Top Albums of Q3/2015

Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
The long wait since 2010's The Final Frontier is finally over and the world's biggest metal band is back in triumphant form. Iron Maiden's sixteenth studio album and first studio double album is an audacious project. While not perfect, The Book of Souls is full of excitement, new ideas and classic Maiden elements. Their longest album to date, with a total length of 92 minutes, flies by under soaring vocals, amazing guitar work and vigorous galloping bass lines.

Bruce's "If Eternity Should Fail" opens the double disc with keyboards and vocals a la Rainbow with a similar flavor we saw in Final Frontier. Overall a great mid-tempo track that reminds me of a Dio song. It features a memorable chorus and fantastic solos. Then the single "Speed of Light"  from the duo Smith/Dickinson follows and it's a very direct song with great guitar riffs. It has a live feel to it and reminds me of the Fear/No Prayer era. Sightly compromised by over repetition of the chorus at the end. First Steve's credit, in cooperation with Adrian, comes with "The Great Unknown". A fantastic song that builds up slowly to a powerful melody and a classic Maiden bridge and chorus follow. Next is "The Red and the Black", the only track solely credited to Harris. An instant classic, it opens with a bass solo ("Blood on the World's Hands" style) and then a galloping bass a la "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" sets the tone for this 13 min track. The verses are great, always over cool guitar riffs. And the guitar solos are looong but so awesome, think of "Phantom of the Opera". It will be a live favorite! "When the River Runs Deep" is cool up tempo direct song Piece of Mind style. Then the title track closes CD1 and it is a magnificent classic Maiden long track. An acoustic intro similar to "The Talisman" gives way to an "ancient" riff sort of Rainbow's "Gates of Babylon". The song structure is classic Maiden: Full of powerful melodies and a galloping bass. Despite being a Gers/Harris song, it does sound a lot like something out of The Chemical Wedding. 

The most likely hit single "Death or Glory" is another Smith/Dickinson track that opens CD2. It's also a classic Maiden short song with memorable chorus, melodic verses, bridges and great riffs. "Shadows of the Valley" is another Gers/Harris song, but interestingly the intro riff is just like Smith's "Wasted Years". But the similarities stop there and the track develops beautifully into a typical Maiden modern song. Smith/Harris's "Tears of a Clown" is based on comedian Robin Williams' depression and suicide in 2014. It sounds fresh and different. "The Man of Sorrows" drops the ball and doesn't add much to the album, the only filler. The release's final song, "Empire of the Clouds" is now the band's longest song at 18 minutes in duration. The track written by Dickinson features himself on piano for the first time and is based on the 1930 R101 airship crash. This is really a Bruce song and could be on his latest solo album. But it still is a great way to close an album and do something different. A masterpiece in itself, but that could certainly a bit shorter.

Now "low expectations is the key to happiness" some would say. But when it comes to Maiden that is very difficult, we always expect something. It took about ten full listens through to get rid of my own expectations and appreciate The Book of Souls for what it is: A 2015 Maiden masterpiece, album of the year. But, I do not think it's better than the 80's albums with Bruce (as some are saying) and that's because in relation to their own discography, I have 3 remarks: 1. Many songs could be shorter and feel overextended (double album syndrome?) 2. Repetition: a lot of ideas seem to be recycled from previous albums. 3. A few songs sound more like Bruce's solo album than Maiden's (not exactly an issue since his albums are amazing too). With this caveat out of the way, the album is still fantastic, it's Maiden.

