2007 Best Heavy Metal CDs

Conqueror is generally slow paced and even mellow at times, but still has moments of aggression. It combines beauty and angst, darkness and light, yin and yang into an album with a lot of emotional force. The songs have a doom metal vibe with slow, down tuned guitars. You'll also hear influences from the '90s shoegaze movement and some modern experimental metal.

Justin Broadrick's vocals provide a nice counterpoint to the dirge-like music. His voice is earnest and adds some brightness to the sometimes depressing tone of the songs. Sometimes solemn and serious, other times melodic and optimistic, Conqueror is an album that unfolds a little more each time you listen to it, until you finally absorb all the depth and subtleties within.

Resurrection is the perfect title for this CD. They weren't quite dead, but Chimaira rose up and have released their best album to date. On their fourth album the Cleveland, Ohio band have concocted a lethal mix of old school thrash and modern metalcore. They even show a little of their progressive side with the nearly ten minute long song "Six." The songs have great riffs and solos along with monstrous breakdowns and brutal drumming. The keyboards add a lot of atmosphere and give the band a unique sound.

Chimaira is able to go all out with angry lyrics and really heavy music, but also reign it in with a more measured and technical approach. Mark Hunter's vocals are passionate and emotional, but also understandable.

Thrash metal is all about the guitars, and Exodus has two excellent ones in Gary Holt and Lee Altus. Their distinctive riffs and complex solos are the backbone of the band. This album also features the return of original drummer Tom Hunting.

The songs on The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A are thundering and powerful, and also very memorable. This is the second Exodus album for vocalist Rob Dukes, who jumped in and fit in perfectly on the last album. He is even more comfortable here and displays powerful, intense and emotional vocals. There are never any huge surprises on an Exodus album, but you know you are going to get first class thrash music.

Marduk's ability to play at breakneck speeds is well documented, and they display some of that on this album, but they also have several mid-tempo songs and even a slow song or two. Catchy riffs and crisp production showcase the songs that are dark and dense, extreme yet still very listenable. It has everything you want and expect from a Marduk CD, but there are some interesting and new elements that may surprise you.

Rom 5:12 is the second Marduk studio album with Mortuus doing vocals, and he does an excellent job and has improved since Plague Angel. They also bring back former vocalist Joakim Gothberg on the song "Cold Mouth Prayer," which is a real blast from the past. Alan Averill of Primordial also guests on another track.

The Art Of Partying is a crushing blast of crossover thrash. Municipal Waste has a great sense of humor. But just because they have an irreverent attitude and sing about drinking and partying doesn't mean their musicianship is as juvenile as some of their song subjects.

To the contrary, Municipal Waste delivers razor sharp riffs and songs that are very catchy and memorable. Most of the songs on The Art Of Partying careen at lightning speed with blazing guitars and frenzied drums. The controlled chaos periodically eases back into a mid-tempo groove before winding up and blasting off again. There are no wimpy ballads, just 30 minutes of intense crossover thrash to make you bang your head and reach for your favorite beverage.

Silent Waters is Amorphis' second album with new vocalist Tomi Joutsen. The songwriting is even better on this album, combining the intensity of death metal, the complexity of progressive metal and the darkness of gothic metal. The songs are really catchy and memorable with great melodies and musicianship.

It's also an album with a lot of variety. There are songs that are very mainstream and accessible, and others that are more extreme and intense. A range of emotions are portrayed in the atmosphere of the songs, from somber melancholy ballads to emotional mid-tempo songs to angry and intense songs and passages. The vocals are mostly melodic with a few death metal style growls, which add even more diversity to the album.

The Blackening has all the ingredients: really good thrash riffs, excellent solos, catchy melodies, memorable choruses, a lot of diversity, compelling lyrics and well-written songs. Machine Head is as angry as ever, with cutting riffs and angst filled vocals. But that anger is perfectly balanced by hooks and melody.

Many songs are epic, with several clocking in near the ten minute mark. Even though they are long, there is little if any filler, no noodling and no pretentiousness at all. Robb Flynn's vocals are mostly angry yells, but he also has more laid back vocal parts and even some melodic singing. His lyrics are very politically charged and make no bones about his unhappiness with what's going on in the world.

Tervaskanto is a dose of rousing Finnish humppa metal, using instruments like flutes, jouhilkkos and accordians along with the usual metal guitars. It's a combination of folk metal and drinking songs that is a lot of fun to listen to. The songs are mostly upbeat and joyous, but there are a couple of slower and more melancholy songs, although not as many as on past albums.

Jonne Järvelä's vocals are melodic, but with a rough edge. It makes you want to sing along, even though you probably don't know Finnish. There are also a couple of instrumentals that further showcase the humppa metal sound. Korpiklaani are an unconventional band with a lot of energy and spirit, and Tervaskanto is a great folk metal album.

Wolves In The Throne Room plays raw black metal with folk influences. The band has a strong relationship with nature, and describes their music this way: "The music is about wild forests, unfettered rivers, nature: furious and vengeful." That's an apt description, because the songs are sometimes fierce and angry, other times subdued and introspective.

The vocals on Two Hunters are typical harsh black metal rasps. There are also guest vocals on two of the four songs on the album from Jessica Kinney, who sings with an ethereal and mellow soprano. Her warm vocals contrast the cold atmosphere of the music and the male vocals. Wolves In The Throne Room aren't afraid to take risks and try to inject something new into the black metal genre.

Replacing Messiah Marcolin was a tough chore, and the band scoured the world finding Solitude Aeturnus vocalist Robert Lowe. King Of The Grey Islands is a concept album about depression and suicide in today's society. The dark subjects fit in well with Candlemass' doomy style. It's a heavy and dense album with powerful down-tuned riffs and some trippy guitar solos. There are a few progressive and psychedelic moments as well.

Lowe's vocal style is completely different than Marcolin's. His voice is less operatic and he's more of a traditional metal singer. He has a good range and sings with a lot of expression and emotion. The songs are catchy and well-written, and Robert Lowe's vocals fit in perfectly with the band's style.