Here's my top 25 .. with some general comments. Comments are definately welcomed. All in all a pretty good year in metal.
1 Amorphis – Silent Waters – Another great disc from Amorphis. Singer Tomi Joutsen makes his 2nd appearance with the band, and delivers once again. This guy has helped breathe new life into a band that seemed to be treading water while looking for direction. Amorphis has become one of my very favorite bands this past year or two. This is a great follow up to 2006's Eclipse, and for me it's a great mixture of a couple different genres as well. The diversity put this one ahead of the pack
2 Threshold - Dead Reckoning -- It's their heaviest to date, but still contains all those likable qualities expected from Threshold .. good lyrics, catchy tunes, and strong musicianship. This disc is more straight forward than their past efforts, and for me that's a positive. This was in my 1 spot for a good long while, but Amorphis nudged ahead over the last several weeks.
3 Devin Townsend - Ziltoid The Omniscient -- goofy, campy concept album based on an alien commander in search of great coffee .. sounds corny as hell, huh? Well, it's actually quite enjoyable. I've found myself spinning this a lot this year, and I quite like it. The drums are programmed, and could drive someone nuts, but given the storyline I think it's fitting. I first thought of Mars Attacks when I heard this one.
4 Kamelot - Ghost Opera -- I love this disc. I've always loved the mid tempo Kamelot tracks best of all, and this disc is full of them. I love the atmosphere on this disc .. it's clear to me that these guys are the top of the heap when it comes to symphonic melodic metal. There's lot of experimenting going on as well .. these guys are still evolving.
5 Pagan's Mind – God's Equation -- Nice changeup from PM. It's still them, but they have turned up the aggression meter a bit, and have added some new touches. Some won't like the vocal distortions that are prevalent on this disc, but for me it works in the context of the songs. There's still a space theme going on, but overall this new disc seems fresh. I thought the last disc was solid, but was a bit stagnant. This new one seems like a step forward. The cover of Bowie's Hallo Spaceboy is really well done.
6 King Diamond - Give Me Your Soul ... Please -- The King delivers again. I wasn't sure what to expect after the long layoff from studio output, but the time off didn't hinder the King in any way. He and his bandmates have delivered a high quality effort which should have a chance at ranking high in his overall catalog. The songs on this disc are very catchy and well performed .. that's come to be expected. The story is a little weak in spots, but decent. I miss the King's older vocal style … there's just not enough falsetto any more. The production is thin .. wish there was more punch to it. These weaknesses hurt the final score a bit, but I'd still give it an 8/10.
7 Symphony X – Paradise Lost – A good disc that I initially hard trouble getting into for some reason. As the year went on I warmed up to it. It's heavy, aggressive, and fairly catchy overall, and contains most of the elements that have made them a big favorite of mine over the years. I could use a little less Evil Russ, and a little more progessiveness, but all in all this is a very good disc.
8 Scariot - Momentum Shift -- Nevermorish type thrashy powermetal. The band has three new members since their last incarnation, but the end product is very strong. The new singer is good .. fits in perfectly. He reminds me a bit of Messiah Marcolin, and also might have a touch of Warrell Dane in his vox. The songs are heavy, and catchy, and memorable. This was an early 1 for me, but slipped a bit as the year went on.
9 Eldritch - Blackenday -- This one is a hit for me. I basically like it all the way thru, and find several of the tracks to be very good. This is probably my favorite Eldritch disc to date ... most of the others had there moments, but were never able to garner heavy rotation from me. The three bonus tracks on the special edition add to the quality .. good disc. Some of my favorite guitar solo's from this year can be found on this disc.
10 Vanishing Point – The Fourth Season - This is my first real exposure to Vanishing Point's music .. all in all I'm quite please with what I am hearing. I'm reminded some of Twilight Guardians while listening to this. The singers are similar, and the music is a cross between melodic and power metal. I actually think this is quite a bit better than the latest Twilight Guardians (which checked in at 25).
11 Pink Cream 69 - In10sity -- Excellent melodic hard rock/metal effort here. PC 69 will always have a bit of a hair metal vibe, but it's part of their charm as well. This is their best disc since Sonic Dynamite. It's got a real nice mixture of tunes, and is an enjoyable listen. I've always maintained that these guys would have been huge had they hit the States in the late 80's.
12 Nightingale – White Darkness – Another winner for Swano, and the boys. I wish it was a little heavier, but the songs have a little edge to them, and are very catchy. The 70's style keyboards always are a hit with me on these types of releases. We'd be talking top 10 if the material was a bit heavier, but all in all I'm pleased.
