Metal Nerdism Vol. 10: BLOOD & STEEL - 20 EPIC-er METAL songs to make you raise a sword.

It's not the best ones or the greatest ones, even if a few of them are undeniable champions. It is the 20 EPIC-er METAL songs to make you raise a sword (or an axe... or a hammer) according to Crystal Logic. There is just ONE RULE: One song per band. We don't want to present a list with 20 songs written by Quorthon or the Shark.

by Andreas Andreou

 

It is said that there are no specific rules to define Epic Metal and even if the correct term is Epic Heavy Metal, there are still bands, albums and many songs that are simply Epic Metal. A few of them will be found below. So, what's Epic (Heavy) Metal? The number 1 song in the list below sums up everything but it is more. Lyrics are also a part of it. You know them, name it battles, warriors, fantasy, sword & sorcery, mythology (even folklore), historical events, ancient times, mostly things that offer escapism. Epic Metal though has also the deep and academic approach of modern bands such as Atlantean Kodex and their unique lyrical approach that gives to this so-called sub-genre a quality that requests a devotion in order to approach it and understand it. At the end of the day, Epic Metal can be something more than simple "escapism" and it doesn mean of course that you should go out in the streets wielding a sword!

Roots? Many. It is about bands but mainly songs, and also the visual aspect. The roots in the '70s heavy and rock don't have many differences than the ones of Power Metal, so let's just add songs like Rainbow's "Stargazer" and Ronnie James Dio lyrical approach, Black Sabbath's "Supertzar" and the galloping rhythm of "Children of the Grave", Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song", a few more '70s songs of Uriah Heep, Judas Priest, Rush and Scorpions, the imagery of cover arts from bands such as Dust (Hard Attack, 1972) and Molly Hatchet (Molly Hatchet, 1978), and this is just the top of the ice cube, since there were more less known bands here and there. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal leading to the '80s and Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell was the foundation upon which bands like Manilla Road and Manowar shaped part of their characteristics.

The first ones? I guess we all agree that bands such as Manilla Road, Manowar and Warlord can claim the "Epic Heavy Metal" term as the leaders without adding any "proto-metal", "proto-epic", "proto-whatever" this thing is, bands. When was this term firstly used? We will discuss it in the last songs of the list below.

A few diverse and controversial choices are a must sometimes, so the list goes like this:


20. BATTLEROAR - Hyrkanian Blades

For us, old fans of Battleroar the debate for the best album was always Age of Chaos or To Death and Beyond... but I was always with the later since there was one of the greatest epic heavy metal openers ever ("The Wrathforge") and songs like "Hyrkanian Blades". Huge band in the underground epic metal scene back then, but it was never the same after the third album. It was just a different act.

Check also: RAVENSIRE - Drawing the Sword


19. SOLSTICE - To Ride with Tyr

I am always trying to find ways so I can add something from Solstice in every list. This wasn't very difficult this time, so Mr. Rich Walker is here, with this epic (doom) metal masterpiece from Halcyon EP. "We die as brothers, and ride with Tyr".

Check also: ISEN TORR - Mighty & Superior

18. TWISTED TOWER DIRE - Axes & Honor

Taken from the third album of one of the best bands of the true new wave of traditional heavy metal movement that took shape a few years before bands like Enforcer led the way, "Axes & Honor" is a glorious anthemic epic heavy metal song. Grab an axe and held it high!

Check also: CRUSH - Kingdom of the Kings


17. DOMINE - The Aquilonia Suite

That song could be higher in the list but having also the music of Basil Poledouris heavily added it would be unfair for all the rest. Conan the Barbarian is the key element here and Domine more or less offer us their epic heavy metal take on the John Milius' film with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the leading role. Perfect from start to finish, the 11-minute epic is a highlight in Domine's impressive catalogue.

Check also: IRONSWORD - Cimmeria


16. CIRITH UNGOL - Nadsokor

"Mighty warrior raise your sword against the seething chaos horde" is the first line and the voice of chaos brings an archaic and mystical aura that only Cirith Ungol had in specific moments of their albums. One Foot in Hell is definitely not the best Ungol album (that one is King of the Dead for all of the older Ungol fans) but "Nadsokor" is one of their epic-er songs that's also has been covered in the debut album of the following band in No.15.

Check also: STONE DAGGER - The Siege of Jerusalem


15. DOOMSWORD - Heathen Assault

DoomSword is one more of the bands that can be labeled simply as "Epic Metal". They have the doom element in their music (and name) but this is just pure epic metal because playing slow metal music doesn't really make you doom metal. "Heathen Assault" sums up the essence of the band. The band's music is forged in tales of steel and battles, the triumph of the conqueror and the blood of the conquered.

Check also: BLOOD COVERED - Memories Through Centuries...


14. WRATHBLADE - God-Defying Typhoeus

Wrathblade is the most underrated epic heavy metal band ever. Everyone, more or less, has taken the credit it deserves but Wrathblade still haven't. Following the band from their early years and having seen them live numerous times (almost everywhere) before even releasing the debut album Into the Netherworld's Realm (2012), I was confident that this album was going to rule. And it did. The opening track "God-Defying Typhoeus" was a live favourite (just like "Reins of Doom") before even the album was released, among the few fanatics of the Athenian legion. A different kind of lyrics, epic but different and unique, the most suitable voice for their epic music, huge riffs and an excellent rhythm section, a lack of guitar solos and keyboards that adds an archaic and barbarian feeling, and the perfect production for their stuff. Wrathblade is the real epic heavy metal deal.

Check also: TALES OF MEDUSA - Bade the Myrmidons


13. ATLANTEAN KODEX - The Atlantean Kodex

There are many songs you can add here from Atlantean Kodex, but this anthemic epic heavy metal track is the hymn of the Kodex battalions and having seen live many times the German epic metal armada, it is also a live favourite. Atlantean Kodex is a very special epic metal band, the greatest one of the new era alongside Eternal Champion, but their approach differs and makes them really unique. It is the overall aesthetic element of the music, the lyrics, and the band's physical products. The band is already considered as one of the greatest in epic heavy metal and in the years to come, the new generations will view them as masters of their game. Still though, don't get fooled, the music of Atlantean Kodex is not a game, it is a form of art and at the same time, pure and regressive metal. Behold the fire, behold the force.

Check also: SCALD - A Tumulus

12. ETERNAL CHAMPION - I Am the Hammer

What Eternal Champion did with The Armor of Ire is bring back the way one album could change the scene instantly. That was the underground metal scene of course, but it really changed. Instantly. It was the moment where people thought "I can do that, too!". No one really did it so far but many tried. Others failed, others came close but still to this day, Eternal Champion stands as the greatest modern epic heavy metal band. A band with a songwriting and sound that influenced many and brought back to the USA a new generation of fans wanting traditional metal. The album's opening track "I Am the Hammer" is a modern totemic epic metal monument.

