20: 2019 Best of Metal Review Guide (Part One)
This was going to be a quick and easy top ten list. Just before I was ready to publish, I checked out some top ten lists from the around the internet and realized I had a missed a lot of albums. Seeing as there was no rush whatsoever, I made a huge list of my own by scouring end of year lists and set about listening to, grading, and reviewing all of them.
With about fifty albums reviewed, I was once again ready to publish. I got my laptop set up in the bedroom, a baby Mountain Dew at my side, and put an on-topic album on: "Beyond the Circular Demise" by the Japanese band Coffins, one of my favorites of last year...which I realized was nowhere to be found on my best of list.
I had just assumed that any of my personal favorites would be covered in the countless lists I referenced, and the fact that the Coffins album was almost missed sent me spiraling down a rabbit hole of FOMO that would up being an incredible blessing in disguise. As I'm always saying, I said "fuck it!" and expanded my list to over a hundred and fifty albums, including everything released by the best/biggest heavy music labels.
The whole process took well over five months, and outside of some anxiety about every actually finishing, it was one of the more memorable joys of my adult life. It helped me get through some serious valleys of depression and colored most of the good times as well. While nearly every other genre of music has become stagnant, commercialized and standardized, metal music continues to (somehow?!) produce artists and albums that manage to sound like nothing else before them. Most of my favorite albums this year sound like they came from another planet, and each album from a unique planet at that.
Fading Light of Youth presents:
2019 Best of Metal Review Guide
Albums graded against each other, on a 100 point scale, specific to this list and not equivalent to FLoY's standard scale: the basis of this list was other people's "best of" lists, raising expectations and skewing scoring more harsh
0.0 - I'm actually angry I know this exists
3.0 - Trash, typically buoyed by competent musicianship as opposed to enjoyable songs
5.0 - Harmless, lacking standout songs, competent but forgettable - an average album on a "best of" list
7.0 - Enjoyable listening experience overall, typically at least one standout song
10.0 - All time classic I'll be listening to in 3019, technology willing
Tag Guide
Weird: A big compliment, unique and glowing in a sea of strange creatures
Overly Lengthy: Padded, lacking consistency or quality control
Monotonous: Lack of variety or dynamics in instrumentation or vocals
Safe: Fans of the band and/or genre know exactly what to expect
Not For Me: When a popular or hyped album does nothing for me
Disappointing: Previous positive experience or hype not met
Cheesy: Unapologetically silly or flamboyant, unironic theatricality
Wall of Sound: Healing or harming wash of chaotic sonic warmth (a good thing)
Competent: Top-notch musicianship, typically noted in lieu of quality songwriting
Rager: A Fading Light of Youth special, for albums that affirm the power of the human spirit through relentless energy and passion
Noodly: Lacking catchy or memorable riffs, more about musicianship than listenership
Standout Song(s): Favorite, specifically memorable or catchy, immediately impressive
155. Killswitch Engage - Atonement
SCORE: 2.8
Genre: Nu-Metal/Metalcore
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Eighth album
Tags: None
Review: Quite the dubious distinction taking last place on a list this big, but this album sucks. The clean vocals are especially cringey. About as watered down and bland as you can get, a weak and flat and seemingly random mix of metal and rock stylings. Painful.
154. Victims - The Horse and Sparrow Theory
SCORE: 2.9
Genre: Hardcore/Metalcore
Label: Relapse
Place in Discography: Seventh album
Tags: Monotonous
Review: I'm always curious when I'm hearing a hardcore band for the first time in 2020. I feel strongly the genre has had little or no growth in almost twenty years, and my god does this album affirm that. The production is hollow and soft, the songs are so run of the mill and familiar, and the whole album feels like maybe a forgotten gem from 1994 when this style of music was fresh. I wanted to like this so the fact that it is second to last on the list should speak to just how generic and forgettable the album is.
153. Phobia - Generation Coward
SCORE: 3.0
Genre: Grindcore
Label: Willowtip
Place in Discography: Ninth album
Tags: Monotonous
Review: This is Phobia's ninth album but it may as well be their hundredth. Or their first now that I think about it. Unappealing and charmless grindcore, a really short album that still felt long.
152. Knocked Loose - A Different Shade of Blue
SCORE: 3.4
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Pure Noise
Place in Discography: Second album
Tags: Monotonous, Disappointing
Review: I went back and created the "Disappointing" tag specifically for this album. I was curious to see where the band would go after their first album, which was a modest hit for hardcore. I'd seen a few live videos of the band and was on the border of becoming a fan until I heard this album. The riffs are boring, the vocals are predictable, and the songwriting took a huge step back from their first album. When I compare this album to some of the even slightly varied or interesting stuff I heard this year it feels bland, dated, and unfortunately unnecessary.
151. Sacred Reich - Awakening
SCORE:3.5
Genre: Thrash/Heavy Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Fifth album
Tags: None
Review: I heard quite a few thrashy classic heavy metal albums this year, and when the songwriting is strong it is still a fun genre with space to shine in. When the songwriting is not there, as on "Awakening", the results are typically terrible and get worse over time as the genre's strict limitations close in. You can actually feel the effort in these songs, an attempt to make something catchy or memorable. All for naught.
150. Big Brave - A Gaze Among Them
SCORE: 3.8
Genre: Post-Metal, Drone
Label: Southern Lord
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: Wall of Sound, Monotonous, Not For Me
Review: I tagged this album as Not For Me because I do think it is an impressively big and somewhat unique sound but I personally cannot stand it. There are plenty of decent drone/doom instrumentals but the flat and incredibly monotonous vocals kill everything for me. They remind me of someone singing along to earbuds on the subway and making everyone else want to die. Fuck.
149. Lingua Ignota - Caligula
SCORE: 4.0
Genre: Doom Metal
Label: Profound Lore
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Not For Me, Overly Lengthy
Review: I appreciate this album's background and purpose but the actual act of listening to it was torment. That's most likely the point but I have to factor in enjoyment somewhere and I enjoyed very little about this album. Wailed vocals, weak instrumentals stretched beyond reason, and a pounding tone that makes even the silence between songs sound like a fly buzzing. I couldn't stand it, but I did finish it.
