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Well it’s the end of the year, and what better way to recap it than by making a list! So check out what Metal Albums I liked best in 2015! 

____________________________________

Now I am by no means a music expert, I just love Metal. I'm not a music reviewer by any means, however in 2013 I started a little podcast called Monsters & Metal. On this monthly show I get a chance to play some amazing music from all over the globe. So I can't have just a Top 10, instead I have a Top 35! So I started with with my 15 Honorable Mentions, and then on to #20 - #11. So here it is, my top 10 Albums of 2015!

Please note that I do not have the time to sit and listen to albums all day, so from what I heard these are my picks.

#10) Disarmonia Mundi - Cold Inferno
Disarmonia Mundi is a band that never lets me down. NEVER. Their style is consistent and their albums are always solid from start to finish. Cold Inferno was a perfect addition to their catalog and just added to my love of the Melodic Death Genre. Highlight Track: Stormghost


#9) Rise to Fall - End vs Beginning
Well I am now adding a new band to that Melodic Death love, because Rise to Fall is awesome. This album has everything I love on it. Great screams, great singing and some amazing music to back it all up. I am so glad I discovered this band this year.  Highlight Track: The Threshold


#8) Mechina - Acheron
I don't even know how to truly describe Mechina. They have some of the most amazing metal sounds I heard this year, but what adds to it are all the extras. There are parts that seem to have a choir singing the choruses, mixed with electronics and sometimes a concert band here and there. This one took me by surprise and I could not stop listening to it. Highlight Track: On the Wings of Nefeli

 

#7) Mors Subita - Degeneration
Mors Subita has a great Melodic Death sound mixed with some damn good groves, but it also pounds when it needs to. They are one of the best bands I got to hear for the first time in 2015, because this album is as complete as it gets. Highlight Track: End Complete



#6) Kamelot - Haven
I would have never, never, never checked out this album had it not been for Z.M. Thomas making me review it on Monsters & Metal. Tommy Karevik is just an amazing vocalist, and he is what pulled me in. I do think that this album has a "Metal Musical Soundtrack" feel to it, but man is it good. I never really though I would enjoy the Power/Prog Metal genre so much, but damn this is good shit. Highlight Track: Citizen Zero


#5) Angelmaker - Dissentient
This is Deathcore at it's finest if you ask me. This album is brutal, and never lets up. I love the two vocal styles, the back and forth from a high pitched scream to a low growl gets me every time. This one was a neck breaker too with those amazing drums. This was just a flat out amazing album. Highlight Track: Shia LeBeouf


#4) 6:33 - Deadly Scenes
I am sure that my love of Dog Fashion Disco played into why I loved this album, but this was the creme dela creme of the all over the place sound. With great metal moments, mixed with jazz, choirs singing, circus sounds... ugh it's so good. I am actually dying in anticipation that they will come to the US to tour. I can not get enough of these songs. Highlight Track: Ego Fandango


#3) Soilwork - The Ride Majestic
Soilwork is my constant. My go to. My band. There is no album from them that I will not listen to all the time. I just love this band. So a new album is out, and it's just as good as everything else they have ever done. I think that Bjorn's singing only gets better on each album. This was a Top 10 pick for me before it was released because I knew it was going to be amazing. Soilwork can not disappoint me. Highlight Track: Whirl of Pain


#2)  Sylosis - Dormant Heart
I was so excited for this album to come out back in January that I really wanted to put it on my 2014 list based off the two tracks I heard. Sylosis has become one of my favorite bands, and Dormant Heart is a perfect example of why. The guitars are ear melting, and then with Josh Middleton's vocals... I just sit back and take it all in. The easy way to put it, Sylosis is so god damn good!  Highlight Track: Victims and Pawns


#1) Leprous - The Congregation
All hail my new music addiction, Leprous. This Prog Metal band could be the best thing I discovered in the past 4 years. My god this album is amazing, and addicting as all hell. Einar Solberg's vocals just grab me and don't let go. When I heard The Congregation for the first time all the way through, I just instantly went and got every other album by the band, I had to hear more. No album got more plays from me this year, and I can't see it getting any less play time any time soon. This is as complete as it gets. Highlight Track: The Flood



So there you have it, my Top 10 albums for 2015
• Note: It was not easy to make this list. There are so many great metal albums that come out each year, so I say to you, create your own list and let the world know what stood out to you.

