Synthentral Top 30 Albums of 2021

There was so much amazing music in 2021. Bands released more singles and EP’s this year than albums, so I started with just under 450 albums to rate.

First step was to get that down to 100 for the Top 100. Then I removed 50 more for the Top 50, and finally I had to remove an additional 20 for the Top 30 (here we are), which will have a corresponding show with one song from each album (pending).

Here are the rules and guidelines I work with for my Top 2021 lists:

• I must own the album to consider it (either through purchase or provided by band or label).
• Only albums qualify: no EP’s or Singles. There are plenty of lists out there for “top songs.”
• To qualify as an album it must have at least seven original songs. Remixes, new versions, covers albums, compilations (“best of”), etc., do not qualify. Intro and outro songs, instrumentals, and intermission songs do not count toward the song total.
• Albums are weighted so that an album with 7 songs has the same point system as an album with 12 songs.
• I judge each song individually, then rate the album overall. Did I want to listen to the entire album? Were there songs I wanted to skip? Was I engaged as a listener and fan?
• I post the lists alphabetically and not in “countdown” style.

I fully recognize that my list (and everyone’s list, for that matter) is subjective. I love that others have different lists and are passionate about different bands and albums! I hope you agree with many fo these, but I also hope you have some favorites that aren’t on my list, but more importantly, I hope these lists introduce you to a band or album you may have missed in 2021!

I have “LISTEN HERE” links next to each album cover below, so give each band and album a chance, and support the bands you like!

The Synthentral Top 30 for 2021 (in alphabetical order):

Balvanera – Courses Of Action (LISTEN HERE)

Beyond Border – Awakening (LISTEN HERE)

BlakLight – Into The Void (LISTEN HERE)

CHVRCHES – Screen Violence (LISTEN HERE)

Dagon – Adam Krueger (LISTEN HERE)

Devours – Escape From Planet Devours (LISTEN HERE)

District 13 – Mind Over Matter (LISTEN HERE)

Double Echo – ☾ (LISTEN HERE)

Dräger – Goths À La Discothèque (LISTEN HERE)

echōdead – Random Headnoise Parallax (LISTEN HERE)

Elektrostaub – Reliance (LISTEN HERE)

F.O.D. – Mensch Macht Maschine (LISTEN HERE)

j:dead – A Complicated Genocide (LISTEN HERE)

LAU – Believer (LISTEN HERE)

Machine Made Pleasure – Danceland Graffiti (LISTEN HERE)

Nation Of Language – A Way Forward (LISTEN HERE)

Nature Of Wires – Out Of My System (LISTEN HERE)

Norderney – Without The Limelight (LISTEN HERE)

Nórdika – Hipnotik (LISTEN HERE)

Nuovo Testamento – New Earth (LISTEN HERE)

Parralox – Travelogue (LISTEN HERE)

Piston Damp – Making The World Great Again (LISTEN HERE)

Potochkine – Sortilèges (LISTEN HERE)

Raindancer – A Different Horizon (LISTEN HERE)

Rector Scanner – Radioteleskop (LISTEN HERE)

The Saint Paul – Core (LISTEN HERE)

Tenderlash – Hold Still (LISTEN HERE)

thewalkingicon – Shadow Of The Saints (LISTEN HERE)

Tobias Bernstrup – Petrichor (LISTEN HERE)

Yota – Lucid Dreams (LISTEN HERE)

Synthentral Top 50 Albums of 2021

There was so much amazing music in 2021. Bands released more Singles and EP’s this year than albums, so I started with just under 450 albums to rate.

First step was to get that down to 100 for the Top 100. Then I removed 50 more for the Top 50 (here we are), and finally I’ll remove an additional 20 for the Top 30, which will have a corresponding show with one song from each album.

