MetalReviews

Awards 2013

7 reviewers shared their picks for 2013.

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Chris

Top Albums

  1. 1.
    Pretty Maids - Motherland — An incredible album, from start to finish !
  2. 2.
    Stratovarius - Nemesis — Best album since Visions & Infinite.
  3. 3.
    Helloween - Straight out of Hell — Can Helloween release a bad album anymore ?
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
    Warcry - Immortal — Amazing Spanish Power Metal Band, killer !
  8. 8.
    Dreamtale - World Changed Forever — Reminds me of Edguy's VGO album.
  9. 9.
    Dragonfly - Atlas — Another killer release from the Spanish Power metallers
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
    Lingua Mortis Orchestra - LMO — Rage and orchestra, always a hit !
  14. 14.
    Amaranthe - The Nexus — It may be repetitive and overproduced, but I enjoy them greatly !
  15. 15.
    DGM - Momentum

Surprises of the Year

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
    W.E.T. - Rise Up

Disappointments

  1. 1.
    Running Wild - Resilient — While a MUCH BETTER album than ShadowMaker, where is the speed metal style of before ?

Words / Final Thoughts

  1. 0
    — 2013 has been a good year for metal, and 2014 shapes up to be an amazing one with the new Axxis albums, the new Freedom Call and more. I wish I find more time for reviewing in 2014 but things don't look so good in the beginning of the year, hopefully things will get better though.

    Thanks to our reader for being faithful to the site and hope you'll all have a wonderful year !

Danny

Top Albums

  1. 1.
  2. 1.
    Volbeat - Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies — My favorite band after Metallica, period!!
  3. 2.
  4. 2.
    Pretty Maids - Motherland — Tehir best ever?
  5. 3.
    Dreamtale - World Changed Forever
  6. 3.
    DREAMTALE - WORLD CHANGED FOREVER — Top Notch Melodic Power Metal.
  7. 4.
  8. 5.
  9. 6.
  10. 7.
  11. 8.
  12. 9.
    Black Veil Brides
  13. 9.
    Black Veil Brides - Wretched And Divine
  14. 9.
    BLACK VEIL BRIDES - WRETCHED & DIVINE — You must check this if you like glam metal, especially We Don't Belong song.
  15. 10.
    Five Finger Death Punch - The Wrong Side of Heaven... Vol.2
  16. 10.
    FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH - THE WRONG SIDE of Heaven... Vol.2 — Rising, rising ... shadowing Metallica?
  17. 10.
    FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH - THE WRONG SIDE OF HEAVEN ... Vol.2 — Rising, rising ... shadowing Metallica?
  18. 11.
    Fate - If NOt For The Devil
  19. 11.
    Fate - If Not For The Devil — This is what I call their best album since they came back
  20. 11.
    FATE - IF NOT FOR THE DEVIL — This is what I call their best album since they came back.
  21. 12.
    Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King
  22. 12.
    AVENGED SECENFOLD - HAILTO THE KING — Who said Black Album (Metallica)?
  23. 13.
    Wisdom - Marching For Liberty
  24. 13.
    WISDOM - MARCHING FOR LIBERTY — Good stuff.
  25. 14.
  26. 15.
    Lord - Digital Lies
  27. 15.
    LORD - DIGITAL LIES — Excellent.

Surprises of the Year

  1. 1.
    Armory - Empyrean Relams
  2. 1.
    Armory - Empyrean Realms — The BEST Power Metal album of 2013 !!!
  3. 1.
    ARMORY - EMPYREAN REALMS — The BEST Power Metal album of 2013 !!!
  4. 2.
    Keldian - Outbound
  5. 2.
    KELDIAN - OUTBOUND — The BEST Power/Prog album of 2013 !! A must CHECK !!!
  6. 3.
  7. 4.
    Warcry - Immortal
  8. 4.
    WARCRY - IMMORTAL — The best Spanish metal album of 2013. Mouchos bravooooos !!!
  9. 5.
    Violentary - Theory Of Life
  10. 5.
    VIOLENTARY- THEORY OF LIFE — Worth checking.

Disappointments

  1. 1.
  2. 1.
    Running Wild - Resilient — Come on, can DO much better, I am sure ....
  3. 2.
    Airbourne - Black Dog Barking
  4. 2.
    AIRBOURNE - BLACK DOG BARKING — Good album, just it didn't match my expectation (of previous album)
  5. 3.
  6. 3.
    Black Sabbath - 13 — I cannot enter in this album, why? Where are the hits ...