148. Saint Vitus - Saint Vitus
SCORE: 4.1
Genre: Doom Metal/Stoner Rock
Label: Season of Mist
Place in Discography: Eleventh album
Tags: Not For Me, Cheesy
Review: I saw this on a few top ten lists and was really curious. The band has been around forever and I was expecting some strong songs. Instead I got a really weak collection of riffs matched with powerful but predictable vocals. There isn't a single catchy song or moment that caught my attention on the entire album, just a thudding wash of dated and unnecessary rock music. I think the only way I'd be impressed by these songs is if they were coming from a bar band I'd never heard of.
147. Noisem - Cease to Exist
SCORE: 4.1
Genre: Thrash/Grindcore
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: None
Review: Significantly better songs than the Phobia album, but still familiar, basic, and unexciting. I graded this extra harshly because 20 Buck Spin stuff is usually unique and you can instantly hear why the label picked the artist. Outside of some decent dynamics for the thrashy grind genre, this is a very short and underwhelming album.
146. Krypts - Cadaver Circulation
SCORE: 4.2
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Dark Descent
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Disappointing
Review: I always expect good things from Dark Descent and the last Krypts album was pretty good, but this one did nothing for me. Mid-paced riffs that lead nowhere, overly long and unexciting songs, and a real lack of memorable moments. In a truly unbelievable year for quality death metal, with bands pushing the envelope in every direction, this album felt especially forgettable.
145. Kublai Khan TX - Absolute
SCORE: 4.3
Genre: Hardcore
Label: Rise
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: Safe
Review: I saw this album mentioned with Knocked Loose a lot, for obvious reasons. I liked this better than the Knocked Loose album, but not by much. There is a tiny bit more variety in both songwriting and tone and even a hint of noticeable variety from one song to the next - but just barely. I don't know what new and unique hardcore music would sound like at this point, and perhaps this is as good as it gets. It just isn't that good and very unimpressive compared to the year's best albums.
144. Desecravity - Anathema
SCORE: 4.4
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Label: Willowtip
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Noodly, Competent
Review: Ugh, this album was the metal equivalent of listening to your neighbor practice scales for an hour. If you omit my appreciation for the technical ability of the musicians involved, I would give this album a zero. I just can't find anything to enjoy or even identify as potentially enjoyable in the purposefully chaotic and noodly "songs" on this album.
143. Enterprise Earth - Luciferous
SCORE: 4.4
Genre: Deathcore/Metalcore
Labe: eOne
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Competent
Review: A large segment of the bottom portion of this list is made up of progressively better metalcore albums. Another genre that I don't expect growth in, I was both disappointed and somewhat relieved to find I hadn't missed much in about ten years. "Luciferous" is the best "core" album on this list thus far, but it is just not saying much. There is some noteworthy changes in tempo and some great atmosphere, but the songs themselves are very 2002.
142. Ara Ora (AO) - Wairua
SCORE: 4.5
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Place in Discography: Debut album
Tags: Overly Lengthy
Review: There are several albums on this list, mostly from Western Europe, which blend death metal and progressive metal to vary degrees of success. There is something in the water, or Europeans are just more open minded. "Wairua" is the first album on this list that surprised me in a positive sense. This kind of noodly, prog for the sake of prog stuff usually doesn't hold my interest, and if this album weren't over a fucking hour long, it had a chance. I absolutely love the production and some of the instrumentation is impressive, but the songs themselves blend together. The more the album goes on the less attachment I felt to the album, but for a debut there's a lot to like here.
141. Moon Tooth - Crux
SCORE: 4.7
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Modern Static/Pure Noise
Place in Discography: Second album
Tags: Competent, Not For Me
Review: I paired this album with "Wairua" on purpose as I feel very similar about both of them and feel they are about equal in quality. "Crux" is MUCH more interesting and frequently approaches real quality songcraft...but it always fell short for me. The album is frustratingly scatterbrained and surviving all the questionable twists and turns of the music becomes a chore. The vocals are also especially not for me, I'd consider them bland for any genre of rock and they drag the energy of the music down to bar band level. Not For Me in a major way.
140. 1349 - The Infernal Pathway
SCORE: 4.8
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Place in Discography: Eighth album
Tags: Monotonous
Review: I was absolutely shocked to find out this was the band's eighth album because I had never heard them. After hearing the album, I can sort of see why. This is some incredibly run of the mill old school black metal with very little to distinguish it. The drums on this album are especially monotonous and there is a real lack of dynamics in the songwriting. As a hard wave of black metal, the album is not bad at all. It has a clean production, a great mix, and the album is paced well. The songs themselves are just not good enough.
139. Opeth - In Cauda Venenum
SCORE: 4.9
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Nuclear Blast
Place in Discography: Fifteenth album 😒😒😒
Tags: Not For Me, Cheesy
Review: Every fucking year Opeth puts out an album that winds up on everyone's top ten list. Every year I give them another chance. Every year I'm totally underwhelmed to the point of annoyance. This'll be the last year for so many reasons, but with this album I feel like band has finally jumped the shark and become a full blown adult contemporary band. To be fair, I saw this album on a LOT fewer lists than I usually do for an Opeth album, so perhaps that tide is turning as well. The bottom line is that this is an admittedly varied and accomplished adult contemporary rock album, if you're into that kind of thing. At this point I don't even know if Opeth fans themselves are.
138. Insanity Alert - 666 Pack
SCORE: 5.0
Genre: Thrash Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Safe
Review: With joy I follow up a fucking Opeth album with a (better) album from the absolute opposite end of the spectrum. Insanity Alert writes short, silly, mostly mid-paced songs totally devoid of pretension. I want to stress just how much better the songwriting is on this album than something like Phobia's album, because I feel like this "short, fast, loud" bands are a dime a dozen. To be clear, there are relatively memorable songs here, and the band does a great job of blending thrashy speed with more mid-paced riffing. However, listening to this very short album was a pretty "meh" experience when compared with the better albums on this list, and it kept slipping for that reason.
