Top Albums of Q2/2017

Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
The seventh studio album from American progressive metallers is by far the album that I listened to the most this year so far. It was produced by Brendan O'Brien, who Mastodon collaborated with on their highly acclaimed 2009 album Crack the Skye. And that says something about Emperor of Sand. First, Mastodon returns to an album with a concept and story. Secondly, the album does sound like a fusion of latest efforts with the vibe of Crack the Skye. Emperor of Sand has 11 tracks in 51 minutes of outstanding modern prog metal. The musicianship is superb, the division of vocal duties among the 3 singers has been perfected, and the 3 are singing better than ever. The guitar riffs, duos and solos are just fantastic, Brent and Bill have found the perfect harmony. Troy maintains the trademark bass sound and Brann is, simply put, one of the best drummers in activity. I love all 11 tracks and have almost no complains. The album flows amazingly well and it's a serious candidate to album of the year.

Ayreon - The Source
The Source is the ninth concept studio album from Ayreon, a progressive metal/rock opera project by Dutch musician Arjen Lucassen. The concept is once again science fiction and a prequel to 01011001 (released in 2008). Each of the 12 characters is portrayed by one singer from a selection of some of the best prog/power metal singers in activity, including James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Simone Simons (Epica), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia), Tommy Karevik (Kamelot), Russell Allen (Symphony X), and Tommy Rogers (Between the Buried and Me). If you love power progressive metal with lots of melodic vocals, this is the album for you. Another serious candidate for album of the year. The 12 min opening track "The Day That The World Breaks Down" says it all. Featuring 11 of the 12 singers, many tempo changes, a bass solo, and a binary cold singing interlude, this song is modern prog rock perfection. The album flows from there with shorter but equality amazing 16 songs. All singers deliver amazing performances. Without loosing his own sound, Arjen is able to get the best of each singer, they sound natural and relaying on their strong characteristics.  The other guests are also fantastic. Mark Kelly (Marillion) and Marcel Coenen (Sun Caged) deliver, respectively,  an amazing synthesizer and guitar solo on "The Dream Dissolves". Other two amazing guitar solos: Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, Racer X) on "Star of Sirrah" and Guthrie Govan (The Aristocrats, ex-Asia) on "Planet Y Is Alive!". On top of it all, the concept and story follows like an opera. The album's 1.5 hr fly by when enjoying this fantastic piece of music. If this is not the best Ayreon album ever, then I need to seriously check the other albums immediately.

Pallbearer - Heartless
Heartless is already the third full-length album by this progressive doom metal sensation band. Their 2014's "Foundations Of Burden", appeared on several year-end lists. The current effort runs for 1 hour with 7 tracks. Heartless is a very progressive and melodic album. Clean singing dominates, but in a good way and it's brilliantly executed. It's never too high and translates well the melancholic feel of most songs. The 12-min "Dancing in Madness" is a masterpiece and almost an homage to Pink Floyd. The guitar solo at the beginning reminds me of David Gilmor, fantastic. In addition to fantastic song writing and musicianship, Heartless also sound amazing and dynamic. And to conclude and artful and distinct cover. Over the last couple of years, doom bands have been making appearances in my year-end list. 2017 will most certainly continue this trend thanks to Pallbearer.

Full of Hell - Trumpeting Ecstasy
Imagine that Cattle Decapitation was more hardcore, that's how I'd describe Trumpeting Ecstasy. Their first LP (by themselves) in 4 years is 24 min of voracious headbanging metal madness. With that said, the album is dynamic with pauses, samples, tempo variation and two vocal styles. My two favorite songs are two of the "long" ones: "The Cosmic Vein" and "Crawling Back to God". And then after 9 brutal metal songs, we come to the title track that unexpectedly opens with a beautiful female vocal over some samples. And while for some this would sound like an album closer, no, Full of Hell returns to voracious grindcore to close the album with the 6 min "At the Cauldron's Bottom" featuring fantastic marching drums. One of the best extreme metal albums of the year so far.

John 5 & The Creatures - Season of the Witch

If you come to this album expecting anything related to Robbie Zombie's sound, you will be disappointed. This is a guitar hero album, on the lines of Satriani, Vai, etc. In fact, the title track is the only one that reminds us of Robbie Zombie. While not original and sounding a lot like Satriani, I'm not saturated with Satriani-like bands and I love Satriani. So I found myself really enjoying this instrumental journey. Despite this clear influence, there are two differences: First John 5 adds a  hint of Industrial influences and second, the "& The Creatures" makes a difference because while Satriani studio albums can have boring bass and drums, The Creatures band deliver a solid rhythm section with awesome bass lines and groove. "Guitars Tits and Monsters" is one of the best song titles of the year, but also a great guitar song, almost 6 min of shredding with class. "The Macabre" could've been in Satriani's Surfing with the Alien album. "Hell Haw I.G.R." sounds like an homage to Joe Pass. Great guitar album and highly recommend for fans of the genre, don't let John 5 association with industrial or alt rock mislead you.

Darkest Hour - Godless Prophets & The Migrant Flora

In this comeback album, Darkest Hour presents us with the perfect blend of hardcore and melodic death metal. The memorable songwriting showcases fantastic guitarwork and drumming throughout the record. John Henry delivers relentless visceral vocals from start to finish. And that's a great thing. because due to outstanding guitarwork, groves, and tempo changes, Darkest Hour is able to break the monotony and add enough variability to the songs without depending on two singers or clean singing to do so. My only problem with GP&tMF is that a chunk of middle part songs tend to blend together. But that's a minor problem to an otherwise fantastic metalcore record.

