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Best heavy metal of the decade 1999-2009

People have been posting their lists:

* Rhapsody Music: Best Metal albums of the decade
* A.V. Club: The decade's best albums
* Decibel: the 100 greatest metal albums of the decade
* Noisecreep: Best albums of the 2000s
* Houston Examiner: Best metal albums of the decade 1999-2009

Here's ours:

"Forget what the labels want you to buy. Forget the tends and the one-note purist music. Here's a list of the best metal had to offer during the last decade, for real metal fans, by real metal fans!"

* Best heavy metal of the decade 1999-2009

Bands discussed:

* Opeth
* Skepticism
* Cannibal Corpse
* At War With Self
* Necrophagist
* Beherit
* Asphyx
* Meshuggah
* Dream Theater
* Tool
* Cynic
* Profanatica
* Cosmic Atrophy
* Avzhia
* Legion of Doom

ererchaer's top albums (12 months) 1. Nickelback - Dark Horse (342) 2. SOiL - Scars (204) 3. SDM - Cudne Manowce cd1 (200) 4. Apocalyptica - Reflections (154) 5. Bullet For My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire (Japanese Edition) (138) 6. Klaus Badelt - Pirates of the Caribbean OST (135) 7. Bullet For My Valentine - The Poison (134) 8. SOiL - Redefine (128) 9. Crossfade - Falling Away (127) 10. EastWest Rockers - Ciezkie czasy (124) 11. Godsmack - Faceless (122) 12. Seether - Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces (119) 13. DevilDriver - Pray For Villains (119) 14. Acid Drinkers - Verses Of Steel (115) 15. The Offspring - Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace (113) 16. Frontside - Teoria Konspiracji (109) 17. Godsmack - Awake (108) 18. Black River - Black And Roll (102) 19. Drowning Pool - Full Circle (102) 20. Epica - The Phantom Agony (100) 21. SOiL - True Self (99) 22. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend (96) 23. Apocalyptica - Worlds Collide (96) 24. Normalsi - Soliloquium (96) 25. Mindless Self Indulgence - FGWSSS (94) 26. SDM - CUDNE MANOWCE (94) 27. Pendulum - Hold Your Colour (94) 28. Nickelback - All the Right Reasons (92) 29. Acid Drinkers - Acidofilia (91) 30. The Cranberries - No Need To Argue (90) 31. Korpiklaani - Karkelo (87) 32. Three Days Grace - Life Starts Now (85) 33. Normalsi - Pokój z widokiem na wojnę (85) 34. Pearl Jam - No Code (83) 35. Seether - Karma & Effect (81) 36. The Cranberries - Bury The Hatchet (81) 37. Pain of Salvation - 12:05 (79) 38. Opeth - Damnation (77) 39. Godsmack - Godsmack (77) 40. Apocalyptica - Apocalyptica (75) 41. Pink Floyd - The Wall (disc 1) (74) 42. WWW.POLSKIE-MP3.TK+%21+wlochaty" class="bbcode_artist">! WWW.POLSKIE-MP3.TK ! wlochaty - WWW.POLSKIE-MP3.TK ! wlochaty - zmowa (powszechna przeciwko rzadowi)" href="http://www.lastfm.es/music/%21+WWW.POLSKIE-MP3.TK+%21+wlochaty/zmowa+%28powszechna+przeciwko+rzadowi%29" class="bbcode_album">zmowa (powszechna przeciwko rzadowi) (74) 43. Vavamuffin - Inadibusu (73) 44. Serj Tankian - Elect The Dead (72) 45. Pink Floyd - The Wall (disc 2) (72) 46. Pearl Jam - Vs (70) 47. Maximum the Hormone - BuiikiKaesu (70) 48. Machinae Supremacy - Deus Ex Machinae (70) 49. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (66) 50. Trivium - The Crusade (65)

A

After Forever - After Forever
Akercocke - Antichrist
Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge
Alice in Chains - Facelift
Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies
Arch Enemy - Wages Of Sin
Arch Enemy - Anthems of Rebellion
Arch Enemy - Doomsday Machine
Arch Enemy - Rise Of The Tyrant
Astarte - Doomed Dark Years
Astarte - Rise From Within
Astarte - Quod Superius Sicut Inferius
Astarte - Sirens
Astarte - Demonized
Avantasia - The Metal Opera
Avantasia - The Metal Opera, Part II
Avantasia - The Scarecrow
Ayreon - The Final Experiment
Ayreon - Actual Fantasy Revisited
Ayreon - Into the Electric Castle
Ayreon - The Dream Sequencer
Ayreon - Flight of the Migrator
Ayreon - The Human Equation
Ayreon - 01011001
Ayreon - Timeline

B

Battlelore - Where the Shadows Lie
Battlelore - Evernight
Battlelore - The Last Alliance
Beyond Fear - Beyond Fear
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell
Black Sabbath - Dehumanizer
Blind Guardian - Tales From The Twilight World
Borknagar - Empiricism
Breed 77 - Breed 77
Breed 77 - In My Blood

C

Cruachan - Folk-Lore

D

Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Deadlock - Wolves
Death - Leprosy
Demons & Wizards - Demons & Wizards
Demons & Wizards - Touched by the Crimson King
Bruce Dickinson - Balls To Picasso
Bruce Dickinson - Alive in Studio A
Dimmu Borgir - Stormblast 2005
Dimmu Borgir - In Sorte Diaboli
Draconian - Turning Season Within
DragonForce - Valley Of The Damned
DragonForce - Inhuman Rampage
Dream Theater - When Dream And Day Unite
Dream Theater - Images and Words
Dream Theater - Awake
Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons
Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity
Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From a Memory
Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Dream Theater - Train of Thought
Dream Theater - Octavarium
Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos
Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings

