It's that time of year again! I do this at the end of each year and this year has been another great one both musically and personally 
I didn't get round to every release I wanted to so don't think this is comprehensive of the whole year or anything, it's just the stuff I kept on my radar and found time for.
The Amazing
Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror
Cain's Offering - Stormcrow
Luca Turilli's Rhapsody - Prometheus
Stratovarius - Eternal
Gloryhammer - Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards
Shadowquest - Armoured IV Pain
Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful
Judicator - At the Expense of Humanity
The Good
Angra - Secret Garden
Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed
Kamelot - Haven
Symphony X - Underworld
Battle Beast - Unholy Savior
Blackwelder - Survival of the Fittest
The Not Bad
Vexillum - Unum
Orden Ogan - Ravenhead
Winterage - The Harmonic Passage
Wind Rose - Wardens of the West Wind
Damnation Angels - The Valiant Fire
Borealis - Purgatory
The Ugly
Majesty - Generation Steel
Helloween - My God-Given Right
Dark Moor - Project X
Hibria - Hibria
Marius Danielsen's Legend of Valley Doom - Legend of Valley Doom Part 1
Magic Kingdom - Savage Requiem
Honourable Mentions (not power metal)
Joe Satriani - Shockwave Supernova
Children of Bodom - I Worship Chaos
Satan - Atom by Atom
Saxon - Battering Ram
Muse - Drones
Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
Quick Summary
Cain's Offering came back with some heart-breaking, miserably exceptional metal. Blind Guardian didn't top At the Edge of Time but still delivered pure epic magnificence. Luca is carrying on being awesome with his flavour of Rhapsody. Startovarius carried on their hat-trick of incredible albums. Gloryhammer turned it up to 11 with a devastatingly catchy and ridiculously fun sequel. Dionysus respawned as Shadowquest. Nightwish got a lot of flak for putting out a very well-thought out album even if the execution was a little predictable. Judicator rose to new heights with a very moving and original installment. Angra did okay but didn't amaze. Powerwolf/Battle Beast are still fun but did absolutely nothing new. Kamelot put out something great but it didn't sink it's hooks in me. Same with Symphony X; great just not all that memorable. The Not Bad section speaks for itself, some good stuff here, at times very enjoyable but nothing which really stood out as particularly noteworthy. Good background music. Majesty are full-on boring now. Helloween slides ever deeper into forgettable genericity. Dark Moor also fell from grace. Hibria are still nowhere near where they should be. Marius Danielsen made me expect something grand and epic with a list of great artists and instead plated up an awkward, half-arsed, bland, derivative wet fart. Magic Kingdom made me groan out loud.
My 2015 Album of the Year:
Stratovarius - Eternal
This was very bloody close. And if I gave my vote to the album which got the most spins from me it'd probably be Gloryhammer. I want to give Blind Guardian support because for some reason the community tended to critique Red Mirror when it came out and I don't think it's gotten the love it deserves. But BG is and always will be THE patron saint of power metal so they don't need yet another gold star. Cain's Offering too put out something masterful and well worth the wait, it even shares a similar sound with Stratovarius' Eternal but I refrained from crowning them purely because once you'd heard a lot of the self-pitying unrequietted love songs you've almost heard them all and I just wish they took the opportunity to shake things up variety-wise (even though the music, composition, performances and production are god-tier). The same can be said for LT's Rhapsody, it is a really masterfully composed album and I loved it. But it felt like Ascending-part 2 and it does get bafflingly weird and laughably silly lyrically and thematically at times. So Eternal it is for being consistently amazing throughout.
My Biggest Disappointment of the Year:
Helloween - My God-Given Right
Helloween has had a rollercoaster of a discography which has been going down from up high ever since 1991 but there have been occasional peaks worth checking out. In recent times there have been redeemable qualities in Gambling, Sinners and Straight Out of Hell - all of which I listened through many times and enjoyed to various degrees. But I can't muster any reason to recommended checking out My God-Given Right. It's just hugely forgettable. Nothing compelled me to give it more than two listens. It was all so metal-by-the-numbers and stale. It feels lazy. More like a contractual obligation than trying to add something of value to the discography. Yeah occasionally the melody of a track or a cool solo makes me take notice and I enjoy those brief moments but they're few and far between for me. The "message" of the album doesn't seem cohesive or terribly fresh. And when Edguy does it, it's witty but a lighthearted song like "Lost in America” seems especially, almost contemptibly, lazy. Pure filler. This whole album comes across like it was written with the same tired Deris formulas. C'mon Helloween. Do a concept album, sack your producer and come at the music from an entirely different angle. I know you have one more landmark album left in you.