Sólstafir - Berdreyminn
Sólstafir's 6th album is a small departure from its predecessor. It follows the same path of progressive post-rock music but it flirts a bit more with rock and roll groove. That's mostly notable in the first two songs. Most of the other songs are very progressive and dark. "Naros" and "Hvit S?ng" are very heavy tracks while "Hula" and "Dyrafjor?ur" slow tempo and melancholic. A very diverse album showcasing that Sólstafir seems to have found the sound they were looking for.

The Doomsday Kingdom - S/T

The new solo project from Candlemass bassist and songwriter Leif Edling is another triumph. The Doomfather while having difficulties to perform live is unstoppable in the studio. The new addition The Doomsday Kingdom while full of Doom elements sounds much more like a traditional heavy metal record. Several moments remind me of the Sabbath Dio era which is always a good thing.

Avatarium - Hurricanes and Halos

And just like that Avatarium is already releasing their 3rd studio album. After two successful albums, we are please to welcomed the third effort with high expectations. Avatarium combines beauty and darkness, heavy guitars and fragile sounds, and unique female vocals. While the first two albums focused on the Doom Metal sound, Hurricanes and Halos displays more influence from vintage sound from the 60s and 70s (subtle influences from Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, etc), while still staying truthful to their signature sound. Six out of the eight tracks were written by Leif Edling, who also released a doom record already this year via his new outlet Doomsday Machine. But this album goes beyond traditional doom and Marcus Jidell (guitars) and Jennie-Ann Smith (vocals) not only contributed to the songwriting but bring a lot of character to this band. The first album is still my favorite, but the followers are not far behind. Fantastic band.

While She Sleeps - You Are We

I'm glad I gave this record several spins because I was very close to miss one of the best metalcore albums of the year. While I liked the previous effort, I didn't give it a lot of chance. Therefore leaving comparisons aside, You Are We is a jump forward for a band that was already being seen as the "next big thing".

GMM2017 Review

I was so disappointed with last year edition that I realize I didn't post a review. That's probably a good thing since it would be mostly about the rain, mud, weather conditions, etc...so much so that this year I waited until the last minute to buy the tickets. I think many also did since it was sold-out on Friday. Despite the insanely late headliners (finishing at 1:30 am) and some hiccups to get inside, this edition was one of the best in years...

Top Shows
Rotting Christ: Fantastic set-list based mostly on the last two great albums. Great atmosphere created by this top band.

Solstafir: A unique band and a different show. Very intimate post-metal Icelandic progressive sound.

The Dillinger Escape Plan: As usually those guys know how to put a show. The Metal Dome is the perfect stage for them at a festival.

Emperor: I'm gonna be selfish here, since this is by far not a mainstream band but a cult band adored by its fans, the crowed was disperse with the ones staying fully committed to the show.  So much so that we, fans, could enjoy a headliner in a intimate fashion. And Emperor live was better than I ever expected! Fantastic musicianship, a black metal master class.

Architects: One of the few great metalcore bands, Architects delivered a great show based on the last two fantastic albums. I hope that despite the passing of the guitar player and music writer Tom Searle, they can continue to ascent as one of the best bands of their generation. 

Gojira: They are one of the darlings of the metal media for a reason, they are a fantastic band and their show was awesome. The best songs from the latest album plus 4 or 5 classics. Perfect.

Hatebreed: A perfect fit for a sunny festival day. Big hits that make the crowd jump up and down and pump their fists while drinking beers.

Steel Panther: Also a fun band for a festival! But if you have seen them a few times, their jokes are getting repetitive. With that said, I did laugh and also enjoyed the setlist a lot.

Mastodon: One of the best modern prog bands did not disappoint live. If you like the last album, this show was great.
  

Queensryche: This show was so good that left me wanting to see them in a headline tour. The musicianship and specially the singer, Todd, were superb. The setlist made the fully packed Metal Dome go crazy! Only one new song, for the rest many classic gems of which several from the classic Operation: Mindcrime.

Opeth: Regulars at GMM, they closed the Marquee with a technically perfect show. One hour is so short for this band, that they could only play 5 songs, 3 being from the latest albums (meaning no death metal vocals). 

Good Shows
Tribulation: Too early for a Tribulation show, 12:00 on a Friday...the vibe wasn't strong enough.

Decapitated: Also suffered from being a bit early.

Dee Snider: Good show but mostly predictable. TS classics, plus some covers (notably Outshined) and solo album tracks.

TBDM: I love the albums I have from these guys, but whenever I see them live the songs blend all together and I always feel that my favorites are left out. 

Scorpions: 3rd time I see them at Graspop. Good setlist but very similar to the last time. I can't blame them for lacking the energy... 

Disappointments: 

Axel Rudi Pell:  Played too early, singer was not hitting the high notes, setlist wasn't great

Rhapsody: Suffered from a terrible sound and technical problems, also too early, too short.

MAX & IGGOR CAVALERA: It was fun, but the guy can't sing anymore...

Grave Digger: Also poor setlist and worst sound of the weekend.

8 Iron Maiden Deep Cuts Worth Checking

Cross-Eyed Mary  from "The Trooper" B-side

This Jethro Tull cover is obviously a great song from the landmark album Aqualung.  Maiden was able to Maidenize it and make it a metal jewel. But the real highlight that makes it so special is Bruce's performance. 

Total Eclipse from "Run to the Hills" B-side

Total Eclipse sounds so much like a classic Maiden song. It was really a mistake to left it out of 1982's The Number of the Beast. It's a short and straightforward song. The intro chords followed by a guitar riff and then the build up drum fill is fantastic. By the way, similar intro was used in 2000's Brave New World title track. The song follows with an interesting structure and Bruce's soaring vocals. Another highlight is the bridge after the guitar solo, slow tempo and with Bruce reaching for the high notes.

