A year after bemoaning the death of progress in heavy metal, it was very encouraging to hear plenty of ideas coming from younger bands, especially in the underground extreme scene. Great ideas, but with plenty of room for improvement, something I’d like to hear developed even more. Metal has been so devoid of interesting ideas lately that it’s been interesting to see critics embrace albums by extreme bands simply for displaying simple dynamics in songwriting. Take Horrendous’s likeable yet sloppy Ecdysis, for instance, one of the year’s most acclaimed extreme metal records. All it’s doing is combining death metal with melodic metal flamboyance in a very similar way that Arsis did a decade ago, albeit in a more slipshod way, but because it’s so dynamically strong, because it capably incorporates good melodies, it’s being hailed as revolutionary. I’ve tried and tried with that album, and find so much there to like, but cannot bring myself to lavish hyperbolic praise on an album that treats vocals like an afterthought, and whose best asset is merely displaying a good grasp of Songwriting 101, something every extreme band should have instead of only a fraction. But you know what? The potential for great things is there. Ideas! I love hearing good ideas in new metal and Horrendous at least deserve a little credit for showing some ambition.
Other bands that showed so much promise but didn’t make my final list include Artificial Brain, Fluisteraars, Morbus Chron, Pyrrhon, Noneuclid, Thantifaxath, and Waldgeflüster. They all have a very good thing going, and I greatly look forward to hearing what they’re all capable of next.
As opposed to other lists posted by publications claiming to highlight the very best metal had to offer but myopically focus on only three subsets of a vast, diverse musical genre, I always take it upon myself to cast as wide a net as possible. Consequently, there’s something for every taste in metal in my top 50. At the same time, there are probably going to be a few titles that’ll make your eyes roll. Old-schoolers might scoff at the growling bands, youngsters might deride the bands that sing. But my view of metal music tries to be all-inclusive. Variety’s a great thing, and if you want to call yourself a metal critic you have to be able to approach every single style of metal and identify what makes a great record, and do so convincingly. So my top 50 sees a lot of styles of heavy metal represented, from mainstream to underground, from melodic to extreme. However, this time around I’ve chosen to leave out those “grey area” albums that might be sonically heavy or have past connections to the metal scene but don’t quite fit under the metal umbrella. As a result you will not find Swans’ To Be Kind, Scott Walker & Sunn O)))’s Soused, Anathema’s Distant Satellites, Alcest’s Shelter, A Pregnant Light’s My Game Doesn’t Have a Name, and Wovenhand’s Refractory Obdurate. All are highly recommended, though.
The two most glaring absences from my list are metalcore and deathcore, two subgenres that are sputtering these days. However, if you ask me, the best metalcore album I’ve heard all year is Wovenwar’s self-titled debut (Metal Blade), a triumphant rebirth by the former members of As I Lay Dying, who shed their attempted murderer of a frontman, hired a guy who can actually sing, and came through with a tremendously enjoyable record. As for deathcore, the most pleasant surprise was Suicide Silence’s You Can’t Stop Me (Nuclear Blast), which sees the band rebound after the death of vocalist Mitch Lucker, hire All Shall Perish’s Eddie Hermida, sharpen the songwriting, and release the best album of their career.
In covering so many subgenres, though, comes a horrible apples/oranges scenario. How do you critically rank a list of 50 albums when the musical styles are so diverse? It’s impossible without letting personal biases factor into it, and that’s not exactly fair. In the end, I came to the realization that it’s pointless to rank a Gridlink album versus Delain, or Diocletian versus Freedom Call. It’s all good. I have one very easy choice for metal album of the year, and 49 others that I highly recommend, so those 49 will be listed alphabetically. Try them all out, even the ones that might be outside your normal comfort zone. If you keep an open mind, you’ll never know what might surprise you.
Before I get to the albums, though, I thought I’d slap together a list of my favourite metal songs of 2014. It’s totally from a personal, instinctual perspective rather than a critical POV, simply the tracks that meant the most to me this past year, the ones that reminded me of why I love this form of music so much.
