SO ABOUT THOSE BEST ALBUMS OF 2015....

Yep. Took me a while. Lets get right down to it:

PRETTY MUCH THE BEST STUFF LAST YEAR

Ghost - Meliora

Ghost have done the same thing Daft Punk did with Random Acess Memories - created an album that is both homage, an evolution of their own sound and, ultimately, an exercise in pure dedication to sound. You’ll behard-pressedd to find a better produced metal/rock album in recent memory, and the songwriting is stellar - little to no filler, catchy but not shallow. What more to say?

Check out: Pinnacle to the Pit

Chvrches - Every Open Eye

I wasn't quite sure what was wrong with the previous Chvrches record, The Bones of What You Beleive, but listening to this one made that clear - for a synthpop album it wasn't that catchy; a fatal flaw for the genre. Every Open Eye remedies that, and in the process, creates an immersive, complete and above all addictive experience that will have you bobbing your head if you're subtle, and 80’s dance montage/jumping and singing to an invisible mic if you’re not. I dare you to find a bad song. I double dare you.

Check out: Clearest Blue

YEAH OK, BUT WHAT ABOUT SECOND BEST?

Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful

By now all that needs to be said of Nightwish has already been said - the band is on their third vocalist, they've changed from a power metal gamechanger (Operatic vocals!) to something far more cinematic and, disputedly, bloated, featuring pop vocals. Whatever the case, and whatever album they put out, they have an uncanny ability to grow on me even if I didn’t originally find the album very interesting. This is the case with Endless Forms Most Beautiful;  theme, the music, the orchestration - it all grew on me. While it's not quite the best album of the year, it's certainly the most replayed (for me).

Check out: Edema Ruh

Soilwork - The Ride Majestic

Soliwork keeps churning out good-to-great albums at a regular basis, yet somehow I always lose them in the fray - not this time. Could be because I decided they finally deserve credit but this time they really mean business! Soilwork came out with an absolute zinger of an album;they'vee honed their art to create both crushing metal passages and slick, catchy choruses. And the production? Just listen to the dynamics of the piano-blast beat section at the end of Enemies in Fidelity. Sublime.

Check out: Enemies in Fidelity

ANY OTHER HIGHLIGHTS?

KAMELOT came out with a new album - Haven - its hard to top the amazing comeback album that was Silverthorn, but here they’ve attempted to please both Silverthorn fans and also experiment with adding more heavy songs and different song structuring. Ok, the experiment failed, but it was worth the effort, and there is more than enough ‘flesh’ on this to be enjoyable. Plus, Fallen Star is their best opening track since Center of the Universe.

Check out: Fallen Star

MUSE came back into the game with DRONES - sure, I don’t think they will ever go back to the angst-riddenn, innovative and classic era of Origin of Symmetry, but this is a step in the right direction. Lots of filler and some awful, awful tracks are here too - but if we get a song like The Handler once in a while again, its worth it

Check out: The Handler.

BARONESS’s new album Purple is already littering the best-of lists - it sure is pretty great but,for some reason, I didn’t find it as compelling as my friends and colleagues. Still, it's a fusion of various Baroness sounds that is bound to please nigh every listener - I just don’t find myself coming back to it that often.

Check out: Shock me

NOW FOR THE DISSAPOINTMENTS

Boy, there sure were some!!! Trivium continued their painful descent into generic forgettable-ness in the guise of ‘moar singing and totally better songwriting lawl!!” with Silence in the Snow. Symphony X put out an album that is so forgettable it's one distinguishing feature is ‘Yay, Rusell Alan is doing less of his growly-singy and more of his clean singy!’. Speaking of forgettable - Children of Bodom. Need I say more? Only slightly less forgettable was the new Blind Guardian - I fear they will never again scale the heights of Nightfall in Middle Earth. Apocalyptica have a singer now, finally completing their transition from cello metal cover band and innovative auteurs to just another band; before when you play Apocalyptica people would go ‘wow, what is that?’, now they just go ‘wait, there are cellos in this band? Didn’t know’’- sad. The Tesseract follow-up to Altered State was surprisingly bland, even with the charismatic and personable vox of newly returned Dan Tompkins.