13 Poverty's No Crime – Save My Soul – New disc for PNC after a long layoff, and it's quite solid stuff. There's not a lot of real top upper echelon songs, but there are some really good tunes to be found on here. If you liked their previous stuff you'd probably like this, but the knock on these guys is that they are yet to release that one great disc, and that probably still holds true, as Save My Soul is good, but perhaps not great. Still, there is a lot to like here.
14 Novembers Doom - The Novella Reservoir -- Another winner for ND. I would rank it a slight bit lower than the brilliant Pale Haunt Departure, but this is a quality release, and is pretty strong from start to finish. It seems to me that there is a bit more harsh vocals this time out, and the songs are a bit speedier, but I would think that if someone liked the previous disc they would take to this one pretty well.
15 Machine Men - Circus Of Fools -- a lot of memorable tunes to be found on this one. It still reminds me of a cross between Bruce Dickinson solo/Edguy, but not quite to the level of their past discs. It seems they are beginning to mature into their own sound. They've put together a string of quality discs in their young career .. this one is no different.
16 Primordial – The Nameless Dead – My first exposure to this disc was from their myspace site which had the opening tune, Empire Falls, available for previewing. That is an excellent track, and is pretty much my favorite on the disc. It's a rather catchy tune, and has some hooks to it. The rest of the disc isn't up to that level, but still I think this is a good disc. It's grown on me with quite a bit of late.
17 Primal Fear – New Religion – This is a very solid effort for Primal Fear .. more diverse than their usual fare, and therefore more entertaining than their usual fare. These guys were great at Prog Power, and it really helped push this disc up a bit. I'm a little down on power metal this year, so ranking this high on my list is a positive.
18 Candlemass – King Of The Grey Islands – Real good stuff … probably the best I've heard from Candlemass. It seems a bit more peppy than normal, and the new singer, Robert Lowe (from Solitude Aeturnus) is a great fit. He's the best in the doom genre, so what a perfect addition for Candlemass. Cathy, heavy, and doomy … what's not to like?
19 Circus Maximus – Isolate – 2nd effort from this young band, and again they have put out a quality release. I rated their debut pretty highly, but this one comes in a bit lower. After initially growing on me it kind of hit the wall, and other material passed it by. It's kind of a hit an miss album, but there is some excellent stuff to be found here.
20 Helloween – Gambling With The Devil – I was just going to skip this one since I've never had that much interest in them, but I decided to give it a listen, and was somewhat surprised to find that it was pretty good. I figured they had long since passed the stage of creating good albums .. I guess I was wrong. There's a lot of good variety to be found here, and in general each song has some degree of catchiness. Thumbs up !!
21 Mystic Prophecy – Satanic Curses – Solid release from a band that has been pretty consistent. You know what you are going to get with MP, and if you can accept that fact you'll probably enjoy their material. It's basically catchy, ripping, power metal with some thrashy tendencies. If there are any negatives with this disc it's basically in regards to theme. The satanic thing is more than a little cliché, and there is some inherent cheesiness to be found in that. Power metal isn't my thing right now .. so that in turn hurt the ranking of this disc.
22 Nocturnal Rites - The 8th Sin -- Another winner for NR. They've become one of the better power metal bands out there, and have really become quite catchy of late .. they've hit their stride. They used to feel so generic to me, but the last few are quite strong, and seem to be a cut above the fray. As the year went on my spinning of power metal declined, and this was a disc that was affected by that.
23 DGM – Different Shapes – A hit and miss band for me overall, but this disc is a hit. The previous disc, Misplaced was definitely a miss for me, but it predecessor, Hidden Place was a big hit. This one seems pretty strong from start to finish. There is also some experimenting with some harsh vocals .. not sure yet if it works for me or not. This one could have been a bit higher, but it fell between the cracks a bit.
24 Astral Doors – New Revelation – It's another good disc for AD .. probably a little better overall than their last outing, Astralism. Astral Doors do what they do very well, but don't expect a lot of variety from disc to disc .. you'll be disappointed. If you like quality hard rocking metal with some old school prog tendencies, and a singer similar to Ronnie James Dio this is a band you should check out.
25 Twilight Guardians – Ghost Reborn – I've been anticipating this new one from TG, and it's solid, but maybe slightly disappointing. It's just not quite as aggressive as the last one, and is a very short album. The songs are okay for the most part, it's just that this disc seems like a bit of a letdown compared to Sintrade .. which I thought was excellent.
