JORDAN ITKOWITZ

An avalanche of new metal bands and releases to sift through every week, in every conceivable genre, meant a steady stream of pleasant finds and a few true gems throughout the year. However, the real surprises came from long-established bands like Symphony X, Amorphis, Nile, Melechesh, Moonspell, A Forest of Stars, Cradle of Filth, Sirenia, and others releasing their best work in years. Here’s what I enjoyed the most in 2015.

Top 20:

1. Symphony X – Underworld (Nuclear Blast). When one of your favorite bands puts out their best album in 15 years, you tend to play it a lot. Underworld shot to the top of my list this summer, and it hasn’t budged since. Doesn’t matter that it’s my sole power-prog pick, or that it’s more conventional than much of the genre-blending mutations on my list – this was just pure metal joy for me this year. And “Legend” might just be the best and most triumphant song they’ve ever written.

2. Enslaved – In Times (Nuclear Blast). No one else sounds like Enslaved. They’re a cosmic Viking progressive black metal genre of one. As always, they’re daring and unpredictable – raw and psychotic one moment, crooning and dreamy the next – but equally in command of both modes and everything else in between. In Times is the sound of a band that’s mastered its craft – but still pushes forward, restlessly searching for their next challenge.

3. Tempel – The Moon Lit Our Path (Prosthetic Records). I’m rarely one for instrumental albums, but this Arizona duo absolutely blew me away once again with their effortless blend of black, death, prog, sludge, and post-metal and their epic, cinematic compositions. Anyone still mourning the death of traditional Opeth would do well to worship at this Tempel.

4. Soilwork – The Ride Majestic (Nuclear Blast). Soilwork roared back with another astounding collection of songs, while still managing to push their aggression and style even further. It may not always reach the heights of 2013’s The Living Infinite – now cemented in place as one of my favorite metal albums of all time – but The Ride Majestic still contains some of my most-played tracks of the year, and it’s another tremendous release from a now-unstoppable band.

5. Melechesh – Enki (Nuclear Blast). Nile had a strong return to form this year with What Should Not Be Unearthed, but Enki swept in from the desert like a sandstorm and obliterated it. It’s relentless and devastating one moment, groovy and serpentine the next, and monstrous and melodic throughout.

6. Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction (Metal Blade). After Monolith of Inhumanity defied all of my expectations for this band, their new one both satisfied and butchered them. While the Anaal Nathrakh-style cleans continue to elevate this beyond pure brutality, it’s the inclusion of slam-death depravity (oh man, “Clandestine Ways”) that brought me the biggest grins.

7. Dekadent – Veritas (Self-Released). It’s not enough that Slovenia’s Dekadent sets themselves apart from other black or death metal bands by embracing gorgeous and transcendent melody along with dark and destructive energy. With Veritas, they’ve become heavier and stranger than ever before, and more creatively successful as well. There are few artists out there this assured, ambitious, or invigorating.

8. Amorphis – Under the Red Cloud (Nuclear Blast). Instant classic for the band, which is truly impressive given their 25-year history. The return of consistent death vocals is a much better showcase for the band’s versatility than on the previous two albums, but without losing any of the soaring and stirring Finnish folk melodies that make Amorphis so reliable and enjoyable.

9. A Forest of Stars – Beware the Sword You Cannot See (Lupus Lounge). I haven’t listened to them since I reviewed their debut back in 2009, but their new one has proven to be my most hypnotic repeat-listen of the year. The band’s sound is still as eccentric and loopy as I remember – scrambling black metal mixed with goth violins, funereal organs, and doom-soaked grandeur, plus those peculiar, arty-farty spoken word segments. That’s all cohered here into a stunning and dreamlike odyssey on par with my other favorite ‘grower’ albums (Frantic Bleep’s The Sense Apparatus, Manes’ Vilosophe), ensuring that I’ll be playing this often for years to come.

10. Gorod – A Maze of Recycled Creeds (Listenable Records). Still just as playful, delirious, and joyous as ever, and while Gorod’s songs are always more cogent and compelling than most of their genre peers, Maze is also more consistent and controlled than previous release A Perfect Absolution. So once again, Gorod keeps its title as the best tech-death band on the planet.

11. Moonspell – Extinct (Napalm Records). I’ve always been aware of this band, but have never fallen under their spell before. This excellent collection of goth-metal anthems and exotic, slinky ballads was so sumptuous and seductive that I couldn’t resist.

