Here are my three lists..yes three because I find it difficult to compare albums from different genres. So you get a thrash, death and melodic list. Of course there are plenty of overlaps here and there especially in the melodic list where I include anything with majority clean vocals only.
thrash:
49. Solaris - Shadow Walk With Me ep
A good solid thrashy riff fest of an ep. Hopefully an album will follow.
48. Animator - Blacklisted
Northern Irish young thrashers with a nice jumpy riff fest.
47. Nuclear Omnicide - The Presence of Evil
Regular fast to mid paced thrash but with very raw sound and bad vocals spoiling somewhat decent music. Still has enough moments to get a few horns thrown out.
46. M-19 - Mission Destroy
A recent discovery of this heavy bruising thrash beast. Not amazing but works up enough angst and meat and potatoes riffing to get the blood near boiling point.
45. Sanitarius - Eternal
A bit raw but still has some killer riffs that remind me of Iced Earth as I recall but the vocals are raw.
44. Domination - The Sacred Matrix
Fast as a bullet young Greek thrashers. A good start and base from which to build into a top class thrash band.
43. Death Mechanism - Twenty-First Century
Fast as hell somewhat prog thrash with slightly murky sound. If you like whirling speed and semi technical riffs then Death Mechanism works up a rare storm.
42. Crisix - Rise...then Rest
Regular thrash not a killer but works for me enough to make my list.
41. Amok - Somewhere In The West
Scottish thrashmongers deliver a simple thrash beating with a nice set of frenetic riffs to mosh till your heart's content.
40. Infanteria - Isolated Existence
Clean and precise South African thrashers do a nice job bringing the thrash heads what they need with a clean and meaty take on thrash goodness.
39. Essence - Last Night of Solace
A mix of death and thrash but I'll put it in this list for argument's sake. Some great crisp riffage and decent catchy songs.
38. Exarsis - The Brutal State
Precision level classic thrash but with an excruciatingly high pitched screamer that somewhat draws back from the riffage on display. Would have placed so much higher with a less hysterical vocal style 'cause the riffs are up there with the best.
37. Annihilator - Feast
I was expecting more from Jeff and co but it's still enjoyable and melodic Annihilator as you would expect and worthy of it's position.
36. Sagros - Anger Blinds The Mind
Regular thrash goodness with super angry vocals.
35. Mason - Warhead
A late discovery means a lowish spot in the list but I think it's probably worth much higher given a bit more time.
34. Soulfly - Savages
I'm not sure this is quite as good as recent Soulfly albums but I still enjoy the dark feel and the bruising heaviness.
33. Skeletonwitch - Serpents Unleashed
The best album from the black thrashers.
32. Warbringer - IV: Empires Collapse
Not a fan of the band's previous albums but the new one was very solid all the way through.
31. Ágona - Homo Grotescus
Another solid thrashy album with some death metal traits.
30. Lost Society - Fast Loud Death
Very young guys playing fast and heavy thrash with very raw screaming vocals which annoy a little. However the riffs are ace.
29. Hatriot - Heroes of Origin
Zetro Souza's band with his sons. Pretty enjoyable and close to Exodus in many ways.
28. Devariem - Planet Earth Ground Zero
Lots of fast, hard riffs and good technical skills from these unknowns.
27. Accu§er - Diabolic
Probably the heaviest thrash album in this list. The guitars bludgeon you into submission.
26. Condition Critical - Operational Hazard
Heavy and crunchy thrash metal with enjoyable songs.
25. Necrotic Effect - Black Box
Nicely riffed thrash metal.
24. Hell's Domain - Hell's Domain
Old school thrash but with modern sound.
23. Hemotoxin - Between Forever... and the End
Pretty technical thrash metal with slightly raw sound.
22. Death Angel - The Dream Calls for Blood
I like this much more than the last album. The songs are much more engaging for me.
21. Damned Creed - Choose a Side
Nicely riffed thrash metal with a lot of bounce and groove.
20. Riffobia - Laws of Devastation
Hugely fun riff fest from these unknowns.
19. Warfect - Exoneration Denied
Same as above - a fun riff fest.
18. War-Saw - Nuclear Nightmare
Polish thrash with vast improvement on previous album. Very heavy sound to boot.
17. Endovein - S.I.N
Only the buffoon on vox stop this album from aiming much higher in the list. The riffs are really melodic, technical and catchy.
16. Onslaught - VI
Heavy UK thrashers return with a much better album this time than their previous album. It's heavy and crushing with a monster production.
15. Ultra-Violence - Privilege to Overcome
Classic sounding thrash metal goodness.
14. Havok - Unnatural Selection
There's no doubt they are a great thrash band and one of the best of modern days but they couldn't quite match Time Is Up.
13. Revocation - Revocation
The technical masters delivered a really solid album this time out full of amazing riffs to sink your teeth into.
12. Panikk - Unbearable Conditions
Juddering onslaught of hammering riffs made these unknowns a thrash band to watch.
11. Artillery - Legions
Last singer was good and new singer is even better in my book. To me the band sounds more like heavy power metal on this disk but I'll put them in thrash 'cause of their roots. Either way it's a very solid bombastic and melodic record that packs a real punch.
10. Evile - Skull
The kings of English thrash are well honed thrashing machines these days and this latest offering was as good as their best.
09. Gama Bomb - The Terror Tapes
A vast improvement from the tongue in cheek Northern Irish thrash mongers. The sound was miles better and the riffs tore up the place. Looking forward to seeing these guys live soon.
08. F.K.Ü. - 4- Rise Of The Mosh Mongers
To be honest I ignored this at first. More fool me! This is hellishly fun tongue in cheek thrash metal. I especially like the vocal delivery where you understand every single word.
