A little sneak peak, bonus points for recognizing all of them.
Now that the end of the year draws near, I finally put together the top10 list of my favourite albums of 2014. Sadly, no-one will really care about it, because I'm not a tough critic guy writing for MetalSucks or Metal Hammer or any other online magazine. Recently I've thought about it, how I should have gotten into journalism and then I could spend my whole day writing about fashion and metal music and identity and the world - who needs money to pay for stuff anyway? But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't really enjoy it as a career.
So suffer my horribly long and unprofessional opinion.
The list, of course, heavily reflects my taste in music - there were plenty of awesome metal albums this year, but I'm not that keen on more extreme metal. Alas, I thought I'd mention a few other albums not on the list, for one reason or another.
Architects: Lost Forever // Lost Together
A neat little metalcore album - a genre most metalheads hate. I quite like it - Architects may have been the first band I started to listen to in the genre after a Rise Against concert when they were playing.
In Flames: Siren Charms
What in the world happened to you? There are a few pleasant songs here, but it's no melodeath. It's not even metalcore, what even.
Linkin Park: The Hunting Party
Not my usual, but I think it's a pretty good album, a nice improvement since the last two.
At the Gates: At War With Reality
Everyone is raving about this - I like it, but it didn't quite make the cut. It's probably too 'back to the roots' for me - I was a toddler when Gothenburg metal started, so it's just not that significant to me.
Machine Head: Bloodstone & Diamonds
I like the fusion of genres here, and the experimental/over-the-top orchestra. (I do think old MH fans probably hate it with passion.)
Enough stalling now, here is the proper top 10 list.
10. Sonata Arctica: Pariah's Child
Brought to you by the singer with the most noticable accent in Nordic metal... but it is actually amazing how much he progressed since the start of their careers. And, of course, a little accent is easy to be overlooked when one has such a good voice as Tony Kakko. This is a hugely enjoyable album from Sonata Arctica - one could definitely argue that not as hard-hitting as some previous releases, but certainly better than their last. In my personal opinion loads better - I found myself listening to this surprisingly lot. Also, well, power metal doesn't need to be that heavy.
8. Against Me!: Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Punk rock is my second passion in music, but I'm not nearly as well-versed in the genre as I am in symphonic metal and melodeath. I do keep a close eye on my favourite bands, and I was very excited for this album in particular. I still think punk rock should be about issues, things of importance - occasional self-reflection or those usual angsty songs are fine in certain doses, but there's need for records like this. Their signature high-energy, slightly old-school sound is there, coupled with some damn powerful lyrics.
7. Delain: The Human Contradiction
This is where my love and uncontested preference for anything symphonic comes out - this is more along the lines of symphonic rock - as is their big sister WT - but boy is this album catchy. The lyrics are also nice and not at all as escapist as my usual symphonic metal.
6. I Killed the Prom Queen: Beloved
This album was my latest obsession, it's everything I want in a metalcore record. (Goodbye, metal cred.) Now only next year's While She Sleeps record needs to be awesome and I'll never deny liking metalcore. Not like I do now, but I'll laugh in the face of those who say this kind of music doesn't have any right to have 'metal' in its name. Why do you care so much about a name? Yeah, it's damn catchy, and not at all complicated. I don't care.
Top three: Thirty One & Sevens, Kjærlighet, Nightmares
6. Mors Principum Est: The Dawn of the 5th Era
A strong, solid MPE release, which means awesome by definition - this band always delivers. Of course, my bias towards the genre might be in play here, but I do think that for once I can objectively say this is an amazing record. I don't think it tops ...and Death Said Live for me, but then again, that is one of my favourite melodeath records of all time.
5. Epica: The Quantum Enigma
We're definitely getting into 'I adore this adhgksdf' category. (Also, look at that album art!) Still trademark Epica, but a little less operatic, and there is a noticable progressive metal influence, so it comes on strong, a bit different than their usual sound. I think I might prefer this direction - the very classical-sounding pieces can be a little hit-and-miss for me.
4. Scar Symmetry: The Singularity (Phase I: Neohumanity)
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Oh boy, where do I start? It's impossible to verbalise the admiration I have for this album. It's incredibly ambitious, and it delivers (I need Phase II like tomorrow). Scar Symmetry's unusual blend of progressive and melodic death metal makes them unique, but also often forgotten (I'm talking about myself here), but this is definitely their best album since Holographic Universe. (Or more like the ones inbetween aren't worth mentioning.) And the lyrical themes... metal for science nerds, certainly. I can see though how it could be too over-the-top for some.
3. Rise Against: The Black Market
From here on out, it's definitely intense bias. Rise Against could do no wrong in my eyes, but the fact that this album is not first is because I am a teeniest tiny bit disappointed. I loved the lyrical direction of Appeal to Reason and Endgame (again, I have no time to spare for people who frequently employ the phrase 'sell-outs'), and it was a little strange at first to get a record with so many personal songs. However, Tim McIlrath is probably still my favourite lyricist, and of course I fell in love with an awful lot of songs from this album too. And some of those personal songs do hit home. Also, anti-war Rise Against songs are my Achilles heel.
2. Within Temptation: Hydra
I've been to a concert after the album came out, which definitely doubled the experience for me - that was where I really grew to love Covered by Roses, I remember that particular one being awesome live. This might just be my new favourite Within Temptation album after The Heart of Everything, which is saying I love this a lot. I knew I was going to - I mean, Paradise came out in 2013, so I had plenty of time to up my expectations. It isn't really metal, more like their unique combination of a slightly symphonic sound and some epic rock. A few ballads here, a most epic collaboration with Tarja Turunen there - this is a dream.
1. Insomnium: Shadows of the Dying Sun
Honestly, the first time I listened to this album, I new it was something special. After a week, I already had a hunch that nothing was going to beat this. Insomnium is the band I never knew I needed, until I got to know them. This might not be a second Above the Weeping World - it veers even farther from the traditional melodic death sound - here is a polished sound, doomy yet hopeful. Their music isn't very technical, it's not very complicated, (and the production is as bad as always) yet the atmosphere they manage to create is unreal. Every time I listen to this album (and I have done so several dozen times) I get an intense feeling of sweeping - I almost feel myself standing on the edge of a cliff, up there near the Northern Sea, waiting for the first rays of sunshine on a cool summer morning, while the waves crash deep down below and the wind carries the heat and blows my hair. Yeah, this music does that to you. Or imagine a mountaintop, far away from the rest of humanity, and the clearest, darkest night sky you have ever seen - when the stars shine brightest.
It was also fun to revisit my review of it, and realising how much my opinions have changed in those few months - now I'm more into the heavier songs on the album.
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