E

Echoes of Eternity - The Forgotten Goddess
Elvenking - Heathenreel
Elvenking - Wyrd
Elvenking - The Winter Wake
Elvenking - Two Tragedy Poets (...And a Caravan of Weird Figures)
Epica - The Divine Conspiracy
Epica - The Classical Conspiracy
Evanescence - Fallen
Evanescence - The Open Door
Evergrey - In Search of Truth
Evergrey - Recreation Day
Evergrey - Torn

F

Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
Foo Fighters - There Is Nothing Left to Lose
Foo Fighters - One by One
Foo Fighters - In Your Honour
Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Forest Silence - Philosophy Of Winter

G

Godsmack - Godsmack
Godsmack - Awake
Godsmack - Faceless
Godsmack - IV
Gorefest - Soul Survivor
Gorefest - Chapter 13
Guilt Machine - On This Perfect Day

H

Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know

I

Iced Earth - Night of the Stormrider
Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings
Iced Earth - The Dark Saga
Iced Earth - Days of Purgatory
Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes
Iced Earth - Horror Show
Iced Earth - The Glorious Burden
Iced Earth - Overture Of The Wicked
Iced Earth - Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part I)
Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism
Immortal - Pure Holocaust
Immortal - Battles in the North
Immortal - Blizzard Beasts
Immortal - At the Heart of Winter
Immortal - Damned in Black
Immortal - Sons of Northern Darkness
In Flames - Colony
In Flames - Come Clarity
Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden - Killers
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind
Iron Maiden - Powerslave
Iron Maiden - Live After Death
Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
Iron Maiden - No Prayer For The Dying
Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden - A Real Live Dead One
Iron Maiden - Live at Donnington
Iron Maiden - The X Factor
Iron Maiden - Virtual XI
Iron Maiden - Brave New World
Iron Maiden - Dance of Death
Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death

J

K

Kamelot - The Fourth Legacy

L

Lacuna Coil - The Eps
Lacuna Coil - In a Reverie
Lacuna Coil - Unleashed Memories
Lacuna Coil - Comalies
Lacuna Coil - Karmacode

M

Machine Head - The Blackening
Mastodon - Leviathan
Mastodon - Blood Mountain
Megadeth - Killing Is My Business...
Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?
Metallica - Kill 'em All
Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Metallica - ...And Justice for All
Metallica - Metallica
Metallica - Load
Metallica - Reload
Metallica - Garage Inc.
Metallica - S & M
Metallica - St. Anger
Metallica - The Unnamed Feeling E.P.
Metallica - Death Magnetic
Midnattsol - Nordlys

N

Nickelback - Curb
Nickelback - The State
Nickelback - Silver Side Up
Nickelback - The Long Road
Nickelback - All the Right Reasons
Nightwish - Angels Fall First
Nightwish - Oceanborn
Nightwish - Wishmaster
Nightwish - Over The Hills And Far Away
Nightwish - Century Child
Nightwish - Once
Nightwish - Dark Passion Play

O

Opeth - Orchid
Opeth - Morningrise
Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse
Opeth - Still Life
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Opeth - Deliverance
Opeth - Damnation
Opeth - Ghost Reveries
Opeth - Watershed

P

Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power
Pantera - Far Beyond Driven
Pantera - The Great Southern Trendkill
Pantera - Official Live: 101 Proof
Pantera - Reinventing the Steel
Pharaoh - Be Gone
Pyramaze - Legend of the Bone Carver
Pyramaze - Immortal

Q

R

Rammstein - Mutter
Rammstein - Reise, Reise

S

Scooter - ...and the Beat Goes On!
Scooter - Our Happy Hardcore
Scooter - Wicked
Scooter - Age of Love
Scooter - Rough & Tough & Dangerous: Singles 1994-1998
Scooter - No Time to Chill
Scooter - Back to the Heavyweight Jam
Scooter - Sheffield
Scooter - We Bring the Noise
Scooter - Encore - Live And Direct
Scooter - Push the Beat for This Jam
Scooter - The Stadium Techno Experience
Sepultura - Beneath the Remains
Sepultura - Arise
Sepultura - Chaos A.D.
Sepultura - Roots
Sepultura - Blood-Rooted
Sepultura - Against
Sepultura - Nation
Sepultura - Dante XXI
Star One - Space Metal
Symphony X - Twilight in Olympus

T

Tarja - My Winter Storm
Tenacious D - Tenacious D
To-Mera - Transcendental
To-Mera - Delusions
Trivium - Ember to Inferno
Trivium - Ascendancy
Trivium - The Crusade

U

V

Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare
Steve Vai - Alien Love Secrets
Steve Vai - Sex & Religion
Velvet Revolver - Contraband

W

Within Temptation - Enter
Within Temptation - The Dance
Within Temptation - Mother Earth
Within Temptation - The Silent Force
Within Temptation - The Heart of Everything
Wongraven - Fjelltronen

X

Y

Z

Best heavy metal of the decade 1999-2009

This decade brought out the best and worst of metal. Starting off with a few stragglers from the underground metal explosion of the 1990s, the decade fell into a confusion of metalcore and bad indie emo pretending to be black metal.

Luckily for us, however, there are still some excellent releases during that time. We list 20 of our favorite metal albums from the last 10 years, reminding you that quality is better than quantity and reality is better than appearance.