- Bastard Sapling, “Lantern at the End of Time”
- Triptykon, “Boleskine House”
- Judas Priest, “Sword of Damocles”
- Goatwhore, “Baring Teeth For Revolt”
- Audrey Horne, “Out of the City”
- Cannibal Corpse, “Kill or Become”
- Equilibrium, “Uns’rer Flöten Klang”
- Riot V, “Metal Warrior”
- Machine Head, “Game Over”
- Midnight, “Prowling Leather”/“No Mercy For Mayhem”
Over the year I put together a rolling Spotify playlist of the best songs I’ve heard in 2014, which you can check out here. I’ll be doing the same in 2015, so feel free to follow it here.
Oh, and lastly and definitely least, the worst metal album of the year is In Flames’ Siren Charms. Shame on you guys.
The Metal Album of the Year:
Triptykon, Melana Chasmata (Century Media)
The metal world is always a better place when its icons continue to make vital music, but to see a genius like Thomas Gabriel Fischer so creatively inspired over the past decade has been especially rewarding to witness. Celtic Frost’s final album ‘Monotheist’ was a comeback for the ages, a stunning reinvention. Formed in the wake of Celtic Frost’s sudden and sad dissolution, Fischer’s Triptykon continued right where ‘Monotheist’ left off on the monstrous, sprawling ‘Eparistera Daimones’. Expanding on ‘Monotheist’s colossal, churning blend of the brute force of doom metal and the nuance and melody of gothic sounds, the debut was a reassertion of Fischer’s towering influence on an entire genre, a commanding statement that he wasn’t going to let the legacy of his now dead former band cast a shadow over the rest of his career.
Now, eight years removed from that astonishing return, four years after that immensely satisfying transformation and rebranding, the time has come for Fischer and Triptykon to settle in and deliver on what have become some very high expectations. Considering Fischer’s dogged determination to keep his gaze forward and create vital new music, it seems unfair to cart out comparisons to his past work when assessing his new music, but longtime fans will unquestionably find certain parts of the new album particularly rewarding. With its opening squeal of feedback, throttling double-kicks, and primal percussion, ‘Tree Of Suffocating Souls’ focuses more on Fischer’s aggressive side, the band building ferocious momentum. Later on, ‘Breathing’ audaciously evokes Frost’s classic ‘To Mega Therion’ with its multifaceted combination of ornate theatricality and unrelenting speed, Fischer’s snarl sounding its most malevolent in years.
Typical of Fischer’s songwriting, with ugliness often come moments of great beauty, which is where this record’s true strengths lie. The trifecta of “Auroræ”, “Demon Pact”, and “In The Sleep Of Death” form its core, as the music opens up, loosens its tight grip, distortion offset by chiming, gothic-derived notes, Fischer in full Peter Murphy mode, intoning his dark poetry atop slow, murky, yet startlingly graceful arrangements. It’s the majestic ‘Boleskine House’ that keeps beckoning upon repeated listens, however, that juxtaposition of Fischer’s deep voice and sultry female singing working its Leonard Cohen-esque magic. In the end it’s the most fully-realised moment on as close to a flawless album as listeners could hope for, where ugliness, beauty, the colossal, and the seductive coalesce into on spellbinding whole. Spotify
(originally published in Terrorizer magazine)
The rest:
Accept, Blind Rage (Nuclear Blast)
The German legends continued their late-career renaissance with their finest post-reunion album to date, full of piss and vinegar, not to mention those razor-sharp Teutonic metal riffs. Spotify
Agalloch, The Serpent & the Sphere (Profound Lore)
The American greats returned with yet another near-flawless album filled with majestic, mournful melodies and pagan themes that vividly evoke the grandeur of the Pacific Northwest. Spotify
The Atlas Moth, The Old Believer (Profound Lore)
The endlessly fascinating experimental band continued its strange, surreal evolution, its latest album delving into progressive-minded melodies more than ever before. Spotify
Atriarch, An Unending Pathway (Relapse)