Read more...

Well it’s the end of the year, and what better way to recap it than by making a list! So check out what Metal Albums I liked best in 2015! 

____________________________________

Now I am by no means a music expert, I just love Metal. I'm not a music reviewer by any means, however in 2013 I started a little podcast called Monsters & Metal. On this monthly show I get a chance to play some amazing music from all over the globe. So I can't have just a Top 10, instead I have a Top 35! So I started with with my 15 Honorable Mentions, so now let's move on to #20 - #11.

Please note that I do not have the time to sit and listen to albums all day, so from what I heard these are my picks.

#20) Moonspell - Extinct
There is just something in Fernando Ribeiro's voice that draws me in, song after song. This is a solid album that was great from start to finish. Highlight Track: Breathe



#19) Act of Defiance - Birth and the Burial
Love the guitar work on these tracks. The metal vocal moments are solid, but I think I give my big nod to the harmonies. Loved this albums intensity.  Highlight Track: Thy Lord Belial



#18) Nightland - Obsession
You talk about an album that has it all, it's Obsession. The way that the band brought all of this together was so damn good. You have some great crunch moments, mixed with these amazing vocals, and the vocal layers are fluid. It all poured into my head and screamed, this is complete. Amazing stuff. Highlight Track: A.R.E.S.



#17) The Darkness - Last of our Kind
God damn it I love this band. The Darkness is my go to for a good time. If I'm in a shitty mood I'd throw on a track and just pick myself back up. Plus how can you not love Justin Hawkins voice? And yeah. I know its more on the rock side, but it's so good! Highlight Track: Barbarian



#16) Embryo - Embryo
I loved the intensity on this album. The pacing was amazing on all the songs, and it never let up. Plus the double vocals always get me right between the ears. Highlight Track: Manipulate My Consciousness



#15) Black Fast - Terms of SurrenderThis album is much like the second word in the name of the band, fast. Now I don't typically go for Thrash, but the way this band is described sums it up, Blackened Thrash. Maybe that is what I like, who knows, but I know I like this. Solid stuff. Highlight Track: Tongues of Silver



#14) Abiotic - Casuistry
Abiotic could possibly one of the only all over the place bands I love. I know they are listed as Progressive Death Metal, but to me the sound is all over the place. So what draws me to this band? The drums are through the roof, the double vocals are amazing, and those guitars... oh man those guitars. I freaking love this album. Highlight Track: Violent Scriptures



#13) Dog Fashion Disco - Ad Nauseam
Two DFD albums in two years, I must be in heaven! I will always have a spot in my heart for this band, and this was another top notch album. The mixture of metal and jazz has never been done better. DFD 4-EVER! Highlight Track: Golden Mirage



#12) Tainted - Into Tempation
When I first heard this album it was on non-stop rotation. The way everything came together here is just jaw dropping good. No track was a letdown, and it is all packaged perfectly. I really hope this band hits the States someday. I would love to see them live. Highlight Track: Torch the Ground



#11) Khemmis - Absolution
This is my slow jam, right here. This was a low, so peaceful and moving masterpiece. There is not a moment where I'm not slowly headbanging, or moving. The vocals are out of this world too. I think this might have been the album I told the most people about in 2015. Highlight Track: Torn Asunder




So there you have it, my #20 - #11 albums for 2015! Make sure to check back for picks #10 - #1.
• Note: It was not easy to make this list. There are so many great metal albums that come out each year, so I say to you, create your own list and let the world know what stood out to you.

Read more...

 

Well it’s the end of the year, and what better way to recap it than by making a list! So check out what Metal Albums I liked best in 2015! 

