Great article, Che! I'm 17 right now, funny to think about the fact that you joined at the age of 17. Thank you so much for putting me in the thank you list as well, I'm happy I influenced your metal journey this decade.

Here's my highlights of the 2010s:

-Best band discovery: A lot of bands I listen to I just discovered this decade I'm still the new kid on the block, but I mean, my favorite band is Neurosis, so I guess Neurosis would be a good answer?

-Album of the decade: I'd say the best album of the decade is No Love Deep Web by Death Grips, but best metal album would probably be Scar Sighted by Leviathan

-Publication of the decade: Lmao, my Dragged Into Sunlight review will remain a classic piece showcasing my absolutely hilarious nooby self of only a few years ago

-Biggest disappointment of the decade: Pig Destroyer - Head Cage. I liked it at first, but only a few tracks. it's really just the Piggies trying to do an average metalcore sound.

-Best show of the decade: Neurosis just this past August. I don't go to many shows, but I got to see my favorite fucking band in the world, and meet one of my heroes, Scott Kelly, right outside the venue. I saw the Head Cage release show with my buddy StephenT29 which was also just fantastic, such a killer time and a great first extreme metal show for me, really intense band (and especially intense audience I would say, saw the vocalist of SECT, also former vocalist of Cursed stagedive during the Piggies' set and beat the shit out of some guy in the audience, then they took the fight outside)

-Bands to watch in the 2020s: Death Grips!! Haha, I'm hoping to see some more good stuff from The Armed, Cloud Rat, Aluk Todolo, Dragged Into Sunlight (they gotta release a new album soon!!!), Chaos Echoes, Crowhurst, Pyrrhon, Cult Of Fire, and Harm's Way, to name a few current favorites off the top of my head.

Written by [user id=159927] on 15.09.2019 at 19:26

Best metal album would probably be Scar Sighted by Leviathan

Aye, that's a fantastic one as well. I come back to Gardens Of Coprolite specifically quite a bit, and overall it seems to be one of those rare albums that just gets progressively better throughout the listen.

Written by [user id=159927] on 15.09.2019 at 19:26

Bands to watch in the 2020s: Chaos Echoes

They broke up, unfortunately, but they've certainly been one of the best bands of the 2010s. And I believe when they announced their breakup on Facebook a few months ago they also mentioned that they still have some final recordings on the way as well, so I don't think we've heard the very last of them yet either thankfully.

Written by Auntie Sahar on 15.09.2019 at 19:36

Aye, that's a fantastic one as well. I come back to Gardens Of Coprolite specifically quite a bit, and overall it seems to be one of those rare albums that just gets progressively better throughout the listen.

Yeah, it's definitely one to revisit. I might not have said its the best of the 10s when I first heard it but now I'd actually call it one of Wrest's best works, second only to LoC.

Written by Auntie Sahar on 15.09.2019 at 19:36

They broke up, unfortunately, but they've certainly been one of the best bands of the 2010s. And I believe when they announced their breakup on Facebook a few months ago they also mentioned that they still have some final recordings on the way as well, so I don't think we've heard the very last of them yet either thankfully.

Lol, I actually thought one of the bands I was posting for that broke up, but I didn't think it was that one. R.I.P. Chaos Echoes. I think I knew about that I just easily forget things.

This is the most wholesome thing I've ever read on this site. Consider me comforted (and thanks for the shoutout).

Written by Troy Killjoy on 15.09.2019 at 19:43

This is the most wholesome thing I've ever read on this site. Consider me comforted (and thanks for the shoutout).

No worries bud! We missed ya there for a good while but it's great to have you back!

(now review some damn albums )

Written by Auntie Sahar on 15.09.2019 at 19:47

No worries bud! We missed ya there for a good while but it's great to have you back!
(now review some damn albums )

You can thank him for bringing me back (temporarily at least).

Btw, cool article, and thanks for the mention . Time flies. It's been close to 15 years since I've been here (on and off) but still.

Written by Ilham on 15.09.2019 at 20:06

You can thank him for bringing me back (temporarily at least).

Btw, cool article, and thanks for the mention . Time flies. It's been close to 15 years since I've been here (on and off) but still.

Ohai Ilham, nice to see you back around these parts again as well. Hopefully some more grind and hxc reviews on the near horizon then?

