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Best Albums of 2018

1.Judas Priest - Firepower

Judas Priest was down for the count after the disaster "Reedemer of Souls". Judas Priest enlisted the classic Judas Priest producer Tom Allom together with Andy Sneap. Firepower is an album that is still grows with every listening and new favorite songs are slowly crystallizing.

Highlights
1. "Firepower" - The title track open the album fast, heavy and majestically! The Priest is Back!
2. "Lighting Strike" - "I'll bring you the head of the demon I'm peeling the skin from his face".
3. "No Surrender" - Catchy chorus with blistering riffs and pounding rhythms.

2.Amorphis - Queen of Time

This unique band was born in the land of thousands of lakes. The music strikes a string in within the soul with its particular blend of progressive rock / metal, nordic folk music.

Highlights:
1. "Bee" - Monumental and captivating with is haunting melody and invigorating growls.
2. "Wrong Direction" - Atmospheric, intoxicating and addictive.
3. "Amongst Stars" (featuring Anneke van Giersbergen ex. The Gathering) - A beautiful melodic and melancholic duet.

3.Warkings - Reborn

Warkings is this year's "Dark Horse"! resurrected as a viking, a spartan, a crusader and a tribunal.

Highlights:
1. "Holy Storm" - Chorus-ridden with contagious catchiness
2. "Battle Cry" - Bold and anthemic.
3. "Sparta" - Roars into the energetic choruses with a anthem fused glory.

4.U.D.O. - Steelfactory

Steel Factory is a new offering from the land of sauerkraut ."Steelfactory" is the best U.D.O. album in the U.D.O. katalog the after the amazing "Faceless World" album.

Highlights:
1. "One Heart One Soul" - Makes me want to run up the stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art like Sylvester Stallone in Rocky!
2. "Make the Move" - Dirkschneider’s raspy, grated vocal style suits the meaty riffing perfectly
3. "Rising High" - Fast-paced guitar attack

5.Ghost - Prequelle

The albums creepy opening track "Ashes" has children chanting "Ring Around the Rosie," the english nursery rhyme that originated from the Great Plague (1665-1666) that wiped out a quarter of London's citizens.

A bit sceptical to the "new" singer Cardinal Copia. Papa Emeritus II is dearly missed.

Time for the mighty Papa Emeritus II to be resurrected from the dead and with his evil elegance and brutal appearance to dominate the world.

Highlights:
1. "Rats" - Serves as an explosive opener with incredibly delicious "Jake E Lee" Ozzy Riffage.
2. "Dance Macabre" - Great Scorpion's "Big City Nights" vibes.
3. "Faith" - Neoclassical riff opens this dark, slower cadence.

R.I.P. Papa Emeritus II (forever in our hearts)

6.Kamelot - Shadow Theory

The Shadow Theory concept its futuristic outlook to society a “dystopian glimpse at the complexity of the human mind and its place in an oppressive society—an obvious parallel to all of us, in the here and now.” the album is packed with "Symphonic Progressive Metal" and stunning guest vocals from Beyond The Black’s Jennifer Haben and Once Human’s Lauren Hart,

Highlights:
1. "Phantom Divine" (Shadow Empire) - Emotional and epic with an futuristic feel.
2. "Kevlar Skin" - Fast paced song with a steaming guitar vs. keyboard solo trade of.
3. "Amnesiac" - Heavy with a uplifting grandiouse chorus.

7.Riot - Armour of Light

Riot´s history goes back to 1975 and has gone through many musical shifts and band members. When the band's founder died, the other members asked the founder's family for permission to continue the band Riot. Permission was given and the band added a V at the end of the band name as it is the fifth band set. The album Armor of Light is a continuation of the musical style that began at the masterpiece Thundersteel.The album is adorned by Riots mascot "Johnny" who has scared away record buyers for years including myself.

Highlights:
1. "Victory" - A thunderous beginning with Todd Michael Hall´s great high-pitched vocals
2.“Angel’s Thunder, Devil’s Reign” - The mighty US power metal magic flows.

3."Messiah" - Fast and fierce.

8.Dimmu Borgir - Eonian

Eonians music is magnificent and has a sense of cinematic grandeur.

Highlights:
1. "Interdimensional Summit" - Glommy, epic and cinematic
2. "Council of Wolves and Snakes" - Dark and murky and the tribal vocals and drums are spell-binding.
3. "Lightbringer" - classic “Dimmu Borgir” sounding track

9.Saxon - Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt is a stellar album but doesn¨t have that "killer" song like "Battalions of Steel "or "Conquistador".

Highlights:
1. "The Secret of Flight" - Traditional british NWOBM metal were Byford weaves the history of flight.
2. "Thunderbolt" - Heavy and merciless with the great vocal prowess of Biff Byford.
3. "Sons of Odin" - Massive riffs of raw grit and power.

10.Five Finger Death Punch - And Justice For None

The Las Vegas quintet Five Finger Death Punch are one of metal’s biggest upcoming bands.5FDP needs a stronger album with less ballads like their classic albums "War Is The Answer" and "American Capitalist".

Highlights:
1. "Fake" - The recognition factor of all the fake's one encountered is skyhigh.
2. "Sham Pain" - Moody reflects on his troubled past, rehab, walking out of the band, legal hassles with their old label
3. "Top of the World" - Crushing riffs, mob-like choruses

2018-12-02 @ 16:55:00 Universally Permalink

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