I am also listening to a lot of As I Lay Dying, have any of you guys heard of them? Right now i'm listening to their "when this world fades"!

As I Lay Dying ain't so bad, but ain't a huge fan of their vocalist but have some of their stuff that I listen when in the mood.

Anyway, I've been listning to a lot of stuff lately as I finally found the strength to upload my newest songs to my mp3 Starting to run out of battery pretty quick now as I easily run it for over five hours only on school.

Most popular bands this week, now lets see...

• Still listened to a lot of Symphony X Live On The Edge Of Forever, mostly The Grand Design and Through The Looking Glass.

• Stone Sour as usual, mostly the songs Bother, Inside the Cynic, Inhale and Come Whatever May. Stone Sour is playing at Rockefeller 2007 here in Oslo, just get annoyed that it's 18 because the serve beer. As Hammerfall, Amulet etc. is also going to play there this time.

• Project 86, mostly from Songs To Burn Your Bridges By

• Killswitch Engage, Alive or Just Breathing album - Self Revolution and My Laste Serenade is the most played songs. Also Breathe Life and Wasted Sacrifice from The End Of Heartache.

• In Flames as always - listened to the album Soundtrack to Your Escape.

• And... Dream Theater, mostly Falling Into Infinity and Awake...

Been testing out some Haste The Day, Hatebreed and Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones, but the Skin and Bones album wasn't really much, some good old acoustic songs but more fun to have the album for those who actually were at the concerts.

Man i love your dp fuzzy, i myslef am a huge fan of the Foo. They came to small town in Kelowna two years ago and i saw them! the show kicked boat

It's all about "The Element of One" from Alive or Just Breathing. In my opinion it's Killswitch's second best song next to "This Is Absolution" from their new album. Damn, it's a good song!

"The Element of One" was the first song I heard from Killswitch, from there I started listning to more of their music. Really good song indeed

It's the Saturday before Christmas! But like most Saturdays, I'm at work. And since I'm at work, I decided to bring some of my CDs along to kill time during the day. Here's this week's CDs:

The Dead Eye - The Haunted
Buried in Oblivion - Into Eternity
The Scattering of Ashes - Into Eternity
Prey on Life - Burst
Amputechture - The Mars Volta
Between Two Worlds - I
White Pony - Deftones
City - Strapping Young Lad

There's no particular theme this weekend, though I really wanted to listen to my Into Eternity CDs, Buried in Oblivion simply amazes me with technicality, yet it's catchy as hell with infectious choruses. The Scattering of Ashes is still technically amazing, but the songwriting went down a couple of notches, and the double bass in the drums sound really wierd. Still a good listen though.

Currently I'm listening to "The Fallout" by The Haunted. Nice and moody

Lately I've been into chill music. I am listening to a lot of Radiohead, some Fray and Oasis. Wonderwall being my "song of the week", god i love Oasis

Right now, one song I can't stop playing is "Sightless" by Solitude Aeturnus. This song completely rocks my socks off! The band is considered to play "Doom Metal", but whatever it is, it's awesome. The riffs are thick and catchy and the singing is solid and emotional, with great vocal hooks. And this is only a demo version of the song I downloaded from their website.

I really need to get their CD now. It's called Alone. The unfortunate this is that I'll have to order it, and it might take awile to get in, oh well...

Been listning to more quiet songs from In Flames lately, not very much to find but the stuff they have is very good and thier vocalist Anders has a great voice although he sings more clean and calm which he normally doesn't.
List of the more quiet songs by In Flames which I've been listning to:

• Metaphor
• Evil In A Closet
• Dawn Of A New Day
• Come Clarity
• The Jester's Dance

Also been listning through a couple of the songs from Iron Maiden's newest album - A Matter Of Life And Death, saw them live here in Oslo back in November.
When it comes to the album, I personaly wasn't so impressed - certianly doesn't beat their old classics of course. Songs are pretty much the same - as if you just fast forward to certain bits in the songs than compare it to the next track then it's very similar. Anyway - let's see what else I've been trying out the last few days... Ah yes, Mnemic - suggestion from a friend of mine who sent me a few samples, was good enough stuff for me lol. They remind me of Soilwork. Songs I've mostly played is:

• Jack Vegas
• Dreamstate Emergency
• Sane Vs Normal
• Mindsaver

Out from that I haven't listened to much else lately - now I gotta fix that stupid mobile piece of **** that won't work

Listening to Rx Queen by Deftones now and although I have it set up to play all my music randomly I will probably just listen to the rest of white pony since deftones are my current favourite band once again. I might also listen to some taproot but I find taproot is better to listen to when driving.

Random thought: I wish I had an Ipod/other good music player, my $50NZ cd player crapped out ages ago, a month before the warrenty expired but it was only playing up, so it always played fine when I took it in (which made me look stupid) and then it completely painted up and broke immediately after the warrent expired and I never bothered buying a new one but I miss listening to far too much music.

That sucks Pisces. My current problem with music players is my computer modem's fault. I got an iPod nano for christmas but I have yet to use it because with the version my mom bought, you have to download iTunes from off the internet. The problem with that is my modem can't stay connected long enough to download iTunes properly, so right now I have a useless iPod.

Anyways, here's this weekend's CD albums I'm listening to:

The Hours That Remain - Mercenary
The Fall of Ideals - All That Remains
Buried in Oblivion - Into Eternity
Between Two Worlds - I
10, 000 Days - Tool
Gone Forever - God Forbid
Vheissu - Thrice

This will be the first time I'll be able to completely listen to the Mercenary CD I just recently purchased. So far it's pretty catchy stuff. If you want a rough description of their sound, the first thing I would say is that they sound like Soilwork (their sound from Natural Born Chaos and on) without the death metal vocals. There's some screeching every now and then, but most of it is really nice melodic singing. The singer doesn't sing like Strid though (Strid does do some backing death vocals on the song Redefine Me though). Also the songs a much longer, all of them are over 5 minutes with most either being 6 or 8 minutes. Good stuff so far!

Why don't you download a (hopefully smaller) download program first which lets you stop and start downloads even when they get cut off? I use Leechget and I think it was fairly small to download but my internet is fast enough not to notice sizes. If you can't get a download program then you could just find someone with either itunes or a download program and get them to copy it to CD for you.


Listening to Licking cream by sevendust. In 15 hours I will be on a plane listening to its engines.

Mazzy Star - Fade into you

Can't shake this song, or several other mazzy Star songs away. It's the end of year and I always feel... I don't know, really, tired perhaps. And these sounds fit me perfectly at the moment.

Yea, that's what I ended up doing, I got a software CD from my buddy. Though I still had to download a newer version of iTunes from the version he gave me, the update I had to download was just as big as the initial version I tried to download. Fortunately, my modem decided to work fine for 20 minutes and I was able to download it. So now I got some songs on the iPod, at the moment I'm too lazy to play around with the sych to actually get the songs I want on the iPod. I have nearly 20 gigs of music on my comp, and the iPod is only 2 gigs, so it might take awile to pick what I actually want.


Oh yes, and I'm currently listneing to Burn by Neurosis, sweet song.

Yesterday, i bought two cd's. The first was Rob Zombie: Educated Horses, and the second was The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Greatest Hits. So they have quenched my thirst for music in the last little while.

I've recently stumbled upon a really good metal music review sight for those interested. Their current feature is each reviewers Top 10 List of metals CDs for 2006. I've been checking out a lot of thier selections, and I have to say, they have made quite a few good suggestions. It's also cool because visitors of the sight can show their personal top 10s as well.

So for those interested, the site is www.metalreview.com.

And for current listens, it is the song The Guilt Trip by The Haunted. Rock on!

While I'm happy to see Amputechture on there because it is a great album, I have one question : when did The Mars Volta become metal?

Mastodon's Blood Mountain is on there too, so it must be a somewhat good site.

The Mars Volta aren't metal, but they do have CD reviews that aren't specifically "metal" on that site. They'll do the odd punk, prog, instrumental, and ambient CD review.

They do a lot of the "underground" metal CDs on that site, but some of that stuff that they review is really good, as long as it isn't a black metal, or death metal band (I'm not a fan of those styles too much), I usually try to find some sample songs to see whether or not I like it.

It's Saturday (I know it is! Honestly!), so that means I have a list of CDs to listen to. Here's the list:

Burn My Eyes - Machine Head
The Hours That Remain - Mercenary
Atlantis: Hymns for Disco - K-Os
Layers of Lies - Darkane
Light of Day, Day of Darkness - Green Carnation
Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun - Red Sparowes
Vol. 1 - Hurt
A Predator's Portrait - Soilwork


Really no theme today, I was actually in a bit of a rush, so I basically grabbed whatever quickly piqued interest.

