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Best Family Affair

iZCALLi and EL CRO

Ever wonder why local Latin bands iZCALLi and EL CRO are often on the same bill? Both bands put on energetic, entertaining shows — EL CRO dishing out its "rock mexicano hecho en Denver" ("Mexican rock made in Denver") and iZCALLi putting on fiery performances filled with everything from time-traveling fuzz rock to bilingual ballads — but there's more to the story than that. EL CRO happens to be headed up by the father of Miguel and Brenda Aviña, the guitar-wielding siblings at the heart of iZCALLi. This family makes beautiful music together, and Denver music fans are the lucky recipients of its well-honed talents. Catch iZCALLi and EL CRO together again at Levitt Pavilion on June 7.

izcallirock.com

Best Pop Musician

Grace DeVine

Dreamy and ethereal, Grace DeVine is Denver pop royalty. But don't be fooled by her catchy hooks and addictive, layered beats: The artist's lyrics are earnest, sometimes heavy, and confront the highs and lows of life with intentionality and creativity. DeVine released the EP Taste of Heaven last September with a concert at Globe Hall, and her pipes were just as heavenly in person as they are through headphones. Denver has a true lyrical genius in Grace DeVine, and we can't wait to see what she puts out this year.

@gracedevinemusic

Best Funky Disco Concerts

Boogie Lights & the Boogie Bunch

If you haven't caught Boogie Lights, you're missing out. Mark Henrichs brings together the worlds of funk and disco with his project, and now his collaborators are along for the ride in the Boogie Bunch, which includes vocalists Abi Clark and Mandy Haupt, rapper/singer Andrew Leerson (aka Deezy Le Phunk), Ricky Feria (aka Rix) on guitar, Dan Chando on keys, Ty Martinez on sax, Kylee Lund on trumpet and Melissa Joy on violin. They debuted with a sold-out show at Globe Hall last March and released The Boogie Bunch in October. The Boogie Lights sound is intoxicating, and while you'll be listening to it constantly through your headphones, there's nothing like hearing it live while dancing the night away.

boogielightsmusic.com

Best Sexy, Jazzy Electronic Music

The Orchestrator

Brandon Theis started his multi-instrumental project the Orchestrator from the ground up, teaching himself how to play saxophone and mix and master his tunes — which also include him on guitar, drums and keys. Since 2021, he's released dozens of singles and an EP, with "Jazz Wobbles" racking up more than a million streams on Spotify and his song "Alissa," named for his wife, hitting number one on the iTunes jazz charts. He's sold out multiple venues and even had Afroman as an opener at the Summit in January. The music is funky yet soothing, head-bob-inducing and flush with sexy trills from the sax balanced by beats that go from oozy and dub-inspired to hip-hop-adjacent.

theorchestratormusic.com

Best Metal EDM Artist

Rod Wess

Denver loves itself some metal and EDM. Both scenes continue to thrive throughout the city within their respective lanes. But there hasn't been a lot of crossover between the two...until longtime guitarist Rod Wess decided to start mixing EDM with his first love, metal. Formerly of death-metal band Distant Haven, Wess got turned on to EDM in the early 2000s and became a DJ. Armed with his ESP LTD guitar, he now makes drum-and-bass-infused shred metal that appeals to EDM acolytes and metalheads alike, especially live. Recent singles "Shaolin Tactics" and "Crank 'n' the Foot" are bass-heavy bangers that also showcase Wess's affinity for hip-hop, including the Wu-Tang Clan. For good measure, Wess, a self-professed classical music nerd, sprinkles in scales that would make Mozart and Vivaldi headbang.

rodwess.com

Best Metal Album

Sparagmos
Spectral Voice

Death doom isn't the sexiest extreme-metal subgenre. Found at opposite ends of the music spectrum, death and doom metal typically don't have much in common. But Spectral Voice makes the unlikely marriage work so well that most people don't even question it. Take the band's second full-length, Sparagmos. It's nearly 46 minutes in length but is divided into four songs (such is death doom). It's clear that drummer /vocalist Eli Wendler, guitarists Paul Riedl and Morris Kolontyrsky and bassist Jeff Barrett are completely dialed in on Sparagmos, constructing a foreboding and sinister atmosphere throughout, especially on "Red Feasts Condensed Into One" and "Death's Knell Rings in Eternity." The cherry on top is the album's title: a Greek word for the Dionysian practice of tearing someone apart.

spectralvoice.bandcamp.com

Best Metal Band

Wayfarer

In such a saturated music market, it's extremely uncommon for bands to create a brand-new subgenre. But that's exactly what Wayfarer has done over the past twelve years. Shane McCarthy (guitar and vocals), Isaac Faulk (drums and keyboards), Jamie Hansen (bass and vocals) and Joe Strong-Truscelli (guitar) are big fans of the "Denver sound," and pair the haunting Americana of groups such as Slim Cessna's Auto Club and 16 Horsepower with traditional black metal to make what's been dubbed "Black Metal of the American West." On its latest album, American Gothic, Wayfarer transports listeners to life in the Depression-era Dust Bowl with blackened cowboy folk tunes that could be an alternative There Will Be Blood soundtrack.

wayfarercolorado.bandcamp.com

Best Old-School Heavy Metal Band

Eaglewing

Take a trip back in time and soar high with Eaglewing on its fearless flight into the new wave of heavy metal mayhem. These guys look and sound straight from the early-1980s heavy metal scene, embarking on a sonic journey where the skies are limitless and the music knows no bounds. The members are masters of their craft, using a simple formula of thundering drums, shredding guitar riffs and mesmerizing vocals to shape a majestic musical landscape. Although Eaglewing might seem like it's from the past, the band has firmly established itself as the future of heavy metal in Denver.

eaglewingband.bandcamp.com

Best Band to Rage to While Punching Drywall

Empire Demolition

Denver grindcore trio Empire Demolition seemingly came out of nowhere with the release of its debut EP, Defenestration, earlier this year. Justin Redington (vocals and bass), Kendrick Lemke (guitar and vocals) and Nicholas Herrera (drums) are purveyors of sonic pandemonium, and the five songs on Defenestration pummel you for just under twenty minutes. The title track (the shortest offering at a hair under three minutes) and "Ruby" (the longest at a tad over six minutes) show off Empire Demolition's range; like Napalm Death and Portrayal of Guilt, the band knows how to whip up a rage, and that's a good thing when it comes to grindcore. So go ahead, throw it on and do some remodeling with your fists.

empiredemolition.bandcamp.com

Best Missing Link

Cronos Compulsion

There is stone-cold evidence that cavemen somehow found the time to create instruments (bone flutes, naturally) and music during the Paleolithic Era. They also loved to sing. But there is no way our thick-browed ancestors were coming up with anything near what death-metal trio Cronos Compulsion is currently concocting — though the band does like to call its sound  "caveman death metal." It's a newer term for a brand of brutal music that doesn't bother with overly indulgent compositions — it's barbaric and heavier than the Stone Age. What guitarist Wil Wilson, drummer Jon Linskey and bassist Addison Herron-Wheeler do on debut EP Malicious Regression would make any self-respecting Neanderthal lose their shit. Plus, the band moniker is an archeological term for the caveman practice of chopping up dead bodies instead of burying them.

cronoscompulsiondeath.bandcamp.com

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