*dusts cobwebs*

Sorry about the lull in activity, folks. I've got my exams coming up, but after them, I should be up reviewing again with some regularity.

Albums of the Year

2010 was a great year for albums, but on the whole, not so great for metal. We lost many people this year-Dio, Paul Gray, Pete Steele...I could go on. That doesn't mean there weren't many great albums released this year, and so I present:
UNABLETOTHINKOFNAME'S TOP 20 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

20
Rolo Tomassi
Cosmology


As I've said before, I'm a big fan of math and alternative metal. Love it to bits. Doesn't weird me out at all. However, the breakdown about 30 seconds into French Motel, one of many excellent songs on the album, is probably the most jarring thing I've ever heard. I just can't get my head around it. At all. And yet...it works. Much like the rest of the album. Rolo have mastered on their second album the perfect balance between melody and all-out chaotic aggression. 
The wonky synths add another layer of weird but it's nicely countered by Eva Spence's angelic croon, that is, when she's not roaring her face off (yep, that's a GIRL, people). Spastic and unpredictable, but utterly fantastic. (For fans of: Genghis Tron, iwrestledabearonce)

Recommended tracks: Party Wounds/Sakia/Tongue-in-Chic

19
Parkway Drive
Deep Blue

A concept album about a man who walks to the bottom of the sea to find the answers to life is a pretty high-brow concept, especially considering it's come from a metalcore band, who are generally about able to pin songs about "fucked up shit" (I'm looking at you, Matt Tuck). Don't let the ferocious slugging beatdowns that are slathered over all the album fool you-this is about as high-brow and introspective as metalcore gets. 
Vocalist Winston McCall has the enviable ability to inject massive hooks into the music without ever using clean vocals, most notably on the epic Home is For the Heartless(featuring Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz). Even if you're on paper as someone who dislikes the genre (hello, me) I advise you to pick this up. (For fans of: Lamb of God, As I Lay Dying)
Recommended Tracks: Sleepwalker/Alone/Home Is For The Heartless
18
Anathema
We're Here Because We're Here

Beginning originally in the early 90's as a furious, nihilistic death-doom band in the vein of Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, Anathema have gradually evolved and mellowed. It's been seven years since their last full album, and it's worth it, too. 
10 glorious tracks of beautiful, atmospheric progressive rock, We're Here is a perfect example of how, much like Porcupine Tree (whose frontman Steven Wilson has produced this), the metal community has so readily embraced a palpably non-metal band. The self-helpy lyrical statements can be a little cringeworthy, but the sheer air of joy that surrounds the album more than makes up for it. (For fans of: Porcupine Tree, Oceansize)
Recommended Tracks: Hindsight/Universal/A Simple Mistake

17
Ozzy Osbourne
Scream

Sure, the lyrics can be cringeworthy. In fact they are most of the time. Sure, his voice isn't that good, and sure, he may not be as sharp as ever. Who gives a shit? It's Ozzy, and he's made an awesome new album. 
With new guitarist Gus G using a cleaner tone than his predecessor, the monolithic Zakk Wylde, the riffs shine through better than ever, as do the solos, such as on the poundingLet Me Hear You Scream. It's surprisingly diverse, too, all the way to the final send-off I Love You All. Brilliant. (For fans of: ...Ozzy, mate)
Recommended Tracks: Let Me Hear You Scream/Diggin' Me Down/Let It Die


[center]16
Cancer Bats
Bears, Mayors, Scraps And Bones

From the sludgy drone of bongtastic opener Sleep This Away it's clear Cancer Bats have progressed past the hyperactive party hardcore of their previous two albums to become one of the truly great bands of their generation. 
The beefed-up guitars do more than chug relentlessly (though there's plenty of that), there's more tone in Liam Cormier's voice at long last (though his impressive roar remains intact). Diverse, and never anything less than punishingly heavy until the final grinding notes of their glorious cover of the Beastie Boys' Sabotage draws the album to a close. (For fans of: Gallows, Hatebreed)
15
Kylesa
Spiral Shadow

