| 2008 |
| Intestine Baalism Ultimate Instinct | 3.5 |
| Ikuinen Kaamos Closure | 4.0 |
| Hibria The Skull Collectors | 3.0 |
| Thrice Live At The House Of Blues | 3.0 |
| Opeth Burden | 3.0 |
| Aeon Of Horus The Embodiment of Darkness and Light | 2.5 |
| Crocell The God We Drowned | 2.5 |
| Shades of Dusk Quiescence | 3.0 |
| Severed Savior Servile Insurrection | 3.0 |
| Becoming The Archetype Dichotomy | 3.5 |
| Iron Thrones Visions of Light | 4.0 |
| Pantheist Journey Through Lands Unknown | 4.5 |
| Mudvayne The New Game | 1.5 |
| Deeds of Flesh Of What's to Come | 2.5 |
| Deadlock Manifesto | 3.0 |
| Light This City Stormchaser | 3.0 |
| As Eden Burns The Great Celestial Delusion | 3.0 |
| The Faceless Planetary Duality | 3.5 |
| Dir En Grey Uroboros | 3.5 |
| Hieronymus Bosch Equivoke | 3.5 |
| William Control Hate Culture | 1.0 |
| Chiodos Bone Palace Ballet - The Grand Coda | 1.5 |
| Beneath the Massacre Dystopia | 2.5 |
| Enslaved Vertebrae | 4.0 |
| Abigail Williams In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns | 4.0 |
| Burning The Masses Mind Control | 4.0 |
| Cynic Traced in Air | 5.0 |
Damn it all, this thing is just perfect. The flow, the musicianship, the songwriting, the vocals, the acoustic sections/breaks, the solos, the ambiance, the keys, the riffs, the base, the drums...you get the idea. It just all comes together in a nigh impenetrable 34 minute package of pure awesomeness that, because of its brevity, begs to be replayed over and over. And as you do, you pick up nuance and subtly after glorious nuance and subtly. Each track is unique and each is fabulous in its own way. Excruciatingly exciting riffs that boast ever so slight tuning changes quiver up and down a rolling wave of precise, catchy bass work, and a never ending barrage of liquid-like drum fills and intelligently employed, powerful double pedaling. The vocals flow perfectly and the mixture of the high-pitched vocoder cleans and the stark, powerful growls create an oxymoron, a unified contrast that will often pleasantly distract you from the furious instrumentation. Additionally, the lyricism is, from what I've been able to gather, of the highest order. I can't wait for a hard copy and a lyric's-laden, artful booklet.
There is a sound everywhere you listen, but it never comes off disorganized or purposeless. Everything is right where it should be. The snare and symbols fill in gaps while the bass keeps the tempo and the guitars and vocals whirl around it all; it's like watching a master painter brush out a tapestry before your eyes of the utmost precision, beauty and intent. The emotion found here (but most prominently in the wonderful soloing) is astounding and the fact that such emotion can be felt through an almost mechanically precise and well thought out method of songwriting is even more amazing. As if that weren't enough, frequent transitions from the soft to the heavy and back (some delectably jarring like in Integral Birth, others painstakingly smooth like in The Space for This and King of Those Who Know), a couple of slightly odd time-signatures (like in Adam's Murmur) and strange but enticing stop-starts and almost tribal-like beats (with a modern feel, like in The Unknown Guest and Evolutionary Sleeper) round out the sound of the album that, to me, covers virtually every sonic aspect my ears crave from the kind of music I listen to.
