 |
| Chris Galea |
|
| Important releases in 2013 (Top 50) |
A2Z “Parasites Of Paradise”
ALESSANDRO BERTONI “Keystone”
ANTOINE FAFARD “Occultus Tramitis”
ANTON JOHANSSON “Galahad Suite”
ARC ANGEL “Harlequins Of Light”
ARTILLERY “Legions”
AVATARIUM “Avatarium”
AYREON “The Theory Of Everything”
BENEDICTUM “Obey”
BLACK SABBATH “13”
BURZUM “Sol austan, Mani vestan”
CARCASS “Surgical Steel”
CATHEDRAL “Last Spire”
CIRCLE OF ILLUSION “Jeremia”
COSMOGRAF “The Man Left In Space”
DAMNATION ANGELS “Bringer Of Light”
DEATH ANGEL “The Dream Calls For Blood”
DEICIDE “In The Minds Of Evil”
DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE “A Lovecraftian Rock Opera”
ENFORCER “Death By Fire”
EPHEL DUATH “Hemmed By Light, Shaped By Darkness”
EXIVIOUS “Liminal”
FATES WARNING “Darkness In A Different Light”
GALAHAD “Beyond The Realms Of Euphoria”
GOLDEN RESURRECTION “One Voice For The Kingdom”
HAKEN “The Mountain”
IRON MAN “South Of The Earth”
LINGUA MORTIS ORCHESTRA “LMO”
MOUNT SALEM “Endless” (EP)
NEBULOUS “The Quantum Transcendence Of Death”
NIGHTFALL “Cassiopeia”
NOMAD SON “The Darkening”
ONSLAUGHT “VI”
ORPHANED LAND “All Is One”
PENTAGRAM (Chile) “The Malefice”
PESTILENCE “Obsidio”
PINK CREAM 69 “Ceremonial”
PROCESSION “To Reap Heavens Apart”
ROYAL HUNT “A Life To Die For”
SALEM “Forgotten Dreams”
SATAN “Life Sentence”
SATAN’S HOST “Virgin Sails”
STRYPER “No More Hell To Pay”
SUPREMA “Traumatic Scenes”
SUPURATION “Cube 3”
TENGGER CAVALRY “The Expedition”
THE GATHERING “Afterwords”
TRAIL OF TEARS “Oscillation”
TRISTANIA “Darkest White”
VIRGIL DONATI “In This Life”
+ all those great albums I didn’t have the time or opportunity to listen to (yet)!! |
|
Best band related websites |
|
MICHAEL WHELAN (Link – cover artist for bands such as Obituary, Sepultura, Cirith Ungol)
DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT (Link)
DEATH ANGEL (Link)
LUNA OBSCURA (Link)
OPETH (Link) |
| Best comeback |
|
PENTAGRAM (Chile) |
|
Best gigs |
|
HELLOWEEN/GAMMA RAY/SHADOWSIDE (Hellish Rock Tour II) @ ‘The Forum’, London (England) – 16th April
CARCASS/ASOMVEL @ ‘The Underworld’, London (England) – 27th March
PYREXIA/BEHEADED/UNFATHOMABLE RUINATION/BLAPSHTISED/REGURGITATE LIFE @ ‘The Unicorn’, London (England) – 7th March |
| Most promising newcomers 2013 |
|
SOULDRINKER (Germany - Link )
MORTAD (Iran/England - Link)
SUMER (England - Link)
ANGELLORE (France - Link)
ABRASANTIA (Argentina - Link) |
| Best films seen |
|
“Europa Report” (dir.: Sebastiįn Cordero)
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” (dir.:Peter Jackson)
“Viking Saga: The Darkest Day” (dir.: Gareth John Bale) |
| Best Music-related film or DVD |
|
“Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet” (dir.: Jessie Vile)
“Pilgrimages Of Doom” (Nomad Son) |
|
Wishes for 2014
Hope is a waking dream…except for insomniacs. |
|
| Haydee G |
|
| Important releases in 2013 |
Ayreon - The Theory of Everything
Freedom Call - Ages Of Light
Fleshgod Apocalypse - Labyrinth
Keep of Kalessin - Introspection (EP)
Shade Empire - Omega Arcane
Stormlord - Hesperia
Stratovarius – Nemesis |
| Live show 2013 |
|
Ensiferum, Turisas and Nile |
| Newcomer 2013 |
| Dichotomy |
| Things you could have been without in 2013 |
People who complain about every little thing and don't know to be considerate in public places. |
|
Looking forward to in 2014
Going ice fishing.