Written by Auntie Sahar on 15.09.2019 at 19:47
(now review some damn albums )

I've done 6 in the past 10 days! Just nothing for the front page (yet).

Given enough time for me to catch up, I can play along with the bottom portion of this article. But for now I'm still about 3 years out of the loop and that includes releases from some of my favorite bands. I have that same overwhelmed feeling like when I first started exploring the genre

Written by Troy Killjoy on 15.09.2019 at 20:51

I've done 6 in the past 10 days! Just nothing for the front page (yet).

Ha, well thanks for the alert, not sure I would've noticed them otherwise. Might be taking a peek in the next few days then

Absolutely wholesome article, and I gotta say our trajectories are not all that different, with yours being two years earlier than mine. I wish I remembered exactly how I found Metal Storm, but I think it was back in the day when I pretty much just started listening to full albums (I even had a notebook where I wrote all the albums I listened to in full) and I was mostly into music from before I was born. I think I searched something along the lines of "Best metal albums of all time" and somehow got around to finding this page. I already knew a few of the albums so I listened to the ones that I don't. That happened to be Agalloch's The Mantle. Needless to say, if there is one moment that completely and fundamentally changed my musical journey, it is the first few minutes of first listening to that album.

The rest was me lurking around and doing bits of database work, listening to reviewed albums and MSA noms, getting bits of help from Bad English and BloodTears, up until J.N. asked in the shoutbox for a few bands to add. What followed was a pretty fruitful relationships of me requesting bands to be added, him adding the shell, and me filling up the lineup and discog, basically drowning in community points. Up until he straight up left.

Oh, Ilham was also one of the first MS people I talked to. I wish MS still kept a lot of old messages, but I remember asking her to review some demo that me and a friend recorded. She sent me some surprisingly positive feedback, which is surprising because I can't for the life of me listen to that thing without cringing uncontrollably. Up until today, she left too.

It was 2016 when I first talked to you, asking you to review that Voidless Form album. You did. We added each other on Facebook and talked almost every day since. You know the rest. Thank you so much for everything.

When the site got restructured and all images had to be replaced, it felt like finding oil in the gold rush, and I've mined community points like crazy, rising up to the top of the community points hierarchy. SSUS will remember me nonchalantly asking him about joining the stuff, apologizing and then still getting the wonderful opportunity of becoming an official contributor. It was late 2017 and ever since MS has been such an important part of my life. I've written almost 200 reviews, interviewed some of my favorite musicians, spearheaded a nonmetal article series, gotten into a few fests for free and all the perks I never thought I'd ever get.

I've gotten to know some really great people here, especially fellow staff members like SSUS, nik and musiclassia. I may be a bit too naggy with some of you, especially when recommending albums to review or when asking SSUS to update the FB page, but know that you're some of the most important people in my life that I have yet to meet.

I did meet Che and Rod, which was something I never really dreamed would happen when I attended my first Roadburn this year. Plans are already made for the next one, and I hope I will meet some more of y'all or at least see Che and Rod again.



I'm not gonna even try to find some bests and worsts of the 2010s. Other than some of the most mainstream bands like Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden, all of the music I ever found, I found it in this decade. I haven't even been to concerts outside my own city before that, so pretty much every relevant concert and discovery was in the 2010s. I'd just have to index my entire musical life if I had to index the 2010s.

Written by RaduP on 15.09.2019 at 22:02

It was 2016 when I first talked to you, asking you to review that Voidless Form album. You did. We added each other on Facebook and talked almost every day since. You know the rest. Thank you so much for everything.

Indeed I do, happy to know ya bby

(Cheese Level has exceeded Gorgonzola)

Written by Auntie Sahar on 15.09.2019 at 22:16
Indeed I do, happy to know ya bby

you guys look like you're promoting your cancelled Scandinavian tv series about two metalheads overcoming their racial and cultural differences in that picture and I'm all about it.

