*I put off uploading this list because I was waiting for the new Gotsu Totsu Kotsu album "Where Warriors Once Dreamed a Dream" to arrive but it seems to have been lost in the mail. Since I don't know when I will get a copy, It will have to be excluded since I want to get my year end lists up in January of the following year.
0. "Album title" Band (Genre) [score out of 10]
description. Recommended tracks: (If any particularly stand out.)
1. "For None And All" Spell (Progressive/Hard Rock/Heavy Metal) [10]
It’s really hard for me to draw comparisons to Spell. It’s like an amalgamation of many classic hard rock and heavy metal bands. Bits and pieces remind me of different bands yet it doesn’t feel like a sloppy hodgepodge. Everything fits together well and all the songs are extremely well written.
2. "The Fire Within" Eternity's End (Power Metal) [9]
It’s been a few years since I’ve heard a euro power metal album with this consistency. No dull/filler tracks to be found on this album.
3. "Forevermourn" The Temple (Doom Metal) [9]
This is probably one of the best examples I’ve of what I call cathedral doom metal. Basically it has pacing like funeral doom metal, but lacks the death metal elements. Instead it has vocals that sound like they grabbed a monk out a church choir. Overall Forevermourn is a very strong album. Some of the songs sounded kind of off at first, almost like they were rehearsing songs that were meant to be played faster. But after a few listens even those tracks grew on me.
4. "Sumerlands" Sumerlands (Heavy Metal) [8]
Overall a strong album but the reverberation effect on the vocals gets kind of tiring and doesn’t work on all the tracks and the album would have benefited if they dropped it on some of the songs, especially the faster ones. When everything does fit together the songs are amazing.
Recommended Tracks: "The Seventh Seal" and "Haunted Forever"
5. "Le dernier crépuscule" Chthe'ilist (Death Metal) [8]
They sound a lot like Demilich only less weird and more atmospheric. Overall a great album, my only criticisms would be that it lacks variety as most of the album tends to blur together. That and the clean chanted vocals sound a bit wonky. But the tracks all have good flow, and in parts get really groovy , and the lyrics with their Lovecraftian horror story style are all pretty fun. “The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask” inspired song just fits right into this and doesn’t feel out place at all.
Recommended Track: "Scriptures of the Typhlodians"
6. "Ghostlights" Avantasia (Symphonic Power Metal) [8]
While I like Edguy, none of the songs I’ve ever previewed online from Avantasia appealed to me. And after seeing the music video for the lame “Mystery of a Blood Red Rose”, I had dismissed this album as well . But after hearing a lot of praise for this album I decided to go back to it. While there are a few lame songs on the album most are really well written even if they are a bit wonky.
Recommended Tracks: "Let the Storm Descend upon You", "Ghostlights", and "Babylon Vampyres"
7. "Prelude" Wytch Hazel (Hard Rock/Heavy Metal) [8]
For the most part a really great album. The sound kind of reminds me of Quicksand Dream’s “Aelin - A Story About Destiny”. Though the sound is probably more accurately described as a mix of NWOBHM, and 70's hard rock. The weak part of the album is the songs that lean more toward folk rock, which sound just really tired and uninspired. But the good outweighs the bad on this album.
8. "The Lizard Rider" Booze Control [8]
Do you like heavy metal? Does originality scare you? Are you likely to say ‘If it isn’t broke don’t fix it’? Well then get ready for some very competent no bull shit NWOTHM.
9. "Beheading Tyrants" Quicksand Dream (Epic Metal) [8]
So it looks like Quicksand Dream decided to pull a Brocas Helm and release a new album after a 16 year gap. While “Aelin” was a better album, "Beheading Tyrants" still delivers the same style epic metal with a tinge 70’s rock.
