So, the year 2021 is over, welcome 2022. The first album I listened in the new year is the one that got the most plays from me during the previous one. Soen found their own sound with Lykaia, they improved it with Lotus, and with Imperial they created what I consider to be the perfect album. Superb musicianship, astonishing melodies, bass, drums, guitars in faultless sync, and vocal hooks for days. Imperial has been a constant companion for me since it came out, and it is one of these albums that make me happy that music exists.

I will be delighted if I find something as satisfying as this in 2022.

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nikarg BitterCOld, Daniell, Dream Taster, Pierre Tombale, Nejde

Here's a good New Year's resolution for you: listen to what the angels are whispering from far beyond, because they mean well with you. They want you to remember and rediscover an almost forgotten treasure, created long ago by an Ancient Entity. For thirty years, this dark and hidden gem framed by black, death and doom metal, has lain dormant, slumbering deep inside the Mountain Of Doom. But now it's time for you to heed the Sumerian Cry and to embark on The Southernmost Voyage, towards a Neo Aeon. Lady Temptress and her Dead Boys' Choir are already eagerly awaiting you there.

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Starvynth Dream Taster, RaduP, nikarg, Deadsoulman, Yaniv, Redel

From dungeon crawl to alpine odyssey, from cave quest to fortress siege, from forest foray to blizzard-beaten battlefield, Stormkeep's debut serves as the perfect soundtrack to any adventure that can be measured with a dice roll or described while wearing a wizard hat. Though a colossal melodic black metal base defines Tales Of Othertime, the diversity of flavors is enough to put to shame any other of the millions of Tolkien-infused, medieval-themed black metal albums flooding the market. The synth passages are tastefully placed and artfully constructed, and for once, we've got an album that spends as much time with the dragons as with the dungeons: power metal from Blind Guardian to Bal-Sagoth echoes through the majestic choruses, and the riffing is catchy enough to allay your Dissection withdrawal for a time. Like a tale out of time from an ancient, forgotten tome, Tales Of Othertime is filled with magic - and it's been a long time since black metal last felt so powerful.

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ScreamingSteelUS RaduP, X-Ray Rod, Starvynth

Ethereal Shroud come in the 11th hour to remind us both why atmospheric black metal can feel so majestic, and why you should wait until the year is over to make your best of lists for the year.



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RaduP Deadsoulman, Starvynth, nikarg, ScreamingSteelUS, X-Ray Rod, Dream Taster

The 30th anniversary of this masterpiece was in March. I chose this day in particular as a way to remember the two years that have passed since our dear friend and metalstormer Marcel left us.

As Marcel would’ve point out to all of you: Fear Of God’s debut is one of the most overlooked jewels in thrash metal. It is dark. It is brooding. It is soaked in gothic misery. No thrash album has sounded this harrowing before or since. This is mostly due to Dawn Crosby’s unique persona. Her cries are filled with unshakeable anguish yet at times are most beautiful and delicate. Her tragic fate looms over Within The Veil but the music remains so infectious that you will revisit it again and again.

Yesterday is dead and gone
Tomorrow is out of sight

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X-Ray Rod RaduP, Starvynth, Deadsoulman, Daniell, Dream Taster, nikarg, ScreamingSteelUS, Yaniv, Redel

Somewhere in a Ven diagram of Stoner, Doom and Sludge metal, slightly to the Sludge side of the middle sits TarLung. Architect consists of a bunch of Slowbangers - those midpaced riffs that when banging yer cabeza along with seems like either you're enjoying some quality metal or fighting off sleep. Only nothing about this album inspires sleep. TarLung batter you with riff after riff, pounded beat after pounded beat and growl after TarLung-ed growl. If you enjoy any of the styles above, giving this album a pass would be Unthinkable. (That's a BandCamp link for those who haven't figured me out yet. Click it already.)

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BitterCOld Deadsoulman, ScreamingSteelUS

We are, once again, a couple of days late to celebrate a groundbreaking album's anniversary. Led Zeppelin is a band with a complicated legacy, from uncredited "inspirations" to underage groupies to backmasking, but there's something truly mystical about their fourth album. Supposedly untitled, debuting the band's symbolistic emblems, and with the figure from the cover art taken from a Tarot card, Led Zeppelin IV is also probably the band's most consistent album. It's hard to pinpoint a song on this album that isn't a classic. There are no words needed for "Stairway To Heaven", which has became the band's trademark. "Black Dog" and "Rock and Roll" were rowdy even by 70s standards. "The Battle Of Evermore" and "Misty Mountain Hop" feel like early seeds for folk metal, "When The Levee Breaks" has one of the best grooves of all time. "Going To California" is a ballad that's so ethereal. And the only reason "Four Sticks" feels more forgettable is because it's in such good company, but it would've been some other bands' greatest song.

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RaduP Starvynth, ScreamingSteelUS, nikarg, corrupt, Dream Taster, Nejde, Redel

Many metal albums are described as 'crushing'; few deserve it as much as LLNN. Unmaker will sonically unmake the fabric of your existence.