By far my biggest disappointment was the new HURTS record -Surrender. Like I remarked in my review of their previous record, they stood on a precipice between club-dance-pop and their early 80’s influence, depeche mode sound - and they needed to pick a side...and pick a side they did, unfortunately the wrong one. They’ve now devolved from the refreshing retro synth ladden pop of their debut record to an uninteresting, unoriginal and dreadfully lackluster pop band churning out dance tracks for Ukranian clubs.  

HOW BOUT SOME STANDOUT SINGLES?

Kay, so its not all about albums, some of the singles were...interesting. Hotline Bling because...well, do I even need to tell you why? Panic at The Disco came out with a cool video and a fun single that got lost in the cluttered mess that was the album. Finally, Marlyn Mansons new album is a snoozefest, but had a couple of noteworthy singles such as Third day of a seven day binge and Deep Six.

WAIT, WHAT ABOUT 2014?!

Oh yeah, about that - sorry. I never got to posting the list. I’ll just say the finest albums of the year were a brazen, bold and unapologetic power metal album and a prog metal underdog. There.

THE REST - other great albums of 2013

Some of these albums were great, but not good enough for the top 3. Some of them were just "ok" but good enough to re-listen sometimes. Some of them are guilty pleasures. Two of these albums have full reviews linked to them... Here goes nothing:

1. Hurts – Exile

A follow up to one of the most stellar debuts in recent pop memory, Hurts were always going to have a rough time. Though not as memorable as their previous outing, EXILE still manages to be a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stagnant music realm. Read the full review HERE.

Link me up: HURTS - Only You

2. HIM – Tears on Tape

HIM are back. While discussing how HIM is basically Billy Idol 2.0 meets Black Sabbath might be a topic for another time, it is a joy and pleasure to have these guys back kicking ass – though the new record is short and, at times, uninspired. Link to full review HERE.

Link me up:  HIM - w.l.s.t.d

3.  Ancient Vvisdom – Deathlike

Satanic, semi-acoustic rocknrol with a dark, almost goth twist? Their debut album was a un-burnished, undiscovered masterpiece and the sophomore one continues in the same vein. Not a lot of change, but perhaps it is for the best – the only thing hindering it is the singes sometimes feeble, uncontrolled vocals. On the other hand – maybe this is what they were gunning for.

Link me up: Ancient VVisdom - Deathlike

4. Stone Sour - Houseof Gold and Bones pt.2

 The older they get, the more conscise, razor sharp their sound gets. I was surprised at how more coherent the second part of this double album felt. And off course its produced immaculately well. R

Link me up: Stone Sour - Do me a favor

 
8. Arctic Monkeys – AM

This is the sound of a band maturing. Ear sex.

Link me up: Arctic Monkeys - Do I wanna know?

9. KING 810 - Midwest Murderers EP

A hardcore band recommended by Robb Flynn of MachineHead – it sounds like the mixture of hardcore with early era Slipknot, especially the visceral, anger ridden  and passionate vocals.

Link me up:  (note - this is not off the EP) KING810 - Fat around the heart

 

10. CHVRCHES

 This band exploded, and for good reason – its catchy, no-frills synth pop that you’d have to try really hard not to like. And you’d be wrong…

 Link me up: CHVRCHES - Recover

11. Falling In Reverse

 It’s a guilty pleasure – a post-emo band led by a charismatic, douchebag frontman. What is attractive about this album is that it is a frenzied, hit-and-miss mixture of genres, from pop rock, to rap-metal to Dragonforce-like speed metal, to emo-core. Not for everyone.