137. Mayhem - Daemon
SCORE: 5.0
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Century Media
Place in Discography: Sixth album
Tags: Safe, Standout Song
Review: The first album on our list with a Standout Song: the above "Malum" - notably the only standout song on the album. "Daemon" got some deserved good reviews and was sort of a comeback album for the band, and when "Malum" was released as a single I was pretty excited for the album. I didn't find the rest of the songs nearly as interesting. In fact, I found the album to be a fairly bland wave of noise with little to grab onto. The band has a tendency to ignore songwriting and just play a few riffs and move onto the next one without much purpose. I do love the single and there's certainly nothing embarrassing here. A very safe purchase for fans of the band.
136. Soilwork - Verkligheten
SCORE: 5.1
Genre: Mainstream Metal/Nu-Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Place in Discography: Eleventh album
Tags: Cheesy
Review: I was shocked to see this band is still going. I remember listening to their (US) debut album around the year 2000, it was enjoyable and competent melodic death metal, VERY of the time. Their first few albums were pretty decent but I stopped listening after album four. Hearing album eleven now I'm pretty OK with that. The band has veered hard in the direction of mainstream rock, and it mostly sounds like utter shit. But there are still pretty awesome glimpses into what the band would be like if they stuck with death metal, and the best moments on the album are the darkest and hardest. The rest of the album is saved by strong instrumentation and some good ideas. I'm guessing this is a safe buy for Soilwork fans but fuck do I know?
135. Torpor - Rhetoric of the Image
SCORE: 5.1
Genre: Post-Metal/Sludge Metal
Label: Moment of Collapse
Place in Discography: Second album
Tags: None
Review: This one was especially frustrating. The best parts of this album recall Godflesh and really successfully blend metal and industrial. There are just not nearly enough of them. Very typical of post-metal stuff, there is a lot of exploration that doesn't really reward the listener. It makes the moments when the band actually locks in on a riff or builds to something meaningful the exception instead of the rule. Those moments are pretty great and I'm hoping the band tightens up the songwriting for their next album.
134. Memoriam - Requiem For Mankind
SCORE: 5.2
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Overly Lengthy, Safe
Review: As we creep up toward the mid 5's of the list, I see the word "solid" start to pop up a lot in my notes. "Requiem" is an absolutely solid album, and for fans of Bolt Thrower-style mid-paced death metal it feels like a really successful album. For me, if the album had been about fifteen minutes shorter it would have felt a lot more powerful and enjoyable. The longer it went on the less interesting and original the entire thing felt, and fifty minutes is ridiculous when the songs are as similar in tone and approach as they are.
133. Full of Hell - Weeping Choir
SCORE: 5.6
Genre: Hardcore/Grindcore
Label: Relapse
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: Safe
Review: This band always has good press but I was pretty bummed out by this album. It's already a really short release and it is just absurdly padded with intros, outros, interludes, and really anything other than actual music. When the band does actually get down to performing music, it is fairly decent abrasive and grindy hardcore, bordering on black metal due to the harshness of the vocals and the production. There are some decent moments but the album feels absolutely tiny and underdeveloped.
132. Heilung - Futha
SCORE: 5.3
Genre: Folk, Folk Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Wall of Sound, Overly Lengthy
Review: Germanic Medieval Folk Metal? When you're getting that specific the band is pretty unique and this is one hell of an album. There is a good mix melodic folk and longer, droney chants. My main issue with the album, aside from this type of music not being my cup of tea, is how ungodly long it is. The songs themselves are mostly slow and plodding - that's kind of the point - but this giant album of long songs felt inaccessible. I don't feel the songs would lose anything being half their length - and they'd still be long! Very similar to the Memoriam album above, this felt like a fantastic accomplishment that just didn't really resonate with me for lack of memorable moments.
131. Fleshgod Apocalypse - Veleno
SCORE: 5.3
Genre: Symphonic Black Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Place in Discography: Fifth album
Tags: Safe, Not For Me
Review: This is just a crazy album. I'm not into the genre, but I can't imagine a more varied album of symphonic and operatic metal songs. Is it successful? Sometimes. I think the band is at its best when it layers vocals and slows things down to create some atmosphere. There are still far too many bland thrashy segments that only confuse and the most melodic moments on the album are hit or miss. It is a seriously competent and admirably varied album that all fans of the genre have already fallen in love with.
130. Týr – Hel
SCORE: 5.3
Genre: Viking Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Eighth album
Tags: Disappointing
Review: God bless genres of metal music. Viking Metal, a genre I'd never knowingly explored and didn't feel I was allowed to as a Green Bay Packer fan. I was pretty excited to check this album out after some good reviews. It has amazing, crystal clear production. The instrumentation is top-notch and the album has very little padding or wasted spaced. The only thing the album lacks, and it is a biggie, is great songs. The better songs flirt with greatness but wind up sounding like outtakes from a better album. Still a really solid (here we go again) album from start to finish and most likely a very safe buy for fans of...Viking Metal.
129. The Deathtrip - Demon Solar Totem
SCORE: 5.3
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Profound Lore
Place in Discography: Second album
Tags: Overly Lengthy
Review: This should probably be lower on the list but I'm a Profound Lore Records fanboy and typically can't trash anything they do. For this list, I'll say this album is MUCH better than "Caligula", my lowest rated album the label released in 2019. As for "Demon Solar Totem", my favorite things about it are the title and the cover art, both of which get a solid A from me. The songs themselves are more in the C+ range, a familiar old school black metal vibe of thudding drums and wiry guitar fifs. There is some decent weirdness and dynamics, but the album is mostly forgettable and felt overly long at over forty-five minutes. I definitely liked the Profetus album better than this but I can't bear to retouch the list LOL.
128. Cherubs - Immaculada High
SCORE: 5.4
Genre: Noise Rock
Label: Relapse
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: Weird
Review: It is right around this point in the list that I'm in awe of how good a year it was for heavy music. This is a good album but I feel confident it was only my 128th favorite of the year, no better nor worse. "Inmaculada High" is a feedback soaked fuzz-rock epic. What it lacks in variety it more than makes up for with intensity and swagger. The best moments remind me of the band Todd, criminally underrated "noise rock" that was as catchy as this shit can be. Not all of the songs are good, and there are no truly great songs, but I enjoyed the album overall and found it to be a nice break from metal.
