Clockwise from top left: Clipping., Nile, Stephen Malkmus, Taylor Swift, The Futureheads, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, Coldplay, The Flaming Lips featuring the Colorado Symphony, Lights and The New Pornographers. We’ve reached the end of 2019, meaning the time has come to look back over all the great music the…

Clockwise from top left: L’Acéphale, Nile, Opeth, Lingua Ignota, Swallow The Sun, Alcest, Car Bomb, Liturgy, Idle Hands and Inter Arma. Well, we’ve made it to the end of the road to hell. These are the best slabs of heavy goodness I heard this year. Sometimes you have to…

Nile has long distinguished itself with a unique concept. Guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter Karl Sanders propelled the South Carolina band by infusing technical death metal with Egyptology and Lovecraftian horror. It’s served the band’s first eight albums well. But for Vile Nilotic Rites, Brian Kingsland replaced longtime guitarist Dallas…