#34 - Top of 2018

Svarta Faran - Chronicles of a War to Come (Independent)

Svartan Faran rise from Bavaria, Germany with their first full-length album that is very promising for their pagan future!
The melodic instrumental "Schatten über Nirthalion" serves as the perfect segway to the epic "Battle of Thyorvîn"sung by warriors as they march to battle. "Malandor" is heavily based on great whistling(!) tunes by Mathias while Met, the lead singer, showcases his vocal range with both his clear vocals and growls throughout the piece."In the Forest" is a broody instrumental that transitions into the darker and heavier "Banshee's Kiss".

"Sohn des Berges" and "Rise of the Fallen" are more of melodic death tunes with folk elements sprinkled throughout. "Tira, Botin des Untergangs", probably the best song of the record, succeeds in blending the brutal and the epic elements, giving the listener the most memorable chorus of the album as well as having a great mid-song interlude.  "Aufbruch der Zwerge" is a more clear-cut folk song blending English with German lyrics and growls with clear male vocals (something that the band dares and succeeds in doing throughout most tracks of the album). "Mistress of the Moon" has an amazing acoustic guitar intro and is dominated by powerful clear vocals while "Tanz der Zwerge" (with its Trollfest-like intro) is an interesting blend of folk whistle melodies and quick-paced guitar/drum tunes closing the album with a blast! A great folk debut and a surefire recommendation for all fans of folk metal.




92.54/100

Below is the link for the official lyric video of "Tira, Botin des Untergangs".

#35 - Top of 2018

Ashes of Ares - Well of Souls (Rock of Angels Records)

Iced Earth fans rejoice! Well of Souls is the second full length album by Ashes of Ares consisting of ex-Iced Earth members Matt Barlow in vocals and Freddie Vidales in guitar/bass!

They definitely know how to kick off a record as "Consuming the Mana" is a powerful song that perfectly leads to the awesomely melodic "The Alien" showcasing both amazing vocals by Barlow and great drum riffs (by ex-Nevermore Van Williams) which is one of the album's highlights along with "Let All Despair".
"Soul Searcher" is an excellent power ballad that acts as a great mid-album interlude with dreamy guitar riffs. "Sun Dragon"
and "Trascending" are two additional examples of how power metal songs should sound combining excellent heavy guitars and (both harsh and clear) melodic vocals. "In The Darkness" is a more clear-cut song while "Spirit of Man" adds some progressive-like riffs & turns taking a different direction.
"Time Traveller" has an amazingly catchy chorus for live-show singalongs and more quick-paced tunes adding a more epic tone to the album which ends with the weird but interesting choice to cover Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" song. The record is definitely reminiscent of classic Iced Earth and is worth checking out to listen how Matt's musicianship and songwriting has evolved in his new venture!




92.5/100

Below are the official music videos for "The Alien" and "Let All Despair".

#36 - Top of 2018

Silent Chambers - Thousand Victories (Silent Chambers)

Silent Chambers are a prog/folk acoustic project from Netherlands which present themselves to the world with this very promising and warm debut album. This is not a loud album, but an acoustic elegy, which while essentially simple, it evokes multitudes of emotions reverberating throughout the excellent tracks of the album. Vocalist  Jeroen Voogd echoes strongly as a prog/acoustic amalgam of Bruce Dickinson with Steve Hogath (Marillion), while Robert Spaninks (percussion), Sander Heerings (keyboards) and Martijn Balsters (guitars) provide the minimalistic musical backdrop that the songs need to shine. The album is not a one-trick pony, as one can see an amount differentiation between tracks, with some tracks ("Down My Spine") being more straightforward than others ("Moonlets").  This release does not break any new ground, however the combination of excellent compositions with truly inspired vocals make this among the best releases of the year on the softer side of rock music.

92.45/100

Below are the audio tracks for "Down my Spine" and "Moonlets".

#37 - Top of 2018

Suidacra - Cimbric Yarns (AFM Records)

Suidacra are a long way from their death/death metal days (with some folk influences) as their new full length album "Cimbric Yarns" (their 13th record!!!) is totally immersed in the folk genre with a focus on Celtic mythology and tunes (packed with acoustic guitars, flutes and violins). "Echtra" is an epic instrumental opening which sets the tone with female voice-over (by Tina Stabel) establishing the themes of the record. "Serpentine Origins" is filled with acoustic guitar riffs and mellow female vocals that blend perfectly with male vocals leading to a melodic chorus. In "Ode to Arma", Sebastian Jensen takes over the lead vocal with his deep & rough voice. "A Day and Forever" sounds like a song straight out of Arjen Lucassen's Ayreon with more pronounced folk elements. The instrumental "Black Dawn" is followed by the epic "At Nine Light Night" (which sounds like a song by a band of warriors) and the orchestrated "Shakehenge" (with its great flute tunes) are definitely two of the highlights of the album. The cinematic "Assault on Urlár" and the mellow "Caoine Cruác" are filled with Celtic and epic elements serving perfectly as the final two songs of the album narrating the Celtic tale of Suidacra.