Charlotte the Harlot '88 from "The Evil That Men Do" B-side

The prequel to 22 Acacia Avenue, Charlotte the Harlot is a great song from the debut album. It's the only song to have been written by Dave Murray alone. And this live version with Bruce is pure awesomeness. I love the song groove and how it changes completely with the slow bridge before exploding into the guitar solo. It also closes extremely well by returning to the intro riff. 

Lord Of The Flies from "Death On the Road"

Lord of the Flies is one of the best songs of the underrated The X Factor and when I saw it live with Bruce I went crazy. The way Bruce sings the bridge and specially the first chorus is ridiculous. It's even more impressive after the guitar solo, when he sings first with a lower registry just before exploding with the high notes. What an interpretation! I also like how the mix with 3 guitars. 

Quest for Fire

On the B side of the massive 1983's Piece of Mind, Harris' Quest for Fire follows a great sequence of 5 classic Mainden songs. But still it's a crime to overlook it. First, the intro riff is really cool and it may have been written close to The Trooper because it's very similar. Second, Bruce delivers in the first verse what is probably his highest note on record. It's impressive. Other than that it's just a very consistent song with the rest of the album. 

Deja - Vu

From my favourite album, Deja-vu is such a great song. From the slow intro, almost like Still Life, to the catchy two part chorus, and several guitar duos, the song exemplifies the whole album. But for some reason doesn't get the needed attention.

The Prophecy
I remember when Seventh Son of a Seventh Son came out, I was surprised that The Prophecy didn't make it to the setlist of that tour. They should've played the whole album. Anyways, that's to say how much I like it. Never played live and on the B side of the album, many may not have given it the due credit. The slow and quiet intro is beautiful and sets the mood just before exploding with a powerful guitar and bass duo riff. The structure is very simple, verse/bridge/chorus then solos plus riffs and repeat. Now, how the solo finishes giving space to Bruce to start the verse 2 is so amazing. Then there's the catchy verse, and an amazing bridge. In fact, it's a very unique bridge. Bruce sings it with at least 3 tracks, alternating voices and juxtaposing lyrics, it's fantastic. It also closes with the acoustic beautiful arpeggio, similar to the intro, so good.

Isle of Avalon
The Final Frontier tour was probably the only one I could go but didn't since 1992. One of the reasons was because some of my favorite songs from the album were not on the setlist, most notably Avalon. I liked this 9-min song from the first time I heard it. The almost 3-min build up part with the 3 guitars and Steve's bass is just great. And it culminates with Bruce screaming  "I can't hear you" before entering the powerful verse. Luckily we get the same build up after the solo. The whole song structure and melody is just fantastic. 

Top Albums of Q1/2017

Pain Of Salvation - In The Passing Light Of Day
The tenth studio album by the Swedish progressive metal (or rock?) band Pain of Salvation was one of the first releases of 2017. Their last studio album with original songs dates back 7 years ago. But quite honestly I haven't followed PoS in years. To my surprise, I was quite happy to hear the very first notes, "On a Tuesday" sounds heavy! A great way to start, the 10-min opener is full of tempo changes and deeply emotional. The next two songs are shorter but follow the same principle. PoS sounds like they used to in the early 2000's. Then "Silent Gold" slows things down, and a lot! But the song has a nice melody. Other highlights are the also the long "Full Throttle Tribe", "Angels of Broken Things" with a great and long guitar solo, and "The Taming of a Beast". Now, special highlight to the title track that closes the album. It is a 15:30 min  beautiful and emotional masterpiece of modern prog rock. The album has some focus problems and some misplaced tracks like "Reasons". However, those are small missteps that do not compromise this outstanding comeback album. Already a strong contender to be topping my year-end list.

Kreator - Gods of Violence

2017 had a very strong start. No beating around the bush, Gods of Violence is a fantastic album and will be topping many year-end lists. To some it may not be as good as the amazing predecessor but at the very least is at par. This album cements Kreator as the current masters of Thrash Metal. The fact that they are not from California is the only reason that explains to me why Kreator is not even bigger than they currently are. The album is a lesson of modern thrash metal with no frills, no bullshit. Kreator can combine one of the best thrash vocals and very aggressive thrash riffs with melody therefore creating instant heavy metal anthems. Not to mention the drumming and guitar solos that complete this receipt for success. With that said, Kreator took baby steps to incorporate traditional heavy metal (e.g. Priest and Maiden) into the mix . Therefore avoiding repeating themselves while delivering another modern masterpiece, but a different one than Phantom Antichrist. Gods of Violence is one of their best albums. Hail to the hordes!

Soen - Lykaia

Soen's 2014 Tellurian was #11 on my year-end list. The expectations were high for the successor Lykaia. "Sectarian" does a fantastic job opening the album. From the get go we get the trademarks of this album, an original take on a Tool + Opeth sound. One of my favorite things here is the album mix, it's impressive how unique and clear the bass and drums sound. And while Lykaia fell slightly short to my expectations, it's still a very good album from a band that will certainly grow further.

Sepultura - Machine Messiah
Although "Beneath The Remains" was one of the first LPs I've ever bought, I haven't been following the band closely. I definitely do not know the Derrick Green era very well. All of that to say that I'm positively surprised with Machine Messiah. Sepultura's 14th studio album is the band's first in over three years and it's a very good one. Without loosing their thrash roots, the band led by Andreas Kisser takes risks and incorporate a modern metal sound. More importantly they went further and added a touch of progressiveness. The new drummer, Eloy Casagrande delivered some strong drumming in this record. The other highlight is Andreas Kisser superb guitar work. Actually my favorite track is the instrumental "Iceberg Dances" in which both musicians give a music lesson. Other tracks that I dig a lot are "Phantom Self" and "Sworn Oath".

