Now that the dust has kind of cleared after djent (mostly), the one album that stands apart for me from the rest is Ever Forthright, followed some distance behind by early Monuments (vox for this album is now in that band) and Vildjharta. There's stuff going on here that is similar to the wave of psychedelic avant-garde bands of the '90s that existed on the fringe of Britpop and Shoegaze like Rollerskate Skinny and Mansun (seemingly random styles and parts cleverly spliced together), but firmly rooted in modern metal. It was lightning in a bottle- band members went on to other bands full time and no follow up that I'm aware of. Trendy for it's time yet timeless, an endless well of glimpses into what could be as metal evolves, I can't think of a more potent or exciting album of the last decade or more. They put on a clinic on everything they set out to do in every song on the album, and the songs themselves are breathtaking. And it jams really fucking hard. Grooves, breakdowns, facemelters, interludes, chugs, it doesn't matter what's going on at any given time- it is fresh and amazing. It's one of those rare albums that makes you wonder how the fuck they did it. Probably a big part of there not being any more after this, how would you even go about doing it again- I imagine this music could only happen once, in a particular set of constraints and circumstances for everyone involved. The only artist I can think of that is in this lane that comes up with material on this level is Devin Townsend, but not even Ziltoid or Deconstruction packs as much jaw dropping stuff in one album.
ffo: psychedelic, technical, progressive, djent, deathcore
https://everforthright.bandcamp.com/album/ever-forthright