Check also: SMOULDER - Ilian of Garathorm

11. LORDIAN GUARD - War in Heaven

"And lo, Michael with sword in hand, he leads the Lordian Guard to slay, to damn"... that one, was the line that stuck in my head the first I listened to this song. It was during the pre-internet era where there was a rumor that "Bill Tsamis is coming back with Warlord". It wasn't Warlord though but the shock of listening to that album was one of the biggest in my life. It still has a very special place in my heart and adding blasphemy to the Christian themes Tsamis was dealing with back then in his lyrics, I listened more often to Lordian Guard than Warlord nowadays. Nothing really bothers me in Lordian Guard and I can't imagine those songs with another voice, arrangements, even "drums". "War in Heaven" is one of the greatest songs Tsamis ever wrote. And no, the version in Warlord's Rising Out of the Ashes is not a better one. The way William has added the keyboards in the Lordian Guard version is unmatchable and perfectly suitable with his guitars, plus Vidonne's theatrical voice sounds like descending from the sovereign sky forth God's command.

Check also: BLACK SWORD THUNDER ATTACK - Evil Sorcery


10. YNGWIE J. MALMSTEEN - I Am a Viking

Speaking of the roots of power metal, what Yngwie Malmsteen did with his first two albums, is one more of the most important steps to the evolution of the genre alongside the early years of Europe. And while in Sweden you have Heavy Load standing at the top of what we're talking about here, "I Am a Viking" is just a pure epic heavy metal masterpiece coming from one of the greatest albums ever made. When maestro Malmsteen was writing music for a line like "I'm a Viking, I'll walk all over you and by my sword you will die", he definitely felt like the ruler of this world. He probably still feels like that even if there aren't any vikings in Florida.

Check also: HEAVY LOAD - Singing Swords


9. BROCAS HELM - Fly High

You can't understand Brocas Helm if you weren't raised with underground metal. And if you joined the epic heavy metal wagon and the underground scene in a later age during the social media, you still can't understand the true essence of underground metal. Sorry, but that's true. Brocas Helm is the ultimate underground metal band. It's not the best, but it's the essence of everything underground metal stands for. Among their catalogue, "Fly High" stands as the ultimate anthem of epic heavy metal with the insane opening lead and its galloping riff. The galloping riff, the riff that sounds like horses riding is one of the elements that makes a song "epic heavy metal" as long as it has the suitable lyrics too. There you go! You have another definition too!

Check also: STEEL ASSASSIN - Spartacus


8. RUNNING WILD - Conquistadores

Running Wild are mostly known for their pirate era, often labeled just as a Heavy Metal band but they really have played almost everything between heavy, speed, power and epic metal until the mid '90s with an unmatchable sequence of 10-rated-out-of-10 albums. And while their heavy metal from 1989 up to 1995 is more "power metal" than the majority of American bands labeled as such, they always had a few raise-fisting epic power metal hymns like "Conquistadores" with its anthemic chorus and the powerful leads that put to shame most of your favourite bands. If someone considers bands like Fifth Angel as "power metal", then Running Wild is ultra power metal. So what's our beloved German band? The ultimate soundtrack to hooliganism, one of the few bands that makes you raise your fist (and sword sometimes) in the air all the time and breaking stuff. Any kind of stuff. "Conquistadores" is an epic heavy metal hymn.

Check also: JAG PANZER - The Moors


7. VIRGIN STEELE - The Burning of Rome (Cry for Pompeii)

Often labeled as the bigger rival of Manowar in the '80s, Virgin Steele that decade didn't really have the "total" epic heavy metal album but they definitely had the songs! Released the same year with Manowar's Kings of Metal, Age of Consent didn't even come close but among a few others it had "The Burning of Rome (Cry for Pompeii)", one of the greatest Virgin Steele songs ever, coming from an uneven album that became better with its 1997 re-release and the addition of bonus material such as the "Perfect Mansions (Mountains of the Sun)" song. While David DeFeis' band met its bottom by entering the '90s with the album Life Among the Ruins and its suitable title, the following albums established them as one of the greatest American epic heavy metal bands. Still though, no one can deny that if you'll make a short list with the best Steele songs, there's a strong possibility most of them coming from the '80s, including the one mentioned here in the top.

Check also: BLACK KNIGHT - Warlord's Wrath

6. OMEN - Teeth of the Hydra

The 3-out-of-3-row-of-albums Battle Cry, Warning of Danger and The Curse is one of the greatest in the field of epic heavy and power metal. The excellent songwriting, the A-male voice of J.D. Kimball, the master riffing and the pounding rhythm section pretty much sum up that advert used to promote The Curse writing "Tired of bands that are better looking than your girlfriend? We have the answer: Omen. True Metal returns to L.A." Having once more the term "true metal" used since the '80s already, The Curse is the better sounding Omen album so far including also one of the best metal drum sounds ever, even if most of the people will give to one of the two previous ones the "best Omen album" tag. No argue with that. Still though, "Teeth of the Hydra" is one of the strongest candidates for "best Omen song". And you can't argue with that, too.

Check also: OVERLORDE - Keeper of the Flame


5. WARLORD - Deliver Us from Evil

There weren't so many metal musicians in the '80s so unique and talented like William J Tsamis. Since the early Warlord songs you always had a different kind of approach in melody and lyricism that's weird how it didn't create a legion of bands influenced by that style. A truly ahead-of-its-time guitarist and composer with an unmatchable guitar tone and style recognizable at once. Huge part of the Warlord's music was always drummer Mark Zonder too, something you can easily understand by listening to "Deliver Us from Evil", one of the most iconic Warlord songs, and Epic Heavy Metal in general.

Check also: AGATUS - Perils of the Sea (Pt II) 

 

4. MANILLA ROAD - The Veils of Negative Existence

Mark Shelton is one (if not The One) of the most important key figures of epic heavy metal. The third Manilla Road album Crystal Logic (1983) is one of the cornerstones of this so-called sub-genre and Manilla Road is the band responsible for all those epic (heavy) metal bands formed over the last 20 years. The line "I will never put my sword down, I will never run away" is so effective that stuck in your head for eternity from the very first moment. And every time you're listening to one of those classic '80s Manilla Road albums, you rediscover the essence of epic heavy metal. Mark Shelton was always a person that never stopped following the metal scene and always was listening to new bands and albums. From the early Rush-and-Sabbath influenced albums, to the Angel Witch and NWOBHM influence you can catch in Crystal Logic, the Shark never stopped breathing metal, just like that "Metal is dead so I've heard but not while I'm still above ground" line in "Dig Me No Grave" from 1990's The Courts of Chaos. Most bands that were changing in the history of metal music from 1980 onwards, were just getting "softer" and less aggressive, while Manilla Road (with the addition of drummer Randy Foxe) echoed the changes and were getting more aggressive leading to the almost-thrashy Out of the Abyss album of 1988. "The Veils of Negative Existence" is another mythical song in the band's catalogue, that became extremely influential for many bands, including the one you will see in Number 3...

