This year I did something I had been meaning to do for a long time: I went on a quest to find out what had happened to the two members of Algaion, one of the greatest and most criminally underrated bands with which the metal world has ever been graced. They haven’t been in existence since about 1998 so for me it was high time to solve the mystery. Well vocalist Marten Bjorkman appears to have dropped off the face of the earth but guitarist/bassist/keyboardist/ songwriter extraordinaire Mathias Kamijo has hopped around a bit, most notably playing off and on with Hypocrisy, particularly on tour. And it just so happens that in 2003 he joined N.C.O, which stands for Nephenzy Chaos Order, formerly known just as Nephenzy. Better yet, he wrote every single note of music on this disc. I’m glad I did my detective work because this album, while being anything but groundbreaking, is still quite a compelling listen. The style on offer here is a melodic blackened death metal, most closely resembling Behemoth. The production is thin and the drum work is messy at times, but this release gets points for energy. It charges along with unstoppable bloodlust and I found myself spinning it again and again and again. It also gets points for being an underdog; who the hell besides me will have even heard of this band? So cheers to you, Mathias (known in this band as M Flatline): N.C.O is by no means Algaion, but you can still write some great heavy metal.

Sunride has been making supercharged stoner rock for several albums now, but so what? The stoner genre as a whole is characterized by bands finding a tidy little rut for themselves and grinding away at it to decent effect. That is to say, those sort of bands might excel at playing bad-ass rock ‘n’ roll but that certainly doesn’t mean they make the best albums of the year. That honor is typically reserved for music that pushes boundaries or evolves in some way. Well as it turns out, these Finnish musicians have distinguished themselves from the rest of the fuzz rock pack with their latest album, most notably with the emotional quality of these songs. I find them more engaging on a visceral level than most acts in this genre. Emotion aside, this disc will also hand you a firm ass-kicking via its groove and mid-tempo punch. Oddly enough, the crowning gem of this effort is the closer, which is also the title track. This tune is where the band show the critical evolution that raises the material from good to great. Bashing percussion and distorted but harmonious guitars swirl together to form a soundscape akin to the mighty Isis. The song simmers down about halfway through as a moody acoustic guitar enters, only to be dashed upon the rocks of sonic glory about a minute later when the affair kicks back into high gear. This song isn’t just unusual coming from Sunride, it’s unusual coming from anyone in the stoner rock genre. Quite a refreshing finish to a potent album. Here’s hoping it’s indicative of more experimental greatness in the future.

Doom, thy name is Orodruin. In the tradition of St. Vitus, Pentagram, Candlemass and their ilk, this quartet thunders forth with no frills, no nonsense, and absolutely no mercy. The journey begins with “The Welcoming,” a thick organ intro that’s actually worth listening to because it sets the mood for what’s to follow. “Peasants Lament” then roars in and makes it crystal clear how this trip will go: massive riff after massive riff that would make Tony Iommi proud. “Melancholia” is the quintessential doom song, starting with gloomy bass, touching upon just a bit of feedback, delivering 30 seconds of crushing groove, then settling into plodding punishment. Take note, new-school doom wannabes: this is how it’s done. Okay, so the doom formula is firmly intact, but Orodruin doesn’t stop there. They also employ melody, particularly in the songs “War Cry” and “Unspeakable Truth.” In fact, the latter contains a gorgeous distorted harmony the likes of which I haven’t heard since Astroqueen’s Into Submission disc. Brilliant and awe-inspiring. On top of all these elements is another very effective one: Mike Puleo’s vocals. He has the perfect clean melancholy style for this material and conjures a powerful death bellow here and there as well. These songs shudder with their own life force, with a potency only the best bands can summon. Simply put, no fan of true doom metal should be without this album.

Once again I am compelled to use the word “epic” in a review, as I have done perhaps too many times before. But discard whatever connotations that word brings to mind because Moonsorrow has defined it once and for all. These 8-, 10- and 13-minute long songs are overflowing with pure metal majesty. There are lush keyboards, anthemic chanting, and Celtic melodies galore. However, what is most remarkable about this band’s work is not that they use these elements, it’s that they never once tumble headlong into pomposity while using them. There are plenty of “epic”-sounding bands in the metal realm, but so often their albums are rendered boring and absurd by the overabundance and misuse of an orchestral style. Moonsorrow, on the other hand, are masters of this technique. They keep everything in check, everything in balance while still making their music as grandiose as possible. Thus instead of boredom you are gripped by emotion and power. Instead of growing weary you are compelled to pump your fist in the air. If you are a fan of black/pagan/viking metal, or bands like mid-period Amorphis and Vintersorg, you should make every effort to seek out this disc. Buy it and fulfill your warrior spirit.