12. Murg – Varg & Bjorn (Nordvis Produktion). If this had been released in 1994, it’d now be a black metal classic. Raw, powerful, pure, and authentic.

13. Scythian – Hubris in Excelsis (Hells Headbangers Records). Ferocious Middle Eastern-tinged black/thrash with superb songwriting, grand scope and atmosphere, and more razor-sharp riffs than the scimitars of a marauding desert army.

14. Crom Dubh – Heimweh (Van Records). And speaking of Scythian, guitarist S. Vrath also plays in this fantastic atmospheric black metal project, with somber pacing and majestic Celtic melodies that conjure images of craggy Scottish highlands.

15. Fluisteraars – Lutwe (Eisenwald Tonschmiede). Fluisteraars means ‘Whisperers’ in Dutch, and that’s an aptly poetic name for this black metal duo, who channel a ghostly, wistful and hypnotic gloom even as they make a hell of a racket.

16. Harlott – Proliferation (Metal Blade). If the Coma Doof Warrior in Fury Road had been playing this thrash album from his Australian countrymates, Immortan Joe would have caught Furiosa and Max in 10 minutes. Movie over. Lead singer sounds like the perfect of Tom Araya and Chuck Billy, and yes, this destroys Repentless.

17. Chapel of Disease – The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art (F.D.A Rekotz). Starts by robbing the graves of Slayer and Possessed, then moves back through the cemetery to pry open the tomb of Black Sabbath. Bluesy, psychedelic jams fill the night. Great find.

18. Obsequiae – Aria of Vernal Tombs (20 Buck Spin). Pristine and scholarly medieval black metal from Minnesota. More relaxing than relentless, but Aria would still scare the Devil out of any audience from the time period that’s inspired it.

19. Sirenia – The Seventh Life Path (Napalm Records). The beast comes back to the beauty with the band’s seventh record, and their return to Napalm Records. Their best and most aggressive release since At Sixes and Sevens, and a worthy successor to Beyond the Veil. Morten’s still got it.

20. Myrkur – M (Relapse Records). When girl meets wolf, the forest echoes with their music – haunting, lovely, soulful, terrifying. Garm pairs up with Denmark’s mysterious black metal mistress, and the results are far more satisfying than the controversial debut.

21- 40 (in alphabetical order):

Ahamkara – The Embers of the Stars (Bindrune Recordings).

Amiensus – Ascension (Self-Released).

Cradle of Filth – Hammer of the Witches (Nuclear Blast).

Deafheaven – New Bermuda (Anti Records).

Elder – Lore (MeteorCity Records).

Enshine – Singularity (Rain Without End Records).

Evoke Thy Lords – Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar! (Solitude Productions).

Grift – Syner (Nordvis Produktion).

Guardians of Time – Rage and Fire (WormHoleDeath Publishing).

Kronos – Arisen New Era (Unique Leader).

Lamb of God – VII: Sturm Und Drang (Nuclear Blast).

Martriden – The Cold and the Silence (Self-Released).

Mgla – Exercises in Futility (No Solace).

Nile – What Should Not Be Unearthed (Nuclear Blast).

Orden Ogan – Ravenhead (AFM Records).

Ruby the Hatchet – Valley of the Snake (Teepee Records).

Thurisaz – The Pulse of Mourning (Sleazy Rider Records).

Valborg – Romantik (Zeitgeister Music).

Vallendusk – Homeward Path (Northern Silence Productions).

VHOL – Deeper Than Sky (Profound Lore Records).

Top EPs

1. Vampire – Cimmerian Shade (Century Media). Both Tribulation and Ghost were underwhelming this year, but this nifty retro-inspired EP made up for that, with its raw thrashy grooves and Goblin-esque elegies. Can’t wait for the next LP.

2. Exgenesis – Aphotic Veil (Rain Without End Records). The demise of Slumber was one of the great tragedies of the melodic doom/death genre, but a decade later, we now have two excellent projects from Jari Lindholm. Where Enshine is filled with starshine and sadness, Exgenesis offers only crushing, empty blackness.

3. Grimoire – L’aorasie des specters reveurs (Eisenwald Tonschmiede). Alcest may have shed its original skin, but it’s good to hear that other French blackgaze metallers (even those across the ocean in Canada) are still exploring the style. More aggressive than the debut, but still just as lovely.