Best heavy metal of the decade 1999-2009

Bands discussed:

* Opeth
* Skepticism
* Cannibal Corpse
* At War With Self
* Necrophagist
* Beherit
* Asphyx
* Meshuggah
* Dream Theater
* Tool
* Cynic
* Profanatica
* Cosmic Atrophy
* Avzhia
* Legion of Doom

First, make a list of your top-20 artists overall. Then, for each of these artists, add the 8 most similar artists to your list. Delete any duplicates, count up the number of entries on your list and this will give you some idea of how eclectic your listening habits are. A score of 9 represents an extremely unvaried musical taste while a 160 represents an extremely varied one.

1.In Flames
-Soilwork
-Dark Tranquillity
-Sonic Syndicate
-Children of Bodom
-Arch Enemy
-Scar Symmetry
-Passenger

2.Morbid Angel
-Immolation
-Suffocation
-Nile
-Malevolent Creation

3.Entombed
-Dismember
-Death Breath
-Grave
-Unleashed
-Gorefest
-Nihilist
-Asphyx

4.Dream Theater
-Liquid Tension Experiment
-Jordan Rudess
-James LaBrie
-John Petrucci
-Transatlantic
-Symphony X
-Pain of Salvation

5.Obituary
-Pestilence
-Autopsy
-Bolt Thrower

6.Sepultura
-Soulfly
-Cavalera Conspiracy
-Slayer
-Nailbomb
-Kreator
-Pantera
-Ektomorf

7.Death
-Control Denied
-Atheist
-Necrophagist

8.Deicide
-Vital Remains
-Krisiun
-Hate Eternal

9.Carcass
-Napalm Death
-Blackstar Rising
-At the Gates

10.Metallica
-Megadeth
-Iron Maiden
-Anthrax
-Machine Head
-Motörhead

11.Opeth
-Bloodbath
-Katatonia
-Cynic
-Porcupine Tree
-Gojira
-Riverside

12.Alice in Chains
-Mad Season
-Jerry Cantrell
-Soundgarden
-Mother Love Bone
-Temple of the Dog
-Stone Temple Pilots

13.Pearl Jam
-Eddie Vedder
-Stone Gossard

14.King Diamond
-Mercyful Fate
-King Diamond & Black Rose
-Metal Church
-Halford
-Venom
-Judas Priest
-Running Wild

15.Absu
-Deströyer 666
-Melechesh
-Aura Noir
-Razor of Occam
-Averse Sefira
-Gospel Of Horns
-Archgoat

16.Cannibal Corpse
-Six Feet Under
-Dying Fetus

17.Al Di Meola
-Return to Forever
-John McLaughlin
-Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin
-Allan Holdsworth
-Pat Metheny Group
-Jean-Luc Ponty
-Chick Corea

18.Bloodbath
-Hypocrisy
-Vomitory
-Decapitated

19.Atheist
-Gorguts
-Nocturnus
-Martyr
-Obscura

20.Led Zeppelin
-Pink Floyd
-Page & Plant
-Jimi Hendrix
-Robert Plant
-The Doors
-Cream
-The Jimi Hendrix Experience

First, make a list of your top-20 artists overall. Then, for each of these artists, add the 8 most similar artists to your list. Delete any duplicates, count up the number of entries on your list and this will give you some idea of how eclectic your listening habits are. A score of 9 represents an extremely unvaried musical taste while a 160 represents an extremely varied one.

1.In Flames
-Soilwork
-Dark Tranquillity
-Sonic Syndicate
-Children of Bodom
-Arch Enemy
-Scar Symmetry
-Passenger

2.Morbid Angel
-Immolation
-Suffocation
-Nile
-Malevolent Creation

3.Entombed
-Dismember
-Death Breath
-Grave
-Unleashed
-Gorefest
-Nihilist
-Asphyx

4.Dream Theater
-Liquid Tension Experiment
-Jordan Rudess
-James LaBrie
-John Petrucci
-Transatlantic
-Symphony X
-Pain of Salvation

5.Obituary
-Pestilence
-Autopsy
-Bolt Thrower

6.Sepultura
-Soulfly
-Cavalera Conspiracy
-Slayer
-Nailbomb
-Kreator
-Pantera
-Ektomorf

7.Death
-Control Denied
-Atheist
-Necrophagist

8.Deicide
-Vital Remains
-Krisiun
-Hate Eternal

9.Carcass
-Napalm Death
-Blackstar Rising
-At the Gates

10.Metallica
-Megadeth
-Iron Maiden
-Anthrax
-Machine Head
-Motörhead

11.Opeth
-Bloodbath
-Katatonia
-Cynic
-Porcupine Tree
-Gojira
-Riverside

12.Alice in Chains
-Mad Season
-Jerry Cantrell
-Soundgarden
-Mother Love Bone
-Temple of the Dog
-Stone Temple Pilots

13.Pearl Jam
-Eddie Vedder
-Stone Gossard

14.King Diamond
-Mercyful Fate
-King Diamond & Black Rose
-Metal Church
-Halford
-Venom
-Judas Priest
-Running Wild

15.Absu
-Deströyer 666
-Melechesh
-Aura Noir
-Razor of Occam
-Averse Sefira
-Gospel Of Horns
-Archgoat

16.Cannibal Corpse
-Six Feet Under
-Dying Fetus

17.Al Di Meola
-Return to Forever
-John McLaughlin
-Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin
-Allan Holdsworth
-Pat Metheny Group
-Jean-Luc Ponty
-Chick Corea

18.Bloodbath
-Hypocrisy
-Vomitory
-Decapitated

19.Atheist
-Gorguts
-Nocturnus
-Martyr
-Obscura

20.Led Zeppelin
-Pink Floyd
-Page & Plant
-Jimi Hendrix
-Robert Plant
-The Doors
-Cream
-The Jimi Hendrix Experience

As the second decade of the 21st century looms, I thought it relevant, though rather clichéd, to make a personal top twenty albums from the last ten years. This top twenty, of course being extremely subjective, does not only exhibit albums which feature good musicianship, tone and songwriting but those that have affected me poignantly, emotionally, or have accompanied me through good and bad memories. I may well have left one or two out which later I'd consider pertinent to include, but if they haven't been by now, such belatedness would hardly warrant them deserved placement anyway.