Here are the rules and guidelines I work with for my Top 2021 lists:

• I must own the album to consider it (either through purchase or provided by band or label).
• Only albums qualify: no EP’s or Singles. There are plenty of lists out there for “top songs.”
• To qualify as an album it must have at least seven original songs. Remixes, new versions, covers albums, compilations (“best of”), etc., do not qualify. Intro and outro songs, instrumentals, and intermission songs do not count toward the song total.
• Albums are weighted so that an album with 7 songs has the same point system as an album with 12 songs.
• I judge each song individually, then rate the album overall. Did I want to listen to the entire album? Were there songs I wanted to skip? Was I engaged as a listener and fan?
• I post the lists alphabetically and not in “countdown” style.

I fully recognize that my list (and everyone’s list, for that matter) is subjective. I love that others have different lists and are passionate about different bands and albums! I hope you agree with many fo these, but I also hope you have some favorites that aren’t on my list, but more importantly, I hope these lists introduce you to a band or album you may have missed in 2021!

I have “LISTEN HERE” links next to below each album cover, so give each band and album a chance, and support the bands you like!

The Synthentral Top 50 for 2021 (in alphabetical order):

Balvanera – Courses Of Action (LISTEN HERE)

Beyond Border – Awakening (LISTEN HERE)

Bikini Death Race – Refrigerator (LISTEN HERE)

Black Marble – Fast Idol (LISTEN HERE)

BlakLight – Into The Void (LISTEN HERE)

Brutalist Architecture In The Sun – Post Democracy The Album (LISTEN HERE)

CHVRCHES – Screen Violence (LISTEN HERE)

Clicks – G.O.T.H. (LISTEN HERE)

Cold Connection – Seconds Of Solitude (LISTEN HERE)

Creature And The Wolf – Night Feed (LISTEN HERE)

Dagon – Adam Krueger (LISTEN HERE)

Dead Lights – Dead Lights (LISLTEN HERE)

Devours – Escape From Planet Devours (LISTEN HERE)

District 13 – Mind Over Matter (LISTEN HERE)

Double Echo – ☾Double Echo – ☾ (LISTEN HERE)

Dräger – Goths À La Discothèque (LISTEN HERE)

echōdead – Random Headnoise Parallax (LISTEN HERE)

Elektroforez – 505 (LISTEN HERE)

Elektrostaub – Reliance (LISTEN HERE)

F.O.D. – Mensch Macht Maschine (LISTEN HERE)

Faderhead – Years Of The Serpent (LISTEN HERE)

Funker Vogt – Element 115 (LISTEN HERE)

Gary Numan – Intruder (LISTEN HERE)

Glass Spells – Shattered (LISTEN HERE)

Ironfield – No Sound (LISTEN HERE)

j:dead – A Complicated Genocide (LISTEN HERE)

Kat Von D – Love Made Me Do It (LISTEN HERE)

LAU – Believer (LISTEN HERE)

Machine Made Pleasure – Danceland Graffiti (LISTEN HERE)

Nation Of Language – A Way Forward (LISTEN HERE)

Nature Of Wires – Out Of My System (LISTEN HERE)

No Trust In Dawn – Lost And Apart (LISTEN HERE)

Norderney – Without The Limelight (LISTEN HERE)

Nórdika – Hipnotik (LISTEN HERE)

Nuovo Testamento – New Earth (LISTEN HERE)

Parralox – Travelogue (LISTEN HERE)

Piston Damp – Making The World Great Again (LISTEN HERE)

Potochkine – Sortilèges (LISTEN HERE)

Pro Patria – Godless (LISTEN HERE)

Raindancer – A Different Horizon (LISTEN HERE)

Rector Scanner – Radioteleskop (LISTEN HERE)

S Y Z Y G Y X – (Im)mortal (LISTEN HERE)

The Saint Paul – Core (LISTEN HERE)

Tenderlash – Hold Still (LISTEN HERE)

thewalkingicon – Shadow Of The Saints (LISTEN HERE)

Tobias Bernstrup – Petrichor (LISTEN HERE)

Velvet Vega – We’ll Never Get Back (LISTEN HERE)

Yota – Lucid Dreams (LISTEN HERE)

Zanias – Unearthed (LISTEN HERE)

Zoodrake – Seven (LISTEN HERE)

Synthentral Top 100 Albums of 2021

There was so much amazing music in 2021. Bands released more Singles and EP’s this year than albums, so I started with just under 450 albums to rate.