The Portland band continues to incorporate swans and Fields of the Nephilim into their blackened doom, singer Lenny Smith cranking up his gothic persona, theatrical, confrontational, and deliciously flamboyant. Spotify
Babymetal, Babymetal (Toy’s Factory)
The Album That Made Metal Purists Mad was actually the most inventive metal album of the year, blending stylistically manic J-pop with extreme metal in a way no one had ever attempted before. Spotify
Behemoth, The Satanist (Metal Blade)
Now cancer free, Adam “Nergal” Darski returned with a new lease on life and a renewed passion for his music, which yielded a monstrous statement of an album that deserves to catapult Behemoth to metal’s upper tier. Spotify
Blues Pills, Blues Pills (Nuclear Blast)
Just when you thought the trend of Swedish retro heavy rock was running out of steam, Blues Pills came through with one of the more rewarding albums the scene has produced, combining power, blues, and soul. Spotify
The Body & The Haxan Cloak, I Shall Die Here (Rvng)
By collaborating with acclaimed electronic composer/producer Bobby Krlic, The Body found the perfect match, putting together an album that felt fully realized, a highly original take on doom metal unlike anything attempted before. iTunes
Body Count, Manslaughter (Sumerian)
I never figured Ice-T had another great Body Count album in him, but he and his pals exceeded all expectations with a riotous, intense, hugely enjoyable album laced with social commentary and humour. Spotify
Botanist, VI: Flora (Flenser)
Who said you can’t create black metal with hammered dulcimer? The San Francisco band’s fourth album turned out to be their strongest, achieving moments of astonishing beauty and, peculiarly, power. Spotify
Cannibal Corpse, A Skeletal Domain (Metal Blade)
The reliable death metal veterans changed things up with a new producer and came out with all guns blazing on an immensely pleasing album that reinforced the band’s relevance and influence in extreme metal. Spotify
Conan, Blood Eagle (Napalm)
Doom doesn’t get much more primal than this. Conan’s minimalist, highly punishing take on the simplest form of heavy metal reached new levels of brute force on this massive-sounding second album. Spotify
Dawnbringer, Night of the Hammer (Profound Lore)
One of the best metal songwriters of his generation, Chris Black is in prime form on Dawnbringer’s latest, evoking all the best elements of heavy metal on a sombre, introspective concept album. Spotify
Dead Congregation, Promulgation of the Fall (Profound Lore)
There’s not much very groundbreaking in the Greek band’s form of death metal, but this album is one of the more intense, punishing, atmospheric death metal albums I’ve heard in years, somehow making the music feel more foetid than ever. Spotify
Death Penalty, Death Penalty (Rise Above)
Former Cathedral guitarist Gaz Jennings joined forces with members of Belgian band Serpentcult, channeled his inner Witchfinder General fan, and put together an exciting homage to old-school doom and NWOBHM riffs and melodies. Spotify
Decapitated, Blood Mantra (Nuclear Blast)
The innovative Polish death metal band continued its resurrection in the wake of tragedy with an album that not only reinvents their sound but is their most streamlined and accessible work yet. Spotify
Delain, The Human Contradiction (Napalm)
Delain stepped forward to become the best of the many Dutch symphonic metal bands with an album laced with lavish arrangements, pop-infused melodies, and smart lyrics by likeable singer Charlotte Wessels. Spotify
Diocletian, Gesundrian (Osmose)
For the best death metal album of 2014, look no further than this marvel from New Zealand, an astonishing, immaculately conceived and executed record that is as melodic and crystalline as it is dense and impenetrable. Spotify
11Paranoias, Stealing Fire From Heaven (Ritual)
Of the two albums the English band released in 2014, this is the strongest, a rare cohesive jam-oriented album, where doom and psychedelic rock converge into one enthralling, hazily atmospheric opus. Spotify
Emptiness, Nothing But The Whole (Dark Descent)