20. Black Math Horseman - Wyllt [2009, USA, Tee Pee Records] Progressive metal/post-rock



1. Tyrant
2. Deerslayer
3. A Barren Cause
4. Origin Of Savagery
5. Torment Of The Metals
6. Bird Of All Faiths And None / Bell From Madrone

As the metal scene becomes awash with post-metal and as black metal bands clasp at post-rock for some semblance of originality in their modern sounds, BMH were the one band for me who have been able to craft something truly interesting from the embers of post-rock. Wyllt is not only an emotional and dark journey, mixing post-rock with progressive metal and ambient sections, but its distant, discordant female vocals also make it a truly eerie experience. As it becomes more and more difficult for metal and rock bands to do something interesting to stand out, BMH did so with a truly innovative début, and the only 2009 album featuring in my top 20.

19. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles [2008, Canada, Different Records] Electronic/chiptune



1. Untrust Us
2. Alice Practice
3. Crimewave (Crystal Castles Vs. Health)
4. Magic Spells
5. XXZXCUZX Me
6. Air War
7. Courtship Dating
8. Good Time
9. 1991
10. Vanished
11. Knights
12. Love And Caring
13. Through The Hosiery
14. Reckless
15. Black Panther
16. Tell Me What To Swallow

The inclusion of Crystal Castles will doubtless have many spitting fire. One of the most hated bands in the indie scene [as far as the elitists go anyway], CC put out a thrillingly varietal début last year of a mixture of ambient, cacophonic and melodic electronic melodies, all tinged with a 90s chiptune vibe. It may well stand out as a complete pariah in this list, but this album is mostly important to me for being significant of a highly difficult period of psychological turmoil last year, got spun to death and ended up as one of my top played albums ever. It must have been due to its disparity with metal and dark ambient twinned with its heavy early 90s feel which made it such an effective companion through the moderate depression I encountered. Originally downloaded from a blog, I remember being more proud than usual to pick it up on CD.

18. Mira - There I Go Daydreamer [2005, USA, Projekt Records] Shoegaze



1. Say When
2. Pieces
3. Highs In The Lows
4. Adrift
5. No Other Way
6. Long Division
7. Window Seat
8. Reset
9. Heavenly Slumber
10. Passerby
11. Nearest Exit
12. Hinterland

Mira's third and final album was by far their most mature. Never being a particularly large fan of bands like Slowdive or My Bloody Valentine, There I Go Daydreamer really nailed the shoegaze formula for me in a way that other albums didn't. Its predecessor, Apart, took a while to get into and understand, but once I'd wrapped my psychosis around the atmosphere that Mira created, it was clear that TIGD had forged the sound perfectly. The shimmering, lush guitars; simple yet textured drumming and Regina's tender vocals created a comfortable but lonely sound like few others in ethereal music since Cocteau Twins' middle period or the first two albums from the excellent Love Spirals Downwards.

17. Aeoga – Zenith Beyond The Helix-Locus [2005, Finland, Aural Hypnox] Ritual ambient



1. Impenetrable-Chimera
2. Permuting-Remote-Shrieks
3. Ash-Breath
4. Reptilevitation
5. Interplanary
6. Burialgae-Resonance
7. Birthcry
8. Owleye-Mandalchemy
9. Impulses
10. Winged-Beings
11. Prism-Mountain
12. Implosion
13. Voidclysm
14. Salamander-Maqet
15. Lustrous-Kosmolesion

I remember originally describing this as "being on drugs without being on drugs". The Helixes Collective have always produced some of the very best material as far as dark or ritual ambient goes. The use of purely organic materials such as animal horns and bone flutes without the use of synthesisers, make Aeoga and Halo Manash's work far more genuine that most. Zenith Beyond the Helix-Locus is one long, undisturbed ritual - a highly evocative and unsettling piece. Ensconcing yourself in its atmosphere is key to understanding and appreciating it and it warrants multiple play throughs to completely understand. If you have the patience and the attention, it truly is one of the finest ritual ambient works produced.

16. Herbst9 – The Gods Are Small Birds But I Am The Falcon [2008, Germany, Loki Foundation] Ritual ambient



1. The Laments Begin
2. Must I Die? (Because Of My Holy Songs)
3. Threshold Of Tears
4. Enenuru
5. The Gods Are Small Birds, But I Am The Falcon
6. White Ashes (Black Smoke)
7. ...And Everything Around Him Answered
8. Shaking Ground
9. Ilimmu

Inspired by a Sumerian hymn to Enheduanna, The Gods Are Small Birds But I am the Falcon took me by surprise. I had already assumed that Herbst9 had peaked with their 2005 effort Buried Under Time And Sand, but The Gods Are Small Birds was more ambient, more focused and included greater use of vocal samples which made songs such as Nanab Ishtar - Exalted Light of Heaven so brilliantly effective. Evoking the gods through incantations related to ancient Sumer, it was a high point not only in Herbst9's catalogue, but also for ritual ambient in general.

Full review, written 2009.