First step is to get that down to 100 for the Top 100 (here we are). Then I remove 50 more for the Top 50, and finally remove an additional 20 for the Top 30, which will have a corresponding show with one song from each album.

Here are the rules and guidelines I work with for my Top 2021 lists:

• I must own the album to consider it (either through purchase or provided by band or label).
• Only albums qualify: no EP’s or Singles. There are plenty of lists out there for “top songs.”
• To qualify as an album it must have at least seven original songs. Remixes, new versions, covers albums, compilations (“best of”), etc., do not qualify. Intro and outro songs, instrumentals, and intermission songs do not count toward the song total.
• Albums are weighted so that an album with 7 songs has the same point system as an album with 12 songs.
• I judge each song individually, then rate the album overall. Did I want to listen to the entire album? Were there songs I wanted to skip? Was I engaged as a listener and fan?
• I post the lists alphabetically and not in “countdown” style.

I fully recognize that my list (and everyone’s list, for that matter) is subjective. I love that others have different lists and are passionate about different bands and albums! I hope you agree with many of these, but I also hope you have some favorites that aren’t on my list, but more importantly, I hope this list introduces you to a band or album you may have missed in 2021!

I have “LISTEN HERE” links below each album cover, so go and listen and give each band and album a chance, and support the bands you like!

The Synthentral Top 100 for 2021 (in alphabetical order):

AEX – AEon deuX (LISTEN HERE)

All Systems Out – Strike Me (LISTEN HERE)

Angelspit – Diesel Priest (LISTEN HERE)

Balvanera – Courses Of Action (LISTEN HERE)

Beyond Border – Awakening (LISTEN HERE)

Bikini Death Race – Refrigerator (LISTEN HERE)

Black Marble – Fast Idol (LISTEN HERE)

BlakLight – Into The Void (LISTEN HERE)

BlueForge – Soul Rockets (LISTEN HERE)

Blutengel – Erlösung – The Victory Of Light (LISTEN HERE)

Brutalist Architecture In The Sun – Post Democracy The Album (LISTEN HERE)

Сад – Незнакомые лица знакомых людей (LISTEN HERE)

CHVRCHES – Screen Violence (LISTEN HERE)

Clan Of Xymox – Limbo (LISTEN HERE)

Clicks – G.O.T.H. (LISTEN HERE)

Cold Connection – Seconds Of Solitude (LISTEN HERE)

Creature And The Wolf – Night Feed (LISTEN HERE)

Croona – Ascend (LISTEN HERE)

Стереополина – Суперлуние (LISTEN HERE)

Dagon – Adam Krueger (LISTEN HERE)

Daniel Hall – Human (LISTEN HERE)

Das Werk – Aeshma (LISTEN HERE)

Dead Lights – Dead Lights (LISTEN HERE)

Devours – Escape From Planet Devours (LISTEN HERE)

The Distant Minds – Bedlam (LISTEN HERE)

Distoxia – Genocidio Espiritual (LISTEN HERE)

District 13 – Mind Over Matter (LISTEN HERE)

Diverje – Purge The World Before (LISTEN HERE)

Doble Núcleo – Mecánica Orgánica (LISTEN HERE)

Double Echo – ☾ (LISTEN HERE)

Dräger – Goths À La Discothèque (LISTEN HERE)

e:lect – Changing Reality (LISTEN HERE)

echōdead – Random Headnoise Parallax (LISTEN HERE)

Elektroforez – 505 (LISTEN HERE)

Elektrostaub – Reliance (LISTEN HERE)

The Ending Nights – A Landscape To Die (LISTEN HERE)

F.O.D. – Mensch Macht Maschine (LISTEN HERE)

Faderhead – Years Of The Serpent (LISTEN HERE)