Remember the first Metal Church album? Remember how David Wayne’s voice sounded on that release? I never thought I’d hear such a vocal style again but I’ve stumbled across it and believe me when I say YOB’s Michael Scheidt is a dead ringer. But here’s the kicker: this unusual voice is not encompassed in thrash metal, power metal, speed metal, or whatever category you apply to Metal Church. This wail is in fact slithering across the top of churning doom in the vein of Sleep. Those with weak constitutions be forewarned: like Sleep, YOB don’t just play these songs; they unfurl them at a plodding pace for maximum brain melting effect. First track “Aeons” takes a full minute before it grows audible enough to even be heard. Then, at nearly the 4:00 mark, the first crushing guitar riff makes its appearance, sending earthquake-sized vibrations through your sorry skull. Then come the mad vocals. Then Scheidt shakes things up with a scathing death roar (also used elsewhere with brutal effectiveness). Later things simmer down and get wickedly bluesy. And so on and so forth. That first track goes on for 18:16. Middle track “Ether” seems to fly by with its faster rockin’ tempo, and after all, it’s “only” 7:13 in length. But now all bets are off. Closing track (yes, that’s right, there are only three tracks) “Catharsis” rages for a total time of 23:35, threatening apocalypse the whole way. The album highlight, however, occurs in the last few minutes when this musical Mack truck suddenly swerves into Isis-like territory. Glorious harmonic dissonance ensues and lays to waste everything in its path. Goddamn, what a great way to end a great album. Don’t be afraid of this disc because of the long track times; once it gets you in its iron grip you won’t even notice the time, you’ll just be enjoying the ride. If you survive the beating, that is.

Okay, I am officially a Radiohead fan. I initially struggled with putting 2001's Amnesiac on that year’s list, but now there is no question in my mind that Radiohead is deserving of all the recognition they can get. Hail... is less electronic than its predecessor, with most tracks centered around guitar/drums/bass/voice, which I personally enjoy a little more. Amnesiac’s emotional context pretty much floated on three levels: dark, darker and darkest. While I very much appreciate that kind of relentless gloom, the ups and downs on Hail... are actually more satisfying. Variety is a good thing. “Backdrifts,” for example, is pretty damn upbeat and gets me bouncing to the rhythm in short order. It’s followed by “Go to Sleep,” a somewhat somber outing that also manages to rock. “Where I End and You Begin” is then sullen and piercing. In that triptych of songs you have the aforementioned variety but it’s all perfectly blended. Thom Yorke’s voice remains a gorgeous wonder to me; his high pitch never fails to be evocative and diverse, fitting well with every song. A particular highlight is “I Will” where Yorke croons beautifully and his harmony with the background vocals is sublime. Of all these great songs, however, “Myxomatosis” still stands out as a clear favorite. The primary instrument in this song is what I assume to be a synthesizer, and the sound it makes is simply unearthly. It’s sort of a grinding/buzzing/humming, rather difficult to describe. What I can say about it is that it sounds unbelievably cool, downright heavy, and more than a little evil. Unfortunately the last two tracks on the disc are the weakest, but I can forgive that given the quality of the others. Every Radiohead album is a little different from the others and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

All you former Moonspell fans that lost interest after the Irreligious album take note: these guys are back and well worth your attention. After straying off into electronica and what might be called “light industrial” for three albums, the band have created a stunning return to form. Opener “In and Above Men” leaves no doubt that Casio dance beats are a thing of the past, crushed into dust by pure metal brilliance. Fernando Ribeiro’s voice hasn’t sounded this thunderous since...well actually it’s never sounded as good as it does here. Percussion plays a large role in the album; it is massive and clear at the forefront of the mix in several songs, particularly “The Southern Deathstyle” and intro of “From Lowering Skies.” In fact the transition from “In and Above Men” to “From Lowering Skies” is the best I’ve heard in a long time; the bare yet powerful drumming seamlessly joins the two songs together in glorious fashion. The shining quality of this disc comes from what I would call a purity of purpose; the band seem to know exactly what they want and how to get there, employing atmospheric melody in all the right places. This work is unquestionably the most “complete” the band have ever done. It presents itself as a real journey, more than just the sum of its parts. Such a characteristic is undoubtedly helped by the fact that The Antidote is a concept album based around a novel bearing the same name by Jose Luis Peixoto. Moonspell have crafted not only one of the best albums of the year, but probably the best album of their career. Their second album Wolfheart will always claim a spot in my heart as an enduring classic, but The Antidote is simply amazing; a masterful work by a band finally realizing its full potential.

