Best of 2009: TST Top 25 Metal Albums of 2009

# 25 Five Finger Death Punch – War is the Answer

Great, heavy groove riffs and Ivan Moody’s vocals switch effortlessly between melodic songs and angry heavy growls.

# 24 Static – X   The Cult of Static

Static-X lost me after Wisconsin Death Trip but has found my ear again with Cannibal and now the Cult of Static. Stingray crushes!

# 23 ISIS -  Wavering Radiant

Wavering Radiant is slices of dense ambiance and unique timbre that ebb and flow though nlimatic shifts of distorted heaviness and melodic grace.

# 22 Municipal Waste – Massive Aggressive

Municipal Waste is carrying the torch for  party/crossover thrash, Massive Aggressive will make any D.R.I ,Suicidal Tendencies or Nuclear Assault fans happy with their catchy and addictive breakneck pace thrash anthems.

# 21 Divine Hersey – Bringer of Plagues

Bringer of Plagues is an intense sonic punch to the head. Tim Yeung is a madman with his rapid fire double bass bombastic kicks and Dino’s savage crushing riffs dictates most of the songs on this precision driven beast.

# 20 Kreator – Hordes of Chaos

Mille Petrozza takes out his flag of hate to lead the charge on Kreator’s “Hordes of Chaos”. HOC was recorded in a live setting on a 4-track analog tape recorder, with no overdubs, leading to a revived raw feel that reminds fans of the old Flag of Hate days.

The Title track is a burner that will have you screaming out the chorus “Hordes of Chaos, everyone against everyone, chaos”

# 19 Shadows Fall -  Retribution

After their major label debut didn’t work out, Shadows Fall deliver Retribution to the fans. Donais and Bechand re-introduce their famous speed grove riffs and incendiary solos to match Jason Bittner menacing blast on drums, as Brain flair delivers his layered vocals and barking gruff growls.

Retribution revisits the sound that that made this band great. Just listen to Dead and Gone.

# 18 Between The Buried and Me – The Great Misdirect

The great Misdirect is a creative mix of genres with technical mastery infused with layered structures of passion, virtuosity and sudden fits of aggression.

The riffs are fabricated with interludes of jazz infused ditties to progressive bouts of brutality as the sound changes from chaotic dissonant to diatonic layering. Throw out the genre book as if Zappa plays deathcore.

# 17 Megadeth – EndGame

Endgame is the first album with Megadeth new guitarist Chris Broderick and his blistering solos take me back to the Marty Friedman days on Rust in Peace. Glenn Drover was a good guitarist, but to me it seems to lack the fire and passion of Chris or Marty. Just listen to furious riffs on Headcrusher or the back and forth harmonized solo on 1320.

#16 Lamb of God – Wrath

The catchy vocals and growls of Randy Blithe, brutal grooves of Mark Morton and Willie Adler and the bone-crushing drumming of Chris Adler set the stage for Wrath which is  a  relentless onslaught of pure unadulterated American metal.

#15 Maylene and the Sons of Disaster – III

III is a deep fried, shit kicking southern Metal album that shakes the foundation of the genre by tossing out the ‘core’. Just listen to Dallas Taylor and Marlene’s triple ax attack on ‘Just a Shock’, it is an infectious, barn burning, whiskey drenched rock and roll song that will make you instant fan.

# 14 Dream Theater – Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Dream Theater release another instant classic with Black Cloud and Silver Lining, the song “A Rite of Passage” will be a staple in the DT line up for years to come showcasing guitarist John Petrucci virtuositic shredding.

# 13 SkeletonWitch – Breathing The Fire

Skeletonwitch released another Thrash beast with Breathing the Fire. Nate and Scott’s blistering shreds wrap around Chance Garnette death growls with precession. Skeletonwitch is one of the bands leading the American Thrash revival.

# 12 Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know

The Devil You Know is a great heavy doom album from the masters . Dio is still one of the best vocalist in the world and Tony Iommi is the grand master of melodic heavy riff.

# 11 Revocation – Existence is Futile

Revocation’s Thrash / Tech death/Deathcore explosion of whirlwind riffs and chaotic rhythm changes evoke the spirits of bands like Death and Atheist. The songs “Dismantle the Dictator” and “Anthem of the Betrayed” see guitarist Dave Davidson unleashed a barrage of intricate fret wizardry and blistering ambitious solos. The rhythm team of bassist Anthony Buda and drummer Philip Dubois, gallop through dynamic tempo changes and hook-laden grooves that swirled around Davidson incendiary rapid paced riffs.

# 10 Kylesa – Static Tensions

Static Tensions is great mix of sludged out, downed tuned psychedelic rock riffs woven together with a thick double drum sound and a trippy doom groove. Listen to furious pounding dirges and aesthetic undertones on “Running Red”.