I´m listening to Welle Erdball: Wunderwelt der Technik....I´m so happy my itunes works again, yesterday it didn´t, my soundcard or something was messed up but tonight it´s ok....so far!

I´m soon going to listen to North Five, a local group from Ann Arbor MI, I got a cd from my daughter this x-mas

I have been into Pink Floyd and Atreyu for a little while now and i am listening to the song Demenology and Hearthace i think its called?

Here's this weekend's musical listening experience:

The Mantle - Agalloch
10,000 Days - Tool
The Hours That Remain - Mercenary
Painkiller - Judas Priest
Vol.1 - Hurt
The Scattering of Ashes - Into Eternity
Katorz - Voivod
Through the Ashes of Empires - Machine Head

What's currently playing is "Odal" from The Mantle album, a very lush, and beautiful instrumental. Actually, it's one of my favourite tracks ever. I really like the moody piano closer that floats in as the acoustic and shimmery electric guitar fade out.

Megadeth.

A friend of mine gave me the dvd. It's pretty awesome.

Decided it was time to go on another CD buying splurge. I came home with 5 CDs and have two CDs on order, which will hopefully come in really soon. The CDs I bought are:

Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance

This albums has an alternative rock/metal vibe. The vocalist sounds a bit indifferent, which gives the music a rather depressing feel to it, which I guess is what the band is looking for. I've like it so far, it's accessible, yet still has a heavy and dark edge when it wants to have it.

Mastery - Lethal Legacy

This is a short instrumental thrash CD, like very aggressive sounding 80s thrash. It's catchy as hell, but it's a little hard to tell songs apart since all the songs are set at the same blistering pace. Guitar fans rejoice as the band display technical chops, but balances it well with catchy riffs. The drumming is full on crazy as well.

Unearthly Trance - The Trident

Sludgy, and absolutely heavy doom metal with hardcore and black metal elements thrown in for a unique sound. These tracks are absolutely lumbering in sound and heaviness, but a couple of tracks actually show some speed. It's a fairly good sense of variety, even if the vocals aren't for everyone. They're mixed somewhat behind the music, so it's pretty unclear as to what the singer is bellowing about.

The Sword - Age of Winters

Retro, Black Sabbath-like doom with some modern elements mixed in. This stuff is simply rocked out, with some catchy guitar and booming bass lines. The lyrics are pretty fantasy/mythlogical based, but it's still a refreshing listen

Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway

Post metal that sounds much in the same vein as Isis and some Neurosis. Most songs are lengthy and feature a soft/loud dynamic that is a focal point to the genre. For the most part, the albums features completely guttural (hardcore) vocals, but two tracks contain morose clean vocals. As I am a fan of Isis, this definitely has some appeal, though I think Isis' work tops this.


Oh yes, and currently I'm listening to the song Apocalypse Please by Muse. Doomy piano and base, suits the title if ya ask me.

Whoa whoa whoa, can you tell me where to get a mutherf-ing MEGADETH DVD OMFG. But ya, I'm listening to a lot of disturbed right now like Hell,10,000 Fists, Forsaken (Ft. KoRn) and Darkness my favorite Disturbed song

Right here.. It's awesome. Even though the albums he's on aren't that great compared to other Megadeth stuff, I actually prefer Al Pitrelli on guitar.

Well another Saturday, another one after a night of drinking too. Getting up at 8 in the morning is a bit difficult after doing that drinking thing till around 2:30 in the morning. Ohwell, I don't feel sick at all, so that's a plus. Here's the list:

City by Strapping Young Lad
Happiness Is Not A Fish You Can Catch by Our Lady Peace
The New Black by Strapping Young Lad
Alien by Strapping Young Lad
Synchestra by The Devin Townsend Band
Buried In Oblivion by Into Eternity
The Scattering of Ashes by Into Eternity
One-X by Three Days Grace
Born A Lion by Danko Jones

Today's theme is Canadian bands. I do have others, but these CDs in particular I wanted to listen to. The current song playing is Waited by Our Lady Peace.

seven pages is alot for me so i skipped through all of it.

but i wouldnt be happy if i were the only one hear who likes black metal and metal
my current favorite CD is The Odyssey by Symphony X
but my current favorite band is Cradle Of Filth
right now im listening to A Static Lullaby

Ahh it´s always nice to read your saturday-music-list Mallie! Gives me tips and inspiration to listen to music....I maybe never listened to before!

Thanks for sharing your lists with us!

I listen to a fair bit of classical music but I listen to most of it on the radio and can never remember the names of the composers I like, anyone know a name of a good singer/composer/album who plays soft opera type music?

No problem minque! I like writing the lists so it works good both ways. But since today isn't Saturday, instead I just wanna mention a few CDs I recently purchased, they are:

Metridium Field by Giant Squid

This band was a rather strange and progressive sound. They combine sludgy guitars with emotive keyboard work and even some trumpet playing as well. The album definitely has a watery sound to it as well, which works. Vocally, there's two vocalists. The male singer voice ranges from quiet and low singing, to a more louder, normal singing voice that sounds strikingly familiar to Serj from System of a Down. I don't really like his yelling/harsh vocals though (which are used sparingly fortunately). The female vocalist sings cleanly and pristinely, which works really well for the song Versus the Siren. I overall liked this CD so far, though the last song is 20+ minutes and should've been stripped down a bit as the use of repetition does not work in this case.

For fans of Neurosis, Isis, and System of a Down.

Self Titled by Year of Desolation

Year of Desolation basically merges thrash metal with a strong leaning in death metal. All the songs are faced paced with harsh growling vocals which fit the music (it's not the annoying burping noise). The guitars often have melodic moments between the thrash riffing, which is a high point for me. The song "The Economy of Existence" is a great example of the melodic guitars. Not for the faint of heart.

Don't Fear the Reaper by Witchery

Witchery is a band that features the guitarist who has played in At The Gates and is still playing for The Haunted, and he's basically the reason why I was interested in this band. Again, Witchery plays thrash metal but with a more Black Metal leaning compared to death metal. This is mainly seen in the vocalist's raspy vocals. The guitar playing is immediately identifyable if you've heard of his playing before in other bands, and it's just as good here as in his other bands. It's a good CD, but not completely necessary.

Eclipse by Amorphis

Amorphis combines quite a variety of influences in their music. Some songs feature gruff death metal vocals, but for the most part, their sound is mainly hard rock. Some songs even feature a folkish theme to them, which is quiet enjoyable. This CD is probably the easiest one to listen two out of the 4, as it is the most accessible. Definitely a nice listen.

I't Friday Night, perfect time to get drunk and sail onward with all your sorrows - and thus, we have Mazzy Star - Halah for Complete Deep Blue Feeling. Blue like the dept of the cold ocean, blue like the night sky...

Cheers Mil! I´ll take one for ya! While listening to Nisse Hellbergs´s newest.....nah you folks probably haven´t heard of him! But he´s famous here, he used to be the lead singer in Wilmer X......great music..great music

Well here is Saturday's music list. And a nice one at that simply because I'm done my exams! Hooray!


Year of Desolation - Year of Desolation
Giant Squid - Metridium Field
Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway
Amorphis - Eclispse
Witchery - Don't Fear the Reaper
I - Between Two Worlds
The Sword - Age of Winters
God Forbid - Constitution of Treason

Well, obviously my list theme is listening to my most recent purchases. So it'll be a refreshing listen this weekend.

I've been listening to Carlo's Nakai's Canyon Trilogy quite a bit recently. It's a very nice collection of (mostly) flute pieces in the style of the native peoples of the southwestern U.S. It's very relaxing.

Wow, I didn't really think this would take as many pages as it did, but ohwell. This is about music, so I feel it should go on. Sorry for those who think this is a little bit too much, but I guess I like music that much and I feel that I should voice my opinion on what I think is good or not . Without further ado, here's my 2006 CD Countdown!:


2006 CD Countdown (According to The Metal Mallet)

Well, another year has entered the books and with that means that all Cds released are now considered 2007 releases. What I must say about 2006 is that it was a really good year for music. At least, for quality metal releases it was, but there were still plenty of good releases outside of that genre as well. I thought 2005 was a great year, with quality releases from Thrice, Taproot, Judas Priest, and Disturbed, but 2006 simply blew them out of the water! You’ll see shortly with my countdown list of all the 2006 Cds that I purchased, from worst to best. This list features 38 Cds, but in actuality, I probably bought close to 50 Cds this year, it’s just that the difference were Cds that originally were not released in 2006. Anyways, let’s start with the cream of the crap.

