10. Controlled Kaos – Revelation EP (Dank N Dirty Dubz): This aspiring RVA producer creates a unique brand of “deep” dubstep very different than the screeches and squeals of artists like Skrillex. Although the rise in popularity of this genre has spawned a lot of boring, background-music making clones, Controlled Kaos blends soothing melodies and jarring percussion with the grace of international artists like Bluetech and Burial.
10. Controlled Kaos – Revelation EP (Dank N Dirty Dubz): This aspiring RVA producer creates a unique brand of “deep” dubstep very different than the screeches and squeals of artists like Skrillex. Although the rise in popularity of this genre has spawned a lot of boring, background-music making clones, Controlled Kaos blends soothing melodies and jarring percussion with the grace of international artists like Bluetech and Burial.
9. Wolf//Goat – In Watermelon Sugar (Bad Grrrl Records): One of the only psychedelic folk bands to call Richmond home, these guys incorporate keyboard, banjo, violin and vocal harmonies to create a haunting yet catchy sound reminiscent of both folk music and upbeat psychedelic rock like Animal Collective.
8. Alison Self – Buncha Covers (alisonself.bandcamp.com): I love Alison Self’s voice and wanted to include her on this list, I would have ranked her album higher if it wasn’t just two Neutral Milk Hotel covers and a Weakerthans cover. Still, her voice is amazing, and it is nice to hear her branch out from some of the more classic folk and country she usually covers and writes.
7. Numbernin6 – Monochrome Lucid (Deceast): This just-released gem shows bass music fans that Numbernin6 can write beautiful dub just as well as he can write banger tracks like “Garbage,” if not better! I like that I see it described a lot as “melodic dubstep.”
6. Bastard Sapling – Dragged From Our Restless Trance (Forcefield Records): You can’t go wrong with dark, depressed black metal, and Bastard Sapling have the right combination of southern grit, classic black metal stylings, and experimentation to make some awesome black metal. They may not be the Richmond metal band that stands out to me the most, but this record packs the raw punch of their live show, securing their place among Richmond’s finest.
5. Unsacred – Three Sisters EP (Broken Limbs Recordings): This band is new but I am stoked on them. They do the Pig Destroyer/Triac Baltimore grind thing Richmond-style, with a little bit of blackened sludge and crust added. There are only four songs on this EP but they all rule, especially “I Carry The Weight Alone.”
4. The Catalyst – Voyager (Forcefield Records): The Catalyst never seem to change much in my opinion, but they are one of my favorite Richmond bands. On this album, they are still playing catchy, mathy hardcore similar to Converge, but none of the songs sound stale, and the psychedelic, 70s-style artwork on the cover sets an awesome mood.
3. Occultist – Hell By Our Hands EP (occultist.bandcamp.com): Occultist are one of the most brutally raw metal bands to ever emerge from RVA, and all the songs on this EP are winners. Kerry Zylstra is a killer vocalist, not because she is a female novelty, but because her vocals are hauntingly shrill and unrelentingly brutal at the same time, and I’ve never heard a song by them I didn’t like.
2. Unholy Thoughts – The Attic (Forcefield Records): Raw, catchy hardcore punk with a Southern, sludgy flair. You can’t get much better than this! Featuring dudes from Government Warning, they manage to sound classic without being a “throwback” band or losing their originality. This record has been in the making for a while, and it is well worth the wait.
1. Windhand – Windhand (Forcefield Records): These guys get number one in my book because they are so genuinely unique and simply effective, and because I really love the way Dorthia’s voice goes with the music. The song “Winter Sun” especially is trance-inducing and amazing, definitely one of my all time favorite songs locally or internationally.