I liked Focus very much, but wondered what all the fuss was about. Then I thought about how it was released in 1993 and was simply far ahead of it's time in many ways. I wondered if Cynic would be able to duplicate that kind of effect in 2008 when so much has already been done. Well they didn't duplicate it. They improved upon it, and created an album whose impact is, at least to me, greater than that of Focus, and indeed is one of the all around best metal albums I've ever had the pleasure of listening to about 30 times in less than a week. The entire album is a highlight really, but if I had to narrow it down, The Space for This, Integral Birth, Adam's Murmur, and King of Those Who Know are supremely spectacular. Also, the album's opener and closer are two of the most beautiful songs I've heard and are much like succinct summaries of the sound and feel that Cynic has poured their hearts and souls into producing. Can I give this more than a 5? No? Shucks. Get this now. |
| Guillotine (SWE) Blood Money | 3.5 |
| Catamenia VIII - The Time Unchained | 2.0 |
| Flowing Tears Thy Kingdom Gone | 3.0 |
| Skepticism Alloy | 3.5 |
| Zonaria The Cancer Empire | 3.0 |
| See You Next Tuesday Intervals | 2.0 |
| Unearth The March | 4.0 |
| Hellveto Neoheresy | 3.5 |
| Gojira The Way of All Flesh | 4.0 |
| Janvs Vega | 4.5 |
| Bloodbath The Fathomless Mastery | 4.0 |
| Serpentcult Weight of Light | 4.0 |
| Lunarsea Route Code Selector | 4.5 |
| Brutal, technical, yet somehow silky smooth, this is one of the best melodic death albums I've ever heard. Everything here it tight (the drumming in particular is some of the best in the genre) but what really stands out is the songwriting. The flow and progression of each song is intelligent (and, dare I say, "fun", especially with some of the awesome soloing) without being pretentious, cheesy, or overwrought. Each transition feels natural and meaningful and as such, every song ends up interesting and enormously replayable and this is what really makes the album so good. Nothing is ever boring or repetitive; there is a similar feel to all the songs, and the sonic elements remain pretty much the same, but this only serves to strengthen the effect of the dynamic (and decidedly ardent) musicianship. This is an album you can play any track from randomly, or spin beginning to end and always come out satisfied, and though it may not be particularly innovative or hugely original (though it is somewhat both) it is so consistently good that though the term "flawless" is too strong, you would be hard pressed to highlight a weak spot. If you're looking for melo-death and haven been disappointed by the samy-ness of the genre as of late, this will put a big fat metal-tastic smile on your face. |
| Deathchain Death Eternal | 2.0 |
| Marionette Spite | 2.0 |
| In This Moment The Dream | 2.5 |
| Jeff Loomis Zero Order Phase | 3.5 |
| Amon Amarth Twilight of the Thunder God | 3.5 |
| Bring Me the Horizon Suicide Season | 2.5 |
| The Drowning This Bleak Descent | 3.0 |
| Oceans of Sadness The Arrogance Of Ignorance | 4.0 |
| Funeral As The Light Does The Shadow | 2.5 |
| Evergrey Torn | 2.5 |
| Omnium Gatherum The Redshift | 3.5 |
| Lantlos Lantlos | 4.5 |
| Sonic Syndicate Love and Other Disasters | 2.5 |
| This or the Apocalypse Monuments | 3.0 |
| Intronaut Prehistoricisms | 3.5 |
| All That Remains Overcome | 3.5 |
| Burst Lazarus Bird | 4.5 |
An absolute work of art, Burst slowly layers instruments, rhythmic patterns, various sounds and tones, pitches and melodies, not so much in each song as they do over the course of the album. Each song seems to build on the one before it (much as Tyler's review states) and everything seems exactly where it needs to be and sounds exactly how it needs to sound.
From the helter-skelter opening track to the powerful and focused closer (the last 3 minutes will leave you breathless, just not how you think), Burst never gives you a chance to avert your attention while never overwhelming you. It may take quite a few listens to really "get" this album, but once it all sinks in, you'll start to remember almost every moment from it, and realize how inspirationally fantastic everything is, from the instrumentation, to the ambiance, the songwriting (flow and progression of the songs and the album as a whole), even the vocals will grow on you if you let them, and end up sounding perfect for the odd yet intelligent and altogether moving breaks from soft to heavy and back again.