Hiking up the mountain, seeing new and interesting sceneries.
Seeing Robocop and the third Hobbit movie.
Attending live gigs, maybe festivals.
Listening to Wintersun's Time II.
Listening to more metal. |
|
| Jason Spencer |
|
|
Important releases in 2013 |
|
Haken - The Mountain
Riverside - SONGS
Votum - Harvest Moon
Sound of Contact - Dimensionaut
Echoes of Giants - At the End of Myself
Teeth of the Sea - Master
Toxic Smile - 7
Oblivion Sun - The High Places
The Twenty Committee - A Lifeblood Psalm
Fughu - Human
Hibernal - The Machine
Cyril - Gone through Years
Illusion Suite - Iron Cemetery
Projected Twin - Earth vs World
Cynthesis - ReEvolution
Big Big Train - EE2
Bader Nana- Anthology
Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep
Jolly - The Audio Guide to Happiness, Part 2
Fright Pig - Out of the Barnyard |
| Live show 2013 |
|
Riverside/Jolly in Chicago |
| Newcomer 2013 |
Sound of Contact
The Twenty Committee
State Urge
Echoes of Giants
Cyril |
Thing you could have been without: |
Stress/financial issues
Deaths in the family |
|
Wishes for 2014
Safe birth of my new child (due in January)
Career changes
Moving away from the city
All my anticipated albums to be AMAZING |
|
| Kenn Jensen |
|
| Important releases in 2013 |
|
Haken - The Mountain
Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep
Queensr’che - Queensr’che
Orphaned Land - All Is One
Alter Bridge - Fortress
Jolly - The Audio Guide to Happiness, Part 2
Honorable mention:
Dreams in the Witch House - A Lovecraftian Rock Opera |
| Live show 2013 |
|
Live show, ehh - I did see a cool ol' man: Leonard Cohen. Does that count? |
| Newcomer 2013 |
Scorpion Child
Sound of Contact
Dreams in the Witch House
Twilight of the Gods |
| Things you could have been without in 2013 |
|
With the exception of 49ers defeat in the SuperBowl, 2013 has been quite good... |
|
Wishes for 2014
A great metal year with loads of great music! First and foremost by: Opeth, Threshold, Transatlantic, Headspace and Seventh Wonder. |
|
| Matt Fabi |
|
| Important releases in 2013 |
Kreator - Dying Alive
Warbringer - IV: Empires Collapse
Queensr’che - Queensr’che |
| Live show 2013 |
|
Kiss at Hellfest. |
| Newcomer 2013 |
| Skreamer |
| Things you could have been without |
|
The over the top hype for the new Avenged Sevenfold album. Or simply, Avenged Sevenfold hype in general. |
|
Wishes for 2014
Van Halen to bring a tour over to the UK. Preferably with Mr Big supporting. Also, I've GOT to go to Wacken. |
|
| Patrik Skoglund |
|
| Important releases in 2013 |
|
Snakecharmer – Snakecharmer
Rage of Angels – Dreamworld
Audrey Horne – Youngblood
W.E.T – Rise Up
Avantasia – The Mystery of Time
Pretty Maids – Motherland
Black Star Riders – All Hell Breaks Loose
Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall - Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall
James Christian – Lay It All On Me
Red Rose – On The Cusp of Change
Degreed – We Don’t Belong
Arc Angel Harlequins of Light
The Winery Dogs – The Winery Dogs
Stryper- No More Hell To Pay
Dream Theater – Dream Theater
Crystal Ball – Dawnbreaker
Silent Force – Rising From Ashes
New Device – Here We Stand
Motorhead – Aftershock
Avenged Sevenfold – Hail To The King |
| Live show 2013 |
|
ASIA (Sweden Rock)
Rush (Sweden Rock)
Hardline (Sweden Rock)
Devin Townsend Project (Sweden Rock)
H.E.A.T (Väsby Rock)
Impera (Väsby Rock)
Love.Might.Kill (Väsby Rock)
Bruce Springsteen (Stockholm)
Legends of Rock (Lycksele)
Europe (Sweden Rock)
Survivor (Sweden Rock) |
| Newcomer 2013 |
|
Snowfall
BluesPills
Saffire
Electro_Nomicon
Find Me
Rage of Angels |
| Things you could have been without in 2013 |
All my good friends who died this year. |