Words / Final Thoughts

  1. 0
    — Fantastic Metal year in 2013, once again! Metallica's new album turned out to be a live (for their film), but new studio is expected for 2014, I cross my fingers!!! I wish more of my favorite 2013 albums would have been reviewed and quoted - I am the first one to be blamed of course, but still no time for an official comeback as reviewer. Hopefully in 2015 :-) With Freedom Call, Primal Fear and new Iced Earth, the year started well. Take cares Metal Heads and thanks for reading us, year after year!

Aleksie

Top Albums

  1. 1.
    Haken - The Mountain
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
    The Tangent - Le sacre du Travail
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
    Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep
  6. 6.
  7. 6.
  8. 7.
    Riverside - Shrine of New Generation Slaves
  9. 8.
    Dropkick Murphys - Signed and Sealed in Blood
  10. 9.
  11. 10.
    Shade Empire - Omega Arcane
  12. 11.
  13. 12.
    The Winery Dogs - The Winery Dogs
  14. 13.
  15. 14.
  16. 15.

Surprises of the Year

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
    Suicidal Tendencies - 13
  3. 3.
    Santa Cruz - Screaming for Adrenaline
  4. 4.
  5. 5.

Disappointments

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.

Goat

Top Albums

  1. 1.
    Gorguts - Colored Sands — A triumphant return for one of death metal's finest.
  2. 2.
    Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury — A stunning way to end the band and very nearly no 1.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
    Obliteration - Black Death Horizon — The best old-school death metal album of the year
  5. 5.
    Voivod - Target Earth — Who'd have thought Dan Mongrain could replace Piggy so well? Their best album in years.
  6. 6.
    Cult of Fire - मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान — A late entry, but a stunning album from this little-known Czech trio.
  7. 7.
    Monolithe - Monolithe IV — Monolithic, baby!
  8. 8.
    Alice In Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here — The comeback was no fluke. An album that growed on me and was never far from the playlist.
  9. 9.
    Carcass - Surgical Steel — Another death metal comeback that paid off.
  10. 10.
    Extol - Extol — Catchy, Christian metal hymns of joy, a great album.
  11. 11.
    Imperium Dekadenz - Meadows of Nostalgia — Perhaps not as good as Procella Vadens, but still excellent
  12. 12.
    The Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us Is the Killer — A tetchy, difficult album that pays off
  13. 13.
    Ruins - Place of No Pity — A true lesson in ruthlessness that makes the new Satyricon look even weaker.
  14. 14.
    SubRosa - More Constant Than the Gods — Bewitching bluesy doom from a band that continues to get better.
  15. 15.
    Byzantine - Byzantine — Who needs Lamb of God when these fellow Virginians blew them out of the water completely?

Surprises of the Year

  1. 1.
    Black Sabbath - 13 — The surprise is twofold: new Black Sabbath, and that it's really good...
  2. 2.
    Beaten to Death - Dødsfest! — Excellent grind from a band doing their own thing. Commendable.
  3. 3.
    Progenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A. — Spacey black metal that deserves a wider audience
  4. 4.
    Wormlust - The Feral Wisdom — I think I underscored this. Fine album.
  5. 5.
    Wardruna - Yggdrasil — Neofolk of the year. Lovely stuff.

Disappointments

  1. 1.
    Pearl Jam -
  2. 1.
  3. 2.
    Soulfly - Savages — *yawn*
  4. 3.
    Gehenna - Unravel — *yawn*
  5. 4.
  6. 5.
    Ministry - From Beer to Eternity — *yawn* How do such big names put out such pedestrian, painfully dull metal?

Joke of the Year

  1. 1.
    Megadeth - Super Collider — At least put some fucking effort in, Dave.
  2. 2.
    Burzum - Sol austan, Mani vestan — I'll spare Varg too much criticism, since this was the year he got arrested, but I hope the next Burzum album isn't as bloody dull as this.

Words / Final Thoughts

  1. 0
    — 2013, eh?