Check also: THUNDER RIDER - Blackwing


3. CANDLEMASS - A Sorcerer's Pledge

Have you ever thought that the album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is probably the first official time where you see the origin of the term "Epic Metal"? This is definitely the birth of Epic Doom Metal (that wasn't widely used until the '90s) but most likely, it is also the moment when Epic Metal made its first appearance as a term. We're in 1986, Manowar have already started their "Death to False Metal" crusade and since there is "false metal", there's also "true metal" (whatever that means), right? The "true metal" term has also been used in metal magazines and fanzines in the mid '80s but has the term "epic metal" been used before 1986? Is it written anywhere?

We used to keep terms since their first appearance but sometimes this is blurry. For example, Possessed used the "Death Metal" term for their same-titled demo in 1984 and the "Death Metal" song also appears in the Seven Churches album of 1985, so we use to have this as a starting point but already in 1983, editor Bernard Doe of Metal Forces magazine writes, "Hellhammer take the meaning of Death Metal it its extreme" reviewing (burying actually) the Triumph of Death demo of Hellhammer. So, this term is already used. Might happened with Epic Metal too, but it wasn't widely used until Greek Metal Hammer's editor and shady character Charis "Sun Knight" Prasoulas started using that term and later it was spread from Greek metal fans influenced by his texts, around the globe through letters and tape trading, so after a while, you could see this term also used in Italy, Germany and more countries, leading to a whole new underground movement and later, even bands that described their music as "Epic Metal".

Candlemass' Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is the beginning of Epic Doom Metal, but the closing track "A Sorcerer's Pledge" can also be described as one of the greatest epic metal songs ever. A dramatic song separated in three parts. Starting with the acoustic first part that sets the atmosphere, the second epic part of "a tyrant that will conquer, so spoke the wise, of the day when the sorcerer will rise" and the third part that brings the atmosphere of the opening part with the exceptional use of keyboards and the ethereal female anthemic chanting sealing those ancient halls.

Check also: SOLITUDE AETURNUS - Opaque Divinity

2. BATHORY - Song to Hall Up High / Home of Once Brave

There are many Bathory songs you can add here and even if we're talking about two tracks, this will always be one song. Quorthon has managed to shape different metal sub-genres and has been called innovator of both Black Metal and Viking Metal. But his "viking metal" is actually what we can call "Epic Metal" in its purest form. This is not epic heavy metal or epic black metal, this is just Epic Metal. He did it with his albums Hammerheart, Twilight of the Gods, Blood on Ice and both parts of Nordland. So, if viking metal nowadays is something you can call bands such as Amon Amarth, then Bathory is definitely something else, even if Quorthon created this sub-genre.

Music is a form of art. Art has many forms and ways of expression. Art can be a mirror of life, art can be escapism, art can just be the expression and feelings of the artist. The artist's will and/or need to express specific ideas, visions, feelings. And just like there are no boundaries in art, there are also no rules and/or guidelines of how an artist should express its art. Not everyone can understand that a few of the greatest forms of art were created through the feelings and the need the artist wanted to express. Art is not about only following a specific guideline of how you "must" sing, perform, write, paint, act, dance, paint, create. There is not only one way. And Quorthon was a unique artist that never really followed the way you "must" follow, that's why his art will remain forever, creating legions of bands and musicians influenced by him and the sub-genres he shaped. A true artist that surpassed his imperfections with a remarkable epic metal songwriting that breaks the boundaries of simple "songwriting" and becomes a wormhole to an age long gone. 

Check also: ZEMIAL - In Monumentum (Stone of the Ages)

 

1. MANOWAR - Secret of Steel

The epitome of Epic Metal.

 

 

The greatest metal debut albums of 2000 - 2020.

It's already 20 years since the turn of the new millennium and Crystal Logic thought to present you the greatest metal debut albums of 2000 - 2020. For start we will have a brief look of how metal music has changed and evolved over the years, reaching the present day and the recent years where those albums are part of. And then, you'll have the albums!

written by Andreas Andreou

Chapter I: The evolution and changes of heavy metal music and industry through the decades.

The '70s were the years where giants shaped heavy music. It was the decade where record labels' executives gave a chance to everything new or everything they couldn't understand. The albums of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Rainbow, Scorpions and Uriah Heep (to mention a few) shaped what we learned in the '80s as Heavy Metal. Just within a year in the '80s (the year 1980) you already had the albums that completed the template of heavy metal music. Albums like Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell, Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz and Judas Priest's British Steel set new standards, even in terms of the "sound" (production) thanks to producers like Martin Birch. And it took no long for heavy metal to even reach the top of Billboard Charts with Quiet Riot's Metal Health in 1983, in a time where charts really mattered.

During the '80s, there were just a few metal genres and the melodic and glamorous part of it dominated the charts, the radio stations and MTV. Still though, even more traditional metal acts like Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne had a huge commercial and artistic success. An industry was formed around (that new then) metal music, with record labels specialized in all the genres of heavy metal, magazines and festivals.

Repeating once again Warrel Dane's line "so ends a decade now what will the nineties hold" from Sanctuary's "Future Tense" track of the 1990's album Into the Mirror Black, the page actually turned a year later even if we were already in the '90s. During September of 1991, Nirvana's Nevermind was released and suddenly, many record labels that used to release metal albums, turned into the grunge scene and alternative rock music. You still had a couple of major '80s acts ruling over the industry and selling millions (like Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, even Queensrÿche with Empire) but in its majority, metal music also followed different paths and changed. The '90s was the period of changes.

Traditional heavy metal remained mostly in the underground, power metal met success in Europe and Japan, Dream Theater with Images and Words (1992) established progressive metal, the new face of Pantera with Cowboys from Hell (1990) brought something new with their groovy heavy and thrashy metal that dominated the decade, while Sepultura's change with Chaos A.D. (1993) and mostly Roots (1996), was a main influence for Nu Metal. At the same time, Doom Metal actually became a subgenre since in the '80s there were just a handful of bands and not even a scene, and many new subgenres appeared. Different things where you can place many bands like Paradise Lost, Therion, Type O Negative, Tiamat, Nightwish and countless more. The tags vary depending each band's period, even album, but subgenres like Gothic Metal, Doom/Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, Atmospheric Metal were there and shaped in the '90s, while the (old) spirit of Heavy Metal could mainly found in the second wave of Black Metal, that also dominated the '90s.

