This list explores only the melodic side of my listening habits. I have separate lists for my aggressive death and thrash side but I find I cannot compare albums from different genres like some can. So I do separate lists for each style that I like.
I have a top 120 or so for the melodic side but I won't bore you with the whole list for now, you'll have to suffer the top 50 only!
50 - Knightmare - In Death's Shadow
Pretty damn heavy Aussie power metal with heavy, atmospheric vocals and strong songs.
49 - Running Wild - Shadowmaker
Got slated by a lot of the metal press but I can't really see why. They hated the drum machine but to me it sounds pretty good. Not all the songs are amazing or anything but there are 3 or 4 RW semi-classics in there. Welcome back Cap'n!
48 - Soulitude - Requiem For A Dead Planet
A Spanish solo dude's power metal album with guests which surprised me with more power and better song writing than on his previous albums. Good solid work and has one of the songs of the year in Lost in the Grandeur of time.
47 - Venturia - Dawn of a New Era
French prog metallers returned with a very solid album indeed. The female vocals were spot on and the songs were pretty catchy as far as prog metal goes. Underrated band indeed.
46 - Animetal USA - Animetal USA W
Comical and rather odd yet serious shred metal from the US band featuring the riff and shredlord, Impellitteri. I love that guy's riffs and solos so this was a no brainer for me. Mike Vescera actually sounded good for once as well although I'm not a great fan of that guy's voice in general.
45 - Paragon - Force Of Destruction
Much better and more song based than their last album which was a huge let down for me. These old German warriors got back to what makes them great, being heavy and vocally catchy with nice pounding, headbangable riffs to dust off the old air guitar to.
44 - Civilization One - Calling the Gods
A power metal project from have mic will travel guy, Mr Chity Somapala. It deserves a little praise too cause it was a really good final effort with Chity's cool melodic vocals and a decent bunch of catchy power metal tunes.
43 - Eihwaz - Amadeus
Russian symphonic melodic power metal with lilting operatic female vocals. The riffs were light and airy fairy on this shortish album but it features very enjoyable fast passages and in the song Amadeus, a tribute to Mozart, they had a truly magnificent song on their hands.
42 - Charlie Shred - st
Yet another Tommy ReinXeed side band with this time a thrashier vibe. The singer has a pre-pubescent sounding voice similar to a very young Hetfield. The riffs are fast melodic and enjoyable. Ignored by most but I thought this was a really good release in the end.
41 - Pharaoh - Bury The Light
The US power metal combo delivered yet another solid album that's perhaps slightly lacking in some of the memorable tunes of previous album, Be Gone. Nevertheless it was a very enjoyable album.
40 - Vision Divine - Destination Set To Nowhere
The Italians are back with Fabio Leone on the mic and a very palatable album is delivered for the power metal fans to digest. As always its a touch progressive as well, rather straight power metal but the songs are pretty good and the album is pretty much a success.
39 - Ghosthill - Flying Through Imagination
Ukrainian symphonic power metal with female vocals. She has a very strong accent but a very good melodic voice to compensate so not too much harm done. The music is shiny, well produced and easy on the ear power metal goodness.
38 - The Mystery - Apocalypse 666
German heavy metal with a gruff yet melodic female singer. Surprisingly very solid indeed with a very palatable set of teutonic tunes.
37 - Pride of Lions - Immortal
Peterik and Hitchcock vehicle released a really nice album with a few cracking songs and just a few too many ballads for my liking. When its good though, its pretty much unbeatable though with the awesome voice of Toby Hitchcock very much to the fore.
36 - Firewind - Few Against Many
So its not the best Firewind album by a long chalk, but its still pretty good. I hope for a more melodic album next time but I'm happy enough with Gus and co.
35 - Eternal Of Sweden - Chapter I
A debut of typical Scandi melodic rock/metal with a few crackers in amongst a decent bunch. Good stuff!
34 - German Pascual - A New Beginning
A very fine release indeed with heavy riffs and very heavy melodic vocals from Mr. Pascual. Good solid melodic metal at its best.
33 - Unisonic - st
It could have been better if I'm honest but I still enjoyed the hell out of this release from these German overlords of teutonic metal/rock. Some great tunes and a few so so ones but I do hope they make another album cause it might even be better now that they've hit their stride with the band.
32 - Amberian Dawn - Circus Black
A must for Oceanborn era Nightwish fans. If you miss the older style that Nightwish used to play before they got all bigger sounding then Amberian Dawn is the band for you. They have that style nailed to a tee. A Happy and enjoyable album indeed.
