Tim Bolitho-Jones' Top 10 of 2015
December 31, 2015
No. 10
Band: Soilwork
Album: The Ride Majestic
General Information
Year Of Formation: 1995
Label: Nuclear Blast
Bjorn 'Speed' Strid has been making melodic Death Metal for over twenty years now and he's still showing no signs of slowing down. With this record SOILWORK reached the ten album milestone and what a way to make it! This is perfectly executed modern metal with a glossy sheen with a few little surprises waiting inside.
No. 9
Band: Grim Van Doom
Album: Grim Love
General Information
Year Of Formation: 2011
Label: Aural Attack Productions
One of the lesser-known gems of 2015 was this exquisite Doom album. Hailing from Westphalia, this German four-piece play down-tuned, sludgy riffs with an aggressively macho edge. Far too many bands from this genre sound like ELECTRIC WIZARD copyists, these guys are closer to getting stoned with Arnold Schwarzenegger and calling Dillon a "son of a bitch." Excellent stuff.
No. 8
Band: Dendera
Album: Pillars Of Creation
General Information
Year Of Formation: 2011
Label: Metalbox Recordings
There's something reliably unpretentious ABOUT DENDERA. Their second album "Pillars Of Creation" succeeds because at its heart, it's just kick-ass heavy metal with loads of great songs. It's Power Metal with a muscular, mosh-inspiring feel and it relies on nothing more than big choruses and impressive musicianship. And singer Ashley Edison is one of the most underrated vocalists in the game. They deserve to be much, much bigger.
No. 7
Band: Reign Of Fury
Album: Death Be Thy Shepherd
General Information
Year Of Formation: 2006
Label: Unsigned
There's been a lot of great metal records in 2015 but it does feel as though we've been starved for high quality thrash this year. Thank heaven then for REIGN OF FURY, an unsigned band adding to the UK's history of un-appreciated thrash with this masterpiece. Their devoted fanbase paid for this album through Kickstarter (in eleven minutes) and were rewarded with eight shamelessly epic compositions. Listening to it was like discovering a lost METALLICA album recorded while CLIFF BURTON was still alive, only with James Hetfield putting on a British accent.
No. 6
Band: Fear Factory
Album: Genexus
General Information
Year Of Formation: 1989
Label: Nuclear Blast
I've been a metal fan for seventeen years but for some reason, it took me a while to get INTO FEAR FACTORY. I had nothing against them, they just sort of passed me by and aside from recognising their signature songs from visiting alternative night clubs as a student, I didn't know much about them. Up until August I had no FEAR FACTORY albums in my collection at all. Then this came out and one month later I had seven. Consider me a convert.
No. 5
Band: Crossfaith
Album: Xeno
General Information
Year Of Formation: 2006
Label: Razor & Tie
A band that'll appeal to dance music fans as much as metalheads, CROSSFAITH were the soundtrack to all the best parties of 2015. This album was one massive banging tune after another and it's only the inclusion of one utterly terrible ballad that kept them from achieving a perfect score when we reviewed them earlier this year.
No. 4
Band: Lamb Of God
Album: VII: Sturm Und Drang
General Information
Year Of Formation: 1994
Label: Nuclear Blast
You can always rely on LAMB OF GOD to deliver the goods. Even when experimenting with clean vocals for the first time, the Virginia Metal titans are an unstoppable force of naked aggression tied to an (often overlooked) intelligent worldview. "VII: Sturm Und Drang" is not only full of great songs, it's also the sound of a band that came very close to collapsing entirely and coming out the other side with grace and humility. This is an album that's been clawed from the heart of Czech prison cells and is as raw and venomous as anything you'll hear this year.
No. 3
Band: Stick To Your Guns
Album: Disobedient
General Information
Year Of Formation: 2003
Label: Sumerian Records
Okay, I'm a little bit biased with this one. Everyone loves a bit of Hardcore now and then and I'm no exception. STICK TO YOUR GUNS are a fantastic band and this is a terrific album, but the main reason it's this high is because I bought it on the day my daughter was born. While my wife and baby were sleeping off two days of labour in the hospital, I was at home having a quiet celebration with nothing but a pint of ale and this album for company. Well, this and the last AKALA album but we're not allowed to put rap on here.
No. 2
Band: Solefald
Album: World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud
General Information
Year Of Formation: 1995
Label: Indie Recordings
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. This came within a whisker of being the best of the year until AMORPHIS overtook them. This is eight remarkable songs of head-spinning genius. One of the dangers of writing 'Best Of' lists is you tend to favour albums from September onwards as they're fresher in your mind and forget about those from earlier in the year. This came out in February and it hasn't left me since.
No. 1
Band: Amorphis
Album: Under The Red Cloud
General Information
Year Of Formation: 1990
Label: Nuclear Blast
AMORPHIS have had an incredible streak of top notch albums these past few years but they really knocked it out of the park with "Under The Red Cloud". This is bold, ambitious and utterly flawless from start to finish. From the Death Metal singalong of "Bad Blood" to the manly jigging Folk Metal of "Tree Of Life" and the incredible "White Night". this one is a masterpiece. If you only buy one Metal album this year, make it this one.
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