1.
Battlecross – War of Will: The sophomore album from the most promising thrash
metal band of today crushes your inner ear hard and fast in a mere 36 minutes.
Battlecross are energized and eager on War of Will.
2. Exhumed
– Necrocracy (Deluxe Version): The death
metal veterans have returned with a slightly evolved sound and the most diverse
album of their career. Their ability to
seamlessly change tempos and navigate between different extreme subgenres
during the course of each song make this a must have album of 2013.
3. Tomahawk
– Oddfellows: Their fourth album is also their most accessible one, with catchy
hooks and all the unpredicatability you’d expect from Tomahawk. Mike Patton is on top of his game and this is
easily one of the bands best albums to date.
4. The
Black Dahlia Murder – Everblack: The band’s best album since their debut,
Unhallowed. It has an excellent mix of
melodic death metal, deathcore and classic death metal. There’s even some slight black metal
influence thrown in to make for one excellent listening experience.
5.
Killswitch Engage – Disarm the Descent: Jesse Leach is back on vocals for a
triumphant return to metalcore’s most loved band. You can really feel the chemistry that the
band has with Leach. The songs are well written and the musicianship has vastly
improved over the years giving KSE their best album since 2002′s Alive or Just
Breathing.
6. The
Dillinger Escape Plan – One of Us Is the Killer: One of the best mathcore
albums that Dillinger has ever released.
The album has a great diversity of sounds that sets it apart from any
other album released this year.
7. Carcass
– Surgical Steel: The death metal veterans have returned with a vengeance with
their sixth studio album and first release since 1996. The album brings back old school melodic
death metal with excellent musicianship, guitar harmonization and brutal death
metal elements that are not present in the current melodeath scene.
8.
Suffocation – Pinnacle of Bedlam: This
is a really well done death metal record from the masters from NYC. The album is chock full of excellent solos
and great riffs. This is classic death
metal at its very best with really no weaknesses to speak of. Literally fans of any type of metal should be
able to appreciate the immense skills the band shows off on Pinnacle of Bedlam.
9. Voivod –
Target Earth: The first release from Voivod without founding member Piggy
proves the band still can release incredible progressive thrash. The riffs are both blistering and
complicated. Although it can take a few
listens to get used to, this is truly one amazing record.
10. Black
Sabbath – 13: A triumphant return for Ozzy and Butler, while the real star here
is Iommi’s amazing, haunting riffs. This
is a classic 1970′s style Sabbath record that fits perfectly in the world of
contemporary metal.
11. Vulture
Industries – The Tower: Avant-garde metal is an interesting animal. Either you love it or hate it. There isn’t usually any in between. However, Vulture Industries fourth record is
has a very pleasing and accessible sound that may convert even the biggest
avant-garde detractors. The music is
less complex and more coherent than typical avant-garde metal, while still
offering the listener a lot of experimentation, great arrangements and excellent
lyrics. The guitar work and musical
melodies along with excellent vocals make for one amazing trip.
12. Protest
The Hero – Volition: The Canadian metallers once again bring their signature
style of progressive metal with influences from thrash, hardcore and punk rock
mixed in. The band has released three
amazing albums prior to this and this is probably their best work yet with
ridiculous shred guitar, excellent wide range vocals and well written lyrics.
13. Dream
Theater – Dream Theater: The twelfth studio album from the progressive metal
pioneers is the band’s most extensive to date with great arrangements and
soaring solos from John Petrucci. The
band takes more risks with new atmospheric tones and deeper use of symphonic
elements. This is easily one of their
best and most well rounded releases.
14. Amon
Amarth – Deceiver of the Gods: Another
excellent release from one of the most consistent bands in heavy metal. Great guitar work, vocals and story telling
make this Viking metal album a must own.
15. Gorguts
– Colored Sands: The technical death metallers have returned with their first
album in twelve years. Here we get an
excellent album with longer song durations, more diversification and even more
progressive elements than on the band’s previous albums. The songs are all extremely well crafted and
thought out.
16. Nine
Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks: Trent Reznor’s best album since The Fragile is a
triumphant return to multifaceted industrial metal. Much of the album has similarities to Reznor’s
early work on Pretty Hate Machine while managing to stay fresh and relevant in
the modern heavy metal world.
17. Kylesa
– Ultraviolet: This is easily one of the best releases from the sludge metal
act from Georgia. It has a very layered
and unique sound that draws from many different influences. The album is beautifully crafted with great
melodic undertones and varying layers of musical influences.
18. Monster
Magnet – Last Patrol: Trippy, indulgent, and pure stoner metal. Monster Magnet
release perhaps their best album to date and produce songs for themselves, not
radio airplay. Fans of the bands early
work will really love this record and even if you’re not a stoner metal fan, it
is pretty easy to get drawn into this one.