Immolation - Atonement
Atonement is the 10th stdio album from the New York death metallers. Despite being long time legends in the underground scene, this is my first time listening to Immolation. And I dig it. Atonement  is a very dark and haunting album. While I'm typically not a huge fan of deep low vocals, it works well for them. Besides, Ross Dolan (bass/vocals) is intelligible which is rare in extreme music. But what really impressed me in this album is the combination of fantastic riffs and dueling guitars over complex drum patterns. The album is very consistent and there are no bad songs. It's definitely my favorite extreme metal album of the yea so far.

BloodBound - War Of Dragons

Excessive and bombastic, War Of Dragons is an example of "more is more" and it would make Malmsteen proud! So yes, I love it! There's nothing new here, boundaries are not pushed and it's by far not a perfect record, but... it's lots of fun. Highly recommended to fans of Rhapsody, Hammerfall and Stratovarius. I caught those guys in a recent festival and bought the two albums with singer Urban Breed. Both very good. After he left, Patrik "Pata" Johansson took over the mike and this is is his 5th LP with BloodBound. A very short obligatory intro with a quick narrative opens to the first single "Battle in the Sky. Right of the gate the song starts with a big chorus. From there the album flows on the same style. All except one song are between 3:30 and 4:30 minutes. All with tons of melody, hooks, dragons and kings, huge choruses and speed. But it does get repetitive, many songs start on the same way (big chorus), lacks originality and the production is a bit too loud.  But that's my guilty pleasure of the month, very catchy and fun to listen, songs are well written and nicely combine the styles of several 90's power metal bands with its own flavor. If you miss GoT dragons, this will keep you busy!

Crystal Viper - Queen of the Witches

Crystal Viper is certainly a unique band, a Polish traditional heavy metal band fronted by Marta Gabriel who also plays guitars. The sound however it's not original, heavily influenced by the NWOBHM sound: Dueling guitars, very melodic and sing-along choruses. The big problem of Queen of the Witches is having two ballads that are not so good. The other 8 songs are really fun and straightforward proper metal songs, all around the 4:30 m mark. All in all, Crystal Viper delivers a solid, easy to listen and direct heavy metal with no frills but also nothing new. Queen of the Witches does the job right.

Albums You Might Have Missed 2016

Despite all efforts to keep up with the new releases, there's always records that go by unnoticed or I just didn't have the time. But at the end of each year, the famous best of lists helps us finding some hidden jewels and give them a second chance. Instead of messing with the laborious Top 51 List, I decided to create a special post for those "missed records". In no particular order...

Sumac - What One Becomes
Within the extreme metal world, this Sludge / Post-Metal release by Sumac was regarded as one of the top albums of 2016. I came across when my list was already done, but I came to love it. It would've been right up there in my top 15. It's not that different from the Neurosis album. 5 heavy, experimental, long songs, with many instrumental moments, deep vocals and slow riffs. And it's all beautifully written and executed. It's one of those intense musical journeys and it's worthwhile.

Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä
This Finnish band is in sum what Pink Floyd (specially early albums) would sound like if done by a Black Metal band. The idea is interesting and the song writing is good. It's a fun experience. But for some strange reason, the album production is not great. For this type of music, I can't understand the flat production with such a low DR of 4. Värähtelijä wouldn't alter materially my top albums, but I'm happy to have it.

Deströyer 666 - Wildfire
These Australians deliver a blackened thrash metal with big choruses, Salyer-ish riffs and epicness. A fun record for traditional metal fans loose their minds and get into the mosh pit.

Marillion - FEAR
Marillion used crowdfunding to finance their 18th album. And Prog Rock fans are glad the band did this and managed to release this great album. Sales and chart positions were very decent and it was featured and several "best of 2016" lists. Essentially FEAR has 5 songs of which 3 are broken into several parts. The 68 minutes of prog rock with clear Pink Floyd references is dark and intense. Prog journey worth the wait, I'm glad I came across it at the 11th hour.

Astronoid - Air

It's hard to describe this band, I love those bands that challenge this stupid sub-genre madness. Arguably, Astronoid may not even be considered metal, but I dig it big time. It's different, it's refreshing, it's just great stuff. My humble attempt to describe them is as follows: Deafheaven with Deftones vocals.

Rotting Christ - Rituals
In 2013 I was introduced to Rotting Christ when they released their Katá ton Daímona Eautoú. I really liked that album and it made #13 in my 2013 list. Therefore I was myself surprised that it took me so long to get into their twelfth full-length album Rituals released on 12 February 2016! But eventually I did, and Rotting Christ delivers a solid record that is full of Black Metal and folk elements but all very dark and satanic.

Fabio's Top 51 Albums of 2016

It's that time of the year again...it took me the whole month of December to compile this list of best metal and metal-related albums of the year that closes. If you ask yourself "why?" you are right, I don't know why. I know it's fun and I've been doing it for years.

For all the shit that went down in 2016, it was a great year for heavy metal music. I noticed my scores going up...Every year it scares me how many albums can I dig in a single year. It seems that my "capacity" is about 50 albums. Really?! 50 studio albums released in a single year? Still sounds like a lot to me. Consequently, I try to limit myself so that I won't check more than 100 new albums in a given year. Well I failed again, during 2016 it was close to 120 new albums. Some took just a few minutes and I disliked them immediately, but others took many listens.