92.4/100

Below is the official music video for "Shakehenge".

#38 - Top of 2018

Spiral Skies - Blues for a Dying Planet

In number 38 of the best albums of 2018, we have the debut album from Swedish psychedelic hard rockers Spiral Skies. Fronted by Frida Eurenius (ex-Lapis Lazuli) and complemented  by a band of unknown first class musicians, the band is another excellent entry to the retro female fronted rock/metal bands that have really broken through in the 2010s. The album is  dominated by mellow melodies accompanied by hard riffs and the big voice of Frida that sells the whole package. Opener "Awakening" is an indication of the more hard side of the band, while follow up "Dark Side of the Cross" combines melodic mellow guitars with a more symphonic attitude on the vocal side. "The Wizard's Ball" & "Danse Macabre" showcase the more psychedelic side of the band with the former being more straightforward while the latter has swing elements reminiscent of Diablo Swing Orchestra. "Labyrinth of the mind" walks a more familiar Doom/Psychedelic path while "Shattered Hopes" brings echoes of Rush to mind. "Left is Right and Right is Left Behind" continues in more psychedelic routes, with sprinkles of doom throughout, while closing track "The Prisoner" is  more of a classic rock/metal epic tune. Overall the album's best features are the awe-inspiring vocal performance by Frida coupled with excellent ideas in the songwriting department and shifting tones across the album, experimenting with various classical forms of rock. While the band is still trying to find a personal sound, it takes us along for the ride on a journey across the sounds of various classic rock permutations, making this an exciting debut worth recommending.

92.3/100

Below is the music video for "The Wizard's Ball".

#39 - Top of 2018

Warkings - Reborn (Napalm Records)

Warkings is an international melodic power metal band which has released its first full length album in 2018, "Reborn". It initially received some negative publicity due to the heavy promotion it received by Napalm Records, the Manowar inspired album cover and the choice of the band members to remain anonymous by wearing masks and using different names such as the Viking (bass), the Spartan (drums) and the Crusader (guitars). Since the release of their first single (Gladiator), the lead singer Tribune was been identified as Georg Neuhauser, lead vocalist of Serenity. However, the album has had a more positive response once people started to have a listen and now it has been hailed one of the better albums of its genre for 2018! The record kicks off with the super-catchy and quick-paced "Give Em War" which has a great sing-along chorus (which is the case for most of the songs), followed by  the heavier "Never Surrender". The more theatrical "Hephaistos" and the instant-hit "Gladiator" which follow are definitely two of the highlights of the album as they both have riffs and lyrics that are meant to make an impression. "Holy Storm" showcases some great guitar work while "Battle Cry" has a more melodic chorus (despite the ultra-manly heavy-riffed intro of the song). The blasting "Fire Falling Down" leads to "Sparta", perfectly blending clear with growling vocals. The album wraps up with "The Last Battle" which has an amazing guitar interlude and the melodic/acoustic "Die Flut" which is entirely sung in German adding. A very promising debut, that despite the, perhaps needless, theatrics succeeds in delivering a great melodic heavy metal output.


92.5/100

Below are the official music videos for "Gladiator" and "Sparta".

#40 - Top of 2018

Avatar - Avatar Country (Century Media)

After their excellent previous effort (Feathers and Flesh), Avatar released their 7th album on January 2018, going again for a unifying album concept! The story here revolves around the King of Avatar Country and his rule over its dominion. The album kicks off with acoustic interlude "Glory to the King" and breaks into the melodic death metal "Legend of the King", which is about the most straightforward track you are gonna find in the album. "The King Welcomes You To The Avatar Country” leans towards Country rock avenues with clear influences from AC/DC, while "King's Harvest" sounds like a bastard son from the backlog of The Haunted that got remastered from Devin Townsend while hanging out with members of Faith No More. "The King Wants You" is more within the melodic range of a "typical" Avatar song, but remains a very groovy and upbeat piece of music. "The King Speaks" is a REALLY weird and random interlude that acts as a break before the second part of the album.  The next two tracks "A Statue of the King" and "King after King" are probably the best bit of the album combining elements that have made Avatar such household names in the last years, mixing melodic passages with sheer guitar brutality and the theatrical flair that has truly elevated Avatar above the rubble of the current music scene. The album closes with two awesome instrumental passages and clocks at under 45 minutes. This is probably the only fault of the album, it sounds truly awesome, but feels as just the first part of something bigger. Nevertheless it is a must listen for fans of the band and a worthy follow-up to Feathers and Flesh.

92.1


Below are the music videos for "The King Welcomes You To The Avatar Country” , "The King Wants You" and "Statue of the King".

