Top Ten Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album’s of 2015

    Another year has come and gone with plenty of great releases to pick from, but only ten shall make this list. Alright, here are my picks:

10. Trials “This Ruined World” 

    Really enjoyed this Chicago based band’s diverse sound. You get a blend of thrash and progressive hard rock that molds one head crushing release. The music expresses such raw emotion and the lyrics are just as heavy as the riffs. I would even call this a guitar players album, because the riffs never cease to lose their strength and the sound is well captured by the album’s recording quality. Although the Cubs did not win the World Series this year(And most likely not this coming year), I think the people of Chicago can be proud of Trial’s new album. 

9. Vastum “Hole Below”

    Bay Area old school style death metal to grip your soul with unbelievable terror and brutality. Really impressed by their extreme songwriting skills. Also, the recording for this album is truly evil sounding as if it were recorded in the stinky smelly gutters of hell...a smell similar to that of the Oakland Harbor. All fans of the underground will rejoice when hearing this release. If you want a more in depth review of the album, you can find one on this blog in a previous post. 

8. Rivers of Nihil “Monarchy”

    Sometimes when I see a band live before listening to an album, I find that I have a better appreciation for the songs. I had only listened to the single from this album, but once I saw Rivers of Nihil perform live, I immediately started listening to the entire album. If you want a full guitar sound that hits hard and does not become boring after the first five riffs, this is the album to check out. Also, I found the instrumentals on the album to be well arranged and compliment the release’s overall atmosphere. Lastly, Dan Seagrave’s album art is out of this world!

7.  Abstracter "Wound Empire"

    A Bay Area sludge outfit that creates massive sounding musical worlds of unforgiving doom. Their sound could be used in a film where someone is walking amongst the ruins of a post-apocalyptic society. Also, the band skillfully constructs these dynamic atmospheres to achieve one of the most behemoth sounding releases to come out this year. Most people would not expect sludge metal to offer up such a dynamic sound, but that is what I think makes Abstracter such a solid band. I hope there will be more top quality releases from these guys in the future. 

6. Tempel “The Moon Lit Our Path” 

    A two piece from Arizona that knows how to create epic sounding instrumental metal music. There are some black metal style compositions, then there are some death metal style compositions, and then they add in some acoustic music to give the album a cinematic effect. Just really good instrumental metal music which creates an impressive sounding world that does not need any lyrics to get the imaginations of listeners to start working. Hollywood should get these guys to score a movie, because most of your movies coming out need something extra to justify an increase in prices! 

5. Royal Thunder “Crooked Doors”

    For their sophomore album Royal Thunder did not disappoint and created some powerful songs. Probably one of the best hard rock albums to come out this year. Also, singer and bassist Miny Parsonz sounded phenomenal on the album. The song “Time Machine,” sends chills up my spine and is a track that features deep raw musical expression that you will not hear from any crap pop or rap artist. Royal Thunder is another example of why rock is still alive...Gene Simmons you better hold off on your rock is dead comment.  

4. Helloween “My God Given Right”

    The German power metal icons do not fail to keep the music alive and kicking. When first putting the CD into my car I was hoping to hear them continue the solid sound that they had established with their last release, “Straight Out of Hell.” To be honest, I think this new album is even better than “Straight Out of Hell.” The band’s two guitar attack is elevated to an even greater level with more triumphant melodic leads and bombastic riffs. The songwriting is very solid and the band knows how to write catchy lyrics. They may be getting older, but they sure don’t sound like it! 

3. Egypt “Endless Flight” 

    Better late than never! This album came out in December of this year, so I almost did not add it to this list. Well, after a few days of listening to the album over and over again, I decided to throw it in the mix. This band is easily one of my favorite doom bands around and their sound is extremely solid. Egypt’s debut release, “Become the Sun,” was actually my number one album of 2013. This new offering continues their heavy grooving doom rock sound while adding some really catchy bluesy style riffs. The album’s recording quality is another high point and sounds as if it was recorded back in the seventies with vintage gear. Since the album came out so late, I think I will be still listening to it by the end of 2016! 

2. Scale the Summit “V” 

    These guys right here are probably one of the best modern progressive rock bands around. I thought the band’s last album was a brilliant mind bending release, but “V” is musically unbelievable. The production is top notch, the compositions are extremely well written and the band takes progressive rock into a new realm of instrumental imagination. Scale the Summit hits a progressive instrumental rock home run. I understand some people may not be fans of a strictly instrumental album, but for those of you who are looking for a great instrumental rock/metal album, this is one I would not hesitate to recommend. 

1. Night Demon “Curse of the Damned” 

    So here it is...my #1 album of the year. Looks like Rush did not release a new studio album, so they will not be appearing in the number one spot. Instead Night Demon’s debut release, “Curse of the Damned,” is the album that I think kicked total metal ass the entire year. Since releasing the album back in January, the Ventura, CA based trio has been touring relentlessly. These guys are passionate about heavy metal and their drive to create exciting old school NWOBHM type music is what makes “Curse of the Damned” stand out from the rest. Also, the songwriting is flawless and consistently enjoyable. Each song on the album is important and worth noting, so to pick one favorite track can be a difficult task. I do believe fans of traditional heavy metal will come to recognize Night Demon’s ambitious drive to inject some new life into an old style of metal that is still in high demand. As I have said numerous times since the band released their four song EP, they are going to really make an impact in the metal world. Be on the look out for more great material from Night Demon in the future! 