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musclassia Deadsoulman, BitterCOld, X-Ray Rod, ScreamingSteelUS

I could have staff-picked anything from the first five Trouble albums following today's tragic news of Eric Wagner's passing. Psalm 9 and The Skull were essential for the evolution of U.S. doom metal, possessing a sound that is still being - or trying to be - replicated. When the band decided to add more heavy rock and classic rock in their formula with the self-titled in 1990 or with the Beatles-loving Manic Frustration that followed, Trouble still were one of the coolest doom bands around. Their debut though remains unsurpassable to me and it is one of the most defining albums in the history of the genre. Wagner's unique voice had so much to do with it; this was a man who was singing and you could immediately tell who it was behind the mic. He could be menacing, emotional, and hard rocking with the same ease and simply sounded like no other.

Doom metal is so much poorer today. Rest in peace, Eric. I hope you are floating in strawberry skies.

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nikarg RaduP, X-Ray Rod, Starvynth, BitterCOld, ScreamingSteelUS, corrupt, Daniell, Yaniv, Redel

Fallensun is a Canadian duo by Axis Disrupt's Taylor Pottle and James Coyle, and The Wake Of The Fall is a wonderful debut filled with melodic death metal that wears a thick black cape to face the winter and the storming winds. Fans of Insomnium, Be'lakor, Eternal Storm, and Opeth should take notice. The music is as cold and blue as the cover art suggests; emotional acoustic passages and string instruments blend with aggressive blastbeats, soulful solos and melodic leads soar over prog-like drumming, and blackened tremolo picking antagonizes chugging and devastating riffs. Incorporating a number of guitar and vocal approaches and tones, the album is bookended by two beautiful instrumentals and features four compelling compositions in between, with the second half of "The Language, Death, Eternal" boasting some of the most compelling music of the year regardless of genre. And clocking in at under 35 minutes, you will find yourself wondering why this album is over so soon every time you play it.

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nikarg Starvynth, ScreamingSteelUS

I still have no idea why The Who are on Metal Storm, and I know it's a bit inappropriate to add another staff pick now when we're celebrating the work of the many musicians who passed last week. But one of the greatest rock albums of all time turned 50 years a few days ago. It's bombastic, showcases fantastic chemistry, it's bookended by some of classic rock's absolute best songs, it has slight forays into prog rock, and it has the beast that is Keith Moon on drums. I call that a bargain.

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RaduP ScreamingSteelUS, Starvynth, nikarg, BitterCOld, Dream Taster

Who would have thought 25 years ago that Moonspell could create another real classic only one year after their debut, the truly grandiose Wolfheart?

Admittedly, they had to cut off a good part of their musical roots to bring Irreligious into being; the black metal of the early years has almost completely vanished. But instead the other driving force in the heart of the five Portuguese could fully unfold and bestow the still young gothic metal scene a dark and intense highlight: musically mature, full of dramaturgy, melancholy and bombast, atmospherically dense and catchy as hell, yet heavier than legions of imitators who fail to capture and copy the genius of this remarkable sophomore album until the present day.

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Starvynth Deadsoulman, RaduP, nikarg, ScreamingSteelUS, Darkside Momo, Ivor, Dream Taster, Pierre Tombale, Redel

As talented a vocalist as David Wayne was, his departure from Metal Church was a true blessing in disguise, for it opened the door for the man who has always been my favorite MC vocalist: Mike Howe. His distortion was beautiful, his articulation was savage, and he was one of the proudest members of the lineage of gravel-voiced frontmen alongside folks like Zetro and Bobby Blitz. Even after 20 years of absence, when he reunited with Metal Church for XI and Damned If You Do, two very strong late-career records, Mike's tone was still rich and his delivery forceful. At only 55, he sadly joins the ranks of those gone from us too soon.

Blessing In Disguise has long been in competition with the self-titled album for my favorite Metal Church work, and while of course the killer riffs and rhythm work throughout make it solid gold, Mike's shredded howl sells every song so well. Perhaps I should have picked The Human Factor as a tribute, because Mike truly had a human factor in his singing that drove the lyrics to the heart more than your average head-bangers could, especially on that album, but Blessing In Disguise has "Badlands," one of my all-time favorite songs, and there's not much better you can do than that.

Rest in peace, Mike.

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ScreamingSteelUS Dream Taster, RaduP, Deadsoulman, Starvynth, Daniell, nikarg, corrupt, BitterCOld, Yaniv

Eliminator was the first tape I ever bought back when I was BitterCYoung. Perfect for it's time and place, mixed classic blues rock and shuffle with the technological and stylistic shifts music was making at the time. These Tres Hombres were THE coolest dudes on eMpTy-Vee. I even sported the ZZ key chain for a good 20+ years thanks to the vid for "Gimme All Your Loving"... never did score the bad ass hot rod, though. So adios to Dusty Hill, thanks for some great bass lines and anchoring the Top. All you beer drinkers and hell raisers out there know what to do.

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BitterCOld ScreamingSteelUS, Dream Taster, RaduP, Deadsoulman, Daniell, nikarg, corrupt, Abattoir

#1 passed away this week. An absolute legend of a musician and artist of the beat to the soundtrack of a whole generation's anger and rage. Few bands today will be what Slipknot was for millennials around the turn of the century and Joey Jordison was one of their driving forces for almost 20 years. Rest in peace you magnificent person. Many a night of teenage angst is now also a testament to your memory. And this album, at least for me, towers over those times. The symbol of a confused yet maturing generation trying to find its place in this world.

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corrupt RaduP, musclassia, nikarg, X-Ray Rod, BitterCOld, ScreamingSteelUS, Dream Taster, Deadsoulman, Daniell, Abattoir, Darkside Momo