This will take you on a journey that, I can say with confidence, will feel new and vigorous every time you take it. Few albums I've heard put forth as much effort, emotion, precision, thoughtful progression of sound, and overall quality. A masterpiece. |
| Iskald Revelations Of Reckoning Day | 3.0 |
| Metallica Death Magnetic | 2.5 |
| All Shall Perish Awaken the Dreamers | 3.0 |
| Into Eternity The Incurable Tragedy | 3.0 |
| Underoath Lost in the Sound of Separation | 4.0 |
| Haggard Tales of Ithiria | 3.0 |
| DragonForce Ultra Beatdown | 2.0 |
| Motorhead Motorizer | 3.5 |
| Dark Empire Humanity Dethroned | 4.0 |
| Slipknot All Hope Is Gone | 3.5 |
| The Human Abstract Midheaven | 2.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem The '59 Sound | 3.5 |
| Trapt Only Through the Pain | 1.5 |
| Scars on Broadway Scars on Broadway | 2.0 |
| Krallice Krallice | 3.0 |
| Arkona (RUS) Ot Serdtsa K Nebu | 3.5 |
| Exmortus In Hatred's Flame | 3.5 |
| Withered Folie Circulaire | 3.5 |
| After the Burial Rareform | 3.0 |
| War of Ages Arise and Conquer | 3.5 |
| Sounds just like Five Finger Death Punch. Only good. Nice melodies, cool vocals, sweet solos. Nothing spectacular, but solid all around. |
| Misery Signals Controller | 4.0 |
| Falls of Rauros Hail Wind and Hewn Oak | 5.0 |
| Whitechapel This Is Exile | 2.5 |
| Bilocate Sudden Death Syndrome | 4.0 |
| Equilibrium Sagas | 4.5 |
| This album is basically perfect. Track for track, minute for minute, Equilibrium showers you with blazing riffage, exciting drumming, solid bass work, killer vocals, and as if that weren't enough, slap a gigantic helping of folk-influenced/themed orchestral sections that alternate between featuring in and blending with the instrumentation, and inspiring choruses/keys that lift the band's sound to a level attainable by few musicians. The first 7 tracks will be the most epic thing you've ever heard, and then the last 6 (the 16 minute instrumental closer being the crown jewel of this masterpiece) will blow that away. I've said enough. Get this. Like right the hell now. |
| Cryptopsy The Unspoken King | 1.5 |
| Made Out of Babies The Ruiner | 4.0 |
| Daylight Dies Lost to the Living | 4.5 |
| Scar Symmetry Holographic Universe | 3.5 |
| Katy Perry One of the Boys | 1.0 |
| Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends | 1.5 |
| Arkan Hilal | 3.0 |
| Nachtmystium Assassins: Black Meddle Pt.1 | 1.5 |
| Unleashed Hammer Battalion | 3.0 |
| Disturbed Indestructible | 3.5 |
| Opeth Watershed | 4.5 |
| Darkspace Dark Space III | 4.0 |
| Pyramaze Immortal | 4.0 |
| Communic Payment of Existance | 4.5 |
| Following in the bright footsteps of their previous material, Communic stays on target and on point, releasing another amazing album. At first it sounds very similar, almost a clone of Waves of Visual Decay, but with repeated listens, you will (most likely) find that the majority of the tracks here change up a lot more than on their previous offerings and strike an effective balance between slower and faster passages, lighter and heavier ones. They don't linger on a particular pattern for any length of time (except in a couple of instances) but still retain a core sound on a track-by-track basis, and over the course of the album. Simplicity is still the key here, and they manage to make even more small changes, fine tunings, and employ ambient effects (there's some sweet keyboard work here that sits complacently in the background) to a much greater effect. Whereas before they sounded like add-ons, here the blend seamlessly with the rest of the instrumentation. All this adds up to an album even more lively and exciting than Waves. And possibly even better. Those bored or unimpressed by the band's previous material will find nothing to sway them here but for fans of Communic, this is just what the gods ordered. |