Now, this is a pure a subjective list, it's all about the feelings and emotions that those records bring in me. But I do value originality, production, songwriting, etc. It's also important how many times I listened to them since release date. While it's not a competition and it's all personal, I have reviewed lists of many important music outlets (magazines, websites) and it seems that the big "winners" of 2016 were Metallica, Meshuggah, Gojira, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Opeth. They are all in my top 51, but not as high as you may expect (with one exception).

So here you have it...my top 51 albums of 2016.

51.Rage - The Devil Strikes Again
50.Holy Grail - Times of Pride and Peril
49.Blues Pills - Lady in Gold
48.Running Wild - Rapid Foray
47.Sodom - Decision Day
46.Primal Fear - Rulebreaker
45.Rival Sons - Hollow Bones
44.Megadeth - Dystopia
43.Grand Magus - Sword Songs
42.Heaven Shall Burn - Wanderer
41.Omnium Gatherum - Grey Heavens
40.Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts
39.Destruction - Under Attack
38.Magnum - Sacred Blood "Divine" Lies
37.Axel Rudi Pell - Game of Sins
36.Them - Sweet Hollow
35.Opeth - Sorceress
34.Mistur - In Memoriam
33.Mob Rules - Tales From Beyond
32.Hatebreed - The Concrete Confessional
31.Dream The Electric Sleep - Beneath The Dark Wide Sky
30.Obscura - Akroasis
29.Redemption - The Art Of Loss
28.Witherscape - The Northern Sanctuary
27.Dark Tranquility - Atoma
26.Death Angel - The Evil Divide

25.Moonsorrow - Jumalten Aika
The album sounds fantastic. It displays a set of mesmerizing and epic songs balancing atmospheric and powerful black/folk metal elements. Their music is certainly challenging for its listeners. Originally it was on my top 10, but competition this year was really tough.

24.Long Distance Calling - TRIPS
LDC has produced a masterpiece of modern progressive (post) rock. TRIPS is an original album and full of curve balls, but make no mistake, it is awesome.

23.Testament - Brotherhood Of The Snake
Testament are still around and making good thrash metal 30 years after the birth of genre. While I really like this album, at the end of the day, there was nothing really new albeit extremely well written and executed thrash metal.

22.Gojira - Magma
A very diverse and interesting experience full of sadness with shorter, less complex songs. Gojira continue to sound unique (if any doubts, check the tittle track). Not their best album, but anyways their bar is set so high, so it's still a great album, and as I predicted, it is heading many year-end lists.

21.Darkthrone - Arctic Thunder
Simply put, it sounds f* amazing. The album marks a return to the band's familiar black metal style, and probably that's why I liked so much. Great riffs, up tempo, catchy and well written.

20.Abbath - Abbath
8 songs in only 40 minutes of straight up, catchy and "as you would expect" black metal from the former Immortal frontman Abbath.
It's easy and fun to listen to this record. While sounding familiar, it is also fresh and modern. Apparently, Abbath doesn't need Immortal to deliver black metal music at the highest quality. There isn't a lot of variability, but what the hell - it's lots of fun!

19.Nails - You Will Never Be One of Us
Relentless brutal shit! Oh My! this is one of the heaviest and most aggressive record I own. I found their second album quite good but YWNBOOU is way better. More technical with nice hooks and grooves without loosing the grindcore/hardcore violence but also adding some thrash metal elements, specially in some guitar solos and riffs, think of Slayer. One of the best extreme metal albums of the year, very addictive! And it's only 22 minutes, you can listen to it repeatedly, and you should!

18.Amon Amarth - Jomsviking
This is a fun, enjoyable, headbanging feast. Jomsviking follows the same formula as 2013's Deceiver of the Gods. At first the lack of variability and overly formulated singles threw me off. But eventually it grew on me. I really enjoy this band and always look forward to see them live. Jomsviking adds instant classics to their setlist - "Raise your horns! Raise them up to the sky! We will drink to glory tonight"

17.The Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation
The supposedly final album from this unique and revolutionary band is a perfect summary of their great career while continue to advance their sound with electronic music and jazz, for example. Noise and hooks, speed and melody form a perfect swansong. We miss you already guys!

16.Anthrax - For All Kings
For All Kings features some amazing written and produced songs, great guitar solos (welcome Mr. Donais), several good riffs, more progressive and modern sounding than previous records. This is Anthrax back to the classic albums form. The bests songs here could've been written in the 80's. The album is a bit too long with some lesser tunes, otherwise it would be even higher on the list.

15.Metallica - Hardwired…to Self-Destruct
Yes, they made to my list. The album is far from perfect and it's too long...BUT it's the best thing that one of my first loved bands has done in 25 years. And by the way, I haven't cared for anything after And Justice For All...So I am not a fan boy. Some tracks in this album are catchy, fun and feature some awesome riffs, e.g. "Atlas, Rise!", "Moth Into Flame" and of course "Spit Out The Bone".

14.Haken - Affinity
Their previous album The Mountain from 2013 brought Haken to the forefront of the prog scene. But instead of repeating themselves Haken pushed it further by incorporating new elements. Also, the new bassist Conner Green brought quite some heaviness to the Haken sound, take "1985" and "The Architect" for example, some riffs are even Djent-like. Throughout the album the guitar riffs and melodies are also fantastic, "Lapse" features one of the best guitar solos of this year.

