73. Conjurer / Pijn – “Curse These Metal Hands”

One of the most intriguing records on this list. A unique and very intriguing collaboration between Mancunian Post Rockers Pijn and up and coming Black Metallers Conjurer. It was originally meant to be a exclusive commissioned piece of work performed at 2018 Arctangent Festival. However, it has taken on a life of its own and they entered the studio together earlier on in the year to record their very very distinct amalgamation. It is quite hard to put your finger on actually what this is. Three of its four tracks are each nearly ten minutes in length (the other one, ‘Endeavour’, is a simply a two minute musical interlude) and they unfurl in a melee of different styles and tempos. You feel that you are on a musical journey as it disarms you atmospheric low key acoustica and then pummels you with savage guitar riffs. There is just so much here in its brief thirty minute lifespan that you have to give it multiple listens to take it all. Exhilarating, baffling and, in places, extraordinary.