This is such a great read, man

Just like Radu I think I came across Metal Storm when I googled something like "best metal albums of all time" for some reason that I can't remember. That was in 2015. I was just browsing the forums without posting a single comment for about a whole year I think. Around the end of 2016 I listened to Coven by Cultes Des Ghoules and I was so blown away by it that I decided to write my first review. After I saw it published, I thought I'd review some more albums and also started posting news. Ana (BloodTears) was very helpful and the first person here that I had more contact. I think one of the first interactions with you was a fallout about a news piece I posted which was solved of course very quickly. I was also working a lot on the database until at some point, out of the blue and without me mentioning any such desire to anyone, Birgit (D.T. Metal) -the former Editor In Chief- asked me if I wanted to join as a contributor. The first participation in the Metal Storm Awards came and the rest is history.

Metal Storm is for me a fun place to browse stuff about the music I love and exchange opinions with others who share the same passion for metal and music in general. Metal Archives has a bigger database than ours. Blabbermouth has more news than us. AngryMetalGuy posts more reviews than Metal Storm. But I love Metal Storm because it is a community. Because it features bands that no one else cares about. Because of Clandestine Cuts. Because of articles like the one you just wrote. Because of this review. And this one (and the comments section). And this one. Because of Radu nagging me to listen to a new album he thinks I will like and then when I do listen to it I like it so much that I end up reviewing it. Because I kind of enjoy deciphering Bad English's posts. Because I laugh every time SSUS uses words I have never heard before to describe how awesome Sabaton is. Because Abattoir keeps me up to date with the upcoming concerts in my city and transports me mentally to the ones I cannot attend. Because Starvynth has at least three detailed arguments for every opinion he shares. Because I have found an older metalhead than me in Marcel so that I can feel young . Because of so many online friends here that I don't want to single out anyone.

I was there when metal was -according to many- in its heyday but I still find music coming out today that is magnificent. Metal is going to be 50 years old next year and in my mind it is still alive and kicking because of all of us metalheads. Music styles come and go depending on what media decides should be popular but metal was never popular and this is its main strength. It doesn't follow trends, it doesn't follow rules. So I am very optimistic about its future.

> Best band discovery: Hail Spirit Noir, not because they are Greek but because they are awesome.

>Album of the decade: It'll have to be two for me: Vektor - Terminal Redux and Wormwood - Ghostlands - Wounds From A Bleeding Earth.

>Publication of the decade: My review of Revelations Of Oblivion by Possessed. Growing up, I never thought I'd get another Possessed album, let alone review it.

>Biggest disappointment of the decade: People constantly taking videos with their mobile phones in concerts. It's a fucking epidemic.

>Best show of the decade: Iron Maiden last year.

>Bands to watch in the 2020s: Loads but Suffering Hour is the tits.

Here's to all Metal Stormers and to another decade of metal euphoria

Written by nikarg on 16.09.2019 at 02:45

I was also working a lot on the database until at some point, out of the blue and without me mentioning any such desire to anyone, Birgit (D.T. Metal) -the former Editor In Chief- asked me if I wanted to join as a contributor. The first participation in the Metal Storm Awards came and the rest is history.

And we're more than happy to have you aboard dude! You write at a pretty nice pace, always seem to be the voice of level headed reason any time a thread devolves into ridiculously long winded debates, and have a pretty great taste in metal. I know we don't share a lot of the same tastes and you seem to enjoy the retro sounding stuff a lot more than me, but every now and then you end up liking or commenting on something I didn't really expect would interest you all that much and it's pretty cool. Great to have you around buddy, cheers!

(and yes, for the record, HSN would be a key discovery of this decade for me too. Kawir as well, if we're keeping the discussion on Greek bands )

Written by Troy Killjoy on 15.09.2019 at 22:23

you guys look like you're promoting your cancelled Scandinavian tv series about two metalheads overcoming their racial and cultural differences in that picture and I'm all about it.

Actually Radu kinda looks like a younger you. Do you see it?

Written by Auntie Sahar on 15.09.2019 at 20:41

Ohai Ilham, nice to see you back around these parts again as well. Hopefully some more grind and hxc reviews on the near horizon then?

Yeaaaaah let's hope the mental health stars align so I can at least try to write one. I do have more free time for the next couple of weeks .

Written by Ilham on 16.09.2019 at 03:27
Actually Radu kinda looks like a younger you. Do you see it?