15. Textures – Drawing Circles [2006, Holland, Listenable Records] Progressive metal/hardcore



1. Drive
2. Regenesis
3. Denying Gravity
4. Illumination
5. Stream Of Consciousness
6. Upwards
7. Circular
8. Millstone
9. Touching The Absolute
10. Surreal State Of Enlightenment

Even though 2008's Silhouettes was a more lavish and heavier piece of work, it didn't strike such a successful balance between heavy and melodic as its predecessor. After the comparatively thin Polars released in 2004, Textures raised their own bar several notches and came out with an astounding piece of work which, as far as I'm concerned, beat several genremates into the ground. What made Drawing Circles more interesting and more successful for me over bands such as Between the Buried and Me and SikTh, was the perfect combination of simplicity and complexity mixed with the composite vocals of singer Jochem Jacobs. At first Drawing Circles seemed like quite a raucous affair to acquaint oneself with, but seeing the patterns eventually becomes more satisfying and more nourishing than on a lot of progressive albums. The band manage to tease you to a point of excess with a milligram too much heaviness before switching to softer, mellower sections with clean vocals, and then back again to another intense lashing of progressive barbarism. There's probably not much here to appease fans of purely more traditional metal like Dream Theater or Evergrey, but those looking for something more gritty and more spiked with an abundance of variety could hardly do much better than to look into this.

14. Biomechanical - The Empires of the Worlds [2005, UK, Earache Records] Progressive metal/thrash



1. Enemy Within
2. The Empires Of The Worlds
3. Assaulter
4. Relinquished Destiny
5. Long Time Dead
6. Regenerated
7. DNA Metastasis
8. Survival
9. Existenz
10. Truth Denied
11. Absolution - Part 1: Final Offence
12. Absolution - Part 2: From The Abyss
13. Absolution - Part 3: Absolution
14. Absolution - Part 4: Disintegration

After a particularly alcohol-fuelled day watching Exodus down at the Underworld in November 2006, I had the first - and only one of two opportunities so far - to see Biomechanical. Even though the sound was pretty off during the set itself, it was intriguing enough for me to pick up what was at that point, their latest album, a few days later. The Empires of The Worlds, clearly sounding much better on CD [this one, at least] than live is a frenzied gallop through progressive thrash metal. Fast riffs, blistering drumwork and track upon track of some of the most intense music I've come across. In spite of the fact that most speed metal bores me to death, the combination of progressive thrash mixerd with occasional orchestration made this almost a guilty pleasure, a rewarding listen which isso full-on its akin to aural rape. Empires is a chariot race on speed, a marathon sprinted from start to finish, and by the time Part 4 of Absolution has ended, going through the album in one go can't fail to leave its daunting and unforgiving mark on the exhausted listener. Unfortunately, the long-awaited and long-hyped follow-up Cannibalised two years later fell victim to excruciatingly bad production in a similar vein to Eight Moons, and became unlistenable as a result. When asked if I'm a fan of Biomechnical the answer is a resounding yes, through it's more accurate to say I'm a fan of just one album. But what an album it is.

13. Naamah - Resensement [2004, Poland, Metal Mind Records] Progressive metal



1. Daydream Part One
2. Severed
3. Not For You
4. Subsistance
5. Red Light
6. Alright
7. Daydream Part Two
8. Subsistance [polish version] [bonus]
9. Twoja [piano version] [bonus]

Resensement was Naamah's third – and up to this point still most recent album. For some reason, one suspects disagreements with the label, the band are still to put out the final album that they've been contracted for. Resensement saw the band change their sound hugely. Ultima, it's predecessor, was an averagely respectable Gothic metal record with meagre production values. Resensement saw the band put out a far more heartfelt and progressive recording, with much higher production values. What made it better than a lot of other progressive metal was that it was actually interesting to listen to in each of its multifarious sections. Every note, line and melody has its own honestly and texture. Ending with the ambient and highly atmospheric Daydream Pt 2, it was truly one of the high points of my musical reviewing when I came across it, and still remains one of my all-time favourites today.

Full review, written 2004.

12. Moon of Steel – Insignificant Details [2002, Italy, Steelheart Records] Progressive metal



1. What Will Remain?
2. I Am
3. After All
4. Grey 0
5. The Wave
6. Details part 1
7. I Hear You Call
8. Forced (Your Way)
9. Waiting For The Moonlight
10. Details part 2
11. Details Part 3

One of 2002's best female-fronted metal albums was also one of its most unknown, and still has garnered hardly any attention over the years. Insignificant Details, Moon of Steel's second studio album since the band put out its first full-length 1989, included a new dynamic and new singer who was also to only feature on their 1999 EP. With it's perfectly woven mix of complex, progressive metal, slow, smooth jazz interludes and some of the very best female vocals ever to fit on a metal album, Insignificant Details was a revelatory turning point for me, and still is one of my all-time favourite metal albums. The music on display is gloomy, dark, lonely and bitterly honest. It remains one of most underrated albums in metal. It's leaving statement “your life depends on that which you can seize and your dreams are not insignificant details” has resonated with me for as long as I can remember.

Full review, written 2003.