| Ihsahn angL | 3.5 |
| Moonspell Night Eternal | 3.5 |
| Esoteric The Maniacal Vale | 4.0 |
| Gorath Misotheism | 4.0 |
| Emmure The Respect Issue | 1.5 |
| Abysmal Dawn Programmed to Consume | 2.0 |
| Coldworker Rotting Paradise | 3.5 |
| Mourning Beloveth A Disease for the Ages | 4.0 |
| Kiuas The New Dark Age | 2.0 |
| Textures Silhouettes | 3.0 |
| ASVA What You Don't Know Is Frontier | 4.0 |
| Moss Sub Templum | 3.0 |
| Remembrance Silencing The Moments | 3.5 |
| Revocation Empire of the Obscene | 3.5 |
| Sombres Forets Royaume De Glace | 4.0 |
| Nyktalgia Peisithanatos | 4.0 |
| Darkflight Perfectly Calm | 5.0 |
| Moonsorrow Tulimyrsky | 4.0 |
| Another 30 minute song!? Whoo yeah, bring it on! Not quite up to par with the material on V: Havitetty, but it's extremely wonderful to see that Moonsorrow still has a few of these uber-epic, multi-dimensional giganto-tracks in them, and Tulimyrsky (the song) is indeed epic. It goes through a huge amount of changes/transitions and incorporates dozens of sound elements that build, break, and re-build the song, keeping you interested and engaged throughout. The covers and re-records are all extremely well done and though I've never heard the original Merciless song (Back to North), Moonsorrow's performance there is nearly as good at the title track. Great stuff all around, can't wait for their next full length album. |
| Distorted Voices From Within | 2.5 |
| Kalmah For the Revolution | 2.5 |
| Mar De Grises Draining The Waterheart | 3.5 |
| Helheim Kaoskult | 4.0 |
| Children of Bodom Blooddrunk | 2.0 |
| Arsis We Are the Nightmare | 3.0 |
| Mirrorthrone Gangrene | 4.0 |
| Mournful Gust The Frankness Eve | 4.0 |
| Veil of Maya The Common Man's Collapse | 2.0 |
| Septicflesh Communion | 3.0 |
| The Sword Gods of the Earth | 4.0 |
A step up from Age of Winters, the vocals are still boring and uninspired (though slightly improved), but the riffs are tighter, more dynamic, and the overall feel of the album is more confident and energetic. The production is still off, but it kind of works for these guys, and it matters less on this album as the instrumentation has notably improved. The drumming takes a back seat (once again) but there's enough cool fills and simple but solid patterns to keep you bouncing without distracting you from the great guitar playing. The final two tracks are the best material The Sword has written.
All things considered, some will find this mind-numbingly dull, others will marvel at the gritty, heavy, ass-kicking riffing. Personally I find it enormously refreshing to hear this kind of "old school" metal done so well in 2008. |
| Origin Antithesis | 4.0 |
| Vespers Descent Reality Dysfunction | 3.0 |
| Leviathan Massive Conspiracy Against All Life | 4.0 |