My greatest regret about my Top 15 of 2001 list is that it doesn’t contain Evergrey’s In Search of Truth. What’s worse, that omission is not due to the fact that I acquired the album in 2002; no, I had it in my possession but just hadn’t given it much of a chance by year end. Oh what a grievous error, as that disc easily would have made my top 5, if not my top 3. But life goes on, and this year I’m on the ball. Funny thing about Evergrey: they have a tendency to choose album concepts that are a little too well-worn. In Search of Truth tackled the tiresome subject of alien abductions, but it conveyed the lyrical and musical emotion of the matter with such aplomb that the story could have been about goddamn circus clowns and I wouldn’t have cared. So here we have a new album and what topic does the band choose to tackle? The very controversial Catholic priest/child molestation scandal. Granted, this concept has not been covered by every band on the planet (yet), but by the time this album came out we’d all been beaten into the ground by news coverage on the topic. Nevertheless, here it is and once again the band succeed in painting the anguish, betrayal and grief of the characters in this tale. This album was a bit of a grower for me, whereas the previous effort got under my skin rather quickly. Once I saw the light of this release, however, my love for the band was reinforced yet again. Tom Englund is the best vocalist in progressive metal, with a depth and sincerity that never fail to evoke emotional response. I think his range was greater on In Search of Truth so I was a little disappointed to see that lacking here, but that’s a minor complaint. The wonderful thing about Evergrey is that you can pigeonhole them squarely as a progressive/power metal band, but they have a dark and heavy edge about them that most other bands in the genre do not. I specifically purchased the limited edition version of the album (which comes in a really cool hardcover book packaging) so I could get the bonus track “Trilogy of the Damned.” The trilogy, as it turns out, is actually a medley of three songs from the previous three albums performed with only voice and piano. I would have felt somewhat cheated by this “bonus” were it not for the bloodcurdling scream Mr. Englund releases in the middle of this 9-minute track. It makes the whole thing worthwhile. So here’s to Evergrey for bringing another masterpiece my way. Whatever the subject matter, they always deliver.

When a band gets better and better with each release you start to wonder when the magic will end. Will they reach a creative zenith after which they’ll burn out and fade away? If that happens to Enslaved I hope it does not happen for a very long time. I have admired the band’s albums up to this point, but Below the Lights is an absolute triumph. What’s interesting is that the band seem to have retreated a bit from the abstract progressive style they were delving into on Monumension and Mardraum, instead making a disc that is more direct and to the point. You’d almost expect this change to be a negative one, making them slip a few rungs down the ladder of advancement, but nothing could be further from the truth. I think it’s more a case of these veterans distilling the very best elements of the band’s long history into one potent collection. Melody, atmosphere, aggression – it’s all here – and don’t forget speed. Make that hyperspeed, found in the jaw-dropping “Queen of Night” as fingers fly across guitar strings in what would surely be a blur if you could witness it. If there’s one thing Enslaved knows, it’s riffing. Check out “The Crossing” for astounding stop/start perfection. “Havenless” provides a fantastic detour with its inspiring and empowering chanting. It’s no wonder the band have long been tagged “viking metal.” Songs like this one make you look around for the nearest pint of ale and a ship to sail on while you drink it. And oh yes, it has more bad-ass riffing. The metal world should fall to its knees in gratitude for Enslaved. Few bands have this much spark, this much intensity, this much ability to craft metal masterpieces after a decade or so of existence. Hail!