Charles

Top Albums

  1. 1.
    Tribulation - Formulas of Death — What kind of deluded bastard would put anything else at number one? If you didn’t, you need to listen to it again, and again if necessary, until you get it right.
  2. 2.
    Gorguts - Colored Sands — Terrorizer had this at number 34.
  3. 3.
    Cathedral - The Last Spire — The Guessing Game would be one of the only albums from the last few years that would conceivably have stood a fighting chance of beating Tribulation in this list. But it was released in 2010.
  4. 4.
    Beyond - Fatal Power of Death — Unbelievable that the hack who reviewed it for this site only gave it an 80.
  5. 5.
    Altars - Paramnesia — This was my favourite Australian album of the year.
  6. 6.
    Hessian - Manegarmr — Another album I underrated a bit at first. Months later it came up on shuffle, and had me agog.
  7. 7.
    Sink - The Holy Testament parts 1 & 2 — This is actually a double album, half of which was originally released in 2011. But on a technicality I am including it because I missed it at the time and it deserves recognition.
  8. 8.
    Cultes des Ghoules - Henbane — Sometimes I listen and I think “why do I like this?”
  9. 9.
    Oranssi Pazuzu - Valonielu — One of the most convincing fusions of black metal and psychedelic/synth stuff, in my opinion.
  10. 10.
    Fell Voices - Regnum Saturni — Really barren, unwelcoming music.
  11. 11.
    Wormlust - The Feral Wisdom — Been waiting for a full-length from this project since I reviewed one of their demos many years ago. Takes a while to get into but rewards the effort.
  12. 12.
    Saille - Ritu — Not the kind of thing I usually rate very highly but… I rated this very highly.
  13. 13.
    I Shalt Become - Louisiana Voodoo — Hadn’t really heard this band before but this is just great. I love it.
  14. 14.
    Woe - Withdrawal — Good black metal.
  15. 15.
    Dark Buddha Rising - Dakhmandal — Another (loosely defined) drone/ambient album in my top 15. Pretentious.

Words / Final Thoughts

  1. 0
    — This year I have been looking after a small child which takes up more time than you'd think. As a result, there are massive holes in my metal listening, including by acts I have raved about in the past (Ihsahn). So please take this more as "15 albums I managed to hear and really liked", rather than the "top" 15. My list certainly isn't supposed to be authoritative. Except for Tribulation. They DEFINITELY released the best album of 2013.

Andy

Top Albums

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
  14. 14.
  15. 15.

Surprises of the Year

  1. 1.
  2. 1.
  3. 2.
  4. 2.
  5. 3.

Disappointments

  1. 1.
    Trouble - The Distortion Field — After listening to the outcry from the forums and re-listening...I still can't like this album. Sorry folks...
  2. 2.
    Manilla Road - Mysterium — Many of the Shark's recent albums are good, but this didn't look like he tried particularly hard.

Joke of the Year

  1. 1.
    Running Wild - Resilient — When your listeners' best thing to say about this album are "at least it's not 'Shadowmaker'", that's a bad sign.

Words / Final Thoughts

  1. 0
    —

    For only 365 days, 2013 has felt like an eternity. I look back on some of these albums and it feels like I reviewed them years ago -- though many of them have been in continuous circulation in my playlist, deservedly. This year I was looking for diversity in the metal I was listening to, and we sure got it; in addition to a host of newcomers to the metal scene (and some delightful non-metal groups), this was a big year for established acts to turn out new albums, and some of the bigger names that haven't put out anything particularly great in years blew me away with their latest offerings.

    I hope all of our readers enjoyed the past year as much as I have, and I wish you all a great year, and plenty of metal, this 2014.

Neill

Top Albums

  1. 1.
    Windhand - Soma — Just discovered this band this year, but all their albums, and their live show is just amazing. For any fans of Doom and Metal in general.
  2. 2.
    Subrosa - More Constant Than The Gods — Right up there with Windhand. Just an incredible record for each and every second.
  3. 3.
    Lumbar - The First and Last Days of Unwelcome — My review stated this would be number 2, but that was before I had heard Subrosa. However, all 3 of these records are so close to call, and each deserve any and every bit of attention and praise they get
  4. 4.
    City and Colour - The Hurry And The Harm — I love some good Singer/Songwriter/ Folk style music, and City and Colour has been at the top for me for a long time.
  5. 5.
    Man's Gin - Rebellion Hymns. — The vocals in "Inspiration" may be my favorite delivery of the year. An incredible, whisky soaked slab of dark Americana.
  6. 6.
    Starbomb - Starbomb — A comedy Rap album based around video games? Yes, and it's amazing. Egorapter and Ninja Sex Party are here to rock your socks off.
  7. 7.
    Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury — Took a while for me to appreciate the change in style, but so worth it. Just bombastic, and chaotic in the best way. RIP to an amazing band.
  8. 8.
    An Autumn For Crippled Children - Try Not To Destroy Everything You Love — This album was everything and more that I wanted. Nevermind "Sunbather", this is where it's at.
  9. 9.
    Scale The Summit - The Migration — Just technical instrumental awesomeness.
  10. 10.
    Castevet - Obsian — A big step from their first album, which I thought was amazing. Not easy to do, but they have done it.
  11. 11.
    Mourning Beloveth - Formless — Doom masters released an album under my nose, and it has become a great addition to an already stellar discography.
  12. 12.
    Morne - Shadows — Doom, Sludge, Post Metal. Call it what you will, it slays.
  13. 13.
    Grave Miasma - — Death Metal destruction, and some of the dirtiest (in the best way) songs I've heard all year
  14. 14.
    Portal - Vexovoid — Another example of dirty, old school death metal done the right way. Portal deserve much more recognition than I feel they get.
  15. 15.
    Cult of Luna - Vertikal — One of the first albums to come out this year, and still gets many plays. Incredible work, and hopefully they return sooner than later.

