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1.
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Be'Lakor - Of Breath and Bone
(10) Didn't have much as far as expectations go before I heard this album (had heard some stuff from them before and kinda written them off as an Insomnium clone) but after listening to it several times It only got better and better to me. While yes it does borrow a lot from Insomnium's style, it has a bit more of a progressive edge that sets it apart from their Finnish counterparts for me to consider it one for the history books of melodic death. |
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2.
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Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I
(10) This album came out of nowhere for me, as I had never heard of this band before (logical as this is their debut album). But after one listen this band had won me over with their violin driven prog-black metal, and is definitely a band I'm going to pay attention to in the future. |
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3.
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The Faceless - Autotheism
(10) thought Planetary Duality was good. but a bit soulless, this album on the other hand takes it to a new level. Influences of Opeth, Devin Townsend, and many more artists can be heard on this album, but are all used to create a unique sound that somewhere comes between technical and progressive death metal. Fans of the band before will probably hate this, but those who may have been turned off by the band before may find something for them on this release. |
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4.
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Circus Maximus - Nine
(10) This album is just beautiful...perfectly melodic prog metal...just the album I wish Dream Theater had put out last year... |
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5.
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Devin Townsend - Epicloud
(10) Devy does it again, probably some of his best work ever in my opinion |
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6.
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Celldweller - Wish Upon a Blackstar
(10) I've listened to this album about 50 times since it came out. Catchy as fuck and one of the most fun albums I've ever heard |
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7.
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Dave Matthews Band - Away From The World
(10) A return to form if I ever saw one, good to finally hear sax and violin in the same prevalence that they had back in the days of Under The Table and Before These Crowded Streets |
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8.
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3 Inches Of Blood - Long Live Heavy Metal
(10) Not often I have this much fun listening to an album. |
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9.
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Hour Of Penance - Sedition
(9.8) Short and sweet: a 30 minute onslaught of non-stop brutality that will keep you hooked for the whole album, and leave you wanting more. |
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10.
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Testament - Dark Roots Of Earth
(9.8) Testament proves once again they're capable of making the most badass thrash on the planet. Best thrash of the year for me, and it's gonna take a lot to top it for me. |
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11.
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The Stranded - Survivalism Boulevard
(9.7) I admit it, I'm a sucker for generic gothenburg/melodic death bands like this...and this album perfectly satisfies my need for that |
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12.
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Miseration - Tragedy Has Spoken
(9.6) Initially disappointing, but after a few re-listens I found myself being won over. |
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13.
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Dark Empire - From Refuge To Ruin
(9.6) It's Symphony X meets Iced Earth, meets Soilwork, what more could I ask for? The vocals may not be as good this time around without Jens, but this album is possibly their best so far musically. |
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14.
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Thousand Leaves - Lunatic Dawn
(9.6) Dat touhou metal |
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15.
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Allegaeon - Formshifter
(9.6) Technical death that actually sticks with me, I can get behind that. |
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16.
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In Mourning - The Weight Of Oceans
(9.6) A bit of a grower...but after a few listens I was hooked. Not as good as A Shrouded Divine, but honestly not far off from it. |
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17.
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Asphyx - Deathhammer
(9.5) Old-school style death metal with a modern twist. Two worlds of death metal colliding into one, to make one amazing album |
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18.
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Whitechapel - Whitechapel
(9.5) Wow...I kinda "liked" this band beforehand (Hated TSD, liked about 3 songs total on TIE, and thought there was an EP worth of good material on ANEOC), but this album just completely changes the game with this band. Yes it's still a deathcore album, but it's deathcore done how it should be. It's got good song structure, memorable riffs and melodies, none of it feels forced, and it all comes off as an honest attempt by a band to try and change their style for the best. I look forward to what the future holds for Whitechapel |
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19.
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Profetus - ...To Open The Passages In Dusk
(9.3) I really did not expect to find any enjoyment in this at all, but something about this album just kept bringing me back to it |
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20.
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Zonaria - Arrival Of The Red Sun
(9.3) Loved Infamy, thought Cancer Empire was pretty bland, but this just takes things to a new level. Sure it still sounds a lot like Hypocrisy, but fuck it. I love Hypocrisy, and therefore I love this too. Their best yet, look forward to more in the future. |
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21.
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Fleshmould - Interitum
(9.3) Really impressive death metal album with doom elements here and there (think Asphyx, but with a more modern DM style). Sad that a lot of people probably wont hear this album. |
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22.
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Angelus Apatrida - The Call
(8.9) These Spanish thrashers really know how to bring the badass. |
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23.
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Overkill - The Electric Age
(8.9) after all these years these guys are still kicking ass. |
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24.
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Accept - Stalingrad
(8.9) Just some fun straighforward Traditonal Heavy Metal, but I wouldn't say I enjoyed it as much as the new 3 Inches of Blood |
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25.
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Abominable Putridity - The Anomalies Of Artificial Origin
(8.9) Just plain brutal, nothing more to say here |
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26.
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The Forsaken - Beyond Redemption
(8.8) Melodeath with a bit more focus on the death than the melodic, which is always welcome. |
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27.
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Pictured - Strand of Time
(8.8) This year has been a great year for melodeath, and this album is no exception, Doc Godin as a review for this album that sums it up a lot better than I could |
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28.
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Meridian - Meridian EP
(8.7) This may be an EP but it is some damn promising proggy melodeath |
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29.
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Veiled In Scarlet - Idealism
(8.5) Kalmah Inspired meodeath from Japan, this band isn't gonna be turning many heads around here, but I'll be damned if i didn't enjoy the hell out of this album. |
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30.
