2010 Best Heavy Metal CDs

The songs on The Never Ending Way Of Orwarrior are complex and layered, painstakingly constructed and diverse. There are elements of traditional metal blended with a lot of progressive parts and some Middle Eastern flavor. The 15 tracks on the album are weaved together to form a cohesive musical tapestry. If you deconstruct that tapestry, you'll find a multitude of tempos, intensities, textures and emotions.

Right off the bat, “Sapari” introduces female vocals to the mix along with Kobi Farhi's singing and growling. “From Broken Vessels” is a seven minute plus song that combines heavy riffs and harsh vocals with lengthy instrumental sections, folky parts and catchy melodies.  One of the many highlights of the album is “Disciples Of The Sacred Oath II,” the longest track on The Way Of Orwarrior that encapsulates all the varied elements Orphaned Land brings to the table in one song.

Immolation have always been a band to buck death metal conventions. Rather than resorting to all out blasts to convey a sense of brutality, Immolation rely upon totally unconventional song structures; that is, within what is usually classified as brutal death metal, to give their music a feeling of spiraling, uncontrolled chaos. Immolation have adopted this unique approach to death metal, and have honed their craft to near perfection on Majesty and Decay.

What's most impressive about Immolation is their ability to write and perform very complex musical compositions without resorting to the progressive/ technical tricks, if you will, that are prevalent in most overtly technical death metal outfits operating today. The unusual time changes, the different riffs that flow within a song, the precise vocals from Ross Dolan, all are written together seamlessly.

Addicts: Black Meddle Part 2  is a brave and passionate album that will have its detractors much like its predecessor. But anyone who gives this album an honest listen would have a hard time disputing that it is startling and original. Much of the credit again rests with frontman Blake Judd.  His devil-may-care attitude is the reason Nachtmystium continues to release such ambitious music.

Judd rolls the dice on each song and lets the musical jukebox in his head take listeners to unexpected places; “Nightfall” is close to radio friendly, yet rooted with a catchy '80s metal groove; “No Funeral” pays homage to his early love of Nine Inch Nails and industrial music and “Blood Trance Funeral”  is a classic black metal track (outside of the lyrics) with hints of a Moog synthesizer.

The musicianship and sheer technical prowess displayed by the musicians in Decrepit Birth is hard to top, even in a genre known for the technical skills of the top acts. Unbelievably fluid guitar and bass work is backed up by exceptionally precise drumming, covering a wide range of tempos, throughout the course of the entire album. In short, Polarity is a tour de force of precise musicianship.

Further aiding the cause of Decrepit Birth on Polarity is a production with the expected clarity enhanced in heaviness with more prominence given to the bass. The mix is flawless, and there’s no denying the sheer heaviness of the album. Given the near flawless qualities of the album thus far described, the remaining question becomes this: is the songwriting catchy and engaging enough for those simply looking for good, well constructed songs? The answer is yes.

Melechesh, the masters of Mesopotamian metal, return after a four year absence with The Epigenesis. It builds off the steady foundation of Middle Eastern-tinged black metal the band diligently crafted on Emissaries. Experimenting with song structures and varied tempos keeps the album from stumbling into pretentious babble.

The Epigenesis is a hefty album, the longest by the band so far, but there are several songs that count as the best material the band has ever written. The catchy undertones of “Grand Gathas Of Baal Sin” is a concert favorite in the making. “Mystics Of The Pillar” balances all the band’s elements, both heavy and melodic, into one tight package. The 12-minute closing title track is a blackened progressive rock jam for the ages. The band lets loose in the studio armed with a plentiful supply of lead guitar licks and unplanned shifts in tone.

Agalloch immediately leap out as a band that pays great attention to musical detail within their compositions. The album’s base is a semi-melodic form of black metal with a few blasts scattered here and there, some fast riffs, and generally gruff vocals. Elements of progressive folk metal, melodic black metal, samples of bubbling streams and other sounds of the forests of the Pacific Northwest, all play a part in Marrow of the Spirit.

As you increasingly become engrossed as Marrow of the Spirit progresses, though, the harder hitting elements of black metal become much less prevalent. The album downshifts quite often into mild acoustic guitar, piano and violins. Choruses of clean vocals appear, nicely complementing the quiet, progressive melodies. Agalloch periodically veer off the beaten path, as well, with a couple of truly strange moments of dark ambient music on the fourth track, “Black Lake Nidstang,” a song of considerable songwriting variation. 

Each song on After is painstakingly composed and arranged, and the album flows extremely well. Ihsahn utilizes many different tempos, textures and intensities throughout the album, embarking on a musical ride with many ups, downs, twists and turns.

After is my favorite Ihsahn solo album. While all three are very well-done, this one resonates more because he continues to experiment and push musical boundaries while still maintaining a readily identifiable sound. Adding the sax was risky, but it fits in very well. The sonic palette on the album is painted with many shades and colors, and you'll discover subtleties and nuances with each listen.

The Final Frontier is a complex, intricate, epic, challenging and ultimately fulfilling effort. When a band has been around for 30 plus years, there usually aren't going to be many surprises in their sound, and with each successive album, it becomes more difficult to avoid repetition. And while The Final Frontier fits firmly in the Maiden sonic pantheon, there are enough twists and turns to set it apart and give it a distinct identity.

The second half of The Final Frontier is really strong. “Isle Of Avalon” is my personal favorite song on this CD. Its 9 minutes ebb and flow in tempo and intensity, with singalong choruses alternating with more complex and progressive sections. “Starblind” is another standout, with some great guitar work. Dickinson's voice is as potent as ever, which is evident throughout.

Triptykon is the logical extension of Celtic Frost version 2.0. Monotheist's contemporary flare, commercially accessible and modern crunchy guitars, and doom laden passages remain in tow; however Eparistera Daimones is darker (though less gothic), more bleak and hateful.

Eparistera Daimones is also heavier and more aggressive, and while these elements are packaged as distinctly as everything else, they are relatively conventional compared to what Tom Fischer normally offers (though the thrashing death march of "A Thousand Lies" is simply unstoppable, somewhat akin to modern-day Sepultura). Musically and vocally, the argument can be made that Fischer has never sounded this disturbed or twisted. His screams are so tortured, his rage so venomous, the riffs so unsettling and/or melancholic ("Abyss Within My Soul") that one might logically infer some level of discontent in Fischer's life

Enslaved has met all expectations, and even exceeded them in some cases with Axioma Ethica Odini. “Ethica Odini” kicks things off, a traditional black metal song with harsh vocals for just over half the song, then more progressive influences kick in along with melodic vocals and even a guitar solo. Enslaved expertly blends the brutal and jagged edges of black metal with melodic and progressive elements throughout Axioma Ethica Odini.

In addition to majestic black metal and progressive metal, Enslaved gives a nod to '70s progressive rock on “Night Sight,” at least in the first part of the song. “Lightening” brings the proceedings to a close, and is one of the best songs on the album.  Axioma Ethica Odini is the type of album that will satisfy black metal fans, but may also appeal to progressive metal aficionados that can handle the harsh vocals. It's another home run for Enslaved, and our number one metal CD of 2010.