07. Leech - Cyanide Christ
Very well executed clinical thrash metal with mental riffs galore and nice vocals to top it all off.
06. Hateform - Sanctuary in Abyss
The vocals are definitely in the death metal camp but these Poles are ace riffmeisters make no mistake. The heavy punchy sound made the album a thrashers wet dream.
05. Hybris - Heavy Machinery
A newcomer UK thrash band came out of nowhere with this consistently tightly riffed thrashfest. The vocals were a bit odd at first but I grew to accept whilst the somewhat technical riffage won me over in an instant. I hope they stick around because they can become even better on future releases.
04. Fueled by Fire - Trapped in Perdition
The LA thrashers made by far their best album. The all round thrash goodness was unmistakable as soon as you pressed play on this beast.
03. Hatchet - Dawn of the End
One of the best thrash band of recent years delivered once again and then some.
02. Violator - Scenarios of Brutality
The Brazillian boys matured further from their awesome last album to deliver a better produced and more polished effort. The pace was relentless and the riffs were designed to send moshpits into an insane frenzy.
01. Harlott - Origin
I had no idea who Aussies Harlott were before this release so I guess it's their debut but damn what a masterful thrashfest this albums is. I normally find one or two tiny things that I might not like in an album but I found it almost impossible to quibble at anything for this one. I hope they go on to top this album but it's gonna be difficult 'cause this is already an amazing effort from these bunch of unknowns.
Death:
48. Tormented - Death Awaits
Old school filth from the depths of Swedish death metal carnage. The guitar sound is pure dirt! However the best thing about this believe it or not is the understandable vocals.
47. Syrebris - Aether Dynamics
Solid and punchy semi tech death metal.
46. Punish - Sublunar Chaos
Pretty technical death metal with solid musicianship but the production is not to my taste.
45. Ploy For Extinction - Primordial
Nice melodeath with punchy crisp production
44. Suture - Carnivorous Urge To Kill (Reissue)
Decent classic death metal re-recorded to today's standards making for a solid listen.
43. Evilness - Unreachable Clarity
Nice and heavy, winding riffs if rather boring vocals.
42. Subliminal Crusher - Newmanity
Fast and catchy death metal with thrashy riffs though. So could have gone in that list as well.
41. Jungle Rot - Terror Regime
Big on everything cliched death metal has to offer basically. Fun stuff!
40. Crawling Chaos - Repellent Gastronomy
Punchy and clear death metal with chunky riffs and pristine sound.
39. Harasai - Psychotic Kingdom
An array of fast and fluid melodic death metal made this an enjoyable listen.
38. Saprogenic - Expanding Toward Collapsed Lungs
Brutal and tight tech death with of course no prisoners being taken.
37. Soilwork - The Living Infinite
Melodic death metal masters still able to let loose the shackles and deliver some tasty riffs. It was a little bit too long though.
36. Arsis - Unwelcome
These guys are great no doubt but Unwelcome whilst a solid enough album only makes my list be default as they are such a great band of players.
35. Six Feet Under - Unborn
More streamlined and less loose, this was an exercise in tight death metal mastery from this long running band.
34. Soul Remnants - Black and Blood
Nicely riffed death metal.
33. Arkhe - Spirals of Life
Badly produced Death worship but a good try with superb bass work.
32. Entrails - Raging Death
Catchy old school death with a monster heavy bludgeoning sound.
31. Burden of Life - The Vanity Syndrome
Catchy epic melodic death with long songs.
30. Ecocide - Eye of Wicked Sight
Old school death metal done right.
29. Children of Bodom - Halo of Blood
A good solid album from the Children with lots of tasty riffs and solos.
28. Illuminati - The Core
Cynic worship with some avant garde wacko elements. When it was pure Cynic it was a pretty great copy.
27. Deicide - In the Minds of Evil
Glen's crew with their best album since God knows when or should that be Satan? Crystal clear production and better vocals from Glen helped matters no end.
26. Lecherous Nocturne - Behold Almighty Doctrine
Blisteringly fast deathgrind insanity with a high technical quotient.
25. Kalmah - Seventh Swamphony
The Finnish swamp overlords with another beautifully solid release to add to their extensive catalogue.
24. Corpus Mortale - FleshCraft
A very solid death metal offering. Not spectacular but all round tightness wins the day.
23. The Black Dahlia Murder - Everblack
Usual fare from the Dahlia murder team. Fluid and super melodic with the scratchiest vocals ever.
22. Deviant Syndrome - 66 Ways to Redemption
Top quality melodic death with tons of twisted riffage to snag on to.
21. Sorcery - Arrival at Six
Yet another old school Swedish death band delivering the goods.
20. Monolith - Voyager
Nicely riffed melodeath from Canada.
19. Frosttide - Awakening
Epic folky melodic death with beautiful iced chilled melodies.
18. Oblivion - Called to Rise
Well played and fluid tech death.
17. Orpheus Omega - Resillusion
Aussie melodeathsters know the melodeath songbook inside out.
16. Arhideus - Awakening of Sins
A surprisingly tight technical death metal workout from these unknowns.
15. Infernaeon - The Cancer Within
A surprisingly awesome release with some black metal but not overpowering thankfully. When they got the riffs flowing they were a great listen.
14. Æther Realm - One Chosen by the Gods
I was Bowled over by the wonderfully clear and epic melodies in this release from these unknown Americans. They deserve to have a bigger name.
13. Battlecross - War of Will
From the same camp as the Dahlia boys but with an even better album chock full of great bouncy riffs.
12. Smothered - The Inevitable End
The best album Entombed never made. That guitar sound is just something else!
