Time to wrap year 2016 in a
package what comes to new music albums released this year. I wasn’t expecting to
put some of these artists to the list, but they really deserved to be there. Some
were quite obvious and some got there based on their live performance. I was quite
lazy to explore new music this year and I concentrated more to the bands I really
love. Also, while writing this, I notice that some things have been totally forgotten,
which otherwise would have made their way to this list. As this is serious business,
I'll just mention those lost sheep. Luckily some of the bands I listened to did
put out new stuff as well. My 2016 favorites are chosen purely based on their subjective
fun factor, other criteria were not considered (and in particular one album got
lower scoring due to that reason).
Best Albums
1. Megadeth – Dystopia
My most listened album of the
year and for a good reason. It has some great riffs and interesting melodies and
most of all, it’s thrash again! This album contains also the best song of the 2016,
Fatal Illusion. It’s good to see that Dave’s pen is still sharp and he can create
magnificent music after two not-so-great albums. Line-up changes are always risky,
but in this case, the effect was quite favorable. The talent of playing can be heard
throughout the album; especially the solos are outstanding. All we need now is a
live gig!
2. Deströyer 666 – Wildfire
Behind this intentionally provocative name
one can find such great and even beautiful music that draws much influence from
Bathory, but paints original masterpieces on top of it. Defiance was such a mind-blowing
album and Wildfire is getting close. D666 makes simply the best black-thrash music
out there while maintaining some unique mythological spices in the middle. This
is my beer-drinking or weight-lifting or stiff upper lip attitude high-testosterone
music-to-go. I was pleased to see that KK Warlust is equally great composer as is
Shrapnel. Seven years was well worth waiting. Hounds at Ya Back is absolutely a
killer song, probably the best D666 song ever written.
3. Joe Bonamassa – Blues of Desperation
I randomly read one review of this album
and decided to get it and boy how it has been playing! Perfect chill-out music whenever
I feel so. Joe Bonamassa has mighty discography and there are other great albums
too, but so far I have liked this one the most. Plenty of different songs make this
album interesting to listen to and blues is great music as such. This is highly
recommended music to everyone. I must see this dude live! Favorite tracks are Mountain
Climbing (turns into mountain biking in my head) and Drive, they both have such
a special feeling to them.
4. Dark Tranquillity – Atoma
Atoma is the “return” album for me. I loved
Fiction, I liked We Are the Void, but The Construct was a turn down. In fact, I
somewhat put DT aside for that. Luckily, strange things happen and I found myself
liking this album very much. At first I wasn’t convinced when the first two songs
came out, but then the day I heard the full album I completely changed my opinion.
Atoma has an interesting, organic sound that has been missing especially from The
Construct -album. Atoma’s current lyrics share great deal of my own concerns of
humanity and planet we live in. I truly love the melodies. They feel somehow familiar
and yet new, but the main point being that the music simply goes the way I would
like it to go. Amazing bands are able to create such music despite of significant
line-up changes. I rejoice the rediscovery of my all-time favorite band with a brand
new T shirt.
5. Black Mountain – IV
My old favorite band playing unique psychedelic
stoner influenced rock. IV is a step forward toward psychedelia but quite welcome
one (check out the song Space to Bakersfield). This is one of those albums that
I want to listen to regularly. I love the atmosphere in IV and I really enjoyed
how the songs worked at the live gig at Tavastia club. Amber Webber’s performance
in vocals was so captivating I’ve rarely experienced anything like it (particularly
in song Line Them All Up). One of the best gigs in 2016 I’d say.
6. Testament – Brotherhood of the Snake
Testament does not need to renew their style;
it is more than enough that they just keep making new music. Brotherhood of the
Snake continues exactly where the previous album Dark Roots of the Earth left. Top
song could be Stronghold but many other would equally fulfill the criteria. Like
Megadeth, getting old doesn't have to mean getting boring, lame or slow.
