Daniel Fox's Top 10 of 2015
December 22, 2015
No. 10
Band: Iron Maiden
Album: The Book Of Souls
General Info
Year of Formation: 1975
Record Label: EMI
""The Book Of Souls" isn't your favourite album of the year; What the hell is wrong with you?" A great many things; infectious cynicism and susceptibility to the common cold among them. Nonetheless, IRON MAIDEN's new release is what I would consider a "comeback" album, featuring my favourite songs to come out of anything they have recorded since "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son". The lead bass is back, Bruce's wailing vocals are back, almost pretending as if "The Final Frontier" never existed.
No. 9
Band: Angra
Album: Secret Garden
General Info
Year Of Formation: 1991
Record Label: SPV Records
Having your vocalist of 11 years leave the band is a game-changer. Edu Falaschi, ANGRA's vocalist on albums like "Nova Era" and "Temple Of Shadows", whom many considered to be ANGRA's best albums and two of the world's Power Metal masterpieces, exited in 2012, citing, in simple terms, a wish to move on. And you could hear it on "Aqua"; his voice simply wasn't "in the music" anymore, and fair enough, should a baritone vocalist force himself to sing Power Metal for over a decade. Nonetheless, as they always do, ANGRA steamrolled ahead, eventually nabbing friend and vocalist extraordinaire, Fabio Lione, whom features on 2015's "Secret Garden". One of a few "comeback albums" coming out this year, the new album sees, effectively, a brand new "Angra", exploring more of their Progressive tendencies, and also featuring a greater vocal presence from guitar-half Rafael Bittencourt (something I both loved and missed from "Aurora Consurgens").
No. 8
Band: Stratovarius
Album: Eternal
General Info
Year Of Formation: 1985
Record Label: Edel Music
Few bands can boast a discography quite like that of STRATOVARIUS, and still come out on top, of such a rocky series of line-up changes. While the band has no original members left, and the "classic" lineup is missing Jari, Jörg and Tolkki, the induction of Matias and Lauri as a new creative driving force and the 2009 album "Polaris", essentially saved the band from a festering break-up. If "Elysium" (2011) and "Nemesis" (2013) caught some flak from the fanbase for either being too progressive or too heavy and dark while being great albums in their own right, 2015's "Eternal" sees a return to a sound that those whom hold a candle to "Visions" will be very fond of. To boot, Kotipelto fought off his bacterial infection that saw his voice suffer over the last 4 years and took some singing lessons in reparation, and we're given what could be his best vocal performance since "Visions".
No. 7
Band: Rest Among Ruins
Album: Fugue
General Info
Year of Formation: 2014
Record Label: Independent
Having been introduced to the name Mike Semesky through his main band, RAUNCHY (whose 2014 release also made it into my previous Top 10) it would come as little surprise that I would enjoy the hell out of REST AMONG RUINS. A new band added to his discography, it is a 3-piece Progressive Metal band, whose first release, "Fugue" is an extraordinarily ambitious piece of work; a lengthy and complex concept album made up of 14 tracks, inspired by a real-life story of a psychiatric hospital patient whom was diagnosed with disassociative fugue. From technicality to emotion, from lyrics production, it is everything you could wish for in a progressive metal album, but the real gem is listening to it unfold.
No. 6
Band: Kamelot
Album: Haven
General Info
Year Of Formation: 1995
Record Label: Napalm Records
I used to be a manic worshipper in the church of KAMELOT; oh how unaware I was of how my tastes would evolve. While I would strongly consider myself a Khan fanboy (did I need to reiterate that the exiting of KAMELOT's famed vocalists was one of the most-talked-about upheavals in modern metal?), I was also quickly a listener of SEVENTH WONDER, the band from which KAMELOT recruited Tommy Karevik. "Haven" is 2015's answer to "Silverthorn" and Tommy's second album with the band, and arguably, his better. Having clearly found their footing, "Haven" steps away from their proclivity from concept albums and introduces a newer and modern sound. In parts heavier, in parts groovier, and in all parts darker, the new directions in "Haven" may not be well-liked or even appreciated by Khan enthusiasts, but I believe it trumps on two notes. Firstly, Tommy is finally doing A LOT more with his voice within the confines of KAMELOT's dark and gothic-romantic shroud; this time his performance actually hints at his wide vocal range explored in SEVENTH WONDER. Secondly, they pulled off the modernising in an incredibly uncanny manner; on one hand, they sound like a different band entirely, but in some cases, "Haven" strongly harkens back to their Power Metal era of "Karma" and those previous.