In the 2000s, there was everything. Not everything had a huge success, but you had everything and even more. So much more, that sometimes you couldn't properly describe a band and suddenly, there was a new generation of fans that didn't care how someone would label a band. A few bands even evolved to something that didn't have a connection with heavy metal (like Anathema and The Gathering), and they didn't care, just like a few of their fans, even if they were mainly marketed by metal media and labels.

During that decade, the music industry started to change rapidly, just like technology's evolution. The more technology was evolving, the more the music industry started losing power and the decline of the physical formats was already there. Physical sales were already low and digital became the new standard in the music industry. And that was in general during the new years of technology and mobility. It wasn't just the actual music, but everything. Printed media were selling less and in the years to come many of them didn't manage to survive, and the internet was the new face of everything, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst.

In the 2010s though, the underground and the traditional metal scene became more powerful. The festivals became stronger, older underground metal bands were already reformed and were relevant again, media started covering all of them, new labels were formed, older labels felt more powerful and during the digital years, physical products started selling again. Definitely not like 20 years ago, but better than the recent (then) years. That brought a few more changes in the music industry. The charts didn't matter. Actually, they were no longer subjectively correct and the physical sales have many different faces. The top bands of a mid-range metal record label can sell many more copies than the mid-range bands of a major metal record label. And you might not see these sales in "charts" (since the "charts" don't really include everything, therefore they're not "real"), but you can definitely understand it by their impact on the fans. Or simply by checking online sites like Discogs where you can see those bands of mid-range labels having more different formats of each album already (meaning more sales and represses), than other bands of top labels that might "chart" but you can still find their first-1000-copies vinyl pressing everywhere.

At the moment you're reading these lines, the music industry has changed so much that vinyl factories are working with overcapacity, something that looked impossible 10 years ago. In the end, everything is coming in circles and besides the morality and the inexplicable changes in the music industry we wrote for the first time in this blog a few years ago, a few bands have become masters of their music and more and more bands deal with record labels on their own terms. That's another important change in the music industry. Of course, not everyone can make it, and a few bands might underestimate their will and power over the music industry, but many of the established ones deal in their own terms. For example, bands like Dream Theater, even Triptykon, release their albums in record labels like Century Media, but those albums are "under exclusive license to Century Media" and bands retain both copyright and publishing. Bands don't really care about joining a "powerful" record company as they were known in the '90s, since most labels don't offer tour support anymore.

What does a band really need? A professional label with people they can communicate easily, a label with a proper distribution and promotion. A label that really "exists", and you can really see it all the time. You can find its releases in record stores and distros worldwide, printed media, festivals. And then, the band should build the tour campaign themselves or with a booking agency. If they're signed to a professional label and the albums are widely available, it will help them more. You don't have to be on a "major" label, whatever "major" means nowadays.

In 2018, Believe (formerly Believe Digital) from France, acquired a majority stake in Germany-headquartered metal record label, Nuclear Blast. Just a few days ago (November 2021), Nuclear Blast founder Markus Staiger with two former Nuclear Blast employees (Florian Milz and Markus Wosgien) launched a new record label called Atomic Fire. Bands like Helloween, Opeth, Meshuggah and Michael Schenker Group will be released (effective immediately) with the new label. In the end, all that the artists need is professionalism and people who know their business, not a "brand name". That's how the music industry works today. And that's what new bands need to look for.

Most of the "greatest" debut albums you're gonna read about below didn't owe everything to the labels that released them. The main factor was the music itself while in the "old" days, the record label was a major factor for the album's success (whatever "success" means).
 

Chapter II: The greatest metal debut albums of 2000 - 2020.

It's not just new bands but debut albums. And there are new bands too. A few of them had a huge impact in their genre, others instantly, others over the years. A few of them include iconic musicians in a new beginning, others are just a new beginning by passionate youngsters. These are the Top-10 greatest metal albums according to Crystal Logic.

Additionally, you will find 10 more albums noted (listen also), and a third chapter is next, with 3 more debut albums from each year during 2000 - 2020. That means that Crystal Logic offers you a database with 83 metal debut albums released during 2000 - 2020 and worth checking out.

Let's go!

10. HALFORD - Resurrection (2000)

The wizardry of Roy Z meets the spells of the Metal God and his saints, putting to shame the Ripper-era of Judas Priest, just like Bruce Dickinson did to the Maiden's Blaze-era with Accident of Birth. And while fans still remembered the failed 2wo project and the later Fight stuff (War of Words rules) Emperor Dickinson joins for a duet at "The One You Love to Hate" while later the vultures who spitted all those small deadly spaces, voyeurs and skunkworks would praise both returns to their throne. That was indeed a resurrection, a return much needed, a great modern traditional metal album with highlights such as the same-titled track and "Silent Screams".

Listen also: RIOT CITY - Burn the Night (2019)
You might have the future of priest-trad-maiden metal here. Over the top, screaming, wild heavy metal.
 

9. LOST HORIZON - Awakening the World (2001)

There are a few European power metal albums that put our beloved USPM to bed with nightmares, and one of them is the debut album of the intergalactic bringers of metal salvation. Their human form came from Sweden but their music and that album have a cosmic power that's not really appreciated by the masses. As for the voice of Daniel Heiman, it still sounds unbeatable. No fate. Only the power of will.

Listen also: SHAMAN - Ritual (2002)
Leaving Angra and its guitarists in 2000, Andre Matos, Luis Mariutti and Ricardo Confessori recorded more power metal magic.
 

8. JACOBS DREAM - Jacobs Dream (2000)

We've said that there are a few European power metal albums that put our beloved USPM to bed with nightmares, but there will always be albums like the same-titled debut of Jacobs Dream that put things in order. That's a huge and perfect US power metal album with massive songs like "Kinescope" and "Funambulism", that was probably released at the wrong time and still remains unappreciated. The album is full with majestic riffs, bittersweet melodies, an amazing rhythm section, a godlike voice, a matched use of keyboards and excellent lyrics. Just listen to "The Bleeding Tree" that combines all those elements creating pure perfection. One of the greatest power metal albums ever recorded!

Listen also: SACRAL RAGE - Illusions in Infinite Void (2015)
There aren't many bands out there creating and performing the technical and powerful kind of metal, Sacral Rage do. They're at the top of their game.
 

7. ATLANTEAN KODEX - The Golden Bough (2010)

Following the Kodex since their early Hidden Folk and Pnakotic Demos years, meeting them and seeing them live many times here and there, there is no doubt that they create and perform the kind of epic metal that the subgenre needed in order to be relevant again. Having a deep knowledge of the story and the myths of Europa, they combine the best lyrics the subgenre has to offer with music that dwells in old Manowar, the Asatru period of Bathory and Solstice, offering the best epic metal albums of modern times. Even if the "modern" word is crushed by the invincible puritan blade.

