6. The Knife - Shaking The Habitual
The Knife is a group consisting of siblings Olof and Karin Dreijer, who hail from Sweden. Their music is known for being dark, moody and sometimes, bone-chillingly cold. Shaking the Habitual continues in this tradition but goes even further. The album is a dense work, clocking in at almost an hour and a half. The runtime is appropriate though as a ton of ideas are explored and given room to breathe. "A Tooth for an Eye" sets the mood properly, taking its time with warped percussion and Karin's signature vocals taking center stage. Right after that, you are hit with "Full of Fire", a more upbeat track full of hammering bass drums and distorted howling. Their approach to electronic mood is weird and eccentric but highly contagious. On top of that, they make several journeys into the ambient realm on songs such as "The Cherry On Top" and "Fracking Fluid Injection". Shaking the Habitual is a piece of work that deserves being completely engaged with, one that commands your full attention.