Best of 2023, Part 2: In Flames, Avatar, Metallica, Nita Strauss, Overkill

Continuing my list of top 20 albums of 2023:

No. 10. NITA STRAUSS – THE CALL OF THE VOID: The long-time Alice Cooper guitar slinger delivers her second solo album, this time shaking things up with a whole host of guest artists (including the boss), as well as some incredible instrumental pieces. The songs with guest stars do tend to take on the flavor of the guest’s band, but that’s honestly not a problem at all as it brings great variety from the melodic death metal influence of “The Wolf You Feed,” featuring Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, to the quirky nu metal of “Dead Inside,” featuring David Draiman of Disturbed, to the all-out hard rock of “Victorious,” featuring Dorothy. But it’s not just guest vocalists that Strauss brings on as we get a shredder's dream collab with Marty Friedman on “Surfacing,” to close the record. Call of the Void is a solid album that should appeal not only to guitar fans, but fans of great rock songs.

Standout songs: “Summer Storm,” “The Wolf You Feed,” “Victorious,” “Winner Takes All,” “Kintsugi,” “Surfacing”

Best of 2022, Part 2: Ozzy, Zeal & Ardor, Whiskey Myers, Parkway Drive, Amon Amarth, Alestorm, Skid Row

Continuing my Best of 2022 list with the top 10: 

No. 10. OZZY OSBOURNE – PATIENT NUMBER 9: Who’d have thought that an Ozzy Osbourne record would ever crack my Top 10 again? This one really kind of hit home for me despite some questionable production choices. The title track with Jeff Beck is the best thing that the Prince of Bleeping Darkness has done in ages, and there’s plenty more to like here with guest shots from Tony Iommi, Eric Clapton, Zakk Wylde and Mike McCready. Though it doesn’t quite capture the classic Ozzy energy, there are certainly shades of all of his incarnations to be found in the songs here, and it’s probably the first Ozzy album that I’ve truly enjoyed since 2001’s Down to Earth. (And yeah, I know most people dislike that one, too, but I don’t.)

Standout songs: “Patient Number 9,” “Immortal,” “No Escape from Now,” “One of those Days,” “A Thousand Shades,” “Evil Shuffle,” “Mr. Darkness”

Best of 2022, Part 1: Blind Guardian, Megadeth, Soilwork, Ward Davis, Disturbed

If there was one good thing that came out of the misery of 2020, it seems that a lot of artists used their lockdown time to create fantastic albums that trickled out through the year. For me, 2022 was an embarrassment of musical riches that featured some rock steady releases, some fantastic returns to form and even a couple of new discoveries.

The year wasn’t without its disappointments, and some of them were tough ones. The much-anticipated return of King’s X after a 14-year absence, for example, just didn’t connect with me the way that I’d hoped. But those were anomalies this year and certainly not the norm. I can’t remember the last time that I had 20 albums that I wanted to talk about at the end of the year, but here we are:

No. 20. HORIZON IGNITED – TOWARDS THE DYING LANDS: The second album for Finland’s Horizon Ignited was my introduction to the band. What they deliver on this first Best of 2022 honoree is not ground-breaking, but it’s very well-done melodic death metal in the vein of Soilwork and In Flames. Unfortunately for them, they were competing this year with a new record from Soilwork and four incredible songs from In Flames’ upcoming record, due in early 2023. That said, Towards the Dying Land is still a very enjoyable 40-ish minutes, and “Reveries” remains one of my favorite songs of the year.

Standout songs: “Reveries,” “Beyond Your Reach,” “Towards the Dying Lands,” “Servant,” “Eventide of Abysmal Grief”

Review: Avatar, "Hunter Gatherer"

It’s not often these days that I’m a latecomer to a band. All the music in the world is at my fingertips, and I’m pretty much willing to give anything at least one listen. But somehow, I missed the boat on Avatar.

Back in my newspaper days, I remember them playing a local club. I checked them out, thought it wasn’t my cup of tea, and moved on. I’m not sure what album that was or what songs I listened to, but having spent the past couple of weeks catching up on their catalog, I feel a little silly.

The song that sent me down the Avatar rabbit hole was “Child” from their latest release Hunter Gatherer. I’m not sure what made me click on it after steadfastly ignoring the band for years, but I’m glad that I did.

The super-creepy little ditty about a young child whose mother has been buried alive bounces between a manic, showtune-like verse and a bashing, screaming bridge that leads to an infectious chorus melody straight out of a horror movie – the good kind. It was love at first listen for me, and after running through the song a few times, I had to hear the rest of the record.

Review: Amaranthe, "Manifest"

I always imagine what the conversation with friends might have been like when Amaranthe decided to get together.

