15 Years, 15 Records: 1999, Jeff Waters annihilates the competition

Annihilator’s debut record Alice in Hell blew me away in 1989. The blend of technical thrash, cool melodies and extreme metal style aggression was a kick in the pants. I also enjoyed the follow up, Never, Neverland with Omen vocalist Coburn Pharr on the mic. Then came the third record, Set the World on Fire, with yet another vocalist. It had a lighter sound, and I just was not at all impressed with the voice of Aaron Randall. I wandered away from the band and missed a few records.

Then, in 1999, I heard that founder Jeff Waters was putting the Alice in Hell lineup back together, and I was intrigued. The result was Criteria for a Black Widow, featuring three-fourths of the band responsible for their classic debut (bassist Wayne Darley didn’t return). Though my reaction to this record wasn’t quite as profound as the one to Alice in Hell, I was still impressed. This album brought the power back to the band and gave us some great new Annihilator tunes in the style of their first two records.

15 Years, 15 Records: 1998, Iced Earth burns it up

In the second year of the series, I have another three-way dilemma. Iced Earth’s iconic Something Wicked This Way Comes, my favorite Blind Guardian record, Nightfall in Middle-Earth, and the very solid Wake of Magellan by one of my favorite bands, Savatage, were all released in 1998. Because it’s their strongest work, I chose Something Wicked.

Though he was the third singer in Iced Earth, Matt Barlow had already made his mark with two new studio records – Burnt Offerings and the Dark Saga – and a collection of re-recorded songs from the band’s earlier records – Days of Purgatory. But it was on Something Wicked that it appeared the ever-revolving lineup of Iced Earth might be close to becoming a unified band. That’s not to say the earlier albums were sloppy, but this seemed to be a tighter, more well-rounded record.

Freebies: Soulfly offering download of new track

For the next 48 hours, Soulfly is offering a free download of the track "World Scum" from their upcoming album Enslaved. To get it, visit the band's Facebook page.

15 Years, 15 Records: 1997, Bruce Dickinson returns

It’s the first year in the series, and already there’s a three-way battle for my favorite record between Bruce Dickinson’s comeback album Accident of Birth, Aerosmith’s underrated Nine Lives and Judas Priest’s debut with Tim “Ripper” Owens, Jugulator. In the end, though, Dickinson’s reunion with Adrian Smith and return to a more familiar brand of metal won out.

I quite enjoyed Dickinson’s solo debut, Tattooed Millionaire, even though it was more of a brand of 1970s hard rock than what I was familiar with from his days in Iron Maiden. His second outing, Balls To Picasso, left me a little cold. I loved “Tears of the Dragon” and a few other songs, but didn’t care for most of the record. By the time the strange Skunkworks arrived, I had pretty much written him off.

15 Years, 15 Records: Intro

In finally getting around to setting up a Facebook page for this site, it dawned on me that, in some shape or form, Hall of the Mountain King has been up and running for 15 years. Since not a lot of sites can boast 15 years, even one as small as this, I thought it was cause for a little celebration.

Back in 1997, I was a fresh-faced kid who had just discovered the Internet, and I had a big plan. I launched Hall of the Mountain King on the old members.aol.com server, and I envisioned it as eventually being a destination site for all things hard rock and heavy metal as well as all things speculative fiction.

Freebies: New Lillian Axe track streaming

Enjoy a stream of the opening track "Babylon" from Lillian Axe's upcoming album. The record is fantastic. Look for a review here in the coming weeks.

LILLIAN AXE - Babylon (2012) by AFM Records

Best of 2011: Top 10

As I look back over 2011′s releases, I realize that maybe it wasn’t quite as good a year in the metal world as I thought. For the past few years, I’ve had as many as a couple dozen candidates for this list, and it’s been difficult to winnow them down to 10. This year, the records that were good were really good, but after that things start to drop off pretty quickly.

10. Three Thirteen, Full Tilt: I love surprises from independent artists, and Three Thirteen delivered a great little retro hard rock package this year. I was drawn in by the physical product, which had a little more thought put into it than the average CD these days, and the fun, hell-raising rock songs on the record held me. The record is a tip of the hat to the classic acts the band grew up on, with a heavy late-1970s, early-1980s rock feel. There are no sappy ballads or thinking-man’s songs here. It’s a party from start to finish. It’s the perfect record for popping the t-tops out of your Trans-Am and heading out on the highway.