Slowly but surely over twenty-one years and eleven records Anaal Nathrakh have become a very British institution, I would go as far as say a national treasure (well at least for those who like their Metal on the extreme side). They have become dependable, in a thoroughly good way. You know they will be explosive live, each and every time, and you know they will make albums that sound like nobody else.
Read MoreThis is a love-letter to old skool extreme Metal. It pays reverential homage to the Speed Metal pioneers (such as Exciter and Iron Angel) and also the initial first wave of Black Metal (Bathory, Merciful Fate, Hellhammer and of course Venom). This could have dissolved into a pointless fanboy love-in.
Read MoreThe perception is that Heavy Metal is a blunt instrument. An unrepentant wall of unsophisticated noise. “Reflections on Darkness” is one of those albums that proves beyond doubt that Metal can be subtle, refined and multi-layered.
Read MoreBy far and away the most unadulterated fun you will have with any album on this list. It has its tongue firmly lodged in its cheek and is chock full of self-deprecating northern humour.
Read MoreOk! Controversy time! This time last year, disturbing claims emerged about the sexual and emotional abuse that Lorna Shore’s fairly new vocalist CJ McCreery had perpetrated on several former partners. The band acted swiftly and removed him; however, they were left with a quandary.
Read MoreTry as they might, Enslaved find it impossible to make bad albums. Or to turn that around, Enslaved can’t help making consistently excellent albums. This particularly rich run of form stretches all the way back to 2006’s terrific “Ruun”.
Read MoreLike My Dying Bride earlier, Paradise Lost have managed to be incredibly influential without ever truly breaking into the mainstream psyche. Over thirty-two years their sound has morphed and evolved. The melancholic doom of their initial few records soon blended into the stadium goth of the incredible “Draconian Times”, which then shifted into an electro synthpop phase (loved on the continent, hated over here).
Read MoreKatatonia started life as self-confessed Paradise Lost fanboys. Over the years their sound has crystallised into the fragile, atmospheric doom that it is today. “City Burials” is their first album in four years, though sonically they haven’t moved on that far from 2016's stunning “The Fall of Hearts”.
Read MoreAs I have stated earlier, the Americans take on Black Metal tends to be very different to their European counterparts. They have kept the power and sense of foreboding, but have got rid of the satanism and most of the imagery. If you glance at photos of Wayfarer, they look like extras from a spaghetti western, as opposed to leather and stud clad Black Metal warriors. This is because this is Black Metal reimagined as an epic John Houston western.
Read MoreAre you after some glorious escapism? Do you want rich, sumptuous melodies and massive golden choruses? Do you want an album that drips cheese but does so in an elegant manner? Well then “Aeromantic” is the record for you.
Read MoreHighest charting Black Metal album on this list. However, if you are expecting something mired in complex ethereal textures then actually you would be wrong. “Absentia” is what a Black Metal album by Iron Maiden would sound like. It is a straight splice between Traditional and Black Metal and cleverly manages to keep the best bits from both.
Read MoreYes, Metal is my business and business is good. But nestled alongside Carcass, Emperor and At the Gates in the list of my five favourite bands of all time is Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. Even during their brush with fifteen minutes of fame back in the nineties (they rugby tackled Phillip Schofield at a Smash Hits poll winners party) Carter were never fashionable or hip.
Read MorePlacing Sólstafir albums in order is like watching a stop motion documentary of the evolution of their career. Each record is sonically connected to the last, but also each record sees them take stylistic leaps into the unknown. “Endless Twilight of Codependent Love” is their most insular and self-contained record.
Read MoreThis album had a tumultuous birth. Not only has it emerged in 2020, probably the worst year ever to release landmark records, but a week before the album's much anticipated release date the band inexplicably severed all ties with their long-term label Holy Roar.
Read MoreThis is a first. An indie album making it high in the hallowed top ten that is not by my beloved Suede. This is also the first time in absolutely frickin ages where I have listened to a Mercury nominee and gone “Blimey that’s good”. Actually, it’s not just good, it’s wonderful.
Read MoreI am a hard man to please. It is very rare for a record to inexplicably blow me away. I usually know when I am going to love something and when I am going to loath something. “Glow” turned my head and swept me off my feet. It is utterly incredible.
Read MoreReplacing a larger than life frontman is fraught with danger. There is the fear of constant comparison, the jeopardy of fan acceptance and the expectation of that most delicate of beasts, the first post-split record. Kvelertak have faced this head on, put their collective feet on the accelerate and gone for broke.
Read MoreThis album has soundtracked my year. This is a minimalist and stripped back take on Metal’s attitude as opposed to its sound. This is undoubtedly a Metal album, even though it sounds very little like our traditional understanding of Metal.
Read MoreThis is what a Jim Steinman produced Scott Walker album would have sounded like. “Sex, Death & the Infinite Void” is quite simply rock opera repurposed for the 21st century. Creeper have created the greatest teen lust melodrama ever made, offering a John Walters inspired narrative and the varied evocative soundtrack to go with it.
Read MoreCrippled Black Phoenix are virtuosi multi-instrumentalist Justin Greaves and an ever-revolving cast of contributors. Justin specialises in what he calls "endtime” ballads”, a poignant mix of the melodic and the macabre. Everything that Crippled Black Phoenix have done over the last sixteen years seems to lead up to this record.
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