Another great year of music has gone by and 2019 saw a mix of the old returning and the new bringing fresh blood to the metal genres. Here then is our top picks for the year.
TOP 10 METAL ALBUMS OF 2019
10. Wednesday 13 – Necrophaze
After the brilliant “Condolences” in 2017, spook horror band Wednesday 13 return with another slab of Halloween infested rock that even more so than ever, further combines the horror film aspect with the heavy groove rock that has become their signature.
Read the review here | Interview with Wednesday 13
9. Overkill – Wings Of War
39 years into this and New Jersey thrash veterans Overkill are not sounding like they even want to slow down if their latest album “The Wings Of War” is anything to go by. Album number 19 sounds as heavy and fresh as any metal record out there which either says a lot about the younger bands or it simply means Overkill simply know how to get the job done.
8. Sludgehammer – Antechamber
Sludgehammer may not be a name familiar to most out there and admittedly, not a name that will stick in too many brains for the most part but these guys are a force to be reckoned with. Their new album “Antechamber” was released just recently and to our own fault, we missed the release deadline to give this album a proper listen but it was worth the wait.
7. Eye Of The Enemy – Titan
As we come to the end of the year, we tend to go back and pick up the last of what we may have missed along the way which is common when you literally receive hundreds of albums every week. Somehow Melbourne’s Eye Of The Enemy flew under the radar back in October and boy did we miss the boat on this one! But here we are now just a few weeks shy of the new decade and this had to be included in our top metal releases of the year.
6. Hatriot – From Days Unto Darkness
Hatriot are back with a new album featuring grim, nefarious lyrics with subjects including the end of the world, conspiracy theories, horror icons, and a new world order. That sentence summarises “From Days Unto Darkness” just right and introduced to us the announcement of the brand new release from Bay Area thrash act Hatriot. Once featuring Exodus mainman Steve “Zetro” Souza and now with his sons both in the band taking over the reigns, the band have really taken things up a few notches to prove that this isn’t just a one time fling.
5. Suicidal Angels – Years Of Aggression
Three years have passed since the Suicidal Angels swept across the Metal landscape with their latest Thrash hurricane. “Division Of Blood” left nothing but bone splinters and stormed uncompromisingly into the top 100 of the German album charts, just like its predecessors did. For two years, the Greek demolition command has been merciful and only ripped its concert visitors into a roaring inferno. But in 2019, the time has come for the work on the seventh studio album to take shape.
Read the review here | Interview with Nick Melissourgos
4. Nile – Vile Nilotic Rites
Our favorite tech metal giants are back with a new album and it is gloriously good in every way possible. Nile seem to have outdone themselves with “Vile Nilotic Rites“, it’s a return to form for lack of a better description especially if you consider those early albums their best songs.
Read the review here | Interview with George Kollias
3. Exhorder – Mourn The Southern Skies
The south has produced some fantastic and legendary metal bands over the years but when it comes to thrash metal, many sometimes overlook one of the most underrated bands to come out of the Louisiana scene – Exhorder. Not only are they hugely influential, inspiring the modern day groove metal as we know it but they were clearly a few years ahead of their day which may have ultimately pushed the band into an extended hiatus. The band finally return almost 3 decades later with some of their best work to date – “Mourn The Southern Skies”.
2. Toxic Holocaust – Primal Future: 2019
Finally in 2019 we get another record from punk thrashers Toxic Holocaust and only fitting is the title “Primal Future: 2019”. It’s been 6 long years since “Chemistry Of Consciousness” was released and this time the mastermind behind the band, Joel Grind takes on all aspects of the music and drives Toxic Holocaust into a technological dystopian future while also taking a look back at not only 20 years of the band but tipping the proverbial thrash hat to that 80’s sound that we know and love.
Read the review here | Interview with Joel Grind
1. Possessed – Revelations Of Oblivion
Three decades have gone by since original material has been heard from the pioneers of death metal, Possessed. That’s a long time in anyone’s book but there’s an entire story behind that which we won’t go into detail here for those that don’t know the unfortunate events but for someone like Jeff Becerra who went through what he did and come out the other end stronger than ever, but also to put out what might very well be considered their best album to date is a feat all in itself.
Read the review here | Interview with Jeff Becerra
TOP AUSTRALIAN METAL RELEASES OF 2019
1. Eye Of The Enemy – Titan | Review
2. Tempest Rising – Alter Ego | Review
3. All This Filth – Misery Season
4. Remission – The Tether’s End
5. Voyager – Colours In The Sun | Review