Link me up:  Falling in Reverse - Born to lead

 

12. Trivium

Hiring Disturbed's singer as a producer, losing their identity by relegating their trademark growl vocals to second base and diluting and "rockifyiong" the songs - Its obvious Trivium have faltered...but even with this flawed album  they continue to be great songwriters and an overall killer consistent band. I will be writing a more detailed article on this, and a few other albums from this list.

Link me up:  Trivium - No way to heal

 

13. Amaranthe – Nexus

 More of the same – for good or for bad. The good part is that some songs are ABBA catchy, with that recognizable vocal trio and pounding sound. The bad is that the rest of the album feels like rinse, repeat.

Link me up:  Amaranthe - Stardust

 

14.  Fleshgod Apocalypse - Labyrinth

 No one does epic like Fleshgod, at least when it comes to death metal. The first two tracks literally give me ghoosebumps and make me do the Gladiator ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED stop and hand-spread. The rest? Good, but not great – and just a tad chaotic and messy with songwriting.

Link me up:   Fleshgod Apocalypse - Minotaur

 

15. Avenged Sevenfold – Hail to the King

 The only reason this even made the list is because I’m such a fanboy. Sure, there are about 4 good songs on it, but it boils down to this – there is a difference between an homage (see Daft Punk) and a lame cover album with no covers on it, but what hurts most is the fact that Hail to the King has very few memorable songs – watch this space for more writing on what went wrong here.

Link me up:  Avenged Sevenfold - Shepherd of Fire

 

THE TOP 3 ALBUMS OF 2013

1.      BIFFY CLYRO - OPPOSITES

It’s a bit strange when one of the best albums of the year comes out at the beginning of the year- but as soon as I heard the songs on Opposites I knew very few records would be able to compete for the top spot. Biffy Clyro have already crafted and solidified their sound on their previous record, and while I did harbor fears that they might have become too mainstream, my fears were strewn away by this double album masterpiece. Catchy but edgy, prog rock dashes and pop peaks – don’t miss it.

 

The good:  A band at their creative peak.

The bad: Maybe too long for some.

 Link me up: Biffy Clyro - Biblical

2.    

DAFT PUNK - RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES

Yeah I went there. Yes, every other music critic picked this album for the top – and for good reason. Sure, the smash hit that spearheaded it got really old really fast (you must admit though, it did hold out quite long though) – but the album itself is a living example of how to make an homage to the sounds that created your own sound, yet still retain your own stamp on it. R.A.M is a labor of love, a heartfelt tribute to their influences, but above all – it is a masterwork clinic on production, mixing and songwriting. Feelgood album of the year? Try feelgood album of the decade.

 

The good: An homage done right, an apex of album quality.
The Bad:  If you’re expecting “stock” Daft Punk you will be disappointed.
Link me up: Daft Punk - RAM full album

3.      WITHERSCAPE - THE INHERITANCE

If you're into prog/death metal, you’re probably bemoaning the violent turn Opeth had towards melodic prog rock and away from death metal (or even metal in general).  Seemingly out of the blue, Dan Swano’s Witherscape burst on to the scene with a glorious example of how a genre can evolve without its formula changing too much. Its sublime progressive metal spiced up with death metal brutality, all the while wrapped in the soulful, bluesy vocal delivery of Mr.Swano. Think early Dream Theater, or even at times Symphony X, meets Opeth. If this last sentence  doesn’t get you going – I don’t know what will.

 

The good:  Fresh, new, yet familiar. Bang your head.

The bad: Whenever there are growl vocals, there are folks complaining. Can’t win them all.
Link me up: Witherscape - Dead for a day

HIM: Tears on Tape - A review

Any band that reaches the ‘20^th year of existence’ milestone has  usually had their share of struggles with carrying on, such as gathering the sufficient motivation and inspiration to continue in not only making music, but also persisting in a rapidly changing industry. When you add to that the debilitating health issues their drummer went through, it’s a miracle HIM have managed to put out their new record, Tears on Tape, at all. The album suffers from the bands, no doubt justified, need to get back into the game quickly – but it is far from a flop.