No. 5
Band: Pyramaze
Album: Disciples Of The Sun
General Info
Year Of Formation: 2001
General Info: Inner Wound Recordings
Lance King, boasting one of metal's largest vocal ranges and most pure deliveries, sang on their first two albums; the legendary Matt Barlow of ICED EARTH joined them for their third. Involved all the way by one of metal's most underrated and expert songwriting teams, the lads of PYRAMAZE boomed in the underground, and established one of the most loving, cult followings I had ever seen, and I'm not sure the word cult even does that justice. Following the release of 2008's "Immortal", Matt, bassist Niels Kvist and long-time guitarist and lyricist Michael Kammeyer left the band. For a time, PYRAMAZE consisted of keyboardist Jonah Weingarten, lead guitarist drummer Morten Gade Sørensen and lead guitarist Toke Skjønnemand. Alas, things were still brewing in the camp, though fans began to clamour and clamour for a new album. This eventually reached ahead, 7 years later, for what would be a substantial triple-announcement: the arrival of new pipes powerhouse Terje Haroy, longtime producer and big name Jacob Hansen on guitar, and the release of a 4[sup]th[/sup] album: "Disciples Of The Sun". To top it off Henrik Fevre of ANUBIS GATE ended up writing the entirety of the lyrics and vocal melodies for the album, with additional keyboards delivered by bandmate Kim Olesen. Almost a completely different band, essentially gone are the lightning-fast Power Metal anthems and the concept albums, it introduces a heaviness not for the sake of being heavy, but for being uplifting, powerful, and making one feel like one can do anything. A unique album in this list, it doesn't contain a single weak song, and offers something for everyone. "The ground is wet, 'cause they're ready to show all the world that they're back again". If the gracious acceptance of their new sound by even their most diehard fans isn't a testament, I don't know what is.
No. 4
Band: Teramaze
Album: Her Halo
General Info
Year Of Formation: 1993
Record Label: Mascot Label Group
The second half of this list is when things get tricky. Oddly enough, both of the 'MAZES in this group are ordered solely for the sake of alphabetical order; I can't trump one album over the other. I tried, and it's not happening. In a sea of Scandinavian powerhouses in the Progressive/Power Metal 'industry', Australians TERAMAZE can boast about being Melbourne's best band, and certainly top ranking with other Australian greats like VOYAGER, DAMNATION'S DAY and the much-more-out-there PSYCHROPTIC. While the latter gradually built upon their successes, TERAMAZE, to me at least, almost seem to go "boom" rather suddenly. While "Esoteric Symbolism" was a phenomenal release and saw significant international attention, "Her Halo" is, by far, their biggest, baddest and best album yet. Comprised of half a new lineup, still present are guitarist and mastermind Dean Wells and Dean Kennedy (also the drummer for DAMNATION'S DAY), but with a new bassist and vocalist. Luis Eguren joined shortly after "Esoteric Symbolism" and his jazzy, DREAM THEATER-influenced bass-playing won people over instantly; a bass player myself, included; he made the band outright fuckin' fancy. Sometime later came the archetypal young prodigy, in singer Nathan Peachey, announced sometime last year, along with a demo piece of one of my favourite tracks on "Her Halo", titled "For The Innocent".
It was clear that the band had a much more melodic future in mind, and that's what their gift to us was with "Her Halo". In some ways more compact than "Esoteric Symbolism", it feels and listens cleaner and more polished. The Thrash elements that characterized earlier work are almost non-existent, and "Her Halo" is essentially one hell of a Progressive-Power concept album, centred around the life of a conflicted trapeze artist, and is easily their most melodic piece to date. Once again, there is something here for everyone; DREAM THEATER fanatics will love the opener "An Ordinary Dream"; CIRCUS MAXIMUS fans will grin at Nathan's inflections in "Out Of Subconscious", as will SEVENTH WONDER lovers (much like myself) in "For The Innocent".
No. 3
Band: Amorphis
Album: Under The Red Cloud
General Info
Year Of Formation: 1990
Record Label: Nuclear Blast Records
I suppose I would consider myself a long-time fan of AMORPHIS ' longer than many of the bands I listen to. So, in a way, I had the privilege of watching them grow. As even the band might tell you, their discography seems to operate in cycles, each one attributing to a different musical or thematic concept. The first four albums following the introduction of current singer, Tomi Joutsen, in 2005, are one such cycle, a series of mystical, powerful, sublime, melodic, and at time dark, stories in the Kalevala. In 2013, AMORPHIS broke this cycle with "Circle", having almost nothing to do with the national Finnish epic, and taking on a much heavier, more 'metal' approach. With "Under The Red Cloud" in 2015, it was clear that a new cycle was indeed already underway, with another original story, loosely based on at least Kalevala-like themes, and again, a heavy approach. Under new producer Jens Bogren, notorious for rigorously pushing bands in the studio, AMORPHIS blossomed and recorded one of their best albums ever, in capturing the best moments of "Skyforger" but making the music more adventurous, more technical and more powerful. It contains Death, Power, Progressive and Folk elements; it has the power to crush either with riffs or pure emotion, mesmerise, or even enforce an infectious sing-along. Beginning with the title track, the opening riffs will blow you away with a different kind of power that, quite simply, uplifts the soul.
