I just wanna say, as a metalhead through and through, this has been a good year for metal. Despite the losses in the metal family (likw Wurzel from Motorhead, R.I.P.), and the occasional horrible release (which i'll get to at the end), there have been some pretty sweet metal releases to date. Here are a few i'd like to outline (in no real order, but probably alphabetically):
Abysmal Dawn - Leveling the Plane of Existence: This death metal outfit has written some pretty brutal stuff in the past, but this album puts most other death metal bands to shame. If you're a fan of the genre, you can't afford to overlook this one.
Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising: Making Norse mythology sound cooler than ever is the Scandinavian group Amon Amarth, and their new album has received high marks in several metal communities.
August Burns Red - Leveler: The hype is real with this band, and I say that because i've listened to swarms of metalcore bands that think they're the bomb. ABR does not disappoint with Leveler, writing some of the rawest tunes you'll ever hear from the genre. Astounding all around,
The Black Dahlia Murder - Ritual: I have always loved the riffs that this band comes up with. This album pretty much picks up where Deflorate left off, and is everything that is good about TBDM.
Born of Osiris - The Discovery: While I think there are plenty of better prog metal bands, Born of Osiris writes some interesting stuff, throwing a lot of electronic influence in as well.
Between the Buried and Me - Parallax; Hypersleep Dialogues: This one doesn't need much explanation. Everything BTBAM writes is pure gold. Imaginative in every way. Just wish it was more than 3 tracks long...
Decapitated - Carnival is Forever: Yet another death metal release that really shows how it's supposed to be done! While i'm not very familiar with Decapitated, I liked what I heard off of this album. Strongly recommend.
The Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction: Everyone states that Devin Townsend is a mad genius. After listening to this release a couple times, I can agree. Mad, but wonderful at composing. Excellent symphonic arrangements for metal on this album.
The Human Abstract - Digital Veil: Really similar to BTBAM as far as their strictly metal progressions are concerned. They don't wander around with instrumentation a lot, but Digital Veil is definitely for fans of BTBAM's Alaska. Recommend for prog metal lovers.
In Flames - The Sounds of a Playground Fading: I feel like this album has been promoted to death, but there are definitely some solid tracks on this album. Not a HUGE fan, but I can appreciate the music on this release.
My Dying Bride - Evinta: I have always loved this band for capturing the true essence of doom metal. If you're a doom metal fan, you already know this is going to be good. Pick up a copy somewhere and sink in!
Septic Flesh - The Great Mass: This is my album of the year to date. Incredible, breathtaking orchestral arrangements. A whole orchestra from Greece helped to record this monster of an album, and Septic Flesh have officially become my symphonic metal heroes.
Suicide Silence - The Black Crown: I was surprised by how much I liked this release, considering how crappy the band is. Really dirty language-wise, so I don't recommend, but it's on the list nonetheless.
Within the Ruins - Omen: While there are only 2 originals and 2 covers on this EP, the originals are amazing. Looking forward to more from these guys!
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Albums I liked, but I don't find really striking -
All Shall Perish - This is Where It Ends
Amorphis - The Beginning of Times
Architects - The Here and Now
Arsonists Get all the Girls - Motherland
Becoming the Archetype - Celestial Completion
Bermuda - Isolationist
Catalepsy - Bleed
Children of Bodom - Reckless Relentless Forever
Deadlock - Bizzaro World
Darkest Hour - The Human Romance
Death - The Sound of Perseverance
The Famine - Architects of Guilt
Illdisposed - There is a Light, But It's Not For Me
Lazarus A.D. - Black Rivers
Obscura - Omnivium
Fit For An Autopsy - The Process of Human Extermination
Hammerfall - Infected
Hate Eternal - Phoenix Amongst the Ashes
Job For a Cowboy - Gloom
Memphis May Fire - The Hollow
Motorhead - The World Is Yours
Origin - Entity
Sepultura - Kairos
Sleeping Giant - Kingdom Days in an Evil Age
Straight Line Stitch - The Fight of Our Lives
Unearth - Darkness in the Light
Winds of Plague - Against the World
Vanna - And They Came Baring Bones
HORRIBLE MENTIONS: These are the albums that either stunk, were disappointments, or both. If I offend any of you, I really don't care. My opinion is mine alone, and doesn't represent the mouth of God on the subject.
As Blood Runs Black - Instinct: The biggest disappointment in the history of deathcore. What a horrible release, through and through. I couldn't even listen to it all, it was just bland metalcore at best.
The Crimson Armada - Conviction: While Guardians was an awesome melodeath release, this was not. It's hard to classify this album, it's several different genres of crap. Crapcore, melodic crap metal, hardcore crap, this album was just rubbish.
Death Ray Vision - Get Lost of Get Dead: I would think with a supergroup like this some good tunes were bound to come out, but alas, mediocre thrash is all we're stuck with.
Emmure - Speaker of the Dead: Well, it's Emmure. I'm pretty sure that explains why it's on this list.
Here Comes the Kraken - Hate, Greed, and Death: While this is much better produced than their debut, it's a bunch of generic deathcore that no one wants to hear, really.
Morbid Angel - Illud Divinum Insanus: RARELY have I seen the death metal community this enraged about a release. I have to side with them, this album was a big disappointment. Don't bring this one up in conversation around certain crowds.
Legend - The Pale Horse: As a Rise Records band, I hesitate to call these guys a metal band, but they certainly sound like they want to rock the 7 strings and push prog metal into the mainstream. These guys embarass the prog metal community by assuming that a couple poly-rhythmic beats make them the next Meshuggah.
Otep - Atavist: I always like Otep and the creepy atmosphere they can quickly create. But Atavist was horrible. Half the album is Shamaya recounting some horrible cheesy horror flick throughout. Boring and tasteless.
Well, that's it! There are TONS of releases i'm looking forward to, but to list them here would take too long, as I can see i've already taken too much time to say something simple: Metal RULES, and will continue to rule. Rock on!
