The 70 Best Albums of 2019

From forward-looking electronic and experimental to new approaches in the ever-evolving R&B scene, from hip-hop and punk to rock and pop, 2019 bestowed an embarrassment of musical riches upon us.

                                      
Music
    
        The Best Progressive Rock/Metal of 2019
    
Jordan Blum
Jordan Blum

    06 Dec 2019

Music
    
        Opeth Achieve Gothic Greatness with the Gorgeously Multifaceted 'In Cauda Venenum'
    
Jordan Blum

    23 Sep 2019

Music
    
        Opeth - "Era" (Singles Going Steady)
    
PopMatters Staff

    03 Feb 2017

Recent

Interviews

Opeth's Fake Nikki Sixx: An Interview with Mikael Akerfeldt

Opeth frontman Mikael Akerfeldt opens up about Opeth's 25 year career, the band's new album Sorceress, and his desire to score a Meryl Streep film one day.

Music

Opeth: Sorceress

This third entry in Opeth's newest phase doesn't quite match Pale Communion, but it's still a wonderfully multifaceted journey.

Music

Opeth: Deliverance & Damnation

Thirteen years after their release, two of Opeth's most important albums have been reissued in this essential new package.

Music

Blood and Thunder: We All Wanna Touch a Rainbow

Once upon a time, Ronnie James Dio rounded up a bevy of heavy metal legends to record a charity single. Yet no amount of superstar power could stop the song from falling by the wayside.

Music

The Best Progressive Rock of 2014

From idiosyncratic tales of dastardly aliens to concept albums about a mysterious demon, prog maintained its reputation for eclecticism in 2014.

Jordan Blum

Music

The Best Metal of 2014

Metal's shining moments in 2014 include a long-awaited reunion, a culmination of a nearly 20-year career, and a sophomore outing that rose to the occasion.

Adrien Begrand, Dean Brown, Brice Ezell, and Benjamin Hedge Olson

Music

The 100 Best Albums of the 2000s: 60-41

PopMatters' coverage of the 2000s' best recordings continues with selections spanning Swedish progressive metal to minimalist electro-R&B.

Music

Opeth: Pale Communion

Pale Communion is both the culmination of Opeth's journey toward classic progressive rock and its best work since Ghost Reveries.

Music

Benighted by Beauty: The Legacy of Opeth's 'Still Life'

Still Life's narrative borders on Shakespearean levels of romantic tragedy and social commentary, making it the most poetic and philosophical in Opeth’s catalogue.

Music

The 10 Best Progressive Rock Albums of the 2000s

The first decade of the new millennium proved to be a fruitful time for great progressive rock. While some of prog’s most legendary bands took turns for the worse, others rose to meteoric prominence.

Music

The Best Progressive Rock of 2011

In 2011, there were only a few high-quality progressive rock releases, but those that managed to stand out are some of the best the genre has seen in awhile.

Brice Ezell

Reviews

Opeth + Katatonia: 2011 October 16 - Portland

A surprisingly short concert for a band like Opeth, this Portland show was nonetheless a strong demonstration of how Opeth came to make an album like Heritage. This, foiled with the brutal heaviness of Katatonia, made for one fine evening of Swedish music.

Music

Opeth: Heritage

Heritage is both a significant departure from Opeth's past output, but also a completely natural recording, one that prior albums hinted that the band was bound to make.

Music

The Best Albums of 2008

PopMatters presents our 60 best albums of 2008, highlighted by the return of British trip-hop legends and some infectious American indie rock by way of the Cascade Mountains.

Music

The Best Metal Albums of 2008

It was a stellar year for metal, and an eclectic year, too: Norweigian prog-metal, goth-infused death metal, Swedish thrash, black metal, and stoner rock all make the list.

Music

The Best Metal Albums of 2008

It was a stellar year for metal, and an eclectic year, too: Norwegian prog-metal, goth-infused death metal, Swedish thrash, black metal, and stoner rock all make the list.

Reviews

Opeth + High on Fire

The one truly off-the-cuff moment came when a fan yelled out a cover request and Opeth’s frontman Mikael Akerfeldt responded, “I can play that one… on Guitar Hero!”

Chris Conaton

Music

Opeth: Watershed

Nine albums in, and Opeth has still shown no signs of running out of ideas.

Music

Opeth: Ghost Reveries

If you're going to buy one metal album this year, make it Opeth's Ghost Reveries. If you're a metal fan, what are you waiting for?

Reviews

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Features

29 Black Music Documentaries for Black History Month 2020: #2 'The Apollo'

England's Postwar Paranoia Creeps in the Shadows of Three Film-Noirs

Perfect Harmony: An Interview with Legendary Vocal Group the Waters

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PM Picks

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Pop Ten

The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

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Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

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The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 5: 20 - 1

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 2: 80 - 61

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 3: 60 - 41

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