|
Wishes for 2014
I wish for another sunny and hot Sweden Rock Festival in June and that I can go to Upplands Väsby rock in July. I also hope to stay healthy and well prepared for my big personal goals next year. Vasaloppet 90km cross country skiing in March and Vätternrundan 300km on my bike in June. |
|
| Reinier de Vries |
|
| Important releases in 2013 |
|
Stonelake - Monolith
Reign of the Architect - Rise
Amorphis - Circle
The Monolith Deathcult - Tetragrammaton
Starkill - Fires of Life
Fleshgod Apocalypse - Labyrinth
Carcass - Surgical Steel
Izegrim - Congress of the Insane
Death Angel - The Dreams Calls For Blood
Hell - Curse & Chapter
Dimaeon - Collapse of the Anthropocene
Chronos Zero - A Prelude into Emptiness
We Are Legend - Rise of the Legend
Orphaned Land - All is One |
| Live show 2012 |
|
The Monolith Deathcult (DOA)
Six Feet Under (DOA)
Bliksem (Into the Grave)
Jungle Rot (Into the Grave) |
| Newcomer 2013 |
Chronos Zero
Starkill
We Are Legend |
| Things you could have been without in 2013 |
|
Stress |
|
Wishes for 2014
A sunny edition of Dokk' em Open Air would be fine.
That everyone I love stays healthy. |
|
| Slatoslav Slaveykov |
|
| Important releases in 2013 |
Protector - Reanimated Homunculus
Pestilence - Obsideo
Fueled By Fire - Trapped in Perdition |
| Live show 2013 |
|
Far away from the big halls and stadiums in a small club I saw Paul Speckmann and his band - Master. This gig turned into the show of the year for me! |
| Newcomer 2013 |
|
|
| Things you could have been without in 2013 |
1.) There were not (or at least I did not come upon) on strong titles in Funeral Doom Metal.
2.) There were not pure sludge metal releases. The commercial stoner very fast spoils the genre. |
|
Things that would have made 2013 better |
| There is a multitude of American bands that although they sell well can not make their own songs. We already got used to them, but: the repulsive robbery of CARCASS by TRIVIUM and the continuous playing of a definite track (you get it, don’t you!?!) on the specialized radio stations – I can't stand it anymore. |
|
Wishes for 2014
1.) Metal to continue to be the main tool for expressing our disaffection! The world not to reach global armed collisions!
2.) The appearance significant releases in funeral doom metal and sludge metal again! |
|
| Thomas Nielsen |
|
| Important releases in 2013 |
Carcass - Surgical Steel (The old grind masters showed everyone what's what with this album. Period.)
Secrets of the Sky - To Sail Black Waters (US doom death the way I really like it!)
Amorphis - Circle (Amorphis with a bit more grrrrr than we've seen in a long time. Suits the Finns.)
Queensr’che - Queensr’che (In the battle of the Queensr’ches, Queensr’che won...errr, the version without Geoff Tate, that is...)
Heaven Shall Burn - Veto (Hammer album, again.)
Cathedral - The Last Spire (With sadness in our hearts we say goodbye to one of doom metal's best bands.)
Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods (Not quite the hit wonder Twilight of the Thundergod was. but still a very, very good album.)
Deicide - In The Minds Of Evil (Glen Benton is back with a vengeance. The best Deicide album since forever.)
Jex Thoth - Moon Blood Rise (Intriguing stuff. Good stuff.)
Deep Purple - Now What?! (These old geezers have cut a fine album, and you know what, I somehow like it better than Sabbath's '13'. Odd and surprising.)
Black Sabbath - 13 (Well, fair enough, Sabbath also deserves a spot of the important releases list. They are, after all, the almighty Black sodding Sabbath, aren't they?) |
| Live show 2013 |
|
Rammstein at Wacken - They came, they saw, they jizzed all over Wacken!