Listen also: CALADAN BROOD - Echoes of Battle (2013)
The epic and atmospheric black metal of Caladan Brood is based in the Malazan Book of the Fallen and their Summoning-like music is already an underground classic.
 

6. CRYPT SERMON - Out of the Garden (2015)

What the Philly band really did with Out of the Garden (and the follow-up album) is offer us the best doom metal of the 2010s. Sounds bold? It's not. Actually, the Crypt Sermon albums can look in the eye many doom metal classics, and they're even better than a few of them. Flawless songwriting and the best performance you can get by the genre. Songs like "Byzantium" and "Into the Holy of the Holies" could be placed into the greatest doom metal albums you can think of. Really. Yes. Crypt Sermon's alchemical epic doom metal is a "paradox" of a modern release that's better than most of the classics you know.

Listen also: KRUX - Krux (2002)
Somewhere between the 13th Sun and the second coming of the Monk, Doomfather Edling is joined by a team of diverse musicians releasing the album that contains "Omfalos",  "Pococatépetl" and doom metal weirdness.
 

5. SUMERLANDS - Sumerlands (2016)

The visionary Arthur Rizk is spinning Ozzy's The Ultimate Sin and brings the underground legend that is Phil Swanson to sing about the seven seals, guardians, blind eyes and splinters of lucidity, creating a modern classic heavy metal album. Perfect from start to finish, Sumerlands' debut album is a celebration of traditional metal in its full glory. An exciting modern classic deeply rooted in pure talent and passion. If you haven't heard this album yet, you're missing your modern favourite metal album.

Listen also: HOUR OF 13 - Hour of 13 (2007)
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Chad Davis with singer and lyricist Phil Swanson created a spectral occult doom metal album with a ghastly power. That's the sound of darkness.
 

4. THORNS - Thorns (2001)

There are no borders in black metal. It's the most evolving and wide metal genre. The phenomenal frenziness of the Thorns debut album is a mechanical adrenaline shot of futuristic blackness right to the neck. Snorre Ruch might (co-) created what we know as "black metal riffing" but there isn't any standard black metal formula in Thorns. It was the turn of the new millennium when Thorns embraced a new black metal world and offered us a glimpse of a cyberfuture we haven't reached yet.

Listen also: TRIPTYKON - Eparistera Daimones (2010)
Thomas Gabriel Fischer formed Triptykon when he left Celtic Frost (the band was laid to rest) and continued creating and performing cold, deathly and dark art, as a true originator of extreme metal.
 

3. ETERNAL CHAMPION - The Armor of Ire (2016)

Mostly in the '70s and the '80s, but in the '90s too, there were albums that upon their release, it was like pressing a button and instantly the next day, you had bands influenced by them. At once. On a smaller level, Eternal Champion's debut album is a modern classic that achieved the same. One of the Top-20 metal albums of the decade according to The Encyclopaedia Metallum (Metal Archives) poll, was a turning point transforming fans of Mastodon to fans of Manilla Road and swords & sorcery. At once. Other and new bands started sounding like Eternal Champion even if the reincarnating hero had just one album released at that moment, but what an album! The album that established them along with Atlantean Kodex as the pioneers of "modern" epic metal. The Hammer!

Listen also: WRATHBLADE - Into the Netherworld's Realm (2012)
Original and true, the epic heavy metal of the Greeks remained deep underground but their followers are few in number, huge in passion!
 

2. HELL - Human Remains (2011)

The story of Hell from England is one of those legendary yet obscure, unknown chapters in the book of heavy metal. One of the greatest heavy metal stories. Formed in 1982 and disbaned in 1987 when singer Dave Halliday commited suicide, without releasing any album. Hell were reunited in 2008 thanks to producer and guitarist Andy Sneap who was a huge fan of the band and also learned to play the guitar thanks to Dave Halliday, who was also young Andy's mentor in the early '80s. The remaining members, with Andy Sneap (who also funded the project on his own) and David Bower, a professional actor and voiceover artist on vocals, recorded all those old songs, presenting the best classic heavy metal album of the 2010s.

Listen also: HEAVEN & HELL - The Devil You Know (2009)
Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Vinny Appice and the Old Nick. Just the Devil you know.
 

1. REVEREND BIZARRE - In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend (2002)

When the debut album of the Finnish band was released, it shook the traditional doom metal community. It was the essence of doom metal, that according to their guitarist Peter Vicar, as once said at Crystal Logic, is "The traditional Sabbathian riffing, clean vocals, full of intensity and power. It’s music that will, if done right, shake your foundations." And so it did. The archaic deep accent of Sir Albert sounded like echoes from an ancient past. He feels each and every word and every song sounds personal. Even if the lyrics look like something that cannot be personal... He makes them personal and deeply emotional. Darkness, biblical themes, misery, when you listen to "In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend" for the first time, there is a feeling of sin. The tone and behemoth riffage, the low frequencies, the crushing drums of doom, the Lovecraftian atmosphere of decay and slumber, everything sounds like sin; like something that is forbidden and opens the gateways to Hell and sorrow. Reverend Bizarre isn't an easily accessible band but no one said that true doom metal is easily accessible for everyone. Shocking album.

Listen also: LORD VICAR - Fear No Pain (2008)
After hammering the final nails to the coffin of Reverend Bizarre, Kimi Kärki (Peter Vicar) followed his vision of a new doom metal band and brought to life Lord Vicar, joined by the mighty Christian "Chritus" Linderson on vocals. Doom metal is alive and well, even if it smells rotten at times.



Chapter III: More and more debut albums (3 more per year).

2000: IOMMI - Iommi, PAGAN'S MIND - Infinity Divine, SHADOWKEEP - Corruption Within

2001: AVANTASIA - The Metal Opera, GRAND MAGUS - Grand Magus, ONWARD - Evermoving

2002: DREAM EVIL - DragonSlayer, FIREWIND - Between Heaven and Hell, ZOOL - Zool

2003: CIRCLE II CIRCLE - Watching in Silence, MASTERPLAN - Masterplan, ORODRUIN - Epicurean Mass

2004: CANS - Beyond the Gates, EVIL MASQUERADE - Welcome to the Show, FEINSTEIN - Third Wish

2005: COMMUNIC - Conspiracy in Mind, ISOLE - Forevermore, RAM - Forced Entry

2006: BULLET - Heading for the Top, CRESCENT SHIELD - The Last of My Kind, I - Between Two Worlds

2007: BLAZE - Blaze, BLOTTED SCIENCE - The Machinations of Dementia, CRYSTAL VIPER - The Curse of Crystal Viper

2008: DEAD CONGREGATION - Graves of the Archangels, ENFORCER - Into the Night, IN SOLITUDE - In Solitude

2009: FUTURES END - Memoirs of a Broken Man, SINISTER REALM - Sinister Realm, VEKTOR - Black Future