#41 - Top of 2018

Grimner - Vanadrottning (Despotz Records)

The 2018 Best Albums countdown kicks of with a great viking folk band which released its third full length album year. Grimner march from Sweden showing us that they can blend clean (Martin The Warrior) and brutal (Ted The Jarl) vocals with folk notes from a range of traditional musical instruments and heavy guitar riffs! "En fallen jätte" and "Fafnersbane" are awesome examples of uplifting folk songs that don't need to be in English to make you wanna sing along. The title song "Vanadrottning" has some amazing guitar riffs that perfectly mix with powerful vocals. "En vilja av järn" showcases the folk elements (by Johan The Blacksmith) and the chorus vocals while "Avundas hennes ungdom" and "Dödens dans" are more classic quick-paced folk songs (with great sing-along points). "Kvällningssång" is a highlight of the album packed with awesome flute melodies that are again mixed with great vocals and is followed by the heavier "Vårt blod, våra liv" which some more epic elements to the record. "Ägers salar" adds a more heavy/symphonic note with melodic guitars and great brutal vocals which is followed by the personal favourite of the record "Sången om grimner" thanks to its even more epic vibe! "Freja vakar" is a great finishing touch  (with catchy guitar riffs) that wraps-up this is engaging folk elegy and kick-starts our 2018 top albums countdown!


91/100

Below is the official music video for the song "En fallen jätte".

Top 41 Albums of 2018

Metal and Prog tops triumphantly returns, to count down the 41 best and brightest albums in its favourite genres. Expect the first entries to come soon!

The Best of Hard Rock 2010-18 (Part 2)

In the second part, we will be counting down the truly BEST ten albums out of....

The TOP 21 Hard Rock Albums of 2010-18

 

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10. Uriah Heep - Into The Wild (Frontiers - 2011)

Uriah Heep have been critised at times for being unapologetically the same band since their early days till recent times. However it is this timeless quality of the band that results in exellent records time after time. In fact if you heard songs from their early days and from this album  you would be at a loss to tell which song belongs to which era. The band has huge amounts of energy still, and this is very well recorded into the opener "Nail to he head" but at the same time shows willingness to express itself in more epic forms such as the awesome "Trail of Diamonds" and the anthemic "Southern Star".  Worth checking out by all fans of classic hard rock.

93.5/100

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9. Spiritual Beggars - Sunrise To Sundown (InsideOut - 2016) 

The hard rock Swedes, Spiritual Beggars, have released another great album in 2016. With the amazing Apollo Papathanasio, as the lead vocalist for this record, "Sunrise To Sundown" is packed with great guitar riffs and great vocals making it an awesome addition to any playlist. You can find the full review here.

94/100

 

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8. Hällas - Excerpts from Future Past (The Sign Records - 2017)

Hällas is a very interesting and less known melodic rock band with great retro elements. Their self-description as an adventure rock band perfectly describes their atmospheric music. A more detailed review can be found here.

94.3/100

 

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7. The Grammers - Dream In a Minor Key (VR Label - 2017) 

The Grammers is a feel-good AOR band, true  veterans of the genre. Their "Dream In a Minor Key" is bound to make your day with their catchy music and sing-along choruses! The full review can be found here.

 94.5/100

 

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6. Rival Sons - Great Western Valkyrie (Earache - 2014)

This hard rock from California is definitely a great breakthrough act of this decade with  groovy riffs and southern vibes, worthy of its position in the top 10. You can find a review of the "Great Western Valkyrie" here.

 94.7/100

 

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5.  Magnum - Sacred Blood Divine Lies (Steamhammer - 2016)

Another excellent release by the melodic rock legends which is an instant classic record. How can it go wrong with Bob Catley on the lead vocals? "Sacred Blood Divine Lies" is a great addition to their lengthy streak of amazing records. You can find the full review here.

95/100

 

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4. The Winery Dogs - The Winery Dogs  (Loud & Proud Records - 2013)

Michael Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater, Sons of Apollo etc.) is back with another project, this time with a hard rocking twist. The Winery Dogs released a great album in 2013 full of groovy vibes and of course impeccable drumming. Read more here.

 95.5/100

 

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3. The Night Flight Orchestra - Amber Galactic  (Nuclear Blast - 2017)

If you are looking for a great hard rock record that you can use as an allure to the dark side of 80s, this is the one! "Amber Galactic" is packed with catchy tunes straight from the disco. You can find more about the album here.

96/100

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2. The Soulbreaker Company - Graceless (Alone Records - 2014)

The Soulbreaker Company released a unique psychedelic rock album in 2014 that succeeded in taking the listener on a chill-out musical journey of amazing tunes that are perfectly blended with melancholic vocals. Read more here.

97/100

 

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1. Blues Pills - Blues Pills (Nuclear Blast Records - 2014)

Blues Pills definitely are a surprise entry at the first place of the list for those who have not heard them. The band succeeds in combining a 70's retro vibe with psychedelic and blues elements creating an amazingly catchy and feel-good hard rock album! Read the review of the "Blues Pills" here. They followed this up with another great record, "Lady In Gold", in 2016 sticking to their great formula and making us hope for amazing things to come from this band in the future!

 99/100