31 - Winterstorm - Kings Will Fall
German folky power metal from the underground and bloody good it was though it will no doubt be ignored which is a shame if you ask me. The band has a lot of talent for penning happy galloping power metal tunes with big male choirs as backing for the chorus. Fun stuff for any Euro power metal fan.
30 - 3 Inches Of Blood - Long Live Heavy Metal
Wow this was balls out heavy metal to the max. I enjoyed the hell out of this album for a good while before I moved on. A great speed metal album on steroids with a banshee vocalist hellbent on out screaming the best. Some can't take the pace but I sure as hell loved it and Leather Lord was one of the true metal songs of the year.
29 - Damnation Angels - Bringer Of Light
A really good but not brilliant album for me. There are moments of exceptional brilliance such as the much loved song Pride with it's glorious Japanese themes but overall there is a little room for improvement here and there if I'm being super critical.
28 - Nonpoint - st
This is melodic nu-metal with a very heavy crunchy guitar sound and nice and powerful melodic vocals. I'd normally pass on this type of band but the songs are mainly so catchy and melodic that its hard to ignore. A pretty high entry for these guys and easily a fave of mine during the whole of 2012 with 5-6 songs getting constant play on my ipod.
27 - Poets Of The Fall - Temple Of Thought
Finnish melancholic goth rockers with yet another cool as hell album. The singer just has a knack for singing some awesome melodies. I don't like every song but the ones I do are really something special.
26 - Primal Fear - Unbreakable
Another really solid Primal Fear album with many enjoyable songs. Ralf was his usual self on the mic as well so you can't go far wrong if you are a fan of the band.
25 - Axel Rudi Pell - Circle of the Oath
Mr Axel Rudi - Write-the-same-album-over-and-over - Pell does it again. I ain't complaining though. Johnny Gioeli is just an amazing hard rock vocalist with a fantastic sense for melody. The album contains all the ingredients of a superior Pell album. Pounding Rockers, churning midpacers, grandiose epics, heartfelt emotional ballads. The usual stuff. Yes we've heard it before but its still good to hear it again!
24 - Trail Of Murder - Shades of Art
A new band of veteran Swedish melodic metallers deivering a very good album indeed. The reason its not higher is that I feel some of the songs are lacking in a big chorus or something. Overall its still pretty ace and hardly surprising from a gang of seasoned campaigners from the melodic metal field. As expected, pretty much a triumph overall and hopefully more albums will arrive.
23 - Pertness - Frozen Time
The band with the silly name delivered big time musically speaking after the rather average previous album. Their song writing is much tighter whilst the production is up to par with the best of what their peers have to offer. A must if you enjoy the heavier end of European melodic metal ala Grave Digger, Paragon and Blind Guardian.
22 - Xandria - Neverworld's End
Yes they are Nightwish incarnate, in fact you'd think they kidnapped Tarja and made her secretly sing on their album. Really enjoyable if completely unoriginal. When did I ever care about original just look at my whole damn list!
21 - Sunstorm - Emotional Fire
An AOR combo showcasing Joe Lynn Turner's raspy melodic tones to the max. The guy is one of those classic melodic rock singers that you can swear by. The sound is up to date with beefy clean riffs allowing Mr Turner to wow us with his exuberant, melodic vocals. Excellent stuff indeed.
20 - Dragonforce - The Power Within
I wasn't sure about Marc Hudson but by jove he is the perfect replacement for ZP, so the boys made a good choice indeed. Musically speaking the album is just another regular Dragonforce album with the odd slower moment and in Cry Thunder they have one of the best mid tempo songs of the year. Everything else just screams Dragonforce from every pore!
19 - Hardline - Danger Zone
Almost like a side project for Johnny Gioeli now and far removed from the supergroup days of the band with Neal Schon etc, but nevertheless a highly successful outcome for the band. Of course with the usual suspects from the Frontiers team involved, its hard to go wrong and going wrong is not what they do in the slightest. Fever Dreams is one of the melodic rocks songs of the year as is 10,000 reasons with it's ginormous sing along hook. As always we get a masterful powerhouse vocal showcase from Johnny as well. Great album.