38. IV by Godsmack

I don’t really know why I bought this CD. Sure, I find a few of their songs to be pretty catchy, but damn, once you hear one of their songs, you’ve basically heard them all. You can say that they’ve “evolved” their sound somewhat simply because, after the success of their EP “The Other Side”, they’ve included a few acoustic songs in this release. If there are any strong tracks in this release, it would be the acoustic tracks Mama, One Rainy Day, and Hollow, the last track even features female vocals.

I’m sure Godsmack enthusiasts gobbled this CD up, but I was never that kind of a fan, so this takes the spot as my worst purchase of the year. Congrats!

37. Monochrome by Helmet

This release was very disappointing. I can’t stand the first few tracks until we hear some decent vocals in the title track. I’ve honestly can’t listen to this CD. I gave Helmet a shot with Size Matters, I wasn’t particularly impressed but I gave them another chance with Monochrome. Big mistake it seems. I might’ve given this CD two complete spins and that’s it; there were just too many other great Cds out for me to give this one a chance. If I would suggest any song off this album it would be Almost Out of Sight or the title track.

36. The Anatomy Of by Between the Buried and Me

Since this release is a collection of cover songs, I didn’t really listen to this one that much. I do find it interesting that a “death core” band would have influences such as Queen, Counting Crows, Blind Melon, and Soundgarden. The Pantera, Metallica, and Earth Crisis covers do make sense though. I was actually pretty impressed with how well most of the covers were done though. I was not happy with the death vocals in the Soundgarden cover though, didn’t work at all. Their rendition of Queen’s Bicycle Race was quite fantastic though, as was Pink Floyd’s Us and Them. Unfortunately cover albums just don’t appeal to me too often it seems.

35. The Undying Darkness by Caliban

The problem with Caliban’s sound is that it’s quite derivative “Killswitch Engage” metal core, meaning that they use screaming vocals for the verses and slow down for heavy and melodic singing for the choruses. While it’s a catchy combination, it just didn’t click with me as well as Killswitch does it, plus Caliban’s singer and screamer have nothing on the vocal capabilities of Howard Jones, who handles both the screaming and singing for Killswitch Engage.

I have to give them credit for one thing though, they write some awfully good breakdowns. The breakdowns in this sucker are crushing! Then again, you look at some of the names of their songs and you just have to cringe. I Rape Myself and Song About Killing are two examples of what I’m talking about. Tripe like that just doesn’t fly with me unless it’s supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, which I don’t think Caliban was trying to do. Better luck next time!

34. The Poison by Bullet for My Valentine

I bought this CD simply because one of their songs was on the Madden 06 video game. I found it pretty heavy so I decided to give it a shot. Bullet for My Valentine show a bit more of the punk side to the metal core sound, at least in the vocal department as the clean vocals have that slightly whiny sound that seems so popular these days.

Musicianship-wise, this band plays pretty well; they even inject some colourful solos, which aren’t often implemented in the genre. Unfortunately this band just doesn’t sound distinct enough for me to want to pop in their CD often. Though they are capable musicians, I just can’t get into their song writing.

33. Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey by Various Artists

This is actually a pretty good compilation of metal bands. You get a flavour of a few of the more well known subgenres of metal, though I have to say most of it focuses on older bands. The CD features 16 different bands: Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath (with Dio, not Ozzy), Blue Cheer, Rush, Slipknot, Lamb of God, Cannibal Corpse, Emperor, Venom, Arch Enemy, Slayer, Diamondhead, Children of Bodom, Accept, Motorhead, and Twisted Sister. This CD actually got me interested in Dio and the projects he’s been involved with. So I would suggest this CD to those new to metal, as it gives new listeners quite a few different sounds in the metal spectrum.

32. Operation Mindcrime II by Queensryche

A lot of hype surrounded this release as to many listeners believed the only real shining moment for this band was when they released the epic, and awesome concept CD Operation Mindcrime back in 1988. To most, it is widely considered the best concept album ever written. A Progressive Metal Masterpiece. It’s hard to believe that 18 years later they would decide to try to relive that story with a second chapter to it. Of course, one could see it as a desperate attempt to get some albums sales once more, because in all honesty, Operation Mindcrime II doesn’t live up to its predecessor. To give them credit though, this is definitely their best work since that album, which actually starts off quite nicely once the intro tracks are done. Definitely a bit heavier in tone, the flashy guitars have disappeared somewhat, but still rather good. It’s the second half of the album that ruins it, as the real point of the story is basically finished after The Chase, the rest of the tracks mainly being ballads between the main character and the supposedly deceased Sister Mary. This CD isn’t terrible, but it’s far from great.

31. II by Billy Talent

I really only bought this album because I thought Devil In A Midnight Mass was pretty rockin’, and I hoped the rest of the album would contain the rest of that energy. While Billy Talent utilizes punk and rock for their sound, like many of the mainstream bands around, I can sense the passion they put in the work. But when these guys go a bit more mid tempo, it kinda bores me, and unfortunately most of the album is mid tempo songs. Songs they get right in the ripping first single Devil In A Midnight Mass, Worker Bees lowers the intensity somewhat, but the chorus is totally catchy, and Surrender is actually quite good because it’s slower than mid tempo and displays emotion quite fully. Again, it suffers for not constantly catching my attention with their songs.

30. Eyes Open by Snow Patrol

This album is a letdown compared to Final Straw. I love Final Straw, but with the loss of their previous bassist, they lost the part I really liked Snow Patrol for, they had really booming bass lines. Just listen to Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking or Whatever’s Left and you would know what I’m talking about. What I have to give Snow Patrol props for is that they make good choices of what songs to release as singles, because You’re All I Have and Chasing Cars are two of the best songs on this CD. Though I would rather listen to Run than Chasing Cars, sorry guys. They seemed to have stepped away from the fun songs like Spitting Games, Wow, and Chocolate, and instead replaced with boring, heavily keyboarded broken relationship songs like You Could Be Happy, and Make This Go On Forever. I also wished they had a dark song like Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking on Eyes Open, that song gives me shivers every time I hear it. I almost feel like dropping the “sell-out” tag here, but I won’t.

This album still has some merits. Those are the previously mention singles, Hands Open has the bass work that I love about this band, Open Your Eyes has an epic and emotive feel to it, and the duet with Martha Wainwright in Set Fire to the Third Bar is really something to listen to, their voices together work really well.

I’m all for a band changing their sound and trying out new things, but when it goes in what I think is a bad, and boring direction, especially after a really good album, I feel a little cheated. I’ll still give them another shot on their next release though; I’m not giving up on them.

29. The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume by Evans Blue

Did these guys really need such a long title for a CD? You would think they were one of those Fall Out Boy / Panic! At the Disco type bands, but they aren’t. Actually, they fit in better with the A Perfect Circle type sound, the singer is very emotive and sings clearly, and he’s definitely not whiny. From song to song, the CD suffers slightly from sounding too much the same, with basic song structures as well. The songs that stick with me are the ones I find a bit catchier than the others. They would be A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed, with actually features some screaming buried underneath the music near the end, Cold (But I’m Still Here), Beg, with features some lovely female vocals as well, and Quote. The rest of the songs are solid but forgettable, which is why I don’t often listen to this one.

28. Amputechture by The Mars Volta

Unlike most of the people familiar with The Mars Volta, I wasn’t too impressed with Frances the Mute, sure the music was quite good, but those damn tiring segues featuring white noise just got on my nerves. This album on the other hand, does not feature such white noise, which is a plus in my books. This also features more songs, giving the listener some more variety in sounds, not that Frances didn’t show that but I feel there’s more variety in Amputechture.

The Mars Volta basically plays Progressive Rock, which basically means anything goes. A lot of the songs are long, and they implement lots of instruments that are not normally associated with rock, in this case they use horns quite a bit, which I find are hit or miss in the songs they’re implemented in. Also, a few of the songs feature Spanish vocals, which is completely fine with me. Besides, some of the music I listen to is basically feature incomprehensible vocals, and are supposedly English, so that doesn’t bother me.