I don't know if this is a compliment or insult and thus I will neither confirm or deny... but I will say that if I could grow long, straight hair and tie it back, shave my face, and lose my crow's feet... you may be on to something.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 16.09.2019 at 03:36

I don't know if this is a compliment or insult and thus I will neither confirm or deny... but I will say that if I could grow long, straight hair and tie it back, shave my face, and lose my crow's feet... you may be on to something.

Haha. I'm gonna retire this remark gracefully by saying that wasn't a jugement of value at all.

Radu said something to me earlier, he said MS might be brought back to its 2013 glory if we stay a while around these parts. It made me feel old and sad. And now this article.

Written by Ilham on 16.09.2019 at 03:29

Yeaaaaah let's hope the mental health stars align so I can at least try to write one. I do have more free time for the next couple of weeks .

Woohoo, hope to see a little something from ya then possibly. But no pressure though, personal matters first of course

Written by Ilham on 16.09.2019 at 03:46

Radu said something to me earlier, he said MS might be brought back to its 2013 glory if we stay a while around these parts.

I agree with what Radu said.

This article is very relatable. Aside from the "Earning The Stripes" part, I had a similar experience with Metal Storm.

I think in 2009 I was mostly listening to thrash, power, and heavy metal. A year later I was going through the top 200, the yearly top 20s, the genre top 100s, etc. on Metal Storm and discovering loads of genres I never thought I would like and also realizing there were some excellent metal bands in the 2000's.
In 2011 I finally joined with the purpose of rating things (mostly with 8, 9 and 10 back then ) and cataloguing my collection. It took me a while to really start reading the forums (and writing cringy YouTube-level comments : ) but it wasn't long before I started to discover the amazing MS classics that have a bout as many comments as they have ratings.

I have a lot of musical discoveries to thank to you and a handful of other people here (I'm not going to claim you singlehandedly got me into Oranssi Pazuzu, but you endlessly mentioning them back in ~2012 probably had something to do with it.) I have never contributed as much as you --spending a lot of my time as a lurker-- and while I haven't been using the site much lately (I'm just not craving kvlt black metal and drowning in abyssal funeral doom as much as I used to) I do hope it stays active for a long time to come. My taste in music wouldn't have been the same without it.

Thanks for the shout-out and posting that amazing photo. I have fond memories of my first Roadburn and I hope I can make the journey again some time. You and Rod were definitely at least partly responsible for me going there in the first place.


I'll gladly chime in with my highlights, although there are always so many to name:

> Best band discovery: I discovered most non-mainstream extreme metal bands I love in the last decade, not really worth listing my favourite bands.

>Album of the decade: Esoteric - Paragon Of Dissonance, Chaos Echoes - Transient, Emptiness - Nothing But The Whole, Elysian Blaze - Blood Geometry, Gorguts - Pleiades' Dust (remember that crazy EP?!)

>Publication of the decade: I wish I published more, but I was pretty proud of my concert review of Briqueville that no one read. I haven't read it myself since so don't be surprised if it's actually hot garbage.

>Biggest disappointment of the decade: not a single album can match the disappointment I felt when Opeth decided to only release snooze rock this decade. Also Neill Blomkamp did not live up to his potential after District 9.

>Best show of the decade:
seeing Dark Buddha Rising in a church in 2017(?)
Aluk Todoko playing Voix
Esoteric and Primordial at Brutal Assault 2015 (another festival I would have never visited without this site, shout-out to jupitreas' article on the 2012 edition.)
Oranssi Pazuzu at Roadburn in 2016 and 2017.
Other Roadburn entries: Warning, Green Carnation, Ahab, Ulver, Skepticism, etc.
Some general shows that come to mind: Nevermore shortly before they split, Massive Attack multiple times, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Opeth multiple times.

>Bands to watch in the 2020s: I'm slightly out of the loop, but even though I've almost completely grown out of Wintersun, I'm secretly still waiting for them to release Time. In all seriousness though, Briqueville, Warforged, Verwoed, Oldd Wvrms, Wolvennest are some of the many bands I will be keeping an eye on. And if Elysian Blaze ever release anything again I'm convinced it will be top-notch.

Written by Zap on 16.09.2019 at 15:29

I have never contributed as much as you --spending a lot of my time as a lurker-- and while I haven't been using the site much lately (I'm just not craving kvlt black metal and drowning in abyssal funeral doom as much as I used to) I do hope it stays active for a long time to come. My taste in music wouldn't have been the same without it.