# 9 Evile – Infected Nations

Evile is back with their second helping of thrash. Infected Nation pulls comparisons to Justice Era Metallica with Matt Drake seaming to conjure the spirit of a young James Hetfield. Infected Nation is full of hallowing, chugging, aggression, headbanging monstrosities. A must for any thrash fan (R.I.P. bassist Mike Alexander).

# 8 Daath – The Concealers

The Concealers contain crushing groove-laden thrash riffs with angry raw bellowing screams that will drive the demons out of you. Just listen to ‘Sharpen the Blades’; it brings images of The Late Dime playing with Lamb of God! Killer!Eyal Levi and Emil Werstler shread!

# 7 Zoroaster – Voice of Saturn

Voice of Saturn is a monolithic, down tempo, southern-fried piece of sludge that is filled with oozing avant-garde melodies that takes doom metal, art metal, psychedelic rock, stoner metal, and sludge and weaves it into a crushing, gargantuan, twisted beast. Will Fiore (guitar and vocals), Brent Anderson (bass and vocals) and Dan Scanlan (drums) extract a nasty, droning, psychotropic, tribal tempo that rattles the meat off your ribs.

# 6 Warbringer – Waking into Nightmares

Waking into Nightmares is a thrash gem produced by Gary Holt of Exodus that features relentless galloping bay area thrash that has their fans salivating to jump in the pit with their primal fury, reminding old school thrasher of the hey day of early Exodus, Slayer and Testament. Warbringer is another leader in the new wave of American thrash.

# 5 Devil Driver – Pray for Villians

Pray for Villains is a master piece of groove laden metal. Dez and company masterfully split atoms with their rhythm attacks by John Boecklin’s demonic double bass drumming, setting the table for Jeff Kendrick and Mike Spreitzer masterful precision shreds. Spreitzer and Kendrick riffs on ‘Back with a Vengeance’ has one the best thrash grooves that I have heard in along time. In the title track ‘Pray for Villain’  Boecklin shows his speed skill on the double bass, but slows down in between supersonic double beats and hits a great groove for the chorus while guitarists Spreitzer and Kendrick start with a great melodic groove then explode into a great galloping beat, a straight up thrasher.

These guys should be mention as one of the best duos on the thrash scene with their great shreds and monstrous groove riffs.

# 4 Slayer – World Painted Blood

With the new thrash revival going on, Slayer stepped up and let world know how an assault to the ears is supposed to be done. Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman have conjured old demon from their past to set the world ablaze with their fiery solos and rapid fire runs.

Lombardo is still the best single drummer in metal and is driving force behind Slayer. Tom Araya sounds like he is pissed off again and that is a good thing. The opening title track ,”World Paint Blood” , plays like a battle cry  with the classic slayer brutal thrash groove that breaks down in the middle with Tom Araya whispering angry spoken words like the end of “Mandatory Suicide” then speeds back up to a galloping  pace to end with a sudden stop.

# 3 Lazarus A.D. – The Onslaught

Lazarus A.D. blew me away opening for Testament.The Onslaught is a high speed demon that shreds.  Songs like “Rebirth” and “Forged in Blood” bring memories of early Exodus, Testament and the groove of Death Angel. Lazarus A.D. is leading the way of the new wave of thrash along with Warbringer, Evile,Skeletonwitch and Municipal Waste. This is one of the best, so far, of the thrash metal revival with blazingly high speed riffs and heavy doses of groove.

# 2 Baroness – The Blue Record

The Blue Album is a masterpiece of beautifully layered Savannah sludge that breaks the mode. Just listen to “Steel that Sleeps the Eye” and “Swollen and Halo”. Gothic harmonized vocals lay on top of acoustic guitars that fray into textured and layers strains of whispering daydream induce riffs And raw vocals and cascading rhythms slowly build into a spiraling, aggressive, psychedelic, progressive jam.

This album was a close contender for the #1 spot.

#1 Mastodon – Crack the Skye

The opening of the grand ominous riffs of “Oblivion” is like the calling of Moses to part the red sea. Mastodon sets the world ablaze with Crack the Skye. From “Oblivion” to “The Last Baron”, Crack the Skye is a visionary conceptual ride through emotional progressive layers that cycle through the cohesive fluidity between Brent and Bill playing and is held together by Troy’s bass.

The Last Baron showcases Brann’s incredible drumming as Brent and Bill chase each other with rapid pace riffs as chaotic time-changing tempos explode into a galloping riff and climaxes into the bands screams of “We can set this world ablaze”.

Not only has  Mastodon ‘Set The World a Blaze’ , they have made the Album of the Decade. I predict that 30 years from now people will say 2009 was when Mastodon released their classic album Crack the Skye, the album that changed metal.

S.E.

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