The problem with this band is that they tend to lose me, and some of the parts I just find noisy. Skill-wise, these guys know how to play their instruments; the drumming and the bass work (particularly at the beginning of Day of Baphomets) simply astound me. There are also plenty of tasty guitar riffs throughout the disk. Musicians would eat this stuff up, but I just can’t pay attention enough to the song for it really to affect me. The only thing I get out of this band is the odd moment of “Wow, that sounded pretty cool”. I guess this just isn’t my cup of tea.

27. Black Holes and Revelations by Muse

It’s hard for me to pick which CD by these guys I like more, Absolution or this. Absolution had WAY too many ballads for my liking, but when they did rock out they blew my mind. Stockholm Syndrome easily tops my books as Muse’s best song in my opinion. Black Holes definitely lowered the amount of ballads significantly (Soldier’s Poem should’ve been scrapped though, filler track to the max). The only fault lies in that the rock songs overall are a bit weaker, likely because I wanna hear another version of Stockholm Syndrome. Take a Bow starts things off rocky, especially the ear-grating ending with all those synth effects. But following that, Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole, and Map of the Problematique, are a trio of strong rock songs. I particularly like Starlight since it features a nice buzzing bass that I love about in this band and Map has a neat guitar riff. Sadly, the second half of the CD doesn’t really catch my attention. The only two exceptions are Assassin, which is the closest song to having the energy that Stockholm Syndrome had, and Knights of Cydonia, which reminds of Queen somewhat and features a really awesome guitar riff near the closing of the song. So inconsistency is the only real gripe I have with this CD, I think I’ll consider this a step up from Absolution though.

26. Rio Grande Blood by Ministry

Bush Haters rejoice! This Ministry release is absolutely scathing with its speedy thrash mixed with industrial metal. The drumming, and guitars nearly fly by a super speeds for the most part or lurching waves of crunch. The CD features samples of Bush, some of which are edited (“I’m evil!”), while others aren’t. The problem with that is that a whole album primarily focused on Bush Bashing can be a bit too much. Also, the longer songs (Gangreen, Lies Lies Lies) get WAY to repetitive for my liking. But for those of you who like their riffs fast, this is the release to grab.

25. The Crusade by Trivium

You can tell this band really likes old school Metallic in this release. The lead singer even puts off a decent Hetfield impression for most of the songs on this thrash filled release. You can’t discredit their playing skills, as the musicianship displayed by the band is really good, with short, snappy solos and creative riffs. It’s simply the lack of ingenuity that can’t let me enjoy this album too much. Maybe if the singer didn’t try so hard to song like Hetfield I might’ve enjoyed it a bit more. One things for certain, the “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” sing along part in Anthem (We Are the Fire) are absolutely aggravating! Other than that, it’s a decent sounding record, but I’m not a Metallica fan in the first place, so I can’t adore this one.

24. One-X by Three Days Grace

Three Days Grace remain consistent, though I think they displayed a bit more versatility in their debut CD. While the songs are solid, they go a little stale after a wile simply because every song of this CD seems formulaic. Many of the songs start with quiet or acoustic beginnings and rise to a loud chorus and revert back to the quiet verses. Standouts are It’s All Over, which actually features a guitar solo, Animal I Have Become for it’s groovy bass and crunchy guitars, Riot, since it’s probably the most aggressive song on here, and Get Out Alive, as it gives a bit of a haunting presence to it. But really, if you enjoy one song from this CD, you’re likely to enjoy all of them. It’s solid, but not particularly impressive.

23. Monday Morning Apocalypse by Evergrey

This is a release I should probably listen to a bit more. Supposedly the band streamlined their previous sound for this record, giving it a bit more “mainstream” sound to it. Well despite what the critics think, I enjoyed the music on here. It’s dark; they have a great singer with a rich voice, and the riffs a churny distorted stuff. I guess the reason why I don’t give this CD enough spins is because there’s not enough difference between the songs for me to identify with them. A few did stand out though. Lost features a ridiculously catchy chorus, Still In the Water features some dark and haunting choral background vocals, and the bonus track Closure is a beautiful piano piece with soulful singing.

Basically, if you like heavy and dark sounding guitars, but with an excellent singer, this CD would likely appeal to you.

22. Sleep is the Enemy by Danko Jones

Danko Jones is extremely accessible hard rock. None of the songs on this CD exceed 4 minutes and each of the just flat out rock. Lyrically, most of the songs focus around women, whether it be falling in love with a woman, or falling out of love with a woman. Pretty much every track is great except for Sleep is the Enemy and The Finger. To name a few favourites, I would pick Don’t Fall In Love, with its catchy chorus with handclaps added, and First Date for the AC/DC vibe it invokes. This is the perfect “fun” CD, if you just want to listen to something catchy but without that much substance to it.

21. Enter Deception by Cellador

These guys play Power Metal, and it’s the speedy kind to. This 8 track CD busts out the speed on track 1 and doesn’t let go until the end of track 8, and for that, I like it a lot.

This band is young, with ages between 17 and 23. The crazy thing about is that the musicianship displayed by the band is phenomenal! The riffs are catchy as hell, the drumming blistering fast (he’s the 17 year old as well, I’m very impressed), even utilizing blast beats here and there throughout the CD.

To me, their youth is shown in their vocalist. Like most power metal, the singer usually sings in a high register, and belts out the odd Priest-like scream from time to time. In actuality, the singer sounds like Bruce Dickenson quite often. The problem is that he sings off key from time to time, which isn’t nice on the ears.

I’m definitely looking forward to this band’s next release. If they make any improvements, they’re going to blow my mind, and giving their youth, I’m sure they will improve. Power Metal enthusiasts, get this CD.

20. Come What(ever) May by Stone Sour

The “side project” the features Slipknot’s vocalist and one of their guitarists. For me, I actually like this band more than Slipknot (the only Slipknot album I like is Subliminal Verses). While not doing anything completely original, they definitely cover their bases well with a wide variety of songs that cover the metal, hard rock, and rock spectrum nicely. I particularly like this band for their acoustic / slower work in songs such as Sillyworld, which invokes Pink Floyd for the beginning portion of the song, the single Through Glass, and the piano ballad that builds into a wonderful rock song, Zzyxx Road.

For the most part, it’s the heavier songs that feel a little lacking, which is most evidently seen in the formulaic Made of Scars. Heavy songs done right are the eerie Your God, and the all out Reborn.

There are quite a few gems in this CD, but you have to go through a bit of mediocrity to get at them, hence the rating.

19. Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun by Red Sparowes

I bought this CD on a whim. Turns out they’re an instrumental post rock /metal band. Basically, they write intricate and melodic music that weaves and shifts through generally subtle changes. The tracks are often long, with only one song under 6 minutes, which also helps as the band slowly texture the music.

One the back of the CD case, there’s about paragraph that tells the story of the CD. Each sentence represents a song on the CD. The story itself is based on an event that happened in China during the 1950s. Basically the government told their people to kill all the sparrows in hopes that getting rid of the birds would help increase the amount of crop grown. The people complied and killed many sparrows, which resulted in a surplus of locust, with decimated their crops and caused mass starvation across the land. Millions died from lack of food.

I personally found the CD conveyed each sentence of the story quite well, they even include a sample of a swarm of locusts for a track. The music is well written and sounds great. Some people might find it difficult to listen to music with no vocals for over an hour. I usually give this CD a listen when I’m at work as it makes the time go by much faster. Excellent stuff for those who like Isis, Pelican, or Godspeed! You Black Emperor.

18. Katorz by Voivod

Voivod has been around for quite some time. This is their fourteenth CD, hence the name Katorz (which sounds like the French word for the number 14), and unfortunately it could be their last CD. That reason being that their guitarist, nicknamed Piggy, passed away from colon cancer. In fact, the creation of the CD was based on riffs Piggy wrote onto his computer and wished that the band used them for the next album. So writing the album was a unique process, as it had to be created around the riffs previously created by Piggy. What we get is a CD that sounds as if the music was recorded in a live studio setting.

This CD comes off as an excellent hard rock CD with dirty riffs, tasteful drumming, and a solid bass rhythm section (supplied by Jason Newsted of ex-Metallica fame). The sneering vocals of “Away” are spot on for the music and for the most part, they are understandable. Songs of particular interest are After All for its vocal hooks, Dognation, simply because the beginning sounds so badass, and The X-Stream, for its energetic verses. The last song is even featured in Guitar Hero II as a bonus track and it definitely a suitable choice. Really the only song that bothers me on this record is Mr.Clean, but it’s because I find the lyrics to be a bit annoying on that song. Everything is absolutely solid and quite catchy. Definitely worth a listen for those who are fans of Voivod, thrash, or just metal in general. RIP Piggy.