127. Pinkish Black - Concept Unification
SCORE: 5.4
Genre: Post-Rock
Label: Relapse
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: Weird
Review: Another nice break from metal, again from Relapse Records. I noticed they started branching out way more into anything weird as opposed to only metal, but this was still a surprise. The album is a mix of goth-rock, industrial, and post-metal. I especially appreciated the album's strangeness, both in the approach to the songwriting and the way the album sounds from one song to the next. It isn't something I would listen to very often, but along with the Cherubs album it was something I appreciated for being different.
126. Amon Amarth - Berserker
SCORE: 5.4
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Eleventh album
Tags: Competent
Review: This band has been around forever and I'm sure I've heard them a few times, but this is the first album of theirs I sat down and listened to. It was OK! The Competent tag is in full force here. There isn't anything terrible and quite a few of the songs border on interesting. An enjoyable if underwhelming listen and a pleasant surprise for a band on their eleventh album to still have some good rage in the tank.
125. Vltimas - Something Wicked Marches In
SCORE: 5.4
Genre: Death Metal/Thrash
Label: Season of Mist
Place in Discography: Debut album
Tags: Competent, Not My Thing
Review: This was a very hyped supergroup's debut album, featuring members of Morbid Angel, Mayhem and Cryptopsy. It is a polished and professional death metal album with lots of thrash elements and a strange undercurrent of occult that keeps things fairly interesting. Unfortunately for me, I'm just not a fan of the way the vocals compliment the music at all. Even despite that I enjoyed the album, but the vocals will keep me away from repeat listens.
124. Angel Witch - Angel of Light
SCORE: 5.4
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Sixth album (?)
Tags: Safe
Review: Another competent, enjoyable if underwhelming old school heavy metal album I was not expecting to hear this year. I tried to figure out the history of this band and how this album came to be but I was thoroughly confused and gave up. The only big knock on this album is that it is fairly bland within itself, staying very tightly in its lane for better or worse. I always prefer more melodic heavy metal as opposed to this middle of the road style between melody and aggression, but for the specific style this was pretty entertaining and never too cheesy.
123. Torche - Admission
SCORE: 5.4
Genre: Stoner Rock/Space Rock
Label: Relapse
Place in Discography: Fifth album
Tags: Not For Me
Review: I can tell this is a great album for this style of music, but I just can't stand it. This is the style of music Cave In switched to when they stopped making metal. I never forgave them for that and I still cannot get into this fuzzy, spacey rock music with purposefully flat vocals and a total lack of memorable melodies. I guess it is more about the wash of sound than quality songwriting, but Hum was able to do both and this shit doesn't come close to Hum.
122. Misery Index - Rituals of Power
SCORE: 5.5
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Place in Discography: Sixth album
Tags: Safe
Review: It is downright crazy how little this band has changed in almost twenty years. They are still playing the exact same style of slamming death metal, still have a relentlessly angry approach, and still have a sort of muddled political slant to their lyrics I think? This is about the safest purchase I can imagine for a fan of the band because this is a solid album from start to finish and the best songs on this album match the best songs on their first albums. They're just way too close to being those songs.
121. Nightfell - A Sanity Deranged
SCORE: 5.5
Genre: Black Metal
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: None
Review: I liked this album a lot the first time I heard it but when I revisited it at final review time I was a lot more underwhelmed. It is a consistent but repetitive old school black metal album with some modern twists on atmosphere and a few weird and mostly unnecessary segues. When the album is at its best the band blends doomy atmosphere and mid-paced blacked death metal quite well. The title track is especially promising, but the album could use a lot more punch and there were no standout songs.
120. Diocletian – Amongst The Flames Of A Bvrning God
SCORE: 5.6
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Profound Lore
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: Rager, Monotonous
Review: I matched this up near the Teitanblood album below because they were similar washes of sound experiences as opposed to an album of distinct songs. Unlike Teitanblood, who go out of their way to create an atmosphere and build a sense of dread, Diocletian starts at a maximum level of noise and aggression and absolutely never lets up. This album is a painful statement of rage without any sense of comfort or hope. Although I want more variety and dynamics in my music now, I can absolutely appreciate just how nasty this album is.
119. Profetus - The Sadness of Time Passing
SCORE: 5.6
Genre: Funeral Doom Metal
Label: Avantgarde Music
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: None
Review: I'm always willing to give Funeral Doom a shot out of curiosity. The agonizingly slow dirges of the genre can be great to fall asleep to. I honestly am not sure if this is the best funeral doom album of all time or the worst because my mind, body and soul were all completely crushed its weight and enveloping darkness. I think this is a much better album than almost all of the 5's ranked above it, but I can't rank it higher because I'm afraid to listen to it again LOL. Kind of a gimmick, but really by listening to this album you join a special group of resilient and sick people. It is beautiful and void at the same time and really quite an accomplishment in the arena of human suffering.
118. Teitanblood - The Baneful Choir
SCORE: 5.7
Genre: Black/Death Metal
Label: Norma Evangelium Diaboli
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Wall of Sound
Review: The Immolation worship is STRONG with this one. There are very few if any catchy or memorable riffs on this album, and one song melts and lurches into the next, forming a caustic river of slime. There isn't much of a focus on song-craft in general, but the atmosphere and frightening commitment to the dark makes the listening experience fairly powerful.
117. Crypt Sermon - The Ruins of Fading Light
SCORE: 5.7
Genre: Doom Metal/Heavy Metal
Label: Dark Descent
Place in Discography: Second album
Tags: Competent, Standout Song
Review: When I saw an album from Dark Descent on a lot of top ten lists, I figured it was going to be another awesomely murky and disgusting death metal release. This Crypt Sermon album is pretty far from that, and although I was eventually underwhelmed by the album as a whole, the best songs on here give me a lot of hope for the band's next album. Their style is a somewhat odd mix of doomy atmosphere and Iron Maiden style propulsive riffing. The vocals are a little flat for me, especially for this genre, but the songwriting is MUCH stronger than something like Angel Witch or that painful Saint Vitus album. A little cheesy, a little flat, but a unique approach and some really enjoyable moments.