Best of the Worldwide Weird

1. Thy Catafalque – Sgurr (Season of Mist). I don’t know quite how to describe this, but it’s awesome. Negura Bunget + Voivod + Pink Floyd? One-man act out of Hungary (also responsible for Gire – track it down!) mashes up avant-garde black metal, breakbeat, proggy synths, thrash, industrial, and traditional Hungarian folk music to create a peculiar and hypnotic stew (strongly… resisting… urge to say ‘goulash’).

2. Remmirath – Shambala Vril Saucers (Ravenheart Productions). Frantic black metal, gargled vocals, noodly 70s prog, strutting Zappa-esque funk, Tiger Electronics sound effects, Vangelis synths, wah-wah pedals – and that’s just the first song. This should not work at all, but it does – and it’s a damn good listen too. From Slovakia.

3. Violet Cold – Desperate Dreams (Self-Released). Deafheaven + cheery chip tune & synth-pop melodies + breakbeat rhythms. And it’s from Azerbaijan, proving once again that the metal world is bigger and more diverse than you might imagine. I wouldn’t be surprised if this spawns another sub-genre of post-black metal (if it hasn’t already).

Most Disappointing

1. Missing Out on Wacken. For years, I’d hoped to spend my 40^th birthday at Wacken Open Air, one of Europe’s biggest metal festivals. That seemed like an unlikely dream when I was living in the US, but life is funny sometimes, and in the past year, I moved to Europe – and within 3 hours’ drive of the festival. And of course, that was one of the few weekends this summer when I couldn’t get away. So I missed out on favorites like Opeth, Dream Theater, Bloodbath, Judas Priest, Cradle of Filth, At the Gates, Anaal Nathrakh, Amorphis, and countless others. Metal fail. (Spent my actual 40th in Budapest with my wife and kids though, and had a great time!)

2. Faith No More – Sol Invictus (Slash Records). Oh man, I had such high hopes for this – it has the eclectic, off-kilter weirdness of Angel Dust and King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime, but without the listenable charm that made those albums such classics. Nothing here stuck with me.

3. Tribulation – The Children of the Night (Century Media). I miss the dangerous psychedelic swagger, the unpredictable songwriting, and the raw aggression that made The Formulas of Death one of my favorites of 2013. This is fine but I don’t see what the fuss is about. Love the cover art though.

4. Iron Maiden – The Book of Souls (Parlophone). Okay, I admit to buying into the hype for a few days. Once the initial rush faded away, I realized that I was only excited about a few passages, and those were buried in another bloated and largely boring album – and a double one at that.

5. Ghost – Meliora (Loma Vista Recordings). There’s some wonderful stuff on here – “Cirice,” “Absolution,” and the perversely sublime “He Is” – but the rest is not only less ambitious and imaginative than much of Infestissumam, some of it is downright embarrassing (“Mummy Dust,” “From the Pinnacle to the Pit”). Reset to “Year Zero,” please.

Coolest Cover Art (in no order)

Enslaved – In Times (Nuclear Blast).

Tempel – The Moon Lit Our Path (Prosthetic Records).

Drowning the Light – From the Abyss (Dark Adversary Productions).

A Forest of Stars – Beware the Sword You Cannot See (Lupus Lounge).

Graveyard – Innocence and Decadence (Nuclear Blast).

Ufomammut – Ecate (Neurot Recordings).

Cruciamentum – Charnel Passages (Profound Lore).

Sulphur Aeon – Gateway to the Antisphere (Imperium Productions).

Amorphis – Under the Red Cloud (Nuclear Blast).

Grave – Out of Respect for the Dead (Century Media).

Tribulation – The Children of the Night (Century Media).

Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction (Metal Blade).

Ruby the Hatchet – Valley of the Snake (Teepee Records).

Horisont – Odyssey (Nuclear Blast).

Rivers of Nihil – Monarchy (Metal Blade).

Best Mash-Up

DJ Schmolli – Rock of Ages. This guy is a genius. Have fun naming every riff and sample. It even makes Kid Rock tolerable! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-8Rd9QBlJI

Anticipating in 2016

Looking forward to new releases by Ihsahn, Dream Theater, Obscura, Dimmu Borgir, Babymetal, NIN, Borknagar, Omnium Gatherum, Katatonia, Witchcraft, Circus Maximus, Black Crown Initiate, Xanthochroid and catching up on everyone else’s 2015 lists!