11. Carcass - Surgical Steel
The English masters returned to much fanfare...was it worth the wait? Well I think overall...YES!
10. Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods
The vikings deliver as they only know how. Bang your heads for Odin!
09. Blood Red Throne - Blood Red Throne
The Norwegian death crew with yet another super polished, groovy death metal blastathon with blackened parts.
08. The Greatness Design - Pillars of Creation
Well the Necrophagist guys have spawned many many imitators since their demise and here was a great one it must be said. The album had a very thin production but damn did they ape those Necroriffs to perfection... almost!
07. Suffocation - Pinnacle of Bedlam
I have never been a huge fan of these undoubted legends but this latest album was really a solid and muscular effort. The sound and the songs showed the maturity one would expect of a band this long into their career.
06. Parasite Inc. - Time Tears Down
Hyper melodic and very enjoyable death metal and probably my fave of that style in the whole year.
05. Murder Made God - Irreverence
This album had the most tightest riffs in the whole year with the most clinical and digital sounding production as well. Imagine if Decapitated turned into a faster digital riff machine and you get these guys. The riff kings of 2013 no doubt!
04. Dysmorphic - A Notion of Causality
A more human sounding kind of technical death metal to me. The album was also the grooviest and not so much a dazzling array of notes but an exercise in hitting a groove and ramming it home until the listener got the message. Great stuff!
03. Incarnator - Caeca Superstitio
One of the best Death worship albums ever. The Chuck-like melodies were truly exceptional and the band delivered them with conviction.
02. Reciprocal - New Order of the Ages
This album came a bit late but damn was it worth the wait. A hugely impressive and vast array of crushing riffs in a thick and warm sound made this a joy to listen to especially with headphones of course. This album was pretty much encapsulates everything I look for in death metal.
01. Deeds of Flesh - Portals to Canaan
Finally the number one album of the year from the new kings of masterful tech death from the US of A. The album was like an unrelenting juggernaut of shuddering riffs and drums with the staccato catchiness to send you over the edge whilst listening. Yes all these album are pretty one dimensional but you can't help but get taken for an exhilarating ride when an album with this much class and brutality hits the shelves. A lesson in high precision level death metal brain surgery!
Here is my list of favourite melodic albums for 2013. The first part contains albums I like that didn't quite make the top 50 with no particular ranking for those. These are listed in alphabetical order. The second section is my ranked top 50 albums in reverse order. So much great music in the melodic metal/rock and AOR field to wade through this year and it's been quite hard to split many of them as on any given day depending on my mood, they are interchangeable, however I have come up with some sort of list as per usual.
Alter Bridge - Fortress
Amendfoil - Skyline Escape
Arrayan Path - IV Stigmata
Athelstan - The Ride
AURA - russian title
Bai Bang - All Around the World
Bane of Winterstorm - The Last Sons of Perylin
Black Trip - Goin Under
BST - In The Blink of an Eye
China - We Are the Stars
Circle of Silence - The Rise of Resistance
Civil War - The Killer Angels
Coldspell - Frozen Paradise
Damnations Day - Invisible, The Dead
Dead End Space - Distortion of Senses
Dendera - The Killing Floor
Derdian - Limbo
DGM - Momentum
Divinity Compromised - A World Torn
Dreamtale - World Changed Forever
Eclipse Prophecy - Days Of Judgement
Edge - Heaven Knows
Electronomicon - Unleashing The Shadows
Enforcer - Death By Fire
Envinya - Inner Silence
Evertale - Of Dragons And Elves
Forever Storm - Tragedy
Gemini Syndrome - Lux
Giant X - I
Heavatar - Opus I - All My Kingdom
Heaven's Basement - Filthy Empire
Heavens Fire - Judgement Day
Illusion Suite - The Iron Cemetary
James LaBrie - Impermanent Resonance
Jorn - Symphonic
Lancer - Lancer
Lawless - Rock Savage
Lightning - Raise The Sun
Lion Twin - Nashville
Lord - Digital Lies
Meridian - Metallurgy
Messenger - Starwolf Pt. I: The Messengers
Michael Schenker's Temple Of Rock - Bridge The Gap
Minotauro - Master Of The Sea
Neuronspoiler - Emergence
New Device - Here We Stand
Operadyse - Pandemonium
Paris - Only One Life
Prospekt - The Colourless Sunrise
Robin Beck - Underneath
Rocka Rollas - Metal Strikes Back
Shadows Past - Perfect Chapter
Satan's Host - Virgin Sails
Sepsis - Fear of Freedom
Silent Force - Rising From Ashes
Sinheresy - Paint The World
Siren's Cry - Scattered Horizons
Sinister Realm - World of Evil
Sleeping Romance - Enlighten.
Smash Into Pieces - Unbreakable
Strike - We're Back
Sphinx - Chronos
The Theander Expression - Strange Nostalgia
The Prowlers - Point of No Return
The Storyteller - Dark Legacy
Thunder and Lightning - In Charge of the Scythe
Takayoshi Ohmura - Devils In The Dark
Trivium - Vengeance Falls
Vega - What the Hell!
Vandroya - One
Vhäldemar - Shadows of Combat
Vicinity - Awakening
Walking with Giants - Walking with Giants
Withem - The Point Of You
Wolfchant - Embraced by Fire
50. Mean Streak - Trial by Fire
Quality Swedish melodic heavy metal with big riffs and nice powerful vocals.
49. Orphaned Land - All Is One
The Israeli brothers come up with a wonderfully charismatic and epic album.
48. Diamond Dawn - Overdrive
Melodic hard rock with punchy sound and big songs. Only the slightly accented Italianvocals stop this from ranking higher.