116. An Isolated Mind - I'm Losing Myself
SCORE: 5.7
Genre: Ambient Black Metal
Label: I, Voidhanger
Place in Discography: Debut album
Tags: Overly Lengthy
Review: This was possibly the hardest album of the list to place because it, unfortunately, feels like two albums in one. The first half is an incredibly impressive and immersive mix of black metal and ambient atmosphere. Each song is powerful, driving, and memorable. The second half of the album is somewhere between silence and the equivalent of putting your ear up to the wall to try and hear the neighbors. I'm sure the artist had a vision - more power to them - but I had to grade it as one album, half amazing, half unenjoyable.
115. Vulture – Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves
SCORE: 5.7
Genre: Speed Metal/Thrash
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Second album
Tags: Competent, Cheesy
Review: Like quite a few of these albums, I listened to this in the middle of the night while trying to fall asleep. The vocals are definitely an acquired taste and give the songs a somewhat silly and cheesy vibe, but they ARE unique. The songs themselves are surprisingly solid and the band absolutely sells out from one moment to the next. Along with the Destruction album below, we are in the guilty pleasure section of the list 😋
114. Destruction - Born to Perish
SCORE: 5.7
Genre: Thrash
Label: Nuclear Blast
Place in Discography: Twentieth album (?!!? 😱😱😱)
Tags: Safe, Cheesy
Review: Here's a sentence I never thought I'd write: For the twentieth album of a trash band, this was surprisingly solid! A little less cheesy and a little more aggressive than Vulture but just as committed to the thrash life, I have to give Destruction a TON of credit for how fresh and necessary this album sounds for how long they've been going. There are actual hooks and songwriting here and fans of the genre should be impressed by the energy level and focus of a band on their fucking twentieth album.
113. Strigoi - Abandon All Faith
SCORE: 5.7
Genre: Black Metal/Thrash
Label: Nuclear Blast
Place in Discography: Debut album
Tags: Competent, Overly Lengthy
Review: There are multiple artists named Strigoi making metal music and at least one of them is a Nazi. This is not the Nazi one, this is the debut album of a UK black/death/thrash metal band, and it is pretty darn good! It is WAY too long, with both individual songs dragging on for no reason and the album itself bloated with too many similar songs. It is hard to grade because I enjoyed each song to a point, and thus the entire album to a point. Really good stuff for a debut album, hopefully the next one will be a little more focused.
112. Dead to a Dying World - Elegy
SCORE: 5.7
Genre: Black Metal/Doom Metal
Label: Profound Lore
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: None
Review: Ah, the quintessential Profound Lore Records album. Black metal, shoegaze, lilting theatrical vocals, fucking violin...this album has it all! How much you enjoy this album will vary GREATLY because clearly the artist has forgotten that most people prefer one genre to the next. Then again, if you're buying a Profound Lore album, you already have a pretty open mind, and I do think this album is a reward for that. It is impressive in scope and variety, I just don't have any idea what to do with it now that I've listened to it.
111. Manifestic - Anonymous Souls
SCORE: 5.7
Genre: Thrash/Speed Metal
Label: Punishment 18
Place in Discography: Debut album
Tags: Standout Song
Review: The title track of this album, which I've shared above, was perhaps the greatest gift of this insane project. It became one of my favorite songs of the year, an absolute rager of power metal riffing and aggressive, triumphant vocals. The rest of the album is not nearly as good, something I'm still getting over. The songwriting is really inconsistent overall the album should be much lower on the list. I'm just grateful because the point of this list was to find music I love and I LOVE that song. Weird band, weird album...
110. RAM - Throne
SCORE: 5.7
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Sixth album
Tags: Safe, Standout Songs
Review: OK, this is the band's sixth album and I had never heard of them. I would describe this music as Judas Priest-lite. There is less aggression, power, and melody than Priest but there is a similar fiery sound to their galloping heavy metal songs. I scored this the same as the Manifestic album because I enjoyed the overall album as much but I didn't enjoy any single song as much as "Anonymous Soul". There is a lot of good songwriting variety and the album as a whole is really solid. Highly recommended for fans of NWOBHM who I'm sure already own it.
109. From Man to Dust - Repossession
SCORE: 5.8
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Place in Discography: Debut album
Tags: Noodly
Review: Really impressive debut album from this French band that absolutely no one has heard. It is definitely a little noodly and wanky for me but the songs are solid and the album is HUGE, absolutely filled with riffs and movements. I couldn't score this any higher because there weren't enough memorable moments and definitely no standout songs, but as a wave of death metal riffing and great sounding production, this is a pretty stunning debut.
108. Candlemass - The Door to Doom
SCORE: 5.8
Genre: Doom Metal/Stoner Rock
Label: Napalm
Place in Discography: Twelfth album
Tags: Safe, Competent
Review: Another band that has been going forever that seriously impressed me with their energy level and songwriting. A lot of the best songs successfully walk the line between hard rock and heavy metal and I think will please fans of both genres. In other words, this is a really accessible, almost easy listening experience for a metalhead like myself. It isn't higher on my list because this isn't my favorite style of metal but I would recommend this album to anyone into rock music, and that's still a pretty big list.
107. Ringworm - Death Becomes My Voice
SCORE: 5.8
Genre: Hardcore
Label: Relapse
Place in Discography: Ninth album
Tags: Safe, Rager
Review: As someone who has been listening to Ringworm off and on for twenty years, I was extremely satisfied with this album. While the band absolutely has not changed or grown much musically, they have improved every aspect of their sound and, to my ears, perfected this style of blackened hardcore punk. A+ album cover that manages to standout despite fairly standard subject matter. Yeah, definitely no surprise, just flawless execution of a somewhat dated and limited style.