11. Forgotten Silence - KaBaAch [2000, Czech Republic, Redblack] Progressive metal/death metal



1. Red Paiom - The Yellow-Blue Snake
2. Rostau - The Sandwaves
3. Al Qáhir - In The Marble Halls (Of Fame) IV.
4. Saqqára - The Sitting Statue
5. FL2C - The Morning In Cairo
6. Vaset - The Breath Of Tasechetaat
7. Memnon - The Ancient Moaning
8. Ipet Isut - The Sunflames
9. Dendara - The Deepest Depth, In The Darkest Dark...
10. Idfú - Under The Hor's Wings ...
11. Syene - The Waterlines
12. As Suwais - One Step To Another World

KaBaAch came at a time of particular musical drought, and I remember on first hearing it thinking that it wasn't my thing at all. The band, still relatively unknown but occasionally still active, put out a string of wildly inaccessible albums in the late 90s with KaBaAch being their most easy to get into. This isn't to say that it's an easy listen at all. Most of the album is a relentless, uncompromising mish-mash of death metal, progressive metal and funk/jazz sections mixed with various unusual ambient interludes. It is what it wants to be - it's so self-involved that it doesn't care if you misunderstand it or dislike it. What's most unusual about this album and its inclusion in this list, is that most of the songs in the album - 7 out of the 12 - are ambient interludes. However, the remaining five are some of the best examples of progressive metal I think of: marvellous song structure, very skilled playing [especially the bass and drum work] and accomplished female vocals by Hanka Nogolová, now spending most of her time in Silent Stream of Godless Elegy. Visiting the band's previous works has proved to be a very difficult experience, not least the highly impenetrable Senyaan, though KaBaAch is the best starting point for those looking for something truly fascinating and different in progressive metal.

10. Atrox - Orgasm [2003, Norway, code666] Progressive metal



1. Methods of Survival
2. Flesh City
3. Heartquake
4. Burning Bridges
5. This Vigil
6. Tentacles
7. Second Hand Trauma
8. Prè Sense

My first clash with Atrox, which seems a fitting way to describe coming into contact with them, was in 2003 when I was sent a promo of Terrestrials. I had read various comments around the internet about the band with regards to how they were just "too crazy" for a lot of reviewers or just too weird to be given the literal time of day. Of course there are many bands in the avant-garde spectrum who produce far more curious and outlandish metal, but for female-fronted metal before the likes of Akphaezya or Ayin Aleph, Atrox was pretty much as crazy as it got. The band never really fell into either the progressive or avant-garde metal camps but more a strange halfway house between the two which the band described as 'schizo metal'. Even though Terrestrials was an accomplished album with doubtless the best lyrics that I have ever come across, it was Orgasm where, under Monika at least, the band perfected their balance of creative intensity and forward-thinking metal. Every track here is a standout, be it the excellently over the top Flesh City ["masturbating teens around every corner"]; the most unusual love song ever Heartquake; or the excellently and usually progressive Pre Sense ["what's so unusual about being unique? We all are"]. After this album Monika left the band to, well, start one with her own pet freak plush and sit in Trondheim making weird artwork. I remember she accepted an interview offer from me which she proposed to do vocally as Rødingen - possibly complete with egg slicer - but for one reason or another the answers to the questions were never forthcoming.

Full review, written 2004.

9. The Moon and the Nightspirit – Regő Rejtem [2007, Hungary, Equilibirum Music] Neofolk/ethereal



1. Regő Rejtem
2. Örökké
3. Avaràlom
4. Szarvaslélek
5. Föld Szive Dobban
6. Csillagnàsz
7. Rögből Élet
8. Éjköszöntő
9. Holdtànc

I remember thinking on hearing track 7 of Regő Rejtem, Rögből Élet, that it was possibly one of the most beautiful songs I'd heard. It was particularly helpful and useful to me in 2008 when I was going through my depressive state, and I ended up delving into the album more and more and with ever greater intensity to the point whereby it became some kind of musical precious stone to me. I absolutely can't stand it when people start talking about albums "helping them through difficult periods” in their lives, and Regő Rejtem didn't do that directly. What it did do, however, was occasionally lift me out of the psychological quagmire that I was spending my time in and make me realise that there were far more aesthetic and uplifting things out there which should always be remembered, no matter how helpless you're feeling. In this way Regő Rejtem seemed to cross the psychological Rubicon with me.

8. Vas – In The Garden Of Souls [2000, USA, Narada] Ethnic/ethereal



1. In The Garden Of Souls
2. Inamorata
3. Samaya
4. Prayer For Soheil
5. Ceremony Of Passage
6. Beyond Despair
7. The Inward Coil
8. Ephémère (Upon The Faded)
9. Lila
10. Unbecome
11. Sevdama

In the Garden of Souls came to me at a time when I was becoming particularly interested in progressive metal. I remember Ashtoreth passing the album to me and my being instantly bewitched by it. Its distant, otherwordly ether grabbed me as something I'd never heard before in stark contrast to the metal I was listening to at the time. It started a trend of interest in other bands such as Stellamara, Lumin and Axoim Of Choice which, though high quality in their own rights, never quite stood up to Vas' calibre. I was rather late in discovering the band since they disbanded after Feast of Silence in 2004, though Niyaz's Nine Heavens is the closest album I've come across in a similar vein, being much more mystical and laid back that their rather energetic self-titled album. ITGOS is still one of the most beautiful and transfixing albums I own, a dark and entrancing piece of work.

7. Dark Sanctuary - L'Être las - L'envers du miroir [2003, France, Wounded Love] Neoclassical



1. L'arrogance
2. L'envers du Miroir
3. Malveillance
4. Les Larmes du Méprisé
5. Profondeur de l'âme
6. Assombrissement de l'âme
7. Silence Macabre
8. La Mort Avant le Déshonneur
9. Larmes et de Sang
10. Vie éphémère
11. Face à une Mort Rassasiée
12. Loin des Mortels
13. La Rencontre Fatale
14. Tout ce Sang Versé

L'Être Las - L'Envers Du Miroir took me quite a while to get into, let alone to understand. It was my first introduction to darkwave and neoclassical music and initially I found it rather dull, being only exposed to the accessible strains of bands such as Nightwish, Within Temptation and Lacuna Coil at that point back in November 2003. On a late journey back from Newcastle, having seen women in skirts and heels tearing themselves apart in the streets and people stealing babies from distraught mothers' buggies as a joke, I remember the album beginning to make sense once Loin Des Mortels came on. The piano, the transcendent strings and the exquisite voice of Dame Pandora made it an enchanting experience exemplified by tracks such as L'arrogance and Vie éphémère. This sparked a heavy appreciation for one of the most musically rich bands in the neoclassical spectrum and one which I had the great pleasure of promoting at St Pancras Parish Church for their final concert in October 2009, six years later.

