Here it is! The long-awaited continuation to this.
Overkill - Ironbound
Whenever older bands arrive with a killer album, reviewers always say the band "has returned to show the kids how it's done". Well in this case, Overkill has returned to rip the kids' heads off their shoulders and crap down their necks. Those kids left alive get a lesson in exactly how it's done: mix one part each of talent, technical ability, craft, production and professionalism, chill and serve. Not just one of my favorite thrash albums of the year, but perhaps my favorite Overkill album since Under the Influence.
Ihsahn - After
What's so impressive about this album, besides the fact that it moves metal into new and interesting directions, is the total commitment this band demonstrates in crafting tracks that all contribute to its singular, brilliant vision. Also, After features the most metal saxophone you'll ever hear outside of an old Mr. Bungle album, but that's just icing on this deliriously dark treat.
Nachtmystium - Addicts: Black Meddle Part II
It's no surprise that a metal album about addiction is dark. But how about danceable? Yes, there's a full-fledged early '90s industrial-inspired dance track in the middle of this album and that's is just one of the many influences and surprises you'll hear in this atmospheric set. There's also a smattering of black metal, speed, thrash, and just plain old heavy metal in here, which mesh to form an arresting sound that marks a step forward for heavy music in general. Look for my full review soon!
Witchery - Witchkrieg
Another album I'm surprised to not see on other Top Ten lists. Is there some kind of blacklist I'm not privy to? Or perhaps the fifth album from this Swedish supergroup kicks so much ass that weaker listeners just drop dead and can lend it neither praise nor damnation from the grave. This is just a nasty little piece of a record, which moves mercilessly from one brutal track to the next, not leaving a lot of time for reflection.
Orphaned Land - The Neverending Way of ORwarriOR
This is not an easy album to get into. I'm still not sure whether the challenge comes from my own impatience or my misunderstanding of the band's intention, but either way it did not sit comfortably with me. I listened to it in fits and starts when I first got it, and even let it sit unappreciated for about a month, but once I just let go, it all made sense and found regular rotation in my list. This lengthy concept album (expertly produced by the Steven Wilson) is a sublime blend of gorgeous middle-eastern tinged melodies, progressive ideas and harsher passages that rewards repeated listens. There is no overstating the kind of talent and commitment it takes to create something like this.
What did you like in 2010? What are you looking forward to in 2011? Personally, I'm waiting for a progressive band to go completely black metal, reversing the trend we've seen these last few years.
Showing posts with label nachtmystium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nachtmystium. Show all posts
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Shred Your Ego's Most-Played Metal Albums of 2010 Part One
"Dio has rocked for a long, long time
Now it's time for him to pass the torch
He has songs of wildebeasts and angels
He has soared on the wings of a demon."
Thus sang Jack Black on "Dio" from Tenacious D's debut album, and while the words still bring a smile to my face, Ronnie James Dio's death earlier this year makes them bittersweet. Yes, 2010 had the long shadow of Dio's passing over it, but it also brought honor to his kingdom by providing an incredibly diverse crop of ass-kicking metal.
Here in no particular order are the first five selections for the year. And please keep in mind that I call this list "Most-Played Metal Albums of 2010", as opposed to the "Top 10 of 2010", which would indicate I had somehow managed to listened to every single album released this year and formed an opinion about each and every one, an impossibility for a lone metal fan with a limited budget and time. So it comes down to this:
I listened to a lot of metal albums in 2010. Some I didn't care for, some I dug. This is the result.
Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier
From the moment the very un-Maiden like atmospheric intro "Satellite 15" segues into the title track, this album gets into a massive groove and never strays. Gone are the maddening repetitious choruses that have plagued every release since Brave New World, replaced with tight song structures that incorporate the band's more epic, progressive tendencies seamlessly into their old-school gallop. The album is filled with instant classics, and "Coming Home" is one of the best Maiden songs ever put on record. The band sounds reinvigorated, and Bruce sounds absolutely phenomenal, adding up to my favorite post-Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album thus far (sorry Brave New World).
Iron Thrones - The Wretched Sun
What are you smoking, labels? Somebody step up and sign these guys and put them on tour now, because they could be huge. This Minnesota troupe play a blend of melodic black...er...progressive doom...er... alright, I'm just going to call it "brutal progressive". Whatever it is, it's terribly beautiful in that awful, swirling vortex end-of-the-world way music like this can be. And heavy as hell. And awesome.
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
A late-year arrival (only available in the states via import or download until early 2011), this gem quickly shot to the top of my playlist for days on end. Like the great commercial crossover record Mercyful Fate never recorded, or the doom album Blue Öyster Cult never made, Opus Eponymous is a unique mixture of pop hooks and doom riffs that defies categorization and distills everything that's great about occult metal into 35 short minutes. Read my full review.