17. The New Black by Strapping Young Lad

This CD is a little bit of a disappointment when you compare it to Strapping Young Lad’s last CD, Alien. To me, this CD feels like a collection of songs that would sound really good in a live setting, which is probably what they were going for considering they got a spot on Ozzfest. Devin Townsend, who handles guitars, vocals, and production of this CD, is a very busy man. Over the last 10 years, he has either written or produced 20 albums, an amazing feat if you ask me.

A few aspects I like about Strapping Young Lad is that they often possess a crushing and aggressive sound that’s typical to Death Metal, but they implement vocals that stray from the typical incomprehensible growl/burp vocals common to the genre. Instead, Devin shows an impressive range of shouts, visceral screaming, and even soaring clean vocals and croons. The other aspect I like about them is the fact that they possess a sense of humour. This can be mainly seen in the lyrics of their songs, one of which focuses on how much their band sucks (as well as everyone else’s bands), which another song actually breaks out into a section of Big Band music (basically lots of horns).

This is easily Strapping Young Lad’s most accessible release, with some songs sounding a little lack-lustre compared to their previous work, but it’s still catchy stuff. Solid tracks include You Suck, Anti-Product, Hope, and Almost Again.

16. Synchestra by The Devin Townsend Band

This is Devin Townsend’s first release of the year with his basically self-titled effort. The main difference between this outfit and Devin’s other band, Strapping Young Lad, is that The Devin Townsend Band is a quite a bit less “extreme”, their sound leaning more towards the Progressive Metal label. I personally think that’s the best label for this band as Synchestra possesses a wide variety of styles. From acoustic Irish ditties like Let it Roll, to polka (aptly titled Vampolka), to lengthy progressive songs (Pixillate, Triumph, Gaia, and Notes From Africa). Most tracks feature short instrumentals before getting into a longer song that possesses some vocals. Ones that did catchy my attention where Hypergeek, which begins with some frog noises and a relatively calm sound, that eventually blasts out with double bass and a fast guitar riff.

My main gripe with this album is the slow down pace during Judgement, A Simple Lullaby, and Sunset, the main problem being A Simple Lullaby, which is a 6+ minute instrumental that I feel doesn’t really go anywhere. Other than that, the album was an interesting listen.

15. The Acoustic Verses by Green Carnation

If there’s one thing about Green Carnation that you must know, it’s that they rarely have a CD that sounds like their previous one. From their epic, single song, 1 hour long release, “Light of Day, Day of Darkness”, to their more rock-oriented releases “Blessing in Disguise” and “The Quiet Offspring” to this year’s acoustic CD, “The Acoustic Verses”, Green Carnation always seems to change their sound.

This release is “acoustic”, I say that way because they do use electric guitars, but in a manner that fit’s the acoustic tag. Often violins/fiddles and synths are implemented into the songs as well for some variety. Being such, the songs are often sombre, yet beautiful in their relative minimalist approach. Highlights include Alone, with it’s Edgar Allen Poe inspired lyrics and fiddle to give it an “Irish” feel to it, the 15 minute 9-29-045, which feels like 3 songs segued together, but each section works fantastically together. Since it is an acoustic CD, I can only really listen to this one when I’m in a certain mood, it’s very enjoyable, but I can’t listen to it constantly. This one is definitely for fans of Opeth’s “Damnation” CD, particularly the song “Maybe” might have some listeners thinking of “To Rid the Disease”.

14. As Daylight Dies by Killswitch Engage

Killswitch has a special place for my music listening, namely because “The End of Heartache” basically got me into the more “extreme” sounds in metal music. Well I have to say, “As Daylight Dies” is actually more enjoyable than “The End of Heartache”. While the CD sounds much like their previous work, it’s because the song writing has become that much more tighter that this CD sounds so damn good.

The CD begins with the apocalyptic opening title tracks, with a catchy stop and start guitar riff and some intense vocals from Howard Jones. Following that is Killswitch’s best song they’ve ever written, This is Absolution. To me, this song has everything that is awesome about Killswitch Engage: an amazingly catchy guitar riff, well executed harsh vocals, and an infectiously melodic chorus. Which makes me want to mention something new about this record; Adam D contributes his additional clean vocals a lot more often on this record and they are well used.

With most Killswitch Cds, there are going to some songs that stick out more than others, but from what I’ve heard, there isn’t a bad song in this bunch. So for fans of their previous albums, you’re going to enjoy this one. I do hope that they do try something new with their next release though. They need an album that takes some risks to keep relevant I think.

13. Origo by Burst

I’ve never heard of Burst until 2006, and I’m certainly glad I did. From what I’ve read, the comparison that’s made about Burst’s music is that they sound like Neurosis, but cut out the slow pacing between shifts in sound. I find that a fairly adequate comparison, since Burst implement both melody and aggressiveness in their music. A lot of the melodic moments contain a spacey feel that I find is quite enjoyable and different from the melody being utilized in the Metalcore genre.

Highlights include The Immateria, which uses the spacey melodic sound I spoke of really well, Homebound, for it’s sombre beginning that breaks out into a blasting verses, the instrumental, It Came Into View, has a Pink Floyd quality about it as it takes it’s time to get going.

The main problem with Burst is that I find their lead vocalist to be a tad one-dimensional, as all he does is scream, which at least has a unique/identifiable tone to it. Fortunately, the other band members contribute clean and some death/growly vocals to give some variety to the vocals.

12. The Hours That Remain by Mercenary

To sum up Mercenary’s sound quickly to those familiar with metal I would say they sound like present day Soilwork, only without the death vocals. But that would be unfair to out non metal crowd, so I’ll develop that point a bit more.

Mercenary play long songs (the CD averages to about 6 minutes per song) that are very melodic, but have a heavy edge to them. The vocals are heavily layered in harmonies and sung in a higher register, but not in an ear grating way. He also uses a voice that could be compared to a gremlin.

Music-wise, Mercenary uses driving riffs, but with a sense of melody as they do slow things down every now and then and synths/piano is always implemented in each song. Highlights are Redefine Me, Lost Reality, and the title track.

11. Between Two Worlds by I

Yes, the band’s name is “I”, strange, but the music certainly makes up for the odd name choice. Basically, if one noticed the names of those in the band, you would notice that “I” is basically a super group of black metal bands. This band features members from Immortal, Enslaved, and Gorgoroth, yet the music that they play is more in line with traditional metal than it is black metal. Vocally, Abbath sounds a bit like a blackened version of Lemmy (who “sings” for Motorhead), and his voice will likely put off some, as it does sound like awkward sort of croak. The music on the other hand, totally makes up for the strange vocal performance. While the guitar riffs are fairly simplistic, they’re certainly effective and the guitar solos are fantastic. Nice and melodic, which gives the songs a nice sense of emotion, particularly in the songs “Far Beyond the Quiet” and “Mountains”. A definite must-have for those liking the more traditional metal sound.

10. Atlantis: Hymns for Disco by K-Os

I listen to hip hop!? Well when it’s a K-Os CD I certainly do! K-Os is a hip-hop artist from Canada (woo!) that focuses on creativity rather than following the current trend in the rap/hip-hop community. With his previous releases, K-Os’ lyrics were more focused on the decline in quality in hip hop nowadays, but with this release, he decided to go with a fun approach and not preach.

Musically, K-Os adds a variety of styles to his music. At the heart of it though is sample-based hip-hop, but more often than not, live instruments are used as well. K-Os himself will rap or sing in his songs and he knows how to play the guitar and piano.

Songs that standout are “Fly Paper“, which utilizes a bluesy string bass ala “Crabbukkit” from his previous record, “Cat Diesel”, for it’s old school vibe, and the folk takeoff of “Ballad of Noah”. This record is perfect for fans of music in general.

9. The Fall of Ideals by All That Remains

All That Remains takes my pick of Best Metalcore of 2006 with the release of The Fall of Ideals. Each song practically rips the entire time, with very few slow moments. The guitars take on a tone that would compare easily with the Melodic Death genre in that they’re fast, but still contain a sense of melody.

Vocally, is also another aspect that shines on this CD. Phil Labonte displays an impressive range of vocals that sound astounding to me. He goes from black metal shrieks, to the common guttural hardcore approach, to a pristine singing voice, and (unfortunately for this listener) a burpy death metal voice.

Choice listens are “This Calling”, which is the first song that displays Phil’s clean vocals wonderfully, “Whispers (I Hear You)”, and “The Air That I Breathe”.

