In previous incarnations of these end of year pieces, whether hosted by the good ship Ghost Cult, or wherever, I’ve indulged myself by launching into a kind of state of the world address at the outset. You’ll be pleased to know that, in the main, I’m going to spare you such an ordeal and just get down to the business of Heavy Metal brilliance. Why, you cry? Because, listening-to-music-wise (and in general), I’m in the best health I’ve been in for a good twenty years, I’m back in my zone of loving what I love… oh, and there’s a lot of damn good metulz to get through! So, here be my snapshot in time at my thoughts on 2017… (note, “favourite”, not “best”)
But there is some further ado, I’m afraid, because, first here’s a list of some more albums I really liked that didn’t make the list of albums I really liked…
40. Saille Gnosis (code666); 39. Avatarium Hurricanes and Halos (Nuclear Blast) Review; 38. Attic Sanctimonious (Independent/Bandcamp); 37. Fen Winter (code666); 36. Black Dahlia Murder Nightbringers (Metal Blade); 35. Alestorm No Grave But The Sea (Napalm); 34. Art of Anarchy The Madness (Another Century) Review; 33. Beyond Grace Seekers (Independent/Bandcamp) 32. Savage Messiah Hand of Fate (Century Media) Review; 31. Mutation III: Dark Black (Undergroove) Review; 30. Arcane Roots Melancholia Hymns (EasyLife) Review; 29. Wiegedood De Doden Hebben Het Goed (Consouling Sounds) Review; 28. Lock Up Demonization (Listenable); 27. Junius Eternal Rituals For The Accretion Of Light (Prosthetic) Review; 26. Der Weg Einer Freiheit Finisterre (Season of Mist) Review; 25. Morbid Angel Kingdoms Disdained (Silver Lining) Review; 24. Power Trip Nightmare Logic (Southern Lord) Review; 23. Vallenfyre Fear Those Who Fear Him (Century Media) Review; 22. Lovebites Awakening From Abyss (JPU) Review; 21. Rise Against Wolves (Virgin) Review
Right, now onto the absolute faves…
20. Unleash The Archers Apex (Napalm) Big Heavy Metal, Review
19. Beast In Black Beserker (Nuclear Blast) Upbeat, cheesy Power Metal. Review
18. Body Count Bloodlust (Century Media) The best Body Count album. Review
17. Code Orange Forever (Roadrunner) Game-changer, Review
16. Orden Ogan Gunmen (AFM) Grin-inducing Power / Heavy Metal Review
15. Soen Lykaia (UDR) Tool-y/Katatonia-y melancholic Progressive Metal. Classy. Review
14. Myrkur Mareridt (Relapse) Blackened Dark Gothic Pop. Or something. Review
13. Memoriam For The Fallen (Nuclear Blast) Top old school Crusty Metal. Review
12. Northlane Mesmer (UNFD) Lush, progressive post-metalcore. Review
11. Iron Reagan Crossover Ministry (Relapse) Clue is in the album title…Review
10. Wolfbrigade Run With The Hunted (Southern Lord) “Channeling the spirit of Motörhead and Discharge while indulging in more than a smattering of Wolverine Blues; a chaotic torrent of melody and aggression” Review
9. Creeper Eternity, In Your Arms (Roadrunner) A brilliant gothic-tinged punky rock album with loads of great songs wot I like. Fair play. Review
8. Akercocke Renaissance In Extremis (Peaceville) Genuinely wasn’t expecting an album of Prog Thrash! And a superbly impressive one at that. Have loved it more with each listen, and I had a massive grin on from listen number one. Review
7. Trivium The Sin And The Sentence (Roadrunner) Big Trivium fan, innit, yet I’m always a slow burn with their albums, which is a bit weird, really, so I’m not quite sure where I’ll end up with this one. I do know that I like it (obviously) and that it’s got some great songs on it. Anyway, this is the album that brings in all the different bits and bobs that’s made up the various incarnations of Trivium into one platter. Which can’t be a bad thing. Review
6. Ulver The Assassination of Julius Caesar (House of Mythology) Slinky. Brilliant. And contains one of my favourite songs of the year… Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaCBkv_2Ht4
5. While She Sleeps You Are We (Sleeps Brothers) Big, big songs. Actual metalcore of the highest order. Review
4. Decapitated Anticult (Nuclear Blast) Simply a great, HEAVY album. Meathook riffs, neck-snapping rhythms, and a step-up in songwriting quality. Review
3. Mastodon Emperor of Sand (Reprise) Up there with Crack The Skye as my favourite of theirs. That back-straight run of ‘Ancient Kingdom’ through to the end is ridiculous Side B antics. Review
2. Cradle of Filth Cryptoriana (Nuclear Blast) Their best since Midian and an absolute no-faffing-about rip-snorter of prime Cradle. Not stopped wanting to play it again and again since its first outing. Review.
1. Kreator Gods of Violence (Nuclear Blast) This has led the list from 1 January all the way through to today. And, no doubt, beyond. My favourite Heavy Metal album in a long, long time. Thrashy, anthemic, Heavy Metal Victory. I utterly adore this album. Review
Hope you find something new above, and some great music to put a smile on your face. 2017, musically, has certainly done that for me.
Cheers
STEVE TOVEY