13.Periphery - Periphery III: Select Difficulty
Periphery is one of my favorite "modern metal" bands out there. I like how they are essentially a Progressive Metal band who mixes Meshuggah and Slipknot adding a very versatile vocal (at times Death Metal style e.g. "Motormouth", others hints a clean Power Metal e.g. "Remain Indoors" and even Pop Rock, e.g. "The Way The News Goes..."). Like all Periphery albums, this one grew on me with time and now I really dig it.

12.Letlive. - If I'm The Devil...
In terms of song writing If I'm The Devil... is at par with the predecessor maintaining the mix of punk, rock and soul. But this time around the balance among the elements being more focused on the soul instead of the punk. I think that's not a surprise given that Jason Aalon Butler is one of the most passionate and intense frontman I've ever seen on stage. This album touches deeper into that emotion from their live performances. A clear improvement from this new release is the production. Overall a great album that was constantly on my players.

11.Killswitch Engage - Incarnate
The album sounds pretty much the same as the predecessor: great guitar riffs, awesome hooks and catchy choruses while keeping it heavy and aggressive. Additionally Jesse performance is even better and the song writing is slightly less formulated than what we heard in Disarm the Descent. For the long time fans this is a great addition to their catalog. I dug it and listened to it several times.

10.Vektor - Terminal Redux
One of the almost unanimous choices of 2016, Vektor. This band is miles away from the retro thrash wave. In fact, adding "progressive" to their sub genre is essential. I'd describe their sound as Voivod meets Slayer with Chuck Schuldiner on the vocals while adding black metal elements. But Terminal Redux is not an incoherent blend, they pull it off magnificently. It is actually a concept album that flows beautifully. I have no doubts that this thrash/progressive masterpiece hence why is at the top of many year-end lists.

9.Khemmis - Hunted
An stellar release and the Doom album of the year, and remember it's just their sophomore. They are epic and beautiful while adding heavier elements. Beautiful lyrics that I can't resist singing along. The vocals are just perfect, the choruses are big and the guitar riffs are thick and heavy while adding some almost Maiden-like duos. I've also seen this album in several year end lists, and deservedly so, it's not overhyped, it's just great fucking heavy .

8.Architects - All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us
Architects is one of the very few metalcore bands that I truly like. This disc pretty much follows the direction of the predecessor with a bit more dark sound to reflect the theme of the lyrics. But they don't stop there, they go further. Within the predictable and often boring metalcore genre, Architects bring an inspiring new breath and leave their peers behind. The music writing is as good as previously, with aggressive but melodic and catchy vocal lines. Sam Carter has a nice voice and balance harsh screams with cleaner singing very well.

7.Black Crown Initiate - Selves We Cannot Forgive
BCI impressed me with a very well written and executed balance between progressiveness and modern metal. My first highlight is the vocal work throughout the album. Singer James Dorton has a good harsh vocal range and additionally the band lead, songwriter and guitar player Andy Thomas uses his clean vocals in most of the songs. Secondly, there is no question that those are highly skilled musicians playing their instruments with superb techniques. But they don't overuse those to create an instrument lesson but rather to create great music. I love the slow parts in contrast with the heavier ones and I specially impressed with the guitars.

6.Avantasia - Ghostlights
For symphonic power metal fans, Avantasia offers everything you like and Ghostlights, the seventh full-length album, is no different. Overall, as expected, great melodies, catchy vocal lines and big choruses. Overall the album has some of the most impressive guitar work that Avantasia has ever produced. And even the artwork is fantastic. And to top it all, "Let The Storm Descend Upon You" is 12 min of epicness and one of the best songs of 2016.

5.Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep of Reason
This is Meshuggah as we came to love with slightly additions of new elements, but mostly sounding very much like the last couple of albums. With that said, the deepness and heaviness are just mesmerizing and addictive. I couldn't stop listening to it for days. No surprises to anyone that all musicians are superb and obviously amazing drumming by Mr. Tomas Haake. But still I was very impressed by the guitar solos, take "Nonstrum" and "Born In Dissonance" solos for example. The Violent Sleep of Reason is a lesson of extreme progressive metal and pure art.

4.Insomnium - Winter's Gate
Winter's Gate is a story told as a song. A concept album with just one song in 7 parts (probably for practical reasons, because it's one continuous piece of music) and 40 minutes. This is a masterpiece of melodic death metal. I have no complain, it's one amazing song with powerful riffs, amazing melodies, full of hooks, variations, tempo changes and all very well produced with a dynamic range of 7 and a great mix.

3.Neurosis - Fires Within Fires
This album features only 5 songs in 40 min which means no bad songs, no fillers. Despite the long songs, they grab your attention and time flies when you immerse yourself into them. This is a album best enjoyed with headphone and quality medium. There are several subtle noises and melodies going on throughout the record showing Neurosis' influences from dark ambient and industrial music. The album also balances very well soft passages with heavy doom riffs and singing. So it's not surprise to conclude that with a DR of 8, this is one of the highest range I've heard this year.

2.Ihsahn - Arktis
A rich and diverse extreme metal journey from one of the most reverenced modern heavy music masterminds. There are no weak points and the 10 songs flow wonderfully. Arktis is essentially a progressive metal album with its roots in the black metal. But the drumming is full of groves, many songs contain clean vocals and slow tempo moments. To me this all adds to the experience and variability.