    There you have it folks! Those are my top ten albums of 2015. If you want to maybe throw out some albums that you felt should have been added, please feel free to comment below. Can’t wait for what 2016 has to offer!

Concert Review: Infernus Tour 2015 with Hate Eternal and Others at the Phoenix Theater

Hate Eternal

    Friday November 13 at the Phoenix Theater happened to be the perfect day for an all around behemoth of a metal show. Arriving early to the Phoenix Theater, there were already plenty of people lining up for the show and looking eager to get inside. This was a truly solid line-up featuring Hate Eternal as the headliner along with supporting acts Misery Index, Beyond Creation, Rivers of Nihil, Aenimus and Aberration. Anyone who went literally received their money’s worth in brutality and ear bursting riffs. Hell, my ears are still ringing...

    Beginning the show on the side stage of the Phoenix was Sonoma County’s own, Aberration. One could tell the members in the band looked thrilled to be opening this awesome show. Once on stage, they pounded away at some wicked tracks and maintained a fierce edge the entire set. However, the other members could not compete with singer James Owen, who poured out almost every ounce of energy he had during the set. He was running around trying to the get the crowd moving while maintaining a strong vocal delivery. Although their set was not exactly long, I think the band was able to start the night off right and feed the early concert attendees’ a good old helping of melodic death metal.

    After the Aberration’s set I decided to quickly go and get something to eat since I was extremely hungry. Luckily their was a Chinese restaurant a street over and I was able to order my food to go, so I would not miss the next band’s set. Upon returning to the Phoenix I came just in time for Rivers of Nihil’s first song. Finding a suitable place to eat, the top of a skateboard ramp on the side of the venue with a perfect view of the main stage, I was able to enjoy my food while Rivers of Nihil offered sounds of technical death metal brilliance. The band’s musicianship was extremely impressive and the compositions were crushing. The double riff assault from Brody Uttley and Jon Topore was in full effect the entire set. Bassist Adam Biggs was head banging constantly and drummer Alan Balamut was locked in behind the kit. Singer Jake Dieffenbach sounded great too as he growled his way through songs from the new album, “Monarchy,” which I made sure to buy before the night was over.

    Rivers of Nihil finished their set to a thunderous applause from the audience and then concert goers huddled around the side stage for the third act, Aenimus. Another Sonoma County act, Aenimus tore through a set of technical slamming pieces. The band had a very modern metal/deathcore sound that is very popular I have noticed these days. Although I am not a particular fan of this style of metal, I will say that I respected the musicianship and passion the guys showed up on stage. Just like their fellow local act Aberration, Aenimus did a great job representing the Sonoma County Metal community.

    When talking to a few people at the show about who they were interested in seeing, it seemed that the night’s fourth act, Beyond Creation, was a reoccurring answer. The technical progressive death metal musicians from Québec, Canada have been making a name for themselves as a band with unbelievable talent. Sure enough I witnessed that first hand when they began tearing away at their first song. The entire group played with amazing precision and sounded as though they were playing thousands of notes per second. I mean, the guitar tapping dual parts to the complex scale runs were out of this world. Lock me in a room for one-hundred years I do not think I would even come close to the skill level of Beyond the Creation’s two guitar players. Arguably one the most impressive technical live sets I have seen. The crowd was seriously losing their shit after each song!

Beyond Creation

    While still trying to figure out how Beyond the Creation could be so damn musically insane, the fifth act Misery Index began setting up. The death metal dudes from Baltimore have been around since the early 2000s and continue to put out releases that receive fair praise. I thought they played a decent set and their drummer sounded really good behind his kit of double bass drum destruction. Also, the pit was getting more intense and that seemed to be accomplished by the band’s very straightforward hard hitting style of riffs. My only critique would be that the singer kept referring to the crowd as, “San Francisco.” Now, this can be an honest mistake since San Francisco is not too far from Petaluma, but I still felt like he should have known exactly where he was playing. Bit of a Spinal Tap moment one could say. 

    The final act of the night was Hate Eternal who were definitely an act I was anticipating on seeing along with a decent amount of other people at the Phoenix. Erik Rutan after leaving Morbid Angel formed Hate Eternal, and in my opinion is keeping the old school technical extreme metal formula going strong with each new release. Also, Erik’s other two band members are also very accomplished musicians with Hannes Grossmann on drums and J.J Hrubovcak on bass. Once they tore into the opening song, all hell broke loose on the venue floor. People were head banging furiously at the front of the stage and the mosh pit was an all out metal maniac zone. Hate Eternal did an awesome job balancing old songs with new songs in their set list to which fans seemed pleased no matter what. During the set Erik even dedicated a song to those who had lost their lives in the Paris, France terrorist attacks which happened the day of the concert. Overall, Hate Eternal was one of the most solid sounding live acts I have seen. The way that they conducted themselves on stage as players is something young metal bands should take note of if they want achieve a truly brutal and accomplished sound.

    What more can I say about this concert? ...If you were in the Sonoma County and did not show up you really dropped the ball. Each of the six bands did not disappoint and the crowd was always demonstrating why metal fans are the most passionate music fans. From the young fans, to the old fans, and to the fans who walked around eating Chinese food, the metal community came out in full support at the Phoenix Theater. Hopefully there will continue to be more concerts like this one to come!

Rivers of Nihil