My top 10 list with the best Of 2008:
1. Opeth - Watershed
2. Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Part I
3. Gojira - The Way of All Flesh
4. The Faceless - Planetary Duality
5. Intronaut - Prehistoricisms
6. Aborted - Strychnine.213
7. Genghis Tron - Board Up the House
8. Enslaved - Vertebrae
9. Bloodbath - The Fathomless Mastery
10.Arsis - We Are the Nightmare
Comments: The first four on my list have all been in heavy rotation since their releases, the chemistry on Watershed just amazes me... And Gojira and The Faceless have finally come into their own. Bloodbath was pure brutality, even if it is a step away from the traditional Swedish Death Metal sound. Both Aborted and Enslaved continue to amaze me as well, along with Genghis Tron and Intronaut putting up solid albums. The ambient, psychedelic, black metal of Nachtmystium just envelops me every time I hear it...
3 albums didn't get into the list but almost: Ihsahn - Angl, Meshuggah - ObZen, Abigail Williams - In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns
Comments: All are fantastic, i just don't get the same enjoyability from subsequent repeat plays that I have from the ten mentioned above.
Best EP, DEMO or MCD of the year: Disappearer - Winter Sessions
Comments: The debut EP forms a post-rock masterpiece (free downloads on their website), following closely behind was Bloodbath, with UTP, and Porcupine Tree - Nil Recurring
Major disappointment of the year: Children of Bodom - Blooddrunk.
Comments: Yeah.... only song I found remotely enjoyable was "Lobotomy"...