Article - Various Artists - Stuart's Highlights of the year 2009

Albums of the year:

1. Syth - The Reckoning (Read the full review)
It was a very, very close race for the number one spot this year. I had a hard time deciding between The Reckoning and the Hibria album which eventually grabbed 2^nd place.

Syth are a Power Metal band from Scotland and had won my album of the year in 2007 for their debut Warzone. So I didn't want to be accused of a "jobs for the boys" outcome on this year's list.

However I feel that they deserved the top spot due to the outstanding quality of The Reckoning which hones in on my favourite attributes of the Power/Traditional Metal genres. Congratulations lads and I look forward to album number three!

2. Hibria - The Skull Collectors (Read the full review)
This won my album of the month in December and only narrowly missed out on number one on this list. It's a breathless, rapid romp through soaring Power Metal which proves that the bands first release Defying the Rules was no fluke, they really are a band built for the upper echelons of Metal's tower of steel!

3. Manic Street Preachers- Journal For Plague Lovers
The only non Metal album to make the grade this year comes from the long running Welsh band. They had been promising to return to the harrowing realms of their 1994 release The Holy Bible for many years and with this album they finally managed it. Musically it's (slightly) more upbeat and a bit less weighty than The Holy Bible but includes some superb tracks including the disturbing nihilism of All Is Vanity.

It also shows how much the band miss the lyrical input of absent guitarist Richey Edwards (the album was made up from lyrics he had written before disappearing in 1994). The album highlight has to be the wry delivery of the line "Oh the joy, Me and Steven Hawking we laughed, We missed the sex revolution when we failed the physical"

4. Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars
On the subject of harrowing albums, the latest Blut Aus Nord album certainly falls into that category. Its dissonant Post Black Metal murk is at once challenging and strangely inviting. It manages this by the assimilation of many different takes on Black Metal and adding the bands own particularly obscure variation on the genre.

5. Candlemass - Death Magic Doom
I had heard the band play several tracks from this album live over the course of the summer but only managed to get a hold of it in December. Needless to say I wasn't disappointed in any way with the final product.

King of The Grey Islands, the first album with new singer Rob Lowe attracted criticism for containing a few "filler" tracks but that's not an accusation you could aim at this release.

From the outset of the wonderfully ego-maniacal If I Ever Die to the drawing in of closer My Funeral Dreams the band pack evey inch of the album with memorable riffs and vocal melodies. It proves even now they are into double figures with their albums they are in no danger of running out of ideas. The Bleeding Baroness in particular stands out as a testament to the bands gloriously gloomy power.

6. Immortal - All Shall Fall (Read the full review)
Grim, frostbitten, kvlt, rather chuffing superb, Immortal's first release for seven years was all of these and more. The opening title track alone is enough to confirm that the brothers Doom Occulta and cohorts are still kings among their Black Metal kin.

7. Tyr- By The Light of The Northern Star (Read the full review)
Tyr have a reputation for being a bit of a slow burning band, with their albums taking a while to grow on you. Not so this release which straight from the opener Hold The Heathen Hammer High will hold you spellbound as the band weave tales of pagan pride and honour into a very unique mix of Folk, Power and Prog.

8. Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague
I've never been the biggest Cannibal Corpse fan but there has been something about their last two albums that I have dug immensely. The 2006's record Kill was excellent and I think that Evisceration Plague goes one better. It's a perfect Death Metal record with enough variety to stop it from getting boring. George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher puts in a superb shift as he grunts and screams his way through the 38 minutes of viciousness on display.

The band have also recorded one of their catchiest songs ever in Shatter Their Bones. But in true CC style the song's "chorus" includes the line "They'll eat your fucking guts and your brains" Its not really likely to be playing on your local radio station anytime soon.

9. Skeleton Witch- Breathing The Fire
I wasn't familiar with the band till hearing this album, I'm rather glad I checked them out as they blend Blackened Thrash, Death, Speed and Power Metal with marvellous results. Imagine Destroyer 666 if they put a bit more Helloween in their diet.

It's a short, frantic album which flies through twelve songs in just under 36 minutes. I await with interest the band next release because as good as this one is; it really hints that the band could be on the verge of something even more special.