Friend: So are you guys going to be a pop act, a prog metal outfit or a melodic death metal band?

Amaranthe: Yes.

The band has made a decade-long career out of mixing things that shouldn’t go together, and their sixth album, Manifest, continues the tradition. The vocal trio of Elize Ryd, Nils Molin and Henrik Englund Wilhelmsson all give the music a different perspective. Ryd brings the pop hooks and looks, Molin delivers the power and mystery, and Wilhelmsson hammers it home with his death-style growls. Guitarist and primary composer Olof Morck plays them all masterfully in an irresistible genre-blending brand of metal.

Review: In Flames, "I, The Mask"

Overview

After three of the first four songs released from In Flames’ latest showed a lot of promise, I was hoping to party like it was 2002 with great albums from both Soilwork and In Flames again. In the end, though, it’s a mixed bag with some really strong songs, but quite a few skips.

What’s Hot?

Fans of the band’s earlier work should be pleased that there are heavier songs on this record than they’ve done in a while. It starts with album opener “Voices,” which definitely has some Clayman feel in the verses. That’s followed with the title track, which is an absolute banger. After that, things get spottier. There’s heaviness to be found in “I Am Above,” “Burn” and the addictive riffing of “Deep Inside,” which does a really good job of blending their styles. Yes, the heavy songs here do have more melodic, mainstream choruses, but in most cases, they’re very catchy.

Review: Soilwork, "Verkligheten"

Unfortunately, evolution can be a difficult and dangerous thing for a metal band. Any change in sound in the genre is often met with a swift and ugly response from a large portion of the fan base.

If there’s a template for the way to evolve gracefully, it might belong to Soilwork. That’s not to say that they haven’t seen the backlash as they’ve moved from the Gothenburg death-metal sound to something more melodic and accessible, but they’ve weathered it better than others and continue to pump out great albums. Their latest, Verkligheten (which translates to Reality in English), is no exception.

Playlist 2016 Week 2: Jackson Taylor, Metallica, Delain, Amon Amarth, Wicked Realm

In the second week of my Playlist 2016, we'll go from country to Viking death metal with a detour through the 1980s.


"Which Way is Up?" Jackson Taylor & The Sinners. If any song perfectly encapsulates 2016, it's this title track from Jackson Taylor's latest release. It expressed my feelings exactly as most everyone around me seemed to lose their minds in a particularly nasty election year. It's a message that I believe everyone needs to hear before this year is over.

Review: Amorphis, "Under the Red Cloud"

I didn’t think that Finnish folk/death metal outfit Amorphis would ever top 2009’s epic Skyforger. But their latest, Under the Red Cloud, certainly gives it a run for its money.

Under the Red Cloud may be Amorphis’ most folk-influenced record to date, but that makes it no less crushingly heavy when it needs to be.

We see the two sides in the first two songs. The title track opens softly, playing heavily into the folk elements before transforming into a ripping rocker with just a few growls from vocalist Tomi Joutsen. Second track “The Four Wise Ones,” digs in for some good, old-fashioned melodic death metal. We get a break in the middle with some effects-laden vocals from Aleah Stanbridge (Trees of Eternity) before the song ramps back up. Even in its heaviness, though, “The Four Wise Ones” plays to the folk elements with whistles and pipes running throughout.

Review: Black Crown Initiate, "The Wreckage of Stars"

I’d heard a little bit of the buzz around Black Crown Initiate, but hadn’t taken the time to check the band out.

I’m super picky when it comes to the more extreme subgenres of metal, and unless I get a promo on it, I’m not usually one to run out and find music from a death metal band. When the video for first single “Withering Waves” showed up on a social media feed, it was an easy click to check it out, and I was astounded.

In short, Black Crown Initiate gives me what I’m missing from Opeth since their move to a 1970s prog rock sound. I wouldn’t call them a clone, but what Opeth did better than anyone else, Black Crown Initiate also does exceptionally well. They deliver crushingly heavy death metal parts, interspersed with moody and dark melodic pieces and plenty of progressive bursts.

Saturday Shuffle: Soilwork, Tesla, Anthrax, Scatterbrain, Alestorm

Pretty heavy lineup this week -- some new stuff, some old stuff and ending with some fun ...


Soilwork, “Memories Confined.” From the album The Living Infinite (2013). One of the tracks from the mellower, more melodic side of last year’s Soilwork double album. It’s not really one of the more memorable, but it’s not bad, either.

Something Borrowed: "Let It Go," Betraying the Martyrs/Idina Menzel

I feel like I may be the only person on the planet that doesn’t love Disney’s Frozen. Everyone I talked to raved about it, and when I finally saw it, I thought it was terribly overrated.