47. Cardiant - Verge
Finnish melodic metal goodness from these comeback merchants.
46. Megadeth - Super Collider
As a fan of any type of Megadeth music be it thrash or rock, I find myself happy enough with Super Collider. It still has good quality and Dave's vocals sound very cool at times especially on the Thin Lizzy cover on this album. Enjoyable, melodic, non thrash Megadeth.
45. Edenbridge - The Bonding
I love Sabine's voice although I was expecting slightly more from this album. Still any Edenbridge is still a great listen.
44. Laneslide - Flying High
Newcomer melodic rock project from Europe. Typical Euro AOR stuff but the songs production and playing are all top notch as are the vocals.
43. Giuntini Project - IV
Melodic metal from the Italian dude with Tony Martin on vox. The songs had to be good for me to enjoy and they surely were on this album.
42. Degreed - We Won't Belong
Young Swedish upstarts returned with a more mature and polished sound than their debut which was a huge fave of mine looking back. Songwise the album had some corkers and a couple of less memorable tunes but when they got it right boy did they get it right!
41. Signum Regis - Exodus
The last album had Goran Edman on all the songs and was nothing short of brilliant. The new album utilizes a mixed set of singers and is still pretty damn good but not as good as the last.
40. Niva - Magnitude
Catchy as hell melodic hard rock with clean sound and typical Scandi vocals ala Treat etc. Great stuff if you ask me.
39. Saints 'N' Sinners - Saints 'n' Sinners
Probably the best Turkish band I've heard since Mezarkabul/Pentagram although those guys were a different style. SnS plays out and out melodic power metal with a surprisingly solid singer. Very enjoyable!
38. Dream Theater - Dream Theater
Maybe A Dramatic Turn Of Events was a little bit better but I still enjoyed the s/t disk a lot. The music is stellar whilst I will never be a huge fan of Labrie's voice, he still turned in a solid performance.
37. Newman - Siren
Steve Newman creates melodic rock albums on a regular basis and they are all solid but the song writing is sometimes not to my taste so I tend to forget about them quickly. Not on this occasion. Steve has turned in his best set of songs ever! A consistently solid listen with a punchy production.
36. Snowfall - Cold Silence
Melodic rock/AOR project with the UK's Lee Small on vocals - the man who does the best Glenn Highes impersonation ever. Anyway he doesn't sound so much like Mr Hughes this time and the scandi melodic rock project turned up trumps with big songs and a shiny crystal clear production.
35. Dark Moor - Ars Musica
I've enjoyed the band's oputput for a long time so I was looking forward to Ars Musica immensely when I heard about it's release. To be honest I expected it to place higher on my list overall. It is still a very engaging listen but perhaps not as immediate as some of its predecessors. Still Dark Moor doesn't do average by any means as this album proved.
34. Alex Beyrodt's Voodoo Circle - More Than One Way Home
The new Whitesnake in all but name delivered a monster hard rock record with awesome vocals from David Readman.
33. Serenity - War of Ages
Epic symphonic melodic metal with a huge production. A triumphant listen.
32. MindMaze - Mask Of Lie
Melodic progpower mix from the States with female vocals. A very strong and enjoyable album with memorable songwriting. A great start for the band.
31. Avantasia - The Mystery of Time
Tobi is a great songwriter period. I don't love everything he does but when he gets it right there's no one better and this album had far more great than merely average hence its high placing. I especially liked the songs with Kiske, they were awesome to listen to.
30. Hell - Curse & Chapter
A billiant classic heavy metal record even better than their comeback album. The songs are dark and mysterious yet very catchy at the same time.
29. Wisdom - Marching for Liberty
Easily the best Hungarian power metal band ever with an awesome air raid siren vocalist. These guys are superb at the craft of making a memorable, cheesy power metal song with a skyscraping chorus.
28. The Poodles - Tour de Force
The Swedish melodic rock supergroup returned with another catchy beast of a record. It featured everything I look for in my music. Punchy sound, big vocals and massive hooks to spare.
27. White Wizzard - The Devils Cut
This self destructive band actually made one of the year's best retro metal albums with this release. The vocals were a ton stronger and the songs catchier and more to the point. I hope they continue in this vein if possible but I'm not even sure the band exists any more.
26. Running Wild - Resilient
I'm a RW fanboy so take what I say with a pinch of salt but I loved this record. Shadowmaker was ok and had some real fun moments but Resilient tops it with ease. The songs are just stronger all the way through although Rolf loves the mid pace in his old age and we don't get any real speedy firecrackers any more but I can live with it. Oh and in Bloody Island we have one of the best RW epics ever.
25. Iron Mask - Fifth Son of Winterdoom
Another really great neo-classical effort from the Belgian mob led by guitar wiz Dushan Petrossi. The songs are very strong and the vocals from Mark Boals are as great as you would expect for this sort of music.
24. Wardrum - Messenger
A big improvement from their previous album for these Greek power metal merchants. Everything has been turned up a notch from playing production and singing to much better song writing. I enjoy this more than the last Firewind album!
23. Seventh Key - I Will Survive
I love the previous SK albums but this album maybe be even better. It has more of a prog edge than previous albums which were a little heavier and more straight ahead but I think the move into proggier waters actually suits the band even more. Mike Slamer's guitar playing is just superbly fluid on this one.
22. Fate - If Not for the Devil
Swedish melodic hard stalwarts return yet again with another classic sounding record. The melodies are stronger than on the last album hence its high rating. The production is also out of this world making this a joy to listen to.
21. Nautiluz - Leaving All Behind
Speedy Stratovarius worship from Peru! Who knew a band of upstarts could come out with such a joyously melodic album full of speedy riffs and high as a kite refrains. Really great job guys!
