The Best Metal Albums Of 2013

Well, here we are. I'm sure you know the drill come the end of any given year. It's time to look at 2013 in review. The following list is the best 20 metal albums I reviewed in 2013. I decided to make it 20 this year because that is more or less the number of albums I felt were really worthy of a mention here. Basically, 20 through 11 are honorable mentions. Very good albums, but perhaps with a little something holding them back from being quite the best or ones that were just edged out. 10 to 1 of course are the really great stuff 2013 had to offer. This wasn't my most prolific year in terms of album reviews, but I also told myself I'd be more laid back in this blog format and not spend all my time doing it. This is just a hobby after all. If you want more, you can feel free to pay me of course. At any rate... On to the countdown of the top 20 metal albums of 2013.


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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Avantasia - The Mystery Of Time

Symphonic Power Metal
Nuclear Blast

2013

1. Spectres
2. The Watchmaker's Dream
3. Black Orchid
4. Where Clock Hands Freeze
5. Sleepwalking
6. Savior in The Clockwork
7. Invoke The Machine
8. What's Left Of Me
9. Dweller In A Dream
10. The Great Mystery

I'll be honest, I have no idea what to make of Avantasia or Tobias Sammet at this point. Certainly, I've enjoyed Tobias in the past as the frontman of both Avantasia and Edguy, but the recent output of both bands has been anything but consistent. Avantasia's The Scarecrow turned the band away from symphonic power and had some downright shitty pop songs on it. Then you have Edguy who has been putting out mediocre albums ever since Rocket Ride in this reviewer's opinion. It's true that as recent as The Wicked Symphony and Angel Of Babylon that Avantasia has been very good, but I'm just not ready to forget that a large part of Tobias' recent output has been mediocre to bad. Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me like 5 times (Rocket Ride, Tinnitus Sanctus, Age Of The Joker, The Scarecrow) and well... shame on me. I've gotta go in with some skepticism here.

Listening to The Mystery Of Time it is better than I could bring myself to hope it could be. This is more symphonic album for sure and the orchestral instrumentation lets itself be known immediatly, not content to just be a background element. I find it to be a really nice touch and I like that the album is willing to revisit the roots of the project a bit. This isn't as straight up speedy symphonic power as the first couple releases, but it is powerful in a more melodic and subtle way. Basically, this album tends to sound more dramatic than bombastic. Not a bad approach at all, and I find the sound here totally enjoyable. Really, this seems like a good approach to both make something that sounds fresh and to deliver some storytelling through music. I wouldn't go into this expecting something totally heavy, but if you like that sort of broadway theatrical feel than this has a very cool sound and there is enough heaviness to satisfy me. Basically, this manages to have a lot of feeling and some softer moments without sounding as poppy as some of the tracks on The Scarecrow. All around the approach is just way better.

It's true the lead single Sleepwalking is kind of poppy and Tobias has said as much himself, but I'd consider it more of a ballad and not really that much poppier than some other power ballads. I question the wisdom in making it the lead single, but it's not a bad song. Some ballad moments are acceptable to me in the right context and if they have some power to them. That one does and so do the other ballad moments like in What's Left Of Me.

All in all, on The Mystery Of Time Tobias seems to really be onto something in terms of the sound/style. 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.

Also worth noting is that the vocal performances are better than I necessarily expected them to be. I don't think The Mystery Of Time has quite the vocal power of amazing talents like David Defeis and Sharon Den Adel for instance, but Kiske and Joe Lynn Turner do a pretty admirable job here and they suit the music this album delivers. I also totally dig the inclusion of Biff Byford on anything. He's an unusual choice and maybe not the most dynamic singer the band has ever seen, but he does bring a lot of personality and presence to the songs hes a part of. Ronnie Atkins' contribution on Invoke The Machine is also nice as his slightly rougher voice adds an element of heaviness to that track.

In conclusion, there is a lot to like about this memorable and powerful album. Easily digested, but not easily forgotten. I'd certainly recommend this to Avantasia fans and really any power metal fan. The Mystery Of Time is a unique and well put together album that I think will have a good deal of staying power. There are a lot of great songs here and picking highlights was extremely difficult. I just like the album more every time I listen to it. Credit where credit is due... Tobias can really make some great music when he has a vision and that's what this is. An epic one. This is a very good year for happy power metal already.

Highlights: Black Orchid, Invoke The Machine, The Watchmaker's Dream, Savior In The Clockwork, Dweller In A Dream

Rating - 4.5/5

Avantasia - The Wicked Symphony

Power Metal
Nuclear Blast

2010

1. The Wicked Symphony
2. Wastelands
3. Scales Of Justice
4. Dying For An Angel
5. Blizzard On A Broken Mirror
6. Runaway Train
7. Crestfallen
8. Forever Is A Long Time
9. Black Wings
10. States Of Matter
11. The Edge

Going into this one I've gotta say my expectations were pretty low. The last Avantasia album was far from there best effort and featured a couple songs which stimulated the ol gag reflex. That being said, I liked the other couple they've done so I figured I'd give this a shot.