19.
Queensryche – Queensryche: Excellent
return to form for the progressive metal masters. New lead singer Todd La Torre is the perfect
replacement for original singer Geoff Tate.
The album will remind fans of their early material combined with a fresh
modern metal sound.
20. Darkthrone
– The Underground Resistance: The fifteenth album from extreme metal veterans
Darkthrone boasts a great mix of traditional metal, thrash, black metal and
doom metal. With this newest effort
Darkthrone manages to once again evolve their sound in a way that keeps things
fresh but still draws a lot from their past metal style.
21.
Skeletonwitch – Serpents Unleashed:
Another great blackened thrash album with melodic guitar overlays by the
masters from Ohio. The album features
excellent production, tight musicianship, brutally heavy riffs, great guitar
harmonization and the best song writing of Skeletonwitch’s career. Make sure to check out the track “Burned from
Bone”. It’s heavy and damn catchy.
22.
Deafheaven – Sunbather: The band’s second studio release is an amazing
atmospheric metal trip with complicated arrangements and truly excellent
musicianship. The tracks have long run
times and the listener can get lost in the amazing material.
23.
Children of Bodom – Halo of Blood: This is Children of Bodom’s best album since
Hatebreeder. It contains that excellent
mix of metal subgenres that has made the band famous and it is much heavier
than most of their recent albums.
Diehard fans of the band will really appreciate this record.
24. Alice
In Chains – The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here: Dark, sludgy and melodic, just like
you’d expect from Alice In Chains, with not one track to skip by.
It finally feels like William Duval is a true member of the band as he
is a lot more involved than on the previous record. This is easily their best release since Dirt.
25.
Motorhead – Aftershock: A predictably hard rocker from Lemmy and the boys that
contains breakneck speed metal bass, catchy blues metal gems and the simple
style songs that we have all become used to.
Evolution is important in music, but in the case of Motorhead
consistency means more.
26. Leprous
– Coal: This is a well crafted record from the progressive metal act from
Norway. A region that has become mostly
known for its black metal exports brings us an excellent progressive metal
band. The record is ripe with complex riffs and crazy time signatures making it
an absolute must listen.
27. The
Ocean – Pelagial: The German atmospheric metallers return with a concept album
that takes the listener down through oceanic depths. The album is both heavy and beautiful. If you chose to dive into this one head
first, it will literally be one of the best and complete musical experiences
you will ever have.
28.
Ulcerate - Vermis: 2013 has seen it’s share of excellent technical death metal
releases and Ulcerate’s Vermis is no exception.
Most of the tracks on the album have long run times with tons of
different elements mixed throughout.
However for those purists out there, there are a couple short and spectacular
classic death metal songs as well.
29. Death
Angel – The Dream Calls for Blood: This
is an excellent classic thrash album from the veterans in Death Angel. It also contains influences from power
metal, melodic metal and NWOBHM. The
album has heavy, fast paced and punishing riffs from start to finish and is
exactly what thrash metal is meant to be.
30. Omnium
Gatherum – Beyond: This one was suggested to us in our comments section by
Koleva and Borgir and we couldn’t agree with them more. It is both amazingly melodic and brutal. Both this album and Carcass’ Surgical Steel
are exactly what melodic death metal was meant to be. We get the amazing and well written
harmoinzed guitar riffs mixed with true harsh death metal vocals. The band has evolved their sound slightly
giving their music some new wrinkles while still managing not to stray too far
from the signature sound that got them here.
31. Shade
Empire – Omega Arcane: The fourth studio album from Shade Empire is also
probably their best to date. The eleven
tracks are mostly lengthy and are chock full of excellent and complicated
symphonic black metal arrangements.
32.
Amorphis – Circle: Over recent years Amorphis has come under some criticism for
becoming a bit more tame. However, their newest release brings back elements of
their death/doom and folk metal past and combines them with the amazingly
intense song structures that they have recently become known for. The
coalescence makes for one excellent record.
33. Caladan
Brood – Echoes of Battle: This is an
excellent atmospheric black metal debut by the guys from Salt Lake City,
Utah. Black metal from Utah? This would be the last place anyone would
expect a black metal band to come from, especially one with such an amazingly
well constructed album. Look out
Norway! You have some competition.
34. Toxic
Holocaust – Chemistry of Consciousness: Once again Toxic Holocaust brings us
their lightning fast, heavy, no frills style of thrash. The songs on Chemistry of Consciousness leave
you feeling like you were run over by a Mack truck while still giving you some
catchy and really well played riffs.
These guys just seem to get better and better with each release.
35. Rob
Zombie – Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor: This is a big return to form for Rob
Zombie. The album channels old school
White Zombie and early Rob Zombie with great grooves, solid industrial elements
and awesome horror movie snippets. There
are literally no tracks to skip past on this one.