"So you made it. Shame you had to fake it. So you feigned the way. You’re a fucking disgrace to the name." Thus begins the musical gem that is the latest Antimatter album. The debut, Saviour, was a great disc but it could be hit and miss at times. There are songs on it that are spectacular and others that get a little tiresome while treading a redundant path of ambient dub. Lights Out is more varied, more focused, and definitely more impressive. Antimatter essentially have two members: Duncan Patterson and Mick Moss. Duncan played on several Anathema albums and there was talk at one point about Danny from Anathema joining Antimatter, so prior to hearing Antimatter for the first time I wondered just how Anathema-like they might be. Well, Saviour displays little if any Anathema influence but Lights Out is just the opposite; much of this release is drenched in an Anathema vibe. That’s not to say it sounds derivative or ripped off...no, Antimatter have tapped into the same powerful muse but incorporated it well within their own borders. “The Art of a Soft Landing” is one example, with the latter half building to a chilling crescendo as a guitar shimmers and hums beneath. This section of the song could easily fit on any of Anathema’s last four albums. More remarkable than that is “Reality Clash,” where Mick Moss’ vocals sound so much like Anathema’s Vincent Cavanaugh that for a moment you’d swear Vincent had done a guest appearance. The tone is not quite the same, but the inflection is dead on. Scary and beautiful. With the exception of this song and one other sung primarily by Mick Moss, vocals alternate between Hayley Windsor and Michelle Richfield, both of whom are very competent. There’s also not much difference between their voices so the disc flows very well and doesn’t feel disjointed. Ultimately this work is somber and ethereal, but so moving that it can easily knock you down with its weight. "Lights out as you hit the ground."

Any year with a new Katatonia release is a good year. The band continue down their now well- trodden path of depressive pop with this album, though they inject a fair amount of harsher, more metallic sounds this time around which blend very well with the softer style. In fact, they strike a perfect balance between the two. Emotion and beauty are not sacrificed for heaviness, or vise versa. One thing that seems to be absent, however, are the overt references to The Cure. The previous two discs both had sections that were so Cure-like that they could have fit seamlessly into one of the goth icon’s albums. Here I can’t find any, which perhaps indicates that Katatonia have found an ideal comfort level with this style. Overall, though, they sound much like they have over the last few years; Jonas Renske’s voice is as sweet and somber as ever and the songwriting is top notch. “Evidence” deserves special mention as it is quite possibly the finest song the band have written since Brave Murder Day. This track is simply magical, and it remains that way no matter how many times I spin it (and I have spun it a lot because I would often listen to it two or three times before moving on to the following song). It contains the very essence of what makes Katatonia’s newer albums great: it’s ridiculously catchy yet dripping with gray anguish. This disc may be slightly less cohesive than its predecessor, the brilliant Last Fair Deal Gone Down, but these Swedish masters are still the reigning kings of their gloomy universe. Imitators may come and go, but there’s only one Katatonia.

The story of why I bought this CD is worth sharing. I was on a website purchasing a couple of doom albums–Place of Skulls and Earthride–and after adding Place of Skulls to my shopping cart the site did what many sites do: it recommended other things I might like. Normally this kind of impulse selling, if you will, does not work on me because the recommendations are crap or I already own them. On this occasion it recommended The Mars Volta, a band I had heard mention of somewhere and which had left me vaguely intrigued. I took a quick trip over to themarsvolta.com, listened to a couple MP3s, and I was immediately hooked. The Mars Volta are Cedric and Omar from At the Drive-In along with a couple old friends and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea. The ATDI guys have other side projects as well and I have discovered over the past year that virtually anything these musicians do is bliss for my ears. Does it have anything at all to do with doom metal? Not even close, so I can’t explain the website recommendation (there must be other freaks out there like me that listen to a bizarre spectrum of heavy music) but let’s just chalk it up to fate. The Mars Volta is based around the same ultra high energy musical platform from which At the Drive-In launched themselves, but Mars is way more sophisticated and progressive. De-Loused... is a concept album based around a fictionalized experience of a real friend of vocalist Cedric that committed suicide in 1996. As might be expected with such a backdrop this musical journey is an emotionally charged one, a melting pot of passionate highs and lows with Cedric’s amazing voice leading the way. ATDI was always a multi-cultural band with members from several different countries, and that worldly sounds reveals itself on this disc. “Drunkship of Lanterns” is a perfect example, featuring a sort of crazed Salsa beat; Latin music on steroids. There’s also a fair bit of spacey guitar work that brings Jupiter-era Cave In to mind. But the overall appeal of this disc for me is that it is reminiscent of a Mr. Bungle release. It is nowhere near as demented as Bungle, but it has that infectious energy that moves in twelve directions at once. I cannot recommend this disc highly enough to open-minded fans of progressive music. The comatorium awaits...

