- Oct 5, 2009
- 1,833
- 43
- 48
They need to be albums that were released this year.
1. Hell - Human Remains. 80's style NWOBHM with a modern production, histrionic vocals and dark lyrics with the sole purpose to evoke imagery and not just being dark because that's now the status quo? Yes please. While most of the songs are well above average, Plague and Fye and Blasphemy and the Master could carry the rest of the album had it been full of filler. This is probably the closest to Mercyful Fate that you're going to get in this day and age. There are other bands that are trying to play in the MF style, but blatantly so. Hell are doing their own thing, yet sounding just as good as the masters.
2. Mastodon - The Hunter. Pretty much sounds like a "best of" where they incorporate everything from their past albums, all of which had a relatively unique sound to them in some way. So many really good songs on this album, but a personal favorite would be Dry Bone Valley simply because it's so unlike anything else they've done. I hope they choose to do more like this occasionally.
3. Leprous - Bilateral. The live band for Ihsahn...so you could rightfully expect some kind of progressive metal going in. Definitely an album that requires a few listens before it completely sinks in, but what an album it is. It's ok that Opeth released such a stinker "Opeth" album when you have an album like this to fall back on. It does to progressive black/death/core what Mercenary did to Melodic Death with it's upbeat pop infusion. Yet another all killer, no filler album, although I think Forced Entry and Thorn are the standouts. Thorn for obvious reasons. The production is top notch too, with perfect seperation.
4. Iced Earth - Dystopia. Uh wow?! Yeah, that's pretty much what comes to mind after listening to this album. Not only does Stu Block do a really awesome job as a Barlow replacement, he easily surpasses him as well as Tim Owens as Iced Earth's most versatile vocalist and gives probably the best vocal performance on any Iced Earth album. Iced Earth as a band might not have been anything super special compared to many other bands out in the world, but they did release a handful of very good power/thrash metal albums up until Horror Show; and despite what anyone may or may not think about the band in general, they did write one of the most epic metal songs of all time. Dystopia is probably the best Iced Earth album since Something Wicked by far. If you roll your eyes each time this band releases new (and usually bland) material, you should give this album at least one listen. They added back the leadwork that was sorely missing for the last decade too. Don't believe me? Just listen to the title track! Haven't cared about any of the material this band has released since Horror Show, but this is a very nice return to form.
5. In Solitude - The World, The Flesh, The Devil. Shameless Mercyful Fate worship, but I'm a sucker for any band that can ape that style with such aplomb. Musically and thematically, they are firmly stuck in the Melissa era, with midrange vocals that do an impressive job of emulating King's own very pleasing midrange. Unfortunately that's pretty much the extent of the vocalist's abilities, but that's not really too much of a negative since they never really get too boring and they fit the songs. Everything about the album should appeal to any Mercyful Fate fan, even if it's entirely one large tribute. The same could be said about virtually every doom band that came out since Sabbath.
1. Hell - Human Remains. 80's style NWOBHM with a modern production, histrionic vocals and dark lyrics with the sole purpose to evoke imagery and not just being dark because that's now the status quo? Yes please. While most of the songs are well above average, Plague and Fye and Blasphemy and the Master could carry the rest of the album had it been full of filler. This is probably the closest to Mercyful Fate that you're going to get in this day and age. There are other bands that are trying to play in the MF style, but blatantly so. Hell are doing their own thing, yet sounding just as good as the masters.
2. Mastodon - The Hunter. Pretty much sounds like a "best of" where they incorporate everything from their past albums, all of which had a relatively unique sound to them in some way. So many really good songs on this album, but a personal favorite would be Dry Bone Valley simply because it's so unlike anything else they've done. I hope they choose to do more like this occasionally.
3. Leprous - Bilateral. The live band for Ihsahn...so you could rightfully expect some kind of progressive metal going in. Definitely an album that requires a few listens before it completely sinks in, but what an album it is. It's ok that Opeth released such a stinker "Opeth" album when you have an album like this to fall back on. It does to progressive black/death/core what Mercenary did to Melodic Death with it's upbeat pop infusion. Yet another all killer, no filler album, although I think Forced Entry and Thorn are the standouts. Thorn for obvious reasons. The production is top notch too, with perfect seperation.
4. Iced Earth - Dystopia. Uh wow?! Yeah, that's pretty much what comes to mind after listening to this album. Not only does Stu Block do a really awesome job as a Barlow replacement, he easily surpasses him as well as Tim Owens as Iced Earth's most versatile vocalist and gives probably the best vocal performance on any Iced Earth album. Iced Earth as a band might not have been anything super special compared to many other bands out in the world, but they did release a handful of very good power/thrash metal albums up until Horror Show; and despite what anyone may or may not think about the band in general, they did write one of the most epic metal songs of all time. Dystopia is probably the best Iced Earth album since Something Wicked by far. If you roll your eyes each time this band releases new (and usually bland) material, you should give this album at least one listen. They added back the leadwork that was sorely missing for the last decade too. Don't believe me? Just listen to the title track! Haven't cared about any of the material this band has released since Horror Show, but this is a very nice return to form.
5. In Solitude - The World, The Flesh, The Devil. Shameless Mercyful Fate worship, but I'm a sucker for any band that can ape that style with such aplomb. Musically and thematically, they are firmly stuck in the Melissa era, with midrange vocals that do an impressive job of emulating King's own very pleasing midrange. Unfortunately that's pretty much the extent of the vocalist's abilities, but that's not really too much of a negative since they never really get too boring and they fit the songs. Everything about the album should appeal to any Mercyful Fate fan, even if it's entirely one large tribute. The same could be said about virtually every doom band that came out since Sabbath.
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