No. 2
Band: Nightwish
Album: Endless Forms Most Beautiful
General Info:
Year Of Formation: 1996
Record Label: Nuclear Blast Records
I don't think I have ever seen so much fan in-fighting over a line-up change. No matter what singer NIGHTWISH has, the most rabid of the lot will always tell you that Tarja is better. As someone whom saw her live long before her opus with them was released, I can tell you that the induction of Floor Jansen is the final nail in the coffin that it no longer fucking matters. I am not going to try to compare her to Tarja or Anette where talent is concerned, but "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" certainly shows that she has the best of both worlds. On one hand, an operatic powerhouse, but also capable of incorporating strong hooks; I can't find anywhere to fault her, and as far as the title for "singer for NIGHTWISH" goes, she has to be my favourite fit; yes, this is coming from an ex-Tarja fanatic. As for the album itself... It also has to be my favourite NIGHTWISH album ever. It is the most wild, adventurous, organic and ambitious recording they have ever made, and it hits home on many levels. In many ways a concept album, it seems to depict an Earth free of the human darkness, and one allowed to flourish. If that doesn't encapsulate "Endless Forms Most Beautiful", I don't know what does. By the way; Richard Dawkins popped in to say "hi", among other things.
No. 1
Band: Mechina
Album: Acheron
General Info
Formation: 2003
Record Label: Independent
This is going to come across as extremely corny: I was first introduced to MECHINA by a colleague whilst jamming MASS EFFECT 2, via the album "Xenon". I remember thinking to myself, "these tunes are rather dank; why isn't this the game's soundtrack?". Upon further research, I would discover that "space-age video game metal" would be a widely-accepted fan moniker for the band. When "Acheron" dropped on the 1[sup]st[/sup] of January in 2015, a few days later, I would be sold, and would have found my new favourite band. While MECHINA began in 2004, with an underground debut full-length "The Assembly Of Tyrants" released in 2007, they would see breakout success with "Conqueror"; the first in a long series of concept albums, detailing the coolest 'Metal Story' I have ever experienced, titled "As Embers Turn To Dust". To loosely sum it up, the albums are based around post-Earth humanity, long into the future, involving themes like 'Earth-born', 'Titan-born' (humans born on planets terraformed by titans ' city-sized, AI-powered machines), dystopia, cryosleep, and a much-fantasized rendition of what the Technological Singularity could mean for humanity's future. For instance, the Earth-born are general at war with the Titan-born, for whom the planet Empyrean could be considered their home, and worship these machines as gods.
I am not going to try to explain the story as a whole, because I will fail miserably, but know that the 3 albums of "Conqueror", "Empyrean" and "Xenon" are a trilogy, the first part of the MECHINA story, and "Acheron" is, in some ways, an Inception-like pseudo-prequel. Thematically, the album is about the destruction of the planet's surface; a bit unfortunate, given that Acheron is supposedly the next "human planet" after Earth in the story, so when listening to the album, you are going to experience myriad feelings. The duo of Joe Tiberi and David Holch (yes, a 2-man band) have created what I consider to be the pinnacle musical achievement; an album wherein every riff, every lyric and every melody instills an emotion. Jam it all together, and you get to feel what it's like to have your planet blown to bits from under you, having what you thought was reality obliterated, and a primal lust for revenge.
If "Xenon" previously showed us what it was to 'be' MECHINA, then "Acheron" builds on that, inclusive of the brutal, riff-filled Symphonic Death Metal of the 2014 juggernaut, "Acheron" lathers itself in electronic, futuristic, industrial wonderlust, shown especially in the riff production (if you use the word djent, I'm going to have words with you). "Vanquisher" instills a feeling of pure, unstoppable power that shocks senses with deliveries that makes chills spines. To encapsulate MECHINA's new proclivity for adventurous songwriting, included is the melodic and uplifting "Wings Of Nefeli" (which may be the album's selling point for everyone), and the complete 180 in "Ode To The Forgotten Few". Take a trademark MECHINA interlude, replace the domineering industrial sounds with a mournful piano, and have previous guest vocalist Mel Rose return in a glorious fashion laid bare. This track is what left me speechless and, for a while, left me unable to listen to it because of the sheer, intense severity. I may well be fucked in the head, but you can't help but appreciate an album on a deep, soul-searching level when it can do that for you (or, more appropriately, to you). In listening to the tracks in the order they are prescribed you are going to enter cryosleep and dream something you have never dreamed, and, if you're lucky, wake up with ghost scratches. The more erratic my ramblings get the longer I talk about this great band is my honest testament.
I'll see you all starside.
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