18 - Luca Turilli's Rhapsody - Ascending to Infinity
Luca's first release since Rhapsody split in two and a great start for the new chapter. It does have the feel of a Luca Turilli solo album although it has all the traits of a straight Rhapsody album as well. New vocalist Alessandro Conti is perfect for the band with his high as a kite though accented vocals. I wish the production had a bit more balls and was a bit more metal though. It's just a bit too polite but I'm splitting hairs. A cinematic, widescreen power metal experience of which few are capable of bettering, than Mr. Turilli. We will see what Rhapsody of Fire can come up with in time but the gauntlet has been thrown by this version of the band.
17 - Secret Sphere - A Portrait Of A Dying Heart
What an inspired choice it was getting Michele Luppi to sing on these tunes. They guy literally sings up a storm with a stellar display of powerful melodic vocals. His tone is not to everyone's taste but I personally think the guy has an awesome voice and he turns in one of his best ever performances on this album. Musically the album is also very good too and fully deserves it's place in the top 20.
16 - Galneryus - Angel Of Salvation
The super prolific Galneryus with another wonderful melodic shred metal masterpiece. The guitar playing is just of an incredible standard and new singer Sho is a perfect fit for the band being more melodic and in control than the previous guy. Forget about the hopeless Yngwie, Galneryus is where its at when it comes to neo-classical melodic shred.
15 - Jimi Jamison- Never Too Late
The hand of Erik Martensson of Eclipse is all over this album and you can hear why. Punchy AOR/melodic rock with a pristine production is the order of the day, whilst allowing plenty of room for Mr Jamison's husky tones to chill the spine. A solid album from start to finish complete with a couple of songs worthy of a song of the year poll.
14 - Ten - Heresy And Creed
Stormwarning was great and this quick follow up from Gary Hughes and co means they didn't rest on their laurels whatsoever. The production is that bit stronger than before whilst the album has a few dull moments, the great ones far outweigh them. Knights of Arabia is one of my favourite songs of the year.
13 - Threshold - March of progress
The kings of UK melodic prog metal return with a truly breathtaking album. Its hard to find much fault with this album, everything just reeks of class from vocals to production and song writing. If I was a prog metal nut this would be my number one and it holds position 13 on the basis that I prefer power and melodic rock over the prog aspects in general. Other than that pretty much perfection.
12 - Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol
The miserable Yorkshire bastards with a brilliant throw back album pretty much. This album is the true successor to Icon and it sounds like a concious thought to repeat former glories. This could have ended in failure of course but the band is too classy for that and its ended up a resounding success. The songs are melodic but very heavy and bogged in sombre lyrics that don't exactly fill you with the joys of the world. But that's Paradise Lost for you. They wallow in their own melodic sense of misery and ride the wave on the dark side of life. One of their best albums to date no doubt.
11 - Lionville - II
The vehicle of Italian dude Stefano Lionetti and various members of prominent AOR bands especially vocalist master Lars Safsund from Work of Art. I Can't believe that guy's voice, its so easy on the ear. Anyway the album is seriously something special after the rather good debut. This time they sound even crisper and cleaner and much closer to the brilliant Work of Art, Lars's day job. In the end its all about the songs and boy does Lionville II have them in droves. I even like the slushy ballads cause Lars makes them sound so heart felt. Just a gorgeous AOR release!
10 - Sturm Und Drang - Graduation Day
The young Swedish melodic metallers grew up a whole bunch and delivered a near enough perfect melodic metal record. There are some seriosuly addictive tunes on this album that should please any fan of big melody like myself. They also polished up the sound, got more mature and less teeny bopper metal sounding, and it all bodes well for their future in making melodic metal. Fully Worthy of it's top ten spot make no mistake.
09 - Golden Resurrection - One Voice For The Kingdom
Hail to my prolific Christian brothers of Golden resurrection for another great album. I don't even care they love Jesus and God so much. The songs are all so enjoyable and full of wonderful neo-classical melodies. Christian on the mic sounds as powerful as ever. Tommy ReinXeed has three entries in my list this year. That guy can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned.
08 - Orden Ogan - To The End
I was a bit slow to cotton on to these Germans at first. Their previous album was good but not amazing but they stepped it up a whole bunch this time with better, songs, vocals and everything. If you like your power metal with power and still sing along then Orden Ogan is for you.
07 - Pathfinder - Fifth Element
The debut was great and this only builds on that success. Only this time they've upped the ante even further with more ambitious multi-layered arrangements whilst cramming more and more blistering riffs, solos and vocals than ever before. One of the best newcomer power metal bands in years. I wonder where they will go from here though cause two albums in and they are already seemingly at the top of their game.