Symphony X - Underworld
I followed those guys since the early days. If you don't know them yet, first where have you been? So think of mixing Rush, Metallica and Malmsteen and you have an idea.
Overall the musicianship of all members is suburb. The guitar riffs and solos from Michael Romeo are just mesmerizing, And Russel Allen's vocal is as powerful as always but even more versatile, reaching high and low notes as I have never heard. With just above 1hr of music, this masterpiece flows very nicely and the time flies by.
The first album since 2011's Iconoclast, Underworld is a fantastic journey through Symphony X's sound over the years (I'd have suggested a self-titled album). The opener Overture is the only moment in which the early symphonic element is present and it does a great job opening the record. Tracks like Nevermore, Underworld and Kiss of Fire (their heaviest track yet) are based on very heavy riffs and limited keyboards - very much like the last two albums. Without You and Swan Song are the usual mid-tempo songs, but still very good, specially the former. Legend and Charon could've been in V or Twilight in Olympus albums. The longest track To Hell and Back is a reference to the The Divine Wings of Tragedy years. Each song has its own character but one flows into the other perfectly therefore creating a magical experience.

Between The Buried And Me - Coma Ecliptic
I became a fan of BTBAM in 2012 while getting ready for the release of The Parallax II: Future Sequence. I was sold when I listen "White Walls" from the magnificent Colors album from 2007 and started to dig their whole discography. Now after 3 years they are back with the concept album Coma Ecliptic. While the elements from previous records are the same, the emphasis is different. Melody and clean vocals gained more focus while the death metal growling is less prominent. The influences of Queen and Pink Floyd are more accentuated., e.g. "Dim Ignition" reminding of "On the Run". Also modern progressive influence from Dream Theater is seen particularly in "Turn on the Darkness". But that it's not to say that heaviness isn't there, but it's part of a very dynamic album that uses several elements from acoustic guitars, keyboards, clean singing, death metal passages and tons of heavy riffs. It's all there in a great modern musical journey, a masterpiece of progressive metal.


Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud

Full disclosure: I've seen Amorphis live and listened to some old stuff, but I had never been into them. While reading reviews of Under the Red Cloud, I got very curious. It's indeed a very unique band with a distinguished sound. I didn't get it at first but something kept me going back to it, possibly songs like "Bad Blood". But before I knew it, I was in love with the whole album! Tomi Joutsen voice makes the difference. While he's clean vocal is beautiful, his harsh screams are very deep, similar to a Amon Amarth's  Johan Hegg. It's an outstanding contrast. Musically, Under the Red Cloud displays several facets of the band: Death, Gothic and Folk Metal all mix and intertwine in an elegant and convincing way while maintaining a consistent feel. The guitar work is also fantastic with some great and unique riffs, and even better it works in perfect harmony with the keyboards. In sum, this is a fantastic record and I expect to see it topping many year-end lists.

Slayer - Repentless

A lot has been said about the new Slayer album. The eleventh studio album was released on September 11 by Nuclear Blast and is the first Slayer album to feature drummer Paul Bostaph since 2001's God Hates Us All. Repentless is also Slayer's first album following the death of Jeff Hanneman in 2013, and the band's first new release since World Painted Blood (2009). If that wasn't enough, it was also talked about the change from Rick Rubin to Terry Date as producer.
That's a lot to take in! It's kind of miracle that the band is still holding it together. The album went straight to top 4 in the US and very high chart positions across Europe. As far as reviews goes, it looks like it's kind of love or hate it. I put it all aside, I bought my vinyl put it on and just enjoyed it. It's pure Slayer. It's fast and fierceless. It features great solos, riffs and awesome performance from both Tom and Paul. It's no Reign in Blood but nothing is, that's one of the most perfect records ever made. We certainly miss Jeff but it's not like the last two albums were masterpieces either. I applaud those guys, specially Kerry King for working so hard to deliver a solid record. I hope they are in the right path and next can be even better, specially if Gary participates fully. In the end despite all this Mexican novel what matters is that I keep coming back to it and enjoying ever spin of it.

Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction
Many extreme metal albums albeit good can suffer from lack of variation. The Anthropocene Extinction doesn't have this problem and hence the key reason why is so damn good. This album is an epic take of Death Metal/Grindcore full of brutality while also melodic at times. Musically, it ticks like a clock with great musicianship. The vocals are fantastic: Going from very low and slow death growls to high pitch black metal screens with everything in between. It's hard to believe that this is the work of just one singer, Travis Ryan. My favorite song is the opener and single "Manufactured Extinct", a show opener, that contains all the elements that will surface the rest of the record. But don't get me wrong, all the other songs are also great and in no moment Cattle drops the ball. There are two moments to catch your breath, the instrumental and the slow transitional "Ave Exitium". A serious candidate for album of the year, if not overall, certainly in extreme music.

