Mid-Year Top Ten

[The Scourge]

Lists are fun aren't they? If life is anything, it is ephemeral, and any opinion or reflection is a window into a current and transitive mindset. Jesus, microbrews always bring out the turd-polisher in me. So, at this point in the year, what are your Top Ten Candidates? Or for the sake of no cardinality, what are the top ten on your playlist? Ok, I'll go first:

1. Pelican - The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw
2. Dredg - Catch Without Arms
3. Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness
4. Rapture - The Silent Stage
5. Jesu - s/t
6. Napalm Death - The Code Is Red...Long Live The Code
7. Dark Tranquillity - Character
8. Ulver - Blood Inside
9. Red Sparowes - At The Soundless Dawn
10. Sentenced - The Funeral Album

 

[bondcfh007]

all i have to say is:

dredg - catch without arms

 

[Hypnos]

1. Primordial - Gathering Wilderness
2. Candlemass - Candlemass
3. Nevermore - This Godlesss Endeavor (judging from the promo)
4. Novembers Doom - The Pale Haunt Departure
5. Evoken - Antithesis Of Light
6. Mourning Beloveth - A Murderous Circus
7. Communic - Conspiracy In Mind
8. Nocte Obducta - Nektar II
9. Morgana Lefay - Grand Materia
10. Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell

 

[Brave Child]

Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell
awesome album

 

[DiscipleofTruMetal]

so far the new nevermore has owned everything.

 

[Mantraschism]

1. Kamelot - The Black Halo
2. Demons & Wizards - Touched by the Crimson King
3. Strapping Young Lad - Alien
4. Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked

Those are my favorite ones so far. As far as the other six... hard to say.

 

[DegradationTrip]

1.Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
2.Meshuggah - Catch 33
3.Eels - Blinking Lights and other Revalations
4.Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
5.Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked
6.Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabies to Paralyze
7.Fantomas - Suspended Animation
8.Dream Theater - Octavarium
9.Life of Agony - Broken Valley
10.System of a Down - Mesmerize

That's about it. Haven't heard the new CoC yet thought.

First post btw Hi!

 

[Deliverance6]

hmm......well I dont actually try to listen to anything new per say......but what I have been listening to for the last 6 months is basically this:

1. Gary Jules- all of his shit is really good.....
2.The Notwist--all of their shit is good too.....
3.Red House Painters- ALL of their shit is good too....as well as some SunKillMoon.....which is Mark Kozelek from Red House Painters....
4. Everything Dodhiemsgard....they Rock.....
5. Aborym....they are the shit too....Attilla from early mayhem singing......
6.Murder by Death......they are one of the best bands I have come across in a long time....
7.Acid Bath-Agents of Oblivion-Deadboy And The Elephantmen------Daxx is one of the best singers EVER.....I cant recommend all of his bands enough.....he is THE SHIT....
8.H.I.M.......call me gay....but I like them.....
9.Sigur Ros.....
10. Gary Jules.......Ill say his name again....just in case you dont get it.....he really is awesome.....I urge you guys to check him out.....Gary will have a new CD out soon.....

Reece

 

[Black Tears]

Mors Principium Est- Unborn
Hevein- Iota
Subterranean Masquerade- Suspended Animation Dreams
Suidakra- Command to Charge
Dream Theater- Octavarium
Dredg- Catch Without Arms
Nile- Annihilation of the Wicked
Dark Suns- Existence
Ensiferum- 97 99
Frantic Bleep- The Sense Apparatus

 

[insidethefall]

7. Communic - Conspiracy In Mind

Really awesome album, for those who are getting tired of nevermore's redundancy, this band offers up a variety of thrash and progressiveness that doesn't get old

9. Morgana Lefay - Grand Materia

I'm a long term Morgana Lefay fan, this album is really good...took me a few listens but I love it

 

[insidethefall]

In no order

Demons & Wizards - Touched by the Crimson King
Morgana Lefay - Grand Materia
Octavia - Winter Enclosure
Audrey horne - No Hay Banda
Moonsorrow - varisaekeet
Drudkh - Swan Road
Communic - Conspiracy in Mind
Riverside - Voices in my head (ep)
Immolation - Harnessing Ruin
Rapture - Silent Stage
Wumpscut - Evoke

looking forward to
Summoning
Blackmore's Night
Antimatter
Loreena Mckennitt
Satyricon (?)
Mira - There I go Daydreamer

and more...

