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Pandemonium Of Cosmological Alchemy: Top Metal Albums Of 2022

I don't know if I am just getting too old, or is it the lack of dedicated time to just sit down and listen to an album properly, without doing anything else, but I have a feeling that more and more albums sound just the same. Writing this years my top ten, or should I say top twenty five-ish list was really hard for me. Not because there was a lack of good albums, there are always some good albums, and this year, in some cases, was pure fucking brilliance. But a lot of times there were albums that I listened to a few times, and at that moment they actually sound good, but if you asked me half an hour later which songs I remembered... I would be dumbstruck to give you a proper answer.

So, let us get on with the top ten first. There were some really pleasant surprises, especially in terms of new bands and bands I discovered this year. New Horizon is a project of now ex H.E.A.T singer Eric Grönwal who in early 2022 was revealed as the new singer of Skid Row. Now, I am biased as fuck, because I am a huge fan of his voice, for me he is a brilliant power metal or hard rock singer. And this is exactly how this album sounds, power metal mixed with AOR and hard rock. The album is a collaboration with his former band mate, who plays keyboards in the mentioned H.E.A.T. It seems they wanted to delve deeper into power metal here as opposed to more hard rock style of H.E.A.T although HEAT's last album with Grönwal had pretty strong power influences. I have no idea how, why and what happened in that band so that Eric left, but simultaneously put out a project with his former band mate... and I don't really care. This album is a pure fucking masterpiece of melodic metal. Really refreshing. In terms of originality you won't hear anything especially new, but the delivery is excellent and song writing top notch.
Now I am not going to write a detailed album-by-album review here, I am way too lazy for that. Or not quite. I will just say that first four places, you could switch them in any order you want, and it would be great. Amorphis delivered another great album, Månegarm is being Månegarm, rising again to the top tier of Viking metal. What I really love about Månegarm is that they do not just write your default Viking metal songs and lyrics. Just as the previous few, this album is inspired by, and follows the story of Yngling dynasty, legendary and semi-legendary rulers from Scandinavia who, as the sagas say, claim descent from Odin himself and are progenitors of all the medieval rulers and kings from Scandinavia. At least that is what the sagas say. My point here, it is not just another default band and album riding the wave of Viking popularity, or at least it is not just that. Månegarm looks to explore history, sagas and myths of medieval Scandinavia and re-tell the Norse sagas in a modern metal format. Another band of a similar manner in the list is Ereb Altor, quite similar to Månegarm in style, modern Viking metal or pagan metal, or however you want to call it these days, heavily influenced by both black and folk metal. Just like Månegarm, most of their songs are in Swedish, rather than the English language. Which is a huge bonus if you ask me.
Between those two, there is a new In Flames album. What do you mean it is not In Flames? OK, an album that should have been In Flames, if In Flames were actually any good in the last decade or two. It might be called The Halo Effect, but it sounds like In Flames/Dark Tranquillity. Zero surprise there, since for those who are not familiar, it is literally made up of former In Flames members, with Mikkael Stanne from Dark Tranquilliy, who is also former In Flames member himself, on vocals. Great album, it sounds like In Flames, it is nothing especially original, but it is a quality album, and better than anything In Flames recorded since.. probably the Clayman if you ask me.
If there wasn't New Horizon, Stormruler would be the revelation of the year for me. I don't know what is going on in the USA, but there are quite a few really good melodic or atmospheric black metal bands in recent years coming from the US. Last year it was Stormkeep, this year it is Stormruler. As far as I know, they are not connected in any way, but similarities do not stop at having a "Storm" in their name. Fucking masterpiece of an album. If you are into atmospheric instrumental interludes that remind me of Summoning, or melodic black metal.. yes, this album is for you.
Quite as Expected, Brymir put out another quality album with their Voices in the Sky. If you are not familiar with Brymir..well, think of Ensiferum, Wintersun, maybe some Equillibrium or Kalmah. Yeah, so do I. Awesome album.
Another new band on this year's list, Fallen Sanctuary. A collaboration between members of Temperance and Serenity. Personally, I really enjoy Georg (Neuhauser, singer of Serenity and the main vocal contributor to Fallen Sanctuary) voice. His voice has a beautiful tone and colour. So I was on it from the start. Also, I am a real sucker for melodic power metal so.. makes sense that his made my list. Unsurprisingly, Septicflesh made the cut with another good album. One of the few bands that keep a high level on consistency in many years. Since Communion, they haven't put out a bad album. I really struggled to decide what album to put on number ten spot, since there was at least five or six I considered to be good enough.. in the end, I picked progressive veterans Threshold. Because it was quite a surprise how much I liked this album, it reminded me a lot of their 2004 Subsurface, and how good they used to be in their prime.

