Top 10 - 2014 / By Julius "Dreadheart" Mikkelä
December 26, 2014
No 10
Band: Equilibrium
Album: Erdentempel
General Info
Year of Formation: 2001
Label: Nuclear Blast
There were several albums in 2014 that I expected would blow me away, but one I didn't expect was the fourth studio album by German Folk Metalists EQUILIBRIUM, "Erdentempel". With its overwhelmingly catchy melodies, strong and diverse songs, and that golden EQUILIBRIUM sound and style, I eventually had to give up trying to force them off my list and embrace the fact that they had made not just the best Folk Metal album of 2014 (sorry ELUVEITIE), but also one of 2014's best albums, period.
No 9
Band: Babymetal
Album: BABYMETAL
General Info
Year of Formation: 2010
Label: BMD Fox Records
Adore them or spit in their faces, BABYMETAL's self-titled debut album took the world of Metal by storm with a sound and style that rustled many jimmies and challenged many a Metalhead's view of what Metal was or wasn't. While definitively not for everyone, I found BABYMETAL's insane mix of brutal Extreme Metal, spaced-out Avant-Garde influences and cheesy-yet-catchy J-pop not only fascinatingly innovative but also outright genius, forcing its way into my Top 10 of 2014.
No 8
Band: Steel Panther
Album: All You Can Eat
General Info
Year of Formation: 2000
Label: Open E Entertainment
The most ridiculously balls-out Metal band is back, and with "All You Can Eat" STEEL PANTHER has more or less cemented the fact that they're the ultimate comedy/parody Metal group on the planet. But if that was all they had going for them, STEEL PANTHER wouldn't be what they are, and beyond their outrageous comedy value once again displays an amazing kind of musicianship and songwriting skills that ought to make any guy hard and any gal wet. And if you didn't like that joke, then stay away from this glorious album and everything STEEL PANTHER!
No 7
Band: Nightingale
Album: Retribution
General Info
Year of Formation: 1994
Label: InsideOut Music
Dan Swanö, the legendary Metal producer and musician, returned this year with his quasi-solo outfit NIGHTINGALE after many years of silence ' and by every measure their return album, "Retribution", is a glorious one! Melodic Metal hasn't sounded this good in years, and this is a true Melodic Metal album from beginning to end with honestly no weak parts and more than a few ace songs.
No 6
Band: Mechina
Album: Xenon
General Info
Year of Formation: 2004
Label: Independent
"Space Metal" MECHINA's fourth studio album "Xenon" was an album that not only took me by force when I first heard it, but then also managed to grow on me steadily over the course of 2014. MECHINA's unique mix of highly Atmospheric Symphonic, Industrial and Extreme Metal is better than ever, and from beginning to end I found "Xenon" to be an epic space adventure brought to audial life ' to the point where it became one of my most listened-to albums of 2014!
No 5
Band: Sabaton
Album: Heroes
General Info
Year of Formation: 1999
Label: Nuclear Blast
After producing their opus magnum two years ago with the masterpiece that was "Carolus Rex", I will admit I was worried that the Swedish War Machine SABATON may have thrown all their world class songwriting skills on one album and too quickly moved to their next album with "Heroes". In retrospect, I was an idiot to ever doubt them, because once again ' and this makes six times in a row ' SABATON has produced a first-class Heavy Metal album filled to the maximum with amazing songs. It's not on the mind-blowing levels of "Carolus Rex", but it nevertheless rests easily in my top 5 of 2014 ' and I can't help but wonder; will it take a nuclear bomb to stop SABATON's campaign for world conquest?!
No 4
Band: Ne Obliviscaris
Album: Citadel
General Info
Year of Formation: 2004
Label: Season of Mist
When I first heard NE OBLIVISCARIS's debut album "Portal of I" two years ago I thought to myself, "This is a game-changer". With it they had achieved in creating a sound and style so unique, so beautiful and so mesmerizingly diverse I had a hard time imagining they could ever repeat their success. Well I was wrong ' again ' because their 2014 album "Citadel" is every bit as good as "Portal of I" was, and with it NE OBLIVISCARIS has begun the cementing of themselves as among the greatest Progressive/Avant-Garde Metal acts of all time as far as I'm concerned.
No 3
Band: Whispered
Album: Shogunate Macabre
General Info
Year of Formation: 2004
Label: Redhouse Finland
I had never heard of WHISPERED before I accidentally stumbled upon their 2014 album "Shogunate Macabre", and I imagine most still haven't. If you're one of those, stop reading and mend this error right now, because this is one truly amazing album in every single aspect imaginable. WHISPERED's unique blend of Melodic Death Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal and Japanese-styled Folk Metal is on this album perfected, their songs are powerhouses that feel both alive and inspired, and from beginning to end it's a top-notch performance that by no right should fly past anyone's radar!
No 2
Band: Epica
Album: The Quantum Enigma
General Info
Year of Formation: 2003
Label: Nuclear Blast
Looking at the many Top 10's or Top 20's that have come out of late this year, there's been one album that has, in my eyes, been either undeservedly lowly placed or unacceptably missing from people's lists: EPICA's "The Quantum Enigma". Not only is this their best album to date (which says a bloody lot as far as I'm concerned); not only is this by far the best Symphonic Metal album of this year; not only is this in every single way one of the best albums this year; it's one of the greatest Symphonic Metal albums of all time.
No 1
Band: Tuomas Holopainen
Album: The Life and Times of Scrooge
General Info
Year of Formation: 2013
Label: Nuclear Blast
And finally the single best album (by a fair mile I might add) of 2014 is not a Metal album ' but it is by a renowned Metal artist! Tuomas Holopainen, the mastermind behind NIGHTWISH, may have thrown off any attempt of making a Metal album with his solo effort "The Life and Times of Scrooge" (based on the story by Don Rosa), but somewhere along the line he apparently found the inspiration to write one of the most emotional and beautiful albums I've ever heard. I could say a thousand things about this album, but it can all really be summed up to: It's a masterpiece, go listen to it ' it's by now my favourite album of all time.
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