Sometimes people contribute to making the community around here more interesting simply by being regular conversation starters and recommending interesting bands in the SB. It doesn't always have to come down to doing a ton of work on the database, reviews, articles, etc

Are you leaving? I like you, respect you and your road into metal, even few your bands are weird and I am not a roadurn fan, i like your things what you did here. Whit out you ms would not be same. Good luck in a future lad.

Written by Auntie Sahar on 16.09.2019 at 15:53

Sometimes people contribute to making the community around here more interesting simply by being regular conversation starters and recommending interesting bands in the SB. It doesn't always have to come down to doing a ton of work on the database, reviews, articles, etc

And the wholesomeness continues, haha. Cheers!

Written by Bad English on 16.09.2019 at 16:20

Are you leaving?

Not at all lol, this isn't an "I had a great time this decade, but now I have to go, farewell" type article, it's an "I had an awesome time this decade, and I'm gonna continue having an awesome time next decade so cheers!" article

Written by Auntie Sahar on 16.09.2019 at 16:42

Written by Bad English on 16.09.2019 at 16:20

Are you leaving?

Not at all lol, this isn't an "I had a great time this decade, but now I have to go, farewell" type article, it's an "I had an awesome time this decade, and I'm gonna continue having an awesome time next decade so cheers!" article

Cheers, I give you some metal beer Walhöll, black metal double black ipa, death metal and tribute to Messiah Marcolin doom warrior

last 2 I have tried, awesome, extreme rare and firts 2 I have Wallhöll all , I will try them soon,

Cheers mate

Great article man, really enjoyed the read. Gonna join the crowd and write my own story here too!

My path into heavy music had 3 main steps (aside from listening to Linkin park when I was 11): i) Being exposed to a number of my early favourites through GTA Vice City/San Andreas (specifically Vrock and Radio x) and the Guitar Hero/Rock Band games, including Metallica, Megadeth, Maiden, Avenged Sevenfold, as well as bands that are still present favourites (not that the aforementioned aren't, but they get a lot less airplay), including Mastodon, Alice in Chains and Faith No More; ii) a dump of music from a high school friend's laptop before I went to uni, which introduced me to many of my long-time current favourites, including Sylosis, Amorphis, Isis, Cult of Luna, Opeth, Protest the Hero, Killswitch Engage, etc., and which indirectly led me to; iii) discovering Metalstorm as I looked up some of the bands in that dump, particularly Agalloch from memory. I would say less of my very favourites can be attributed solely to MS (Riverside and Enslaved only come to mind), but for the past 9+ years it has really been the primary resource for expanding and solidifying my widespread interests in all things heavy, and discovering a vast and eclectic array of artists of myriad origin and style. The likes of YouTube channels and reddit pages have provided some finds (particularly r/progmetal with my 2017 and 2018 albums of the year), but this is really my main source for all things heavy.

I think one of the many things great about here is how it has helped me come to appreciate at least some aspects of the dark underbelly of metal. I will always lean more towards more conventional (prog, post-, stoner, melodeath) or mall (metalcore) metal than the dissonant fucky stuff (my end of decade list will likely be way more normie than yours), but I think it's great to have people such as yourself championing the obscure stuff, even if at times it feels like this website can have two factions (the 'any melodic metal is epic' and 'the anything popular is boring' sides); not everything you've reviewed/rec'd has worked for me, but in April this year I went to Bong and Dark Buddha Rising headline shows in London, when 5 years ago any band tagged 'drone' or 'ambient' was an instant turn-off thanks to Sunn O, and I think both of those, plus the likes of Oranssi Pazuzu (and spinoffs such as Atomikyla), Bast, Emptiness (and looking back, Rintrah), were brought to my attention by yourself and other dark prophets. Also, Roadburn was introduced to me by MS, and whilst I've only made it once (2016), it was a great experience and I hope to make it again sometime soon.

I've also really enjoyed getting practice at doing album reviews, and becoming an official contributer has definitely helped that, no longer having to deal with the 28-day delay. I think I've now done as many reviews this year officially as I did in 5 years as a guest reviewer, and I'm looking forward to doing more to keep up the content here. I'm hoping with more reviews I can get more of a personal voice - I always worry they can be too detail-heavy/impersonal/bland, but I'm still not comfortable adding too much humour/character to them yet. Also, if Radu made it so far into this post, don't worry about bugging people, it's great having someone with your enthusiasm for content contributing here, I'll just be blunt if I'm too busy to do anything at the time.