Few more things and few albums that I want to mention. I was never huge fan of Parkway Drive, but they grew on me with years, and I kind of fell for them over the time, even though I did not really liked them for years when I first hear them. Well, this album, who probably most of the old and more metalcore fans will not like.. to me was a fucking masterpiece. They quite moved away from the old PWD sound and… well I really enjoyed this one. Sakis Tolis put out another Rotting Ch… I mean solo album masterpiece. Blind Guardian put out the best album since 2010, but I am still kind of divided on it. I like it but at the same time it lacks that something to make it really memorable. As I said maybe I am just too old, haven’t listened to it enough times, or need to play it without doing anything else to really let it sink in. Not great, not terrible but quite solid. I could say the same thing about Evergrey, Therion and few other bands on the list.. Few of the other albums that were quite close to be in top 10, and are definitely worth mentioning are Bucovina’s new album. Also Finnish folk black metal one woman project Vermilia put another good album. Yes, I really do enjoy bands that sing in their native languages, in spite of me not understand shit. Or maybe because of it. After a long wait, Battlelore returned with a new album called “The Return of the Shadow”, of course it is another Tolkien themed album, and of course, I love the shit out of it.

In the end there was a lot of other albums that I consider to be good, especially some really big bands like Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, Behemoth also released some new stuff this year. And while none of it was particularly band, I do like most of it, none was either really deserving of the place in the top tier. Not great, not terrible as the meme would say.

1.New Horizon - Gate Of The Gods
2.Månegarm - Ynglingaättens Öde
3.Amorphis - Halo
4.The Halo Effect - Days Of The Lost
5.Ereb Altor - Vargtimman

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 21.01.2023



Glimpses Of Sanity: Top Metal Albums Of 2021

Another year, another traditional list of my top ten, or more like top thirty albums of the year. That list probably doesn't interest anyone, or most people anyway, but I like keeping up with the tradition and refuse to give up trying to influence people to give in and start listening to some obscure bands that I manage to dig up from the depths of Spotify. Well, obscure is a thing of perspective, and I am actually quite sure I have at least five people among my friends and acquaintances that are familiar with most of these bands. If you are not.. well, you should be.
I'm not going to do an album-by-album review, just a quick rundown. Two albums in the Hungarian language in the top ten, maybe I should start learning that shit after all... NOT!!! As the years go on, it seems that I delve deeper and deeper into the obscure post-metal, post-black, atmospheric black, doom whatever.. maybe I'm just finally going insane, it was about time. Anyway, surprise out of nowhere, an album that blew me away, Iotunn - Access All Worlds. Is it progressive? Is it melodic death metal? Is it whatever? Who gives a fuck. It was a very schizophrenic year for me, just like this 'review', at least when it comes to music, a lot of albums that I liked, but very few that had that catchy vibe, that I can't really describe but that I sometimes have. My point here is that I could probably take this list and honourable mentions, and write a program that randomizes the places of albums in the list every time you hit refresh, and whatever result it would yield I would say 'Yeah, that seems about right'. Down the list, I have to mention how happy I am with Thy Catafalque finally deciding to go live and do live shows, now I only pray that this pandemic doesn't fuck up another concert plan. Ephemerald is in a way, as generic Finnish melodic death metal as you can get, obvious influence by Insomnium and the likes, but I really dig it. They are not original or inventive, there is no 'one-hit wonder' catchy song that stands out.. and yet it is a fucking awesome album. Yoth Iria is a project of former Rotting Christ members, and it sounds exactly like that, so if you are into Rotting Christ, you know what to do. Beast in Black, it's the same album again, but it's an awesome album again, so... I think I don't need to comment on Swallow the Sun, yeah, the previous album was better, but this one is still awesome. Epica, well I'm a huge fanboy of Epica, make of that what you will, but if you ask me they don't have a bad or even average album. The same can be said of Be'lakor. Dalriada was kinda unexpected, I really like listening to folk metal in languages I don't really understand. I know about this Hungarian band for .. fifteen years I think, I almost went to Senta to watch them live more than a decade ago, yet this is their best album up to date. Well at least according to your ultimate metal encyclopedia, me. Duskmourn is another of that melodic death, folk, atmospheric black, whatever bands that spawn left and right. Narrowly missing out are Therion, Evergrey, and Soen, really, really good albums. I could put any or all of them in the top ten, but I guess I like going with the obscure underdogs or whatever. Stormkeep is another black metal masterpiece that came out of nowhere. Remember how I mentioned that there is a bunch of atmospheric black / folk metal bands spawning left and right. Yes, Cân Bardd is another one. For more honourable mentions, I would like to point out Romanian Sur Austru, as well as Dordeduh... duh. (OK I'll see myself out.) and another Hungarian band, Vvilderness, but this time at least you can understand what they are singing since lyrics are in the English language. I could, and probably should add at least another dozen of bands to this list, like Darkwoods My Bethrothed, Mare Cognitum, Hypocrisy, Leprous but this is too much even as it is, so feel free to give me recommendations, but just bear in mind that the fact that I did not put it into my picks doesn't mean I dislike the album.
P.S. In case anyone knows how to format album names with those strange characters so they link up properly, do let me know.