Whether or not you like HIM and their brand of pop-laced, faux-metal rock, they have built a credible fan base with their high level of quality, and an air of nonchalant swagger personified by their Billy Idol-esque frontman, Ville Vallo. To their detractors this record will no doubt represent just another blip in a discography of pop-rock records aimed and teen goths. True HIM connoisseurs, however, track the fluctuations in HIM’s style with meticulous precision – from the early, almost doom-metal days of Greatest Love songs Vol.666 and Razorblade Romance, to the pop excursions of Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights and Screamworks: Love in theory and practice. Even their throwback album, Venus Doom, intentionally heavier than its predecessors, still had that positive, major chord sparkle that graces all the newer HIM outings, along with more upbeat lyrics (albeit still filled with references to death, blood and graves).

While again pretending to, and at times succeeding, to be heavier than its predecessors, Tears on Tape still holds that ‘’happy” if not sappy tone that has characterized the last few HIM records – it is a trend that does not seem to be regressing, to the chagrin of some fans.

After the booming introduction of Lips Go Blue, a full-on aggressive HIM track reminiscent of some of the heavier tracks on Dark Light, the record slips into a groove and remains unchanged up until the very end, and the surprisingly down-tempo, doomy W.L.S.T.D. This is one of the records major drawbacks: the songs meld together, and while some excel (Love without tears) and others flop (the title track) it takes several listens for most of these songs to make an impression and for the listener to differentiate them.

Combine this with the fact that, out of the 13 tracks on Tears on Tape, 4 are instrumental filler tracks and 4 are something akin to filler songs – songs that sound like the band put minimal effort into creating them – and you get an album that feels more like a jam session, or a masterfully produced demo. This can be a good thing, as the album is extremely easy and smooth to listen too – it feels, as mentioned, as one long song with good and bad moments.

 HIM prove they still pack a punch though, with the afore mentioned All Lips go Blue being the highlight, followed by the keyboards laced Love without tears and the more rockin’ No Love and I will be the end of you. Finally, W.L.S.T.D is almost doom metal and would, without the poppy chorus, feel right at home at a Black Sabbath fan’s discography; as would many of those Sabbath-like breakdowns on this record.

Tears on Tape is a couple of really killer songs wrapped in 10 filler songs. It is a package that might disappoint some of the hardcore HIM fans – but that very group is already mindful of the fact that this album very nearly might have never existed at all. From that perspective, Tears on Tape is a 

pretty good deal.

THE BEST OF THE PAST - THE TOP ALBUMS OF 2012

Now that the flurry of end-of-year's lists has ceased...its time for mine! We start with the music one. Scroll down if you just wish to see the top 3 - asides the top 3 the rest are in no particular order.

THE ALBUM TITLES ARE LINKED TO FULL ALBUMS WHERE AVAILABLE. Each mini review also has links for the best songs on the album in it. Enjoy.


---

10. Jack White - BLUNDERBUSS

I thought the age of rock stars was gone. While this might be the case, Jack White might be the last of a dying breed. A rock star needs to be eccentric, a bit nutty, arrogant, and make killer music. This dude has got it all - the songs on his debut solo effort, Blunderbuss, are often catchy, consistently innovative and above all slick and cool. Some of the more experimental tracks such as Weep Themselves to Sleep  satisfy the purists, while there is even a little hit or two in the form of Sixteen Saltines and Freedom at 21 Lets hope for more original and above all, unique, artist like good ol' Jack in 2013.


9.  Ellie Goulding - HALCYON

These days pop is increasingly diluted by electronica and dubstep. So it is very heartening and pleasant to the ear when this kind of dilution works well. I've listened to Ellie before - and her hit single Lights caught me as one of the most strikingly good pop songs in recent times. Good to know she is keeping the tradition with this album, as almost every track  is a must hear. Suggested songs include Figure 8, My Blood, Hanging On, Explosions and Need your love.



