TONEwood's Top 10 Albums of 2019

While preparing the write-up for my top 10 albums of 2019, I realised that most of the albums I had listened to only really felt like top 10 material because, as a whole, I haven't felt very strongly about many releases this year.

I had looked forward to the new albums by Tinariwen, The Budos Band, Death Hawks, Lord Gore, Power Glove, Black Mountain, Grand Magus, and more. But they all sounded aggressively "okay" to my ears.

So, rather than doing an elaborate triple-entendre of top 10 metal and top 10 non-metal albums and runner-ups like I normally would, I ended up deciding on a more concise 10 album format with 5 runner-ups.

TONEwood's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2018

For fear of sounding like a Jerry Seinfeld joke, what's with all the insane death metal albums this year? Though I consider myself to have a broad taste, my greatest worry in making this year's top 10 metal albums has been whether or not the list would be too samey. I decided that censoring or catering the list for any reason wouldn't be right - After all it should only be about which albums were best - subjectively, of course. Now the biggest challenge is gonna be varying the descriptions...

Robespierre: "Garden of Hell"

Where's the excitement?

Ancient, overlooked gems of pristine heavy metal is worth more than any measure of gold, and when stories like that of UK's Hell, who returned after 20 years with the phenomenal debut album that never was, surface every so often, there's definitely something enticing about the whole rags-to-riches aspect of the mythos. Perhaps inspired by their success - and/or stories like theirs - Robespierre has been vomited forth from the bowels of the underworld with their first album since they started out back in 1983.

Death Keepers: "Rock This World"

Corner-cutting heavy/power mixture

As far as Judas Priest and general late 70s/early 80s heavy metal worship goes, this Spanish leather-clad outfit are pretty good. If you aim to stay true to the roots, there's only so much you can do, and with the limited possibilities of the style, Death Keepers make just a little more than the most of it.

Bolido: "Heavy Bombers"

Stone cold heavy metal bombardment

Chile's heavy rock meteorites Bolido pretty much sound exactly like you'd expect from an album with a harsh, angular band logo adorning a picture of war planes carpet bombing the Earth with guitar munitions from orbit. Bolido's brand of heavy and moderately fast classic metal is a strictly no-frills experience, but does it have thrills then? The band's noticably thunderous rhythm section surely brings some personality to their compositions, but with this sort of retro-styled metal it's always a matter of whether or not the band is capable of matching the massive hooks that made the bands that inspired them huge to begin with.

TONEwood's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2017

Following the format from 2016, I'll be making two separate lists for the end of 2017. One specifically for metal and its subgenres, and one for all other genres - including hard rock.

Argus: "From Fields of Fire"

The difficult fourth one? No chance, this is the confident next album!

Debuts are hard, the follow-up is tough and the third one perhaps even more so. So what do you do when you already have three exceptional albums in the bagage? If you do like Argus from Pennsylvania, USA, you keep on going with unabated ardor.

Sons of Crom: "The Black Tower"

The strongest arm in modern heavy metal

I can tell by the quality of The Black Tower that my lacking acquaintance with the duo's album debut from 2014, Riddle of Steel, is a huge mistake that will soon have to be mended. From the name one would expect fairly traditional heavy metal, but The Black Tower is anything but bound by the shackles of tradition.

Devil: "To the Gallows"

Devil's got what most forget - Heart and substance!

With their latest opus, To the Gallows, Norway's Devil continue to go out on various classic heavy and doom metal tangents with their own inspirations laid bare for all to see. 70's hard rock and early heavy metal is the name of the game, and it's a game that Devil play exceptionally well.

2016 Top 10 - Part I: The Metal Part

2016 has been an incredibly strong year for music. Although we've had to say goodbye to several legends, many new hopes continue to arise and bring the sound and feeling that we crave.

I've had the chance to listen to a relatively high amount of new albums this year, and only few of the albums I was anticipating were disappointing. Of course choosing just ten was incredibly tough with many huge contenders sadly having to be left out.

Stalker: "Satanic Panic"

Wild speed metal flagellations

It is not often - unless you specifically seek it out - that you hear about new bands from New Zealand. And when you do, it is even rarer for that band to be one of those exciting new names that randomly pops up every so often. Bands like Ranger from Finland and Encyrcle from Denmark both fit the bill, and Stalker from Wellington are most definitely one of those new names to look out for!

Hammerspace: "The Kings of Mediocrity" & "Volume 1: Reset, Repair, Restore"

Cliché-ridden heavy metal for the edgiest of fedora-enthusiastic neckbeards

While the 80s was probably the decade that saw the most progress and evolution for heavy metal as a genre, it is also the decade that many current bands revisit and mimic - Some more succesfully than others. The joining of old and new seems much more paraxodical, though, with a "band" such as Hammerspace. Created by Timothy Branch as a sort of virtual concept band with imaginary members, or characters, the conceptual group borrows from fantasy and heavy metal culture alike.

The following is a sort of double-up review, holding up against each other the project's two releases The Kings of Mediocrity EP and Volume 1: Reset, Repair, Restore, released by Torn Flesh Records.

Prajna: "Lost in the Void"

South-American crowd pleaser, strong in attitude but thin in essence

Reviewing lesser known bands from all over the world can reveal huge talent yet unknown to the masses, but first and foremost there's a lot of surprise to be had. With Prajna from Colombia it's hard to tell what to expect just from the name and cover, but in essence it is a band whose efforts wallow in several 80s heavy metal currents, lending speed and power from bands like Helloween, Fates Warning, Anthrax and more.

Brainerd: "Brainerd/The Goat"

Sonic suckerpunches and musical roundhouse kicks

Once in a while a band comes along that just grabs you by the balls and pulls you in with everything they've got. One such band might be Brainerd from the US. One day they'll just show up at your front door, drag you in their rusty ol' van filled with fucked up gear to produce their dirty garage sound with smashing riffs and barked vocals.