1.Iotunn - Access All Worlds
2.Thy Catafalque - Vadak
3.Ephemerald - Between The Glimpses Of Hope
4.Yoth Iria - As The Flame Withers
5.Beast In Black - Dark Connection

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 13.01.2022



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Embers Of The Dying Night: Top Metal Albums Of 2020

It is interesting to see how the passing of time affects taste, preferences, and lists of this type. I'm writing these lists as a means to share the music I like, and by now it has become a tradition, albeit one which very few people read on a regular basis, if at all, but one which I have no intention of giving up. I published my first yearly list back in 2007. At first, I would publish them on last.FM and myspace (yes, I am that old), then I moved to Facebook, migrated to Tumblr, think I even tried Instagram, but I was never satisfied with any of those as a platform to share my annual and other lists and scribblings with others. Some years ago I started sharing my lists on the metal storm, thanks to their quite useful tool called lists, which is made for exactly that reason. When I added my lists to the metal storm, I reworked them and expanded a bit, adding some sort of a template, from my old lists that I still had saved up at various places. Besides a top ten and honorable mentions, there are few other sub-categories, which are basically just my way of telling people that I really loved that album, and that they should really fuckin'listen to it. The fact that I think that anyone besides myself is actually that much interested in my annual top lists or best (mostly) metal albums speaks more about me, I guess.

1.Havukruunu - Uinuos Syömein Sota
2.Myrkur - Folkesange
3.Ensiferum - Thalassic
4.Thy Catafalque - Naiv
5.Sojourner - Premonitions

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 03.01.2021



Phoenix Rising Through Fire: Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2019

Another year, another top 10, or should I say top 25 of the year. Plenty of good albums, but Månegarm, Borknagar and Insomnium without a doubt top albums of the year. Villagers of Ioannina City is a revelation of the year, and while it might not be "metal" definitely one of the top albums of this year. Blind Guardian is not bad, far from it, but I expected so much more from this album hence it (un)deservedly gets to bear the shame of the letdown, although it is a decent album. Maybe I expected too much from it. One of the bands that deserve more attention this year for certain is Croatian Old Night, a real masterpiece when it comes to doom. Another recommendation would be Serbian Svartgren with their new black metal album called Divlja Vatra, or Wildfire. The rest of it pretty much boils down to personal taste and preferences. Darkwater and Bloodbound were a very pleasant surprise when it comes to progressive and power metal respectively. When it comes to symphonic and progressive metal, Wilderun was another pleasant surprise, a band I discovered recently through metalstorm website..

1.Månegarm - Fornaldarsagor
2.Borknagar - True North
3.Insomnium - Heart Like A Grave
4.Beast In Black - From Hell With Love
5.Swallow The Sun - When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 21.12.2019



Aurora Through Darkness Within: Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2018

Yet another annual top 10.. well more like top25 list. I am sure I missed something, and that I would change something depending on the mood, but it is what it is.

1.Primordial - Exile Amongst The Ruins
2.Vermilia - Kätkyt
3.Amorphis - Queen Of Time
4.Thy Catafalque - Geometria
5.Cruachan - Nine Years Of Blood

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 09.01.2019



Crimson Starlight Darkness: Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2017

Honestly, top 25 albums would probably be a more fitting name, given that I have honourable mentions, and few other categories as well. Some of them are self explanatory, while I want to clarify about the few others.
-Greatest disappointment of the year doesn't necessarily mean the worst album of that year, closer to the point would be that it is an album from which I expected a lot more than I received.