8.  Holy Knights - BETWEEN DAYLIGHT AND PAIN

Old school, vintage 98' power metal in 2012? I'd have thought it impossble. Though there were albums on my full top 20 list that I listened to a bit more, this one gets on the list just because of the sheer boldness of it. Its no bullshit, no compromise power metal - it does not care if its stock, it does not care if its kitsch - it just ripps. Check out Beyond the Mist and Glass Room for proof.




7. The Killers - BATTLEBORN

The Killers are a consistently good band, but I must admit their previous outing wasn't too interesting. With this album they finally complete the transformation from brit-pop band into the Bruce Springsteen band - and that is, overall, a good thing.  Songs like Deadlines and Commitments and The Way it Was have so much feel and weight behind them, you have wonder where Flowers draws his inspiration from, considering he is younger than 40. Listen to Flesh and bone and Here With Me as well.


6. Stone Sour - HOUSE OF GOLD AND BONES PT 1

Much lauded as an epic concept album, its good to know the music actually held up to expectation. Though the album never fully takes off after 3 brilliant opening tracks (Gone Sovereign/Absolute Zero and A Rumor of Skin) it closes perfectly with The Last of the Real,  giving us much to look forward too in part 2, coming out in 2013.




5. Keane - STRANGELAND

A unmistakable presence in my summer playlists, Keane are noteworthy because they tend to make happy, inspiring pop with depressing, gloomy lyrics - a contrast I qute enjoy. After a very dodgy forray into mainstream pop, they return with their signature sound - soaring piano, cherubic voice and moody lyrics. The whole album is good. Songs like You are Young and Sovereign Light Cafe are classics, and On the Road. Silenced by the Night and In your own time  are pretty damn good to. Insanely catchy stuff.




4. Revocation -TERATOGENESIS

After they ripped the collective face off the metal scene with their thrashy-deathy-proggy masterpiece A Chaos of Forms, Revocation hit us with a free EP and, surprise surprise, it is superb. While probably too brutal for some, it again walks the thin line between death, thrash and even prog and black metal in a wonderful fusion of sheer aggression and technicality. Just when you think the melodies are gone though, they strike back in dashing solo sections.  Wouldn't mind even more of the prog elements. These guys are so good, a FREE ep they make (get it HERE) makes the top 10. Revocation are, for me, the future of metal. Songs to hear: Bound by Desire, Teratogenesis, Spurn the Outstreched Hand.



 ---

AND NOW.....FOR THE TOP 3! CUE DRAMATIC MUSIC!

 ---

1. WINTERSUN - Time 1
(Listen to the full album HERE)

An album that took 8 years to make. An album with over 200 channels (ie separate instrument elements recorded). A long awaited masterpiece, too complex to be one full album, so split into two.

Sounds impossible, pretentious, bloated? Sure - but it's also true. Enter the best album (well, 3 songs) of 2012 -  Time 1.

The music is epic, complex, sweeping. Power metal with black metal vocals is an oversimplification for the orchestral, even progressive insanity that surges through your ears and takes hold. Every song has sections that make my hair stand on end in awe (if not the whole song, that is). No song is bad - it is all uncompromisingly glorious.

So why is it not the indisputable best album of the year? Because its not really a full album - its 3 songs. If Time 2 is anything like Time 1, merged together they will make one of the best metal albums of all time.



2. KAMELOT - Silverthorn
(NOTE: Almost NO songs could be found online. Sorry. Download it...)

On paper, everything was promising with Silverthorn. After the gut-wrenching departure of singer Roy Khan, Kamelot hired awesome prog-pop vocal Tommy Karevik to replace him. They promised a return to a more old school Karma sound. Then the album hit the shelves and - I was dissapointed.

Tommy was forced to (mostly) imitate Roy Khan's singing instead of utilizing his own impressive pipes. The Karma sound was only evidenced in bits and pieces. The single, Sacrimony, wasnt very catchy or unique. So how did it become one of the top 3 albums of the year?