One of many bands from the sludge metal haven of Atlanta, Georgia, that has also spawned Baroness, Black Tusk, Zoroaster and prog behemoths Mastodon, Kylesa struck the big time with 2009's stunning Static Tensions and Spiral Shadow might be even better. 
Taking a more song-structured approach, the songs are shorter, the atmospheric guitar intros nicely matched by the thundering roars of the chorus and the diversity of their three vocalists, all driven by their dual-drumkit rhythmic assault. Powerful, groovy and never less than utterly stunning. (For fans of: Kyuss, Melvins)
Recommended Tracks: Tired Climb/Drop Out/Crowded Road
14
Killing Joke
Absolute Dissent

The first KJ album in 28 years to be recorded by the original lineup is a return to their roots, unsurprisingly. Mixing thundering heaviness with throbbing, cerebral dub, much like their debut, Dissent is a return to form, certainly, but for a band who were never really off form, that doesn't say much. Let me then put it this way-if you're a fan of modern alternative or industrial metal, you need this album. Welcome back. (For fans of: Fear Factory, Godflesh)
13
Electric Wizard
Black Masses

Even from the fact they've named their album after Ozzy's gloriously failed attempt to rhyme it's obvious that Electric Wizard like their drugs (if you hadn't known that before). They've already made heavier albums than this, but now the Wizard have embraced the full-on psychedelic side of doom they always hinted at, but was buried at beneath the walls of solid guitars. Extreme metal doesn't like being reminded of its body-whether the fetishistic slaughterhouse of death metal to black metal's almost religious chastity. Doom metal might pretend otherwise but the Wizard's three favourite things are witches, boobs, and weed. Fuck yeah. (For fans of: Sleep, Monster Magnet)
12
Triptykon
Eparistera Daimones

When Celtic Frost split up-no, let's be honest, imploded-in 2007, Tom G Warrior was not a happy man. Well, he's never happy, but...ANYWAY. The story is, he started Triptykon to carry on what he started with Frost's 2006 opus Monotheist, and did it work. Taking the previous album's flirtation with goth and doom metal and taking it even further,Eparistera is one of the most nihilistically draining albums I've ever heard, and 20-minute closer 
The Prolonging is up there with Godflesh's Pure II with songs that make me do this. Alternately thrashy (see a Thousand Lies) and stunningly quiet (My Pain), this is the finest extreme metal album of the year by some distance. (For Fans Of: Celtic Frost, Watain)
Reccomended Tracks: In Shrouds Decayed/A Thousand Lies/Myopic Empire
11
Korn
Remember Who You Are

Korn, for the last few years, have not been at their critical peak. Once a credible influence on modern music, since the departure of guitarist Brian "Head" Welch in 2005 and drummer David Silvera a few years later, they've been floundering, a band who have totally forgotten their roots. 
Reuniting with Ross Robinson, famed producer/nutcase, on this album, has led them to their rebirth--this is Korn at their best in years, groovy and aggressive. You could almost believe Johnathan Davis isn't 40 and married to a pornstar. The anger that pervades this album is incredibly real, and quite surprising in places. New drummer Ray Luzier is a powerhouse, and...I can't say enough good things about it. Buy it. (For Fans Of: Deftones, Slipknot)
Recommended Tracks: Oildale (Leave Me Alone)/Let The Guilt Go/Are You Ready To Live
10
Mongo Ninja
No Cunt For Old Men

I have no idea where to begin with this. I guess I'll start off with some backstory: Mongo Ninja are the result of a collision of Norwegian death'n'rollers The Cumshots with fellow Norwegian thrashers Blood Tsunami, all in their mid 30's. As you might have guessed, this is not a pleasent album. 
That doesn't stop it from being utterly fucking brilliant though, whether at its most hilarious (the charming Wheelchair Hooker and Broken Cock) to its bitterly nihilistic (Shotgun Wound (My Last Tattoo), Fuck It All), all delivered in ferocious, snarling blackened gonzo-thrash. Perfect. (For Fans Of: Bathory, Dead Kennedys)
Recommended Tracks: Dead To Me/Wheelchair Hooker/Broken Cock

9
Four Year Strong
Enemy Of The World

Punk is a fairly diverse world: the album I've just spoken out is furious, gory, grimy, horny and just plain bad. Four Year Strong are the complete opposite. Undeniably pop-punk, their melodies, while wonderfully uplifting, are tempered by a strong modicum of grit, and their punk edge is more hardcore, in common with Gorilla Biscuits and Sick of It All. 
Combining heavy beatdowns with the soaring melodies of twin vocalists Alan Day and Dan O'Connor may seem incongruous, but it works, and it works brilliantly. Goofy while always being able to be taken seriously, it's absolutely wonderful, and one of the few albums on this list I can genuinely describe as making me smile while I'm headbanging. (For Fans Of: A Day To Remember, New Found Glory)
Reccomended Tracks: It Must Really Suck to Be Four Year Strong Right Now/Find My Way Back/Enemy Of The World