06 - Tremonti - All I Was
Mark Tremonti delivered a great album by branching out of Alter Bridge to create heavier and ballsier metallic hard rock plus the boy can bloody well sing too. He hasn't got an amazing voice but I found it more than OK. In the end he's just a great song writer and has a knack for finding monster sized hooks to latch on to whilst upping the guitar quotient when compared to his day job. This allowed him to cut loose a little more and display his aggressive side whilst maintaining many of the traits found in AB and his other band Creed.
05 - Sabaton - Carolus Rex
Sabaton almost have veteran status as far as power metal goes these days. They've stayed the course for a number of albums now and the quality has been constant in that period. This meant that the band's fans can swear by their output and Carolus Rex is no different on that score. All the usual Sabaton boxes are ticked as you'd expect and the member changes didn't impact at all to tell the truth. Its not their very very best album by any means but it still has 3-4 songs that will probably be a staple of their live set for years to come. A triumph all round.
04 - H.E.A.T - Address The Nation
I was one of those very disappointed when Kenny left but to be honest the new album is bloody amazing. The Swedish idol boy done good and then some! They upped the power and production values on this release as well making the songs a little tighter and more stadium sized in delivery. The band deserves to be much bigger on the backs of this awesome melodic hard rock release. Maybe next time round they can achieve the success they deserve.
03 - Kamelot - Silverthorn
What a masterstroke it was getting Tommy Karevik! The guy was the logical replacement for Khan although I was never a Khan fanboy to begin with any way. I think this album might challenge The Black Halo as being my fave Kamelot album, I like it that much. The songs are memorable, catchy and to the point and I even like the ballads which normally turn me off. A great start with Tommy in the band and the bar has been set very high for the next album indeed. I would go as far as saying if Khan had still been in the band I don't think they would have been able to make an album this good.
02 - Reinxeed - Welcome To The Theater
The best ReinXeed album yet. Tommy really pulled out all the stops this time. I thought this was sure to be my number one until I heard Eclipse and Tommy's crew had to settle for second best which is no shame at all. I love the movie theme of the album which is cheesy as all hell but that's the least of my worries when the music is so lush and with joyous melodies that take you to fantastical places and back. Song after song the melodies wash over you like a sugar rush and you're left with a shit eating grin on your face. Ace!
01 - Eclipse - Bleed & Scream
This release has definitely given me the biggest musical high of 2012 no doubt. I can't find any fault with a single second of this album. Having said that I still don't think its actually better than their previous CD, just the equal of it. The opening 3 song salvo of this album really takes the roof and there's hardly any let up there after. Melodic metal perfection with stadium sized songs that once they grab you, will never let go. An album I will return to again and again no doubt and one of the best contibutions from Erik Martensson yet though the boy can pretty do much do no wrong. Roll on W.E.T. in 2013!
Top 40 songs of the year
40. Eihwaz - Amadeus
39. Kamelot - Sacrimony
38. H.E.A.T - Breaking The Silence
37. Sturm Und Drang - Hammer To Fall
36. ReinXeed - Temple of the Crystal Skulls
35. Paradise Lost - Fear of Impending Hell
34. ReinXeed - Somewhere in Time
33. Accept - Twist of Fate
32. Rick Springfield - Wide Awake
31. Running Wild - Riding on the Tide
30. Hardline - Fever Dreams
29. Tremonti - Leave It Alone
28. Pride of Lions - Immortal
27. Xandria - Valentine
26. 3 Inches Of Blood - Leather lord
25. Nonpoint - Pandora's Box
24. Jimi Jamison - Calling The Game
22. Poets of the Fall - Show Me This Life
21. Damnation Angels - Pride
20. Sunstorm - Never Give Up
19. Soulitude - Lost in the Grandeur of time
18. Trail of Murder - Shades of Art
17. Nonpoint - Left For You
23. Poets of the Fall - Morning Tide
16. Luca Turilli's Rhapsody - Dark Fate of Atlantis
15. Dragonforce - Cry Thunder
14. Hardline - 10,000 Reasons
13. Jimi Jamison - The Great Unknown
12. Ten - Knights of Arabia
11. Paradise Lost - The Glorious End
10. Lionville - Another Day
09. Golden Resurrection - One Voice For The Kingdom
08. Pathfinder - The Day I Turned Back Time
07. Sabaton - The Carolean's Prayer
06. Tremonti - The Things I've Seen
05. Sabaton - Carolus Rex
04. Kamelot - Falling Like The Fahrenheit
03. Eclipse - Wake Me Up
02. ReinXeed - Stranger Tides
01. Eclipse - Bleed and Scream
I have a top 120 or so for the melodic side but I won't bore you with the whole list for now, you'll have to suffer the top 50 only!