Full review, written 2003.

6. Riverside – Second Life Syndrome [2005, Poland, Inside Out] Progressive rock



1. After
2. Volte-Face
3. Conceiving You
4. Second Life Syndrome
5. Artificial Smile
6. I Turned You Down
7. Reality Dream III
8. Dance With The Shadow
9. Before

Discovering bands like Fates Warning and Riverside quite early on in my progressive metal initiation became problematic. What bands like these did was showcase a certain skill for maturity and intensity in metal, especially lyrically, which is hard to top. Most metal bands - in fact most bands in general - are poor at writing lyrics. It was the stark personal feel to Riverside's lyrics which was the first thing that caught my attention, followed by the sincerity of both the melodic and heavier sections, not to mention that painfully beautiful, highly Pink Floyd-esque guitar solos. Second Life Syndrome has been nearly impossible for the band to top, following it with the weaker "difficult third album" Rapid Eye Movement and the stronger Anno Domini High Definition. Riverside were another band that I had the opportunity to promote in London a couple of times, both to very high audience turnouts. In both cases it was refreshing to see a down-to-earth, relaxed and affable group of band members rather than the prima-donas that one comes across all too often in promotion at either end of the spectrum.

5. Catafalque - Dialectique [2007, Turkey, CTF Records] Gothic metal



1. Seasons
2. The Ordeal
3. Red Lights
4. Fading Beauty
5. Together With All The Pain
6. Blamed
7. Crimson Dust
8. Butterfly Inside
9. Ballerina
10. Bringer Of The Night

After the release of Sirenia's At Sixes And Sevens Gothic metal became tired, frayed and withered. It was the last truly good Gothic metal album in the accepted old style. The huge amount of ensembles jumping on the female-fronted bandwagon afterwards meant that that the sound had reached saturation point and there was little originality left in the pot. 2007's Dialectique saw Catafalque change sound from gothic/doom into a more atmospheric type with greater use of emotion and keyboards. The songwriting and production were all of a very high quality, though the jewel in the album's proverbial crown was undoubtedly Özge Özkan 's vocals, being soaring, genuine and heartfelt.

Dialectique is so exquisitely emotional that it almost transcends any other Gothic metal album made. These days it's so rare for albums to come across as emotional: indeed, a lot of the time I almost forget that the point of music is to make people feel something. Dialectique takes you through a dodectet of perfect Gothic atmospheric numbers and doesn't drop for a moment. The music doesn't have to be big, complex and pretentious to be emotional and effective, because Dialectique accomplished more with its simplicity than most other albums could hope to after years of careful preparation.

4. Opeth - Deliverance [2002, Sweden, Music For Nations] Progressive death metal



1. Wreath
2. Deliverance
3. A Fair Judgement
4. For Absent Friends
5. Master's Apprentices
6. By the Pain I See in Others

Deliverance was always supposed to be Opeth's heaviest album. Or maybe that was just a selling point put out for promotional reasons, the original intention being to release it at the same time as Damnation. Deliverance was not necessarily their heaviest effort, it included more prog rock and melodious influences than their works during the Candlelight years - but one thing which Deliverance does remain is their most consistent album. Every track on the album is a dark, complex, opaque and beautiful work. There are many moments to commend here, be it the accessibility of the title track with its repetitive complex outro; A Fair Judgment with one of the best and most emotional guitar solos I have heard; or the unexpectedly beautiful prog rock section in the middle of the otherwise gruffly heavy Master's Apprentices. In spite of two more strong records since its release, Deliverance is still my favourite Opeth recording - with Still Life, of course, a respectably close second.

3. After Forever - Decipher [2001, Holland, Transmission Records] Gothic metal



1. Ex Cathedra
2. Monolith of Doubt
3. My Pledge of Allegiance #1 - The Sealed Fate
4. Emphasis
5. Intrinsic
6. Zenith
7. Estranged (A Timeless Spell)
8. Imperfect Tenses
9. My Pledge of Allegiance #2 - The Tempted Fate
10. The Key
11. Forlorn Hope

I suppose this is the best time to admit that I got back into Gothic metal after an abstinence of four years due to watching an episode of Pop Idol. One of the costumes worn by Gareth Gates had a slightly Gothic tinge to it and that led me idly one day to check out Shoutcast, which was in 2002 a far more effective and popular way of finding new music that it is now. On browsing the stations I came across After Forever's Intrinsic, the first female-fronted metal track I ever heard, and this led me to download Decipher over WinMX and subsequently order it from Sonic Cathedral as my first purchase along with Aesma Daeva. Even now Decipher is, for me, one of the most important albums in all of Gothic metal. Though it took time for me to get used to the unexpected male growling elements, it was Floor's vocals, the complexity of the songwriting and the orchestration that were the album's complete strength, and which were hardly ever improved upon by the band themselves or in the genre altogether. Decipher remains one of the most impressive and important albums in Gothic metal - in spite of the band's insistence, even in their early Transmission days, that they didn't make Gothic music.

