The Smile - Wall of Eyes

Rather than play things safe on Wall of Eyes, Jonny, Thom, and Tom turn the weaker aspects of their previous album into strengths.

Panopticon - The Rime of Memory

The Rime of Memory, though occasionally unwieldy, is Panopticon's grandest album yet.

World's End Girlfriend - Resistance & the Blessing

A ton of work clearly went into producing this album, but it's all so grossly gaudy.

Sprain - The Lamb as Effigy

Impressive, intense, and mysterious.

Swans - The Beggar

While The Beggar's music might arguably be less vital than Swans' myriad masterpieces, a great deal of beauty and power is mined from Gira's confrontation of mortality.

Sigur Rós - ÁTTA

Sigur Rós serves up some mush on their first album in a decade.

Squid - O Monolith

Squid's reinvention on this one is great.

Parannoul - After the Magic

Parannoul reaches new heights of shoegazey grandeur on After the Magic.