If you finished listening to Perverts and suddenly thought this, don’t worry—I’ve got you covered. The world of slowcore, drone-adjacent, expansive doom-esque experimental music is a scary place, but as an (allegedly) transgender woman myself, I assure you there is no better authority to navigate it for you.

Below are detailed a stylistic corrolary album(s) for each song off of Ethel Cain's Perverts, along with a brief (by my standards) reasoning for its inclusion, A.K.A. why exactly you should listen to it. Read on, and be exposed to the type of completely commercially unpalatable monstrosity you thought had been made illegal back when Lou Reed decided to make anoise album.

Contrary to popular belief, art music is alive and well, and if you surrednder yourself completely to the sorts of freaks (i.e. me) who enjoy this stuff, you might just find yourself in good company.

“Perverts”—F# A# ∞ by Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

‍Every slowcore album since Infinity came out is to some extent derivative of Godspeed. From the field recordings to the spoken words to the extended sections of near-silence, “Perverts” is a near-perfect rip of the Godspeed playbook to the point of being arguably more Godspeed than the album Godspeed put out this year. It’s also impossible not to feel shades of “The car is on fire” in the “Nearer, My God, to thee” opening sample.

Not as if that’s even remotely a bad thing.

“Punish”—Luminol by Midwife.

‍The most accessible track on this album (arguably) is still laden with oppressingly gloomy instrumentation and a vocal treatment that drops the polish of Cain’s usual harmonics, replacing them with an absolutely blown-out reverb that sands off any edge to the words. This sort of dreamy, hypnotic, doom-rock is what Midwife has been doing for years, and of which this record in particular is an absolute tour de force. Luminol layers repetitive lyrics over trance-like guitars to create a sound which feels huge but is actually remarkably restrained. If that’s not enough for you, she’s also the one playing guitar on Perverts closer “Amber Waves,” making the connection between these two women all the more explicit.

“Housofpsychoticwomn”—The Origin of My Depression by Uboa.

‍Depression is, to me, the definitive noise record to come out in the last ten years. It is by-and-away a masterwork of an admittedly niche genre, playing with dynamic range in a way that many experimental and noise artists seemingly neglect to do. The album’s handful of quiet, moody, and lyrically intelligible tracks make it a close corollary to Perverts, and a relatively accessible point of entry to the genre. “Detransitioning” is easily one of my favourite songs of all time, and “Misspent Youth” is an absolutely shattering closer to a phenomenal record that is worth checking out if you enjoyed any part of Cain’s release.

“Vascillator”—”Ryoanji” by John Cage.

The driving force of this song is the percussion, the most consistent element over its nearly 8-minute runtime. Likewise, Cage’s “Ryoanji” is defined by its percussion—it’s one of only two instruments for which the work calls. There is no definitive version of “Ryoanji”; it is a series rather than a definite work, and more a set of instructions at that, even. Still, it remains one of the composer’s most recognized works. Apart from a little ditty you might have heard of called “4’33,” that is.

“Onanist”—Drainland by Michael Gira.

‍Few people love anything as much as 4Chan loves Swans. While the band have a rather notorious reputation for that reason alone (to say nothing of the content of their songs), the work of lead singer Michael Gira has carved out its own niche in the hearts of myriad weird girls who romanticize cannibalism as a metaphor for love.

Drainland is a dark and heavy record, borrowing from Brainbombs and Giles Corey, but with a touch more sentimentality than either would otherwise permit. The record has inspired a generation of creatives and critics, and is unique for its achievement of a very productive type of misery. If you think The Human Centipede is a beautiful love story, this may well be the record for you.

“Pulldrone”—Daughters of Darkness by Natural Snow Buildings.

‍This album is a nightmare to listen to. To say that is to say nothing, even, of the content. More than anything Daughters of Darkness is a logistical nightmare; the album is more than seven hours long. However, sit with it—or even just one song—and you’ll be rewarded. This goth-folk record is dark in all the strictest meanings; its sound, subject matter, and presentation are all suitably chilling. Natural Snow Buildings are one of those groups which, like Directors Terrence Mallick and Lars von Trier do for the medium of film, act as gatekeepers to those disinterested in the true fringes of experimental or even “alternative” music. That’s not to say you shouldn’t listen to them, but just know that once you wade into their work you may not find yourself coming back.

“Etienne”—The Unnatural World & Deathconsciousness by Have A Nice Life

You can’t talk about slowcore, post-rock, or any other online microgenre consumed mostly by borderline-depressive teenaged boys without talking about the big daddy. Have A Nice Life are a monolith. If Have A Nice Life are the mountain, than Deathconsciousness is the summit. This album shares space with an impessively small number of records so similarly revered, the only one I can think of off the top of my head being The Microphones' The Glow, Pt. 2. Deatchsconsciousness is oppressive, gloomy—nightmarish, even (and that's a term I don't trot out lightly). The gradual build of"A Quick One Before the Eternal Worm Devours Conneticut" closely mirrors the ambient drones of Perverts' opener, but the record spans the gap from those ambient tendencies to shoegaze fuzz on "Deep Deep."

My most indictable of all music opinions, however, is that their follow-up record, The Unnatural World, might just be even better. This, I recognize, is a contentious claim to make, so here I'll hedge my bets by saying that the hollow soundscapes of "Guggenheim Wax Museum" and "Emptiness Will Eat the Witch" more closely resemble Perverts to me. At about half the length of Deathconsciousness, it may also prove an easier listen.

If you're the type of person who got scared listening to Perverts, however, well...be warned: This ain't ABBA.

“Thatorchia”—Jesu by Jesu.

‍In many ways a perfect complement to Cain, especially if the things one gets from the latter are aesthetic rather than sylistic. Jesu has is all—God symbolism; long, inaccessible songs; and even folk-adjacent crossover appeal (he did an excellent remix of Julien Baker’s song “Favor”). Justin Broadrick (to whom the pseudonym belongs) also has a wealth to offer anyone who’s truly down to sample anything esoteric and God-themed. Godflesh offers a heavy metal twist on the same songwriting preoccupations which Cain deals with. Just be prepared for it to sound nothing alike.

“Amber Waves”—Fag Patrol by Xiu Xiu.

A collection of acoustic covers of tracks from their first five studio albums, Fag Patrol pares down all of the eclectic production for which Xiu Xiu are known and instead revels in minimalist, yet-oppressivle high-fidelity production. The effect is a record that feels incredibly intimate and raw, creating a foreboding sound despite being mostly lead singer Jamie Stewart alone on an acoustic guitar. Botched takes and studio chatter are left in, and everything is just unpolished enough to make you lean into the whole affair. For fans of gloomy, ambient folk, the band’s cover of “Fast Car” is arguably another must-listen.