Falconer - From a Dying Ember (Metal Blade Records)
After a too long hiatus (see Top of 2014), Falconer released their "swan song" record in 2020 while announcing that they will be splitting up permanently after that. "From a Dying Ember" remains loyal to Falconer's style with great melodic guitar riffs, folk elements dispersed throughout and of course Mathias Blad's unique and theatrical voice that makes each song memorable. The album is full of little gems like the amazing intro "Kings and Queens", the medieval-like "Fool's Crusade" (with a great acapella interlude) which is follow by an equally awesome instrumental "Garnets and a Gilded Rose" and "Bland sump och dy" which is sung in Swedish.There are also some tracks that change the pace, adding a more melodic twist like the acoustic "Rejoice the Adorned" which is heavily based on piano. Overall the album is a welcome addition to Falconer's interesting journey
as a band continuing to explore music without losing their unique sound. Fans can only hope that this split will not be permanent and at some point in the future we will get to hear more music from them!
93.45/100
Below is theofficial audio for "Kings and Queens".
The End of All is the second full length album by melodic heavy metallers Six Foot Six which came out just in time for the 2020 wrap up (December!) and is once again led by great clear vocals, by lead vocalist Kristoffer Göbel (known by Falconer & Destiny), also on rhythm guitar, spewing amazing guitar melodies. From beginning to end, the album is full of memorable tunes and choruses including awesomely catchy tracks like the intro "Welcome to Your Nightmare", dynamic and groovy twists like the title-track "End of All", as well as more imposing tunes like "In God We Trust" and the Falconer-reminiscent "Blood Will Out"! The band shows how versatile they can be by shifting between different tunes and tempos without losing their melodic side, creating a very interesting album that can be heard on repeat and can be appreciated increasingly the more you listen to it. Highlights include "Last Days of Our Lives" which has some of the best guitar solos & mid-song surprises of the album and personal favourite "Finale Vittoria" which acts as refreshing change of pace! Overall, the Scandinavians know how to create the 100% perfect melodic riffs and are worth keeping an eye on!
93.21/100
Below is the official music videos for "Welcome To Your Nightmare" and "The Last Days of Our Lives".
Welcome to another list of best albums, counting down the best among 2020 records. Before we get to the meat of the list, we will present some records that came out that while great, didn't quite get there. Without further delay, we are presenting:
2020 HONOURABLE MENTIONS (In no particular order)
Lucifer - Lucifer III (Trooper Entertainment)
Lucifer, released their 3rd full length album in 2020 and it doesn't lack anything from what makes their sound unique including a retro dark feeling and amazing female vocals which steal the show. The band is not afraid to move between different sounds and styles, from atmospheric tracks like “Leather Demon”, to the more energetic “Flanked by Snakes” and the title-track “Lucifer” without missing out on their doomy beginnings. Worth a listen for those who are into that occult-inspired heavy rock.
Merkfolk is a an interesting folk band from Poland who released their third full length album in 2020. All songs are in the band's native language which fits perfectly with a mixture of flute, fiddle and accordion melodies. The record is pure folk with many tracks having a traditional but yet unique sound like "Dwa wina". A great listen by "the bringer of folk" (as the band's name loosely translates)!
Italian Neoclassical Rockers Moon Reverie truly impressed us with their debut outing from Rockshots last year. Their combination of technical musicianship with beautiful vocal lines and lengthy neoclassical instrumental pieces that demonstrate their virtuosity and their passion for music, was enough to stand out from the rest of the releases in their genre this year, exciting everyone regarding possible future music outputs from the band and showing how a mildly contrived genre can get new ideas and directions from young and energetic artists that pay tribute to its past while shaping its future.
Another debut album, this time from Mexican speed/glam metallers Jet Jaguar. A breakout act from Wacken 2017's Open Air Metal Battle, they were able to take full advantage of that fact, by signing to a label (Pride and Joy) that is very good at showcasing new acts in a wider audience, and released a killer debut album, which includes not only hooky songs (such as "Blinding Lights"), but excellent compositions of pure speedy heavy metal!
Magnum is one of those bands who still remain "true rockers" and ALWAYS deliver on their releases (making it into a number of our earlier Tops including 2016, Hard Rock Top and 2018). Armed with Bob Catley's unique voice, The Serpent Rings (the 21st full length album by Magnum!!!), has all the great traits of band including catchy tunes that are bound to be instant classics like "Where Are You Eden?" and chorus that are made for sing alongs like "Not Forgiven". Definitely worth a listen while waiting to see them live sometime in the future.
In their 4th full length release, German Doomsters completely flipped the script, and presented a record that differs quite considerably from their previous releases, approaching their doom metal through the lens of the Dio-era albums of Black Sabbath and adding a very distinct 80s Neon/Scifi aesthetic to their distinct epic doom sound. Their experiment was successful for the most part and while we may miss the epicness oozing from their previous releases, this is still a great album unveiling a different aspect of the band, showing that the band is way more than a one-trick pony.
Aether Realm - Redneck Vikings from Hell (Napalm Records)
Aether Realm are one of those releases you hear about randomly and gets you hooked right away. Coming from the US, the band has a melodic death sound with a more "radio-friendly" twist that makes them memorable. The album has a number of great tracks including the super-catchy "Goodbye" and the fanbase-dedicated "TMHC" (standing for the Tiny Metal Hand Crew) making it enjoyable to listen through the album. It is worth having this band in mind as they show some great traits differentiating themselves from the classic melodic death metal sound.
