2007 Best Heavy Metal CDs

With a Dillinger Escape Plan CD, you expect technical and complex mathcore/grindcore. Ire Works delivers that in spades. The brutality begins with the opening track "Fix Your Face," which features a guest appearance from former vocalist Dimitri Minakakis. But DEP shows they are about a lot more than technicality and anger. Songs like "Black Bubblegum" are as mainstream as the band has ever done, with melodic vocals and a catchy, radio-friendly chorus.

In addition to the melodic songs and the mathcore/grindcore tracks, DEP also explores a more experimental and eclectic side with jazzy, electronica influenced instrumentals and songs. Greg Puciato's screaming ability has never been questioned, and his melodic singing is more than capable.

To The Nameless Dead is an epic combination of Celtic, pagan, folk and black metal. Primordial takes the listener through sparse and majestic melodies, steady and powerful riffs, and intense black metal. The songwriting is outstanding, with layers of thick guitars and subtle atmosphere that ties together the lightness of Celtic/folk metal with the majesty of pagan metal and the bleakness of black metal.

Vocalist Alan Averill, aka "Naihmass Nemtheanga" is able to croon melodically, sing with a more aggressive style, and do harsh vocals with equal skill. To The Nameless Dead is one of those albums that draws you in and envelops you, making you feel like you're listening from the inside out instead of the other way around.

The songs on Death Is This Communion are thundering sludge/stoner metal with thick riffs and slicing guitar solos. Everything is heavy, but High On Fire speeds up the tempo on several tracks and really get the groove going. They also are able to ease up on the throttle and crank up the intensity with crushing doom metal. Even though the songs are really dense and heavy, there is still plenty of melody to make things memorable.

It also showcases Middle Eastern sounds on a couple of songs and you'll hear acoustic guitar along with the traditional downtuned electrics. Vocalist/guitarist Matt Pike is the star of the show with his excellent guitar work and raspy vocals, which have really improved over the course of High On Fire's career.

Melechesh has a unique and instantly recognizable sound, and their fourth CD is their strongest so far. Emissaries is highly diverse and accessible, probably the most accessible album Melechesh has done. They blend really catchy thrash riffs with black metal. They use middle eastern instruments throughout, but they are really showcased on the instrumental "The Scribes Of Kur."

This CD was actually mixed twice. After everything was finished the band wasn't satisfied with the sound of the album and went back and had it completely remixed. It was a good decision. It's not the low-fi muddled mess you sometimes hear on black metal releases. It's crisp and clear, which allows you to hear both the band's bleakness and their melodic side.

Rise Of The Tyrant is a fierce yet extremely catchy dose of melodic death metal. The band brought back Fredrik Nordstrom, who produced their first several albums. His presence did not cause the band to revert to a retro sound, but kept the trademark elements of the band's style while their songwriting and musicianship keeps moving forward.

The songs on this album are really melodic, with great guitar work from Chris and Mike Amott. Their chemistry is evident, and even though the songs have great grooves and riffs, there is still plenty of heaviness and brutality. It's a dark and dynamic CD with plenty of diversity in both music and vocals. Angela Gossow gets better with each release, and her angry vocals are powerful and emotional.

Phantom Limb combines bludgeoning grindcore with death metal and a surprising amount of melody. So many grindcore bands play ultrafast and are really brutal, but the songs run together and everything sounds the same. Not so with Pig Destroyer. They can play as fast and aggressive as anybody else, but they temper that with interesting riffs, groovy breaks and changes in tempo.

The album has really short, traditional grindcore style songs that clock in at a minute or so, but also have longer and more intricate songs that are three or four minutes in length. It's the best of all worlds. Phantom Limb is violent and brutal, but also creative, clever and very memorable.

United Abominations is the best Megadeth album in at least a decade. The band's current lineup is a good one, with guitarist Glen Drover, bassist James LoMenzo and drummer Shawn Drover. This CD features some outstanding guitar work from Drover and Mustaine. There are some killer riffs, and it's nice to hear some classic style extended solos.

Mustaine pulls no punches in his lyrics. Like the man, they are direct and straight to the point and leave no question to his interpretation of current political and social topics. As someone who has been listening to Megadeth since the very beginning, it's great to hear them make an album in 2007 that's still powerful and relevant and will appeal to a wide cross section of metal fans.

The 2007 version of Mayhem is as grim as ever, and Ordo Ad Chao is an outstanding black metal album. The production is sparse and low-fi,with a lot of treble and not much bass. The songs are evil and disturbing in true Mayhem fashion, and once your ears adjust to the production style it's even better.

The album is atmospheric, but there are also some interesting riffs that catch your ear. The star of Ordo Ad Chao is Hellhammer. His drumming is simply crushing. Attila's vocals are harsh and demonic, and his return has improved the band's sound. Mayhem helped define a genre of music, and there's always the concern that a veteran band just doesn't have it any more. That's not the case with Mayhem, who continue to deliver.

The Apostasy is a crushing album that also has fantastic musicianship. Behemoth also infuses some Middle Eastern influences into a few of the songs, which adds an interesting flavor. Inferno's drumming is really good, and whether he's playing blast beats at lightning speed or keeping a monster groove on the slower songs, his playing is flawless. The songs on this album are really catchy, and the main reason is that are so many different clever riffs packed into each track.

Nergal's distinctive vocals are a little more raw than on the past couple albums. Between the less produced vocals and the increased speed and intensity on the songs, this is Behemoth's most extreme CD so far, and one of their best.

Dark Tranquillity have been around for a long time, have perfected and refined their sound and rarely disappoint. Fiction has a lot of diversity and the perfect balance of melody and brutality. The songs are well written with catchy hooks and great riffs. The keyboards add extra atmosphere without being too obtrusive. Dark Tranquillity has infused a lot of variety into this album, with tracks ranging from fast thrash metal to medium tempo death metal to slower, almost gothic metal.

Mikael Stanne does an excellent job with the vocals. They are aggressive and varied and you can even understand his rasps. He also attempts some melodic singing, which is serviceable, and there are some female melodic vocals on one of the songs as well.