| This albums sounds to me like what it would be like to very slowly go insane, to be aware of the transformation, and unable to stop it. With a black metal heart and some truly creeped out ambiance intelligently distributed across the album, the (long) running time will hardly be noticeable. This really pulls you in to the point where even though there's some very complex instrumentation going on (the bass is deceptively present and maliciously effective) you don't need to listen that carefully for this to give you the full impact of it's sound, and the feeling of a desperate downward spiral that it conveys so well. There's a lot more to say about this blackened art set piece, but I fear I've not the words, nor the musical knowledge. |
| Coldworld Melancholie² | 4.5 |
| Korpiklaani Korven Kuningas | 3.5 |
| Unearthly Trance Electrocution | 3.0 |
| KYPCK Черно (Black) | 5.0 |
| Meshuggah obZen | 4.0 |
| Bloodbath Unblessing the Purity | 3.5 |
| Oceana The Tide | 2.5 |
| Draconian Turning Season Within | 4.0 |
| Arghoslent Hornets of the Pogrom | 3.0 |
| Ereb Altor By Honour | 4.0 |
| Transcending Bizarre? The Serpent's Manifolds | 4.0 |
| Biomechanical Cannibalised | 2.0 |
| Death Angel Killing Season | 2.0 |
| Degradead Til Death Do Us Part | 2.0 |
| Darkest Era The Journey Through Damnation | 4.0 |
| Nortt Galgenfrist | 4.0 |
| To-Mera Delusions | 2.0 |
| Eluveitie Slania | 4.5 |
| Machinae Supremacy Overworld | 3.5 |
| Averse Sefira Advent Parallax | 2.5 |
| Forefather Steadfast | 4.0 |
| Misery Speaks Catalogue Of Carnage | 4.0 |
| Warbringer War Without End | 2.0 |
| Heaven Shall Burn Iconoclast (Part 1: The Final Resistance) | 2.5 |
| Winds of Plague Decimate the Weak | 2.5 |
| Martriden The Unsettling Dark | 3.5 |
| Eternal Deformity Frozen Circus | 4.0 |
| Benea Reach Alleviat | 3.5 |
| The Monolith Deathcult Trivmvirate | 2.5 |
| Sworn Enemy Maniacal | 3.5 |
| Dead Congregation Graves of the Archangels | 3.0 |
| Bullet for My Valentine Scream Aim Fire | 2.0 |
| Ayreon 01011001 | 3.0 |
| Protest the Hero Fortress | 3.0 |
| Alestorm Captain Morgan's Revenge | 4.0 |
| Decrepit Birth Diminishing Between Worlds | 4.0 |
| Isole Bliss of Solitude | 4.0 |
| With Blood Comes Cleansing Horror | 2.0 |
| Artefact Ruins | 4.0 |
| In Mourning Shrouded Divine | 4.0 |
| Iced Earth The Crucible of Man | 1.5 |
| Dreaming In Oceans | 1.5 |
| Gates of Winter Lux Aeterna | 3.0 |
| Weeping Birth Anosognosic Industry of the I | 3.5 |
| Carach Angren Lammendam | 3.5 |
| Cry For Silence The Glorious Dead | 4.0 |
| Cor Scorpii Monument | 4.0 |
| Phalanx (AUS) Psychosis | 4.0 |
| Elite We Own the Mountains | 4.0 |
| Oathean Regarding All The Sadness Of The World | 4.0 |
| Melencolia Estatica Letum | 4.0 |
| The Arcane Order In The Wake of Collisions | 4.5 |
| Aurora Black And The Skies Dream Infinite Sorrow | 4.5 |
| 2007 |
| Arsis As Regret Becomes Guilt | 2.5 |
| Belenos Chemins de Souffrance | 4.0 |
| Primordial To the Nameless Dead | 3.0 |
| Waking The Cadaver Perverse Recollections Of A Necromangler | 1.5 |
| Evoken A Caress of the Void | 4.5 |
| Nonpoint Vengeance | 1.5 |
| Novembre The Blue | 3.0 |
| Opeth The Roundhouse Tapes | 3.5 |
| Wall Of Sleep (HUN) ...And Hell Followed With Him | 2.5 |
| Powerglove Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man | 3.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold | 1.5 |
| Otep The_Ascension | 3.5 |
| Anaal Nathrakh Hell Is Empty and All the Devils Are Her | 4.0 |
| Oh, Sleeper When I Am God | 2.5 |
| Worship Dooom | 4.0 |
| Fen Ancient Sorrow | 3.5 |
| Matchbox Twenty Exile on Mainstream | 2.0 |
| Born of Osiris The New Reign | 2.0 |
| Ulver Shadows of the Sun | 3.0 |
