Todd Grotenhuis

100,000 scrobbles!

That means I’ve listened to at least that many songs since I started recording my listening history in 2008¹.

Let’s have a look at my top Artists, Albums, and Tracks. ^{2 3}

Artists

1. Klayton (Celldweller, Circle of Dust, Argyle Park, Criss Angel, Ap2, Brainchild and more) (3500+ plays): a talented multi-instrumentalist with a variety of excellent industrial-adjacent projects.
2. Rhys Fulber (Front Line Assembly, Delerium, Fear Factory, Noise Unit, Rhys Fulber and more) (2700): multi-genre electronic musician, producer, and remixer.
3. August Burns Red (1500): technical metalcore from Manheim, PA
4. In the Midst of Lions (1300): most-likely my introduction to deathcore, and still one of my faves
5. For Today (1200): unrelenting metalcore with a message
6. Nine Inch Nails (1100): what could I say that you don’t already know?
7. KMFDM (1100): the industrial rock giants
8. Haste The Day (1000): local metalcore with some boppy anthems
9. Opeth (1000): progressive death metal and prog rock
10. Juno Reactor (900): genre-bending psytrance that you may know from Matrix soundtracks

Together, these top artists still only account for roughly 15% of my listening. Check “artists” on my profile if you want to see more of the others.

Albums

1. In the Midst of Lions - The Heart of Man: I listened to this over and over when I commuted downtown 1 or 2 times a week. You can still catch me or my spouse belting out an epic growl of “Brood of Vipers!” from The Pharisaic Heart.
2. For Today - Breaker: Energetic & hard-hitting without a dud on the entire album.
3. The Crimson Armada - Conviction: Technical deathcore with choruses that beg you to sing along.
4. August Burns Red - Constellations: This was the album that got me hooked on ABR.
5. Broken Note - Terminal Static: Grimy industrial dubs. One of many groundbreaking breakcore-ish albums from the Ad Noiseam label.
6. Zao - Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest: Not only one of my top-listened albums, but surely one of the best, as well. Incredible genre-defining metalcore. I even have the album cover as art.
7. Katatonia - Dethroned & Uncrowned: The clever title for this soft⁴ version of their Dead End Kings album alone makes it worth a listen, but I find myself melancholically singing along to almost every track.
8. DJ Hidden - The Later After: Threatening atmospheric drum & bass, darkstep. Another of the groundbreaking breakcore-ish albums from the Ad Noiseam label.
9. Celldweller - Wish Upon A Blackstar: This is the moment Klayton hit his stride in creating albums as complete concepts.
10. Flesh Field - Strain: To me, this is the most iconic sound of the “core” of industrial music. I really appreciate the drums, programming, and contrasting voices in this album.

Edit: I made a glaring omission! The next album would have come in #3 if I had included the different editions as one.

Argyle Park - Misguided: this was a super-controversial, way-ahead-of-its time album. It included people from Klayton’s musical circles, including his common collaborators (lvl, buka, Klank); Mark Salomon (of Stavesacre, the Crucified, Chatterbox, etc.); and others in the scene like Jyro (Mortal), J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus), Tommy Victor (Prong), and Lauren Boquette (Drown, Six). It’s a one-of-a-kind album.

Tracks

1. In the Midst of Lions - The Machine: I dare you to listen to this an never let out your own “stop…the machine!”
2. For Today - Devastator: Same as above, but with “tear it to the ground!”
3. Igorrr - Double Monk: This was one of those songs that threatened my understanding of a what a “song” could be (Igorrr has a way of doing that). This is one of those few songs that I’ve put on a single-song loop. Also, from another of the groundbreaking breakcore-ish albums from the Ad Noiseam label.
4. The Crimson Armada - Juggernaut: I love all the contrasting vocal and instrumental elements that make the story of this song work so well. “You can rip out my tongue / And I’ll speak of His love. / You can pry out my eyes / And I’ll show off His love / You can tear off my flesh / I’ll share the warmth of his love”.
5. August Burns Red - White Washed: I just love the sound of this one, honestly. (I think it may be about an argument between them and a straightedge band.)
6. Broken Note - Mask of Gas: this track feels like a industrial warehouse dance-off with electronic and hip-hop groups.
7. Living Sacrifice - Bloodwork: this is from my favorite era of LS. Two percussionists. The guitars were percussion. The vocals were percussion. Everything was percussion! What a fun track and album.
8. Drumcorps - Down: Like Igorrr’s track above, this was one of those songs that threatened my understanding of a what a “song” could be (and is yet another from a groundbreaking breakcore-ish album from the Ad Noiseam label).
9. Haste The Day - When Everything Falls: remember when I said that this metalcore band had some boppy anthems? (also, it’s a great way to end a show/concert/festival. e.g.)
10. Flobots - Stand Up: This was one of the tracks that introduced me to the social, lyrical, and musical depth of Flobots.

Your Turn

Tell me about your faves? What should I be loading up in my Plex to play next?

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