| 2017 |
| 1 |  | Marty Friedman
Wall of Sound |
| 2 |  | Firewind
Immortals |
| 3 |  | Alestorm
No Grave But the Sea
Far from their best, but it's still 100% Alestorm. |
| 4 |  | Sons of Apollo
Psychotic Symphony
This album is pretty solid, but there's not much special here. Not tons of interesting moments, and when there is one, it almost always feels like I've heard it before. The line-up for this supergroup is fantastic and it's apparent each one of them knows what he's doing. But overall everything here feels a little bit too safe, there's not much new or intriguing or weird here. A shame. It's still a good album on the technical level. |
| 5 |  | Trivium
The Sin and the Sentence
Great "pop-metal" album. Contains quite a few very strong songs, especially the title track, one of my favorites. |
| 6 |  | Intervals
The Way Forward
Not much to say about any of these albums. Enjoyable, but not my style unfortunately. I guess "Rubicon Artist" is pretty dope. |
| 7 |  | Arch Enemy
Will to Power
Nothing mindblowing, but a fun little album for sure. |
| 8 |  | Mors Principium Est
Embers of a Dying World
Incredible album. Almost everything works here. Even though the songs are dark and brutal, they still manage to remain symphonic, majestic and beautiful. This album is just as much "melodic" as it is "death" - and this perfect balance is what makes this album - (and everything this band has ever made) - such a perfect melodic death experience. Bravo - this is one of the year's best. |
| 9 |  | Aeternam
Ruins of Empires
A small step down from their previous album, but still a damn good album. Love their style. |
| 10 |  | Unleash The Archers
Apex
The heavy-power metal genre is a very deadly one in my opinion, since it's so, so hard to stand out and bring something truly unique and memorable. I liked this album a lot, but I'm afraid it might be just a little bit too generic to truly remain memorable in the long run. Time will tell I guess. Anyway, this is definitely a terrific album worthy of being in the top of this year.
[UPDATE]
Now that some time has passed, I'm happy to say I was wrong when I said it was too generic to remain memorable. I think the album has definitely stood the test of time and is still a pleasure to listen to, even months later - despite of its inherent genericity. It realy is a fantastic album. |
| 11 |  | Ne Obliviscaris
Urn
Fantastic album. One of the best. |
| 12 |  | Nightrage
The Venomous
A bit uninspired, but still a really good melodic death metal album. Every song here is really fun and the album manages to stay consistent all the way through. It's a bit generic but frankly, I don't really mind - it's a fun one from start to finish, and that's more than good enough for me. |
| 13 |  | Kreator
Gods of Violence
Love, love, love this one. It's a pure dose of everything that makes Kreator - modern Kreator, especially - so great. Absolutely perfect mix of thrash metal aggression and melodeath emotional depth. It's really incredible to see just how consistent and fresh they remain even after so many years. This album is a phenomenal piece of modern thrash metal. |
| 14 |  | Elder (USA-MA)
Reflections of a Floating World
Super solid stuff, loved every minute of it. Sadly though, the album is not super exciting and most of the time it mostly just feels like a good time but not much more. I still adore this band to death, but I didn't find myself falling completely in love with this album like I did with the previous one, Lore. |
| 15 |  | Dyscarnate
With All Their Might
Excellent stuff, liked this one a ton. This is one of the most aggressive and brutal albums I heard in a long while - good shit! |
| 16 |  | Atlas Pain
What the Oak Left
This is such an epic album. Not every song is a winner here, but it's still a delight from start to finish. Great, great debut. |
| 17 |  | Dvne
Asheran
Incredible stuff. Absolutely loved it. Beautiful combination of stoner, death, progressive and post-metal. |
| 18 |  | Threshold
Legends of the Shires
Magnificent. This one's on the lighter side, with pretty much all of the songs having a powerful sense of melodic direction. If you're looking for something heavier you might find this a bit boring, but listening I just couldn't help loving every single minute of it. Terrific. |
| 19 |  | Mastodon
Emperor of Sand |
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