8. The Dead Eye by The Haunted

The Haunted took a big risk with this record as they all but pretty much abandon the thrash roots that they originally began with (and were very successful at doing). Instead, they went with a more heavy metal approach that I say is equally if not more impressive than their thrash work. The production on this record works really well, as it definitely displays a pronounced bass sound, something I like to hear in a metal record.

The CD starts out with songs that aren’t too different from The Haunted’s previous sound, ripping thrash songs, but with slower moments added for tension. Vocalist, Peter Dolving sounds like an absolute beast on this record and pretty much steals the show for this CD. His singing vocals have lost the southern drawl that was displayed in their previous release, and thus works much better in “The Dead Eye”.

Songs to listen to are the thrashy tracks like “The Flood”, “The Medication”, and “The Medusa”, but the more heavy metal songs to listen to are “The Drowning”, “The Reflection”(a highlight vocally), and duo of “The Program/The Guilt Trip”. Don’t let the mixed reviews distract you!

7. The Scattering of Ashes by Into Eternity

For an album that’s a bit of a letdown compared to their previous album, it’s still very, very good. Into Eternity play of style of metal that blends power metal, thrash, progressive metal, and death metal into a ridiculously catchy bunch of songs. Nearly every song on this album has guitars that would make any guitarist happy to listen to, as the chops displayed by Tim Roth is amazing. He isn’t afraid from shifting to the riffing that one would fine on a technical death metal album, to the melodic notes of a power metal album. The bass work is solid and while the drums are played well, it’s the mixing of them that provides a bit of distaste of this record. The drums (particularly the bass drum) sound odd, but after a few listens, most people will begin to live with the drum sound.

Vocally, the band also displays their variety as they predominately utilize clean vocals that would fit well on most progressive and power metal bands, but they also use perfectly placed death growls (two types, one a deep below, the other a screeching vocal that is mainly found in Melodic Death Metal bands) and even Rob Halford-esque howls (which is provided from a new vocalist).

The entire CD has strong songs, but the ones that take the cake are “Severe Emotional Distress”, “Nothing”, “Surrounded by Night” (the only song that features acoustic guitars, and “Suspension of Disbelief”. Guitarists, get this one!

6. 10,000 Days by Tool

At the start of the year, when I heard Tool would finally release this CD in 2006, I thought this would easily take the number one spot. Surprisingly, it hasn’t, but it still gets a nice spot in the rankings because it’s still Tool.

The reviews for this CD have been mixed, simply because unlike previous Tool records, this one has a sound familiar with their previous record, Lateralus. Well I personally like this CD better than Lateralus. I would actually think that if the release order were switched between the two records, people would be more angry with Lateralus than 10,000 Days, but that’s just my opinion. To me, 10,000 Days has more exciting songs, and a more aggressive sound than Lateralus.

What stands out to me the most when listening to 10,000 Days is the bass work provided. Justin Chancellor has some pretty sick basslines on this CD, namely in Vicarious and The Pot, two excellent songs. Everyone else is just as strong as they usually are.

For me, the highlight of this CD is the two part, 17 minute epic Wings For Marie, and 10,000 Days (Wings pt2), simply because of the subject matter of the song. It deals with Maynard giving what sounds like a serenade to his mother who passed away. The emotion in that song is just very heavy and the listener can truly feel it.

But like most Tool records, there’s the pointless, pretentious sounds capes which are one minute of native singing and about 5 minutes worth of white noise at the end of the CD.

This doesn’t top Aenima, so this makes this my second favourite Tool release. Not bad at all.

5. Saturday Night Wrist by Deftones

If there was any group at the start of the year that I thought could top Tool, it would be these guys. For those of you that were a fan of their White Pony CD, this’ll be right up your alley as the songs for the most part display spacey moments within hard rocking, crunching guitar riffs.

Highlights include: “Hole In the Earth“, with has a catchy guitar riff and very spacey chorus, “Beware”, which has a very dark atmosphere and the ending is absolutely CRUSHING! Amazing song. Also “Rats!Rats!Rats! Is the heaviest song on the CD and features a moment that sounds somewhat similar to a moment in “Ticks and Leeches” by Tool in that it’s a creepy crawly guitar riff over drums that feature no cymbals. “Cherry Waves” is the best example of the spaciness, as it feels like it’s a deep sea voyage in space.

There are a couple of missteps though. They are the “experimental” track that Deftones always do, which is called “Pink Cellphone”. Compared to their other experimental tracks, this one is by far the weakest and the ending is just weird. The other is the final song, Rivere. Deftones have always had good songs to finish the album with, but this last track is a bit of a bore.

Complaints aside, I’m VERY happy in seeing the Deftones release new material. Let’s hope they stay together to get another one out.

4. In The Absence of Truth by Isis

This one takes some growing to like. Unlike Isis’ previous releases Panopticon, and Oceanic, In The Absence of Truth took more than a few listens to find the subtle crescendos of distorted guitar and weaving melodies this time. Once I did find it, it has found constant rotation in my music listening. The guitars are melodic twinkling for the most part, but then evolve into crushing waves of distortion. The bass is audible and fuzzy, and the drums have improved a lot from previous records. They have a tribal vibe since cymbals aren’t used as frequently, definitely gives it a hypnotic effect.

What I feel gives this record the most hypnotic feel though is the clean vocals. Even though they’re mixed deep in the mix so that they’re hard to decipher, they work beautifully in creating an enchanting element to the music. Not to mention that his harsh vocals are equally as powerful.

Simply because there’s more songs on this album, I’ve enjoyed In The Absence of Truth a bit more than Panopticon (though Panopticon still has “In Fiction” and “Syndic Calls” as my top songs). Definitely listen to this album for “1000 Shards”, “Not In Rivers, But In Drops”, and “Holy Tears”.

3. Ashes Against the Grain by Agalloch

I seem to have a knack for getting into bands that plan on releasing new material within the year. It’s happened with Mastodon, The Haunted, Judas Priest, and Agalloch. I first got into Agalloch from their acoustic flavoured black metal album entitled “The Mantle”. Well, with “Ashes…”, Agalloch bring back the heavier element to their music with what could be considered a “blackened post rock/metal” styling. Basically, distorted melodic guitars with caustic and raspy vocals with splashes of clean vocals every now and then.

There’s a definite folk vibe in the lyrical sense as the lyrics are often focused on nature, which is easily seen by the titles of their songs (Falling Snow, Fire Above Ice Below, and Not Unlike the Waves).

Highlights include the opener “Limbs” with it’s dissonant guitar opening the evolves into a booming bass driven line that once again dies down into what sounds like a harpsichord piece before the song picks up again and the vocals enter around the 4 and a half minute mark. “Falling Snow” is definitely likable with it’s almost bouncy sounding rhythm section, and the first two movements of “Our Fortress is Burning”, particularly “Bloodbirds”, is utterly fantastic.

In all honesty, each track on Ashes Against the Grain is amazing (some might not enjoy the sounds capes “This White Mountain on Which You Will Die” and the seven minute finale of “Our Fortress is Burning - III The Grain”). If you don’t mind raspy vocals and some crunching guitar tones, as well as some long songs (which are all 9+ minutes), you’ll definitely enjoy Agalloch.

2. Vol.1 by Hurt

I almost wanted to tie this one with my number 1 album, but I felt I shouldn’t cope out and not make a decision, so I gave Hurt’s debut album my second place spot. For a debut that sounds this good, it amazes me that I like this album so much. Hurt play a brand of what could be considered popular American Hard Rock, but they show a broad spectrum in these 11 songs that they stand above the rest of their peers.

According to the band, their lead singer was raised under strict parents so that he never listened to rock music until his later years. He was actually classically trained on the violin. It’s likely that aspect that allows the band to possess their unique flavour they add to hard rock, as the violin is often implemented into their songs.

The styles displayed on this album vary from fairly standard, but effective rock songs (the semi acoustic “Falls Apart”, the violin influenced “Losing”, and hard rockers “Dirty” and “Unkind”), to the single that sounds very Tool-influenced (“Rapture”), to the beautiful love song (“Danse Russe“), and forlorn acoustic song (“Cold Inside”). There is also a couple of odd songs (the semi orchestral “Shallow” and the almost industrial styling of “Forever”), and finally the two epics “Overdose” and “House Carpenter”.

Personal highlight for me are Rapture (for the Tool styling), Unkind (flat out rocks!), Danse Russe (absolutely beautiful song, with a nice twist at the end), and House Carpenter (love the piano added into this song).