!
thrash:
49. Solaris - Shadow Walk With Me ep
A good solid thrashy riff fest of an ep. Hopefully an album will follow.
48. Animator - Blacklisted
Northern Irish young thrashers with a nice jumpy riff fest.
47. Nuclear Omnicide - The Presence of Evil
Regular fast to mid paced thrash but with very raw sound and bad vocals spoiling somewhat decent music. Still has enough moments to get a few horns thrown out.
46. M-19 - Mission Destroy
A recent discovery of this heavy bruising thrash beast. Not amazing but works up enough angst and meat and potatoes riffing to get the blood near boiling point.
45. Sanitarius - Eternal
A bit raw but still has some killer riffs that remind me of Iced Earth as I recall but the vocals are raw.
44. Domination - The Sacred Matrix
Fast as a bullet young Greek thrashers. A good start and base from which to build into a top class thrash band.
43. Death Mechanism - Twenty-First Century
Fast as hell somewhat prog thrash with slightly murky sound. If you like whirling speed and semi technical riffs then Death Mechanism works up a rare storm.
42. Crisix - Rise...then Rest
Regular thrash not a killer but works for me enough to make my list.
41. Amok - Somewhere In The West
Scottish thrashmongers deliver a simple thrash beating with a nice set of frenetic riffs to mosh till your heart's content.
40. Infanteria - Isolated Existence
Clean and precise South African thrashers do a nice job bringing the thrash heads what they need with a clean and meaty take on thrash goodness.
39. Essence - Last Night of Solace
A mix of death and thrash but I'll put it in this list for argument's sake. Some great crisp riffage and decent catchy songs.
38. Exarsis - The Brutal State
Precision level classic thrash but with an excruciatingly high pitched screamer that somewhat draws back from the riffage on display. Would have placed so much higher with a less hysterical vocal style 'cause the riffs are up there with the best.
37. Annihilator - Feast
I was expecting more from Jeff and co but it's still enjoyable and melodic Annihilator as you would expect and worthy of it's position.
36. Sagros - Anger Blinds The Mind
Regular thrash goodness with super angry vocals.
35. Mason - Warhead
A late discovery means a lowish spot in the list but I think it's probably worth much higher given a bit more time.
34. Soulfly - Savages
I'm not sure this is quite as good as recent Soulfly albums but I still enjoy the dark feel and the bruising heaviness.
33. Skeletonwitch - Serpents Unleashed
The best album from the black thrashers.
32. Warbringer - IV: Empires Collapse
Not a fan of the band's previous albums but the new one was very solid all the way through.
31. Ágona - Homo Grotescus
Another solid thrashy album with some death metal traits.
30. Lost Society - Fast Loud Death
Very young guys playing fast and heavy thrash with very raw screaming vocals which annoy a little. However the riffs are ace.
29. Hatriot - Heroes of Origin
Zetro Souza's band with his sons. Pretty enjoyable and close to Exodus in many ways.
28. Devariem - Planet Earth Ground Zero
Lots of fast, hard riffs and good technical skills from these unknowns.
27. Accu§er - Diabolic
Probably the heaviest thrash album in this list. The guitars bludgeon you into submission.
26. Condition Critical - Operational Hazard
Heavy and crunchy thrash metal with enjoyable songs.
25. Necrotic Effect - Black Box
Nicely riffed thrash metal.
24. Hell's Domain - Hell's Domain
Old school thrash but with modern sound.
23. Hemotoxin - Between Forever... and the End
Pretty technical thrash metal with slightly raw sound.
22. Death Angel - The Dream Calls for Blood
I like this much more than the last album. The songs are much more engaging for me.
21. Damned Creed - Choose a Side
Nicely riffed thrash metal with a lot of bounce and groove.
20. Riffobia - Laws of Devastation
Hugely fun riff fest from these unknowns.
19. Warfect - Exoneration Denied
Same as above - a fun riff fest.
18. War-Saw - Nuclear Nightmare
Polish thrash with vast improvement on previous album. Very heavy sound to boot.
17. Endovein - S.I.N
Only the buffoon on vox stop this album from aiming much higher in the list. The riffs are really melodic, technical and catchy.
16. Onslaught - VI
Heavy UK thrashers return with a much better album this time than their previous album. It's heavy and crushing with a monster production.
15. Ultra-Violence - Privilege to Overcome
Classic sounding thrash metal goodness.
14. Havok - Unnatural Selection
There's no doubt they are a great thrash band and one of the best of modern days but they couldn't quite match Time Is Up.
13. Revocation - Revocation
The technical masters delivered a really solid album this time out full of amazing riffs to sink your teeth into.
12. Panikk - Unbearable Conditions
Juddering onslaught of hammering riffs made these unknowns a thrash band to watch.
11. Artillery - Legions
Last singer was good and new singer is even better in my book. To me the band sounds more like heavy power metal on this disk but I'll put them in thrash 'cause of their roots. Either way it's a very solid bombastic and melodic record that packs a real punch.
10. Evile - Skull
The kings of English thrash are well honed thrashing machines these days and this latest offering was as good as their best.
09. Gama Bomb - The Terror Tapes
A vast improvement from the tongue in cheek Northern Irish thrash mongers. The sound was miles better and the riffs tore up the place. Looking forward to seeing these guys live soon.
08. F.K.Ü. - 4- Rise Of The Mosh Mongers
To be honest I ignored this at first. More fool me! This is hellishly fun tongue in cheek thrash metal. I especially like the vocal delivery where you understand every single word.
