This monthly music chart is a combination of my mood, nostalgia, and winter.

My most listened to genres this month were metalcore, nu metal, emo (midwest and pop), hyperpop, and shoegaze.

TLDR:

• - I bookmarked all my favorite songs for the month in an apple music playlist! (Playlist Link)
• - I really needed to laugh during January and metalcore and nu metal are genres that are silly-goofy to me. I could not stop listening to Korn.
• - I revisited old favorites and thought about the music I enjoyed during this time last year.

I found myself listening to a lot of metalcore and nu metal because I am so serious when I say I needed to laugh and feel silly. The combination of high energy instrumentals with sometimes cringey, ironic lyrics actually brings me so much joy. Ex. I ended up making a short joke playlist of metalcore songs that features barking and/or about dogs (Playlist Link). If a song can make me laugh in some capacity I’ll be more inclined to listen to it. This is how I ended up listening to a bit of Bladee and occasionally cloud rap too.

Additionally with how I was feeling throughout the month, I enjoyed the introspective driven themes/narratives in Strictly Ballroom - Collected Recordings, Godflesh - Post Self, Yeule - Glitch Princess, and Underscores - Wallsocket. Aside from Underscores, the other three albums were ones that I had already enjoyed before and now have a greater appreciation for. I’m considering going through Godflesh’s entire discography again because if you asked me what my favorite album is of theirs, I would have easily said A World Lit Only by Fire, but Post Self has made such an impact on me in the past few weeks it’s a little difficult for me to choose now.

My favorite metalcore albums this month were Vianova - Hit It! and 156/Silence - People Watching. I am absolutely floored to learn that these two bands are part of a supporting act for another metalcore band's tour and current resale tickets for their LA show is about $250+ (since I last checked the first week of Feb.), absolutely nuts I can’t believe it lol. The tour isn’t until May so I’m keeping an eye on this show. A $200+ resale ticket for a metalcore show is crazy to me, but ohhhhhhh I do want to see these bands live.

Hit It! is a vibrant album I could not put down for the first half of the month. I’m personally a huge fan of any album or artist that incorporates a variety of genres and influences cohesively. Although this is primarily a metalcore album you can hear funk, jazz, djent, blackgaze, and electronic elements. This album made me think of Coaltar of the Deepers, Deafheaven, Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.C.E, and influenced me to revisit The Callous Daoboys - I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven, which is another metalcore album with an eclectic mix of styles. The first half of the album is cohesively strong, wavers during the middle with the song “Whatever Alright”, and I have mixed feelings on the last 1/4th of the album because I think the song placements could have been different. I actually gasped while listening to the song “Melanchronic” the first time because this scratched an itch in my brain only Coaltar of the Deepers has been able to do in the past decade. I also adore “Future Nostalgia” and would have preferred if this was the very last song of the album. It’s bittersweet and I enjoy the way yearning for something that hasn’t occurred is presented. Overall, I’m really happy I found this at the beginning of the month and I’ll be keeping tabs on this band because I’m curious if they’ll continue the direction of an eclectic metalcore sound. This was yummy, delicious, tasty; I absolutely devoured this from the very first listen.

For this next paragraph, I’m going to be straightforward. I love Korn - Issues. Out of all the 90 nu metal bands I listen to, I never gravitated to Korn. However, last year the Pinkpop Youtube archive uploaded their 2000’s live performance (Youtube Link) and it made me pause, like oh.. I like this way more than I expected? I listened to this live performance a lot when I was on the clock at my last job, and although I wanted to look into their discography I never got past Life is Peachy. Last year I was in a 90’s alt rock/space revival hole and I wasn’t in the mood for nu metal so I put a bookmark on Korn to check them out later. And omg? I love Issues? Incorporating industrial, funk metal, and that little bit of trip hop? Was this made for me? Anyway this album also makes me laugh too because the lyrics make me feel like an edgy teenage boy who has a crush on the goth girl in my english class but she doesn’t know I exist so I have to vent it out with my friends at the skate park. I think this is one of the appeals of nu metal for me because I actually like how cringey it can be.

The last comment I have for this chart is about Jane Remover's - “♡”. At this point, I genuinely do believe that Jane Remover is a genius. I mean, every set and project I’ve heard from them since 2024 solidifies the admiration I have for their creative growth and this ep is just another example of that. The song “So What” is a 10/10 perfect pop song to me, this is diamond certified in my car baby. This EP has actually been on blast since December and went on strong until the third week of January. I need to see Jane Remover live so bad omg.

I do have opinions on all the albums I have listed in my chart, but this is as much as I’d like to write for this post! I wrote this during the first week of February and I observed that a handful of albums in this chart have influenced what I’ve gotten into for the second month of the year.

Au revoir pour l'instant!!