106. Nile – Vile Nilotic Rites
SCORE: 5.8
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Place in Discography: Ninth album
Tags: Safe, Disappointing
Review: I was into Nile's first few albums like every other metalhead but I was never a huge fan. They became one of the biggest death metal bands in the world without my support somehow, and I was glad they put out an album in 2019 so I could get reacquainted. What I hear on this album is a much more accessible sound, with a less muddled and murky production and a lot more hummable riffs. The album itself is great, but I was a little disappointed the band had softened its sound to such an extent. Those expectations aside I liked "Vile" a lot and I expect it to wind up near the top of their discography when they finally hang up their Egyptian headdresses.
105. Swallow The Sun – When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light
SCORE: 5.8
Genre: Doom Metal/Hard Rock
Label: Century Media
Place in Discography: Seventh album
Tags: Competent
Review: I'm constantly getting bands with celestial bodies in their names mixed up. I had seen this album on countless best of lists - maybe the most after something obvious like Tool or whatever - and the sound I had in my head was not what I got when I actually checked the album out. To quote Homer Simpson watching Barney the Dinosaur, "I can see why this is so popular!" The album is a MASSIVE journey of doomy rock and ultra-brooding atmosphere. The sound is never too harsh and the soft moments outnumber the hard ones. In other words, it isn't really my thing. Now, comparing this album to this year's Opeth album, I absolutely fucking LOVED it and was absurdly impressed at the band's ability to shift from one mood to the next. A very impressive album I'll probably never listen to again.
104. SeeYouSpaceCowboy – The Correlation Between Entrance And Exit Wounds
SCORE: 5.8
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Pure Noise
Place in Discography: Debut album
Tags: Competent
Review: We continue the progressively better metalcore climb with yet another Pure Noise Records release. They seem to be almost single-handedly keeping the genre going. What set this album relatively apart from the worse metalcore albums of the year was better quality control and much better variety in tone. The very few times the album slows down or eases off an incredible level of aggression, it doesn't ease up on the passion or tension. That, along with the aforementioned quality control, made this especially impressive, if a bit lean, for a debut album.
103. Gets Worse - Snubbed
SCORE: 5.9
Genre: Power Violence
Label: Dead Heroes
Place in Discography: Debut album
Tags: Safe, Rager
Review: Holy shit, there are still people out there willing to commit to making power violence music. This album is insane! Although it is a debut I guess the band has been around awhile. The album sounds great and the mix is crystal clear. The songs have everything a fan of the genre would expect: movie samples, multiple vocalists, and short chaotic songs that bash you over the head with intensity and speed. I loved this album and am really glad people are still making this music...but it is still a pretty limited genre and I can't score it any higher.
102. Magic Circle - Departed Souls
SCORE: 5.9
Genre: Heavy Metal/Stoner Rock
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Standout Song, Safe
Review: If there's anything wrong with your Black Sabbath albums, I highly recommend checking this out 😄 I wasn't expecting this straight up worship of the Sabbath sound coming from 20 Buck Spin as they do mostly death metal. I definitely pair this album with the Candlemass album, they are REALLY similar in tone and composition. I like the individual songs on the Candlemass album better but as an album Magic Circle had the more enjoyable listening experience. There's still a little too much silliness in my opinion, but when the band is in the pocket and the songwriting is realized this album is awesome and highly accessible.
101. Inter Arma - Sulphur
SCORE: 5.9
Genre: Doom Metal
Label: Relapse
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: Wall of Sound
Review: Jesus, this is one of the heaviest and densest albums of the year. The band covers everything from Immolation-style dissonant death metal to post-rock wall of sound instrumentals to Godflesh style industrial suffering. This album reminds me of the "horror" movie that Gabe makes on The Office. It seems purposefully vague and suggestive in order to further disconcert the listener. Similar to the Profetus album above, surviving this album is an absolute feat of endurance. It is a masterpiece of misery and I suffered on the band's behalf.
100. Counterparts - Nothing Left to Love
SCORE: 5.9
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Pure Noise
Place in Discography: Sixth album
Tags: Competent
Review: The metalcore madness continues! This was the most blatantly 2001 of all the metalcore albums this year, and I should know. I don't have much to say about this one, it has good quality control and was enjoyable overall. Very short and mostly actual music.
99. Antropomorphia – Merciless Savagery
SCORE: 6.0
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Fifth album
Tags: None
Review: I had to listen to this album three times before I was ready to render a verdict. It is an incredibly dense and winding album filled with wild riffs and relentless drumming. It became my reference point for a 6.0 (along with the Gomorrah album below), which are albums I liked a lot but can't really put my finger on why. "Merciless Savagery" just lives up to its name and is an impressive collection of interesting and polished death metal songs. The fact that I willingly listened to it (more than) three times is proof it should probably be higher on the list :)
98. Foscor – Els Sepulcres Blancs
SCORE: 6.0
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal/Blackgaze
Label: Season of Mist
Place in Discography: Seventh album
Tags: None
Review: I really appreciated how weird and varied this album is. It is a little cheesy and adult contemporary at times, and a little boring in general, but I like the band's sound and it is basically easy listening for heavy music. There are even some decent vocal melodies! Again, it is a little frustrating just how much the band jumps from style to style, but the album is an enjoyable and ethereal journey through the band's relatively unique sound.
97. Numenorean - Adore
SCORE: 6.0
Genre: Post-Metal/Post-Rock
Label: Season of Mist
Place in Discography: Second album
Tags: Weird
Review: This had to be matched up with the Foscor album. Both strange, post-everything collections of genres. Unlike the equally graded 6.0 Foscor album which was enjoyable as an overall listening experience, "Adore" is a mixed bag of great songs and not so great songs. The band explores a lot of styles and sounds, and the album feels gigantic and quite the journey to navigate. The best moments on the album are transcendent and beautiful, warm washes of melody and emotion. There is still some serious quality control, and when the band goes full blown modern metal it is down right upsetting. Still, I'm amazed this is only the band's second album and can't imagine how good an album of only their best moments could achieve.