____________________________________

Now I am by no means a music expert, I just love Metal. I'm not a music reviewer by any means, however in 2013 I started a little podcast called Monsters & Metal. On this monthly show I get a chance to play some amazing music from all over the globe. So I can't have just a Top 10, instead I have a Top 35! So let's get this party started with with my 15 Honorable Mentions. I will save my thoughts for the Top 20.

Please note that I do not have the time to sit and listen to albums all day, so from what I heard these are my picks.

Nightrage - The Puritan

 

Dagoba - Tales of the Black Dawn

 

Graveworm - Ascending Hate


 
We Butter the Bread with Butter - Wierder geil! 

 

Torche - Restarter 

 

Stab.twist.pull - Lifeline 

 

Soundcrawler - Dead-End Host 

 

Daemon Pyre - Daemon Pyre 

 

Walking Corpse Syndrome - We are the Humans 

 

Smash Hit Combo - Playmore 

 

Ghost Lights - Dark Zero One 

 

Solution .45 - Nightmares in the Waking State 

 

Scarnival - The Art of Suffering 

 

Clouds and Oceans - But Hope Remains 

 

Fear Factory - Genexus



So there you have it, My Honorable Mention albums for 2015! Make sure to check back for picks #20 - #11 and again for picks #10 - #1.
• Note: It was not easy to make this list. There are so many great metal albums that come out each year, so I say to you, create your own list and let the world know what stood out to you.

Read more...

 

  Well it’s the end of the year, and what better way to recap it than by making a list! This is just a list ranking the books I read / listened to in 2015.
____________________________________

 

 

11) The Rising - Brian Keene (Audio)
I like zombies, but I don’t like zombies. Does that make sense? Probably not, so let me try to explain. As you will go down this list you will see how much I like Brian Keene’s work, but zombies are zombies and just don’t do it for me in book form. Now I’m not bashing this book, it has a lot of great twists and turns. I love what the dead are, because it plays into the Mythos, it is why I will read the rest of the series.  I also want to point out that a big reason why it is at the bottom of my list here is because I did not care for the narrator. He even did the sequel which, I started and then stopped so I will just read it now instead of doing the audio version. So overall, it’s a good book, but from what I read in 2015 it was not as good as the others.

10) Starship Troopers  - Robert A. Heinlein (Audio)
Do you want to know more? You’re damn right you do, and this book is nothing like the movie that rocks my socks. I love the movie, so I said I wanted to try the book and my god they are nothing alike. So the book kind of has the same cast, but what I really liked about it was how militaristic it was. It was not what I was expecting at all. Following Johny Rico the book focuses on how he goes into training and on to move up in the ranks to become a citizen. But this book focuses more on how the battles are fought and what is wrong how things were done in our time. It actually bashes the worlds governments and how they were run in the 1950’s. Which could still be true today. If you go into this book because you liked the movie, expect something completely different. It’s good, but I can easily see this not being for everyone.

9) Castaways- Brian Keene (Audio)
Okay close your eyes. No wait... don’t close your eyes this is a written post not a podcast. Pretend you are closing your eyes and imagine the show Survivor. Now pretend that the island they are on is inhabited by a tribe of neanderthals who start to kill them. It’s an awesome vision right? Well that is Castaways! Kind of, there is more to it, but at it’s base this is a slaughter flick through and through. It was such a fun listen, and was done so well. Maynard McKillen was fantastic at reading this book. I have a drawback though, it was light on the connection to the other books. A small reference was all I was able to pick up. That just means it is safe for anyone who is not as big a freak on the Labyrinth Mythos as I am becoming.