1.Fates Warning - Theories of Flight

Most years, making a choice for number one is hard work, but in 2016 was very easy. FW has secured their spot after a couple of listens. Theories of Flight basically combines the best of two worlds. The more progressive side of FW with the more direct style from the earlier albums is in a modern and fresh way. It's FW at its best and upgraded. The first noticeable difference is that the record features one of the best drumming performances I heard in a long time. Matheos stepped up to deliver one of his best guitar work, it is pure art! Most of the songs have at least 3 guitar tracks each doing some very specific riffs and rhythms that intertwine giving such a beautiful texture. All of this without loosing heaviness. And last but not least, Alder is singing better than never, very confident hitting some high notes without sounding forced or exaggerated, I mean his performance in "The light and..." Is simply amazing. By the way, this is the best song I heard this year and one of my favorites of the last few years. Now, if I'd be picky and split hairs, then I'd say that the bass is a bit too low in mix, specially compared to their previous albums with Vera.

Honorable  Mentions:
Rhapsody Of Fire - Into the Legend
Dream Theater - The Astonishing
Avenged Sevenfold - The Stage

The Best Sounding Albums:

Witherscape - The Northern Sanctuary

Opeth - Sorceress
Anthrax - For All Kings
Moonsorrow - Jumalten Aika
Neurosis - Fires Within Fires

Favorite EPs:
Gruesome - Dimensions of Horror
Steven Wilson - 4 ½

Biggest Disappointments:
Serious Black
Denner/Sherman
Kai Hansen

Wovenwar

Favorite Guitar Solos:

Megadeth - "Conquer Or Die" by Kiko Loureiro
Dream Theater - "A Better Life" by John Petrucci
Avantasia - "Babylon Vampyres" by Bruce Kulick
Haken - "Lapse" by Charlie Griffiths
Death Angel - "Father of Lies" by Rob Cavestany
Black Crown Initiate - "Selves We Cannot Forgive" by Andy Thomas
Testament - "Brotherhood Of The Snake" by Alex Skolnick
Meshuggah - "Nonstrum" by Fredrik Thordendal

Top 5 songs:

"Born In Dissonance" by Meshuggah
"Let The Storm Descend Upon You" by Avantasia
"Hate By Design" by Killswitch Engage
"The Light and Shade of Things" by Fates Warning
"Atlas, Rise!" by Metallica

Best Shows:

Iron Maiden - GMM 2016
Avantasia - Oberhausen, Turbinenhalle
Meshuggah  - Trix, Antwerp

Worst Show:
Virgin Steele - GMM 2016

Top Albums of Q4/2016

Insomnium - Winter's Gate
For years, Insomnium has been a band for me to explore further, but it hasn't happened until the release of their seventh studio album, Winter's Gate.  A concept album with just one song in 7 parts and 40 minutes. This is a masterpiece of melodic death metal. I have no complain, it's one amazing song with powerful riffs, amazing melodies, full of hooks, variations, tempo changes and all very well produced with a dynamic range of 7 and a great mix. A serious candidate to album of the year.

Testament - Brotherhood Of The Snake
This is the 11th album by the thrash legends from the bay area. After the successful start in the 80's with 2 classic thrash master pieces The New Order (1988) and Practice What You Preach (1989), the band went through some ups and downs in the 90's but finished with another masterpiece The Gathering (1999) in which Testament added some Death Metal elements to their classic thrash roots. Due to a series of health issues and line up changes the band went into a hiatus that finished in 2008 with the release of The Formation of Damnation. A highly successful album and Dark Roots of Earth (2012) was no different. Therefore Brotherhood Of The Snake is received with high expectations. Especially when we learned that bass master Steve Digiorgio was returning to join drummer Gene Hoglan, meaning, Testament has again an all-star line up. The musical skills of this group did not compromise heaviness and speed. Actually, clocking at 46 min and featuring 10 tracks, the album is very direct and in your face thrash.
The title track opens the album and right out of the gate shows that Testament 2016 follows the path of the previous albums. Powerful thrash riffs with death metal singing elements, lots of hooks and melodies and great guitar solos. The 2nd track and video single "The Pale King" keeps up the tempo and quality of the title track. "Seven Seals" is a bit slower tempo with a modern metal feel to it and a nice groove. "Centuries Of Suffering" is fast and furious, the heaviest and shortest track of the album. "Neptune’s Spear" features some of the album’s best riffs, what a classic! The album rolls nicely and there are no “bad” songs, but closer “The Number Game” is a missed opportunity to try something different  and more memorable. In 2016, Megadeth, Anthrax, Destruction, Death Angel, Sodom and, now also Testament are still around and making good thrash metal 30 years after the birth of genre. Given that Metallica is expected to release their best album since the Black Album in November, 2016 is going down as one of thrash's greatest years. And Brotherhood Of The Snake one of the top albums of the year and likely the thrash album of 2016.

Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep of Reason
This is Meshuggah as we came to love with slightly additions of new elements, but mostly sounding very much like the last couple of albums. With that said, the deepness and heaviness are just mesmerizing and addictive. I couldn't stop listening to it for days. No surprises to anyone that all musicians are superb and obviously amazing drumming by Mr. Tomas Haake. But still I was very impressed by the guitar solos, take "Nonstrum" and "Born In Dissonance" solos for example. The Violent Sleep of Reason is a lesson of extreme progressive metal and pure art.

Neurosis - Fires Within Fires
Despite the fact that this is the 11th studio album by the post-metal american band Neurosis, I haven't yet invested the time to listen to their back catalog. However, my positive experience with 2016's Fires Within Fires is about to change that. This album features only 5 songs in 40 min which means no bad songs, no fillers. Despite the long songs, they grab your attention and time flies when you immerse yourself into them. This is a album best enjoyed with headphone and quality medium. There are several subtle noises and melodies going on throughout the record showing Neurosis' influences from dark ambient and industrial music. The album also balances very well soft passages with heavy doom riffs and singing. So it's not surprise to conclude that with a DR of 8, this is one of the highest range I've heard this year. I can't comment how this record stands when facing their previous releases, but within 2016, Fires Within Fires is a top album.

