I'm (sorta) back. *The Finishing Touches* OKAY, so obviously not as much stuff from the last half of the year as the first. Sorry guys, but that first six months nearly killed me. Some stuff as a result will be missing, but major stuff not present is stuff I probably didn't care for. Alrighty then, enough with the "stuff"...

1.Bound By Entrails - The Stars Bode You Farewell

2.Royal Thunder - CVI

3.Akphaezya - Anthology IV: The Tragedy Of Nerak

4.Dissona - Dissona

5.Anhedonist - Netherwards

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Best Folkish albums I've heard so far...!! Please feel free to post your Suggestions!!

1.Agalloch - The Mantle

2.Ensiferum - Iron

3.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

4.Blackmore's Night - Under A Violet Moon

5.Blackmore's Night - Shadow Of The Moon

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A bunch of albums with a big circle on the cover

1.Karnivool - Sound Awake

2.Skyclad - The Silent Whales Of Lunar Sea

3.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

4.Pentagram - Pentagram

5.Russian Circles - Empros

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1.Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

2.Amiensus - Restoration

3.Mors Principium Est - ...And Death Said Live

4.Deftones - Koi No Yokan

5.Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind

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This is my order of preference of the 2012's albums I've listened for now. Feel free to make recommendations or ask anything.

1.Devin Townsend - Epicloud

2.Moonspell - Alpha Noir / Omega White

3.Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind

4.Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol

5.Kreator - Phantom Antichrist

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1.Swallow The Sun - Emerald Forest And The Blackbird

2.Eluveitie - Helvetios

3.Acyl - Algebra

4.Hellsaw - Trist

5.Les Discrets - Ariettes Oubliées...

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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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Welcome to Lkoturnindrin's obligatory rating system of 2012. There will be only one voice of reason, mine. And since I have loads of albums to review, that will be all.

Re-edits in process

1.Christian Mistress - Possession

2.Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Piñata

3.High On Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis

4.Pharaoh - Bury The Light

5.Ram-Zet - Freaks In Wonderland

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This is a list of all the folk metal albums I have listened to that I found to be of at least marginal quality. It is purely for my own organizational purposes and is not meant to be a definitive statement about the genre; for that reason, there are some entries that don't entirely fit the description, including some neofolk albums and bands that don't exactly play "folk metal" but are close enough.

There used to be a good amount of crossover with my black metal list, but I have since cleaned house and removed anything labeled "pagan" or "Viking" to this list. Personally, I'm very skeptical of the idea that "pagan" anything is its own genre, and unless you're Bathory, the Viking shtick doesn't really work with me. I file it under blackened folk or folk black metal or something like that; if it has any ties to traditional music, I've decided simply to add it to this list and not bother with splitting hairs.

The first section of albums represents my favorite albums - sometimes just within the genre, sometimes overall. Beyond that, they are divided into sections by rating going down to 6/10, and within those sections in alphabetical order.

This list was last updated August 8, 2021.

1.Elvenking - Secrets Of The Magick Grimoire

2.Forefather - Ours Is The Kingdom

3.Forefather - Steadfast

4.Forefather - Last Of The Line

5.Dalriada - Áldás

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1.The Gathering - Disclosure

2.Xandria - Neverworld's End

3.Moonspell - Alpha Noir/Ómega White

4.Epica - Requiem For The Indifferent

5.The Foreshadowing - Second World

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I decided not to include "folk metal" albums like "Wintersun - Time" or "Enslaved - RIITIIR".

1.Finsterforst - Rastlos

2.Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

3.Eluveitie - Helvetios

4.Hammer Horde - Vinlander

5.King Of Asgard - ?To North

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Autumn is gone, ushering in the mercilessly short days of skin-tenderizing, soul-weakening, weariness-inducing WINTER. Take thyself to a healthy state of depression for sake of joining the spirit instead of being beaten...so here's the soundtrack (with a few oddballs that don't fit the thematic mood, but that's just how I am).

1.My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans

2.Sentenced - Down

3.Mercyful Fate - In The Shadows

4.Arch Enemy - Stigmata

5.Carcass - Heartwork

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From last.fm (27.07.12)

1.Dream Theater - Train Of Thought

2.Machine Head - Unto The Locust

3.Machine Head - The Blackening

4.Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

5.Machine Head - Through The Ashes Of Empires

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Been listening to tons of new albums, and these are so far the best. Funny thing is, they're completely different from the comfortable spots that I often listen to.
Hope the list expands, though.

1.Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

2.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

3.Headspace - I Am Anonymous

4.In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad

5.Bilocate - Summoning The Bygones

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I just had to make this list.
So many great bands release their new album this year, which I'm really excited about!

1.Sonata Arctica - Stones Grow Her Name

2.Tracedawn - Lizard Dusk

3.Jeff Loomis - Plains Of Oblivion

4.Children Of Bodom - TBA

5.Eluveitie - Helvetios

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