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+# Releases 2021 - Part 1
+
+Earlier this year I wrote my top albums of 2020. This year I've been keeping a list of new releases from artists I follow in a playlist (below). Considering the size of this playlist I decided to do a mid year write-up to be paired with an end of the year write up considering all of the albums from the year.
+
+## The Albums
+
+Below is a list of all of the albums I've cataloged so far (Artist - Album)
+
+* 1782 - From the Graveyard
+* Adam Neely, Ben Levin (& Various Artists) - Beautiful and Tragic
+* Adam Neely, Ben Levin (& Various Artists) - How I loved My Cat
+* Cult Of Luna - The Raging River (EP)
+* Dopelord - Reality Dagger (EP)
+* Empyrium - Über den Sternen
+* God Is An Astronaut - Ghost Tapes #10
+* Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!
+* Jay Hosking - The Future, Tense (not on Spotify)
+* KANGA - You and I Will Never Die
+* Long Distance Calling - Ghost
+* Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
+* Raised By Swans - raised by swans is the name of a man, volume 1
+* Ricky Tinez - Celebrate Life
+* Stormruler - Under The Burning Eclipse
+* The Devil Wears Prada - ZII (EP)
+* The Juliana Theory - A Dream Away
+* Tomahawk - Tonic Immobility
+* Tonebox - Last Encryption
+
+### Links
+=> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0652zzMwlTKu0nYvFhx9aP?si=9c86db3858a84143 Releases 2021 (Spotify)
+=> https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/album/the-future-tense The Future, Tense - Jay Hosking (Bandcamp)
+
+## The process
+
+I have loved capturing and seeking out new releases from the artists I like. It's been very exciting to see singles release and anticipate the album release date. Plus it helps keep my rotation much fresher. I know this isn't comprehensive and I've excluded albums that I have come across - these are the ones that left some impression on me.
+
+## Thoughts on each
+
+I will try to speak to each of these and why I included them in the list. The retrospective at the end of the year will go more into depth on my top five. So here I simply want to give some insights for you, reader, to see what you may want to seek out after.
+
+### 1782 - From the Graveyard
+
+A solid entry into the doom/stoner catalog. Heavy, slow and mean. It has a lot of fun riffs and is just as Doom as you can get. 
+Standout tracks: 
+* Bloodline
+* Black Void
+* In Requiem
+
+### Adam Neely, Ben Levin (& Various Artists)
+
+These two albums were created during the lockdown as a charity event on twitch. They were made in 24hrs and live streamed to raise money. They're both similar in their creation and tone. They're wild. I recommend them if you're into genre bending and weirdness. If you're familiar with Ben Levin it definitely has his unique charm. I included these recently as "How I loved My Cat" released very recently. I watched both streams (partially) but haven't been on the play list long enough for me to have any real tracks to mention.
+
+### Cult Of Luna - The Raging River (EP)
+
+Cult Of Luna is a very aggressive metal band that I have a hard time pinning their genre. Proggy, Atmospheric, Sludgy are some terms that come to mind and are backed up by their Encyclopaedia Metallum profile. I was a fan of their 2019 A Dawn to Fear release and this feels very similar to that. This is cataloged as an EP (but not on Spotify?) and certainly feels that way. It's about 40minutes of aggressive vocals and beautiful guitar playing. It's 5 songs clocking in a bit over 38 minutes so I'll give a single track shoutout.
+Standout Track:
+* Three Bridges
+
+### Dopelord - Reality Dagger (EP)
+
+Another metal EP and from a familiar face. Dopelord made my top 5 last year with Sign of the Devil. This EP is nothing new but very enjoyable. A short EP: 3 songs, 21.5 minutes. Each track is different enough that it doesn't feel stale and is just some good stoner doom. While it may not make the top 5 by the end of the year, it's been in my rotation. Honestly, each track is worth a listen with picking a favorite being diffcult. Dark Coils is the most "Dopelord" of the three. Your Blood is groovy. And Reality Dagger is a slow, harsh track. So check it out. A recommend from me.
+
+### Empyrium - Über den Sternen
+
+This album is hard to describe. Empyrium have been around for decades and this release is operatic, folky, and doomy. Out of the current list this is in my top five for sure. Its beautiful and aggressive. A must listen if you've never heard them before. It's one of those albums where once you start it it's hard to stop, which isn't making this write up any easier - at 8 tracks and 52 minutes!
+Standout Tracks:
+* A Lucid Tower Beckons on the HIlls Afar
+* The Wild Swans
+* Über den Sternen
+
+### God Is An Astronaut - Ghost Tapes #10
+
+There are quite a few post-rock releases on this list right now - which is great! This album is high energy with some excellent guitar work. I don't know what else to say its just great post-rock.