2010: BRITON RITES - For Mircalla, GHOST - Opus Eponymous, WHITE WIZZARD - Over the Top

2011: ARCH/MATHEOS - Sympathetic Resonance, DEMONAZ - March of the Norse, HIGH SPIRITS - Another Night

2012: AIR RAID - Night of the Axe, PALLBEARER - Sorrow and Extinction, TRAIL OF MURDER - Shades of Art

2013: AVATARIUM - Avatarium, BLACK TRIP - Goin' Under, POWER TRIP - Manifest Decimation

2014: CROSSWIND - Vicious Dominion, DÄNG - Tartarus: The Darkest Realm, DOOMOCRACY - The End Is Written

2015: NIGHT DEMON - Curse of the Damned, TERMINUS - The Reaper's Spiral, VISIGOTH - The Revenant King

2016: ASSASSIN'S BLADE - Agents Of Mystification, TAROT - Reflections, THE TEMPLE - Forevermourn

2017: LUNAR SHADOW - Far from Light, PAINFUL PRIDE - Lost Memories, SANHEDRIN - A Funeral for the World

2018: GATEKEEPER - East of Sun, MANACLE - No Fear to Persevere..., WOLFTOOTH - Wolftooth

2019: IDLE HANDS (changed name to UNTO OTHERS) - Mana, SMOULDER - Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring, TRAVELER - Traveler

2020: LORD OF LIGHT - Morningstar, SACRED OUTCRY - Damned for All Time, STYGIAN CROWN - Stygian Crown

What's your favourite debut albums in metal music during 2000 - 2020?

The albums we enjoyed most in 2019... And beyond.

The usual prologue would be that no one can say that have listened to almost everything that was released during 2019. Everyone who claims that is wrong, so we will speak just for our favourite releases and the albums we enjoyed most in 2019. The "best" albums of 2019 according to Crystal Logic.

Everything you will read below, are releases that can be found in physical format. "Releases" that were available only online, are not included. LORD OF LIGHT's "Morningstar" is going to be released physically in 2020 and the Spotify or YouTube tracks won't be added as an album in 2019. When this amazing album will be released, it will definitely be among the best of the year, but we're going to talk about it shortly...

There were few more great "releases" that can be found online but cannot considered "equal" to what we are talking about. For example, you can find on YouTube only (not even bandcamp) SMITH & SWANSON "Sanctuaries" that consists of three amazing songs in the vein of SEAMOUNT, HOUR OF 13 and BLACK SABBATH, while there is also the case of HRMÜLJA and MAGNABOLT, but as mentioned, let's just stick to what we're talking about. 

I believe that you need to check the physical format so you will have the complete experience of an album, and not just having a quick listen on social networks, downloads or whatever. We love that. And we love lists. Any kind of lists. We are posting later than most media and websites our list, because there were so many great albums released during December or even November and we needed to have a proper listening. 2019 was not just more interesting than 2018 but it was probably one of the best years of the decade. Especially for fans of Doom Metal.

1. CRYPT SERMON "The Ruins of Fading Light"

(Dark Descent Records)

We have a winner. Along with their previous album ("Out of the Garden", 2015) we have the greatest epic doom metal albums of the decade. That's a bold statement, I know it, but that's already a classic. Nothing more to add. Number 1 is number 1. Pure perfection. Black iron gnosis.

Check also: SMOULDER "Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring". The Canadians fronted by sword woman Sarah Kitteringham, nailed it with an album that is balanced between epic metal, doom metal and pure passion. Sometimes, being a fan yourself, is the greatest element to create and perform passionate music.

2. ATLANTEAN KODEX "The Course of Empire"

(Ván Records)

We've been there for ATLANTEAN KODEX since day one; the very beginning. The first time I saw them live was at Up The Hammers festival 2010 and since then, many more times followed in Greece and Germany.

The first time I did an interview with the band was in 2011, before the second ATLANTEAN KODEX show in Athens, organized by No Remorse Records and Iron on Iron. That interview was done with Manuel Trummer for Cloak & Dagger 'zine (that exists no more, and was operated by Elina Kefala, that became one of the biggest supporters and friends of KODEX, "who reads the pathways of the stars").

Since that old interview can't be found anywhere anymore (online or printed) allow me to bring on surface a short part:

A.A.: Distant echoes from early MANOWAR, the Asatru period of BATHORY and writings of R.E. Howard, bound among others, the ATLANTEAN KODEX ethos. All this concept that steams from the Hidden Folk, is something that is part of your personality and your beliefs? How do you see the modern man?

M.T.: Well, I actually sometimes feel a little lost in this modern world. I often think that this isn‘t really my time and place. There‘s a huge lack of spirituality, of traditional ways of living and of identity in the modern world. Everything has to be as efficient and fast as possible. But this also makes things very superficial. "The Hidden Folk" is actually a very romantic song in a way. The longing for a better and distant past (which probably never existed) and the will to leave this world behind can be a huge emotional and atmospheric force, which can really take you away to a distant place, away from modernity‘s shackles.

A.A.: You believe that the history of Europe, is a history of immigration, right? So, there has to be a cultural diffusion of many different ideas and diversity. An acceptance for all the different people of Europe of today. So how important are the roots and the traditions for the man of 2011? And where do you draw a line of where these roots start?

M.T.: This is an interesting, but also a very difficult question. Where to draw the line? Let me start like this: yes, the history of Europe is of course a history of immigration. Everyone but the Basques, who were the first modern humans to conquer Europe, 35.000 years ago, is an immigrant in these lands. Speaking of Germany, the last 4000 years saw the last Stone Age people, they were driven to the hills and forests by the Indo-European Celtic tribes. The Celts were conquered by Roman troops, who dominated German lands from the Alps to the North Sea coast for almost 300 years. Then again the Romans were driven back by the barbarous Germanic tribes. Of course there were also the Slavs, who played a lead role in medieval times in eastern Germany... Each of these tribes left their marks on us as modern Germans, as well genetically, but most of all culturally. I guess this shows how shallow and how short-sighted concepts like "nation" or "race" really are. I consider myself a European, looking back on 10000 years of European heritage, sharing history, culture, genes and religion with my fellow Europeans from the boiling geysers of Thule to the walls of Hagar Q‘im, from Albion‘s shores to Attica‘s white temples. In a globalizing age, traditions are more important than ever. They provide us with a means of orientation in these fast-moving and confusing times. Family, home region ("Heimat" in German) and our European heritage is what defines us, tradition is what unites us.

Manuel visited more times Athens, not only for live shows. "The White Goddess" was released, more live shows followed, Europe and society changes and eight years later from that interview, I reached one more time Manuel and ATLANTEAN KODEX, this time for an interview for Metal Hammer magazine (Greece). It is always a pleasure to listen and read what bands like ATLANTEAN KODEX have to say about a new album, music, the lack of knowledge in modern society, social media, and tradition.

