I know it’s perverse to compile a year-end list of concerts (“Want to hear about some great stuff you probably didn’t see?”), but please consider these as ongoing recommendations—all five bands below will slay your face no matter when you catch up with them. I left off some truly spectacular shows to avoid repeating previous years’ lists, among them Arkona, Godflesh, Yob, and Ghost (who turned out to make surprisingly good date music). If I had room for seven, I’d definitely also include Anaal Nathrakh and Cloud Rat.
Ufomammut at Reggie’s Rock Club on Wed 5/13
These Polish black-metal masters write lyrics that read like a vivid and persuasive suicide note, and their stage presence is so icily nihilistic it seems almost contemptuous: they walked offstage without a word before the last note of their set had even finished reverberating in the air. But the stark grandeur and hopeless dignity of their melancholy, corrosively violent music spoke for them—and the band’s clear awareness of the futility of their efforts only increased their power.