Feel free to post your thoughts .. agreements .. disagreements .. it's all good.
Britt
1 Amorphis – Silent Waters – Another great disc from Amorphis. Singer Tomi Joutsen makes his 2nd appearance with the band, and delivers once again. This guy has helped breathe new life into a band that seemed to be treading water while looking for direction. Amorphis has become one of my very favorite bands this past year or two. This is a great follow up to 2006's Eclipse, and for me it's a great mixture of a couple different genres as well. The diversity put this one ahead of the pack
2 Threshold - Dead Reckoning -- It's their heaviest to date, but still contains all those likable qualities expected from Threshold .. good lyrics, catchy tunes, and strong musicianship. This disc is more straight forward than their past efforts, and for me that's a positive. This was in my 1 spot for a good long while, but Amorphis nudged ahead over the last several weeks.
3 Devin Townsend - Ziltoid The Omniscient -- goofy, campy concept album based on an alien commander in search of great coffee .. sounds corny as hell, huh? Well, it's actually quite enjoyable. I've found myself spinning this a lot this year, and I quite like it. The drums are programmed, and could drive someone nuts, but given the storyline I think it's fitting. I first thought of Mars Attacks when I heard this one.
4 Kamelot - Ghost Opera -- I love this disc. I've always loved the mid tempo Kamelot tracks best of all, and this disc is full of them. I love the atmosphere on this disc .. it's clear to me that these guys are the top of the heap when it comes to symphonic melodic metal. There's lot of experimenting going on as well .. these guys are still evolving.
5 Pagan's Mind – God's Equation -- Nice changeup from PM. It's still them, but they have turned up the aggression meter a bit, and have added some new touches. Some won't like the vocal distortions that are prevalent on this disc, but for me it works in the context of the songs. There's still a space theme going on, but overall this new disc seems fresh. I thought the last disc was solid, but was a bit stagnant. This new one seems like a step forward. The cover of Bowie's Hallo Spaceboy is really well done.
6 King Diamond - Give Me Your Soul ... Please -- The King delivers again. I wasn't sure what to expect after the long layoff from studio output, but the time off didn't hinder the King in any way. He and his bandmates have delivered a high quality effort which should have a chance at ranking high in his overall catalog. The songs on this disc are very catchy and well performed .. that's come to be expected. The story is a little weak in spots, but decent. I miss the King's older vocal style … there's just not enough falsetto any more. The production is thin .. wish there was more punch to it. These weaknesses hurt the final score a bit, but I'd still give it an 8/10.
7 Symphony X – Paradise Lost – A good disc that I initially hard trouble getting into for some reason. As the year went on I warmed up to it. It's heavy, aggressive, and fairly catchy overall, and contains most of the elements that have made them a big favorite of mine over the years. I could use a little less Evil Russ, and a little more progessiveness, but all in all this is a very good disc.
8 Scariot - Momentum Shift -- Nevermorish type thrashy powermetal. The band has three new members since their last incarnation, but the end product is very strong. The new singer is good .. fits in perfectly. He reminds me a bit of Messiah Marcolin, and also might have a touch of Warrell Dane in his vox. The songs are heavy, and catchy, and memorable. This was an early 1 for me, but slipped a bit as the year went on.
9 Eldritch - Blackenday -- This one is a hit for me. I basically like it all the way thru, and find several of the tracks to be very good. This is probably my favorite Eldritch disc to date ... most of the others had there moments, but were never able to garner heavy rotation from me. The three bonus tracks on the special edition add to the quality .. good disc. Some of my favorite guitar solo's from this year can be found on this disc.
10 Vanishing Point – The Fourth Season - This is my first real exposure to Vanishing Point's music .. all in all I'm quite please with what I am hearing. I'm reminded some of Twilight Guardians while listening to this. The singers are similar, and the music is a cross between melodic and power metal. I actually think this is quite a bit better than the latest Twilight Guardians (which checked in at 25).
11 Pink Cream 69 - In10sity -- Excellent melodic hard rock/metal effort here. PC 69 will always have a bit of a hair metal vibe, but it's part of their charm as well. This is their best disc since Sonic Dynamite. It's got a real nice mixture of tunes, and is an enjoyable listen. I've always maintained that these guys would have been huge had they hit the States in the late 80's.
12 Nightingale – White Darkness – Another winner for Swano, and the boys. I wish it was a little heavier, but the songs have a little edge to them, and are very catchy. The 70's style keyboards always are a hit with me on these types of releases. We'd be talking top 10 if the material was a bit heavier, but all in all I'm pleased.