50 - Knightmare - In Death's Shadow
Pretty damn heavy Aussie power metal with heavy, atmospheric vocals and strong songs.
49 - Running Wild - Shadowmaker
Got slated by a lot of the metal press but I can't really see why. They hated the drum machine but to me it sounds pretty good. Not all the songs are amazing or anything but there are 3 or 4 RW semi-classics in there. Welcome back Cap'n!
48 - Soulitude - Requiem For A Dead Planet
A Spanish solo dude's power metal album with guests which surprised me with more power and better song writing than on his previous albums. Good solid work and has one of the songs of the year in Lost in the Grandeur of time.
47 - Venturia - Dawn of a New Era
French prog metallers returned with a very solid album indeed. The female vocals were spot on and the songs were pretty catchy as far as prog metal goes. Underrated band indeed.
46 - Animetal USA - Animetal USA W
Comical and rather odd yet serious shred metal from the US band featuring the riff and shredlord, Impellitteri. I love that guy's riffs and solos so this was a no brainer for me. Mike Vescera actually sounded good for once as well although I'm not a great fan of that guy's voice in general.
45 - Paragon - Force Of Destruction
Much better and more song based than their last album which was a huge let down for me. These old German warriors got back to what makes them great, being heavy and vocally catchy with nice pounding, headbangable riffs to dust off the old air guitar to.
44 - Civilization One - Calling the Gods
A power metal project from have mic will travel guy, Mr Chity Somapala. It deserves a little praise too cause it was a really good final effort with Chity's cool melodic vocals and a decent bunch of catchy power metal tunes.
43 - Eihwaz - Amadeus
Russian symphonic melodic power metal with lilting operatic female vocals. The riffs were light and airy fairy on this shortish album but it features very enjoyable fast passages and in the song Amadeus, a tribute to Mozart, they had a truly magnificent song on their hands.
42 - Charlie Shred - st
Yet another Tommy ReinXeed side band with this time a thrashier vibe. The singer has a pre-pubescent sounding voice similar to a very young Hetfield. The riffs are fast melodic and enjoyable. Ignored by most but I thought this was a really good release in the end.
41 - Pharaoh - Bury The Light
The US power metal combo delivered yet another solid album that's perhaps slightly lacking in some of the memorable tunes of previous album, Be Gone. Nevertheless it was a very enjoyable album.
40 - Vision Divine - Destination Set To Nowhere
The Italians are back with Fabio Leone on the mic and a very palatable album is delivered for the power metal fans to digest. As always its a touch progressive as well, rather straight power metal but the songs are pretty good and the album is pretty much a success.
39 - Ghosthill - Flying Through Imagination
Ukrainian symphonic power metal with female vocals. She has a very strong accent but a very good melodic voice to compensate so not too much harm done. The music is shiny, well produced and easy on the ear power metal goodness.
38 - The Mystery - Apocalypse 666
German heavy metal with a gruff yet melodic female singer. Surprisingly very solid indeed with a very palatable set of teutonic tunes.
37 - Pride of Lions - Immortal
Peterik and Hitchcock vehicle released a really nice album with a few cracking songs and just a few too many ballads for my liking. When its good though, its pretty much unbeatable though with the awesome voice of Toby Hitchcock very much to the fore.
36 - Firewind - Few Against Many
So its not the best Firewind album by a long chalk, but its still pretty good. I hope for a more melodic album next time but I'm happy enough with Gus and co.
35 - Eternal Of Sweden - Chapter I
A debut of typical Scandi melodic rock/metal with a few crackers in amongst a decent bunch. Good stuff!
34 - German Pascual - A New Beginning
A very fine release indeed with heavy riffs and very heavy melodic vocals from Mr. Pascual. Good solid melodic metal at its best.
33 - Unisonic - st
It could have been better if I'm honest but I still enjoyed the hell out of this release from these German overlords of teutonic metal/rock. Some great tunes and a few so so ones but I do hope they make another album cause it might even be better now that they've hit their stride with the band.
32 - Amberian Dawn - Circus Black
A must for Oceanborn era Nightwish fans. If you miss the older style that Nightwish used to play before they got all bigger sounding then Amberian Dawn is the band for you. They have that style nailed to a tee. A Happy and enjoyable album indeed.