Not in a million years did I expect an album this good. Not at all. With the way Tobias Sammet has been headed musically with Edguy and Avantasia and some of the poppy shite that was creeping in I really didn't expect another great album from Sammet. Really I had just about given up hope, but apparently hope is not lost for this guy. This album is simply put, awesome. Great catchy power metal with a lot of epic punch to the music. Unlike the last album this never really gos into light and poppy. Sure the production is still slick with the songs being easily digestable, catchy, and seemingly aimed at making singles, but this is damn solid. I mean the catchy riffing of Dying For An Angel and the big chorus are surely made for single play, but this is the kind of polished style I like. Damn is this song addictive and I'm not even really a Scorpions/Klaus Meine fan. Then you have a track like Scales Of Justice with Tim Owens wailing to some fine heavy power metal. Tim Owens and Tobias Sammet actually strike a pretty damn good balance between their respective vocal abilities. Owens brings the heaviness and Tobias Sammet brings some nice melody to the mix. All the vocal talent here is top notch in fact and features names such as Russell Allen, Jorn Lande, Michael Kiske, Andre Matos, and more. Every vocalist seems to bring a really nice feel to the music too as if the songs Really were made for them.

Musically this is not as symphonic as the band started but there still is a really larger than life feel here I think. Maybe more of a power metal opera than a symphonic metal opera so to speak. There are still some symphonic touches, but more subtle ones. Nothing wrong with this approach and this album reminds me why I have loved Tobias Sammet in the past. Talk about a bounce back for me from the last album. Totally recommended to any fans of power metal. Between the vocal talent and the extremely good songwriting you can't go wrong with this one.

Highlights: Dying For An Angel, Scales Of Justice, Blizzard On A Broken Mirror, The Wicked Symphony

Rating - 4.5/5

Avantasia - Angel Of Babylon

Power Metal
Nuclear Blast

2010

1. Stargazers
2. Angel Of Babylon
3. Your Love Is Evil
4. Death Is Just A Feeling
5. Rat Race
6. Down In The Dark
7. Blowing Out The Flame
8. Symphony Of Life
9. Alone I Remember
10. Promised Land
11. Journey To Arcadia

Didn't I just write an Avantasia review? Yes, yes I did. For some reason rather than going with a sort of double album these are being released separately so a separate review it is.

Well maybe a separation really is in order. To put it bluntly, I don't think this one is quite as good songwise as The Wicked Symphony and the rating is a bit of a drop. Not that this is a terrible album or anything, but the songs don't hit me as hard and there's a bit of a rough patch on this one.

Really this one should have ended with track 8. The last few really drop the ball. Journey To Arcadia is very overblown and poppy/happy sounding. You know what it reminds me of? That super over the top worship music/christian rock stuff. That's the sound. Also worth noting in particular, and not in a good way, is Alone I Remember. Me and my wife were actually discussing this track trying to figure out who it reminded us both of when it dawned on us. The chorus sounds like it should be in an ABBA song. Promised Land is also pretty mediocre and vaguely commercial sounding. Actually, I don't like the ballad Blowing Out The Flame all that much either.

Alright four tracks down so this one has to be labeled as a bit inconsistent. The positive though is that the rest of the songs are pretty solid with some decent variation. Stargazers has a great drive and energy to it with some cool guitar in that traditional power sense where as Symphony Of Life is a more symphonic number powered by a female singer. I'd never heard of Cloudy Yang before this album, but I like her sound here. Death Is Just A Feeling is also an interesting number featuring Jon Oliva and has kind of a creepy, dark atmosphere about it.

Overall, this one is good but not quite great and the weaker of the two sister releases. Still worth picking up for fans of the band, etc but if you're going to get just one, I'd say try The Wicked Symphony before you visit this album.

Highlights: Stargazers, Symphony Of Life, Your Love Is Evil

Rating - 3.5/5

Avantasia - The Scarecrow

Power Metal
Nuclear Blast

2008

1. Twisted Mind
2. The Scarecrow
3. Shelter From The Rain
4. Carry Me Over
5. What Kind Of Love
6. Another Angel Down
7. The Toy Master
8. Devil In The Belfry
9. Cry Just A Little
10. I Don't Believe In Your Love
11. Lost In Space

Now here's an album I was waiting for the way someone waits the night before their own hanging. Between the singles for this album sounding like pop and what Tobias has done to gay up Edguy of late I can't say I was expecting much out of this new Avantasia. Hell, even the logo and the focus on fantasy storytelling changed which were pretty well the premise of the band.

I guess the best I can say for this album is it's not as gay as I expected, but after hearing the two singles I guess it couldn't get much worse. Despite the fact those songs are pure pop rock and don't have a lick of metal sound, there are at least a couple pretty cool metal tunes here and some decent AORish sounding stuff. Twisted Mind is actually very good with it's groove riffs and sorta dark lurch. Roy Khan and Tobias carry this one well and it comes off something like a cross between King Of Fools and March Of Mephisto. Also an excellent inclusion is The Toymaster which is well done in a dark and creeping fashion which Alice Cooper adds to like only he can.

Despite any good I can say for this album however I can't say that I'll be likely to listen to it often as parts of it are just too disgusting. Lost In Space and Carry Me Over alone are enough pop gayness to make me question the metalness of any album, but then the album throws in more tracks to rival it like Cry Just A Little and What Kind Of Love. 4 tracks of this is more than any metalhead can be expected to endure. The title track is also pretty bad at times as it's attempts at emotional parts can be gag inducing.

The bottom line would be that only about half of this could be considered metal and only half of that good metal. Certainly, this release can't hold a candle to the epic fantasy storytelling that was done with the band before. This is probably worth giving at least one listen for the better tracks, but this album will no doubt be a letdown for Avantasia fans who still had hope. There is some ok material so I'll let this one by with a 2.0 but keep in mind that this album also has four tracks that would be dead zeros. Maybe not the worst album this year will see but I bet it has some of the worst songs.

Highlights: The Toy Master, Twisted Mind

Rating - 2.0/5