The best heavy metal CDs released in 2008.
Heavy metal DVDs aren't a recent phenomenon, but their popularity seems to be increasing every year. 2008 saw a ton of metal DVDs hit the shelves, ranging from concerts to video collections to documentaries. The number of DVD reviews on this site has also increased quite a bit in 2008. In previous years I just named a single DVD in my annual metal awards post, but this year there are enough qu…
Putting together year end lists is always difficult, and for 2008 there were several strong candidates for the best CD. I picked Opeth's
Watershed. Here's what Opeth frontman Mikael Akerfeldt had to say about being number one: "Well, on behalf of the band I wanna say thanks a 1000 for giving us the top spot for album of the year with
Watershed. Yeah, it's fair to say we're happy wi…
In Hollywood, movies released in January aren't usually very good. The studios save the dregs and dump it at the beginning of the year. Not so in metal. Although 2008 is getting off to a slower start than 2007 when it comes to the depth of quality, there are still some good CDs released so far in 2008. Here are my choices for January 2008's best heavy metal CDs.
After getting off to a moderate start, February was a really strong month. 3 CDs received 4.5 out of 5 ratings, and picking the number one slot was difficult. There were also several 4 star CDs released this month, making it a month with a lot of depth. That bodes well for the rest of 2008. Here are my choices for the best heavy metal CDs released in February 2008.
March was a bit weaker than February, with only one release having a 4.5/5 rating. There were also fewer 4/5 rated CDs in March than last month. Still, there are several strong CDs that came out this month, including at least a couple you'll probably see on my year end best of list.
For the second straight month there was only one CD that got a 4.5 out of 5 rating. So far it's been a year with a lot of excellent releases, but only a few outstanding ones. Arsis stood above the masses this month, but a great comeback from Testament and solid new releases from Children Of Bodom, The Sword and Boris also made my top five releases of April, 2008.
It was another average at best month for metal releases. May was the third consecutive month with only one CD garnering a 4.5 out of 5 review. There were also only a few four star efforts this month. June looks to be much stronger with some pretty big name releases on the horizon. Here are my choices for the best five CDs released in May 2008.
Now that the summer is heating up, so are the releases. June was the strongest month so far when it comes to the depth and breadth of really good CDs. This month's number one is also my top CD so far this year. There were a bunch of releases that received 4 out of 5 stars, and it was extremely difficult to narrow them down to the best five. Here's my list of the best metal CDs release…
After June was the strongest month so far in 2008 as far as the quality and depth of new metal CDs, July crashes back down to earth. The physical number of releases slows down a bit in the summer, and there weren't as many new releases to choose from in July. Only one CD received a 4.5 out of 5 rating, so it wasn't tough to choose the number one CD. There were also only a handful of 4 star rev…
As the dog days of summer wind down, August was a pretty quiet month for metal. The quantity of releases was low, but that should pick up dramatically in September. The quality was good, with a couple of high profile releases. This month's top five has a very international flavor, with British bands making a very strong showing. There's only one American band on August's list.
September was the strongest month of 2008 so far when it came to the quality and depth of new CD releases. Almost any other month this year the latest from Iced Earth, Metal Church, Destruction and Toxic Holocaust would have easily made the top 5, but not in September. It was really difficult narrowing down this month's top five, but here is my list.
As 2008 winds down, it's time to start thinking about the best metal releases of the year. A couple on this month's list will probably end up on my year end list. October was a strong month, with two CDs garnered 4.5 out of 5 stars, and several rated four stars. Here are my choices for the best heavy metal CDs released in October.
2008 wraps up with a mediocre month. Not a single CD garnered a 4.5 out of 5 star rating. There were several that rated a 4 out of 5. This month's champion makes a welcome comeback after an absence of 15 years. Here are my selections for the best heavy metal CDs relewassed in November, 2008.
