Metal Reviews

Since 2008 is drawing to a close... What albums have impressed you the most this year? What do you feel are worthy albums of a supposed Best Album of the Year Award?

I'd say my top pick would be Scar Symmetry with Holographic Universe. The album is immensely strong in all aspects and is truly a diverse piece of work. It shows that melodic death metal is certainly not dead, and with guys like SS at the helm that it has a bright future. Even though vocalist Christian Alvestam is gone, I think they're still going to be kicking ass for awhile.

Holographic Universe just had so many great moments on it. It's definitely the album I've spun the most this year. Fear Catalyst is probably my favorite song on it.

Couldn't say my top, but a bunch that come to mind as memorable:

Johnny Truant - No Tears For The Creatures
Opeth - Watershed
Sigur Rós - Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
Origin - Antithesis
Meshuggah - obZen
Dir en grey - Uroboros
The Fall Of Troy - Phantom On The Horizon
Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends
Cancer Bats - Hail Destroyer
Aborted - Strychnine.213
Bring Me The Horizon - Suicide Season
The Berzerker - The Reawakening
Black Francis - SVN Fngrs

Top 3 so far:
Enslaved - Vertebrae
Grand Magus - Iron Will
Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls/Suspyre - When Time Fades...

Top 3 Disappointments:
Opeth - Watershed
Jorn - Lonely Are the Brave
Imagika - Feast for the hated

Y'all bitches have to wait a few months to get my top 15, but Enslaved, Origin, Opeth, Meshuggah, and Scar Symmetry will be on it somewhere. That Aborted album won't be, disappointing pile o'poo that was.

When do we get to do the voting threads?

Hieronymous Bosch - Equivoke
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig
Arghoslent - Hornets of the Pogrom
Moonspell - Night Eternal
The Rotted - Get Dead or Die Trying
Lair of the Minotaur - War Metal Battle Master
Virgin Black - Fortissimo

Enslaved - Vertebrae
Leviathan - Massive Conspiracy Against all Life

In order so far:

1) Dir en grey -- Uroboros
2) The Mars Volta -- The Bedlam In Goliath
3) Protest The Hero -- Fortress
4) The Black Mages -- Darkness And Starlight
5) Soilent Green -- Inevitable Collapse In The Presence Of Conviction
6) Moonspell -- Night Eternal

And Night Eternal still gets roughly somewhere in the 80's. A lot of good albums this year.

Top 5 in no order

-Protest the Hero - Fortress
-Coldplay - viva la vida death and friends
-In Flames - A sense of purpose
-Scar Symmetry - holographic universe
-Alpha Galates - a Stimulus for reason

can't decide between Protest the Hero, The Mars Volta, and Stiletto Formal. i lean towards the latter because i had really high expectations for both of the former that neither album quite reached, even though they're both amazing.

Protest the Hero
Seventh Avenue
Stormwarrior
Equilibrium
Messugah
Zero Hour
Enslaved
Opeth
Arsis
Origin
Ayreon
Falconer
In Flames
Avantasia
Judas Priest
Power Quest
Amon Amarth


Still haven't heard Theocracy, Hammers of Misfortune, and
Hieronymous Bosch.

I like threads like this. They help me realize what I've missed throughout the year.

metalness's list has a nice curve ^_^

Equilibrium, Scar Symmetry, In Flames, Unearth, Avantasia, Amon Amarth, Mudvayne, Nickelback (yes, I know I'm gonna get shit for that last one, but what the hell, listen to it before bashing me.)

Sexy curves awright

Jon Oliva's Pain - Global Warning
Testament - The Formation of Damnation
Draconian - Turning Season Within
Dragonforce - Ultra Beatdown
Battlelore - The Last Alliance
Evergrey - Torn
Falconer - Among Beggers And Thieves
Týr - Land
Benedictum - Seasons of Tragedy
Keldian - Journey of Souls
Avantasia - The Scarecrow
Neal Morse - Lifeline
Moonspell - Night Eternal
Sam Roberts - Love At The End of The World
Nazareth - The Newz

For the most part thats how mine will look, still like 15 albums I've listened to once that seemed pretty awesome that I need to listen to some more, so some that may take over on the list: Ayreon - 01011001, Dark Empire - Humanity Dethroned, Harmony - Chapter II - The Aftermath, Seventh Avenue - Terium, Harem Scarem - Hope, Amon Amarth - Twilight of The Thunder God, Orden Ogan - Vale, Dragonfly - Alma Irae, Elvenking - Two Tragedy Poets, etc..

Good year so far, but it really slowed down for me over the last couple of months.

Cult of Luna, Mouth of The Architect close second.

How is that Elvenking? Isn't that the acoustic one?

Fortress came out this year?

daaaayyyuuuuummm

Def my numba one.

Coulda sworn that was last year. I can't think of my second place right now.

yeah, wayyyyy back in January yo

it's weird that two of my three favourite albums came out so early in the year.

My list wont as diverese as most of yours, mosltly because I haven't heard that many new albums. But, here it is:

Tankard - Thirst
Destruction - D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.
Exciter - Thrash Speed Burn
Origin - Antithesis
Testament - The Formation of Damnation
Toxic Holocaust - An Overdose of Death
Guillotine - Blood Money
Headhunter - Parasite of Society
Motorhead - Motorizer

go figure, 90+% of it is thrash...

I need to get out more.

I still want to hear:
Amon Amarth and Benediction

My top picks (for now, as I haven't listened to very much this year) would be in no particular order:

Avantasia - "The Scarecrow"
Firewind - "The Premonition"
Pyramaze - "Immortal"
Stormwarrior - "Heading Northe"

In time, maybe Brainstorm, Judas Priest, Falconer or Seventh Wonder will be on the list too.

IMO so far, '08 has been a bit stronger than '07. But there hasn't been any album that REALLY blew my mind this year. Last year had the amazing "Doom Of Destiny" by Axxis, although the majority of albums bought left me kind of indifferent. This year almost every album I've heard was good or great but nothing unbelievable. IMO, 04, 05 and 06 are still the three strongest years for metal in this decade. I don't think it's VERY noticable, because every year since 1997 has practicaly been great. But still hoping we get back on track next year.