20. Running Wild - Resilient
"Basically, if you liked Shadowmaker or any of their more recent mid-paced album this isn't bad. It sounds like Running Wild and it has that fun, epic pirate quality about it."
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19. ReVamp - Wild Card
"Listening to this one, the basic formula remains intact. This is female fronted gothic material mixed with a nice dark/aggressive edge and backed by some symphonic elements." |
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18. U.D.O. - Steel Hammer
"For a straight ahead, no nonsense album, I definitely like this overall. It does a pretty good job of getting you pumped and both the vocals and music have a nice heavy edge." |
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17. Amorphis - Circle
"What Circle brings to the table is a somewhat familiar formula at this point of melodic, gothic music and deep vocals mixed with earlier death metal vocals and influences."
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16. Tarja - Colours In The Dark
"I can say as a fan of Tarja, that this album is worth it for fans and still a well above average release. Really, this brings some good new songs for the live stage and a lot of above average/good songs to back it." |
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15. Stratovarius - Nemesis
"I guess the best word for Nemesis is uneven. This is about on par with the past couple Stratovarius albums, but with better highlights and more lackluster deep tracks. I'd say this album is worth it for Stratovarius fans and general power metal fans may find it worth it for the strong highlights." |
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14. Huntress - Starbound Beast
"Basically, this shows the growth and more consistent energy that I was hoping for out of the band. It's an improvement and this is the kind of sophmore album you want to see. Starbound Beast shows me that Huntress has room to grow and they have the ability to do so." |
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13. Queensryche - Queensryche
"I'm not sure the band could have picked a better replacement for Tate than Todd La Torre. The guy sounds like a young Tate vocally, but one who loves Queensryche's metal music and has the passion to make it. This is just a complete rebirth and the band sounds young and hungry." |
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12. Timo Tolkki's Avalon - The Land Of New Hope
"This just sounds like a good ensemble of musicians that complement each other well and it makes me want to sing along. All in all, I think this kind of metal opera project suits Tolkki and is a very worthy comeback by him." |
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11. Lingua Mortis Orchestra - LMO
"All in all, this is a very good album for Rage fans. It's still pretty much Rage, but there are by far worse things to be. This is a strong classically inspired album from the band." |
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Top 10 Metal Albums of 2013
10. Memory Garden - Doomain
"Overall, this has some damn fine songs on it and everything holds up pretty well. The highlights are amazing and even the lesser tracks are good stuff. I'd recommend this to fans of bands like Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus or anyone who likes their doom metal with epic, melodic wails and some more upbeat moments." |
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9. Ashes Of Ares - Ashes Of Ares
"It's not often I write about every track on an album, but barring maybe the single, everything is worth writing about. This is damn fine straight up heavy metal that recalls a very traditional style mixed with the power that power metal should have. Barlow's range is in full force here and it's a pretty perfect album for a superior frontman to be at the helm of." |
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8. Motorhead - Aftershock
"Aftershock is just the kind of album that hits the bands strengths and runs with it. There's nothing fancy here, everything's just extremely headbangable. The energy and hooks on Aftershock are just damn great. It's loaded with blues rock hooks, the songs are mostly short and to the point, and everything just rocks. " |
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7. Hell - Curse And Chapter
"If you like dark, heavy straight up metal than there is absolutely no reason I can see to like this. The vocals have personality and attitude, the music is involving and energetic, and the album just never relents. If you like NWOBHM music, Mercyful Fate, Venom, Coven, etc this is a must hear." |
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6. Avatarium - Avatarium
"Often the music will alternate between punishing doom riffs and lighter fare, which all paints a very somber picture. This is interesting stuff that carries a really bleak feel to it. Vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith is also the perfect choice for this as she's capable of wailing out some powerful projections above the heavier riffs and also brings it back nicely for the mellower passages." |
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5. Gloryhammer - Tales From The Kingdom Of Fife
"The band just has total fun with all the things that are in fact really fun about this kind of power metal. This sounds epic and glorious as hell and the songs stick with you. It's hard not to like something with this much energy and catchiness. Gloryhammer basically just indulges in fully nerding out on D&D metal and it completely works."
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4. Trouble - The Distortion Field
"The Distortion Field is simply more than I could have hoped for. Trouble really bring their A game here and this is the classic Trouble I remember. I have to give it to the entire band, but once again I have to give a special mention to Kyle Thomas for staying true to the Trouble sound, but at the same time bringing his own touch." |
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3. Poisonblack - Lyijy
"This one hit me hard from the start and never really let go. The sound here is nothing particularly new for Poisonblack, but the material is extremely good with songs that are just loaded with hooks, an energetic pace, and lots of headbangable riffs. Every song from fist pumping opener Home Is Where The Sty Is to the beyond great ballad Maybe Life Is Not For Everyone is noteworthy." |
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2. Avantasia - The Mystery Of Time
"This album seems to have found a good delivery method for Tobias and I like that this feels happy and majestic. It actually takes me back to what I liked about early Edguy though this is not exactly the same sound. What The Mystery Of Time is is some very engaging music that keeps my attention with good melodies." |
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1. Helloween - Straight Out Of Hell
"What's not to like here? Not a damn thing. This could seriously be a guide on how to do power metal of some kind. Nice energy and melodies can be found throughout Straight Out of Hell and the songwriting is top notch. Throughout this album Helloween seems to find just the right balance between heaviness, catchiness, and the 'happy' moments that have kind of defined the band's career." |
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A good selection. was a great year for music
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