07. Leech - Cyanide Christ
Very well executed clinical thrash metal with mental riffs galore and nice vocals to top it all off.
06. Hateform - Sanctuary in Abyss
The vocals are definitely in the death metal camp but these Poles are ace riffmeisters make no mistake. The heavy punchy sound made the album a thrashers wet dream.
05. Hybris - Heavy Machinery
A newcomer UK thrash band came out of nowhere with this consistently tightly riffed thrashfest. The vocals were a bit odd at first but I grew to accept whilst the somewhat technical riffage won me over in an instant. I hope they stick around because they can become even better on future releases.
04. Fueled by Fire - Trapped in Perdition
The LA thrashers made by far their best album. The all round thrash goodness was unmistakable as soon as you pressed play on this beast.
03. Hatchet - Dawn of the End
One of the best thrash band of recent years delivered once again and then some.
02. Violator - Scenarios of Brutality
The Brazillian boys matured further from their awesome last album to deliver a better produced and more polished effort. The pace was relentless and the riffs were designed to send moshpits into an insane frenzy.
01. Harlott - Origin
I had no idea who Aussies Harlott were before this release so I guess it's their debut but damn what a masterful thrashfest this albums is. I normally find one or two tiny things that I might not like in an album but I found it almost impossible to quibble at anything for this one. I hope they go on to top this album but it's gonna be difficult 'cause this is already an amazing effort from these bunch of unknowns.
Death:
48. Tormented - Death Awaits
Old school filth from the depths of Swedish death metal carnage. The guitar sound is pure dirt! However the best thing about this believe it or not is the understandable vocals.
47. Syrebris - Aether Dynamics
Solid and punchy semi tech death metal.
46. Punish - Sublunar Chaos
Pretty technical death metal with solid musicianship but the production is not to my taste.
45. Ploy For Extinction - Primordial
Nice melodeath with punchy crisp production
44. Suture - Carnivorous Urge To Kill (Reissue)
Decent classic death metal re-recorded to today's standards making for a solid listen.
43. Evilness - Unreachable Clarity
Nice and heavy, winding riffs if rather boring vocals.
42. Subliminal Crusher - Newmanity
Fast and catchy death metal with thrashy riffs though. So could have gone in that list as well.
41. Jungle Rot - Terror Regime
Big on everything cliched death metal has to offer basically. Fun stuff!
40. Crawling Chaos - Repellent Gastronomy
Punchy and clear death metal with chunky riffs and pristine sound.
39. Harasai - Psychotic Kingdom
An array of fast and fluid melodic death metal made this an enjoyable listen.
38. Saprogenic - Expanding Toward Collapsed Lungs
Brutal and tight tech death with of course no prisoners being taken.
37. Soilwork - The Living Infinite
Melodic death metal masters still able to let loose the shackles and deliver some tasty riffs. It was a little bit too long though.
36. Arsis - Unwelcome
These guys are great no doubt but Unwelcome whilst a solid enough album only makes my list be default as they are such a great band of players.
35. Six Feet Under - Unborn
More streamlined and less loose, this was an exercise in tight death metal mastery from this long running band.
34. Soul Remnants - Black and Blood
Nicely riffed death metal.
33. Arkhe - Spirals of Life
Badly produced Death worship but a good try with superb bass work.
32. Entrails - Raging Death
Catchy old school death with a monster heavy bludgeoning sound.
31. Burden of Life - The Vanity Syndrome
Catchy epic melodic death with long songs.
30. Ecocide - Eye of Wicked Sight
Old school death metal done right.
29. Children of Bodom - Halo of Blood
A good solid album from the Children with lots of tasty riffs and solos.
28. Illuminati - The Core
Cynic worship with some avant garde wacko elements. When it was pure Cynic it was a pretty great copy.
27. Deicide - In the Minds of Evil
Glen's crew with their best album since God knows when or should that be Satan? Crystal clear production and better vocals from Glen helped matters no end.
26. Lecherous Nocturne - Behold Almighty Doctrine
Blisteringly fast deathgrind insanity with a high technical quotient.
25. Kalmah - Seventh Swamphony
The Finnish swamp overlords with another beautifully solid release to add to their extensive catalogue.
24. Corpus Mortale - FleshCraft
A very solid death metal offering. Not spectacular but all round tightness wins the day.
23. The Black Dahlia Murder - Everblack
Usual fare from the Dahlia murder team. Fluid and super melodic with the scratchiest vocals ever.
22. Deviant Syndrome - 66 Ways to Redemption
Top quality melodic death with tons of twisted riffage to snag on to.
21. Sorcery - Arrival at Six
Yet another old school Swedish death band delivering the goods.
20. Monolith - Voyager
Nicely riffed melodeath from Canada.
19. Frosttide - Awakening
Epic folky melodic death with beautiful iced chilled melodies.
18. Oblivion - Called to Rise
Well played and fluid tech death.
17. Orpheus Omega - Resillusion
Aussie melodeathsters know the melodeath songbook inside out.
16. Arhideus - Awakening of Sins
A surprisingly tight technical death metal workout from these unknowns.
15. Infernaeon - The Cancer Within
A surprisingly awesome release with some black metal but not overpowering thankfully. When they got the riffs flowing they were a great listen.
14. Æther Realm - One Chosen by the Gods
I was Bowled over by the wonderfully clear and epic melodies in this release from these unknown Americans. They deserve to have a bigger name.
13. Battlecross - War of Will
From the same camp as the Dahlia boys but with an even better album chock full of great bouncy riffs.
12. Smothered - The Inevitable End
The best album Entombed never made. That guitar sound is just something else!
11. Carcass - Surgical Steel
The English masters returned to much fanfare...was it worth the wait? Well I think overall...YES!
10. Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods
The vikings deliver as they only know how. Bang your heads for Odin!
09. Blood Red Throne - Blood Red Throne
The Norwegian death crew with yet another super polished, groovy death metal blastathon with blackened parts.
08. The Greatness Design - Pillars of Creation
Well the Necrophagist guys have spawned many many imitators since their demise and here was a great one it must be said. The album had a very thin production but damn did they ape those Necroriffs to perfection... almost!
07. Suffocation - Pinnacle of Bedlam
I have never been a huge fan of these undoubted legends but this latest album was really a solid and muscular effort. The sound and the songs showed the maturity one would expect of a band this long into their career.
06. Parasite Inc. - Time Tears Down
Hyper melodic and very enjoyable death metal and probably my fave of that style in the whole year.
05. Murder Made God - Irreverence
This album had the most tightest riffs in the whole year with the most clinical and digital sounding production as well. Imagine if Decapitated turned into a faster digital riff machine and you get these guys. The riff kings of 2013 no doubt!
04. Dysmorphic - A Notion of Causality
A more human sounding kind of technical death metal to me. The album was also the grooviest and not so much a dazzling array of notes but an exercise in hitting a groove and ramming it home until the listener got the message. Great stuff!
03. Incarnator - Caeca Superstitio
One of the best Death worship albums ever. The Chuck-like melodies were truly exceptional and the band delivered them with conviction.
02. Reciprocal - New Order of the Ages
This album came a bit late but damn was it worth the wait. A hugely impressive and vast array of crushing riffs in a thick and warm sound made this a joy to listen to especially with headphones of course. This album was pretty much encapsulates everything I look for in death metal.
01. Deeds of Flesh - Portals to Canaan
Finally the number one album of the year from the new kings of masterful tech death from the US of A. The album was like an unrelenting juggernaut of shuddering riffs and drums with the staccato catchiness to send you over the edge whilst listening. Yes all these album are pretty one dimensional but you can't help but get taken for an exhilarating ride when an album with this much class and brutality hits the shelves. A lesson in high precision level death metal brain surgery!
Here is my list of favourite melodic albums for 2013. The first part contains albums I like that didn't quite make the top 50 with no particular ranking for those. These are listed in alphabetical order. The second section is my ranked top 50 albums in reverse order. So much great music in the melodic metal/rock and AOR field to wade through this year and it's been quite hard to split many of them as on any given day depending on my mood, they are interchangeable, however I have come up with some sort of list as per usual.
Alter Bridge - Fortress
Amendfoil - Skyline Escape
Arrayan Path - IV Stigmata
Athelstan - The Ride
AURA - russian title
Bai Bang - All Around the World
Bane of Winterstorm - The Last Sons of Perylin
Black Trip - Goin Under
BST - In The Blink of an Eye
China - We Are the Stars
Circle of Silence - The Rise of Resistance
Civil War - The Killer Angels
Coldspell - Frozen Paradise
Damnations Day - Invisible, The Dead
Dead End Space - Distortion of Senses
Dendera - The Killing Floor
Derdian - Limbo
DGM - Momentum
Divinity Compromised - A World Torn
Dreamtale - World Changed Forever
Eclipse Prophecy - Days Of Judgement
Edge - Heaven Knows
Electronomicon - Unleashing The Shadows
Enforcer - Death By Fire
Envinya - Inner Silence
Evertale - Of Dragons And Elves
Forever Storm - Tragedy
Gemini Syndrome - Lux
Giant X - I
Heavatar - Opus I - All My Kingdom
Heaven's Basement - Filthy Empire
Heavens Fire - Judgement Day
Illusion Suite - The Iron Cemetary
James LaBrie - Impermanent Resonance
Jorn - Symphonic
Lancer - Lancer
Lawless - Rock Savage
Lightning - Raise The Sun
Lion Twin - Nashville
Lord - Digital Lies
Meridian - Metallurgy
Messenger - Starwolf Pt. I: The Messengers
Michael Schenker's Temple Of Rock - Bridge The Gap
Minotauro - Master Of The Sea
Neuronspoiler - Emergence
New Device - Here We Stand
Operadyse - Pandemonium
Paris - Only One Life
Prospekt - The Colourless Sunrise
Robin Beck - Underneath
Rocka Rollas - Metal Strikes Back
Shadows Past - Perfect Chapter
Satan's Host - Virgin Sails
Sepsis - Fear of Freedom
Silent Force - Rising From Ashes
Sinheresy - Paint The World
Siren's Cry - Scattered Horizons
Sinister Realm - World of Evil
Sleeping Romance - Enlighten.
Smash Into Pieces - Unbreakable
Strike - We're Back
Sphinx - Chronos
The Theander Expression - Strange Nostalgia
The Prowlers - Point of No Return
The Storyteller - Dark Legacy
Thunder and Lightning - In Charge of the Scythe
Takayoshi Ohmura - Devils In The Dark
Trivium - Vengeance Falls
Vega - What the Hell!
Vandroya - One
Vhäldemar - Shadows of Combat
Vicinity - Awakening
Walking with Giants - Walking with Giants
Withem - The Point Of You
Wolfchant - Embraced by Fire
50. Mean Streak - Trial by Fire
Quality Swedish melodic heavy metal with big riffs and nice powerful vocals.
49. Orphaned Land - All Is One
The Israeli brothers come up with a wonderfully charismatic and epic album.
48. Diamond Dawn - Overdrive
Melodic hard rock with punchy sound and big songs. Only the slightly accented Italianvocals stop this from ranking higher.
47. Cardiant - Verge
Finnish melodic metal goodness from these comeback merchants.