| Animosity Animal | 4.0 |
| Skeletonwitch Beyond the Permafrost | 4.0 |
Thrash at its best. Honestly. Some songs drag a bit (Cast into the Open Sea, Remains of the Dead), others blister forth with an enthusiasm and intensity that I've rarely seen in any band (The first four tracks, Soul Thrasing Black Sorcery) and the closer (Within My Blood) is very possibly the best thrash song I've ever heard (yeah, including Metallica and Slayer, I said it  . Though some might say that their style is very derived, I feel there is a certain flair and a unique power to their constant change-ups, and the choppy chuggs at a 180mph, something that captures the essence of thrash established by previous bands without actually stealing it. This is a powerful, fun, technically proficient, musically exciting and generally original offering amidst a sea of wankers and copycats. |
| Paths Of Possession The End of the Hour | 3.0 |
| Frostmoon Eclipse Another Face Of Hell | 3.0 |
| Nightwish Dark Passion Play | 3.0 |
| Disavowed Stagnated Existence | 2.0 |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Two Hunters | 4.0 |
| Dethklok The Dethalbum | 4.0 |
| Arch Enemy Rise of the Tyrant | 2.5 |
| Metro Station Metro Station | 1.5 |
| Suicide Silence The Cleansing | 2.5 |
| Between the Buried and Me Colors | 3.0 |
| The Black Dahlia Murder Nocturnal | 3.0 |
| Blotted Science The Machinations of Dementia | 3.0 |
| High on Fire Death Is This Communion | 3.5 |
| Ghost Brigade Guided By Fire | 3.5 |
| Baroness Red Album | 3.5 |
| Chiodos Bone Palace Ballet | 1.5 |
| Impending Doom Nailed. Dead. Risen. | 2.0 |
| Wyrd Kammen | 4.0 |
| Amorphis Silent Waters | 4.0 |
| Atreyu Lead Sails Paper Anchor | 2.0 |
| Epica The Divine Conspiracy | 3.5 |
| Le Grand Guignol The Great Maddening | 4.0 |
| As I Lay Dying An Ocean Between Us | 3.5 |
| Malefice Entities | 2.5 |
| Reverend Bizarre III: So Long Suckers | 2.0 |
| De Lirium's Order Diagnosis | 4.5 |
| The Absence Riders of the Plague | 3.5 |
| Alcest Souvenirs D'Un Autre Monde | 3.5 |
| Five Finger Death Punch The Way Of The Fist | 2.5 |
| Korn Untitled | 3.0 |
| Abandon All Hope Where Life And Death Meet | 2.5 |
| Nile Ithyphallic | 2.0 |
| Turisas The Varangian Way | 3.0 |
| Deathspell Omega Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum | 2.5 |
| Uaral Lamentos A Poema Muerto | 3.0 |
| Darkest Hour Deliver Us | 3.5 |
| Interpol Our Love to Admire | 3.5 |
| Hacksaw to the Throat Wastelands | 4.5 |
| Behemoth The Apostasy | 3.0 |
| Drowning Pool Full Circle | 2.5 |
| Before the Rain One Day Less | 4.0 |
| 3 Inches of Blood Fire Up The Blades | 2.5 |
| Symphony X Paradise Lost | 5.0 |
| Architects Ruin | 4.0 |
| Profane The Day We Scorched The Sky | 5.0 |
| Deathchain Cult of Death | 1.5 |
| August Burns Red Messengers | 3.0 |
| Devil Sold His Soul A Fragile Hope | 3.0 |
| Anterior This Age of Silence | 3.5 |
| Dream Theater Systematic Chaos | 2.0 |
| Raintime Flies and Lies | 4.0 |
| Deadlock Wolves | 3.5 |
| Neurosis Given to the Rising | 3.5 |
| This is a sick album. Sonorous and dark, infused with crazy ambiance and rounded out by some awesome stretches of straight smooth jamming (like in Fear and Sickness, Hidden Faces, and Water is Not Enough, amongst others). I've heard albums that plod, but this is different; this shambles along with a sinister, heavy drag, an evil smirk, and a crooked claw that reaches out and grabs you up at a moment's notice, and you can't help but enjoy the ride. I was expecting not to like this very much (2.5). One straight, thorough listen and I knew it was something to pay attention to. |