It was a terrible year for black metal, but this album by the Belgian band was a rare bright spot, a clever, brooding album that combined the genre’s grim, chilly atmosphere with touches of King Crimson and Slint. Spotify
Evergrey, Hymns For the Broken (AFM)
The Swedish band’s latest, woefully overlooked by North American metal writers, is one of the finest combinations of power, melody, and sorrow as you’ll ever hear, laced hooks that find the right balance between bombast and refinement. iTunes
Eyehategod, Eyehategod (Housecore)
The New Orleans sludge/doom innovators took 14 years to finish their fifth album, but it finally happened, and it turned out to be as intense and blues-drenched as ever, those Sabbathy riffs offset by Mike IX Williams’ snarled street poetry. Spotify
Foreseen HKI, Helsinki Savagery (20 Buck Spin)
The best thrash metal album of the year captures that sound’s great appeal perfectly, melding metal and rock ‘n’ roll into one speed-riddled, primal, filthy whole. This Finnish band is a revelation. Spotify
Freedom Call, Beyond (SPV)
Yes, morbid extreme metalheads, it’s okay to smile once in a while. These power metalers are the most shamelessly happy metal band out there, and this album is as enormously fun as anything they’ve ever put out. iTunes
Godflesh, A World Lit Only By Fire (Avalanche)
I didn’t think this reunion had a great album in it, but Justin Broadrick and G.C. Green put out a record that channeled all the best elements of the classic Streetcleaner, sounding even more potent and imposing than ever. Spotify
Gridlink, Longhena (Handshake)
The only grindcore album worth giving a damn about in 2014 bursts with so much creativity and imagination, it’s practically awe-inspiring, Takafumi Matsubara’s guitar work intricate, intense, and best of all, playful. Spotify
High Spirits, You Are Here (Hells Headbangers)
In direct contrast to the darker Dawnbringer album, Chris Black lightens the mood with High Spirits, his upbeat melodic heavy metal evoking memories of old Canadian greats Coney Hatch. A geezer-pleasing pleasure. Spotify
Indian, From All Purity (Relapse)
I can’t think of a 2014 metal album more harrowing than this one by the Chicago doom band. Bleak, grating, and downright miserable, it’s a disturbing listen, totally devoid of fun, but exhilaratingly so. Spotify
Iron Savior, Rise of the Hero (AFM)
The German band’s brand of power metal is heavier than most from their country, and that blend of Symphony X-style robustness and Euro melodies makes for a tantalizing combination on this splendid, rousing album. Spotify
Judas Priest, Redeemer of Souls (Epic)
Priest’s first album without KK Downing on guitar turned out to be their finest since Painkiller 24 years ago, the band simplifying, sticking to what it does best, and sounding energetic, passionate, and commanding in the process. Spotify
Krieg, Transient (Candlelight)
Krieg’s latest sees Neill Jameson joining forces with Philadelphia band Esoterica and creating an eclectic album ranging from menacing grooves, to straightforward black metal blasting, to post-punk, vividly evoking inner anxiety and urban decay. Bandcamp
Machine Head, Bloodstone & Diamonds (Nuclear Blast)
There’s a lot to take in on this sprawling, 71-minute album, but Robb Flynn shows incredible focus, crating an ambitious yet very accessible record that plays to his band’s many strengths. This is the album mainstream metal so desperately needed in 2014. Spotify
Mantar, Death By Burning (Svart)
The Metal Archives entry says “sludge metal”, and yeah, that influence is there, but having seen this Finnish duo and heard their marvelous debut, I hear rock ‘n’ roll more than anything, delivered with ferocious energy. Spotify
Marmozets, The Weird and Wonderful (Roadrunner)
The best kept secret among the Revolver/Kerrang crowd, these English youngsters breathe new life into the post-hardcore-leaning side of metal, combining intricate musicianship with some powerhouse singing courtesy Becca Macintyre. A revelation. Spotify
Midnight, No Mercy For Mayhem (Hells Headbangers)
The Venom-meets-Motörhead gimmick hasn’t changed, but Jamie Walters’ approach has, as he displays more musical flash and groove than anyone could have expected. Still as primitive and as blasphemous as ever, this is one of the year’s defining metal albums. Spotify