46. Megadeth - Super Collider
As a fan of any type of Megadeth music be it thrash or rock, I find myself happy enough with Super Collider. It still has good quality and Dave's vocals sound very cool at times especially on the Thin Lizzy cover on this album. Enjoyable, melodic, non thrash Megadeth.
45. Edenbridge - The Bonding
I love Sabine's voice although I was expecting slightly more from this album. Still any Edenbridge is still a great listen.
44. Laneslide - Flying High
Newcomer melodic rock project from Europe. Typical Euro AOR stuff but the songs production and playing are all top notch as are the vocals.
43. Giuntini Project - IV
Melodic metal from the Italian dude with Tony Martin on vox. The songs had to be good for me to enjoy and they surely were on this album.
42. Degreed - We Won't Belong
Young Swedish upstarts returned with a more mature and polished sound than their debut which was a huge fave of mine looking back. Songwise the album had some corkers and a couple of less memorable tunes but when they got it right boy did they get it right!
41. Signum Regis - Exodus
The last album had Goran Edman on all the songs and was nothing short of brilliant. The new album utilizes a mixed set of singers and is still pretty damn good but not as good as the last.
40. Niva - Magnitude
Catchy as hell melodic hard rock with clean sound and typical Scandi vocals ala Treat etc. Great stuff if you ask me.
39. Saints 'N' Sinners - Saints 'n' Sinners
Probably the best Turkish band I've heard since Mezarkabul/Pentagram although those guys were a different style. SnS plays out and out melodic power metal with a surprisingly solid singer. Very enjoyable!
38. Dream Theater - Dream Theater
Maybe A Dramatic Turn Of Events was a little bit better but I still enjoyed the s/t disk a lot. The music is stellar whilst I will never be a huge fan of Labrie's voice, he still turned in a solid performance.
37. Newman - Siren
Steve Newman creates melodic rock albums on a regular basis and they are all solid but the song writing is sometimes not to my taste so I tend to forget about them quickly. Not on this occasion. Steve has turned in his best set of songs ever! A consistently solid listen with a punchy production.
36. Snowfall - Cold Silence
Melodic rock/AOR project with the UK's Lee Small on vocals - the man who does the best Glenn Highes impersonation ever. Anyway he doesn't sound so much like Mr Hughes this time and the scandi melodic rock project turned up trumps with big songs and a shiny crystal clear production.
35. Dark Moor - Ars Musica
I've enjoyed the band's oputput for a long time so I was looking forward to Ars Musica immensely when I heard about it's release. To be honest I expected it to place higher on my list overall. It is still a very engaging listen but perhaps not as immediate as some of its predecessors. Still Dark Moor doesn't do average by any means as this album proved.
34. Alex Beyrodt's Voodoo Circle - More Than One Way Home
The new Whitesnake in all but name delivered a monster hard rock record with awesome vocals from David Readman.
33. Serenity - War of Ages
Epic symphonic melodic metal with a huge production. A triumphant listen.
32. MindMaze - Mask Of Lie
Melodic progpower mix from the States with female vocals. A very strong and enjoyable album with memorable songwriting. A great start for the band.
31. Avantasia - The Mystery of Time
Tobi is a great songwriter period. I don't love everything he does but when he gets it right there's no one better and this album had far more great than merely average hence its high placing. I especially liked the songs with Kiske, they were awesome to listen to.
30. Hell - Curse & Chapter
A billiant classic heavy metal record even better than their comeback album. The songs are dark and mysterious yet very catchy at the same time.
29. Wisdom - Marching for Liberty
Easily the best Hungarian power metal band ever with an awesome air raid siren vocalist. These guys are superb at the craft of making a memorable, cheesy power metal song with a skyscraping chorus.
28. The Poodles - Tour de Force
The Swedish melodic rock supergroup returned with another catchy beast of a record. It featured everything I look for in my music. Punchy sound, big vocals and massive hooks to spare.
27. White Wizzard - The Devils Cut
This self destructive band actually made one of the year's best retro metal albums with this release. The vocals were a ton stronger and the songs catchier and more to the point. I hope they continue in this vein if possible but I'm not even sure the band exists any more.
26. Running Wild - Resilient
I'm a RW fanboy so take what I say with a pinch of salt but I loved this record. Shadowmaker was ok and had some real fun moments but Resilient tops it with ease. The songs are just stronger all the way through although Rolf loves the mid pace in his old age and we don't get any real speedy firecrackers any more but I can live with it. Oh and in Bloody Island we have one of the best RW epics ever.
25. Iron Mask - Fifth Son of Winterdoom
Another really great neo-classical effort from the Belgian mob led by guitar wiz Dushan Petrossi. The songs are very strong and the vocals from Mark Boals are as great as you would expect for this sort of music.
24. Wardrum - Messenger
A big improvement from their previous album for these Greek power metal merchants. Everything has been turned up a notch from playing production and singing to much better song writing. I enjoy this more than the last Firewind album!
23. Seventh Key - I Will Survive
I love the previous SK albums but this album maybe be even better. It has more of a prog edge than previous albums which were a little heavier and more straight ahead but I think the move into proggier waters actually suits the band even more. Mike Slamer's guitar playing is just superbly fluid on this one.
22. Fate - If Not for the Devil
Swedish melodic hard stalwarts return yet again with another classic sounding record. The melodies are stronger than on the last album hence its high rating. The production is also out of this world making this a joy to listen to.
21. Nautiluz - Leaving All Behind
Speedy Stratovarius worship from Peru! Who knew a band of upstarts could come out with such a joyously melodic album full of speedy riffs and high as a kite refrains. Really great job guys!
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