Kataklysm - Of Ghosts And Gods
Starting an album with a classic movie quote is controversial, even more from a last year's movie! But when you listen to it followed by the crushing riff, it does work well - I mean it's Batman's voice.
Joke aside, the opening track "Breaching The Asylum" sets the tone for the first 4 tracks which are all great. Pure traditional melodic death metal, if you wouldn't know those guys come from Canada, you would think they are Swedish. The middle part lost a little its power and it can get repetitive, but then "Hate Spirit" come sin and brings an element of Black Metal that break the pattern. The album closes with "The World Is A Dying Insect", a more progressive attempt that works well as a closer. Overall nothing new here, but the songs are very well written and the riffs heavy and catchy. For fans of melodic death metal, Swedish style, like myself, this album will go very well.

Ghost - Meliora

Third time's a charm! After being impressed with their debut and disappointed with the sophomore snooze fest, Ghost delivered an album that works for me. But it took a few times of careful listen for it to grow on me. I was initially disappointed because I expected all songs to be as good as the first two I listened: "From The Pinnacle To The Pit" and "Cirice". Those are my absolute favorites, they are catchy, heavy, full of great riffs. The album opens with the good "Spirit" - what a great intro! The choral with bells and then the riff and the pounding drums: let the mess begin! Then my two favorties follow. The other songs are all good with another highlight for "Mummy Dust" and "Absolution". With only 42 minutes and 8 songs (plus two short instrumentals), Meliora was conceptualized as a LP and that's great. No fillers and you can listen to it several times in a row. The album doesn't sound as retro as the previous one, it's heavier while keeping the elements of 70's rock. Ghost offers something different than any other band these days while being original and well-written.

The Black Dahlia Murder - Abysmal
2013's Everblack was my introduction to BDM, I really liked that record. The combination of Trevor Strnad vocals and  Death Metal with Malmsteen-like guitar solos is really appealing. Abysmal sounds pretty much like BDM, but it has a very different feel from the previous records. The opening track "Receipt" is perhaps the closest song to the previous album sound. The album is very direct and fast paced. It's only 38 min with 10 songs, so very short songs. No fillers, pure energy, aggressiveness and great musicianship. Maybe not quite the same level as the predecessor, but still an amazing record.

Soilwork - The Ride Majestic
Getting through their last album The Living Infinite from 2013 was a bit of a challenge. The double album had 20 songs and 84 min. Still, there were some fantastic songs in there. But now The Ride Majestic, the tenth studio album from the Swedish melodic death metalers, fixed this problem. With "only" 50 min and 11 songs, this record has no fillers. The songs are well written and powerful, but the highlight is the singer Strid and his varied vocal style. He's able to quickly alternate between more guttural growls and higher screams and clean, harmonious vocals. Songs like "Alight in the Aftermath" start almost like a metalcore song, early BMTH style, but soon also goes melodic. But mostly The Ride Majestic is pure Swedish Death metal as it should be.

Myrkur - M

I do like several Black Metal albums, but the truth is that it's very difficult for me to find the ones I like. So I was not hoping to get much out of this debut album from Myrkur, a one-woman black metal musical project of Danish musician Amalie Bruun. Apparently she's originally a pop artist, but I had never heard of her and I don;t really care. What matter is the music. Most of the songs are more on the ambient style with beautiful female vocals and chorals, but awesomely every now and then a heavy guitar riff comes into play or a harsh vocal and pounding drums, Defheaven style. This contrast is magical and I was sold into it after just a couple of spins. Labels and styles apart, this is great music and a great album. Let's hope for more!