This album grew on me with great speed, once again proving my hypothesis that an album must be listened to top-to-botom several times before laying any kind of judgment. In time I came to realize the album has no bad songs, and that it in effect presents the new Kamelot in the best possible light. The verdict - Silverthorn is one of the best Kamelot album to date.

 So how come this switch? Yes, Tommy does emulate Khan far too much - but this is really the only true fault of the album, and as such, not such a big deal - I'm pretty sure on the next album we will hear far more of Tommy's own bombastic voice. The Karma sound? It's there - but so is almost  every other part of the Kamelot sound spectrum. There is power metal in Solitaire and Torn. There is the melodic vibe of Ghost Opera on My Confession and Sacrimony. There Black Halo-like songs through and through such as Falling like the Farenheit, Veritas and the ballad Song for Jolee. There is even an Epica-B-side-sounding song in Silverthorn. Finally, there is evolution (and some Poetry for the Poison riffing) in one of the best songs on the album - Ashes to Ashes.

What we get in the end is a masterfully produced, executed and composed collage of various Kamelot sounds, an album that is so easy to listen to and acessible it found itself replayed a milion times on my MP3 player after being out for a month or two. Here is to Kamelot for not only surviving the singer change, but thriving.



3. BRENDON SMALL - Galaktikon
(Listen to the full album HERE)

Out of all the Albums of The Year (the top 3) this one is most deserved, for one reason - It came out in the beginning of 2012 and is STILL being replayed on my MP3 and computer playlist. It is so catchy, and has such staying power, that it probably is the best album of the year in my book - at least as far as replayability. So what is it?

Brendon Small is the author and mastermind between Dethklok - originally a joke band made for his TV series Metalokalipse that is fast becoming a serious, noteworthy metal band. While the story of how Dethklok would fare far better (in my opinion) with melodic vocals is a story for another ocassion - but here is the proof: Galaktikon.

Galaktikon is like the rabid lovechild of Queen, Anthrax, Foo Fighters and Joe Satriani. Its singing is melodic, its riffs are heavy, its solos are...well, galactic! Just listen to Prophecy of the Lazer Witch or Beastblade or check out the Queen laced power of You cant run away.

Though it is a "silly" concept record about a hero's intergalactic divorce and subsequent quest to save his X from his arch enemy, the songs and lyrics bear more weight than many "serious" concept albums - the songs are so well crafted that the comic-book plot adds value, and the lyrics are well written even considering the zany subject matter.

There are no filler tracks here - every song could be a single, another advantage. By the time you are capped off with  the scorching instrumental Dangertits  and the thrasher On my Way you are left regreting that Brendons side project will never be as popular as his main project, Dethklock - though it is far more deserved of your attention.


-----
HONORABLE MENTIONS:

- MUSE, Second Law - MUSE are no longer the MUSE we know and love, but still kick ass.

- OSI, Fire Make thunder - You cant go wrong with this Kevin Moore creativity vessel, even though it gets a tad boring at times.

- STAMINA,  Nocebo - Explosive, Nordic, crazy metal. What more do you need?

- KREATOR  Phantom Antichrist - The fathers of German thrash metal do it again.
 
- BLAQK AUDIO,  Bright Black Heaven - A guilty pleasure of mine - eurodance mixed with hints of Depeche Mode. 4 good songs wasnt enough for the top, though.

- DETHKLOK, Dethklok 3 - Brendon Small's semi-serious metal outing. Kicks amazing ass, even though I truly wish it had melodic vocals instead of those cookie monster death growls.

- DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, Epicloud - Its Epic, and it is Loud, but I get this feeling of rince-repeat from Devins albums lately. Has 2,3 killer tracks though.

- SERJ TANKIAN, Harakiri - Completely overlooked but, at times, quite good.

- SONATA ARCTICA, Stones Grow her Name - ''Selling out" from their power metal roots didnt do Sonata Artica that good...but the few tracks it did, it was damn good.