Laura Cosheril's Top 10 of 2015
December 21, 2015
No. 10
Band: Tormention
Album: Chaotic Delusions
General Info
Year of Formation: 2008
Label: Murder Records
I discovered this band earlier in the year and was blown away by their music. If I'd have listened to them blindly without doing any prior research I would have easily mistaken them for a well-known death metal band. Their music is a strange hybrid of CANNIBAL CORPSE and DISMEMBER. I have kept this album on my mp3 player ever since my first listening experience and will be keeping it on there until I listen to it so much that I get sick of it. (Not likely)
No. 9
Band: Starborn
Album: The Dreaming City
General Info
Year of Formation: 2014
Label: Stormspell Records
Yet another band that I only discovered earlier this year. I fell for this band and album hard; so hard in fact that my boyfriend bought me the physical copy of this CD with a patch which is now sitting pride of place on my battle-jacket right between DEATH and SODOM (quite the variation there Laura, I know). I had given a cheeky listen to their previous release and wasn't impressed in the slightest; within thirty seconds this album completely switched my views and I was in love. Their mix of heavy metal riffs with power metal vocals was something else. This is one of the "softer" albums with left a lasting impression on me this year.
No. 8
Band: Drudkh
Album: A Furrow Cut Short
General Info
Year of Formation: 2002
Label: Season of Mist
Ukrainian black metal masterminds DRUDKH really took the ball and ran with it in this album. They perfectly mix melody and darkness and still manage to sound evil as fuck. This was an accidental find for me, I had put on some music on Youtube to listen to while at work and "Embers" began playing and I stopped what I was doing and put this entire album on play and fell in love. They don't have your typical "hail Satan" Norwegian black metal sound; they make it their own and completely blow it out of the water. They have subtle melodies and pagan influences which makes for enjoyable listening.
No. 7
Band: Venom
Album: From The Very Depths
General Info
Year of Formation: 1979
Label: Spinefarm Records
If you're a metalhead and you haven't heard of VENOM then it's safe to say you have been living under a rock for the past thirty years. Listening to a new Venom record for the first time has become sort of a rare novelty for me. With this album VENOM keep their legacy alive and make you realise that they're never really going to go away for long and even though original members are almost all gone; they're still a force to be reckoned with. This album is completely enjoyable even if it is a step in a different direction from their previous release. I'm a sucker for these guys and will continue to adore them.
No. 6
Band: Satanika
Album: Total Inferno
General Info
Year of Formation: 2009
Label: Osmose Productions
Yet another discovery of 2015; I instantly fell in love with this album. This album blends everything I love about metal into one forty minute album. This album is fast, heavy, dark and catchy. I think I had this album on repeat for about a week straight. This is what you would get if you mix BEHEMOTH with DARKTHRONE. Evil and satanic; I can't help but love it. Like Hecate's dark embrace, it lures you in and engulfs you in an orgy of flames.
No. 5
Band: Horna
Album: Hengen Tulet
General Info
Year of Formation: 1993
Label: WTC Productions
Four words to describe this album: Complete Black Metal Warfare. Finnish black metal titans HORNA are back with yet another top notch release. Perfectly mixing the eerie black metal sound we know and love along with some surprise atmospheric elements. If you wanted a soundtrack to sacrifice your neighbours' goat to, then look no further than this album. Raw, unadulterated black metal at its finest!
No. 4
Band: Unleashed
Album: Dawn of The Nine
General Info
Year of Formation: 1989
Record Label: Nuclear Blast Records
This album was another accidental find. I'd listened to UNLEASHED on and off and I was in my local music store and decided to pick this up. I played it in the car on the way home and I got chills. The vocals are dark and death metal-y while the music is slightly melodic and keeps you interested. I'm a sucker for Norse Mythology and Viking culture so it was inevitable that I was going to like this album, I just didn't know how much I would like it. "Welcome The Son of Thor" is insanely catchy and was the one track which I kept coming back to. I'd find myself chanting it over and over again.
No. 3
Band: Leaves' Eyes
Album: King of Kings
General Info
Year of Formation: 2003
Record Label: AFM Records
I was tasked with this album to review earlier in the year and got to speak with symphonic metal Goddess Liv Kristine. It's been a while since I've listened to a symphonic metal album that's really stood out to me; this was the best of the genre that I had heard in a long time. As I said previously, I'm a complete nerd for Norse Mythology and Viking culture, which is initially what drew me in to this album. They perfectly blend instruments throughout the ages and keep Pagan undertones, which end up sounding like a journey back in time. Every time I hear Liv's voice it gives me chills, couple that with the dark, raspy vocals of her husband band mate and it makes for absolute perfection.
No. 2
Band: Vreid
Album: Sólverv
General Info
Year of Formation: 2004
Record Label: Indie Recordings
This band has quickly become one of my favourite bands and, along with this album, has taken up permanent residence on my "most played" section of my mp3 player. This is one of the only albums I was eagerly awaiting this year; and it definitely didn't disappoint by any sense of the word. They went straight back to their roots; true Norwegian black metal style! This album is dark as fuck yet embracing and warm. There are songs that keep you waiting with anticipation and tracks that assault you right from the first second. There is something for every taste in this album and I certainly can't get enough of it.
No. 1
Band: Kampfar
Album: Profan
General Info
Year of Formation: 1994
Record Label: Indie Recordings
Now, as we draw to the end of this article, here is my absolute favourite release of 2015. At this stage I may be beginning to sound like an Indie Recordings fangirl but it's purely the fact that their artists have been amazing this year, especially. I first listened to this album last month at its release and I scrambled to rearrange this very list as soon as I had finished the first play-through, it wasn't until I listened to it a second time that I realised this is my favourite release of the year. Again I had listened to KAMPFAR on and off for a while and this release blew me away. I got the chance to speak to Dolk , and he informed me that this album was written and recorded in a matter of weeks and that stunned me. This album sounds better than some other albums I have heard which took years to write. They have a natural talent and it really shows. Their sound is somewhat different in this album than in previous releases, they went dark... Very dark, but not in a heavy sense; they sound eerie. The Pagan undertones that they had before are magnified significantly in this release and every time I listen to "Daimon" I get goosebumps. This album raises Hell and I can't praise it enough. My number one release of 2015.
Honourable Mentions of 2015
Iron Maiden ' The Book of Souls
The Black Dahlia Murder ' Abysmal (Metal Blade Records)
Mechina ' Acheron (Independent)
Rosy Finch ' Witchboro (Deathbound Records)
Torture Pulse ' God Leash (Xtreem Music)
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