these bands appear on our compilations, so hopefully that doesn’t come as a surprise. Allons-i.

Unsigned/underground:

Cyprus – “The Librettist” 10)– “The Librettist” Australia continues to illustrate they are better at music than you.

Jitters – “You’re In Therapy” 9)– “You’re In Therapy”

Instrumental math-rock wizardry.

Église – “Église” 8)– “Église” The perfect blend of Botch and Converge.

Unyielding Love – “The Sweat of Augury” 7)– “The Sweat of Augury” Feedback, blast beats, and tortured screams, these are a few of my favorite things.

Spurn – “Comfort In Nothing” 6)– “Comfort In Nothing” Sonic filth.

Heavy, dissonant mathcore. Sleeper hit of the year.

The Central – “Discovery of A Rat” 4)– “Discovery of A Rat” Outstanding musicianship, new favorite two piece.

Forests – “Sun Eat Moon Grave Party” 3)– “Sun Eat Moon Grave Party” Prepare for all the feels, because this Singaporean band does American-style emo / math-rock better than America.

Mothman – “Answers to No One” 2)– “Answers to No One”

Spiritual successor to bands like His Hero Is Gone and Ed Gein, meanest record with serious replay value.

Arms – “Blackout” 1)– “Blackout” Paul Hundeby (also of City of Ifa and City Pro Recordings), the mastermind behind this once one-man project, wrote and recorded all instruments as well handling all engineering and production duties on this powerhouse of a record. I love this record because each song holds truly memorable passages, and I find myself absentmindedly humming the riffs a lot. Arms shared the stage with many notable national touring acts in 2016, and this year they are making their first European appearance along with our friends in Frontierer at Complexity Fest 2017, which is sponsored by Mathcore Index.

Signed/major acts:

Every Time I Die – “Low Teens” 10)– “Low Teens” I’ve said this many times, but it bears repeating: this band cannot make a bad record.

Nails – “You Will Never Be One of Us” 9)– “You Will Never Be One of Us” Say what you will, but it’s mean and it makes me wanna mosh.

Plebeian Grandstand – “False Highs, True Lows” 8)– “False Highs, True Lows”

Another near perfect effort. https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3967819634/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/

Wormrot – “Voices” 7)– “Voices” Grindcore AOTY, Singapore is strong on our charts this year.

Coma Cluster Void – “Mind Cemeteries” 6)– “Mind Cemeteries” One of the most underrated and interesting bands in modern death metal.

Vermin Womb – “Decline” 5)– “Decline” This is what perfect deathgrind sounds like.

American Football – “American Football LP2” 4)– “American Football LP2”

All the Kinsella charm is still there. https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3789454662/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/

Ion Dissonance – “To Cast the First Stone” 3)– “To Cast the First Stone” “To Cast the First Stone” recalls the chaos of “Solace” while still retaining the heaviness of “Minus the Herd,” and, simply put, is a banger. Many thanks to Good Fight Music for allowing them to appear on our second compilation, Mathcore Index: Volume 2.

The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Dissociation” 2)– “Dissociation” The perfect band, and a perfect end (allegedly) to their career. I would say music is better now, them having existed, and there is no band more influential in our scene.