8
Cathedral
The Guessing Game

To be quite stereotypical, the best way to sum up the new Cathedral is "Whoa, man." The addition of classic keyboards to their sound has put them among the ranks of the classic prog bands Lee Dorrian so adores, though they've not gone into droney noodling either-their crushingly heavy doom remains intact, delivered at a surprising pace at times (such as fantastic thudding opener Immaculate Misconception). 
A concept album of sorts about the journey through human life, it deserves to stand not only among the best Cathedral albums, but the best doom albums, full stop. On two discs with nearly 90 minutes of music (a double album-what could be more rock?), it's a heroic testament to this band's suitably legendary status. (For fans of: Kyuss, Black Sabbath)
Recommended Tracks: Funeral of Dreams/Edwige's Eyes/Journeys Into Jade

7
City Of Fire
City Of Fire

Now that Fear Factory are back and more brutal than ever (more about that later) it's the perfect time for Burton C Bell to flex his vocal chords elsewhere-Fear Factory are all about massive hooks combined with brutal sped-up heaviness, and the hooks remain, but with a backing suggestive of the first, and best, grunge bands.
Mixing soaring, U2-ish melodies on Rising with a lumbering, Godflesh-like heavyosity onSpirit Guide, complete with eerie digi-psych vocals, and concluding with a stunning cover of The Cult's Rain, this is alternative rock at it's finest, easily. Utterly sublime. (For Fans Of: Soundgarden, Warrior Soul)
Recommended Tracks: Rising/Spirit Guide/Rain


6
Kvelertak
Kvelertak

The best way to describe this album would be for me to tear my shirt off, pour a can of beer over my head and run around screaming the band's name and various Norwegian obscenities. That should tell you plenty, though, I'll elaborate: Kvelertak are a Norwegian band playing a unique mixture of black metal, hardcore and rock'n'roll. If this seems incongruous, I thought so at first: until I heard it. 
Kvelertak are 2010's surprise success story, a band that's united the metal community under one flag, despite their weirdness. And it's not hard to see why: the album isamazing. From the howling Mjod to the ferocious tri-guitar attack of Fossegrim, it's hook-stuffed, gloriously groovy and simply nuts. All together now: "KVELERTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!"
(For Fans of: Nachtysmium, Turbonegro)
Recommended Tracks: Mjod/Fossegrim/Sultans of Satan 
5
Bring Me The Horizon
There Is A Hell...

As divisive as they are, and many critics remain, but certainly a lot of them disappeared when the controversial Sheffield metalcore kids dropped their third album. A huge progression from 2008's Suicide Season, it took the electronic flourishes and guest clean vocals and took them further than anyone thought they were capable of, including me. 
From start to finish it's heavily progressive and varied, the choruses beefed up, and much like the Cancer Bats album, Oli Sykes has injected considerably more tone into his vocals, with guest spots from You Me At Six's Josh Franeschi and electro-pop singer Lights lightening the mood slightly. Bleaker and far more powerful than its predecessor, more than any album this year, this sets the bar for metalcore bands-and doubtlessly, few shall meet or surpass it. (For Fans Of: Architects, In Flames. Read my full reviewhere.)
Recommended Tracks: Crucify Me/Fuck/Blessed With A Curse


4
The Dillinger Escape Plan
Option Paralysis

Straight from the opening power chords of Farewell Mona Lisa, it's clear-oh, nope, there's the mathcore.
Yep, Dillinger Escape Plan have progressed, of course they have. Keeping up their apparent trend of getting better with every release, the midsection of the aforementioned track sounds more like Faith No More than their grinding earlier work, and this is reflected right throughout the album. 
There's all the math rage you could want (see the impenetrable Endless Endings) but it's on the lengthier, experimental tracks, like the piano-led Widower and the stunning electronic drone of closer Parasitic Twins. The album's central concept is a powerful message warning against the dangers of technology (to quote frontman Greg Puciato "a band could put their demos on MySpace, get signed, and become famous, theoretically, without ever leaving their room.") 
While it's certainly not easy, get past the layers of synapse-melting mathcore and you have Dillinger's most diverse, most accessible and, for some, best yet. (For Fans Of: Converge, NiN)
Recommended Tracks: Farewell, Mona Lisa/Chinese Whispers/Widower


