55. Ashensphire - "Hostile Architecture"

55. Ashensphire - Hostile Architecture Album Cover

Sporting my favourite album title of the whole list, this is a frantic protest album via Glasgow. It is a breathless tirade against economic inequality and the ills of capitalism. Its origin is Black Metal, but it uses it more as a base of operations as opposed to a template rigidly to be stuck to. Instead, we get a frequently disturbing feast of spoken word, distorted violin, and swirling misshapen melody. It is not comfortable listening, but the fury and inconsolable anger veraciously come to the fore. Not pretty, but they evocatively use their musical palette to perfectly illustrate the social issues they scream about.