Listening Notes: The Ultimate Vol. 2

Attempting to return to the ultimate format with a randomized tracklist, even though my patience is wearing thin trying to endure this never-ending, long-ass queue.

1. Celer – Jima (2015)

80/100

Slowly drifting waves that morph into pure emotional substance right when I’m hitting peak frustration. A beautiful moment arriving at the exact right time, though it might sound completely foreign under different circumstances.

Highlight: all tracks

2. Coltaine – Afterhour in Walhalla (2020)

75/100

Coltaine adds another name to the list of female-fronted post-metal bands, so welcome to Valhalla. Sipping wine, reveling in Viking traditions, or simply unwinding while nodding along to a doom/post-metal atmosphere laced with Scandinavian folk/post-rock is definitely a vibe. I’m only just truly feeling it now.

Highlight: God is Nature, God is Dead; Green Table, Intergalaktische Mondzuckerpiraten, Reflections, Surfing Skeleton Undead, Verlust

3. Dive – Complete Discography (2021)

70/100

An exclusive 23-track package from the 90s American metallic hardcore outfit Dive. It carries a heavy thrash flavor across numerous tracks, and they even shared a split album with Converge back in the day. It's just a shame this isn't my kind of taste anymore.

Highlight: multiple tracks, including Five Force and Functional Starvation

4. Endbeing – Demo (2025)

85/100

Still holding the post-metal line, albeit with blast beats and incredibly hoarse vocals leaning toward post-black metal. Endbeing serves up plenty of proof for a dark, emotional depth that I’ve only just become receptive to. Highly recommended for fans of Bipolar Architecture, Amenra, Rosetta, Cult of Luna, etc. Personally, I can only point to the bands like Hunger Moon and Vature.

Highlight: all tracks

5. Everythingsedibleonce – iwannahaveareallyreallylongnamelikeothercoolemobandsdo (2024)

65/100

Oh, just listen to this! They’ve only got a bedroom to work with, so they lie around making noisy emo tracks in there due to a total lack of decent gear. Don't forget to scream—even short bursts are fine. Oh, and make sure the band name and title are as long as humanly possible! No spaces allowed!

Well, it ends up looking like this. Better categorized as bedroom lo-fi emo, perhaps.

Highlight: Isn't Autumn Fucking Awesome

6. Gesugao – LP (2021)

20/100

One of the most agonizing releases in this entire session. It aims to be some form of hardcore but literally only has a guitar to show for it. The result is Gesugao: abrasive, thoroughly unpolished, and completely devoid of emotion. If it were only five songs, I might endure it, but there are 18 tracks here! It takes an extra dose of patience just to get through this.

Highlight: Outro

7. Hild – The Slayeress (2024)

70/100

Ah, a welcome palate cleanser after Gesugao. Solid, hardcore-style delivery driven by thrash metal drumming pushes aside the previous discomfort with actual proper quality. Exactly what I needed for a brief intermission to recharge my batteries.

Highlight: Wage War with a Wraith

8. Mombi Yuleman – Dark Holidays (Original Podcast Soundtrack) (2021)

75/100

I happen to be on holiday, but I listened to this album at the completely wrong time. Unfortunately, I occasionally find myself disliking pure dark ambient when it lacks any extra layers. This gets nothing more than basic appreciation. As a sleep aid? Oh, it’s pretty effective. Still, it seems worthy of a playlist trial.

Highlight: mostly all tracks

9. Pretend You're Moses – The Unpublished Chronicles Of Enrico Pallazzo (Demo) (2023)

75/100

It’s hard to believe this release is merely a demo. An alternative/post-rock offering that immediately sounds sweet and genuinely heartwarming. Think of it as a lighter variation of Athletics and the kind of emo people tend to adore.

Highlight: all tracks

10. Qid Love – Sorry for Your Loss (2026)

70/100

Digital soundscapes accompanied by plucked guitar lines to induce a sense of tension. It's not overly dark, but it certainly feels quite uncanny. Mysterious, even. A meaning heavily shrouded behind a veil—perfectly matching the track titles: "Blanket" and "Shield." A hidden truth.

Damn it! This feels incredibly relevant to the recent blackout across Sumatra. Something feels off, especially with the rumors floating around about upper-class sabotage.

Highlight: Shield

11. Qualia Artista® – Alta Theatra (Original Score) (2024)

75/100

A dark, classical/dark ambient soundtrack crafted for an event whose actual subject matter remains unknown. Only "Hades" sounds appropriately tense, alongside "Pieta" with its profound sense of sorrow.

Highlight: Pieta

12. Qualtagh – Essential Symbols (2024)

70/100

Reasonably calm electronic music that could arguably fall under chillwave. The drum beats sound pretty conventional at times. Only "Lothian Sled Run" feels entirely synthetic, yet it isn't particularly energetic.

And there you have it. I still have a hard time describing this sort of electronic music; it is clearly outside my wheelhouse.

Highlight: -

13. Quetzal – The Messenger Lies Bleeding in the Footprints of History (1998)

70/100

Some say this represents the original blueprint of post-hardcore, akin to Drive Like Jehu and the like. Emotional, yet built firmly on a foundation of classic hardcore with arrangements that occasionally feel progressive. It's definitely not for me, but I can catch flashes of post-metal here and there.

Highlight: -

14. Qyax'xaa'zeroth – Hymns For The Obliteration of Illusory Morality and Subsummation Into Ultimate Void (2020)

35/100

A vortex of distorted black metal clashing with extreme lo-fi production value, resulting in its own disastrous noise-fest.

Highlight: -

15. Saturnia Pyri – Fall (2014)

45/100

Beautiful female vocals left completely hanging by inadequate instrumentation—just a guitar that sounds poorly distanced from the recording device, peaking with an attempt at hard rock emotion on "Eifersucht."

Highlight: -

16. Therefore We Survive – Storms (2013)

70/100

Essentially a soundtrack for a storm sweeping through an arid plain or the Wild West, utilizing nothing more than an acoustic guitar, emotional synths, and sparse drum additions.

Highlight: Resilience

17. Tomorrow Will be Worse – Tomorrow Will be Worse Demo (2020)

40/100

An entirely abstract acoustic demo that doesn't lean in any particular direction yet. I have no desire to understand it, and I can't feel a thing from it.

Highlight: -

18. Vacarch – Implications (2021)

70/100

I initially mistook this for ambient/drone, but it's strictly dungeon synth. It plays like a Dark Ages hymn dedicated to a pitch-black universe... or to this very world during that bleak era.

Highlight: Implications

19. Wes Simms – Fat Chance/Motion Pictures (2020)

70/100

Vocals from someone living in suburban or rural America. I have no idea what he's talking about, but I can appreciate that distinct acoustic style while sitting on the porch, watching the streets as dusk falls. Yeah, decent enough to appreciate.

Highlight: Motion Pictures (Acoustic)

20. Wounds of Recollection – To Traverse the Sorrow (2015)

55/100

It’s been a minute since I last encountered Wounds of Recollection. Like it or not, I have to burn through this, considering how absurdly long the backlog remains. God knows when I’ll finally break this chain.

Their sophomore album is still unpolished, carrying a tolerable doom atmosphere as heard on "The Solace of Restoration." Overall, though, nothing truly gets trapped in my ears. I’ll hand out just enough token appreciation to "A Moment of Progress" and "Into Finality," which serve as instrumental intros and outros.

Highlight: A Moment of Progress