3
Iron Maiden
The Final Frontier

There's not much left for me to say about this album after my previous review, so I'll leave it short: this album is immense. From the faux-industrial intro of Satellite 15...The Final Frontier to the mountainous second half beginning with the sweeping epic Isle Of Avalon, it certainly requires time to sink in, much like its predecessor, A Matter Of Life And Death.
Containing some of the finest Maiden material since their 80's heyday (closer When The Wild Wind Blows is simply beautiful), it's an incredible statement from a band whom most of their peers have drifted comfortably into retirement age, content to bash out their old hits. Maiden do not rest on their laurels, and long may they reign. (For Fans Of: Judas Preist, Dream Theater)
Recommended Tracks: El Dorado/Isle Of Avalon/The Talisman

2
High On Fire
Snakes For The Divine


As soon as that immense riff hit my ears, I knew Snakes For The Divine was going to be one of the most metal albums I've ever heard, not even of the year. Based around David Icke's theory that Adam's first wife Lilith ate her own young and took on reptoid DNA (METAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!) and becoming the snake-woman you can see on the cover,Snakes is...well...it's just METAL. There's so much else I could say about the album, but that one word just sums it perfectly up. Their mix of classic metal power, furious thrash and epic desert rock is just...awesome. Listen to it, prepare to air guitar, and bang your fucking head off. (For Fans of: Slayer, Motorhead)
Recommended Tracks: Snakes For The Divine/Frost Hammer/Fire, Flood & Plague


1
Fear Factory
Mechanize


Yeah, well, you know. I love this album so much I'm probably known as "that guy who never shuts up about Fear Factory". I don't care.  I love this album and this band more than you can imagine. From the opening drone of the title track to sublime and epic closer Final Exit, this is...just perfect. I do not have a single bad thing to say about this album, and while I've said that before, this is just a sheer monolithic testament to the power of heavy metal. This fucking slays. End of. (For Fans Of: Godflesh, Strapping Young Lad. Read my full review here.

Recommended Tracks: Fear Campaign/Christploitation/Final Exit

Porcupine Tree Retrospective

"It's that Mikael Akerfeldt chap again, crap" (Porcupine Tree, L-R: Gavin Harrison, Richard Barbieri, Steven Wilson, Colin Edwin)

Formed, as many great bands are, as a joke, Porcupine Tree initially started as a side-project to Steven Wilson (vocals/guitar)'s then-main band No-Man in 1987. When some of the Porcupine Tree demos were released, the high critical praise they received (despite the fact all the songs were conceived as jokes) made Wilson rethink the band's position, and this gradually led up to the release of their debut album...

Many great bands, again, don't arrive fully formed, and Porcupine Tree are no exception. As brilliant as its best moments are, On The Sunday Of Life[5] is more than a little bit crap. Many of the songs from the demos made it on here and the jokey quality is still there, but really, who's laughing? As I've said, the highlights are high (The stunning Radioactive Toy and the wonderfully eccentric Nine Cats), the rest ranges from the boring (Nostalgia Factory) to the annoying (Linton Samuel Dawson). At 76 sprawling, difficult minutes, it's by no means essential, or even recommendable.

It took PT a few years to improve and while Up The Downstair[6.5] is undeniably an improvement, it retains their debut's feeling of near-impenetrable inaccessibility, hampered again by a dull, repetitive feel. Other than Synesthesia and the title track, again, it's hardly essential. The Sky Moves Sideways[8] is finally where they stopped being boring and actually started working on songwriting rather than songs, if that makes any sense. Bookended by its 34-minute title track (split into two 17 minute sections) it's hardly accessible, but feels far more rewarding than their two previous albums. Strangely the best track on the album isn't included in the standard issue, the fantastic Stars Die.

Signify[7], the first full record on which the full PT line up appeared (Richard Barbieri on keyboards, Colin Edwin on bass and Chris Maitland on drums) again saw the band moving in a more song-based direction, with shorter, more accessible tracks being the name of the game. It's the longer tracks, though, like the falsetto-laden Dark Matter and Intermediate Jesus that stand out, contrasting well with the shorter tracks like the pounding, taut jam of the title track and Waiting.