So if you like variety and you music, and don’t mind a singer that can croon, possess a nice midrange vocal, and bellow at the right moment, Hurt is for you. I cannot endorse this band highly enough.

1. Blood Mountain by Mastodon

Mastodon’s Blood Mountain has simply rocked my socks off. It took a little while for me to get used to their sound initially when I first listened to this band (on their previous album, Leviathan). But once I got used to them, it made me appreciate this album all the more. Mastodon play a brand of metal that focuses on creating sweet riffs, coupled with absolutely insane drumming that seems heavily jazz influenced, and gruff or clean vocals.

On Blood Mountain, Mastodon has vastly improved in the vocal department with stronger clean vocals and harsher harsh vocals. They also have opted for a wider variety of tempos, mixing doomier songs with the scorching ones. And they wrote more guitar solos!

Highlights include the devastating opener “The Wolf Is Loose”, which gives you a good taste of what Mastodon’s sound is. My overall favourite songs are the more psychedelic and doomy songs “Sleeping Giant” and “This Mortal Soil”, the former song I consider being my favourite song of 2006 as I love the atmosphere in the song as well as the emotive guitars.

The only flaw with this record is that the time displayed on the CD is misleading. The last track contains a lot of empty space after the song to reveal a worthless 30 second sound byte by Josh Homme at the end. Other than that, each track is strong and it’s hard for me to not be listening to this bad boy.




Well, at the time of writing the list, these were the only 2006 albums I possessed. Here are the mini reviews of 2006 albums I have purchased since creating the list:

The Trident by Unearthly Trance

Unearthly Trance play Doom Metal that is heavily influenced by Black Metal, Drone, and Hardcore. This trio play absolutely sludgy riffs, that are heavily distorted and vocals that are either throat searing growls or a tortured clean voice. The added elements give this band a unique sound, but not all the songs are hits in my opinion. A definite miss is the drone influenced “Where the Unbelievable is the Ordinary”, but songs I liked were “Permanent Ice”, “The Air Exits, the Sea Accepts Me”, “Scarlet”, and “Decrepitude”.

I would probably stick this CD above Monday Morning Apocalypse by Evergrey.

Don’t Fear the Reaper by Witchery

Witchery are basically a super group of Swedes that play some pretty sweet blackened thrash metal. This band features members from The Haunted, Arch Enemy, Bloodbath, and Opeth. The production on this album helps this album sound really awesome, especially since it makes the bass audible.

The guitar tone definitely reminds me of The Haunted’s work (which makes sense) and they absolutely rip. Highlights include “Ashes”, which implement keys that give the song a graveyard feel, “Plague Rider”, which actually reminds me of Judas Priest with the give and take guitar solos, and “Stigmatized”. Definitely for fans of thrash.

On the ranking board, this one go above The Acoustic Verses by Green Carnation.

Metridium Field by Giant Squid

Giant Squid have a unique sound. The guitar and rhythm section, the latter specifically, possess a sound that could attribute itself to Doom Metal, but the implementation of piano and trumpet give a special dynamic to their sound. The band features two singers, a male singer who possesses a gentle, whispered croon, to a normal singing voice that sounds familiar to Serj from System of a Draw to harsh vocals that I don’t really like at all. The female vocalist possesses a wonderful clean croon that works well on what I think is the best song “Verses the Siren”. A solid, though somewhat inconsistent release. I would place it above Enter Deception by Cellador.

Eclipse by Amorphis

Amorphis play a unique brand of hard rock that contains element of folk, and death metal(vocally at least). It’s complex, but definitely not as harsh on the ears as some other bands I listen to are, but still contain enough heaviness and creativity to keep me interested. Every instrument is well played and audible (with some creative keyboard work to boot), while each song is consistently good, there really isn’t anything that stands out above the rest. The only song that comes to mind is the immediately radio friendly song “House of Sleep”, which is instantly catchy. A great album, enough of one that I would put it above the Witchery album.

Age of Winters by The Sword

The Sword channel retro, Black Sabbath Doom quite well. While vocally, The Sword aren’t particularly special as the vocal performance is plain at best. It’s instrumentally that the band is absolutely solid. Songs like “Freya”, “Winter’s Wolves”, and “Ebethron” just flat out rock. Sabbath fans, get this one, the riffs are chunky, the lyrics are mystical, and the song writing is definitely above par. This one tops Mercenary’s The Hours That Remain.

Somewhere Along The Highway by Cult of Luna

Somewhere Along The Highway is quite familiar to Isis’ Panopticon, just with a lot less clean vocals. So that lumps Cult of Luna in the post metal genre that Isis shares. One thing that’s immediately noticeable with Cult of Luna is that their songs are overall longer than Isis songs as it features 3 songs that surpass the 10 minute mark. This is entrancing stuff, with certainly enough gruff to make the metal fans and enough breezy melodic interludes between to keep music fans grinning. Solid stuff, but I still like Isis better. For a ranking, I would stick this above The Sword’s Age of Winters CD.

The Great Cold Distance by Katatonia

This is an excellent collection of depressing songs. I’m surprised this Swedish band hasn’t had large success over in North America, as their sound reminds of creatively better Hard Rock with an odd vocal delivery. I say that not because the vocal sounds weird, in fact he sings in a nice clean voice. The delivery is what’s different about it, the singer sings in a distant, or indifferent tone, which creates and even more depressing feel in the music. The musicianship is tight, with a nice balance of guitars, bass, and atmospheric keys or programming. A solid release with standout tracks like “Deliberation”, “My Twin”, “Leaders”, and “The Itch”. This one would’ve broken the top 10 as I would’ve placed it above K-Os’ Atlantis CD.

Lethal Legacy by Mastery

Mastery play a high octane brand of instrumentally retro thrash. This 26 minute (with an addition 2 live song) EP is simply non-stop attack of blistering guitars and masterful drumming. The riffs are sweet and listeners will be reminded of Metallica in their prime, as well as Megadeth. Thing is, since it’s instrumental, I don’t often listen to it. The constant tempo also doesn’t do much to show any difference between the songs. So while it’s expertly crafted music, it’s not something I’ll be consistently listening to. This album goes above Trivium’s The Crusade.



As with most years, there’s always stuff that I don’t get the time to listen to, or I have trouble finding and ordering. Here’s a list of albums I still need to look into:

Alone by Solitude Aeturnus - An American Doom Metal band. I listened to their song “Sightless” and all I gotta say is “Wow!”. If I ever get my hands on this CD, it’s sure to be Top 10 ’06 Album.

Above The Weeping World by Insomnium - Insomnium play a brand of Melodic Death Metal that is said to have some Doom-like qualities. After listening to the song “Mortal Share”, I think that’s a fitting description. Damn that song is catchy!

Drawing Down the Sun by The River - This is a British band that plays really distorted and heavy guitar driven Doom Metal. The band is fronted by a female singer that sings really well from what I’ve heard from the song “So Down”. Very depressive sounding stuff, but with a hint of beauty to it.

Suffer No Guilt by The Gates of Slumber - Another American Doom band (seeing a pattern?) that seems to have a more traditional sound from the samples I’ve heard. Really guitar driven stuff and supposedly they have some long songs. Hopefully I’ll get my hands on this one.

Enter by Russian Circles - These guys are an instrumental post rock/metal band that really stood out when I listened to their samples. The guitar playing is really unique.

The Longest Night by Pharaoh - This band channels the traditional metal sound that could be compared to bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Just high energy, rocking stuff from what I’ve heard from the samples I’ve managed to get. The singer sounds really impressive.

The Second Wave by Khoma - Since this band is on Roadrunner, I thought it would be easier to find this CD without ordering, but I guess that seems to not be the case. This band features a couple of members from Cult of Luna, but the style is much different from that band. Khoma sounds more like standard rock, but there’s some really impressive compositions from the samples I’ve heard.

Prisons by Eyes of Fire - These guys have received comparisons to Neurosis, and it seems to fit, as they do possess a somewhat industrial doom sound with some gravely vocals. I’d like to get my hands on this one.


There it is! Feel free to tell me off or post your own Top 06 or whatever! Have fun rockin', or rappin', or whatever you like!

Saturday! Here's this week's list:

IV by Godsmack
Monochrome by Helmet
The Anatomy Of... by Between the Buried and Me
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey by Various Artists
The Undying Darkness by Caliban
The Poison by Bullet For My Valentine
Eyes Open by Snow Patrol
Operation Mindcrime II by Queensryche
The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume by Evans Blue

This week's theme, and will be for quite a few of them, is going through my entire 2006 CD collection starting with the worse stuff and moving onto the best. So today's music is not particularly awesome, but there's enough here to enjoy.