"The Course of Empire" is a triumph. A classic album. And ATLANTEAN KODEX is a unique band. It is not just about the music, but also the lyrics, the artworks, the aesthetics, the atmosphere, the symbols and metaphors they use to transmute the world.

3. IDLE HANDS "Mana"

(Eisenwald)

From the first moment I listened to IDLE HANDS when they privately released "Don't Waste Your Time" EP, I was sure that this band is going to be huge. It is still early, but after their first full-length album "Mana", it seems that they can DO IT. They played nearly 100 gigs since the release of that EP and that's a huge achievement. Actually it is a miracle, if you will think about it deeper. "Mana" is a diverse album that sounds addictive, fresh and original. A highlight of 2019. A highlight of the decade. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a legend. Gabriel, prove me right!

Check also: LUNAR SHADOW "The Smokeless Fires", ENFORCER "Zenith", TANITH "In Another Time" and MOON CHAMBER "Lore of the Land".

Diversity is the magic word for the latest albums of LUNAR SHADOW and ENFORCER, but both of them combine different elements.

Three years ago, I did an interview with Max, guitarist and main composer of LUNAR SHADOW for Iron Fist (UK) and he said, "We play epic and melancholic heavy metal with tons of twin guitar leads. A strange amalgam of DISSECTION, WISHBONE ASH, old IN FLAMES and JUDAS PRIEST", when he was asked to describe his music to someone that is not familiar with the band. But his music is more than that. JUDAS PRIEST brought him into heavy metal, but his music is something more, something more personal. Loss, struggle, downfall... And then, you have the new album.

"The Smokeless Fires are our passions. The things that drive us one, deep within ourselves. All the love, hate, ambition, sorrow, joy and despair. That’s what all the songs on this album are about, in one way or another. It’s up to you to find out in which ways", said Max at Metal Squadron (an excellent interview you can read HERE). "The Smokeless Fires" is a personal album, created at a period where Max was looking for something else than "traditional heavy metal" and he came up with a diverse, emotional and great album. And even if he doesn't really like IDLE HANDS, "Roses" might be a song that connects these bands.

ENFORCER did something different. They added more melody in their traditional heavy metal and that worked really great. However, it seems that many fans didn't accept that change, but the album has few amazing songs like "Zenith of the Black Sun" (reminding Dio-era BLACK SABBATH), "The End of the Universe" and "Forever We Worship the Dark". You can't write similar songs every day...

MOON CHAMBER's debut album was created by Marta Gabriel of CRYSTAL VIPER on vocals (and bass on recordings) and Rob Bendelow of SARACEN on guitar and songwriting. In addition to Marta and Rob, keyboard duties are handled by Paul Bradder of SARACEN, and the driving percussion comes courtesy of PAGAN ALTAR’s Andy Green. In "Lore of the Land", you can listen 10 songs deeply rooted in the classic rock and heavy metal of the '70s and '80s, whilst drawing inspiration from the wealth of English folklore, history and legend. "Only" is probably the most beautiful song of 2019, while "Knight Errant (My Son)" is an amazing epic track.

As for TANITH, their debut album "In Another Time" is a passionate vintage hard rock that harks back to the glory days of THIN LIZZY and URIAH HEEP. However, while such influences resonate through the band’s music, TANITH never derivative, having a strong musical identity and forging their own sound.

4. ARCH / MATHEOS "Winter Ethereal"

(Metal Blade Records)

Oh that voice! When I saw for the first time John Arch performing live at the stage of Keep It True festival in 2012, I couldn’t believe that this guy hasn’t sung live since ages and yet, he nailed it! What a performance! Eight years since the debut ARCH / MATHEOS album “Sympathetic Resonance”, the guys we love returned with an even better album! Can you imagine that? Songs like "Wanderlust ", "Pitch Black Prism" and "Kindred Spirits" are standing among the highlights of the FATES WARNING legacy & "family". Soul, passion, variety and very well-written lyrics (something that is missing from metal nowadays). As for Jim Matheos, I can’t really add much about his amazing songwriting skills, and while we are waiting for the next FATES WARNING album, I hope there will be also another ARCH / MATHEOS album in the future…

Check also: HORIZON'S END "Skeleton Keys", ZONDER / WEHRKAMP "If It's Real".

5. RIOT CITY "Burn the Night"

(No Remorse Records)

Screaming heavy metal from Canada cannot fail. Album of the month in Deaf Forever magazine from Germany and one of the absolute highlights of 2019. These guys combine all the elements we love and they definitely "play on 10". Just imagine the most important influences a new traditional metal band must have and add the energy of passionate fans and professional musicians. Then you have “Burn the Night”. And the best is yet to come… 

Check also: HAUNT "If Icarus Could Fly", SABÏRE "Gates Ajar", TRAVELER "Traveler".

Singer and guitarist Trevor William Church, does something really amazing with HAUNT. He has worked on 3 albums and few EPs in just 3 years and looks unstoppable! On the other hand, Scarlett Monastyrski of SABÏRE was creating his acid metal slowly over the years, until that day of late December 2018 where he unleashed those songs on bandcamp. It was a matter of time for a proper release and shortly, the sound of true resistance was properly available on CD (via Skol Records) and vinyl (via No Remorse Records). SABÏRE from Australia, were also invited to perform few shows in Europe during 2019 and "Rise to the Top" sounds like the ultimate ‘80s retro metal song! And then, you have TRAVELER, the mates of RIOT CITY from Canada, releasing their debut album, full of anthemic songs, metal passion, blazing riffs and one of the best voices of our times. JUDAS PRIEST must be proud of their legacy.

6. GÉVAUDAN "Iter"

(Private release)

Privately released, this came to my attention by luck, but thank God it did! You need to be patient with music, so while the first 10-minute track was OK, someone who listens to music like visiting a burger house fast food could switch to something else. I didn’t. And then, you have two of the best doom metal tracks of 2019: "Maelstrom" and "The Great Heathen Army". CANDLEMASS might have Astorolus, the Great Octopus, but GÉVAUDAN have the Lords of the ocean, the Great Demons of the sea. So, who do you think will swallow the Earth? This private release is amazing and having Mike Exeter producing, is another highlight since Mike has worked with Tony Iommi and BLACK SABBATH, and that huge sound is present.

Check also: ALUNAH from England released their fifth album, "Violet Hour". Mesmerized performance by singer Siân Greenaway, hypnotized and heavy, this is definitely an album under the spell of the Iommic Magick.

It’s been a while since the mighty "Epicurean Mass" album of 2003 and ORODRUIN from the United States returned with "Ruins of Eternity", a bold statement in the current traditional doom metal scene. Solid, heavy and emotional, I only hope the next album won’t be released around 2035.

