#14 - Top of 2014

Celtic Legacy- The Lie Of The Land (Eternal Legacy Records)

"The Lie of the Land" is the fourth album of Celtic Legacy, a heavy/folk metal band from Ireland. Although this was initially pegged as a solo release from Dave Morrissey, as the band had disbanded since 2009, it was eventually developed into the fourth full length record by Celtic Legacy, with the addition of vocalist  Ciarán Ennis.
This album is a exquisite blend of classic heavy metal music with Irish folk undertones, which while not apparent throughout the record, give it a genuine feel and set it apart from other records of the same sub-genre. Some of the highlights of the record include the single "My People" and the song from which the album took its name "The Lie of the land". The band has since not released anything else and there are no news regarding its future, which given the state of the line-up does not seem to bode too well. Let's hope we will hear some new music from them soon!


94/100

Below is a tribute video for Gary Moore with the Celtic Legacy song "Emerald Eye" (from this record)  playing on the back . This was the only video relevant to this album that we could find!

#15 - Top of 2014

Edguy - Space Police: Defenders of the Crown  (Nuclear Blast)

This is the latest Edguy album to date and the tenth studio album from Tobias Sammet's outfit. This is another stellar european power metal release with hard/glam rock elements, as were  the last 3-4 albums by Edguy. Although you will not be hearing the classic power metal of the earlier days of Edguy, or Avantasia for the matter here, this is still an excellent record and an excellent example of how Edguy sound at the moment.  Highlights of this record include "Defenders of the Crown", the humorous "Do me like a Caveman" and the epic "The Eternal Wayfarer", mixing up all different styles that Edguy have been playing in the post "Hellfire Club" era.  An excellent record with many songs that are tailor-made for inciting the crowd in the band's live concerts.



94/100

Below is the music video for "Love Tyger"

#16 - Top of 2014

The Merlin Bird- Chapter and Verse (Self-Released)

The Merlin Bird are a prog rock band from Australia. They were founded circa 2000 and since then they had just two releases: an EP ("Reason and Rhyme") released in 2003 and this full-length release in 2014. The band seemed to be bigger in the beginning but by this album had been reduced to just two members with a number of external collaborators brought in to contribute. This record is, as rightly described by the band itself "...Jethro Tull meets Enya in a bar that's owned by Genesis, but full of people arguing about Pink Floyd". Overall the record has a variety of songs that are cohesive between them, but at the same time have an individual identity and are influenced by classic Prog rock, folk music and acoustic elements. Highly recommended!


93/100

Below is the audio from the track "Truth is a lady".

#17 - Top of 2014

Falconer- Black Moon Rising (Metal Blade Records)

Falconer are back with their 8th album and they only seem to be getting better with time! "Black moon rising" is a melodic power metal album with folk elements and amazing guitar riffs and solos. All the songs are memorable and instantly stick with you, thanks to Mathias Blad's incredible vocals that light up each song and make it sound epic. There are some slower paced songs like "Scoundrel And The Squire" that act as intermissions to more powerful pieces like "Locust Swarm" and "Halls and Chamber" but are equally interesting and melodic!



93/100


Below is a lyric video for the song "Halls and Chambers".

#18 - Top of 2014

Rival Sons - Great Western Valkyrie (Earache)

Released in June 2014, this is the fourth work from Rival Sons and their most well-rounded work to date. Rival Sons are a southern rock/ hard rock band from California. They became well known with their second work, Pressure and time (2009) and were further propeled into fame by their third album and the single "Keep on Swinging". With this, their fourth full-length release, they reached the top of the US Heat Charts as well as a very respectable no 14 on the UK charts. This is well-deserved for this release as it strays from the southern sound of their predecessors and veers towards a more pure blooded hard rock record who is bound to appeal to a more broad audience while at the same time keeping true to their southern influences.


93/100


Below is the music video from "Electric Man", the opening track of the album.

#19 - Top of 2014

Messenger - Illusory Blues (Svart Records)

Moving further down the top is UK progressive band Messenger with their captivating record "Illusory Blues", which might be one of the most interesting debuts of 2014. Filled with amazing progressive and psychedelic influences the album merits the listener with stunning and elegant melodies that mix perfectly with powerful vocals by Khaled Lowe. "The Perpetual Glow of a Setting Sun" is the highlight of this whimsically melodic journey and is bound to stick to your mind!
If you are looking for a proggy chill-out experience with some heavy twists that will take you back to a 70's psychedelic rock era, this is a must-hear album.



93/100

Below is the music video for "Dear Departure".

#20 - Top of 2014

Jonne- Jonne (Massacre Records)

Jonne is a new acoustic folk project by Jonne Järvelä, the vocalist of folk metal band, Korpiklaani. Jonne's unique voice blends perfectly with the traditional folk elements in this album, which is following a different route from his previous work with Korpiklaani. There are many interesting songs including "Metsään On Iäksi Mieli" which incorporates Native American chants in the folky sound. Jonne also has "Joki", a Finnish version of the well-known Styx song "Boat on a river" and a traditional cover of Simon and Garfunkel‘s "The Boxer"! Although, the fact that the album is in Finnish (except for the final song) might turn some people away, I would recommend this project to anyone who is into traditional folk music or just wants to see how would an acoustic Korpiklaani would sound like!


93/100


Below is the music video for "Metsään On Iäksi Mieli" (The age of the wood mind)

#21 - Top of 2014

The tea party- The ocean at the end (Anthem Entertainment) 

Next on this list is "The ocean at the end", the new installment to "The Tea Party" saga after an absence of 10 years. Although, the album was received with some mixed reactions, to which Jeff Martin responded, saying that: "we’re making music for ourselves and we’re having fun, that’s the whole point of it all”. No one can dismiss some very interesting and catchy songs that the band has produced here, such as "The black Sea", “Submission” and “The Cass Corridor”. The album is filled with an abundance of  different string and percussion instruments, that adds to  the classic progressive rock sound of the album with the highlight being the almost Latin-like track "Brazil". Overall, this album is a powerful world music inspired journey through different sounds and scenery!

93/100

Below is the music video for the dreamy title song "The ocean at the end".

#22 - Top of 2014

Dream spirit - Jiangshan( 江山) (Independent)

梦灵 or Dream Spirit is a very interesting folk metal band from China who released their first full album 江山 in 2014. With the lyrics being entirely in Chinese, someone would expect that it would be hard to follow, but the great clear vocals by 曹洪顺 and the amazing melodic riffs by 李时嘉 and  谷旭 in the guitars and 王曦 in keyboards make the listen worth it! Although, my information on the band is limited due to my lack of knowledge of the Chinese alphabet, I would definitely recommend this album and this band to anyone interested in folk metal.


 93/100

Below is a video from one of the band's live performances.

#23 - Top of 2014

Evil masquerade- The digital crucifix (Dark Minstrel Music)
  

"The digital crucifix" is the new album by Evil masquerade, a band from Denmark that is too heavy to be called hard rock and too melodic to be power metal, but mixes all these aspects and the result is amazing. Despite the band's dark look, the music is melodic throughout the album and it goes along with the great vocals by the new vocalist Tobias Jansson. This is the band's sixth album that was produced by the guitarist Henrik Flyman ten years after their first full album release and it doesn't lack anything in creativity or intensity! From the instrumental "the Hangover" to the engaging "The Nature Is Calling", "The digital crucifix" is a surprisingly excellent album!

92/100

Below is the  music video for "Like Voodoo"