It took Porcupine Tree three full years to follow up Signify and, well, I'll never know if it was worth the wait or not as I was only 6, but my god, is Stupid Dream[9] brilliant. The soaring, stadium sized melodies and Pearl Jam guitars of opener Even Less set the tone for an album that's ambitious and experimental without ever becoming inaccessible in any parts.

Hailed as an alternative rock masterpiece, it was never going to be easy to follow it up, but they did their best with Lightbulb Sun[8] and while it doesn't top Stupid Dream it comes damn near to equaling it. The pounding country-rock of the title track, the jerky psychedelia of Four Chords That Made A Million and the vast, 13-minute ambient Russia On Ice combine to make a fantastic record, despite the band tensions at the time.


Steven Wilson onstage in 2007.

In between Lightbulb Sun and recording the new PT album Steven Wilson discovered the extreme metal underground-citing the likes of Morbid Angel, the UK doom metal scene, and, obviously, Opeth, whose 2001 record Blackwater Park he produced and appeared on (as well as their Damnation and Deliverance albums).

This new heavier influence, as well as ridiculously talented new drummer Gavin Harrison (replacing Chris Maitland, who departed in 2001) and live guitarist/vocalist John Wesley, made In Absentia[9.5] the amazing, amazing record it is. From the opening double barrage of radio hit (and still their best song ever, IMO) Blackest Eyes and fantastic ballad Trains it was clear PT had mutated into not only a heavier band but also a far, far better one. The In Absentia songs still make up the bulk of PT's setlist today, from the spectral eight-minute Gravity Eyelids, the relentless heavy-funk of instrumental Wedding Nails and the furious, boiling tale of abuse that is Strip The Soul. Still their best selling album, and it's obvious why.

Deadwing[9] is many a fan's favourite. A concept album based on a ghost story written by Steven Wilson, it is, in a complete antithesis to Porcupine Tree's earlier work, flawless. There's not a single bad track on here, and while it's true I gave it a lower score than In Absentia as the material is ever so slightly less strong, it's still brilliant. It's probably the album that best defines the Porcupine Tree sound, from mellow ballad Lazarus to the pummeling hard rock of staple set-closer Halo all the way to the epic The Start Of Something Beautiful. Like all other 00's Porcupine Tree albums, essential.

People have disagreed and will disagree with me on this, but Fear Of A Blank Planet[10] is, plain and simple, the best Porcupine Tree album, and essential for every metal fan on earth. Finally abandoning his quest for radio airplay, Steven Wilson penned an album that both spat furiously at the desensitized modern world and offered a desperate, gut-wrenching lament to lost innocence. Comprised of just six utterly perfect tracks, it contains the heaviest (the midsection of the jaw-dropping 18-minute centerpiece, Anesthetize) and some of the lightest (Sentimental) PT material, it's...well, it's my favourite album. Ever. I can't say any more about it.

After its three predecessors The Incident[8], for me at least, was always going to fall just a little bit flat. By no means a bad album (Porcupine Tree have proved that they're unable to do that, at least not anymore), it suffers from slight over ambition and, it pains me to say it, some filler. A single 55-minute "musical journey" as described by Steven Wilson, the opening blasting power chords of Occam's Razor and The Blind House set the tone as a heavy album, but this is as much of a return to the days of old as Porcupine Tree are going to make. The almost indie-esque Drawing The Line and the acoustic interludes that make up most of the running time occasionally bore, but it's on brilliant tracks like the icy, industrial-flavored crushing riffs of the title track and the shamelessly Floyd-worshiping Time Flies and lilting closer I Drive The Hearse that redeem it. The least compelling of Porcupine Tree's "metal albums", but still brilliant.

RECOMMENDED TRACKS

Nine Cats/Stars Die/Dark Matter/Even Less/Stop Swimming/Lightbulb Sun/Blackest Eyes/Trains/Strip The Soul/Shallow/Halo/The Start Of Something Beautiful/Fear Of A Blank Planet/Sentimental/Anesthetize/Way Out Of Here/Time Flies

O hai

Well, I've done it, finally. Now you can read my reviews in a total of 3 different places (if you're reading this you'll probably know where the other two are).

For the moment I'll gradually be posting my old reviews before I start any new ones. But anyway. Enjoy.