Dream The Electric Sleep - Beneath The Dark Wide Sky
This one came as a big surprise to me. My friend Michael gave me the tip to check those guys out and he was right. While clearly influenced by Pink Floyd and Rush with some pop touches from the likes of U2 and MUSE; Dream The Electric Sleep excels at composing music that is novel, exploring new territories while somehow also evoking familiarity. Most likely my Progressive Rock album of the year.

Khemmis - Hunted

Just last year, the Denver-based  quartet of Khemmis released their debut Absolution. Less than 2 years later, 2016 brings us Hunted. A new masterpiece with only 5 tracks averaging 7:30 min each, except for the title track, an epic 13-min journey. "Above the Water" is the opener and my favorite track. After a slow intro, it dives into a heavy Sabbath-like riff. The clean and melodic vocals deliver a very cool verse and what I love about it is the guitar riff duo pretty much Maiden style."Candlelight" has a very straightforward start with a thick slow guitar riff and diving into a melodic clean singing verse, on the same  lines as the previous track. But there's a curve ball, at mid point the song gets very slow and a funeral doom vocal sings over a guitar solo. This singing feels a bit out of place to me, but the instrumental is nice. The dominant clean vocals come back with an epic verse to bring the song to an end with a guitar solo."Three Gates" balances the growling and clean vocals very well, performing nice epic melodies. Again the guitars sound thick and heavy. "Beyond the Door" highlight are the guitar melodies that open the song before giving place to an up tempo guitar riff which is followed by the verse. Second time around the up tempo riff is the base for the nice guitar solos. The final minute alternates growling and clean vocals before  concluding the song on an awesome riff sequence. Title and final track is pure epicness! Long instrumental transitions, tempo changes, guitar solos and once again clean melodic vocals. Here some of the catchiest vocal lines. An stellar release and probably Doom album of the year, and remember it's just their sophomore. 

Metallica - Hardwired…to Self-Destruct

Metallica long-awaited 10th studio album, "Hardwired … to Self-Destruct" is finally here. It's a double CD with 12 songs in 78 minutes.
"Hardwired" was the first single and is the first track. It's a good song with a vibe from the first albums. But the the drums are too loud in the mix ( a problem thought out the record) , the guitar solo is really bad and the lyrics are over simplistic. The second song "Atlas, Rise!" was the 3rd single and so far one of my favorites. More progressive and better mixed than the first single. "Now That We're Dead" could've been in the Black Album, made me think of "Sad but True". It has an 1m30s intro with a nice groovy riff and a very good vocal melody follows. Overall the guitar work is great and it's another favorite of mine. The second single and track #4 "Mouth Into Flame" is a very good song as well. Albeit progressive, it still has the same old school vibe but more melodic, even power metal-ish at points. The double album syndrome is first present with "Dream No More" as this track drops the ball. The longest track of the album with 8:15 closes the first CD, "Halo On Fire" is a good progressive song. "Confusion" opens up CD2 in good style, it's not as thrashy as most of CD1 and drags a bit. "Manunkind" and "Here Comes Revenge" are bluesy and almost Sabbath, great riffs and grooves, specially the latter. "Am I Savage?" is expendable. "Murder One" is the ode to Lemmy while not a bad song, it doesn't offer anything new. Don't we love when the album closer is something special? After about 30 min of more progressive mid-tempo songs, "Spit Out The Bone" brings back the thrash with full power.
I don't care for anything they have put out in the last 25 years and I am not  head over hills for this album. But, Metallica's recent attempts to bring new music have been so below average that "Hardwired … to Self-Destruct" sounds really good. It's their best since ...And Justice for All. The album is full of great riffs, grooves, hooks and melodies that will make old and new fans very happy. At least 4 songs are really awesome. The production is not too bad, for one, we can hear the bass and most of the songs have a DR of 6, so not too loud. Those are all good news. But the album is too long and there are ups and downs. There are also problems with the mix (drums are so loud!), many uninspired guitar solos and a boring album cover. If they had worked harder to produce it better and made it an 8 song album, it could've been fantastic.

Darkthrone - Arctic Thunder
This is another classic band that I haven't had the time to explore fully. So I came to their 16th album with no "baggage" and to me sounds f* amazing. As far as I understood, The album marks a return to the band's familiar black metal style, and probably that's why I liked so much. Great riffs, up tempo, catchy and well written. I actually don't know why the reviews were not that good. The album is 40 min and 8 songs, like the classic 80's albums. There are only a couple of tracks that are a bit slower and less memorable: "Inbred Vermin" and "Throw Me Through the Marshes". For the rest, I really dig it.

Dark Tranquility - Atoma
Atoma, the 11th album and follow-up of the very good 2013's Construct has surpassed all of my expectations. DT is one of the longest-standing bands from the original Gothenburg metal scene. They crated a distinctive take on the melodic death metal by incorporating a bit of Gothic sound into their music. Despite being only 50 min long, Atoma features 12 songs which is a bit too much. Therefore, we find some low points, but overall the high points make it a very strong album. I like how they balance some keyboard riffs like in "Encircled" and "Atoma" with thick guitar riffs like in "Forward Momentum" and "The Pitiless". Additionally the subtle electronic samples give a special flavor to the overall experience. But most noticeably and well executed is the variation between heavy melodic death metal parts with slower melodic parts. And while still using clen vocals as a tool in their arsenal of musical tricks, Mikael Stanne doesn't abuse of it and the vast majority of vocal lines are with the death metal growl. Atoma is wake-up call to those who were loosing their faith on melo-death metal.