8) The Three - Sara Lotz (Audio)
So this book was just different than anything I had read before. Not in terms of the subject matter, but more in how it was presented. The book is told by various people sharing their stories of the Black Thursday event and what happened after that. It’s just a style of writing I had no encountered before, and came off like a breath of fresh air. The opening chapter blew me away. By the time I was done with it, I was hooked and there was no way I was going to put this book down. Not to mention the concept here. Four plane crashes, three child survivors, what happened? Are they human? Was there a fourth child? The questions are all there and all are answered kind of. Maybe it’s just my stupidity, but the ending was very satisfying but not super specific. This book might not be for everyone, in terms of how it is told, but to me it was amazing, and I was always wanting to move forward to know more. I did struggle with the Audio version, mostly because of all the voices that the actors were using. So for me it was a better read than listen.

7) Ghost Walk - Brian Keene (Book)
If you didn’t figure it out yet, I’ll give you one guess as to who’s books I read the most of this year. Ghost Walk is the sequel to another book you will find on this list Dark Hollow, so I don’t want to really spoil anything should you want to read them. So to put it safely, this book takes place a few years after Dark Hollow, and really focuses on the setup of a Halloween attraction for the area. It has nods here and there to what happened before, but for the most part the first half of the book can stand on its own. However when it all starts to come together and move to the end, it would probably be best if you did know what had happened prior. So my personal feeling is that you need to read DH. The big takeaway for this book though is that it introduces Levi Stoltzfus, who I feel is Keene’s best character and needs more books (wink wink). So I don’t think I spoiled anything, so read my thoughts on DH and then read them both!  

6) Urban Gothic - Brian Keene (Book)
Well look at that, more BK! So let me say this before going on, I started Urban Gothic with the audio format. Jeff Pringle is the narrator, and his style was not for me. I like it when narrators get in there and work up the voices. When they sell it by doing what they do. I did not get that Pringle. So I switched it up and went to the physical copy. So this book starts off as a “Haunted House” tale that leaves you with chills, but then it dives deeper. It brings in characters that had the feel of the Natives in Castaway, and the nods to Ghoul and Ghost Walk, GOOSEBUMPS!!! And I could totally be wrong about the Castaways nod, but It was what I thought of. This is the goriest and most brutal of the Keene books I have read too. The “horror/death” scenes are detailed very well, and really put me in that uncomfortable place. Special mention to the draining scene, that was all up in my head for awhile. So here is my only drawback on Urban Gothic, it really, really, really, really left me wanting to know more, and I mean MORE! Sure what was here was enough to make this book amazing, but I wish more answers had been given as to the who, how and what next questions. This book is so good, and it’s really safe for a Keene Newbie. I know I mentioned the little things that I caught here and there, but you don’t need to know anything about those things when i comes to this book. They are just readers to find. I need that sequel now!

5) Bestial - Ray Garton (Book)
Last year I had the absolute pleasure of listening to Garton’s Ravenous, so when I got my hands on the sequel I was really excited. This is a werewolf tale like no other, in terms of how the disease is spread. This book picks up sometime after the first book, but does a great job of recapping as it goes along. I needed that too, because it had been awhile since I had listened to its predecessor. The moments depicting attacks and death are fang-tastic, and what I came to expect from Garton. I was also introduced to two characters who had starred in a previous book of his, which I will hopefully get to read in 2016. I will say that this book is not safe to jump into on it’s own. I really do think you need to have read the first, but again that could just be because they are both such amazing books. I really want to know what will come next, but I have to wait patiently. Werewolf fans looking for a book to check out, look no further than Ravenous and Bestial, you will not be disappointed.

4) Nightwhere - John Everson (Book)
Erotic Horror, I think that might be a simple way to explain this book, but if I go for bigger words I think that calling it a Dark Sadomasochist Erotic Trip Through the Bowels of Hell might be more up it’s alley. Everson won my literary heart with The 13th. So I did expect the sex-factor with this book. I did not expect it to be this graphic though. I’m kind of worried now about John, just kidding. So this book revolves around a good and evil style tale, that goes deeper and darker than one would even imagine. Think about a swinger party, but everyone there is a Cenobite from the Hellraiser movies. I loved every damn second of it. There were times when I was writhing in my seat because the torture descriptions were so in depth. This book is definitely not for everyone, but for those willing to go to Nightwhere, you will be rewarded for your journey. This is just a damn good book.