Surprises of the Year

  1. 1.
    Black Sabbath - 13 — Don't get me wrong, I love Sabbath. But in 2013, and at their age (and minus one member) I have a lot of doubts. It's not a classic, but it was a lot better than I ever imagined.
  2. 2.
    Sahg - Delusions Of Grandeur — I had never heard of these guys until 2013. I was instantly a fan and have enjoyed the album quite a bit.
  3. 3.
    Extol - Extol — I liked the early Extol quite a lot. "Synergy" and "The Blue Print Dives" had some great work, but felt like let downs. This album was met with some hesitation from me, but it kicks major ass.
  4. 4.
    In Vain - Ænigma — Another example of a band I had never heard until this year. "Hymne Til Havet" is one of my favorite songs of the year. So catchy and came out of nowhere.
  5. 5.
    Vhol - Vhol — Given the band members, this should be on the top 15. It's only not because no one knew what to really expect until the album came out. It's amazing, but as not gotten as many spins as some othe Profound Lore albums this year from me.

Disappointments

  1. 1.
    Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) — Easily number one. I loved Porcupine Tree and the first Steven Solo album. But this, his last solo release and "Strom Corrosion" have just been big back to back disappointments to me. I hate to say it, but this labum was boring, and I don't see myself getting into it.
  2. 2.
    Ihsahn - Das Seelenbrechen — Another band/artist I have the utmost respect for from prior works. This labum just fell sort for me in so many ways. In a year with some incredible music coming out, this just could not stand up close to the rest.
  3. 3.
    Dark Tranquillity - Construct — What the hell happened? Just dull, uninspired and cliche. Such a sad state.
  4. 4.
    Gorguts - Colored Sands — Don't get me wrong, the album is killer. However, given the members involved, I expected more. If Carcass can comeback and kill it, this album should have as well. Not a bad record at all, but one that I expected so much more from.
  5. 5.
    Philip H. Amselmo and the Illegals - Walk Through Exits Only — Pretty much the same feeling as any of the above albums, I just expected so much more from this.

Joke of the Year

  1. 1.
    Megadeth - Super Collider — I'll just say this: Fucking seriously?
  2. 2.
    Six Feet Under - Unborn — Sorry,no matter who is in the band or how much the "improve", Chris Barnes' vocals area joke and ruins any good this bad does.
  3. 3.
    Avenged Sevenfold - Hail to The King — No description needed.
  4. 4.
    Toxic Holocaust - Chemistry of Consciousness. — I don't understand this band, or how/why they keep making music.
  5. 5.
    The Black Dahlia Murder - Everblack — Again, I've never understood the appeal of this band. Just cliche, rip off nonsense.

Words / Final Thoughts

  1. 0
    — For anyone with issues with the top 15: The list was really heavy with Profound Lore records bands/albums. I'm not trying to kiss ass, but the last 3 years or so, I really feel Chris Bruni has been releasing some of the best albums of that given year. Such an incredible roster. Now, This year had some ups and downs, musically and personally. No need to get into the personal, but musically was very surprising. I got to discover new bands that have quickly become some of my favorites, and some bands/artists have released albums that made me almost cringe at how mediocre or just bad they are. I still don't understand the love for "Sunbather". It's not a bad record, but I feel there was so much out there this year that outshines that album in so many ways. I will say, a highlight of my year has been being able to join the MetalReviews Team. I look forward to see what 2014 has to offer, and Thank you all for the chance to do this, and taking the time to read my opinions.