DOOMSTRESS hailing also from the United States and the album "Sleep Among the Dead" has "Your God Is Blind", one of the most catchy and addictive songs of 2019; one of the best songs of the year.

7. GOTHIC STONE "Haereticus Empyreum"

(Black Widow Records)

The voice of DOOMSWORD’s debut album, Italy, spooky atmosphere and organs, epic doom metal, and a lyric "You will die in the eve of Candlemass". You had me from "hello". GOTHIC STONE’s debut album passed unnoticed but do yourself a favor and check it as soon as possible. These guys managed to mix things that can sound familiar, with a very inspired way.  

Check also: IRON GRIFFIN "Curse of the Sky", THE LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG "New Organon"

8. CHEMIKILL "Edge of Wasteland"

(Tonalite Records)

Formed in late ‘80s, it took them "a while" to release an album, but CHEMIKILL did everything on their own and finally, an album titled “Edge of Wasteland” reached us! Somewhere between myth and reality, the album was recorded sometime in the ‘00s but the master tapes were lost and no recordings were saved. So here, you have all those tracks finally recorded and released. Classic US power metal with solid riffs and everything you love from American power metal.

Check also: ASSASSIN'S BLADE "Gather Darkness", QUEENSRŸCHE "The Verdict"

9. FVNERAL FVKK "Carnal Confessions"

(Solitude Productions / Bleeding Heart Nihilist)

You might laugh with the band’s name but you won’t laugh with the music itself. And you will definitely won’t laugh with the concept and imagery of FVNERAL FVKK’s ideas and songs. If you are into doom metal, here you have your next obsession. A dark doomy gospel forged in the crimes and atrocities of the people of the church. A bold and sinister album that cannot have commercial success. But who cares? Just listen to those carnal confessions.

Check also: LORD VICAR returned with "The Black Powder", so doom metal is alive and well, even if it smells rotten at times. Featuring members that performed or performing with bands like REVEREND BIZARRE, COUNT RAVEN and ORNE, this is pure traditional doom metal, dark, magickal and… slow. Just like it should be. And next to that, THRONEHAMMER released "Usurper of the Oaken Throne". These albums are not for the faint of heart. Enter the cave of doom metal with your own will, but be sure that if the demon of doom will possess you, it will be with you forever.

10. TWISTED TOWER DIRE "Wars in the Unknown"

(No Remorse Records)

This is a great comeback! We were expecting a new TWISTED TOWER DIRE album for a long time and they didn't fail us. Actually they never did, but their last studio album "Make It Dark" (2011) was considered as a disappointment by many, that also didn't really like WALYPRGUS' "Walpyrgus Nights", released in 2017 featuring TWISTED TOWER DIRE members. We like all of them, but "Wars in the Unknown" stands above them. This band is a true legend of the '90s and '00s underground metal and stood on their feet despite difficult times.

Check also: RAVENSIRE "A Stone Engraved in Red", TERMINUS "A Single Point of Light", WARRIOR PATH "Warrior Path".

RAVENSIRE hold the banner of underground metal high. And they will do until the end of times. TERMINUS are no longer a live act and their debut album, "The Reaper's Spiral" (2015) was a masterpiece. The latest album, "A Single Point of Light", is a grower and in the times of fast food, fast posts on social media and fast forward "listening" to an album, you really need to LISTEN. 

The Best, the Rest and More - 2019 Unmasked

Heavy, Epic, Power Metal Rites: ANCIENT EMPIRE "Wings of the Fallen", BLAZON STONE "Hymns of Triumph and Death", CHEVALIER "Destiny Calls", DARKLON "Rise from Death", GATEKEEPER "Grey Maiden", GRAND MAGUS "Wolf God", IRONSWORD "In The Coils Of Set", LEGENDRY "The Wizard and the Tower Keep", MANOWAR "The Final Battle I", MIRROR "Pyramid of Terror", MYSTIK "Mystik", RHODIUM "Sea of the Dead", SANHEDRIN "The Poisoner", SANGREAL "Sangreal", SAVAGE MASTER "Myth, Magic and Steel", SKELATOR "Cyber Metal", SOLICITOR "Sölicitör", STARBORN "Savage Peace", STORMBURNER "Shadow Rising", THE NIGHT ETERNAL "The Night Eternal", VULTURE "Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves", VULTURES VENGEANCE "The Knightlore".

Under the Sabbathian Spell and the Iommic Magick: ALTAR OF OBLIVION "The Seven Spirits", CANDLEMASS "The Door to Doom", CAPILLA ARDIENTE "The Siege", CARONTE "Wolves of Thelema", GREEN LUNG "Woodland Rites", IN AEVUM AGERE "Canto III", ISOLE "Dystopia", OGRE "Thrice as Strong", MAGIC CIRCLE "Departed Souls", MONASTERIUM "Church of Bones", SCARECROW "Scarecrow", SPIRIT ADRIFT "Divided By Darkness", THE SABBATHIAN "Latum Alterum", TROLL "Legend Master".

Melodic Lines: ECLIPSE "Paradigm", FOREVER "Forever", FORTUNE "II", GATHERING OF KINGS "First Mission", WHITESNAKE "Flesh & Blood", WORK OF ART "Exhibits".

Thrashing Maniacs and Screams from Hell: ACID DEATH "Primal Energies", AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR "Havoc at the Midnight Hour", BLOOD INCANTATION "Hidden History of the Human Race", DEATH ANGEL "Humanicide", DIABOLIC NIGHT "Beyond the Realm", EXUMER "Hostile Defiance", FLOTSAM & JETSAM "The Age of Chaos", NILE "Vile Nilotic Rites", POSSESSED "Revelations of Oblivion", SACRED REICH "Awakening", SUICIDAL ANGELS "Years of Aggression", TOMB MOLD "Planetary Clairvoyance", WHITE WARD "Love Exchange Failure", XENTRIX "Bury the Pain".

What do we expect from 2020? 

The studio return of KING DIAMOND with the album "The Institute" is something we're looking forward to! That's a huge thing and King never dissapoints.

2020 will be the year of Epic Metal since DOOMSWORD might be back and ETERNAL CHAMPION will unleash their second, mythical, studio album. And if "mythical" is something that sounds "too much" for a new release, then an official release by the underground Epic Metal legend of BLACK SWORD THUNDER ATTACK, will shake the depths of underground metal.

If you want to go to the "surface", PSYCHOTIC WALTZ are already on the way, ERIC CLAYTON AND THE NINE are currently in the studio recording the album "A Thousand Scars" with Devon Graves of PSYCHOTIC WALTZ producing, SUMERLANDS are working on new songs, and HITTMAN will finally return with a new album.

In few days, we will have in our hands OZZY OSBOURNE's new album, "Ordinary Man", and even if you find it too mainstream or modern, OZZY will always be the Prince of Darkness.