3) Ghoul - Brian Keene (Book)
All hail BRIAN KEENE! ALA LA KEENE! ALA LA KEEN! WOW! What a fucking fantastic read this was. This is seriously a book that I suggest EVERYONE in the world should read. There is so much emotion in the voices of these three kids. I fell in love with all of them so fast, and was so sad as it all played out. I mean Brian just makes you feel for them as if they were your friends. I’ll make a simple comparison here, this book really had a “Stand By Me” feel to it. You have Timmy who is nothing but Wil Wheaton, Barry who is a mix of River Phoenix and Cory Feldman, and Doug is just straight up Jerry O’Connell. With a pure early 80’s vibe, as it takes place then, we follow the boys as they enter the start of Summer. A time that should be full of fun and sun, but instead is full of pain, loss and terror. Another I took away from the book was the number of monsters that are in these boys lives. Of course we have the obvious Ghoul, but their family lives are not all picture perfect. It really added to that emotional connection with the boys that I got as a reader. I really can’t say enough about how great this book was. Instant classic, and sure I read it to my 2 month old, but I don’t think we will come back to it until she is in her teens. I leave you with this, there is a movie, I will take your word for it if it is good or not. I want to see it, but after what the Horns movie did to that book, I’ll stay away. You have to read this book!

2) Dark Hollow - Brian Keene (Book)
Alright this is the last Keene book for this year, I promise. I honestly never thought I would like one of Brian’s books as much as I liked Darkness on the Edge of Town and A Gathering of Crows, but Dark Hollow is a bully that threatened me to never put it down. This book was a page turner and when I was done with it, I was sad. Not because of it’s ending, but because it ended when I wanted there to be more. Thank you for Ghost Walk, Brian. Dark Hollow is a sexual tale, but it’s so messed up and introduces the reader to what will become the Levi Stoltzfus universe. So initially I was waiting and waiting and waiting for Levi to show up, but that never happened. Instead I was introduced to Pow-Wow and other great things that lead into Levi coming in with Ghost Walk. But that means nothing, when trying to explain why this book was so good. I know I compared Ghoul to a movie, but I have to say that in a way this one had a Burbs feel to it. A bunch of neighbors going out to kick some ass. It’s got action, intrique and god damn it a Satyr! Ok fine, you don’t believe me, it’s okay, maybe the opening line of the book can convince you “It was on the first day of Spring that Big Steve and I saw Shelly Carpenter giving head to the hairy man.” SOLD! I’m gonna read it again just to put it on next years list too.

1) Bird Box - Josh Malerman (Audio)
I need you to do me a favor, you the one reading this list, get the audio version of this book, put it on your ipod, phone or whatever. Turn the lights off, try to make it as pitch black as possible, sit back and listen to this book. Sure you can do the book version, but trust me on this, not hearing Cassandra Campbell read this book is a crime. This book creeped me the fuck out. I was going to bleep the bad word there, but using it explains it perfectly, this book is fucking creepy! Imagine a world where if you see something you go insane and either kill someone and then yourself, or just kill yourself. So it’s no wonder that everyone lives in the dark by being blindfolded in fear of seeing something.  This story is told in two layers, which are separated basically by even and odd chapters. So one story is of a mother and her kids trying to get somewhere, leaving the safety that they have and trying to find others. The other story takes place in the past and covers the mother when she was pregnant and how she got to where she is in the future. By the end of this book, I was so terrified of knowing what the monster really was, and I will not spoil it, but I when it was over I was relieved and had some tears of joy on my cheeks. I tell you to listen to this book over holding the book because closing your eyes and imagining it all fucks with you so much. I heard that a movie was coming, and I want to boycot the hell out of it. This is a book based on not seeing, so unless the whole movie is about not seeing what is on screen it will not be as good as this. I honestly can’t believe I was able to describe the book so well here because I typically just go duuuuuhhhhhhhhh it’s good. This book is fucking good!

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