Mors Principium Est, Dawn of the Fifth Era (AFM)
The Finnish melodic death metal band’s fifth full-length was overshadowed by the At the Gates reunion album, but turned out to be far superior, their contrast of melody and brutality, light and shade, sounding stronger and richer than their overhyped peers. Amazon
Mortals, Cursed To See the Future (Relapse)
What a statement these three Brooklyn women make, combining black metal and sludge to create one of 2014’s most visceral listening experiences, the most potent and imposing album by an all-woman metal band since Mares of Thrace’s The Pilgrimage. Spotify
The Oath, The Oath (Rise Above)
Attracting my attention in 2013 with their demo, signing with Rise Above, releasing an incredible debut album, then breaking up a month later, Linnea Olsson and Johanna Sadonis channeled vintage metal as well as anyone before it all imploded. Spotify
Opeth, Pale Communion (Roadrunner)
Focusing more on progressive rock but never turning his back on metal entirely, the visionary Mikael Åkerfeldt is finally making music that feels true to his vision of what Opeth should be, and the band has never sounded more commanding. Spotify
Pallbearer, Foundations of Burden (Profound Lore)
After a promising debut, it all came together for the Arkansas band on the much-anticipated follow-up, the melancholy doom arrangements forming a solid foundation for some truly inventive vocal melodies on a wonderful record. Spotify
Panopticon, Roads to the North (Bindrune)
The wildly inventive Austin Lunn continued right where the masterpiece Kentucky left off, exploring the rich musical heritage of his homeland while creating some of the finest American black metal of the year. Spotify
Primordial, Where Greater Men Have Fallen (Metal Blade)
It was steady as she goes for the Irish metal masters, sticking to their core sound and creating their usual, reliable bracing music. Only this time, the tone was more impeccable than ever, as was Alan Averill’s commanding vocal delivery. Spotify
Psalm Zero, The Drain (Profound Lore)
Brooklyn musicians Andrew Hock and Charlie Looker took the martial, industrial sounds of Godflesh and the gothic strains of Katatonia and created their own highly unique hybrid, one that marries extremity and atmosphere in tantalizing fashion. Spotify
Riot V, Unleash the Fire (Steamhammer)
The surviving members of Riot took on a couple of new faces, respectfully renamed the band, and came through with one of the best power metal albums of the year, hearkening back to the speed metal glory of the 1988 classic Thundersteel. Spotify
Sabaton, Heroes (Nuclear Blast)
It might not feel as inspired as Carolus Rex did a couple years ago, but the latest by the biggest power metal band in the world pushes all the right buttons, loaded with uplifting, war-themed, fist-bangin’ metal anthems. Spotify
Skull Fist, Chasing the Dream (NoiseArt)
Like Cauldron and Striker, Toronto’s Skull Fist channel a quirky chapter in Canadian metal history, where speed metal and high-pitched singing were a perfect match. This is a total throwback to 30 years ago, and gloriously so. Spotify
Sólstafir, Ótta (Season of Mist)
The Icelandic band has turned into quite a cult favourite, and the follow-up to 2011’s breakthrough Svartir Sandar expands the band’s sound even more, blending metal, hard rock, and post-rock, evoking the barren Icelandic landscapes vividly. Spotify
Witch Mountain, Mobile of Angels (Profound Lore)
Although it’s sad that singer Uta Plotkin announced her departure before this album came out, she made one hell of a swan song on this beautiful record, her powerful voice and knack for storytelling meshing beautifully with the band’s blues-based doom sound. Spotify
YOB, Clearing the Path to Ascend (Neurot)
There’s no doom band in the world as formidable as YOB is right now, and Mike Scheidt channeled everything that is great about his band into what could be the band’s most complete sounding record yet. Its power is astonishing, but so is its delicacy. Spotify