Danzig at Wacken - Surprisingly strong performance by Evil Elvis and his crew. For so many reasons a wonderful experience.
Napalm Death in Aalborg. |
| Newcomer 2013 |
|
|
| Things you could have been without in 2013 |
|
Jeff Hannemann's untimely passing. Metal has lost one of it's greatest riff masters. RIP, Jeff.
Bands who still think that black metal a la 1993 is the sassiest shite on the planet. It's not. It sucks. Stop it.
Hearing Burton C. Bell not being able to cope with those clean vocals once more. Go to Plan B, please. |
|
Disappointment of the year |
| Soundgarden live wasn't at all what I'd hoped it would be. Very little energy there. |
|
Wishes for 2014
Bolt Thrower playing somwhere near me! Oh, and they release a new album (did I write that last year as well?!).
Lords of metal, grant me more time to enjoy metal! |
|
| Tommy Skųtt |
|
| Important releases in 2013 |
Prospekt – The Colourless Sunrise
Haken – The Mountain
TesseracT – Altered State
Kingcrow – In Crescendo
Persefone – Spiritual Migration |
| Live show 2013 |
|
Kamelot (Lille Vega)
Strip bar (location unknown) … |
| Biggest surprise to jump out of this year’s “METAL” cake is |
|
Prospekt – The Colourless Sunrise |
| “Trash” metal of 2013 |
| Lifeforms – Multidimensional (it had some good moments though…) |
| Best video performance of 2013 |
| Haken – Cockroach King |
| The ULTIMATE metal tune of 2013 |
| Haken – Falling Back to Earth |
|
Wishes for 2014
Zierler Projects – A new project led by mastermind Finn Zierler of Beyond Twilight. Do I need to say more?
Anubis Gate – One of the leading forces on the Danish prog scene has recently released their critically acclaimed EP “Sheep”, and with such a masterfully crafted EP, my anticipations to their forthcoming full album are growing to almost unlimited heights.
Wintersun – Time II. It was on my wish list last year as well, but here it comes again. I hope the “Sons of Winter and Stars” have arisen from their graves, and will surprise us in the upcoming year.
Seventh Wonder – It is time for frontman Tommy Karavik, who replaced Roy Khan in Kamelot, and been touring and tearing up the stages all over Europe, to return to his old prog roots with SW.
Headspace –They are currently working hard on their sophomore album, so I am crossing my fingers that the magic will happen next year.
Opeth – I’m still demanding a worthy follow up to their masterpiece “Ghost Reveries” \m/.
Teramaze – Dean Wells, the founder of Teramaze, has confirmed that all songs are mixed, and the final product shipped off for mastering. Therefore, a new release is just around the corner.
Vanden Plas – I surely miss the presence of Andy Kuntz voice, but the German prog machine has finally announced a new album in 2014 entitled “Chronicles of the Immortals – Netherworld”. Bring it on \m/.
Distorted Harmony – They are working hard on a follow up to last year’s biggest surprise called “Utopia”.
Vildhjarta – THALL 2014 \m/.
Less meat and more muscles surrounding my bones…
More money to visit the live show of the following acts…
-
TesseracT
-
Dream Theater
-
Iron Maiden (Copenhell)
And more spare time left for enjoying metal in my busy calendar… |
| My top 20 “Knockout Kings of Steel” (in random order) of 2013 |
- Prospekt – The Colourless Sunrise
- TesseracT – Altered State
- Kingcrow – In Crescendo
- Ovid’s Withering – Scryers of the Ibis
- Persefone – Spiritual Migration
- Dante – November Red
- Epysode – Fantasmagoria
- Caligula’s Horse – The Tide, The Thief & River’s End
- Leprous – Coal
- Deadly Circus Fire – The King and the Bishop
- Aeon Zen – Enigma
- Circles – Infinitas
- Haken – The Mountain
- Dream Theater – Dream Theater
- Thought Chamber – Psykerion
- Boil – aXiom (sadly the group has disbanded)
- Divided Multitude – Feed On Your Misery
- Until Rain – Anthem to Creation
- Germįn Pascual – A New Beginning (it was released last year and somehow managed to slip through my fingers, so there you go )
- The Ocean – Pelagial
|
|
|
|