96. Despised Icon - Purgatory
SCORE: 6.0
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Nuclear Blast
Place in Discography: Sixth album
Tags: Rager, Safe
Review: Holy shit was this a pleasant surprise. I had completely written this band off as useless brocore, but this album was good enough that I can actually call them useful brocore! Despite appealing to the lowest common denominator on every level, the album never bored me or felt overly familiar or predictable. It was VERY CLOSE many times, but I really have to hand it to the band for being just interesting enough to keep me headbanging for the duration. I feel very guilty putting the album this high on the list but it is based on enjoyment and this album was a real hoot 😈
95. Unfathomable Ruination – Enraged & Unbound
SCORE: 6.0
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Willowtip
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: Competent, Rager
Review: Things I love about this album: The uniquely grotesque album cover. The album title. The almost robotic precision of the instrumentation. The horrifically intense mood the album sets with the opening song and maintains for the duration of the album without flinching. Things I didn't love about this album: It was actually too intense to really be memorable and the hyperspeed technical death metal stylings remind me of 2001-2002, which just sucked in general.
94. Gomorrah - Gomorrah
SCORE: 6.0
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Willowtip
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: None
Review: As I mentioned above, Gomorrah's self-titled album became my yardstick to measure other albums by as I liked it a lot but couldn't put my finger on why. The first time I listened to it I found it to be fairly competent Immolation worship but mostly forgettable. I listened to it a second time for this guide and realized I had missed a lot of interesting and cool touches, which drove it up the list. I compared a lot of albums to this one because it is such a satisfying blast of rage and dissonance but still falls a bit short in uniqueness and standout songs.
93. Lord Mantis - Universal Death Church
SCORE: 6.0
Genre: Black Metal/Sludge Metal
Label: Profound Lore
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: Wall of Sound, (Slightly) Disappointing
Review: We are more than sixty album in and this is the first one I was looking forward to as active and up-to-date fan. The last Lord Mantis album was so good I did the unthinkable and bought a copy on CD for my car; they are a great driving band because all of their songs are about rage and misery. After "Universal Death Church", I'm still a fan of course, but I didn't find anything to like as much as on the previous "Death Mask". This album continues the band's abrasive black metal tinged sludge sound but takes it even further in the direction of drone and wall of sound passages. Still quite a powerful and quite frankly brutal achievement, but not likely something I'll buy for the car ride to work.
92. Superstition – The Anatomy Of Unholy Transformation
SCORE: 6.0
Genre: Death Metal/Black Metal
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Place in Discography: Second album
Tags: Safe
Review: Superstition plays thrashy and primal black metal with lots of death metal riffing. I found this album in particular to be one of the best examples of "modern metal" blending whatever the hell style it wants to make a relatively unique sound. There are lots of instrumentals that could be from early Slayer albums and there's an overall decayed feeling to the songs. A really good second album from the band, really only lacking a standout song.
91. False - Portent
SCORE: 6.1
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Gilead Media
Place in Discography: Second album
Tags: None
Review: As is typical with black metal, by the time you hear about an artist they have already called it quits, are facing criminal charges, and usually both. False had been around for awhile but this is only their second, and now final album, and I enjoyed it a lot. In fact, the three pack of albums I scored at 6.1 were all incredibly similar, huge feeling, cavernous black metal. This False album is three gigantic songs that all justify their length with interesting instrumentation, riffs that doesn't wear out their welcome, and a listener-friendly production and mix that actually sounds good. For as chaotic and dark as this album is, the production and flow of the music makes it almost easy listening. Gilead Media is nuts.
90. Gardsghastr – Slit Throat Requiem
SCORE: 6.1
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Profound Lore
Place in Discography: Debut album
Tags: Safe
Review: Another impressive debut album...and on Profound Lore, no less. This is a lot less weird than most of the stuff PL puts out: it is straight-up old school black metal with all the typical frills...and lack thereof. I preferred this albums atmosphere and instrumentation to False's, but the False album had the bigger and better moments. This album stood out for finding a nice middle ground between cacophonous and abrasive black metal blasting and more melodic and listeable keys and guitars. The music itself is as old school as it gets but I appreciated the modern influences. Quite low on the originality score but solid, safe black metal.
89. Schammasch – Hearts Of No Light
SCORE: 6.1
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Label: Prosthetic
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: None
Review: To round out the 6.1 trio of solid black metal albums, we have "Hearts of No Light" the fourth album from the Swiss group Schammasch. As it typical with anything I'd consider "modern" metal, this album is jammed with ideas and explorations, and not all of them work. I think the band goes way too hard in the direction of ambient/atmospheric and the album sags because of it. At almost seventy minutes there were several times I couldn't believe my ears a certain song was still going. That said, when the album does get into a groove the atmosphere the band creates feels meaningful and effective. This will try the patience of all but the most patient listeners, including myself, but it is an admirable achievement and a pretty enjoyable album for seventy fucking minutes.
88. Mizmor - Cairn
SCORE: 6.2
Genre: Black/Doom/Drone Metal
Label: Gilead Media
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: None
Review: Good lord, Gilead Media again with a massive and bizarre black metal release. This was my introduction to Mizmor and I was pretty impressed. Outside of an overabundance of "ambient" passages that border a little to close to silence, this album is wall to wall passion and sadness. Similar to the False album, the long songs never wear out there welcome, but here the riffs are even stronger. There is something otherworldly and impossible to define about the emotional heft of this album. Although the greedy metalhead in me wishes there were more riffs and fewer ambient sections, this is still a great album that I'll be listening to for awhile.
87. Ketzer - Cloud Collider
SCORE: 6.3
Genre: Black Metal/Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: None
Review: This is getting a little embarrassing but this is yet another band I had never heard before, and this is their fourth album. This album is full of thrashy metal that blends elements of death metal and black metal to make something more accessible than either. The band's style is significantly more interesting than the standard sound I'd expect from either genre on its own, and the album actually gets stronger as it goes on with some real standout moments on the second half. The vocals are a weak spot for me, really lacking in variety or dynamics and making the instrumentals less interesting in turn. Everything else is awesome and consider me a fan going into the next album.
86. Endseeker - The Harvest
SCORE: 6.3
Genre: Thrash/Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Safe, Competent
Review: Entombed meets Ringworm! You would think this would fit the metalcore tag but it sounds a lot more like a modern death metal band flirting with actual hooks and songwriting...just a tiny bit. I loved this albums non-stop aggression and just how smooth the old school death metal riffing was. There is no question this album is nowhere near the artistic achievement of Mizmor's Cairn, but I placed this and Ketzer slightly higher because I'm way more likely to put those albums on, and I think that's worth something. Endseeker's music is safe and enjoyable and this album is a well realized collection of searing hardcore-influenced death metal.
