BAD TASTE! LOUD RIFFS! TOO MUCH CUM!
Unleash The Archers
Abyss has a vivid cosmic atmosphere and several soaring peaks, but its long arc loses tension between major set pieces.
Finntroll
A compact, expertly made Finntroll record whose darker atmosphere is persuasive, though few songs become truly indispensable.
Ad Infinitum
A poised symphonic-metal debut with strong melodic architecture, dark color and a bonus-heavy runtime that dilutes its focus.
Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity’s melodic death metal landmark is rich in ideas and atmosphere, though its restless complexity sometimes obscures its hooks.
Delain
Apocalypse & Chill balances glossy modern textures with strong melodies, even when its long runtime softens the impact.
Amorphis
Amorphis transform death metal through Finnish folk melody and mournful keyboards on a landmark album that remains strange and absorbing.
Jinjer
Macro is full of striking performances and sharp contrasts, but its emotional and musical fragments rarely form a convincing whole.
Wind Rose
Wintersaga turns a tightly defined fantasy-metal identity into huge hooks, brisk pacing and near-constant replay value.
HammerFall
HammerFall deliver sturdy choruses and bright steel, but Dominion spends too long marching through familiar territory.
Children Of Bodom
Children of Bodom at full velocity: vicious, melodic, absurdly catchy and nearly flawless in its balance of hooks and aggression.
Sabaton
The Great War is compact, rhythmically sturdy and hook-heavy, though Sabaton’s formula occasionally turns history into assembly-line spectacle.
Eluveitie
Ategnatos contains flashes of Eluveitie’s old force, but its crowded arrangement and uneven pacing blunt the impact.