1. Exodus - The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A (Nuclear Blast)
Nuclear Blast Records
The songs 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.
2. Nightwish - Dark Passion Play (Roadrunner)
Roadrunner Records
It opens with the 14 minute epic "The Poet And The Pendulum," which sets the stage. Nightwish's music is bombastic, symphonic and cinematic, with keyboards and strings creating a gothic atmosphere. There are crunchy guitars that add heavy riffs. Dark Passion Play, whether loud and epic, or subdued and acoustic, is always very melodic with memorable choruses and a lot of hooks.
3. Skeletonwitch - Beyond The Permafrost (Prosthetic)
Prosthetic Records
Chance Garnett is Skeletonwitch's vocalist, and he uses both a high pitched evil black metal rasp and a low pitched death metal growl. The songs, although aggressive and extreme, are also very catchy with some memorable melodies. Beyond The Permafrost is an impressive album that should appeal to old school thrash fans, modern thrash fans, black metal fans, and metal fans in general.
4. Helloween - Gambling With The Devil (SPV)
SPV Records
Making the album even better is the performance of Andi Deris. These are his strongest vocals in quite a while. They have power, range, texture and emotion. Even after over twenty years and a dozen albums, Gambling With The Devil shows Helloween still has some gas left in the tank.
5. Limbonic Art - Legacy Of Evil (Candlelight)
Candlelight Records
It's also a nicely balanced effort. There is a good combination of songs that are slower and melancholy with faster, more evil sounding tracks. Daemon's black metal vocals are the dominant style, with only some brief melodic or clean vocals. That also makes the album sound more aggressive and brutal. There are a few lulls, but Legacy Of Evil is a welcome return for Limbonic Art, and shows the black metal veterans are still developing their musical legacy.
