#6 - Top of 2015

Witchwood - Litanies from the Woods (Jolly Rodger Records)


Witchwood is a psychedelic/heavy prog band from northern Italy with southern and hard rock influences. This is their debut album and it is truly a masterpiece of its genre. They draw infuences from bands such as Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, Hawkwind and Lynyrd Skynyrd, while at the same time demonstrating excellent songwriting skills, going beyond their influences. The album consists of compositions of varying length and disposition balncing between straightforward composition and long trippy ones. The highlights of the album include "The Golden King" and "Shades of Gray" as well as the 15 minute epic "Farawell to the Ocean Boulevard". For fans of progressive music, this is another quality release of 2015, promising hours of music exploration into the Witchwood.



96/100


This is their official video release from "Litanies from the Woods" for the track "A Place for the Sun"

#7 - Top of 2015

Wolvespirit - Free (Spirit Stone Records)

On number 7, we come across a special kind of band. These guys play good old-fashioned rock music , it roots tracing back to 70's and 60's rock bands and a female vocalist. They incorporate psychedelic elements into a Janis Joplin style vocal style and an easy going rock vibe. They are hard rocking at times and mellow and tripy at times. They really feel like they came up with this record literally after return home from Woodstock and inspired by bands of that time. If you like 70's rock and psychedelic influences in your music and are looking for a mellow sound that at times packs an old school punch, gives these guys a chance.



95/100

Below this time are 2 videos: The first is from the first eponymous track of Free, the second is from their new EP that came out this month. If you feel like supporting them, check out their Facebook page

#8 - Top of 2015

Jorn Lande & Trond Holter - Dracula, Swing of Death (Frontiers Records)

Jorn Lande is a very well known person in the power metal community, to say the least. He gained prominence as the lead singer of Masterplan and then went on to sing in multiple other bands and guesting in at least twice as many. Thus, when the new album he created with the guitar player for Wig Wam, I did not expect anything of note. Sure, it would be a quality work, but I was expecting  nothing really special. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised! These guys show some terrific chemistry between them. The album flows effortlessly and all the songs have wonderfull hard rock/power metal melodies that keep getting better every time you hear them. This seems to truly be one of the best and most inspired records of Lande's career. Recommended as probably the best power metal release of the year.

95/100

Below is one of the best tracks from the record "Walking on Water"

#9- Top of 2015

Vexillum - Unum (Limb Music GmbH)

Vexillum, previously known Shadow Vexillum, are a power/folk metal band from Italy. Although they may not sound as something innovative Vexillum manage to incorporate all the traits that someone is looking from a power metal band  with a folklore theme. ‘Unum’ has a number of guest singers for this album including Hansi Kursch from Blind Guardian (The Sentenced: Fire and Blood) and Chris Bay from Freedom Call (The Jester: Over the Clouds). The album is great and strong from the first to the last song and doesn’t tire the listener as it gets you to follow the storyline, athough that is not a requirement for enjoying the band. Vexillum, signifying the flag worn by armies during battle, call everyone to gather and follow Dario (the main character of the concept) through his journey and immerse themselves in an epic quest.

95/100

Below is the video of the song Chris Bay participated in. Enjoy!

#10 - Top of 2015

Horisont - Odyssey (Rise Above)

Counting down the top 10 albums of the year that just left, on number 10 we find Horizont's newest album Odyssey. Horisont were intially formed in Sweden in 2006. They are playing retro-style Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal Their production is retro, their craftmanship is retro, their vocals are retro. And yet nothing seems fake or forced. These guys are living it up like it's 1980: Synth sound is starting to become popular and these guys try to incorporate 80's elements to their true to fashion 70's rock. And they are great, catchy tunes, groove and good times  for everyone! I cannot recommend these guys enough. If you would like to learn more about them check their website.

94/100

Below is their clip for Bad News.