2. Fates Warning - Disconnected [2000, USA, Metal Blade] Progressive metal



1. Disconnected (Part I)
2. One
3. So
4. Pieces Of Me
5. Something From Nothing
6. Still Remains
7. Disconnected (Part II)

Disconnected is one of the most vital albums I have come across. On a trip to Baltimore in March 2006 I was furnished with a number of Fates Warning CDRs from the No Exit period right up to FWX [though missing out, strangely, A Pleasant Shade of Gray]. Seeing as I was no fan of male-fronted vocals at that particular time, I indifferently played Inside Out and Perfect Symmetry with neither igniting my interest. It was only when I hit Still Remains from Disconnected that anything psychologically snapped into place. The track was probably the first male vocal metal track I had liked since listening to Paradise Lost and Megadeth as a teenager in the mid 90s. What Fates Warning did was lead me away gradually from the monomania I had with female vocal metal and open the gates to other artists such as Symphony X, Opeth, Dream Theater and Riverside. Disconnected was an immense turning point for me and Fates Warning remain possibly my all-time favourite metal band as a result. The maturity in the lyrics, vocals, guitars and atmosphere supersede those of any artist in the same category for me. In spite of the fact that Perfect Symmetry eventually became more important for me and one of my most valued albums of all time, its 1989 release makes it at least a decade too early for inclusion here.

1. The Mars Volta – De-Loused in the Comatorium [2003, USA, Universal] Progressive rock




1. Son Et Lumiere
2, Inertiatic ESP
3. Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)
4. Tira Me A Las Arañas
5. Drunkship Of Lanterns
6. Eriatarka
7. Cicatriz ESP
8. This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed
9. Televators
10. Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt

4chan's /mu/ came through in spades with this one. Majoritively a breeding ground for the largest amount of trolling, spite and verbal cess on the internet, the music board kept whoring De-Loused particularly in the closing months of 2008, much to the respective elation and chagrin of the community. Idly listening to Inertiatic ESP gave me sufficient impetus to spin the album in its entirety and I became shocked by its lyrical and musical complexity, especially for Universal and a category such as progressive rock, which most of the time I'd associated with wet, flimsy and shamelessly tepid music. TMV showed a drive, expression, class and fervor that I had yet not experienced in rock or metal. The album's neat originality, its perfect mixing of rock with the frenetic feel of Latin jazz and salsa made it immediately mesmerising. The sheer talent and virtuosity of each band member induced TMV to scream ahead of any other band I was listening to in the closing months of 2008 by a long way.

They may be called ostentatious and pretentious by some, but progressive music relies on certain mindsets by its innovators for effective experimentation. De-Loused has kept me retreating to its cadences time and time again, be it the bleak beauty of Televators and Cicatriz ESP or the sheer power and dynamism of Drunkship Of Lanterns or Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt. There is no edging the listener in here, no acceleration: De-Loused starts at 60mph and ups the gears progressively, musically and conceptually till its closing bars. For me it is not only a great album of the 2000s - but a legendary one. And that's a word I generally hate to use.

Okay, first off, dramatic title, but I know myself that on this website I skim down artist pages, and only bold titles grab my attention. Hell, there's a good reason for it; journals here have went mostly to piss since every user and their mate decided it would be a good idea to post 'My top albums' lists ad infinitum.

It's been a while since I vented my thoughts, and looking through past journals and comments, it invigorated me, to an extent where I wish to share something that's been driving me crazy for quite a while.

The X-Factor, never off our red-banner tabloids (What's Afghanistan matter when Tiger is about, eh Sun?) or TV screens was angry to discover this week that the funk/rap metal band Rage Against the Machine's classic song Killing In The Name had been chosen to spoil the fun.

On Facebook, the group is hundreds of thousands strong, a casual look at the shoutbox here on Last Fm tells us a similar story, and every rock/music blog and magazine has been shouting about it. Now, I'm all for a shake up of the mainstream charts and system. It's refreshing to see the 'alternative' music scene get their share of the publicity pie.

What annoyed me was that arrogant, smug bastard Simon Cowell's reaction. For all his millions, that man has no class - he argued that such an online movement was 'stealing' his TV show competitor's chance at a big hit. The way he said it made him sound as though he feels that every Christmas, the X-Factor winner has a divine right to a Number 1 hit. His shown has been denying EVERYONE for YEARS.

If you look at what I listen to, you'll realise I've never cared for what's top of the charts, I couldn't name you a Mika song and I detest Nickleback. That's all and good, everyone has non-subjective tastes. But what I hate is programs like the X-Factor, that manufacture talent, that water down original versions, pollute any sense of artistic meaning in music, and ram their own views down the throats of millions. This show is an abomination; a macabre mixture of the freak-show auditions, ratings squeezing rounds and then what is usually a vastly overrated, unprepared winner. How many have swam, not sank? JLS? I personally wouldn't call that talent, but each to their own.

In short, The X-Factor, and to a certain extent shows like 'I'm a Celebrity...' and 'Big Brother' are mindless, inane shows, devoid of meaning or a context in reality. Every year, I watch masses of people turn into cogs in a greater industry machine. Call me a typical black metal 'Grim' person but it disgusts me.

Buy the RATM single, hell, buy two. It's about time such trivial filth gets a slap in the face, and the X-Factor has got one, whether they get their coveted number one or not. I just hope that in result of this competition, people stop taking what they are given for granted, and look for some real, tangible meaning in what they listen to. I know some people will argue otherwise, but I can't imagine being emotionally connected to Gimme More without being a little shallow. When with others, particularly in a school, or social environment I feel such disparagement at what goes for meaningful music in popular culture.

Is there a difference between a musician and an artist?



PS: Hope that was coherent and better than another '20 Questions about your top 50' journal. Opinions are welcome. Thanks.

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Didn't want to sound pretentious, and for those who tl;dr'd...