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Centimani - Aegaeon
(8.5) some pretty badas Blackened Death metal here, another one that will probably slip under a lot of people's radar. |
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31.
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Veil Of Maya - Eclipse
(8.5) Used to have this lower...but after giving it a couple listens I decided I liked it a lot more than a 7.7 |
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32.
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Slavebreed - Dethrone The Architect
(8.4) some really fucking brtual death/grind that isn't on MS yet (when they should be) |
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33.
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Nile - At The Gate of Sethu
(8.4) Standard Nile album, nothing more, nothing less. Doesn't holdup to greats like Annihilation of the Wicked or Those Whom The Gods Detest, but still enjoyable at the end of the day, and a worthy addition to the Nile catalog. Though could've been a little better production wise |
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34.
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Primal Fear - Unbreakable
(8.4) Fun straightforward Power/Heavy Metal, that's really all I can say about this album |
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35.
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Rush - Clockwork Angels
(8.4) Rush manages to stay consistent with their current sound, and after 30 years are still making some of the best prog-rock around |
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36.
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Black Pyramid - Black Pyramid II
(8.2) Another album that's just plain fun. I may not be too familiar with Stoner Doom, but this album has certainly got me somewhat interested. |
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37.
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Maladie - Plague Within
(8.0) A really odd album (black metal I believe), it's not terrible but I'm still trying to wrap my head around it after a few listens, but It does sound somewhat promising |
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38.
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Steelwing - Zone Of Alienation
(8.0) Iron Maiden is doing pretty good these da- wait a minute... |
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39.
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Job For A Cowboy - Demonocracy
(8.0) I used to really hate this band...but looks like that has changed... |
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40.
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Shadows Fall - Fire From The Sky
(8.0) Just so happens that I also have a soft spot for metalcore... |
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41.
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Fisthammer - Devour All You See
(8.0) Kinda like watered down Hypocrisy, but still fun and enjoyable. |
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42.
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Spawn Of Possession - Incurso
(8.0) Technical as all hell, but would be so much better if it had more replay value |
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43.
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Anathema - Weather Systems
(8.0) Quite blissful at times, but something I really need to be in the right mood for |
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44.
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Before The Dawn - Rise Of The Phoenix
(7.8) big step down from last year's Deathstar Rising. Some good melodic death metal here, but you're honestly better off with the new Be'lakor if you want something with this sound. |
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45.
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Tracedawn - Lizard Dusk
(7.8) Really fun on the first listen, but doesn't lend itself much to re-listening |
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46.
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Ensiferum - Unsung Heroes
(7.8) not their best work but still very enjoyable, I'd certainly put it above Victory Songs though |
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47.
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Fallen Martyr - Shadows
(7.8) It started out so promising, but around the middle of the album things just started meandering, and then it lost me. |
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48.
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Wintersfear - Thoughts and Memory
(7.8) A metalcore album that leans a little bit more toward the side of melodeath, not a bad album at all, but not one I see myself wanting to listen to more than once in a while |
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49.
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Disfiguring The Godess - Sleeper
(7.7) Technical Deathcore with occasional electronic elements? Seems pretty good on paper, and it translates well. Musically solid, though the fact that I don't find myself paying much mind to this after listening to it once or twice makes it lose points. |
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50.
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Aborted - Global Flatline
(7.7) This album is pretty fun, but i can't think of much more to say other than that. |
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51.
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Chimp Spanner - All Roads Lead Here
(7.7) picked this one up at a CD store for free (buy 2 get one free or some shit like that). No real regrets, but I wouldn't have payed for this |
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52.
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Resistance (BEL) - To Judge and Enslave
(7.6) This was some pretty fun deathcore gotta say. Especially considering it played well in between death metal and deathcore, without really focusing too much on one genre. |
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53.
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Cannibal Corpse - Torture
(7.3) Pretty standard CC album. They have a formula and it works well. Experimentation is nice every once and a while, but at the end of the day I can respect consistency, and this album is a prime example of that |
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54.
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Desecravity - Implicit Obedience
(7.2) Fun every now and then, but honestly a little too much for me |
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55.
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Unisonic - Unisonic
(7.0) I really expected something more than what I got with this one, but I ended up enjoying a good 4 or 5 songs from the album, so no really big complaints. |
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56.
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Freedom Call - Land of The Crimson Dawn
(6.9) Consistency is a good thing...but it eventually gets to the point where it becomes a matter of "well why listen to this when i can listen to another one of this band's albums that sounds almost the same as this" Not bad album, but at the same time nothing I haven't already heard. |
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57.
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Exumer - Fire & Damnation
(6.9) I normally really love a good straightforward thrash metal album, but this just seemed severely lacking in anything to latch on to |
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58.
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Ophion - Ophion EP
(6.8) A pretty generic deathcore EP, with some occasional thrash and death elements. Nothing good, nothing bad. Nothing I plan to listen to again really. |
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59.
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Mnemic - Mnemesis
(6.6) This band just keeps getting worse and worse... |
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60.
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Fear Factory - The Industrialist
(6.1) Wow...talk about a disappointment here. I loved Mecanize, and maybe I was getting my hopes up too high but after a few listens I literally could not remember a single moment of this album after the first 4 tracks. Other than that 9 minute outro track, which actually made me angry listening to it |
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61.
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Pseudogod - Deathwomb Catechesis
(6.0) Kinda a random album I checked out after seeing a review of it on this site. Not really my thing to be perfectly honest. |