#11 - Top of 2015

The bright light social hour - Space is Still the Place (Frenchkiss Records)

Moving closer to the top 10 we encounter a very interesting case of a band. These guys are a psychedelic rock band that was born out of a university art rock collective. Now, this sounds a bit pretentious, and probably was, but these guys came together to create a wonderful psychedelic progressive rock band with a distinct identity and a retro-oriented sound. Progressive here, comes in terms of how this sound would be defined back in the 70s and not by today's progressive rock records criteria. Nine out of the ten tracks are less than six minutes each and the whole record has a total length of only 45 minutes!Nevertheless this could not be more of a prog record if it tried. Take a seat, relax and let this take your mind off your worries and into a wonderful weird world. You can hear it for yourselves as these guys have streamed the whole album in Youtube.

94/100


Below is the music video for the track Infinite Cities.

#12 - Top of 2015

Sorcerer - In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross (Metal Blade Records)

Next up,  on number 12 we move away from prog but not from Scandinavia as we have the debut full length from Sorcerer, hailing from Sweden. Sorcerer are playing Epic Doom Metal and were formed way back in 1988, subsequently splitting up in the early nineties, as their members joined other well known acts (Therion, Tiamat). They reunited recently and started working on new material culminating in their spring release of "In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross". This album is EPIC. Heavy riffing, wonderful vocals, reminiscent of Tony Martin and a VERY metal attitude. The opening track "The Dark Tower of the Sorcerer" is simply an instant classic. The rest of the album follows suit changing between slow and more mid-tempo tracks, culminating in the epicness that is "Pagan's Dance".  If you like your doom metal extra epic or your epic metal EXTRA heavy, then by all gods of Doom, I implore you to listen to Sorcerer!

 93/100

This is the video for the opening track. It looks a bit shit but the music is chilling.

#13-Top of 2015

Leprous - The Congregation (Inside Out)

Unlike what could be expected from a Norwegian band with such a name, Leprous gave everyone this year a run for their money, with a new and interesting progressive rock/metal album named ‘The Congregation’. With songs bound to stick to your mind and music playlist, like ‘Rewind’, this album is a worthy heir of their previous discography. It gets you instantly hooked and this can be attributed to the lead vocalist’s (Einar Solberg) unique vocals and catchy grooves.  Leprous is a promising band both lyrically and in terms of sound. They combine progressive metal norms from bands like Opeth and such with easy to listen vocals and minimal electronic elements. If you want to hear something different that is also excellent and easy to listen to, definitely check out "The Congregation"

92/100

Below is the audio track for the sickeningly addictive "Rewind".

#14 - Top of 2015

The Neal Morse Band -The Grand Experiment (Inside Out)

In the second offering from Spock's Beard  - related personel in this list, we find the new quasi-personal album of Neal Morse. In this record he collaborates with perrenial friends Randy George and Mike Portnoy along with newcomers Eric Gllette and Bill Hubauer. This is one of the best "personal" albums of Neal Morse in recent years, possibly due to the collaborative effort in writing, not derived 100% from Morse himself, but as part of a group effort. It is a purely progressive rock album without pop undertones from some of Morse's other personal works. The band sounds very cohesive and the disc has a very good structure with songs of varying length and complexity.

92/100


PS. Agenda is one of the grooviest songs from Morse's career. Below is the music video for you to enjoy.

#15- Top of 2015

 Gloryhammer - Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards (Napalm Records)



On number 15 are the heroic fantasy power metal warriors (!) Gloryhammer with their second concept album. Set in outer space, the album tells the story of Angus McFife XIII, Prince of the Galactic Empire of Fife, Hootsman, the Barbarian King of California, Ralathor, the Mysterious Spacehermit of the Cowdenbeath Sector, Ser Proletius, Grand Master of Space-knights of Crail and Zargothrax, the Dark Sorcerer of Auchtermuchty! ‘Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards’ has  an interesting story, great riffs and Alestorm’s lead singer Christopher Bowes making it one of the best power metal albums of 2015. Although the band’s sense of humour can be misunderstood, making it seem that they  are taking a piss on th power metal genre, Gloryhammer are able sound epic without being dead serious as other power metal bands. So have fun joining them to their intergalactic space metal quest!


92/100

Below is a sample of their Hollywood metal -like style