At one point I was absolutely certain that this album would rank #1 on this list. It is nothing short of breathtaking. It is a monumental work of songwriting genius. It is quite possibly Opeth’s finest work ever (and if you know anything about Opeth’s back catalog, that’s saying a lot). But then that pesky Anathema album came along and, as is rather obvious, Anathema are the gods of my musical realm. So Opeth is relegated to #2, but please know that this album is deserving of the highest ranking possible. To put it another way, if I were forced to ascribe numerical values from 1 to 10 to albums on my list, Anathema would have received a 10 and Opeth would have received a 9.9999999... Get it? It’s that good. Last year’s Deliverance was part one of what was originally meant to be a double album, but instead we got two separate discs. Damnation is the completion of the saga, and to be quite honest I’m not sure I would have wanted both discs at the same time. It would have been too much to absorb; my brain may well have collapsed in on itself under the weight of such staggering artistry. Believe me, Damnation deserves to be given your full attention by itself. This disc is Opeth’s first real musical departure. It contains no metal in the traditional sense: no heavy guitars, no rumbling percussion, no searing vocals. It is an exercise in acoustic serenity but the emotional weight it carries is immense and will enthrall you if you give it a chance. Mike Akerfeldt’s vocals, which have been improving with each release, are laid bare here in all their glory. His voice has become truly excellent. I find it interesting that, after collaborating with Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson for a couple albums, the line between Opeth and Porcupine Tree is starting to blur in a major way. “Death Whispered a Lullaby” was even written by Wilson, and it shows. Still, this album is unquestionably Opeth, through and through. In fact one way to describe it is to say that it sounds like the band culled all the best acoustic moments from their Morningrise album and, with some embellishment, compiled them here. It just has that feel to it. Considering that I’ve long regarded Morningrise as their benchmark work, you can understand why Damnation is so special. I don’t know what it says about Opeth that their finest work isn’t even metal, nor do I care. As Steven Wilson said at the Opeth/Porcupine Tree show in Chicago last summer, “There is good music and there is bad music. There is music you like and there is music you don’t like.” Translation: genres and classifications mean nothing; what matters is the art. Amen, brother.

Whew! What a relief. As an Anathema fan – nay, a maniacal Anathema worshiper – 2001's A Fine Day to Exit was a tough pill for me to swallow. The album claimed the #1 spot on my list that year but I’ve never felt fully comfortable with that decision. It’s not that the album is of poor quality; indeed, it contains some remarkable songs. But to me it is marred by some sub-par moments and a lack of the potent atmosphere that distinguished the three prior albums as the masterpieces they are. Not so with A Natural Disaster. Fans of Judgement should take heart that this album recaptures the spirit of that work, though in actual musical execution I think it bears a stronger resemblance to Eternity. A good example is the song “Pulled Under at 2000 Metres a Second” where after the first minute or so the band burst into the most epic, balls-out METAL breakdown since Eternity’s “Cries on the Wind” or maybe even The Silent Enigma’s “A Dying Wish.” It’s a pure adrenaline rush to hear the band play like that again. On the other hand, this disc also enters new territory: “Are You There?” is sung entirely by Danny Cavanaugh instead of brother Vincent. There is some quiet percussion, synthesizer and guitar in this tune, but the track feels a capella because Danny’s voice is such a strong focal point. And what a voice; I’ve always admired Vincent’s vocals but Danny can certainly hold his own. His tonal purity is magnificent. He makes another appearance in “Electricity,” which starts out sounding like a piano bar ballad but is much, much more: a silken lullaby for the disavowed and desolate. In fact, Vincent probably sings less on this album than any other Anathema album of the last eight years, a detail which is unfortunate but does not otherwise mar the outstanding quality found throughout the disc. There are two instrumentals, two songs with Danny, and the title track is sung by Lee Douglas who has worked with the band several times previously. Here, however, her voice sounds stronger than ever. “Closer,” an eerie jaunt through electronica with heavily altered vocals, in another example of previously uncharted terrain; “Harmonium” sounds like the best A Fine Day to Exit material;“Balance” summons the wretchedness that pervaded Judgement...and so on. Therein lies the strength of this album. It touches on the finest elements of the last four or five Anathema discs while also experimenting and growing. Best. Band. Ever.