The animation was nice, but it just wasn’t a very good movie — and certainly not up to the standards of a really good Disney animated movie. I thought the first 45 minutes were pretty boring, and the next 45 minutes were just OK. Even the songs that everyone else went crazy over, I thought were a bit overdone.

Review: Arch Enemy, "War Eternal"

The Alissa White-Gluz era of Arch Enemy begins with quite a bang on War Eternal, the band’s 10th album — and one of its best overall efforts to date.

For the record, there’s no drama with former vocalist Angela Gossow. She stepped down due to family and other obligations, but remains with the band in a managerial position and even had a hand in choosing her successor. White-Gluz, who some fans may know from The Agonist, will be, at the same time, a familiar and quite different voice for the band. Her death growls have as much venom as Gossow’s ever did, but I would say that White-Gluz’s vocals also sound just a wee bit more feminine. I realize that’s really relative when you’re talking about death growls, but there are more moments when I realize there’s a woman snarling here than there were with Gossow.

Best of 2014: Mid-year hard rock and metal

Just so we’re clear, this list gets completely blown up in a couple of weeks when I can officially add Judas Priest’s Redeemer of Souls, which I’ve been jamming at high volumes for about a week now. But, at the official midpoint of the year, these are my picks in hard rock and metal.

Overall, it’s been a good year thus far in the genres. There are a few old favorites, at least one newcomer and a couple of surprises …


No. 10 — BODY COUNT – MANSLAUGHTER: Eight years after a disappointing return with 2006′s Murder 4 Hire, Ice-T’s metal outfit brings back its early glory, delivering a violent gutpunch of an album that’s a little heavier on gratuitous sex and violence than social commentary, but still entertaining.

Saturday Shuffle: Metallica, BLS, Saigon Kick, Savatage, Carcass

I'm feeling some love for 1991 in today's shuffle ...


“My Friend of Misery,” Metallica. From the album Metallica (1991). This song was one of the weaker links of “The Black Album,” but still not a bad tune. It was one of those few cases where bassist Jason Newsted was able to grab a little of the spotlight.

Saturday Shuffle: Sabbath, III, Queensryche, Hellbound Glory, Soilwork

The "triumphant" return of the Saturday Shuffle? A nice mix of heavy and hick anyway ... 

"Hand of Doom," Black Sabbath. From the album Paranoid (1970). This dark song about drug use is one of the oft-overlooked gems from Black Sabbath's most famous album. Geezer Butler delivers a mesmerizing bass line that's just perfect for the tone and subject matter of the song.

Saturday Shuffle: Nirvana, Warrant, Cypress Hill, Amorphis, Hank Jr.

Something for just about everyone this week. Rock, hip-hop, death metal, country, you want it, it's there ...


Nirvana, "Plateau." From the album MTV Unplugged in New York (1994). I've never made any secret of my opinion of Nirvana and the fact that I believe they're the most overrated band in the history of rock. That said, I do love the Unplugged album, and "Plateau," one of a couple of Meat Puppets covers on the record, is a favorite.

Saturday Shuffle: Amorphis, Pinnick Gales Pridgen, Annihilator, Dangerous Toys, Bob Wayne

A little bit of heavy, a little bit of funky and a little bit of country with a metal flavor ...

Amorphis, “Three Words.” From the album The Beginning of Times (2011). I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything Amorphis has done since vocalist Tomi Joutsen joined in 2005. This song hits what the band does best. It’s beautiful, melancholic and dark, and Joutsen is one of those rare vocalists that impresses both with his clean vocals, which are primarily on display in this song, and his growls.

Review: Carcass, "Surgical Steel"

Surgical Steel, the first record since 1996 from reunited English death metal legends Carcass, is probably one of the most anticipated of the year for many metal fans. I can’t really say that I was among them.

I only own one Carcass album, 1993’s Heartwork, which is really the only record by the band that I like. 

Death metal, in general, is a hard sell for me. My collection of it is small for a few reasons. I don’t like feeling like I’m being bludgeoned over the head with a snare drum. Blast beats can be quite effective, but often it seems to me that’s the only weapon in many death metal drummers’ arsenal.

Then there are the death growl vocals. Like the blast beats, they can be done well, but so often, particularly when paired with those blast beats, they make the music seem monotonous and lacking emotion.

Saturday Shuffle: Amon Amarth, Jon Oliva, Slash, White Wizzard, Pantera

Another hard rocking week, from melodic death to pre CFH Pantera ...

Amon Amarth, “And Soon the World Will Cease to Be (Live).” From the album Vs. the World Bonus Edition (2009). This re-issue of the band’s 2002 record featured a second disc with the entire album performed live. This tune, the final cut on the album, is crushing, heavy and melodic.