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Glasswerk’s Albums of 2015
10. DEXTERS – We Paid For Blood
Scruffing up the hook-laden indie riffs of old, Dexters have produced something that is both manic in style and simply addictive in nature. It’s loud, abrasive and most importantly really quite good. This band now offer something that could arguably shape the musical landscape of 2016 and become one of the most remarkable releases of this year. The way in which every song has it’s own genuine story makes the album itself a dramatic work throughout. Lyrically front man Tom Rowlett has come over leaps and bounds, over the sound of the guitars colliding with the drums in a moment of hysteria you can hear a genuine poet. This is not just an attempt to stand out – it’s a real success. Dexters have essentially grown up, and written a bloody good album while they were at it. That’s also not to detract from the strength their debut, in fact that would be a heinous suggestion to make. It’s just that this album is different and something that should – destiny willing – take the band to the next level of stardom. It will surely be hard for anyone to ignore the importance of this album over the course of the coming year.
Read the full review here.
9. MARILYN MANSON – The Pale Emperor
Becoming the demon of pop culture is always a tricky line to walk between staying loyal to both old and new fans, but ‘The Pale Emperor’ is a fantastic example of how to do it. The Rammstein-influenced numetal stomp of ‘Deep Six’ should feel completely at odds with the bluesier tracks, and while the ambient electronica ballad of ‘Warship My Wreck’ pierces the midpoint like a rogue arrow, it somehow works as a cohesive whole. With this, he’s done the impossible – Manson should be a washed up poster boy for a generation of numetal fans, but instead, he’s become more intriguing than ever before and proven that he’s still making records that are relevant in an age he was never really supposed to survive.
8. ENTER SHIKARI – The Mindsweep
If there’s one thing Enter Shikari know what to do well, it’s write a politically charged album. A musically grabbing, lyrically inspirational piece of art that gets itself stuck in your head and lives there for weeks on end. Their latest offering is exactly that, and The Mindsweep is a cool 45 minutes of rock music directed at every person on the planet who doesn’t call their own shots. Enter Shikari have delivered once more, as counted on, and it’s tough to expect anything less from the foursome. Here we have a seminal album, one which requires listening. By both the little guy, and the big guy.
Read the full review here.
7. HELLIONS – Indian Summer
Every few years a band comes along and sweeps up all the empty bullshit we’ve had stuffed down our throats and buries it with their vitality, exuberance and importance – Hellions could well be that band. Far from being a muddy mess, listening to this record is like being smacked around the head by every band you’ve every loved at different stages in your life all at the same time. By just the second track on the album you’re knee deep in a dueling guitar solo that wouldn’t be out of place on a Dragonforce record. It’s just possible that we might all have died and gone to rock music heaven.
4. STONEGHOST – New Age of Old Ways
The ten tracks are incredibly cohesive – the track-listing gives way to a rise and fall, and the transitions are well crafted. Here is a record that doesn’t feel like a debut because it’s so well done. Stoneghost come across as veterans of a scene that has yet to discover them, and that, along with a killer of a debut, ensure that they are definitely a band to keep an eye out for.
Read the full review here.
3. ARCANE ROOTS – Heaven & Earth
Arcane Roots have spent a long time lingering in the shadows of the UK rock scene – a band that have always had the potential to be something bigger, meaner, more of a force of nature than they were often given credit for. Well, you’d best strap yourself in, because ‘Heaven & Earth’ – if there’s any justice in the world – is about to catapult this band to a whole other level.
2. LUDOVICO EINAUDI – Elements
His new album ‘Elements’ is another tour de force from the veteran artist, interweaving sublime piano, strings, percussion, guitar and electronica arrangements into something which transcends the usual forms of classical-tinged offerings. Inspired by nature’s elements, mathematical and scientific elements, musical forms and works of art, this latest record feels more like a bold declaration of Einaudi the man, a portrait of the mind through which this astonishing creative spirit flows.
1. THEN THICKENS – Colic
Their debut full length Death Cap At Anglezarke was a redemptive and grandiose body of work that embodied front man and mastermind Jon-Lee Martin’s experience of drug abuse, depression and every day life in his home town of Chorley. Colic is the next logical step – the work of a man who’s dragged himself out of despair and stands on the edge of the rest of his life wondering exactly what he’s going to do with it. For those of us who find ourselves wading through life’s ups and downs with a weary resignation, the importance of connecting with a band like Then Thickens can easily be overlooked. Back in the mist? Let one of the UK’s most insightful and under-appreciated bands guide you back to lighter days. Masterful.