#6 - Top of 2020

 Toehider - I like it (Independent)

In a brand new approach to album composing, the twelve tracks on the album were voted on by Toehider's Patreon subscribers, from a collection of songs written and recorded monthly for a period of two years. This results in an album with hardly any fillers, filled to the brim with intense songs, combining multi-layered vocals with brilliant instrumental work.  

Kicking things off with "Go Full Bore",  a thrash metal song about old school driving and video game, the album switches gears to "Wellgivit", run by saw synthesizers and electronic drum beats full of the 80's disco spirit. "Rancorous Heart", deals with the introspection of the artist, combining classic prog influences, while "Moon and Moron", juxtaposes the latter, taking a piss at conspiracy theories. "Concerning Lix & Fairs" is probably the highlight of the album, an epic prog song combining the best elements of Toehider, while  Funk-inspired "Died of Dancing",  and folk ballad "The Guy That No-One Really Knows" are excellent cross-genre examples of what the band can do. Finally "He's There… And Then He Does THAT" is a truly chaotic tune that ONLY this band can produce, while closer "I like it" is more infectious than the omicron variant (I hope this ages well). Another great album in a string of great record by possibly one of the most criminally underrated prog bands of the last decade.

96.25/100

Below is the music video for "Concerning Lix & Fairs"