+Standout tracks:
+* Burial
+* Spectres
+* Barren Trees
+
+### Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!
+
+Another post-rock release from a true titan in the post-rock world. GY!BE has been more active than I give them credit for. I was a huge fan of their early work listening in high school and college, but they've been active 
+
+### Jay Hosking - The Future, Tense (not on Spotify)
+
+Jay is a YouTube musician that I am a big fan of. He makes semi-improvised songs using hardware synths, occasionally featuring guitar, live drums, and sometimes vocals. He's released two EPs from the songs he made in these videos, this being the latest. This one is especially cool because it features the drummer from Failure, Kellii Scott. This is on Bandcamp only for the time being(?) so that isn't on the playlist itself. The songs are usually electronic genres that I am not well versed in to identify but he's released a few post rock songs that are stellar. If you're at all into hardware synthesis check out the youtube links at the bottom of the bandcamp page
+Standout tracks:
+* Lustral
+* Equivocal
+* Unequivocal
+
+### KANGA - You and I Will Never Die
+
+Finally, a new release from KANGA. Her self titled debut is still one of my favorite albums, and her live show was a blast. Eternal Daughter wasn't my favorite release, and felt a bit softer than her debut. This album brings back that edge. This album is gunning for the top spot of the year. Probably my second most anticipated release behind Raised by Swans. I can't wait to see her live again once things open back up here.
+This album is a dark pop album with crunchy bass, smooth vocals, and hypnotic rhythms. Another one that is hard to stop once it starts. Each song is unique enough while being cohesive as an album. And I really like how Preface and Untie start and end the album, based around the same lyrics and rhythms, providing a feeling of completeness.
+Standout tracks:
+* Home
+* Godless
+* Saying Goodbye
+
+### Long Distance Calling - Ghost
+### Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
+
+
+### Raised By Swans - raised by swans is the name of a man, volume 1
+
+As the album title states: Raised by Swans is the name of a man, Eric Howden, who has been making music under the moniker Raised by Swans for over 15 years. His debut album Codes and Secret Longing is one of my all time favorites. This album is haunting. He has this ability to create these soft and moving tracks that just resonate with me. He makes great use of electronic sound scapes and electronic guitar rhythms to create this wide sonic platform for his lyrics and soft voice. This album continues to get sadder as it progress, the music becomes more open, less dense, lower tempo. This change occurs after track 6, a silent track with a dedication in the liner notes.
+Standout tracks:
+* fortress without doors
+* helpless insect
+* the lonely hunter
+
+### Ricky Tinez - Celebrate Life (EP)
+
+I really need to get educated on electronic genres. If I recall from him talking about this, it's a house album but don't take my word for it. It's a pretty chill EP. Ricky makes YouTube videos about hardware synths too and always includes a jam on the setup he is talking about. Unlike Jay, his videos are mostly about the making of the music, rather than just performance. As it's a short EP if you like chill electronic music check it out.
+
+### Stormruler - Under The Burning Eclipse
+
+This fast paced black metal new release is winning for dope album art. But also has transition tracks tying the songs together which is something I always liked - having a coherent and cohesive album. (ironic? since this is vocalized by unintelligible black metal screams). Overall, I am not one to listen to a lot of black metal, so this may be unremarkable in the breadth of the genre but I have enjoyed it so far.
+Standout tracks:
+* Reign of the Winged Duke
+* Of Hallow Souls & Distant Flame
+
+### The Devil Wears Prada - ZII (EP)
+
+This was a pleasant surprise. I wrote about TDWP in my Awesome EPs post with their EP Zombie and then they release another dope EP. This has that 2010s era metalcore vibe. If I found out that this was recorded back in 2010 and they just never released it I would believe it (though the production quality is a lot better). It's a short 20minute 5 track EP that I really enjoyed.
+
+### The Juliana Theory - A Dream Away
+
+This was a surprise release. In 2020 they released a single, and in early 2021 released singles from this album. It is comprised mostly of acoustic reimaginings of hits from their early 2000s album: Emotion is Dead. For those who may not know this band - they're an emo band (if the album title "Emotion is Dead" didn't give that away) that came out of the late 90s rise of emo right before the mainstream boom in the early 2000s. The reimagined songs are really neat. The new stuff is pretty generic "pop rock" that I honestly don't care much for. This is really just a plug for Emotion is Dead - since that album is a great emo album, especially if you'd never heard it. Plus the album art is just SO 2000 that it hurts.
+
+### Tomahawk - Tonic Immobility
+### Tonebox - Last Encryption
+
+