Bütcher - 666 Goats Carry My Chariot (Osmose Productions)
Bütcher blast their way with the EPIC instrumental "Inauguration of Steele" and the heavy speed anthem "Iron Bitch (Unholy Wielder of the Blade)" leaving no doubt that this album will pump the listener with their high-pitched vocals by Hellshrieker (shifting between King Diamond to rabid shrieks), quick-paced guitar riffs and HEAVY-AS-HELL drumming! The album oozes rough epicness which has a dark twist due to the black metal touches (as heard in "Sentinels of Dethe") that are blended perfectly with speed metal. But you are in for a treat as the band takes epic on another level with the title-track "666 Goats Carry My Chariot" and its awesome Bathory-inspired intro and the mid-song heavy metal riffs that need to be heard to be believed!Closing with an amazing acoustic instrumental, "Exaltation of Sulphur", at just 36 minutes, the album is an uncut gem that does not overstay its welcome and has tremendous replay value for every fun of true metal.
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!
It is indeed rare to meet new bands that have something new to offer to traditional heavy metal forms. Especially when a new band attempts to blend genres it is often the norm that the end result sounds more as a vomit-inducing thought experiment and less like real music. However Axxios in their debut release offer a blend of traditional/power metal with black metal that transcends the boundaries of thought experiment and goes into the territory of pioneering new ground for metal while at the same time churning out some unforgettable music! The band members are not well-known musicians with decades of experience but young upstarts with their eyes burning aiming to set ablaze current music trends! Dan Baggarly(vocals) does an excellent job of balancing melodic elegies with guttural growls, while Dave Matthews and TJ Fernandez (guitars) provide back-up with a never-ending stream of killer riffing. This is a unique hidden gem among last year's releases!
94/100
Below is the audio track for "Conquests of the Insatiable". If you enjoy the band, consider supporting them in their Bandcamp page!
Better late than never and we kick off the top albums of 2019 with a real treat, as we welcome the debut of Canadian Heavy Metallers Riot City. It has been said that you should not judge a book by its cover. But when the cover could be an alternative for "Screaming For Vengeance" then maybe the ol' proverb has found its true exception! Riot City hail from Calgary, Canada and are a 4 member band first formed around 2011, apparently to become the best US power/speed band in the world. "Burn the Night" is only 37 minutes long and is made up of pure fresh heavy metal elegy. The disc is always heard in one take and the hand rarely stays away from just pressing the repeat button. The eight tracks of "Burn The Night" are really one of a kind. There are no fillers here. Only killers. There are no favourites, for in times when the majority of releases have only one to two decent tracks, here we are talking about an album full of great REAL heavy metal songs. Can anyone listen to "Warrior Of Time" or "In the Dark" and not be on board immediately? No fokin way. Riot City takes all this stuff we love in our music and brings it to 2019. They are not retro, but at the same time do not rely on "modernisms" to sell their music. Simply put: "Burn The Night" is not just an album you need to listen to sooner rather than later, but an album that in a few years time will be recognised as a true classic of its kind. 92.5/100
Below is the lyric video for heavy metal hymn "In the Dark".
Sacral Rage - Beyond Celestial Echoes (Cruz del Sur Music)
Sacral Rage return with their 2nd full length release in "Beyond Celestial Echoes" and once again present us with an amalgamation of Mercyful Fate, Annihilator and Watchtower, evolve their personal sound by leaps and bounds and establish a personal identity that establishes them among the best bands of speed heavy-thrash metal right now. Vocalist Dimitris K. is propably among the best screamers in heavy metal right now, with a vocal range reminiscent of King Diamond, while guitarist Marios P is an amalgamation of Hank Sherman, Ron Jarzombek and Jeff Waters, providing the band with a level of virtuosity that is really rare in heavy/speed records. The rhythm section of the band [ Spyros S. (Bass) and Vagellis Felonis (Drums) ] while clearly not the main feature, manages to hold its ground against the combined maniac assault of Marios and Dimitris.
The album kicks off with the atmospheric "Eternal Solstice", but quickly shifts gears with the technical speed assault of "Vaguely Decoded", while "Suspended Privileges", combines the madness of the above two with an even more thrashing attitude. "Samsara (LCE)" signifies the return to a more theatric piece with Dimitris trying different vocal approaches throughout and fades out with a blastbeat (!) which is seamlessly weaved into the composition. "Necropia" again shifts the tone with a more neo-classical riffing structure that draws heavily from the best moments of Annhilator. The album concludes with "The Glass" a truly epic composition and the first such attempt from the band, that nevertheless succeeds to create a landmark of an album and set the bar high for a genre that has been looking for new heroes!
Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance (Peaceville)
In number 20, we have the newest -as of May 2016- studio album by Norwegian old-school band Darkthrone. Darkthrone, is a very well-known quantity for black metal fans, with very influential albums during the early nineties. In the last decade, Darkthrone have shifted their music tastes from black metal to old-school metal in general. This is also true for this album. It is not a black metal effort; rather it is reminiscent of Bathory in mixing old-school black metal songs with old-school metal songs with an epic undertone present in both. It is an excellent album with a lot of nostalgia and true love for this kind of music by a band that remains uncompromising in their ways. The best tracks of the album for me are "Valkyrie" and the epic finale of "Leave no Cross Unturned" but this is just personal preference and others might find the fast paced "Dead Early" or "Lesser Men" more attractive.
