As an iPhone user, the Anker 622 is Magsafe and snaps on my phone, but it also allows me to charge USB-C devices with a small cable. After Peter decides to fake his death on an insurance form in the "Death is a Bitch" episode, Death turns up to claim his bounty, but things don't quite go to plan. And yet, like so many of the best albums I’ve reviewed over the years, Revel in Time just wouldn’t stop cropping up all year. The current season, which serves as the series' 21st, brought the total number of episodes beyond the 400 mark: an impressive feat that few other animated shows have ever managed to accomplish.

The entire episode is actually about Peter's distaste for FCC's restrictions as he creates his own television network. Yes, we may have a reputation for being too hard on bands—a reputation that certain members of the staff have been single-handedly working to counter this year, I might add—but when it comes right down to it, when I hear from bands it’s because we led to their single biggest spike in sales from Bandcamp. Haken – “Sempiternal Beings” from Fauna — This may be the best song Haken has written since The Mountain. An Abstract Illusion – “Prosperty” — This is not the most technical track on the album, but goddammit I fucking love that opening bass and vocal part.I saw a bear gnaw through the clear blue container brand this year, which is made from polycarbonate, so I don't use those anymore.

Viita // I — On my stack of shame for this year, Viita’s debut got passed to me as a promo and I promptly sat on it, listened to it a ton, but was so busy with other stuff I couldn’t get a review out in time.False Light is adventurous, it’s interesting, it’s idiosyncratic, and it’s—even at a too-damned-long 66 minutes—mesmerizing. Isole – “Monotonic Scream” from Anesidora — This whole record is filled with hooks and ideas that I adore, but “Monotonic Scream” is likely the song that brought me back to to Anesidora after hearing it the first couple times. Case in point, The Corruption of Virtue, which demonstrates again the power of the riff in death metal. Leave a Little Room” features a straightforward and memorable chorus (love those harmonies under the vocals). Shiki, which I’m told is a heart-wrenching and honest example of the band’s frontman coping with his fear of death, does what Sigh has always done best: it combines a classic black metal—by which I mean Venom—with an idiosyncratic orchestral vision and a compelling compositional voice that belongs only to Sigh.

By Fire and Sword // Glory[September 22nd, 2023 | No Remorse Records] — This album has been threatening to make this list for a while now. If you like your death metal to have that old school Florida feel with a healthy dose of the best Sweden has to offer and—wait for it—fretless bass produced in a way different than German bands do it, then The Corruption of Virtue is the death metal record for you. The record sports compositions that never sit still; at times brutal, and other times fragile, and often reminiscent of many of the most interesting developments in extreme metal in the 2000s. It is a revolutionary hair care system designed to eliminate frizz, lock in colour and enhance shine. Xoth – “The Parasitic Orchestra” from Exogalactic — This whole album is fantastic, but I just can’t get past the totally majestic chorus in this song.The Orb, which dropped back in March, helped to re-solidify my admiration for the band’s dynamic, guitar-driven approach. The combination of huge poppy choruses with a genuinely heavy crunch and a scooped, American sound on the production with harmonized guitars and Eklöf’s emotive vocals just works.