| Job For A Cowboy Genesis | 2.0 |
| Paradise Lost In Requiem | 3.0 |
| Megadeth United Abominations | 3.5 |
| Linkin Park Minutes to Midnight | 1.5 |
| Sol (DK) Let There Be A Massacre | 4.0 |
| Detonation Emission Phase | 3.5 |
| Thurisaz Circadian Rhythm | 4.5 |
| Odious Mortem Cryptic Implosion | 3.0 |
| Odious Mirror of Vibrations | 4.0 |
| Be'lakor The Frail Tide | 4.5 |
| Ensiferum Victory Songs | 4.0 |
| Svedhous Despair Poetry | 1.5 |
| Six Feet Under Commandment | 2.0 |
| Dark Tranquillity Fiction | 4.5 |
| Moonsorrow Viides luku - Hävitetty | 5.0 |
| To many this may seem an exercise in excess, a chore to listen to, and a waste of time to get into to. That's them. For me, this is the pinnacle of sound, the peak of instrumental performance, the epitome of elemental fusion, the album to end all albums. Never in my life have I heard a collection of music during which I was completely and gleefully engaged every single second I was listening. There was always a boring section, a weak track, an oddball waste-of-space filler, ect. Not here. Moonsorrow has managed to change the way I perceive, no, not metal, but music itself, what it truly means to me, and what it can truly be: all-encompassing, emotionally stirring, mentally entrancing, and, ultimately, moving, in every possible way one can be moved. Everything I listen to from now on will be judged against this standard. This may not tell you whether or not you will like this. But I hope I have told you why I think this is the greatest music I've ever heard. |
| Porcupine Tree Fear of a Blank Planet | 3.5 |
| Hellyeah Hellyeah | 1.5 |
| Wolfchant A Pagan Storm | 4.0 |
| Monstrosity Spiritual Apocalypse | 3.0 |
| Shadows Fall Threads of Life | 2.0 |
| Static-X Cannibal | 2.5 |
| Chevelle Vena Sera | 2.5 |
| Kronos The Hellenic Terror | 4.0 |
| Oceans of Sadness Mirror Palace | 4.0 |
| In Vain (NO) The Latter Rain | 4.0 |
| Good Charlotte Good Morning Revival | 1.0 |
| Mors Principium Est Liberation = Termination | 3.0 |
| Machine Head The Blackening | 3.0 |
| Mael Mordha Gealtacht Mael Mórdha | 3.5 |
| Illnath Second Skin of Harlequin | 4.0 |
| Sevendust Alpha | 2.0 |
| Chimaira Resurrection | 2.0 |
| Emmure Goodbye To The Gallows | 2.5 |
| Striborg Nefaria/A Tragic Journey Towards... | 1.0 |
| Hanging Garden Inherit the Eden | 4.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails Beside You in Time | 2.5 |
| Red Harvest A Greater Darkness | 2.5 |
| Novembers Doom The Novella Reservoir | 3.5 |
| Swallow the Sun Hope | 3.5 |
| Rotting Christ Theogonia | 5.0 |
| Brain Drill Apocalyptic Feasting | 2.0 |
| Atreyu The Best of Atreyu | 1.0 |
| Coldworker The Contaminated Void | 2.5 |
| Mourning Dawn Mourning Dawn | 3.5 |
| Lunar Aurora Andacht | 4.0 |
| Malodorous Amarathine Redolence | 1.5 |
| Iced Earth Framing Armageddon | 2.0 |
| Hell Within Shadows of Vanity | 2.0 |
| Blood Red Throne Come Death | 2.5 |
| Godsmack Good Times...Bad Times | 2.5 |
| Manegarm Vargstenen | 3.0 |
| Officium Triste Giving Yourself Away | 3.0 |
| The Arcane Order The Machinery of Oblivion | 3.5 |
| Neaera Armamentarium | 4.0 |
| Ne Obliviscaris The Aurora Veil | 4.0 |
| Undivine A Deceitful Calm | 4.0 |
| Nahemah The Second Philosophy | 4.5 |
| Walknut Graveforests and Their Shadows | 4.5 |
