Best of 2016: Metal and Hard Rock

For me, 2016 was a very hectic year, so I didn’t get the chance to write about as many of these records as I would have liked. Still, it was a strong musical year, and, as you go through my Best Hard Rock and Metal of 2016 list, you’ll see why I’m calling it the year of the classic thrash band.

That said, two notable thrash heavyweights who released albums this year didn’t make the Top 10: Megadeth’s Dystopia grew on me as 2016 went on, and was on the bubble as I made my final decision, but didn’t quite make the cut. The other, I was a bit more disappointed by. Though Metallica’s Hardwired … to Self-Destruct contains a few standout tracks – including the best pure thrash song they’ve recorded in ages – I just found most of the record vanilla and unmemorable. Those songs that I love just weren’t enough to overcome the blah numbers that surround them.

That said, four classic thrash acts did find their way into a pretty strong final field, and one blew all the others away in my opinion. Here’s my Best Hard Rock and Metal of 2016 …


10. METAL CHURCH – XI: Here’s our first classic thrash entry already. The return of Mike Howe on vocals certainly piqued my interest, as 1989’s Blessing in Disguise is one of my favorite Metal Church albums, and the lead single “No Tomorrow” got me amped up. The album followed through on that promise. There’s nothing new or fancy here, but it’s just a great old-school thrash record.

Playlist 2016 Week 5: Dead Daisies, Anthrax, LoG, Death Angel, Testament

We've now reached the point in the program where we start to get into mostly repeated artists, and we've entered the new year, so I think I'll wind it down with this week's selections. That said, there are still a few more songs that make my playlist, but I think these 25 or so cover the high points.


"We All Fall Down," The Dead Daisies. This was just an old-fashioned, good time hard rock record. It's simplicity and fun made it one of my favorites of the year, and "We All Fall Down" was my favorite track. Just a great hook and a great all-around tune.

Playlist 2016 Week 1: Metal Church, Anthrax, Testament, Death Angel, Jackyl

Last week, I started sharing some of my favorite songs of 2016 over at the Facebook page. I wasn't planning any posts on those here, but what the hell? Here's a look back at the first week's worth. (These are in no particular order, other than the way they come to mind.)


"No Tomorrow," Metal Church. I'm calling this the year of the classic thrash band, as so many of my old favorites turned out fantastic records. Let's the get the playlist started with the return of Mike Howe to Metal Church, a most welcome reunion.

Review: Anthrax live at Riverside Warehouse (Shreveport, La., Sept. 23, 2016)

It was my first trip to the Riverside Warehouse in Shreveport, and I was a little surprised by the venue. I was thinking warehouse – a big open space. Instead, it’s a cozy, but cool little spot, with a bar out front and the performance area in the back, an open floor and a balcony above, with good views of the stage from just about wherever you’re at.

It was also my first time to see Anthrax as a headliner and the only time I’ve seen them since the late 1980s, when I caught them opening for Ozzy Osbourne. (I was supposed to see them once during the John Bush years, but they dropped off the bill at the last minute.) I was looking forward to hearing some old favorites and plenty of stuff off their latest, For All Kings, my current favorite album of the year.

Best of 2013: Hard rock and metal honorable mentions

I'll start my look at the best hard rock and metal albums of the year with a few that didn't quite make the cut, some random thoughts, and a look ahead at 2014.

Honorable Mentions


Philip H. Anselmo and the Illegals -- Walk Through Exits Only. Though this record narrowly missed my top 10, it's certainly the most interesting I heard this year. Dubbed by Anselmo as anti-music, the album is loaded with hooks while, at the same time, being very chaotic and jarring.

Review: Death Angel, "The Dream Calls for Blood"

Death Angel stands as one of the most underrated acts from the second tier of the 1980s San Francisco Bay-area thrash movement. Though not often mentioned, the band's first three albums are as solid as anything that you'll find from that era and show a great deal of musical evolution between the aggressive The Ultra-Violence in 1987 and the much more varied Act III in 1990.

The band broke up after that third album, with some members going on to form a short-lived outfit called The Organization, named for a song on Act III, that built on the influences the band had shown on that record.

Best of 2010: Honorable mentions

These are the records that didn't quite make the cut for the top 10. Normally, I hold this to around five, but this year, I'm going with 10.

Review: Death Angel, "The Art of Dying"

Death Angel was perhaps one of the most underrated thrash bands of the late 1980s.

Coming out of the thriving thrash scene of the San Francisco Bay Area, the members of the band were young phenoms. At the time they recorded their debut, 1987's "The Ultra-Violence," drummer Andy Galeon was only 14. Their two follow-up albums 1988's "Frolic Through the Park" and 1990's "Act III" are classics of the genre that belong in any thrash fan's collection. But a bus accident that sidelined Galeon for a year also fractured the band. Several of the members went on to form the short-lived band The Organization, but it didn't have the same spark.

Now, 14 years later, Death Angel has reunited to unleash their fourth studio album, and not a lot has changed - either in the band or in the music. The album picks up right where "Act III" left off with the same big lightning-fast riffs and catchy vocal melodies.

Tunes like "5 Steps to Freedom," "Famine" and "No" are like hopping in the wayback machine and jumping back to 1990. The semi-ballad on this album, "Word to the Wise," doesn't play as well as softer songs from their past like "Veil of Deception" from "Act III," but it's still a solid effort.

If there's one knock against this album, it's that it does sound dated. It's unapologetically a late '80s thrash album. My only complaint is that we should have gotten this album more than a decade ago.

Get "The Art of Dying."