Ghost - Impera

by Tarbeaux on Mon, Mar 21, 2022

From the pinnacle to the pit

In my last review, I mentioned Ghost as an example of a simulacrum, an imitation or a reproduction of a previous work that is just different enough to make it appear fresh and original. I thought it suited Ghost well, as Tobias Forge doesn’t seem to consider his work as an homage to Blue Öyster Cult, Candlemass, Witchfinder General, etc.. but more as a revival of the style of those bands in each different album.

Read more →

How to make 2021 actually good

by Tarbeaux on Sun, Jan 9, 2022

2021 albums sucks, so I had to find good ones in the past

The past year I have intelligently and purposefully avoided 2021 and her wagons of mediocre albums to focus on listening to older albums, finishing discog runs and taking time to discover new genres. Ultimately, I ended up listening to 249 albums, with 31% of them managing to be a 7 or above; compared to the meager 6% of good albums released in 2021, it was bliss. Some discog runs were rewarding, like The Doors, SepticFlesh or Immolation, others were… let’s say, mixed (Josh Homme and Ihsahn).

Read more →

Why 2021 was actually a great year

by Snyde on Wed, Jan 5, 2022

As long as you avoided music released in 2021

The State of the Vortex 2021 wrap-up post made things look pretty dire. All but heralding the death of music, we whined and complained about the state of current music and how it’s been going downhill for a while. This, however, presents us, dedicated listeners, with a choice: shall we continue to trudge through the seemingly endless mire of current releases or should we pause and reflect on whether this is a truly useful and rewarding way to spend our listening time.

Read more →

State of the Vortex: 2021 wrap-up

by Snyde on Mon, Jan 3, 2022

On and on it spins.

Having seen the end of it, it’s hard for me to harbor hatred from 2021 as a year. We got it over and done, and it’s not like the upcoming years are looking to be any better so one might as well surrender to the facts and keep going. Here are the vortex’s top choices for 2021: (1.) Stortregn - Impermanence Contrary to its title, Impermanence managed to hold on to the title of least disliked on the vortex since I last talked about it in July.

Read more →