There are no words. The very fact that I actually had to find these guys UNDERGROUND on Bandcamp is a crime in itself. Omb's debut album is a lesson on how to do avant-garde metal right! The variety. The passion. The insanity. This is an album that really deserves FAR more attention than it's getting. This is a band that knows how to use their sound to its fullest potential. If possible, please support these guys, because the world needs some more brilliant avant-garde metal like this.
When I first heard this album, I had no idea what to expect. What I got was an album that, while completely wacky and over-the-top, was absolutely mind-blowing from a sonic standpoint. Guitars are rarely utilised to this extent, and the vocals are completely insane in the best of ways. This Japanese band is one that many may not like due to their eccentricity, but goddamnit if I wasn't having a blast during my every single moment of listening to this album. Absolutely wild.
It's a shame that these guys are still so relatively unknown, despite releasing an incredible debut album a few years back. Either way, it looks like Caligula's Horse wanted to beat the incredible quality of their debut, and actually managed to pull it off. With influences coming from all over the prog universe, Caligula's Horse manage to solidify their own unique sound, and I can't help but love it.
Melodeath has often been considered by many to be a dying genre. However, there are times when bands like Persefone manage not only to revive it, but reinvent it in their own unique way. I've never been an extreme fan of the genre, but Spiritual Migration has actually shot its way up to becoming my favourite melodeath album of all time. Incredibly refreshing.
Didn't see this coming? Neither did I, to be honest. Even though I was already a fan of Alter Bridge, nothing could have prepared me for how much Fortress was going to blow me away. This is as solid as hard rock gets. There's not a single indecent song on this album. Everything is well written, well performed and well produced. I'll tell you guys right now, this is about as good as its going to get for this entire genre.
I've never had a progressive rock/metal album strike me personally in the way that The Mountain has. The entire concept of the album is something that I've been struggling with throughout 2013. As cliche as the lyrics may initially seem, there's a much deeper meaning to underlying structure of it all. This has been my soundtrack throughout the year. I woke up with The Path, faced my stress with Falling Back To Earth, my sadness with As Death Embrases and my inner conflicts with The Cockroach King. In the end, I always manage to bring myself back to my sense with Because It's There. This is one album where I can not possibly avoid the bias that comes with my personal experiences with it. If you listen to only the music, you may not find much. But if you take in the atmosphere and story, this album takes on a whole new light.
Also, did I mention that this album has the best music video of all time?
Oh boy... Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy... What an album.
I never, in my wildest dreams, thought Daft Punk could ever reach their incredible high of Discovery. Not only did they manage to do that, they managed to surpass it. Not only did they surpass it, they did so while completely changing up their style of music. This is one album that has everything; from smooth, sexy grooves to bombastic disco fun; from simple love songs to meta-stories that get you thinking. Daft Punk is back, and they are giving life back to music. It's funny really... the robots have created music that is the definition of reality.
This is the album that made me fall in love with Post-Hardcore. The anger is explosive, the messages are far from subtle, and the way its brought together musically is nothing short of brilliance. There is nothing more I can say. This album is damn near perfection.
Ayreon. Possibly the greatest project to ever grace the prog metal scene. This album may not be able to surpass The Human Equation in my eyes (since The Human Equation is one of my favourite albums of all time) but I'll be damned if The Theory Of Everything was anything short of spectacular. It brought together the Holy Trinity of the keyboard world; Emerson, Wakeman and Rudess. It brought one of the most incredible singers I've ever heard, Michael Mills, into the spotlight. It took as risky a concept as 4 20+ minute long songs, and made it into one of the most epic rock operas I've ever heard. It contains my favourite use of synths on any album ever. What more can I even say. The Theory Of Everything is a masterpiece.
Even the instrumental subsection names make reference to musical style, with Progressive Waves showing off the brilliance of prog with a classic prog (Emerson) / modern prog (Rudess) keyboard solo trade-off. Outstanding, Arjen, you did it again.
It takes a lot for an album to beat out one of my favourite Ayreon albums of all time.
This album is beautiful. It's soulful. It's ominous. It's relaxing. It's pounding. It's heaven. It's hell.
There really are no words that can describe Coal for me. It's the album that introduced me to Leprous, the band that may have just risen to the top of my favourite bands list.
The vocal performance of Einar Solberg is my favourite vocal performance on any album... period. Yes, it's over-the-top... but it's that very operatic element that blends in with the beautiful guitar work, crunching bass-playing, and some of the most phenomenal drumming you will ever find in order to create nothing short of pure musical bliss.
Every member of this band plays their role to perfection, and that's all you can ever ask of a band.
Previously mentioned Ihsahn and other bands such as TesseracT have labelled Leprous as the future of the prog metal scene, and I wholeheartedly agree.
Coal is a masterpiece, in the purest sense of the word.