FHTH – Freedom And Love (LISTEN HERE)

Form – This World Is Ours (LISTEN HERE)

The Frixion – To Hell And Back (LISTEN HERE)

Funker Vogt – Element 115 (LISTEN HERE)

Gary Numan – Intruder (LISTEN HERE)

Glass Spells – Shattered (LISTEN HERE)

Gli Occulti Supersovrani – Capolavoro (LISTEN HERE)

Hamerzya – Earth Rebirth (LISTEN HERE)

Hante. – Morning Tsunami (LISTEN HERE)

Honey Beard – Oneiros (LISTEN HERE)

Imperative Reaction – Mirror (LISTEN HERE)

Implant – Cognitive Dissonance (LISTEN HERE)

Ironfield – No Sound (LISTEN HERE)

j:dead – A Complicated Genocide (LISTEN HERE)

Kanga – You And I Will Never Die (LISTEN HERE)

Kat Von D – Love Made Me Do It (LISTEN HERE)

Konstantin Unwohl – Im Institut Für Strömungstechnik (LISTEN HERE)

LARVA – Void (LISTEN HERE)

LAU – Believer (LISTEN HERE)

Laura Dre – Moving Spaces (LISTEN HERE)

Llumen – Polygon Heart (LISTEN HERE)

Lords Assistants – Infrared (LISTEN HERE)

Machine Made Pleasure – Danceland Graffiti (LISTEN HERE)

Most Modern – Dark Lies (LISTEN HERE)

Nation Of Language – A Way Forward (LISTEN HERE)

Nattskiftet – Stämplar In (LISTEN HERE)

Nature Of Wires – Out Of My System (LISTEN HERE)

Neuropa – Frontiers (LISTEN HERE)

No Trust In Dawn – Lost And Apart (LISTEN HERE)

Norderney – Without The Limelight (LISTEN HERE)

Nórdika – Hipnotik (LISTEN HERE)

Nuovo Testamento – New Earth (LISTEN HERE)

Orange Sector – Alles Wird Gold (LISTEN HERE)

Parralox – Travelogue (LISTEN HERE)

Peppy Pep Pepper – Forced Distance (LISTEN HERE)

Piston Damp – Making The World Great Again (LISTEN HERE)

Potochkine – Sortilèges (LISTEN HERE)

Pro Patria – Godless (LISTEN HERE)

Propter Hoc – Blood Moon (LISTEN HERE)

The Rain Within – Horrorshow (LISTEN HERE)

Raindancer – A Different Horizon (LISTEN HERE)

Reality’s Despair – Perfidious Depopulation (LISTEN HERE)

Rector Scanner – Radioteleskop (LISTEN HERE)

The Rorschach Garden – Grain Culture (LISTEN HERE)

S Y Z Y G Y X – (Im​)​mortal (LISTEN HERE)

The Saint Paul – Core (LISTEN HERE)

Sines – A Series Of Moments (LISTEN HERE)

Solar Fake – Enjoy Dystopia (LISTEN HERE)

StaTiK SeKt – Without Tomorrow (LISTEN HERE)

Stridulum – Soothing Tales Of Escapism (LISTEN HERE)

Super Dragon Punch – Feral (LISTEN HERE)

Tenderlash – Hold Still (LISTEN HERE)

thewalkingicon – Shadow Of The Saints (LISTEN HERE)

Tobias Bernstrup – Petrichor (LISTEN HERE)

Uncreated – Symbiosis (LISTEN HERE)

unitcode:machine – Themes For A Collapsing Empire (LISTEN HERE)

Velvet Vega – We’ll Never Get Back (LISTEN HERE)

Venus In Disgrace – Dancefloor Nostalgia (LISTEN HERE)

Yota – Lucid Dreams (LISTEN HERE)

Your Ocean – Last Days Of Alnoxthenya (LISTEN HERE)

Zanias – Unearthed (LISTEN HERE)

Zoodrake – Seven (LISTEN HERE)

Synthentral Top 100 of 2020

There was so much amazing music in 2020. Bands were putting out a lot of music while they were in lockdown and quarantine. This year saw more singles and EP’s for sure. In 2019 I had 612 albums by the end of this year. This year I only had 447. I had to narrow that down to just 100 and will have to narrow it down again to 50 and then finally to 30 for my Top 30 Show on Synthentral. Make sure to give it a listen when it posts on HearThis or MixCloud!