7. Insomnium – Winter’s Gate
This is The Art Masterpiece of the Year,
no doubt about it. There is only one song, it is 40 min long and it claimed the top position in Finland’s album charts. Not bad
for a metal band (not even in Finland), huh? As said, Winter’s Gate needs time and
focusing on, and it is not everyday music meant for everyone nor very practical
in all occasions. Having said this, such a colossal album needs quite special feeling
and dedicated time although Spotify has chopped this to seven parts making listening
easier. Still I prefer to listen to this as one song and I didn't feel like doing
that too often. This takes nothing away from the greatness of this album. It, on
the other hand, won't go into the oblivion. I will give myself a chance to enter
the realm of Winter from time to time and travel there for 40 minutes.
8. Artillery – Penalty by the Perception
When this album came out, I listened to
it quite lot and I really liked it. Then something else came out and I simply lost
this to the sea of music. Danish band Artillery is an exceptional thrash band and
I would really like to witness them performing live at Tuska Open Air. When Death
Comes was a great return album with new (and about 10 years younger) vocalist and
after a long hiatus. Their sophomore album My Blood was also good. Due to the disease
of compressed production, which is affecting so many metal albums nowadays, and
some other reasons mainly related to the music itself made My Blood and the following
album Legions less interesting.
Luckily I happened to buy Penalty By Perception,
Artillery's eight studio album, just because I wanted to get something new for the
moment. During the first spin I realized what kind of gem it was. A good example
of this could be the one song When the Magic Is Gone. The fact that someone is able
to compose such a song really tells about the talent and also the originality seldom
encountered. I usually prefer harsher vocals, but Michael Dahl's way of singing
is surprisingly pleasant and yet not too cheesy.
9. Anthrax – For All Kings
At first I wasn't too impressed by it, but
after the great live show in Tuska Open Air, I really looked into this album. It
has great melodies and tunes, Joey Belladonna sounds like he should and most of
all it is Anthrax at purest. Like Testament, they don't make any major changes to
their musical style (as their "West Coast Thrash Brothers" did during
the nineties). You get what you ordered and when you like it, everything is just
fine. My favorite songs are Breathing Lightning and Evil Twin. I'm looking forward
to their live set later in the spring.
10. Death Angel – The Evil Divide
Thrash bands seem to be able to make good
music year after another, so I’m not surprised that my chart gets filled with thrash
albums. Hailing from the Bay Area as so many other great thrashers, Death Angel
put out their eighth studio album. What particularly caught my ear was the versatility
of this album. Just compare the tracks Lost and Father of Lies (these two are back
to back on the album) and you get the idea.
Best EP’s
Voivod – Post Society
Sounds somewhat like Voivod’s The Outer
Limits album and is all the way faithful to the band's original style to make music:
strange, complex and interesting.
Albinö Rhino - Upholder
During the Christmas holidays, I discovered
a band called Albinö Rhino. It was completely unknown to me, but I instantly liked
what I heard. Upholder contains only two songs, but total length of Upholder is
over 35 minutes. Does this qualify as EP, I really don't know, but here it is. This
Finish psychedelic/doom/stoner act plays slow and hypnotic music that contains minimally
vocals and lots of fuzzy guitars. Highly recommended music for anyone who even distantly
likes aforementioned genres.
I promised to list some of those bands I
didn't have opportunity to listen to enough or I totally missed, and which with
huge likelihood, would have ended on my list. Wo Fat put out new album Midnight
Comet. I listened it through while writing this text and already loved what I heard.
Brant Bjork put out new album as well. I even bought it, but I completely
forgot it to the envelope and therefore it is only mentioned here. Imperial State
Electric released All Through the Night -album. I did listen to them quite a
lot this year and they threw such a great gig as well, but I mainly listened to
their previous release Honk Machine because I learned about the new release only
just prior to the gig. Red Hot Chili Peppers released The Getaway that got
a decent amount of spinning prior to their show. The album has some nice tunes,
but nothing mind-blowing as there used to be back in the nineties. Two super groups
interesting-on-paper, namely Giraffe Tongue Orchestra and Gone Is Gone
released new albums. Featuring members of
high quality bands such as Alice in Chains, Mastodon and Queens of the Stone Age,
they were quite anticipated in my book. I ended up with conclusion "good, not
great" and therefore they got only got mentioned instead of a chart position.
Katla - Móðurástin
Sólstafir - Berdreyminn
Annihilator
— For the Demented
Enslaved — E