85. Health - Vol.4: Slaves of Fear
SCORE: 6.3
Genre: Dark Ambient/Industrial
Label: Loma Vista
Place in Discography: Fourth album
Tags: Weird
Review: Even for someone who enjoyed the first few Health albums, this was a surprise. I hadn't realized the band had gone full dark ambient - and poppy at that! There are some downright catchy songs here, and while the overall sound of the album wears a bit thin by the end, the songs themselves are all solid and enjoyable. This isn't metal, and it is a far cry from the noise rock of the band's early work, but I'm glad I somewhat accidentally listened to it and was impressed by the album's standout songs, including the above "Feel Nothing".
84. Vacivus - Annihilism
SCORE: 6.4
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Profound Lore
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Safe
Review: Another tough album to score, another case of pretty blatant Immolation worship. There is not much variety here and the album feels a little long because of that. The songs themselves are enjoyable and very 2019-2020 sounding, with lots of dissonant melodic touches and wall of sound production. Hard to put my finger on what I enjoyed most about this album but it was a great listen.
83. Ithaca - The Language of Injury
SCORE: 6.4
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Holy Roar
Place in Discography: Debut album
Tags: Rager
Review: MORE metalcore! I had no idea the genre was so alive and...doing OK. Ithaca plays a really enjoyable version of the style, very 2001-2002, with lots of interludes and injections of melody. I really liked everything about this album except just how many of the riffs sounded dated. Luckily they are referencing a guilty pleasure genre of music I never tire of when performed well with some semblance of songwriting. Just enough variety and progress to make things interesting and enough rage and passion to satisfy any fan of the genre. Awesome debut.
82. Tanith - In Another Time
SCORE: 6.5
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Debut album
Tags: Standout Songs, Cheesy
Review: Tanith's debut album stood out for a lot of reasons. Male and female lead vocalists, a weird classic rock meets folk vibe, some great songs and some incredibly cheesy ones. The album has some good instrumentation and lots of good vocals but the songs themselves are only so-so. An interesting sound and a welcome break from the heaviest stuff on this list, not to mention an impressive collection of songs for a debut album.
81. Fractal Universe – Rhizomes Of Insanity
SCORE: 6.5
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Second album
Tags: Noodly, Competent
Review: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. I typically can't find much to enjoy in these almost random progressive metal bands that mix every style at once and crank up the technicality to make things even harder to take in. Somehow, "Rhizomes" manages to actually succeed in mixing styles with a technical bent, and I was especially impressed with the vocal dynamics on this album. There's nothing you're going to be humming in the shower, far from it really, but if you are open minded about heavy music in general this album's competence in songwriting and performance is not to be missed.
80. Contrarian - Their Worm Never Dies
SCORE: 6.5
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Willowtip
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: Noodly, Safe
Review: As you can see, there is a big clump of albums scored 6.5. That was my score for albums that were good, halfway to great. So really these are some pretty impressive albums for roughly the halfway point of any list. I liked this album a lot, and similar to the above Fractal Universe album, for me to like a progressive and noodly modern death metal album a lot it must be pretty fucking incredible. Contrarian manages to pull off a seriously impressive collection of metal stylings, from heavy metal bordering on post-rock all the way to old school death metal, and really it all works. Nothing is overly abrasive and the technicality is well tempered with brevity; the album is a lean and mean 37 minutes with zero filler.
79. Arch/Matheos - Winter Ethereal
SCORE: 6.5
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Second album
Tags: Safe, Overly Lengthy
Review: Another album that I was very surprised I enjoyed, this is half of the band Fates Warning finding a way to make an album without paying the rest of the band, and the results are pretty rocking! The quality of the songwriting, vocals, and production is A+. It is so polished it hardly can be called metal but there is no question it is, a mixture of progressive and technical metal and more straight forward and melodic heavy metal. I remember the night I listened to this album, I had no idea what it was and when I saw it was over an hour long I was dreading it. An hour later I was strutting triumphantly around the room, raising the horns to the cats and feeling pretty badass. Not my favorite style by a mile, not something I'd ever check out, but an awesome, accessible, memorable album of great songs.
78. Necronomicon - UNUS
SCORE: 6.5
Genre: Black Metal/Death Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Place in Discography: Seventh album
Tags: Standout Songs
Review: By my count there are fifteen bands called Necronomicon, but I believe I figured out that this is the seventh album from this particular edition of the book of the dead. The album is a very enjoyable, almost easy-listening collection of symphonic black metal songs and interludes. Incredibly, there are actually some memorable and standout guitar riffs and melodies here. It is such a pleasure that the album never devolves into half-measures, it really feels like a complete album.
77. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Infest the Rats' Nest
SCORE: 6.5
Genre: Thrash/Heavy Metal
Label: Flightless
Place in Discography: Fifteenth album (heh)
Tags: Safe, Standout Songs
Review: I laughed when I saw King Gizzard had yet another album out last year. Jokes on me because it looks like they are actually putting out two albums a year now LOL. God bless those aliens. The typically shapeshifting band shifts into full heavy metal mode on "Infest" and it is sort of unfair how well they nail the genre they are just having a laugh with. The songs are strong, varied, and well thought out. An incredibly safe purchase for fans of the band or heavy metal in general.
76. Syberia - Seeds of Change
SCORE: 6.5
Genre: Instrumental Post-Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Place in Discography: Third album
Tags: None
Review: This style of instrumental post-rock/metal was all the rage around 2005 and I was a huge fan of bands like Russian Circles and So I Watch You From Afar around that time. I lost track of the genre and was pretty shocked to hear this released by Metal Blade. I still don't get it, but I like it! Syberia's songs are more on the melodic side of the spectrum, and I'm just a sucker for this style of driving guitar rock. Nothing groundbreaking - in fact this album would have felt right at home in 2005 - but great, easy listening.
Continued in Part Two
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