This page contains music that I enjoy organized by when I started discovered each album/playlist/compilation. Many of the albums I discovered years ago I am still listening to today, so each section does not really capture what I listened to that year (just when I first encountered each). Also, this is not an exhaustive list of everything I listen to but some of my favorites that I think are worth sharing. Click on the arrow icon to expand each item for a short description and link.
2023
Veils - Hilyard
- Summary: I cannot understate how good Hilyard’s music is for working.
- Link
Heartwood - Hilyard
- Summary: One long 17:00 track. Free download on Bandcamp.
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On the Sorrow of Firn - Hilyard
- Summary: Favorite track: Morning Vapors
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a wake in shadows - Hilyard
- Summary: Favorite track: fragile wraith
- Link
2022
Dreampiece - Devin Townsend
- Summary: My favorite comment on this YouTube video: “If you told me, back then, that that dude on stage in Strapping Young Lad would make this music in the future I would never believe you.”
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Parrhesia - Animals as Leaders
- Summary: One of the best albums by the band with the best guitarist of all time.
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Soft Ice - Poemme
- Summary: Atmospheric and dark, yet melodic. Literrally sounds like ice. Great for working.
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Division Cycle - Hilyard
- Summary: Even darker than Poemme’s Soft Ice. Great for working.
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Repose - Hilyard
- Summary: A bit lighter than Division Cycle. Relaxing and airy.
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Mercy Within - Hilyard
- Summary: NA
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2021
Immersion - Fractilize
- Summary: Quite possibly the darkest, nastiest instrumental metal out there. Some of the YouTube comments on their videos are hilarious: ‘The national anthem when machines take over the planet.’ ’So this is what hitting cables on a suspension bridge with a crane sounds like. Favorite track: Fragment.
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Colors 2 - Between the Buried and Me
- Summary: Great album. Not their all time best but it’s better than their other recent albums imo.
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Oneironaut - Wide Eyes
- Summary: One of my favorite albums of all time. Great for programming. Tons of recurring themes that make this instrumental album feel like a concept album.
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Rebirth - Entities
- Summary: Awesome to see Entities back it after a long hiatus. Favorite track: Atlas.
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2018
Exodar - World of Warcraft
- Summary: My go-to for writing.
- Link