Accept - Blood of the Nations
Yeah. You're all like, "Balls to the Wall!" and remembering a short dude wearing fatigues and having a laugh then this album comes from out of nowhere like a set of brass knuckles to the bridge of your nose. If this album had released in '88, it would be hailed today as a classic. Of course, it wouldn't have sounded like this in '88 without today's recording techniques and the crisp, full-bodied production from the talented Andy Sneap. "Teutonic Terror" is the immediate standout, a riff-tastic, fist-pumping throwback, but I submit to you, sir or madam, that if you can get your hands on it, the bonus track "Time Machine" is where the real money is.
And the singer, Mark Tornillo (formerly of T.T. Quick), man. This dude's voice IS metal, period. Listen to it. The grit, the power, the range. If I had this guy's singing voice, I'd use it ALL THE TIME.
Mose Giganticus - Gift Horse
Am I crazy or did this album not come out this year? I ask only due to its conspicuous absence from other Top Ten lists I've been reading, because in my opinion this flat-out rocks. Mose Giganticus is actually one man, multi-instrumentalist Matt Garfield and assorted hired hands, who deliver a sound like nothing I've ever heard. It's a mid-tempo, thick soup of stoner, grunge and electronic, with heavy use of the vocoder and synthesizer, emphasis on the heavy, because this album has a huge sound. Album-closer "The Seventh Seal" goes out on a riff so huge and brain-pleasing I could ride its thundering wave forever.
Stay tuned for Part Two.
Edit! Here it is!
Now it's time for him to pass the torch
He has songs of wildebeasts and angels
He has soared on the wings of a demon."
Thus sang Jack Black on "Dio" from Tenacious D's debut album, and while the words still bring a smile to my face, Ronnie James Dio's death earlier this year makes them bittersweet. Yes, 2010 had the long shadow of Dio's passing over it, but it also brought honor to his kingdom by providing an incredibly diverse crop of ass-kicking metal.
Here in no particular order are the first five selections for the year. And please keep in mind that I call this list "Most-Played Metal Albums of 2010", as opposed to the "Top 10 of 2010", which would indicate I had somehow managed to listened to every single album released this year and formed an opinion about each and every one, an impossibility for a lone metal fan with a limited budget and time. So it comes down to this:
I listened to a lot of metal albums in 2010. Some I didn't care for, some I dug. This is the result.
Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier
From the moment the very un-Maiden like atmospheric intro "Satellite 15" segues into the title track, this album gets into a massive groove and never strays. Gone are the maddening repetitious choruses that have plagued every release since Brave New World, replaced with tight song structures that incorporate the band's more epic, progressive tendencies seamlessly into their old-school gallop. The album is filled with instant classics, and "Coming Home" is one of the best Maiden songs ever put on record. The band sounds reinvigorated, and Bruce sounds absolutely phenomenal, adding up to my favorite post-Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album thus far (sorry Brave New World).
Iron Thrones - The Wretched Sun
What are you smoking, labels? Somebody step up and sign these guys and put them on tour now, because they could be huge. This Minnesota troupe play a blend of melodic black...er...progressive doom...er... alright, I'm just going to call it "brutal progressive". Whatever it is, it's terribly beautiful in that awful, swirling vortex end-of-the-world way music like this can be. And heavy as hell. And awesome.
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
A late-year arrival (only available in the states via import or download until early 2011), this gem quickly shot to the top of my playlist for days on end. Like the great commercial crossover record Mercyful Fate never recorded, or the doom album Blue Öyster Cult never made, Opus Eponymous is a unique mixture of pop hooks and doom riffs that defies categorization and distills everything that's great about occult metal into 35 short minutes. Read my full review.
Accept - Blood of the Nations
Yeah. You're all like, "Balls to the Wall!" and remembering a short dude wearing fatigues and having a laugh then this album comes from out of nowhere like a set of brass knuckles to the bridge of your nose. If this album had released in '88, it would be hailed today as a classic. Of course, it wouldn't have sounded like this in '88 without today's recording techniques and the crisp, full-bodied production from the talented Andy Sneap. "Teutonic Terror" is the immediate standout, a riff-tastic, fist-pumping throwback, but I submit to you, sir or madam, that if you can get your hands on it, the bonus track "Time Machine" is where the real money is.
And the singer, Mark Tornillo (formerly of T.T. Quick), man. This dude's voice IS metal, period. Listen to it. The grit, the power, the range. If I had this guy's singing voice, I'd use it ALL THE TIME.
Mose Giganticus - Gift Horse
Am I crazy or did this album not come out this year? I ask only due to its conspicuous absence from other Top Ten lists I've been reading, because in my opinion this flat-out rocks. Mose Giganticus is actually one man, multi-instrumentalist Matt Garfield and assorted hired hands, who deliver a sound like nothing I've ever heard. It's a mid-tempo, thick soup of stoner, grunge and electronic, with heavy use of the vocoder and synthesizer, emphasis on the heavy, because this album has a huge sound. Album-closer "The Seventh Seal" goes out on a riff so huge and brain-pleasing I could ride its thundering wave forever.
Stay tuned for Part Two.
Edit! Here it is!
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