I didn't get round to every release I wanted to so don't think this is comprehensive of the whole year or anything, it's just the stuff I kept on my radar and found time for.The Amazing
Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror
Cain's Offering - Stormcrow
Luca Turilli's Rhapsody - Prometheus
Stratovarius - Eternal
Gloryhammer - Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards
Shadowquest - Armoured IV Pain
Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful
Judicator - At the Expense of Humanity
The Good
Angra - Secret Garden
Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed
Kamelot - Haven
Symphony X - Underworld
Battle Beast - Unholy Savior
Blackwelder - Survival of the Fittest
The Not Bad
Vexillum - Unum
Orden Ogan - Ravenhead
Winterage - The Harmonic Passage
Wind Rose - Wardens of the West Wind
Damnation Angels - The Valiant Fire
Borealis - Purgatory
The Ugly
Majesty - Generation Steel
Helloween - My God-Given Right
Dark Moor - Project X
Hibria - Hibria
Marius Danielsen's Legend of Valley Doom - Legend of Valley Doom Part 1
Magic Kingdom - Savage Requiem
Honourable Mentions (not power metal)
Joe Satriani - Shockwave Supernova
Children of Bodom - I Worship Chaos
Satan - Atom by Atom
Saxon - Battering Ram
Muse - Drones
Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
Quick Summary
Cain's Offering came back with some heart-breaking, miserably exceptional metal. Blind Guardian didn't top At the Edge of Time but still delivered pure epic magnificence. Luca is carrying on being awesome with his flavour of Rhapsody. Startovarius carried on their hat-trick of incredible albums. Gloryhammer turned it up to 11 with a devastatingly catchy and ridiculously fun sequel. Dionysus respawned as Shadowquest. Nightwish got a lot of flak for putting out a very well-thought out album even if the execution was a little predictable. Judicator rose to new heights with a very moving and original installment. Angra did okay but didn't amaze. Powerwolf/Battle Beast are still fun but did absolutely nothing new. Kamelot put out something great but it didn't sink it's hooks in me. Same with Symphony X; great just not all that memorable. The Not Bad section speaks for itself, some good stuff here, at times very enjoyable but nothing which really stood out as particularly noteworthy. Good background music. Majesty are full-on boring now. Helloween slides ever deeper into forgettable genericity. Dark Moor also fell from grace. Hibria are still nowhere near where they should be. Marius Danielsen made me expect something grand and epic with a list of great artists and instead plated up an awkward, half-arsed, bland, derivative wet fart. Magic Kingdom made me groan out loud.
My 2015 Album of the Year:
Stratovarius - Eternal
This was very bloody close. And if I gave my vote to the album which got the most spins from me it'd probably be Gloryhammer. I want to give Blind Guardian support because for some reason the community tended to critique Red Mirror when it came out and I don't think it's gotten the love it deserves. But BG is and always will be THE patron saint of power metal so they don't need yet another gold star. Cain's Offering too put out something masterful and well worth the wait, it even shares a similar sound with Stratovarius' Eternal but I refrained from crowning them purely because once you'd heard a lot of the self-pitying unrequietted love songs you've almost heard them all and I just wish they took the opportunity to shake things up variety-wise (even though the music, composition, performances and production are god-tier). The same can be said for LT's Rhapsody, it is a really masterfully composed album and I loved it. But it felt like Ascending-part 2 and it does get bafflingly weird and laughably silly lyrically and thematically at times. So Eternal it is for being consistently amazing throughout.
My Biggest Disappointment of the Year:
Helloween - My God-Given Right
Helloween has had a rollercoaster of a discography which has been going down from up high ever since 1991 but there have been occasional peaks worth checking out. In recent times there have been redeemable qualities in Gambling, Sinners and Straight Out of Hell - all of which I listened through many times and enjoyed to various degrees. But I can't muster any reason to recommended checking out My God-Given Right. It's just hugely forgettable. Nothing compelled me to give it more than two listens. It was all so metal-by-the-numbers and stale. It feels lazy. More like a contractual obligation than trying to add something of value to the discography. Yeah occasionally the melody of a track or a cool solo makes me take notice and I enjoy those brief moments but they're few and far between for me. The "message" of the album doesn't seem cohesive or terribly fresh. And when Edguy does it, it's witty but a lighthearted song like "Lost in America” seems especially, almost contemptibly, lazy. Pure filler. This whole album comes across like it was written with the same tired Deris formulas. C'mon Helloween. Do a concept album, sack your producer and come at the music from an entirely different angle. I know you have one more landmark album left in you.
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