I have several rules I work with when narrowing down the albums to my top list:

1. In order for an album to qualify, I must own the album, either through purchasing it on my own or given to me by the band or label. There were quite a few albums released in 2020 that were not provided to me by the band/label or I was not able to purchase.
2. To qualify it must be an album. There are plenty of lists out there for “top songs” that cover singles and EPs. I want to recognize the artists who put in the time and effort to put out an album.
3. To qualify as an album it must have at least seven original songs: remixes, new versions, cover albums, compilations, and “best of” do not qualify. Intro, outro and “intermission” songs do not count toward the total of original songs. This year instrumentals also did not count since I stopped playing instrumentals on the show.
4. All albums are weighted so that an album with 7 songs has the same point system as an album with 12 songs.
5. I judge each song individually. Then rate the album overall based on the individual song scores and overall listenability.
6. I post the lists alphabetically and do not list them in a “countdown” style.

I fully recognize that my list is subjective and that others will have different lists or disagree with my choices. I love that others have different lists and are passionate about different bands and albums! Regardless, listen to the music and give it all a chance. I have “LISTEN HERE” links next to each album title, so give each band and album a chance and listen and support the bands you like!

The Synthentral Top 100 for 2020 (in alphabetical order):

11Grams – Humanicide: LISTEN HERE

Abu Nein – Secular Psalms: LISTEN HERE

Alanas Chosnau & Mark Reeder – Children Of Nature: LISTEN HERE

Alphamay – Conformity: LISTEN HERE

Anders Manga – Andromeda: LISTEN HERE

Anna Öberg – Varelser Inuti: LISTEN HERE

Antiflvx – Platonic Perspectives (Brazilian Edition): LISTEN HERE

Antilav – Ten Years Later: LISTEN HERE

Armageddon Dildos – Dystopia: LISTEN HERE

Ashes ‘N’ Android – Razors Edge: LISTEN HERE

Assemblage 23 – Mourn: LISTEN HERE

Beyond Obsession – Revolution From Below: LISTEN HERE

Biocarbon13 – Deathwatch: LISTEN HERE

The Birthday Massacre – Diamonds: LISTEN HERE

Black Nail Cabaret – Gods Verging On Sanity: LISTEN HERE

BlakLight – Music In A Time Of Uncertainty: LISTEN HERE

Brutalist Architecture In The Sun – The Sadness Between Cities: LISTEN HERE

Circle Burn – Eigengrau: LISTEN HERE

Clan Of Xymox – Spider On The Wall: LISTEN HERE

A Covenant Of Thorns – Black: LISTEN HERE

The Coventry – Unspoken: LISTEN HERE

Стереополина – Институт культуры и отдыха: LISTEN HERE

Croona – Nobody Loves You: LISTEN HERE

Damsel In The Dollhouse – Geisterschloss: LISTEN HERE

Dance My Darling – Apoda: LISTEN HERE

Dancing Plague – null: LISTEN HERE

Daniel Hall – Dark Horse: LISTEN HERE

Death Loves Veronica – Lucid Dreams: LISTEN HERE

Die Braut – Virtual Communication: LISTEN HERE

DILK – Hardship: LISTEN HERE

