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Onto the top 10 for 2005….
#10: Black Majesty- Silent Company
These Aussies hit the jackpot with this release. Thundering melodic power metal that rivals any similar Euro or American bands. Black Majesty are up there with Vanishing Point as the top Aussie metal acts. Every track is fast paced and catchy, with just one average track in the whole album and contains a wonderful metal version of an old Aussie folk song, “Six Ribbons”.
#09: Demons & Wizards- Touched By The Crimson King
This album also needed a few spins to get the best out of it, but after that, I can say that this is a top-notch metal album featuring the best of Iced Earth and Blind Guardian. Not as good as their debut, but still very good. I have just 2 problems with this album: 1- I felt that there were too many ballad-esk type tracks, slower tracks. I don’t have a problem with the actual songs, the songs are very good, such as “Beneath These Waves”, “Seize The Day” & “Down Where I Am”. And 2- Not enough songs! We had to wait 5-6 years for their second release and when it finally comes out we have just 9 songs plus a cover (I don’t have the limited edition with the bonus tracks, so I cant comment on them). Hopefully their third release will contain more than 10 tracks.
#08: Freedom Call- The Circle Of Life
Happy metal, whatever you wanna call them, but Freedom Call are a great band. The Circle Of Life gets the number 8 spot for me as I think this album is very good. I like their sound and don’t care for their “happy” label. I feel this album to be more consistent than their previous album (Eternity) and contains some killer tracks such as “Mother Earth”, “Starlight”, “High Enough” and the title track. With Freedom Call you either love ‘em or hate ‘em, and I love ‘em.
#07: Nocturnal Rites- Grand Illusion
As a fan of the newer style of Nocturnal Rites (Afterlife, onwards), when Grand Illusion was released I was very interested. Being in the minority by saying New World Messiah is a good album, this one eclipses it by far. A very solid album with no filler tracks to speak of. I think the first two tracks are the best of the album, while the others are also very good. Grand Illusion is Nocturnal Rites best album so far.
#06: Novembers Doom- The Pale Haunt Departure
For me, this is how I like MY doom metal to sound, and Novembers Doom have done it perfectly with this release. Not too slow where songs take 10+ minutes, but with a nice mix of slow to mid paced tracks, with a couple of mid to fast paced tracks. I liked the styles of vocals, mixing the rough but clear traditional doom style with the softer style. All the tracks are great, especially “Dark World Burden”, “The Dead Leaf Echo” and the title track. The #1 Doom Metal release for 2005 IMO.
#05: Sentenced- The Funeral Album
As a huge fan of Sentenced I was hoping that their last ever album would be something to remember…and it is. I find it hard to say whether this album is their best in the period from Down onwards as all those albums from Down onwards are all equally as good. With a very slight change away from their typical death, suicide and depressive lyrics, Sentenced still manage to create fantastic catchy songs that either pick you up or bring you down depending on what mood you are in at the time. Don’t get me wrong, the death and depressive lyrics still remain, but just not as frequent as in past albums, or just not as totally obvious. Killer tracks such as “May Today Become The Day”, “Ever-Frost”, “We Are But Falling Leaves”, “Despair-Ridden Hearts” and “Lower The Flags” among other good songs put their last album among their other great releases and my number 5 spot for 2005. Farewell Sentenced, may you rest in peace.
#04: Cryonic Temple- In Thy Power
I have heard mixed reactions from this album by a few people, but for me, I really love this type of power metal. The Manowar influenced lyrics about fighting with honour and raise your fist to the sky, etc, etc, but with a fun side to it as well. Nothing too serious. Another band in this genre would be Majesty, who I also like. In Thy Power is the continuation from their previous two albums and I consider it to be as good, if not better than Blood, Guts & Glory.
One thing that attracts me to this band is their sound. I love this type of warrior power metal, thundering double bass with galloping riffs and great vocals, which really fits the style. The other thing that I love about Cryonic Temple is their ripping solos. If you are a fan of long and cheesy solos, ala Dragonforce, then you will love Cryonic Temple, as their solos are absolutely brilliant. The best 3 tracks for me would be the title track, “Mr. Gold”, and “Shark Attack”.