31 - Winterstorm - Kings Will Fall
German folky power metal from the underground and bloody good it was though it will no doubt be ignored which is a shame if you ask me. The band has a lot of talent for penning happy galloping power metal tunes with big male choirs as backing for the chorus. Fun stuff for any Euro power metal fan.
30 - 3 Inches Of Blood - Long Live Heavy Metal
Wow this was balls out heavy metal to the max. I enjoyed the hell out of this album for a good while before I moved on. A great speed metal album on steroids with a banshee vocalist hellbent on out screaming the best. Some can't take the pace but I sure as hell loved it and Leather Lord was one of the true metal songs of the year.
29 - Damnation Angels - Bringer Of Light
A really good but not brilliant album for me. There are moments of exceptional brilliance such as the much loved song Pride with it's glorious Japanese themes but overall there is a little room for improvement here and there if I'm being super critical.
28 - Nonpoint - st
This is melodic nu-metal with a very heavy crunchy guitar sound and nice and powerful melodic vocals. I'd normally pass on this type of band but the songs are mainly so catchy and melodic that its hard to ignore. A pretty high entry for these guys and easily a fave of mine during the whole of 2012 with 5-6 songs getting constant play on my ipod.
27 - Poets Of The Fall - Temple Of Thought
Finnish melancholic goth rockers with yet another cool as hell album. The singer just has a knack for singing some awesome melodies. I don't like every song but the ones I do are really something special.
26 - Primal Fear - Unbreakable
Another really solid Primal Fear album with many enjoyable songs. Ralf was his usual self on the mic as well so you can't go far wrong if you are a fan of the band.
25 - Axel Rudi Pell - Circle of the Oath
Mr Axel Rudi - Write-the-same-album-over-and-over - Pell does it again. I ain't complaining though. Johnny Gioeli is just an amazing hard rock vocalist with a fantastic sense for melody. The album contains all the ingredients of a superior Pell album. Pounding Rockers, churning midpacers, grandiose epics, heartfelt emotional ballads. The usual stuff. Yes we've heard it before but its still good to hear it again!
24 - Trail Of Murder - Shades of Art
A new band of veteran Swedish melodic metallers deivering a very good album indeed. The reason its not higher is that I feel some of the songs are lacking in a big chorus or something. Overall its still pretty ace and hardly surprising from a gang of seasoned campaigners from the melodic metal field. As expected, pretty much a triumph overall and hopefully more albums will arrive.
23 - Pertness - Frozen Time
The band with the silly name delivered big time musically speaking after the rather average previous album. Their song writing is much tighter whilst the production is up to par with the best of what their peers have to offer. A must if you enjoy the heavier end of European melodic metal ala Grave Digger, Paragon and Blind Guardian.
22 - Xandria - Neverworld's End
Yes they are Nightwish incarnate, in fact you'd think they kidnapped Tarja and made her secretly sing on their album. Really enjoyable if completely unoriginal. When did I ever care about original just look at my whole damn list!
21 - Sunstorm - Emotional Fire
An AOR combo showcasing Joe Lynn Turner's raspy melodic tones to the max. The guy is one of those classic melodic rock singers that you can swear by. The sound is up to date with beefy clean riffs allowing Mr Turner to wow us with his exuberant, melodic vocals. Excellent stuff indeed.
20 - Dragonforce - The Power Within
I wasn't sure about Marc Hudson but by jove he is the perfect replacement for ZP, so the boys made a good choice indeed. Musically speaking the album is just another regular Dragonforce album with the odd slower moment and in Cry Thunder they have one of the best mid tempo songs of the year. Everything else just screams Dragonforce from every pore!
19 - Hardline - Danger Zone
Almost like a side project for Johnny Gioeli now and far removed from the supergroup days of the band with Neal Schon etc, but nevertheless a highly successful outcome for the band. Of course with the usual suspects from the Frontiers team involved, its hard to go wrong and going wrong is not what they do in the slightest. Fever Dreams is one of the melodic rocks songs of the year as is 10,000 reasons with it's ginormous sing along hook. As always we get a masterful powerhouse vocal showcase from Johnny as well. Great album.
18 - Luca Turilli's Rhapsody - Ascending to Infinity
Luca's first release since Rhapsody split in two and a great start for the new chapter. It does have the feel of a Luca Turilli solo album although it has all the traits of a straight Rhapsody album as well. New vocalist Alessandro Conti is perfect for the band with his high as a kite though accented vocals. I wish the production had a bit more balls and was a bit more metal though. It's just a bit too polite but I'm splitting hairs. A cinematic, widescreen power metal experience of which few are capable of bettering, than Mr. Turilli. We will see what Rhapsody of Fire can come up with in time but the gauntlet has been thrown by this version of the band.