Echoberyl – The Awakening Of A Mutant Girl: LISTEN HERE

Ego Bliss – What The Future Holds: LISTEN HERE

Eisfabrik – Kryothermalmusik Aus Der Eisfabrik: LISTEN HERE

ES23 – Only Melodies Remain: LISTEN HERE

FCH – Synaesthesia: LISTEN HERE

FHTH – Star Wormwood: LISTEN HERE

First Aid 4 Souls – Fire: LISTEN HERE

Formato Negativo – Biohazard: LISTEN HERE

Freezepop – Fantasizer: LISTEN HERE

Frozen Plasma – Gezeiten: LISTEN HERE

Gabriel & Dresden – Remedy: LISTEN HERE

Hammershøi – Hammershøi: LISTEN HERE

Hatari – Neyslutrans: LISTEN HERE

IAMTHESHADOW – Pitchblack: LISTEN HERE

Jennifer Touch – Behind The Wall: LISTEN HERE

JH-X9 – A Collision: LISTEN HERE

Jigsaw Sequence – Happiness: LISTEN HERE

Karl Kave – Solitude: LISTEN HERE

Kim Lunner – This Is Me: LISTEN HERE

Kiss Of The Whip – We’re Not Here: LISTEN HERE

Klonavenus – Motion:Less: LISTEN HERE

Klutæ – Queer For Satan: LISTEN HERE

Korine – The Night We Raise: LISTEN HERE

Linea Aspera – LP II: LISTEN HERE

Miseria Ultima – Graygarden: LISTEN HERE

MORE – From The Past: LISTEN HERE

N-Frequency – Signs Of Evolution: LISTEN HERE

Neuroactive – Minor Side​-​Effects: LISTEN HERE

The New Division – Hidden Memories: LISTEN HERE

Noise Resistance – Insights Of Ego: LISTEN HERE

Norderney – Insight Comes At The End: LISTEN HERE

OctoLab – Mystery Park: LISTEN HERE

Oldschool Union – Vartalovasara: LISTEN HERE

Oleg Xaler – Midnight: LISTEN HERE

Pandoria – Clean: LISTEN HERE

Panic Priest – Second Seduction: LISTEN HERE

Pitch Yarn Of Matter – Legacy: LISTEN HERE

PreCog – Valediction: LISTEN HERE

Proleturan – Embryonic Brain Fuck: LISTEN HERE

Provision – Hearts Turn Dark: LISTEN HERE

Purwien & Kowa – Vier: LISTEN HERE

Razorback Hollow – Solus In Tenebris: LISTEN HERE

Red Lokust – Whom The Gods Wish To Ruin, They First Drive Mad: LISTEN HERE

Riki – Riki: LISTEN HERE

Rojinski – Rojinski: LISTEN HERE

Rotersand – How Do You Feel Today: LISTEN HERE

Sacrothorn – Supernova: LISTEN HERE

Scenius – Enough Fears: LISTEN HERE

Shad Shadows – Toxic Behaviours: LISTEN HERE

She Hates Emotions – Melancholic Maniac: LISTEN HERE

SIN DNA – Transcendent: LISTEN HERE

Social Ambitions – A New Frontier: LISTEN HERE

spankthenun – Initial Decay Control: LISTEN HERE

Stellar Dynamics – False: LISTEN HERE

Subject:2 – Love Betrayal Deceit: LISTEN HERE

Sure – 20 Years: LISTEN HERE

Sven Rebentisch × Milian Hardt – Licht ∞ Wahrheit ∞ Frei Sein: LISTEN HERE

Tearful Moon – Under The Red Veil: LISTEN HERE

Technophobia – Some Of Us Are Looking At The Stars: LISTEN HERE

TOAL – Ritus Ex Silenti: LISTEN HERE

Transcendent 7 – Equilibrium: LISTEN HERE

Trevor Something – microwaves: LISTEN HERE

Unterschicht – Krank (Lass Mich Allein): LISTEN HERE

Vandal Moon – Black Kiss: LISTEN HERE

Vaylon – Legacy: LISTEN HERE

The Violent Youth – Tam, Gde Nas Net: LISTEN HERE

Voicecoil – Singularity: LISTEN HERE

White Door – The Great Awakening: LISTEN HERE

X-Marks The Pedwalk – Transformation: LISTEN HERE

Xelam – Rock And Roll: LISTEN HERE