13 Poverty's No Crime – Save My Soul – New disc for PNC after a long layoff, and it's quite solid stuff. There's not a lot of real top upper echelon songs, but there are some really good tunes to be found on here. If you liked their previous stuff you'd probably like this, but the knock on these guys is that they are yet to release that one great disc, and that probably still holds true, as Save My Soul is good, but perhaps not great. Still, there is a lot to like here.
14 Novembers Doom - The Novella Reservoir -- Another winner for ND. I would rank it a slight bit lower than the brilliant Pale Haunt Departure, but this is a quality release, and is pretty strong from start to finish. It seems to me that there is a bit more harsh vocals this time out, and the songs are a bit speedier, but I would think that if someone liked the previous disc they would take to this one pretty well.
15 Machine Men - Circus Of Fools -- a lot of memorable tunes to be found on this one. It still reminds me of a cross between Bruce Dickinson solo/Edguy, but not quite to the level of their past discs. It seems they are beginning to mature into their own sound. They've put together a string of quality discs in their young career .. this one is no different.
16 Primordial – The Nameless Dead – My first exposure to this disc was from their myspace site which had the opening tune, Empire Falls, available for previewing. That is an excellent track, and is pretty much my favorite on the disc. It's a rather catchy tune, and has some hooks to it. The rest of the disc isn't up to that level, but still I think this is a good disc. It's grown on me with quite a bit of late.
17 Primal Fear – New Religion – This is a very solid effort for Primal Fear .. more diverse than their usual fare, and therefore more entertaining than their usual fare. These guys were great at Prog Power, and it really helped push this disc up a bit. I'm a little down on power metal this year, so ranking this high on my list is a positive.
18 Candlemass – King Of The Grey Islands – Real good stuff … probably the best I've heard from Candlemass. It seems a bit more peppy than normal, and the new singer, Robert Lowe (from Solitude Aeturnus) is a great fit. He's the best in the doom genre, so what a perfect addition for Candlemass. Cathy, heavy, and doomy … what's not to like?
19 Circus Maximus – Isolate – 2nd effort from this young band, and again they have put out a quality release. I rated their debut pretty highly, but this one comes in a bit lower. After initially growing on me it kind of hit the wall, and other material passed it by. It's kind of a hit an miss album, but there is some excellent stuff to be found here.
20 Helloween – Gambling With The Devil – I was just going to skip this one since I've never had that much interest in them, but I decided to give it a listen, and was somewhat surprised to find that it was pretty good. I figured they had long since passed the stage of creating good albums .. I guess I was wrong. There's a lot of good variety to be found here, and in general each song has some degree of catchiness. Thumbs up !!
21 Mystic Prophecy – Satanic Curses – Solid release from a band that has been pretty consistent. You know what you are going to get with MP, and if you can accept that fact you'll probably enjoy their material. It's basically catchy, ripping, power metal with some thrashy tendencies. If there are any negatives with this disc it's basically in regards to theme. The satanic thing is more than a little cliché, and there is some inherent cheesiness to be found in that. Power metal isn't my thing right now .. so that in turn hurt the ranking of this disc.
22 Nocturnal Rites - The 8th Sin -- Another winner for NR. They've become one of the better power metal bands out there, and have really become quite catchy of late .. they've hit their stride. They used to feel so generic to me, but the last few are quite strong, and seem to be a cut above the fray. As the year went on my spinning of power metal declined, and this was a disc that was affected by that.
23 DGM – Different Shapes – A hit and miss band for me overall, but this disc is a hit. The previous disc, Misplaced was definitely a miss for me, but it predecessor, Hidden Place was a big hit. This one seems pretty strong from start to finish. There is also some experimenting with some harsh vocals .. not sure yet if it works for me or not. This one could have been a bit higher, but it fell between the cracks a bit.
24 Astral Doors – New Revelation – It's another good disc for AD .. probably a little better overall than their last outing, Astralism. Astral Doors do what they do very well, but don't expect a lot of variety from disc to disc .. you'll be disappointed. If you like quality hard rocking metal with some old school prog tendencies, and a singer similar to Ronnie James Dio this is a band you should check out.
25 Twilight Guardians – Ghost Reborn – I've been anticipating this new one from TG, and it's solid, but maybe slightly disappointing. It's just not quite as aggressive as the last one, and is a very short album. The songs are okay for the most part, it's just that this disc seems like a bit of a letdown compared to Sintrade .. which I thought was excellent.
Feel free to post your thoughts .. agreements .. disagreements .. it's all good.
Britt