17 - Secret Sphere - A Portrait Of A Dying Heart
What an inspired choice it was getting Michele Luppi to sing on these tunes. They guy literally sings up a storm with a stellar display of powerful melodic vocals. His tone is not to everyone's taste but I personally think the guy has an awesome voice and he turns in one of his best ever performances on this album. Musically the album is also very good too and fully deserves it's place in the top 20.
16 - Galneryus - Angel Of Salvation
The super prolific Galneryus with another wonderful melodic shred metal masterpiece. The guitar playing is just of an incredible standard and new singer Sho is a perfect fit for the band being more melodic and in control than the previous guy. Forget about the hopeless Yngwie, Galneryus is where its at when it comes to neo-classical melodic shred.
15 - Jimi Jamison- Never Too Late
The hand of Erik Martensson of Eclipse is all over this album and you can hear why. Punchy AOR/melodic rock with a pristine production is the order of the day, whilst allowing plenty of room for Mr Jamison's husky tones to chill the spine. A solid album from start to finish complete with a couple of songs worthy of a song of the year poll.
14 - Ten - Heresy And Creed
Stormwarning was great and this quick follow up from Gary Hughes and co means they didn't rest on their laurels whatsoever. The production is that bit stronger than before whilst the album has a few dull moments, the great ones far outweigh them. Knights of Arabia is one of my favourite songs of the year.
13 - Threshold - March of progress
The kings of UK melodic prog metal return with a truly breathtaking album. Its hard to find much fault with this album, everything just reeks of class from vocals to production and song writing. If I was a prog metal nut this would be my number one and it holds position 13 on the basis that I prefer power and melodic rock over the prog aspects in general. Other than that pretty much perfection.
12 - Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol
The miserable Yorkshire bastards with a brilliant throw back album pretty much. This album is the true successor to Icon and it sounds like a concious thought to repeat former glories. This could have ended in failure of course but the band is too classy for that and its ended up a resounding success. The songs are melodic but very heavy and bogged in sombre lyrics that don't exactly fill you with the joys of the world. But that's Paradise Lost for you. They wallow in their own melodic sense of misery and ride the wave on the dark side of life. One of their best albums to date no doubt.
11 - Lionville - II
The vehicle of Italian dude Stefano Lionetti and various members of prominent AOR bands especially vocalist master Lars Safsund from Work of Art. I Can't believe that guy's voice, its so easy on the ear. Anyway the album is seriously something special after the rather good debut. This time they sound even crisper and cleaner and much closer to the brilliant Work of Art, Lars's day job. In the end its all about the songs and boy does Lionville II have them in droves. I even like the slushy ballads cause Lars makes them sound so heart felt. Just a gorgeous AOR release!
10 - Sturm Und Drang - Graduation Day
The young Swedish melodic metallers grew up a whole bunch and delivered a near enough perfect melodic metal record. There are some seriosuly addictive tunes on this album that should please any fan of big melody like myself. They also polished up the sound, got more mature and less teeny bopper metal sounding, and it all bodes well for their future in making melodic metal. Fully Worthy of it's top ten spot make no mistake.
09 - Golden Resurrection - One Voice For The Kingdom
Hail to my prolific Christian brothers of Golden resurrection for another great album. I don't even care they love Jesus and God so much. The songs are all so enjoyable and full of wonderful neo-classical melodies. Christian on the mic sounds as powerful as ever. Tommy ReinXeed has three entries in my list this year. That guy can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned.
08 - Orden Ogan - To The End
I was a bit slow to cotton on to these Germans at first. Their previous album was good but not amazing but they stepped it up a whole bunch this time with better, songs, vocals and everything. If you like your power metal with power and still sing along then Orden Ogan is for you.
07 - Pathfinder - Fifth Element
The debut was great and this only builds on that success. Only this time they've upped the ante even further with more ambitious multi-layered arrangements whilst cramming more and more blistering riffs, solos and vocals than ever before. One of the best newcomer power metal bands in years. I wonder where they will go from here though cause two albums in and they are already seemingly at the top of their game.