Mike LePond's Silent Assassins - Whore of Babylon (Silver Lining Music)
In their third offering, the personal band of Symphony X's bassist continue playing unadulterated pure heavy metal with touches of speed. prog, power and epic metal sprinkled in at different quantities throughout the record. Lepond has developed over these three releases a personal sound and this is even more evident here, where almost any composition could easily be a hit single, with almost no filler chaff mixed in. Among the best tracks of the album are "Ironborn", "Ides of March" and "Dracul's Son", but virtually any song has the potential to grow into a mega-hit. Highly recommended for all metal-heads with an affinity for late 90's power/heavy metal sound!
Italy is known for a breadth of melodic heavy metal bands but not many are as successful in creating memorable and catchy tunes like Temperance. The album is packed with with tracks that stick to your mind and you are bound to listen on repeat with examples like the pumping "I Am the Fire", the melodic "My Demons Can't Sleep" and last but not list the Mission-Impossible2-inspired "Mission Impossible". With the bonus of a blend of great female and male vocals complimenting each other, Viridian makes for an uplifting release worth checking out.
It might have been some time since we last heard from French folk band (previously in the 2013 Top) but they still got this unique sound that fits perfectly with their mixture of French and regional Occitan dialect. Straight from the first track "Lo pèla pòrc" to the memorable "Libertat", the album is packed with traditional sounds (including hurdy gurdy, flabuta, boha and accordion). A very interesting 2020 release from the French folk scene, making us wish there were more bands like them!
What a debut album! Greyhawk show signs of great things to come in the future with their Keepers of the Flame. Riding on the wave of great heavy metal bands coming out of the US in the past couple of year, Greyhawk sound like a band to keep in mind with great clear vocals which along with heavy metal riffs make for some memorable EPIC tracks like "Frozen Star" and "Keepers of the Flame". Definitely worth a listen for all those true heavy metal fans!
Another year, another great release from Roine Stolt and company this time around, just one short year after the release of the excellent Waiting for Miracles! While not as masterful as its predecessor, Islands manages to be another highly enjoyable release in the long list of beautifully crafted albums by one of the most consistently good prog rock acts out there. Highlights of the record include the single "Broken" and "Tangerine" which interweaves the vocals of Hasse Fröberg with those of Stolt in a truly magical vocal interplay worthy of any previous release of the band!
On number 12, we have the new album by Amorphis, the Finnish melodic heavy metal band with a long history of amazing albums since the beginning of their career back in the 90's (with one of them previously gracing our Top of 2011). "The Bee" introduces what the band is skilful in, harmonically combining the melodic aspect of Tomi Joutsen's clear and mellow vocals with his heavier growls while the music perfectly follows in line those changes with some memorable guitar riffs. "Message in the Amber" has a more epic twist adding volume to its sound and showcasing amazing songwriting from Esa Holopainen, while different members of the band contributing to different songs creating an overall unique outcome. "Daughter of Hate" adds a darker note to the record with a heavier sound that blends uniquely with an imposing chorus, saxophone sounds (by Jørgen Munkeby) and spoken words in Finnish (by Pekka Kainulainen), while "The Golden Elk" (with its mixture of violins, guitars and other traditional organs) and "Wrong Direction" (with a stronger keyboard sound) lean on the band's easily trademark melodic sound. The more atmospheric "Heart of the Giant" has a middle-eastern feel to it created using an orchestra and a chorus to expand on the sound in order to compliment the ever shifting vocals. The album is ever-changing with "We Accursed" and "Grain of Sand" being more classic melodic death songs that are not lacking in twist with the former having a prog-ish mid-song twist full of keyboards and the latter being full of interesting melodic guitar riffs. The most "catchy" and memorable song of the record has to be "Amongst Stars" where we have a guest appearance by Anneke van Giersbergen (from more bands that I can count including The Gathering, Ayreon, Devin Townsend etc.), who blends wonderfully with Joutsen's clear and growl vocals adding an even more melodic touch to the record!
The ambient but pompous "Pyres on the Coast" might be the last track but there are two awesome bonus tracks, the imposing and melancholic "As Mountains Crumble" (constantly moving from acoustic to prog keyboards and epic tunes) and the equally atmospheric "Brother and Sister" for those looking a bit more of the Amorphis!
95.25/100
Below is the official music video for "Among Stars" and the official lyric video for "The Bee".
Amorphis are back with their 10th album, The Beginning of Times, adding another record to their lengthy list of interesting releases, partly due to the amazing vocalist Tomi Joutsen as well as a mix of heavy and melodic tunes. The band doesn't hesitate to experiment (considering that they started from death metal) adding female vocals (by Netta Dahlberg) and flutes (along with folk elements) in songs like the "Mermaid" and the "Song of the Sage", while the rhythm changes especially in the "Soothsayer" and the "Beginning of Time" (that gave its name to the album), which can be described as the peak moments of the album. The album sets off with the amazing "Battle for Light" with themes that range from more radio-friendly songs such as the "You I Need" without missing out powerful tracks like the "Three Words" and the anthemic chorus in the "My Enemy"! Overall, the Finnish band sticks to the musical themes of the previous albums while developing new ideas and adding unique elements at each step. An excellent addition to their extensive back-catalogue.
93/100
Below is the official video for the song "You I Need".
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!