It's been clear visiting here regularly for 8 years that there has been a decline in activity, but it's been nice to see old names from when I first started popping up here and elsewhere on the site, even if I didn't interact with them much back when. Having someone like JOOE back has been great, as well as those commenting here. But regardless of that, i imagine ill continue coming by here regularly and posting for the foreseeable future (unless the site goes down!).

Finally, as i love making lists and doing best of/highlights bits almost as much as I love the music I'm raving about, I'll finish off with my own highlights (and by apologizing for any typos or other errors; I'm writing this on my phone as I'm on hols and am terrified of pressing a wrong button and wiping this whole message, which would probably be even longer and wafflier otherwise):

Best band discovery: I discovered most of my current favourite bands this decade, so will stick to stuff I found here, which is still way too much to summarize, but the most obvious ones are Riverside (whose 2000's stuff is total soul-stirring beauty) and Enslaved (brilliant on and off stage for a long time). Also, a lot of my top prog and post-metal bands were first introduced elsewhere, but I think I have MS to thank for the likes of Weedpecker, Sleep, New Keepers and other bands that got me into the whole stoner metal scene that i love so much.

Albums of the decade: I'll do my end of decade list at the end of the decade, but top spot is a straight toss-up between Edge of the Earth by Sylosis and Monolith by Sylosis. Also, probably only scraping into the top 10 but will never miss an opportunity to shout out Rolo Tomassi's 2018 album.

Publication of the decade: I really enjoyed doing the Hellfest write-up with Darkside Momo last year!

Biggest disappointment of the decade: Piotr Grudniewski of Riverside dying fucking sucked. Also, Protest the Hero bailing on the Fortress anniversary tour in Europe with no plans to reschedule was very unfortunate. As far as albums go, I'm not sure - new Fallujah and Monuments were pretty lame?

Best show of the decade: way too many to name just one, the most obvious highlights were:
-Any time I saw Cult of Luna, but especially the first time I saw them in 2014 to really open my eyes to them, and both times on the Somewhere Along the Highway tour in 2016
-Seeing Coheed and Cambria play Good Apollo IV in full and end with In Keeping Secrets on consecutive nights in 2017 was unreal
-seeing Isis play (a way too short set) in LA was a total bucket list moment I never expected to tick off
-Neurosis and Amenra at Hellfest 2018 were immense
-Faith no More in 2015 were amazing, as were Enslaved
-Mastodon doing every Scott Kelly song at the end of an amazing 2000's-oriented setlist with Kelly himself in January of this year was fantastic.
I could go on forever, but those are probably the most obvious highlights I guess?

What to look forward to in 2020's: Hopefully a shitton! Still hoping Josh finally gets round to doing the Sylosis album he's mentioned a few times this year that they're working on, but otherwise, I just hope the great bands I love put out great stuff, and the great bands I don't know are revealed to me. I also hope my own musical endeavours grow - I joined a band this year and have played a few shows, as well as started doing growly vocals. I'm excited to continue playing with them and hopefully putting out something that Radu can rip to shreds on here as vengeance for my comment about Voidless Forms. I also have other music I've written that I would absolutely love to record and play live if given the chance!

Written by musclassia on 16.09.2019 at 22:45

Being exposed to a number of my early favourites through GTA Vice City/San Andreas (specifically Vrock and Radio x) and the Guitar Hero/Rock Band games

That's a funny way to get into some of your favorites but hey, if it works it works, right? I'm sure those games have done a lot for that, reminds me of how I got into a lot of the hip hop I dig now through the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games

Written by musclassia on 16.09.2019 at 22:45

(aside from listening to Linkin park when I was 11, being exposed to a number of my early favourites through GTA Vice City/San Andreas (specifically V-Rock and Radio x)

Hard same

Written by musclassia on 16.09.2019 at 22:45

Also, if Radu made it so far into this post, don't worry about bugging people, it's great having someone with your enthusiasm for content contributing here, I'll just be blunt if I'm too busy to do anything at the time.

;3