1.Myrkur - Mareridt
2.Elvenking - Secrets Of The Magick Grimoire
3.Wintersun - The Forest Seasons
4.Hallatar - No Stars Upon The Bridge
5.Vintersorg - Till Fjälls Del II

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 09.02.2018



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The Illusions Of Paradox: Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2016

The choice was though, not only because there were some very good albums out there, but also because as you get older, life fucks you up, and you never have enough time to listen to all the albums you want, for as much as you want. Or as much as they deserve. I must add that the list could be different if I made it on any other day, depending on the mood. I would like to note some honorable mentions too, such as Witherscape - The Northern Sanctuary, Rotting Christ - Rituals, Avantasia - Ghostlights, Skuggsja - A Piece For Mind and Mirror, Ihsahn - Arktis, Moonsorrow, Jumalten Aika, Be'lakor - Vessels, Thy Catafalque Meta, and most of all Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts and Fates Warning - Theories of Flight.

1.Borknagar - Winter Thrice
2.Dark Tranquillity - Atoma
3.Insomnium - Winter's Gate
4.Trees Of Eternity - Hour Of The Nightingale
5.Delain - Moonbathers

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 20.02.2017



A Doom Of Things To Come: Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2015

A bit late in coming, the top ten albums of 2015. I had many close calls, as few albums almost made to the list. Edited to the new format I used across all the platforms.... it's very unbalanced list, cause it has too much power and doom, but I picked albums that I either really enjoyed or listened to really really much.. hence on of the honorable mentions were left out, they are good, but I simply didn't listened to them as much as I did to this...

1.Amorphis - Under The Red Cloud
2.Draconian - Sovran
3.Swallow The Sun - Songs From The North I, II & III
4.Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful
5.Månegarm - Månegarm

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 28.03.2016



Soul Extinction: Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2014

So, my pick of top 10 albums of the year 2014

1.Evergrey - Hymns For The Broken
2.Behemoth - The Satanist
3.Epica - The Quantum Enigma
4.Insomnium - Shadows Of The Dying Sun
5.Primordial - Where Greater Men Have Fallen

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 01.03.2015



Depravation of Sanity: Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2013

1.Dark Tranquillity - Construct
2.Rotting Christ - Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy
3.Leprous - Coal
4.Summoning - Old Mornings Dawn
5.Heaven Shall Burn - Veto

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 05.01.2014



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Longing For Creation: Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2012

1.Sabaton - Carolus Rex
2.Wintersun - Time I
3.Eluveitie - Helvetios
4.Kamelot - Silverthorn
5.Mors Principium Est - ...And Death Said Live

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 30.12.2012



Delusions Of Silence: Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2010

Just a list of my personal top albums for the year 2010.

1.Rotting Christ - Aealo
2.Dark Tranquillity - We Are The Void
3.Blind Guardian - At The Edge Of Time
4.Eluveitie - Everything Remains (As It Never Was)
5.Dimmu Borgir - Abrahadabra

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 29.05.2012



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Top 20 Concept Albums

TOP 20 METAL CONCEPT ALBUMS

I was always fascinated by the good concept albums, which manage to tell the story in a extraordinary fashion. So I decided to make a list of best concetual metal albums up to date. I decided to concentrate on truly conceptual albums, since loosening the criteria too much would leave me with having bunch of fantastic albums, which would simply be too much to put on the list. Yes, it would probably be a lot easier to make a huge list, but I wanted to concentrate on a truly top concept-related albums. So since they do not strictly tell about some event, or follow the same story, I decided to drop out loose conceptuals. Unfortunately the likes of "Sirenia - At Sixes and Sevens", "Sabaton - The Art of War" or "Nightwish - Century Child", "Bloodbound - Nosferatu" most of the Therion's albums, Amorphis and so on, went out of the list. I raised the criteria for the 'conceptual' since also there is really a lot of top-quality albums that are connected with a loose story, but they are simply not tight enough to label them as truly concept albums?Otherwise I might as well write a list of 100 albums. Also I tried to avoid multiple occurances of the same band, hence only one album from Ayreon, Symphony X, Evergrey, etc, otherwise they would probably fill up half of the bloody list.

1.Sabaton - Carolus Rex
2.Kamelot - Epica
3.Kamelot - The Black Halo
4.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
5.Turisas - The Varangian Way

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 27.02.2012



Leaving The Past Behind: Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2009

1.Amorphis - Skyforger
2.Free Spirit - Pale Sister of Light
3.Delain - April Rain
4.Epica - Design Your Universe
5.Insomnium - Across The Dark

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 14.02.2012



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Unnatural Selection: Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2008

Another yearly top 10 list.

1.Ayreon - 01011001
2.Sabaton - The Art Of War
3.Eluveitie - Slania
4.Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God
5.Draconian - Turning Season Within

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Created by RhaegarTargaryen on 02.01.2012