Recommended Tracks:"Daughters of Eve", "The Girl from the Island", "To Kill Beneath the Sun"
10. "The Armor of Ire" Eternal Champion (Epic Metal)[7]
A great album but definitely front loaded, which is disappointing as I was expecting a lot more from them after hearing “Retaliator” and the tracks they put up online before the album’s release. “The Cold Sword” just wasn’t that great, The “Invoker” sounds like a radio edit of long epic track, and “Sing a Last Song of Valdese” felt like an underwhelming replacement for what should have been the second half of “Invoker”. I was ready to crown Eternal Champion as the new king of epic metal; sorry guys but your no Manilla Road, not yet anyway.
Recommended Tracks: "I Am the Hammer", "The Armor of Ire" and "The Last King of Pictdom"
11. "The Cycle Never Ends" Ravensire (Epic Metal) [7]
Overall decent epic metal, but some tracks are better than others. On the weaker tracks the compositions just aren’t as compelling.
Recommended Tracks: "Cromlech Revelations", "Trapped In Dreams", and "Temple At The End Of The World"
12. "Post Society" Voivod (Progressive Thrash Metal) [7]
It’s on par with “Target Earth”, the best parts were the title track and the Hawkwind cover.
Recommended Tracks: "Post Society", and "Silver Machine"
13. Split "EP3: Green Metal / Deterministic Chaos" Oskoreien / Botanist (Post Black Metal) [7]
Overall it’s a step up from the last Botanist EP, I also enjoyed it a lot more then “VI: Flora”. The Oskoreien side of the split was also pretty good and my introduction to the band.
14. "Terminal Redux" Vektor (Progressive Thrash Metal) [7]
It sounds like someone took a typical thrash metal album and the best parts of a mediocre progressive metal album, and stuck them together in one album. The first two tracks are the best written songs on the album after that the rest just doesn’t hold up as well.
Recommended Tracks: "Charging the Void", and "Cygnus Terminal"
15. "Chasms" Lycus (Black/Funeral Doom Metal) [7]
16. "We Summon" Dragged (Sludge Metal) [6]
Overall it has a good sound but the music compositions need work. What surprised me was the fact that I enjoyed the longer tracks a lot more then the short ones(Short in this case being under 20 minutes) . The composition and atmosphere was a lot better on the long tracks, and everything came together on the album’s title track.
Recommended Track: "We Summon"
17. "Absolute Clarity" Sunrise (Power Metal) [6]
Overall a pretty good album; but some of the tracks are kind of dull and Uninspired, and the vocals sound a little wonky at times.
Recommended Tracks: "Tower Of Fear" and "Prayer For You"
18. "II" Slow Green Thing (Stoner Metal) [6]
I stumbled upon one of the tracks from this album on YouTube and decided to check it out on their bandcamp page. Overall not bad but it didn’t really have lasting appeal. The track I heard on YouTube was the most interesting to me.
Recommended Track: Monkeyshine
19. "Rabbits' Hill Pt. 2" Trick or Treat (Power Metal) [6]
This was a big letdown after waiting 4 years for part 2. Rabbits' Hill Pt. 1 for the most part was a departure from their sound on their previous albums, but it still worked well as a concept album and had enjoyable songs . Part 2 fails to do that, and is just packed full of forgettable tracks that are nothing compared to the material on their first two albums. The only track up to par with those albums is the one they used for the music video.
Recommended Track: "The Great Escape"
20. "Wider than the Sky" 40 Watt Sun (Atmospheric Rock) [6]
This was a difficult album to score as it was the biggest disappointment of the year. “The Inside Room” is one of my favorite albums and I had been waiting for them to release another album, and this didn’t deliver what I wanted. That being said it’s in no way a bad album. The songs are all crafted well, but they just didn’t appeal to me the way the songs on “The Inside Room” did. It was such a unique approach to doom metal and “Wider than the Sky” while still similar in some ways is a big departure from that sound.
Recommended Tracks: "Beyond You", and "Pictures"
21. "All Too Human" Oskoreien ( Atmospheric Black Metal) [6]
I checked this album out after listening to the split with Botanist. It’s a decent album but didn’t grab me the way the “Deterministic Chaos” did. Where that had a fairly unique haunting yet contemplative feel; this album just didn’t give off that feeling and reminded me of other black metal bands I’ve heard.