06 - Tremonti - All I Was
Mark Tremonti delivered a great album by branching out of Alter Bridge to create heavier and ballsier metallic hard rock plus the boy can bloody well sing too. He hasn't got an amazing voice but I found it more than OK. In the end he's just a great song writer and has a knack for finding monster sized hooks to latch on to whilst upping the guitar quotient when compared to his day job. This allowed him to cut loose a little more and display his aggressive side whilst maintaining many of the traits found in AB and his other band Creed.
05 - Sabaton - Carolus Rex
Sabaton almost have veteran status as far as power metal goes these days. They've stayed the course for a number of albums now and the quality has been constant in that period. This meant that the band's fans can swear by their output and Carolus Rex is no different on that score. All the usual Sabaton boxes are ticked as you'd expect and the member changes didn't impact at all to tell the truth. Its not their very very best album by any means but it still has 3-4 songs that will probably be a staple of their live set for years to come. A triumph all round.
04 - H.E.A.T - Address The Nation
I was one of those very disappointed when Kenny left but to be honest the new album is bloody amazing. The Swedish idol boy done good and then some! They upped the power and production values on this release as well making the songs a little tighter and more stadium sized in delivery. The band deserves to be much bigger on the backs of this awesome melodic hard rock release. Maybe next time round they can achieve the success they deserve.
03 - Kamelot - Silverthorn
What a masterstroke it was getting Tommy Karevik! The guy was the logical replacement for Khan although I was never a Khan fanboy to begin with any way. I think this album might challenge The Black Halo as being my fave Kamelot album, I like it that much. The songs are memorable, catchy and to the point and I even like the ballads which normally turn me off. A great start with Tommy in the band and the bar has been set very high for the next album indeed. I would go as far as saying if Khan had still been in the band I don't think they would have been able to make an album this good.
02 - Reinxeed - Welcome To The Theater
The best ReinXeed album yet. Tommy really pulled out all the stops this time. I thought this was sure to be my number one until I heard Eclipse and Tommy's crew had to settle for second best which is no shame at all. I love the movie theme of the album which is cheesy as all hell but that's the least of my worries when the music is so lush and with joyous melodies that take you to fantastical places and back. Song after song the melodies wash over you like a sugar rush and you're left with a shit eating grin on your face. Ace!
01 - Eclipse - Bleed & Scream
This release has definitely given me the biggest musical high of 2012 no doubt. I can't find any fault with a single second of this album. Having said that I still don't think its actually better than their previous CD, just the equal of it. The opening 3 song salvo of this album really takes the roof and there's hardly any let up there after. Melodic metal perfection with stadium sized songs that once they grab you, will never let go. An album I will return to again and again no doubt and one of the best contibutions from Erik Martensson yet though the boy can pretty do much do no wrong. Roll on W.E.T. in 2013!
Top 40 songs of the year
40. Eihwaz - Amadeus
39. Kamelot - Sacrimony
38. H.E.A.T - Breaking The Silence
37. Sturm Und Drang - Hammer To Fall
36. ReinXeed - Temple of the Crystal Skulls
35. Paradise Lost - Fear of Impending Hell
34. ReinXeed - Somewhere in Time
33. Accept - Twist of Fate
32. Rick Springfield - Wide Awake
31. Running Wild - Riding on the Tide
30. Hardline - Fever Dreams
29. Tremonti - Leave It Alone
28. Pride of Lions - Immortal
27. Xandria - Valentine
26. 3 Inches Of Blood - Leather lord
25. Nonpoint - Pandora's Box
24. Jimi Jamison - Calling The Game
22. Poets of the Fall - Show Me This Life
21. Damnation Angels - Pride
20. Sunstorm - Never Give Up
19. Soulitude - Lost in the Grandeur of time
18. Trail of Murder - Shades of Art
17. Nonpoint - Left For You
23. Poets of the Fall - Morning Tide
16. Luca Turilli's Rhapsody - Dark Fate of Atlantis
15. Dragonforce - Cry Thunder
14. Hardline - 10,000 Reasons
13. Jimi Jamison - The Great Unknown
12. Ten - Knights of Arabia
11. Paradise Lost - The Glorious End
10. Lionville - Another Day
09. Golden Resurrection - One Voice For The Kingdom
08. Pathfinder - The Day I Turned Back Time
07. Sabaton - The Carolean's Prayer
06. Tremonti - The Things I've Seen
05. Sabaton - Carolus Rex
04. Kamelot - Falling Like The Fahrenheit
03. Eclipse - Wake Me Up
02. ReinXeed - Stranger Tides
01. Eclipse - Bleed and Scream
