I'm (sorta) back. *The Finishing Touches* OKAY, so obviously not as much stuff from the last half of the year as the first. Sorry guys, but that first six months nearly killed me. Some stuff as a result will be missing, but major stuff not present is stuff I probably didn't care for. Alrighty then, enough with the "stuff"...

1.Bound By Entrails - The Stars Bode You Farewell

2.Royal Thunder - CVI

3.Akphaezya - Anthology IV: The Tragedy Of Nerak

4.Dissona - Dissona

5.Anhedonist - Netherwards

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My list of favourites and interests for this year ordered roughly in descending order. My new years resolution is to branch out a bit and listen to new and unfamiliar genres, metal and non-metal.

Edit: Anything above about a 7/10 I'll keep here. Now with approximate rating in a .5 scale and ordered according to **replay value** i.e how often I listen to them. AND now with some comments, adding them gradually.

1.Enslaved - RIITIIR

2.Pharaoh - Bury The Light

3.Anglagard - Viljans Öga

4.Overkill - The Electric Age

5.The Foreshadowing - Second World

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1.Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

2.Amiensus - Restoration

3.Mors Principium Est - ...And Death Said Live

4.Deftones - Koi No Yokan

5.Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind

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So here we are again . After many years of dedication and love to this music that we call progressive metal, here are some of the best albums that ever existed and made the earth a better place . Give to these albums the attention and the respect they deserve and you will be fully awarded. I think i will try and limit this list to 3 cd's maximum per band to make this thing more challenging .

1.Dan Swanö - Moontower

2.Cynic - Traced In Air

3.Cynic - Focus

4.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

5.Enslaved - Ruun

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I picked one album by each of my favorite bands for this list. Keep in mind that after the first few albums I put on the list, it became increasingly difficult to figure out where to place artists in my list. Also, this is kind of how my favorite bands lie now, as far as how often I listen to them - whereas some of these bands used to be much more frequently played, years ago. But this is, more or less, a list of my favorite albums by my favorite bands.

1.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

2.Seventh Wonder - The Great Escape

3.Symphony X - The Odyssey

4.Circus Maximus - Nine

5.Haken - Visions

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1.Wintersun - Time I

2.Sybreed - God Is An Automaton

3.Atoma - Skylight

4.The Omega Experiment - The Omega Experiment

5.Circus Maximus - Nine

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2011 Looks to be a very promising year for Metal fans with some of the biggest names in the business preparing to release their new records, and so I decided to compile a list of my own most anticipated albums that is set to be released in the course of this new year.

1.Opeth - Heritage

2.Circus Maximus - TBA

3.Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events

4.Symphony X - Iconoclast

5.Rush - Clockwork Angels

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Updated as the year goes on...

1.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

2.Oddland - The Treachery Of Senses

3.Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

4.Barren Earth - The Devil's Resolve

5.Enslaved - RIITIIR

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You know the drill...

1.Enslaved - RIITIIR

2.Saturnus - Saturn In Ascension

3.Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma

4.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

5.Anaal Nathrakh - Vanitas

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One of likely hundreds of these, more for self-enjoyment (or something) above anything, but if it helps someone find a good album/albums they wouldn't've otherwise heard I'll be happy.

1.Sylosis - Monolith

2.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

3.In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad

4.Abigail Williams - Becoming

5.Enslaved - RIITIIR

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My favorite progressive metal albums (derived/mixed genres included). Lot of stuff still missing here since I have a terrible memory I think everything here is at least 8,5/10.

Please, feel free to drop suggestions. I'd love to make it more or less complete one day.

I will eventually rate these albums too...

1.Dream Theater - Awake

2.Dream Theater - Images And Words

3.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

4.Dream Theater - Train Of Thought

5.Redemption - Snowfall On Judgment Day

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Here is my list for what I consider to be the top 20 best albums from the year 2012. Keep in mind that one of them is not featured on Metal Storm, and one of them is an EP.

1.Beyond The Bridge - The Old Man And The Spirit

2.Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

3.Wintersun - Time I

4.Katatonia - Dead End Kings

5.Meshuggah - Koloss

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The goats. The near perfect albums that never get old. Some are full of catchy bangers I'm always humming, and some are so full to the brim of details that I still haven't even uncovered them all.

A brief outline of my ratings:
8.5-9.0 = An excellent album with a few mild drawbacks (Weak song, slightly irritating vocals, odd flow)
9.0-9.5 = Perfect albums that haven't quite warranted the time-earnt 9.5+.
9.5-9.9 = Perfect albums that have stood the test of time, ranked by preference.
10 = I don't expect to hear another album like these, ever.

(I use 'perfect' lightly as it makes no sense for a man-made creation to be flawless. 'Perfect' is simply a term to outline how high a level of enjoyment is, specifically the level of enjoyment when minor faults become insignificant.)

(I evaluate albums outside of metal vastly differently to the ones here, which explains the lack of representation of my other favourite genres. Blue Sky Mining is an exception due to being structured very similarly to my optimal metal album. I may add some picks from other genres down the line.)


STATS:
I know y'all don't look at my lists, so these are purely for my own interest.

-Decades
'10s: 36
'20s: 22
'00s: 7
'90s: 2

-Genres (By best fit or most prominent)
Prog: 35
Death: 11
Power: 9
Symphonic: 4
Black: 3
Contemporary: 2
Folk: 1
Doom: 1
Rock: 1

1.Devin Townsend - Empath

2.Memories Of Old - The Zeramin Game

3.Wintersun - Time I

4.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

5.Persefone - Aathma

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Because I reached the word limit on the previous list, and don't want to lose my quite excellent in-depth descriptions. Those without descriptions are from my other list.

1.Sylosis - Monolith

2.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

3.In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad

4.Abigail Williams - Becoming

5.Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Area 52

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1.Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion

2.Dead Can Dance - Anastasis

3.The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet

4.Anathema - Weather Systems

5.Ihsahn - Eremita

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