Metal Awards

Kyle's Top 15 albums of 2010

  1. Atlantean Kodex - The Golden Bough
    Heavy Metal, Epic Metal, Doom Metal; whatever you want to call it, Atlantean Kodex's debut The Golden Bough is synonymous with perfection. Buy or die, folks.
  2. Overkill - Ironbound
    Thrash metal the way it SHOULD be done! Ironbound is not only one of the best thrash albums in recent years, but also one of Overkill's best albums, ever.
  3. Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini
    More black metal than Pink Floyd for this outing, Enslaved continues to tastefully evolve and makes another unique and amazing record.
  4. Equilibrium - Rekreatur
    Not quite as exhilarating as 2008's Sagas, but Rekreatur still turns out to be the best folk metal album of the year.
  5. Watain - Lawless Darkness
    The best pure black metal album of the year, bar none. No other album in 2010 has done a more masterful job of capturing the essence of the genre.
  6. Heljareyga - Heljareyga
    Masterful progressive folk / power metal brought to us by Tyr's frontman. Definitely the biggest surprise of 2010!
  7. Wuthering Heights - Salt
    Fails to meet the masterful standard set by Wuthering Height's previous album, The Shadow Cabinet... but just by a hair.
  8. Angra - Aqua
    Angra returns after four years sounding like they never went away. Beautiful, melodic, and exciting.
  9. Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones
    Admittedly, I didn't listen to Esparistera Daimones as much as I wanted, but I listened to it enough to easily justify a place for it here. A rare and unnerving gem, this one is.
  10. Atheist - Jupiter
    Simply put, this is one of the most fascinating reunion albums ever made. Atheist hasn't lost an ounce of talent.
  11. Alcest - Écailles De Lune
    A masterpiece blending of black metal and shoegaze. Easily the most ethereal sounding record of the year.
  12. Dark Fortress - Ylem
    Dark Fortress has never been a very remarkable band, but Ylem changes that. It's diverse, well-written, and isn't afraid to explore territories rarely traversed in black metal.
  13. Fleshgod Apocalypse - Mafia
    Is it an EP? Yes. Does it fucking rock? Most definitely yes. I'll take more Fleshgod any day, in any form.
  14. Winterfylleth - The Mercian Sphere
    Fantastic sophomore album, and a HUGE improvement on Winterfylleth's pretty good debut. Folky black metal at its best.
  15. Impaled Nazarene - Road to the Octagon
    One of IE's best albums to date, Road to the Octagon is a perfect summary of the best parts of the band's sound.
Kyle's Top 5 surprises of 2010

  1. Sinbreed - When Worlds Collide
    Really cool old school speed / power metal!
  2. Pathfinder - Beyond The Space, Beyond The Time
    These guys could very well end up being the next big thing in power metal. If a mix of Dragonforce and Rhapsody sounds appealing to you, you'll likely really enjoy Pathfinder.
  3. White Wizzard - Over the Top
    Very well-done traditional / melodic heavy metal.
  4. Wrath And Rapture - Wrath And Rapture
    Melodeath + Prog + Power + Metalcore = Wrath and Rapture. I assure you, this EP is not nearly as bad as it sounds on paper.
  5. The Wounded Kings - The Shadow Over Atlantis
    DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM Metal in the vein of Reverand Bizarre.
Kyle's Disappointment(s) of 2010

  1. Avantasia - The Wicked Symphony
    I really liked The Scarecrow, but this simply doesn't approach the quality I expect from an Avantasia album.
  2. Avantasia - Angel of Babylon
    See above.
  3. Volbeat - Beyond Hell / Above Heaven
    The formula's growing stale guys... time to shake things up a bit on your next album.
  4. Gamma Ray - To The Metal!
    Half-fantastic, half-filler.
  5. Dream Evil - In The Night
    Yeah, I just wasn't feeling this one. A major step down from United.
Kyle's Joke(s) 2010

  1. Jaldaboath - Rise of the Heraldic Beasts
    "Kill! Burn! Waste the wenches! Hark the herald! The King wants blood!" Yeah, and I want blood too after hearing this ear-destroying piece of shit.
  2. Hellyeah released a new album this year, right? Well, if I had listened to it, it would've gone in this space.
  3. Mike Portnoy - All Black Clouds, No Silver Linings (also known as De-Railed Train of Thought)
    Seriously Mike, what's your fucking deal?