| 2014 |
| 1 |  | Epica
The Quantum Enigma
Fantastic album. It's just really solid all around and super fun to come back to, every single time. It's powerful and beautiful and just overall great time. Perfectly balanced symphonic metal album. One of the best albums of the year. |
| 2 |  | Sabaton
Heroes
Another great Sabaton album. I like this one especially, it really shows the band's strive for creativity within their niche. This album is not about war, its about heroes of war - and I think it's an important distinction to make. |
| 3 |  | Transatlantic
Kaleidoscope
Transatlantic's forte is and always will be to create magnificent, epic prog masterpieces. This one contains 2 and both of them are fantastic as expected.
Their weaker side has always been the shorter songs, which often sound rather boring and bland to me. Out of the three short songs in this album, two are definitely that, but the album does contain Black as the Sky which is an amazing short progressive experience in my opinion.
The overwhelming majority of this album is fantastic. |
| 4 |  | Monuments
The Amanuensis |
| 5 |  | Somali Yacht Club
The Sun |
| 6 |  | Slash
World On Fire
Slash has deservedly earned his 'guitar god' status, and his collaboration with Myles Kennedy is simply a match made in heaven. They both just complement each other so well and bring the absolute best out of each other, much Slash and Axl did back in the early 90's. This album is a fun ride and definitely an improvement from the last album - and while it's no masterpiece, it's just so good to hear two unbelievably talented musicians play together with such power and energy. |
| 7 |  | Intervals
AVW (Instrumental)
Not much to say about any of these album. Enjoyable, but not my style unfortunately. I prefer the Instrumental version of this one. |
| 8 |  | Foo Fighters
Sonic Highways
A typical Foo Fighters album - it's got a few great songs and the rest are filler. This album is much shorter than previous albums however, with only 8 songs - so the number of boring songs is relatively low. Still, can't say I dislike this album, it's just pretty 'meh' most of the time. |
| 9 |  | Avatar
Hail the Apocalypse
An interesting heavy metal album with lots of different influences. Overall pretty good album. |
| 10 |  | Unearth
Watchers of Rule
Great metalcore album. Pure aggression. |
| 11 |  | Flying Colors
Second Nature
There's a lot to love here, even though stylistically it's not 100% to my taste. The most notable song here in my opinion is the opening epic "Open Up Your Eyes", which is definitely the proggiest and most impressive of the bunch, sounding kinda like an outtake Transatlantic song more than anything. Overall good time. |
| 12 |  | Insomnium
Shadows of the Dying Sun
Fantastic album. There's not much new to say since there's not much new here in general - but the album is such a delight that I have no problem with that. Insomnium's ability to convey emotions through atmosphere is a sight to behold and their absolute mastery over their own unique style is unquestionable at this point. This album is a bit more divided, feeling more like a collection of short, bite-sized stand-alone experiences rather than a more grand musical journey, but the essence of Insomnium is still very much here, making this record one of the best this year has to offer. |
| 13 |  | Mastodon
Once More 'Round the Sun
Great fucking album, one of the year's best. It's a continuation of the more accessible, mainstream-ish style of the previous album, but this time the songs just work better in my opinion. It's not a masterpiece or anything, but it's a fantastic album aimed at wider audiences while still remaining 100% Mastodon. |
| 14 |  | Allen/Lande
The Great Divide
Pretty good heavy / power metal album, but sadly not a hugely memorable one. The absolute best part about it is the vocal performances of both Russell Allen and Jørn Lande, two of the greatest metal vocalists of all time (in my humble opinion). I only wish more songs (well, all songs) featured both of them instead of just focusing on one. Not much new to say here sadly. |
| 15 |  | Mors Principium Est
Dawn Of The 5th Era
Phenomenal death metal album. Almost everything works here. MPE makes it look like almost too easy sometimes. Loved this one. |
| 16 |  | Ghost Brigade
IV - One with the Storm
Superb album. An extremely emotional and impactful ride through the Finnish winter, this album is a fantastic, inspiring piece. |
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