1. Primordial - To the Nameless Dead
So emotional and powerful. And it sounds really great. Definitely the highlight of the year.
2. Reverend Bizarre - III: So Long Suckers
Excellent doom with a lot of jazz influences. It's almost hypnotizing. Anywhere Out of This World is the best song of the year, hands down.
3. CMX - Talvikuningas
I guess this is a mix of heavy metal, prog and hardcore. It's an awesome concept album, their best album yet.
4. Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
This album certainly needs a specific mood for listening. It took a while to open up for me, but it really delivered! Anesthetize is fucking great.
5. Moonsorrow - Viides Luku: Hävitetty
It features only three songs, of which two of them are very long. It's a great mix of black metal and traditional music. The lyrics fit the style perfectly.
... and some honorable mentions:
Dark Tranquility - Fiction
High on Fire - Death is this Communion
Neurosis - Given to the Rising
Nifelheim - Envoy of Lucifer
Nightingale - White Darkness
Nile - Ithyphallic
The Ocean - Precambrian
Symphony X - Paradise Lost
Ulver - Shadows of the Sun
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
At first I was going to list some disappointments too, but I realised there was only one: Scarsick. I can't believe they did this. Oh yes, and Systematic Chaos too.
So emotional and powerful. And it sounds really great. Definitely the highlight of the year.
2. Reverend Bizarre - III: So Long Suckers
Excellent doom with a lot of jazz influences. It's almost hypnotizing. Anywhere Out of This World is the best song of the year, hands down.
3. CMX - Talvikuningas
I guess this is a mix of heavy metal, prog and hardcore. It's an awesome concept album, their best album yet.
4. Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
This album certainly needs a specific mood for listening. It took a while to open up for me, but it really delivered! Anesthetize is fucking great.
5. Moonsorrow - Viides Luku: Hävitetty
It features only three songs, of which two of them are very long. It's a great mix of black metal and traditional music. The lyrics fit the style perfectly.
... and some honorable mentions:
Dark Tranquility - Fiction
High on Fire - Death is this Communion
Neurosis - Given to the Rising
Nifelheim - Envoy of Lucifer
Nightingale - White Darkness
Nile - Ithyphallic
The Ocean - Precambrian
Symphony X - Paradise Lost
Ulver - Shadows of the Sun
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
At first I was going to list some disappointments too, but I realised there was only one: Scarsick. I can't believe they did this. Oh yes, and Systematic Chaos too.