#03: Darkseed- Ultimate Darkness
Darkseed’s latest album gets my nod for the number 3 spot with their awesomely great Ultimate Darkness. Darkseed are a dark metal/gothic metal band with elements of doom sprinkled around here and there. They do seem to change their style from album to album and did again with this one. The main change is ending the slower type tracks and have an all-out blitz of speedy tracks with harsh but clear vocals for pretty much the entire album. This is the way Darkseed should sound from now on as it suits them perfectly. The album is filled with killer tracks, such as “Disbeliever”, “Biting Cold”, “The Dark One”, “Save Me”, and “Sleep Sleep Sweetheart”. To compare Darkseed to other bands, I’d have to say they are a cross between Crematory and Rammstein, but without their flair. Fantastic album.
#02: Primal Fear- Seven Seals
As a huge fan of Primal Fear, I knew that Seven Seals would always be in my top 10, but it did take a few spins to fully appreciate their latest album. I noticed a few differences with this album, compared to say Black Sun and Nuclear Fire. They seem more matured from those albums and have added more creativity to their songs. For me, I could only find 2 really killer songs, being “All For One” and “The Immortal Ones” (and “Higher Power” if you have the digi pack). But the thing that makes up for that is the album is so consistent. The rest of the tracks are great, no fillers in between good tracks, they all have that same level of consistency. This may not be their best effort but still good enough to make my number 2 spot of 2005
And my number one metal album for 2005 is…
#01: Hammerfall- Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken
Some people have disliked the direction Hammerfall have taken since their first two albums, which is understandable and their opinion, but I think Hammerfall have gotten better since those two albums, except for Renegade, which was a step backwards from their first two. Their 5th release, IMO, is their best album to date, even with the final track “Knights Of the 21st Century” on it. The track really isn’t as bad as people say, different yes but once you hear it a few times, it does grow on you. Besides that, every track is everything I love about the cheesy type of power metal. Awesome tracks such as “Blood Bound”, “Born To Rule”, “Hammer Of Justice”, “Take The Black”, even the ballad is great. All the songs are catchy and has great riffs, all the stuff that I really love. Disagree if you must, but Hammerfall is MY number one metal album of 2005.
Now, I can hear you all now saying “where the hell is Kamelot and Helloween?” Well, the next part of my post is about the Honourable Mentions.
The following albums are among the ranks of honourable mentions. Albums which just missed out of the top 25, but still good enough to be given their dues:
Kamelot- The Black Halo, Candlemass- Candlemass, H.I.M- Dark Light, Helloween- Keeper Of The Seven Keys- The Legacy, Xandria- India, and Masterplan- Aeronautics.
And finally, my disappointments for 2005:
Firewind- Forged By Fire, Grave Digger- The Last Supper, After Forever- Remagine, Battlelore- Third Age Of The Sun, To/Die/For- IV, Beseech- Sunless Days, and Morgana Lefay- Grand Materia.
The main problem with Firewind is that they haven’t had a stable lineup since their second album and it showed with Forged By Fire.
The Last Supper had too many average tracks, as did Remagine.
Battlelore’s problem was the change of male vocals, it just didn’t sound as good as the vocalist from Sword’s Song. They delved deeper into the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien, and by the end of it I think I needed a Tolkien dictionary to know just what the hell they were singing about.
To/Die/For took a big step backwards from their previous album. I know English is the second language for these guys, but seriously their lack of the English language in this album got worse instead of better. Beseech went totally downhill with Sunless Days, while Drama was also average.
And my worst for 2005, Morgana Lefay, just didn’t sound good at all. Too creative, trying to sound like prog power metal with thrash elements, etc. I couldn’t get past the vocals, at times they sounded terrible and ruined a few songs. To me, Morgana Lefay sound like a bad version of Nevermore with even worse vocals. But that’s just my opinion.
That’s my list for 2005.
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