 

[stefan86]

My favs so far of 2005 are:

Blood Red Throne - Altered Genesis (kickass norwegian Death Metal. excellent riffage)
Candlemass - Candlemass (finally a GOOD comeback album)
Nevermore - The Godless Endeavor (their best since DNB)
Rapture - The Silent Stage (great brave murder day-inspired doom/death from finland)
Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell (swedish goth/doom. extremely slow and quite heavy)
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing ("lazarus" is quite possibly the song of the year)
Lumsk - Troll (norwegian folk/viking metal. not as good as their debut but a nice album)
Kaamos - Lucifer Rising (Entombed-inspired brutal swedish death. oldschool yet fresh)

I'm looking forward to Katatonia's new release a lot.

 

[Crimson Velvet]

Good releases:
Deathspell Omega - Kénöse
Bruce Dickinson - Tyranny of Souls
Taake - Doedskvaad
Nokturnal Mortum - Weltanschauung
Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness
Drudkh - The Swan Road
Jennie Tebler - Silverwing
Candlemass - Candlemass

Decent releases:
Khors - The Flame of Eternity's Decline
Kreator - Enemy of God
Overkil - ReliXIV
Negurã Bunget - Inarborat Kosmos
Dark Tranquillity - Character
Astrofaes - Those Whose Past is Immortal

Bad releases:
Black Witchery - Upheaval of Satanic Might

 

[gone]

Either I'm losing my interest in metal or the majority of this years' releases simply blows ass. Jesu was pretty good. Candlemass, Primordial and Dark Tranquillity put out decent, but by no means great, albums. Mors Principium Est had a couple of great songs on their album, but the rest was mediocre at best. Ulver left me profoundly unimpressed and the new Nevermore is horribly bland. 'The Funeral Album' was atrocious, not that I expected something better, mind. I really hope Katatonia deliver else this will be a year to forget.

nb. the above the above are just my opinion, so please spare me the abuse

 

[insidethefall]

the new Nevermore is horribly bland

Someone finally agrees with me about this. Nevermore is such an awesome band, musicians and songwriters, so why does it all sound the same? Not much identity to any of the songs and no great ballads, I'm extremely unimpressed. Same with Dark tranquillity although their new one is quite more listenable.

 

[daebreak80]

wow, i'm highly critical and it takes alot to impress me, but i loved the funeral album. not sentenced's best work, but i've really enjoyed it. the new ulver is one of my favorites of the year too. you might be the only metalhead out there who has lost more faith in metal than i have. i respect your opinion, though, and don't intend this as abuse. i think katatonia will deliver something awesome for us this year. they are one of the few metal bands i still have faith in.

 

[gone]

Someone finally agrees with me about this. Nevermore is such an awesome band, musicians and songwriters, so why does it all sound the same? Not much identity to any of the songs and no great ballads, I'm extremely unimpressed. Same with Dark tranquillity although their new one is quite more listenable.

My Nevermore phase ended about two years ago, but I still find albums like Dreaming or Dead Heart very enjoyable. Even the lesser Enemies has a few great songs like I, Voyager, Tomorrow Turned or Enemies of Reality. The only tune on the new album that I find of (remote) interest is Sentient 6. The rest are not really bad, just uninteresting.

i loved the funeral album. not sentenced's best work, but i've really enjoyed it.

Of Sentenced's albums I love Down and Crimson. The later albums are weaker, but each one had at least one or two excellent songs. This one has none, zero, zilch, nada. I really wanted to like this album, alas, to me it was worse than uninteresting (which about the worst thing I can say of a music album).

the new ulver is one of my favorites of the year too. you might be the only metalhead out there who has lost more faith in metal than i have.

Since most people I know also like, or even love, Blood Inside, I myself am willing to admit that maybe it's rather my overly critical view than the poor quality of this year's releases that contributes most to the conclusion in my above post. Or maybe I just 'grew out' of metal, since my favourite album of the year so far has been Harry Gregson-Williams' OST to The Kingdom of Heaven

Oh well, it's still June, after all. I'm sure some good metal albums will appear till the end of the year.

 

[gone]

Of Sentenced's albums I love Down and Crimson. The later albums are weaker, but each one had at least one or two excellent songs. This one has none, zero, zilch, nada.

Haha, I just remembered that this is not entirely true. I did like that short deathmetallish instrumental, probably because it's totally different from the rest of the album. Which says it all, really.

 

[Hypnos]

Nevermore's 'Born' has by far the best chorus i've heard in years...

 

[The Scourge]

Damn, this new Overmars is just fantastic. I'm gonna have to squeeze them into my top ten by the end of the year I think.