Speaking of Queensryche...

I watched Operation: Livecrime last night. On television. I was pretty shocked that they would put Queensryche of all bands on TV.

I was actually very impressed with their live sound, if not their cheesy '80s metal image. (granted, the footage is actually from the '80s)

Geoff Tate is near flawless live. The changes he makes to the songs live compared to his studio sound aren't due to his inability to recreate, but merely because he wants to makethose changes. He never once opted for a lower octave, merely different harmonies or rythms. There was only one part that I was disappointed in, during 'Eyes of a Stranger'. A part I consider to be the climax of the song. He ruined it in my opinion, changing up the rythm. Completely murdered it. I guess you have to hear it to see what I mean. Other than that, though, he was superb. They put on a good show. This is high praise coming from me, because my main complaint with a lot of bands is live vocals.

Woo! Saturday! That means it's time for the Weekend Listening List! Here's this week's list, which continues the theme of last week:

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey by Various Artists
Eyes Open by Snow Patrol
The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume by Evans Blue
(Those 3 I didn't get to listen to last week)
Amputecture by The Mars Volta
Black Holes and Revelations by Muse
Rio Grande Blood by Ministry
Lethal Legacy by Mastery
The Crusade by Trivium

I'm currently rocking out to Rush's "Working Man" from the Headbanger's Journey CD. BOO YEAH!!

Here we go with the continuation of the countdown. We'll start with what I didn't get to listen to last weekend and continue from there:

Rio Grande Blood by Ministry
The Crusade by Trivium
Lethal Legacy by Mastery
One-X by Three Days Grace
Monday Morning Apocalypse by Evergrey
The Trident by Unearthly Trance
What Have We Become by Seemless
Sleep Is the Enemy by Danko Jones
Enter Deception by Cellador

In other news, here's some recent albums I've gotten:

What Have We Become by Seemless
This band features two former members of Killswitch Engage, Jesse, their singer, and one of their original guitarists. Soundwise, it's much different sound from Killswitch stuff. Instead, the music is a bass-heavy hard rock CD. Jesse predominately uses his clean vocals, which actually reminds me of Brandon from Incubus the more I hear it. The odd snarl does appear every now and then, but definitely not as much as Killswitch fans would remember. While the music itself is solid, it isn't a very unique sound so it's hard for me to play it often, as I'm generally listening to my higher ranking albums more often.

Void by Intronant
This is a rather interesting listen. The band often draws comparisons to Mastodon. I guess this is based on the fact that the music is fairly complex, with hints of hardcore (especially in the gruff vocals). If one thing's for certain, is that I love the basswork in these sounds. It's just as complex and expertly crafted as the guitars. It's a deep sound too, that's definitely noticible, so those who don't really like that bass sound might get annoyed with this cd. But overall, I'm quite impressed.

Inside the Machine by This Ending
This Ending is a melodic death band. They don't pull anything new, but the fact that they play it absolutely solid garners them some respect. Their vocalist keeps the vocals harsh, but still opts for changing the tone of it for some variety. The music playinig leans towards the thrash spectrum, with subtle hints of melodic lines here and there, also the odd solo. It's definitely fine crafted music (the production is really good), but it brings nothing new for me to give it too much of a liking.

Danzig by Danzig
This CD is as old of me! Or close enough (it was released in 1988). Danzig caught my attention because of the song "Mother" from Guitar Hero II. So when I found the CD that features the song for a relatively cheap price I thought what the heck, I'll get it. Being an older CD, you have to turn up the volume a bit higher to get it at a decent volume, but the music itself is classic stuff. It's basically hard rock, with a very bluesy vibe to it (mostly noted in Glenn's vocals). Each song is just a blast to listen to, and the dark lyrics are certainly interesting. No wonder this CD is considered a classic, great stuff!

Mythmaker by Skinny Puppy
I've heard a lot about this Canadian Industrial band before, but I had never listened to a song by them. When saw that their new CD was released, I decided to get it. My previous conception of what industrial sounded like was based on Ministry's speedy, metal influenced "Rio Grande Blood" and earlier Rammstein. Well, based off Skinny Puppy's brand of Industrial (which I have heard is still considered original sounding Industrial) is basically dark techno. It's necessarily made for dancing (though some songs feature some beats that would be semi-dancable). It proves to be a rather intriguing listen, as unlike techno, it isn't obnoxious repetative. The songs are each unique, even with tempo changes. The lyrics are dark and enticing, not to mention they're often under some sort of distorted effect. I'm actually liking this CD a lot.

Alone by Solitude Aeturnus
It has finally come in! And it is certainly not a disappointment! The first thing that came to mind when I was listening to these songs were that they were long, quite long. Like the doom that it is, the songs crushingly heavy in a mostly slow, persistant way. The vocals are outstanding. The musicianship is stellar and everything sounds clear and audible. The only gripe is that the track list on the packaging is wrong, which is a bit annoying, but I guess things like that can happen when you're on a small record lable. Still, the music is what counts, and it's definitely great. Well worth the wait, and strongly suggested.

Elementary by The End
This is another Canadian band that plays some interesting music. Supposedly, they started off as a mathcore band that emulated The Dillinger Escape Plan, which a lot of people actually liked. This record has been receiving some flak from their fans, as they've taken a more melodic approach and have strayed from what they were originally playing. Well, I like the direction they went with this CD. Nearly every song contains the aggressiveness they were known for, but the addition of melody and clean vocals makes the music all the more catchy and dynamic. I still need to give this a few more listens to get an overall feel for the CD, but I'm definitely liking it so far.

So Mastodon is coming REALLY close to me on the 23rd...

and I can't go. I want to cry. Twice.

Anyway, I've been continuing my Megadeth binge with some Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction. Also, I've been kinda hooked on the song (Don't Fear) The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult. It's a good song. Original. Oh, and (because of Guitar Hero II) I bought Age of Winter by The Sword. I don't really like the mixing (too much guitar, not enough of anything else) but the music is awesome. Very reminiscent of Black Sabbath.

Right now I am drowning in some old school METAL!!!!!!!!

My top 4 favourites!
Carcass
Morbid Angel
Death
At the Gates

I am also listening to alot of God Dethroned stuff... their lyrics are chessy but the music is amazing. And some Devil(fuking)Driver

Sorry for off-topicness. But nice to see you back Mazelure!!

Thanks... holy bejesus... some one noticed I was gone!
Joking... I was just going through some tough times but now I'm good... thanks to METAL!!!

Ha...you´re noticed my friend! Nice to see you again.....

Yes indeed, welcome back Mazelure. Nice to see you back, my friend. To celebrate, here is this weekend's CD list. Again I continue my countdown theme of my favourite 2006 CDs.

Sleep Is The Enemy by Danko Jones
Enter Deception by Cellador
Void by Intronaut
Metridium Field by Giant Squid
Come What(ever) May by Stone Sour
Every Red Heart Shines Towards The Red Sun by Red Sparowes
Katorz by Voivod
The New Black by Strapping Young Lad

Now that I actually have given Intronaut and Giant Squid a few more listens, I probably would've placed them higher in the countdown (meaning better) but ohwell, all this stuff is pretty solid, just not as spectacular is my upper echeloin of CDs. Right now "Versus the Siren" by Giant Squid is playing, a brilliant moody song in my opinion, I'm digging the female's vocals in this one.

And the countdown continues!! This week we basically begin the top 20. So now we're getting into the very solid stuff. Definitely enjoying today's stuff!

The New Black by Strapping Young Lad
Synchestra by The Devin Townsend Band
The Acoustic Verses by Green Carnation
Eclipse by Amorphis
Don't Fear the Reaper by Witchery
As Daylight Dies by Killswitch Engage
Origo by Burst
The Hours That Remain by Mercenary
Age of Winters by The Sword

I have a feeling I might not get to those last two today, but we'll see! I'm currently listening to the acoustic epic "9-20-045" by Green Carnation. Beautiful music!

SENSER - Infoburner

Madness reincarnated in Y2k4.

Animal - Pearl Jam

I have also been listening to Age of Winters, Metal Mallet. I heard about them because Guitar Hero put Freya on the game.

Random question - is that Witchery album some kind of Blue Oyster Cult (pretend I made two dots over the 'O') tribute?