36. Exhale
– When Worlds Collide: This is easily one of the best grindcore releases of the
year from the guys from Sweden. Exhale
is not afraid to experiment with other subgenres of metal including death metal
and deathcore and they even pay a ton of tribute to grindcore’s main precursor,
hardcore. The bass play from Johan
Fogelberg really makes the record along with the band’s well crafted songs and
excellent lyrics. This is a really
excellent record whether you are a fan of grindcore or not.
37.
Soilwork – The Living Infinite: This is an excellent double album from the
melodic death metal veterans. The album
boasts twenty tracks and consists of some of the band’s best and most
consistent material. The album has the
best mix of their past and present sound with even more diversification of
their traditional formula.
38.
Fleshgod Apocalypse – Labyrinth: The third release from the Italian technical
death band Fleshgod Apocalypse is far and away their best yet. The concept
album based on an ancient Labyrinth in Crete contains complex song structures
and excellent riffs.
39. Stratovarius
– Nemesis: The fourteenth album from the power metal heavy weights is one of
their best. The songs are all excellent
and as usual the neoclassical guitar work and solos from Matias Kupiainen are
second to none.
40.
Immolation – Kingdom of Conspiracy: Excellent release from the death metal
veterans from New York. The riffs on the
album are innovative and go against those typical in death metal. The musical talent level displayed on the
album is unbelievable.
41. Inter
Arma – Sky Burial: Inter Arma is one of the most talked about extreme metal
bands right now. With an original mix of
atmospheric metal, grindcore and blackened doom the record has a sound that is
absolutely like no other.
42.
Witherscape – The Inheritance: Dan Swano, formerly of Edge of Sanity, has
returned with his new project Witherscape. Their debut album is more of the
same great technical death metal we have become used to from Swano with the
addition of very cool atmospheric metal elements. There are multiple guest
vocalists and even an interesting cover of Judas Priest’s “Last Rose of
Summer”.
43. Ihsahn
– Das Seelenbrechen: The former Emperor front man once again brings an
excellent progressive/black metal album with great atmospheric tonality. This is one that you will want to dive into
with all of your sensibilities, so make sure you have some good time to devote
to it and all of it’s varied elements.
44. Soulfly
– Savages: Soulfly’s ninth studio album will probably go down as one their
best. It boasts excellent song writing,
great guitar work, heavy arrangements and unbelievably infectious grooves. Max Cavalera and the guys are on top of their
game here and some of the album will even remind you slightly of
Sepultura. This an excellent and
enjoyable listen.
45.
Annihilator – Feast: A few of our readers suggested this one to us, so we
checked it out and loved it right away.
The thrash riffs are fierce and punishing. The songs are well written and the production
sounds absolutely amazing. There is even
a guest appearance from Canadian rocker Danko Jones, yes Danko Jones. Surprisingly he has a knack for writing heavy
metal tunes. On top of all of this
greatness, the album also has some of the best cover art of the year. This is a very very well rounded releases
from the thrash metal vets.
46.
Finntroll – Blodsvept: One of folk metal’s best returns with an absolutely
phenomenal album. Blodsvept uses a lot
of black metal and extreme elements in
addition to the signature Fintroll sound.
This is definitely one of the heaviest and best releases of Fintroll’s
career.
47. Heaven
Shall Burn – Veto: The seventh album from the band sees a move more toward full
melodic death metal and away from some of the metalcore and deathcore elements
they used in the past. Because of this,
Heaven Shall Burn has created their most consistent and well written album to
date.
48. Kalmah
– Seventh Swamphony: The seventh release from the melodic death metal veterans
goes down as their best to date. There is a great mix of heavy vocals and
melodic riffs. It is only eight tracks, but the fairly long song lengths and
involved song structures make up for it.
49.
Hatebreed – The Divinity Of Purpose: Hatebreed has easily been one of the most
maligned metal bands over the last 20 years and rightfully so. They have
consistently released albums with the same tired sound, until now. Their newest
release still contains their trademark meat head hardcore. However the musicianship is much improved and
the addition of more thrash elements makes for a solid record with very catchy
songs.
50. Mors
Principium Est – …And Death Said Live:
This is easily the most overlooked and underrated release of 2013. Most people bypassed this album without even
a passing glance, but in doing so they missed a really excellent melodic death
metal album. There is nothing fancy here,
just excellent traditional melodic death metal with great harsh vocals and
NWOBHM style guitar harmonization. There
are also some added progressive and atmospheric elements. The songs are all
well crafted. The guitar solos are
awesome and the overall musicianship of the band is second to none. If you looked past this one, do yourself a
favor and check it out.
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