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Written by Nik Cameron Sunday, 04 January 2015 00:01

I’ve been tasked with giving you a 10 best list, but I’m not really about that. I’m going to give you, in no particular order, the 10 metal albums of 2014 that you need to own if you want to be cool.

 

1. Eye of Solitude: Dear Insanity (Kaotoxin) | I have never heard an album full of the power that Eye of Solitude has. Technically, I have to disqualify this album as the best album of the year because they say it’s an EP: It’s a single song, but that song clocks in at 50 minutes! This is the best album I have heard in years. It’s powerful, eclectic, and emotive, and brought me literally to tears in the latter sections.
2. Revocation: Deathless (Metal Blade) | If it wasn’t for the aforementioned album, this would have been my number one album of the year. OK, so I ranked a bit. I can put it only like this: Revocation has recorded everything I love about metal into one record.
3. Warmblood: God of Zombies (Spew) | Death metal is a dish best served under layers and layers of guitars. Many bands don’t have the ability to really write out riff after riff that doesn’t blend right into the last one, and that’s where Warmblood shines. And seriously…zombies are cool.
4. Fortress: Unto the Nothing (Unholy Anarchy) | This album is slow, belabored, and uncomfortable until the listener comes around to what Fortress is doing. It also is the only album I know that has a song about Gmork and Atreyu!
5. Olde: I (Hypaethral) | Oh, hey there, Canada! You’re producing top-quality doom metal that’s even better than the last Black Sabbath record? Well, let’s be honest: 13 sucked, but Olde is there to keep us in gritty, steel factory metal.
6. Terminal Death: Eponymous (Shadow Kingdom) | File this one in the “What Could Have Been” category. Even though about 60% of this album is unlistenable, even for serious death metal fanatics, the 40% that is gives a glimpse into a band that would’ve been one of the greats.
7. Internal Bleeding: Imperium (Unique Leader) | NYC’s Internal Bleeding is a longtime veteran of the genre. For over 20 years they have been crushing out mid tempo brutality that flat out grooves, and their latest is no different. If Carcass and Deicide are just too much for you…
8. Lelahell: Al Insane…The (Re)birth of Abderrahmane (s/r) | There is just something cool about listening to Algerian death metal. These fellows are touring Europe and crushing out a modern brand of death metal that could hang with all the great artists and scenes.
9. Stormvold: Third Bestial Mutilation (Xtreem Music) | Hailing from Madrid, these  old-school death metallers created a sound that fits in and stands apart from the crowded field of extreme metal.
10. Obituary: Inked in Blood (Relapse Records) | Inked in Blood has all of the classic sludgy, death riffs Obituary is known for, but with a small touch of the new that keeps it fresh and awesome. Best comeback record of 2014.

Well, that’s all from me. 2014 has been a spectacular year for music and I’m excited to see what 2015 brings! | Nik Cameron