10. Napalm Death- Time Waits For No Slave (Read the full review)
Last spot on this year's list goes to another long running band that up until recently I never paid that much attention to. It's one of the most intense Death/Grind discharges you will hear till...well pretty much until the next Napalm Death album.

Gigs of the year:

1. Riot at the Sweden Rock Festival ( Read my full festival report)
Riot were one of the most anticipated bands on my list at this years Sweden Rock festival and they more than fulfilled my expectations. Tony Moore's voice of (thunder)steel was as mind-blowing as it was in his heyday and the rest of the band performed as smoothly as if it was the latest in a long line of gigs and not in actual fact only their 2^nd gig back together since the 80's.

Add to that the sound was crystal clear, the weather was perfect and I was slightly drunk( not the last time you will see that phrase appear on this list) then it was without doubt the best gig of the year.

The fact I was present for this gig was made even more special when it was announced in November that sadly Tony Moore had once again left the band. I can only imagine he will be as impossible to replace as first time round.

2. Bruce Springsteen and the E- Street Band at Hampden Park, Glasgow
I had travelled down to Wales in 2008 to see The Boss so when I heard that he was going to be playing at Scotland's national stadium I was over the moon. It was a superb gig that even the notorious Scottish weather couldn't spoil.

In fact the only reason that the gig isn't number one is the sad fact that the sound was rather shoddy. Bruce's vocals in particular were reverberating all across the stadium. It wasn't so much a problem when the full band were playing but whenever Bruce was singing and playing unaccompanied it was very off putting.

Never the less the band put on a fantastic three hour show of the high calibre that they are known for. Highlights were Atlantic City, The River, Thunder Road and a rocked up, extended jam through Johnny 99. I just hope it doesn't take 20 years for Bruce to head back to our fair country.

3. The Buzzcocks at the ABC, Glasgow
It was my first gig of the year and took some beating. The Buzzcocks rolled into town for their first gig in Glasgow in two years and this time around they were playing their first two albums back to back plus a greatest hits set at the end.

I was slaughtered by the time the greatest hits set started and was straight into the pit for a spirit of 1977 style pogo along with tracks like What Do I Get, Promises and Harmony In My Head. Frontman Pete Shelly may have lost some hair and gained some pounds since the heady days of Punk but he still new knows how to put on a show. And let's face it, you know that when you come out of a gig shattered, covered in sweat and other peoples beer but unbelievably elated, that you have had a good time.

4. Blind Guardian at Bloodstock Open Air (Read my full festival report)
I had seen Guardian twice before this, first time was in a small club in Dublin which was one of the greatest gigs I've ever seen and then again at a festival where band were on fine form but the crowd just didn't seem "in" to them. Luckily this Bloodstock show was another performance that bards up and down the country will sing triumphant verses about for years to come.

In short the band put on a towering show of strength and their airing of Lord of The Rings was one of the best moments of the year for me.

5. Blaze Bailey at Ivory Blacks, Glasgow and Sweden Rock Festival (Read the Ivory Blacks report)
I was fortunate enough to see Blaze twice in the space of a week and he put on two shows of such perfection that I couldn't choose between them. In fact both were in stark contrast to each other. The Ivory Blacks gig was a small, dingy club show in front of around 200 people but Sweden Rock was a large scale festival show with around 7000-8000 people taking in the gig.

The one common factor in the two shows was Blaze and his rock-solid backing bands 100% commitment to their music (oh and the fact I was superbly pissed at both shows) If there was ever a group that sums up the old cliché "It doesn't matter if they are playing in front of 20 or 20,000" it's this band.

6. Immortal at Sweden Rock Festival (Read my full festival report)
I was psyched about this gig from the moment it was announced and was not let down. If your looking for blastbeat ridden cold riffs with inhuman croaked vocals played by 3 guys who know the value of a stage act even in Black Metal, then you need to catch Immortal live, even if just for Abbath's bizarre crab-walk.

7. Anaal Nathrakh at Ivory Blacks, Glasgow
Dave Hunt, Mick Kenny and the lads don't play often but when they do it's certainly an event. Ivory Blacks was the scene for many fine Metal gigs this year and the Brummie boys were not looking to be outdone by anyone else. Their music needs to be heard to be believed, a mixture of Black Metal, Grind and now and then glimpses of Traditional Metal which all meld together surprisingly well.

I grabbed a space at the barrier and armed with a pint, head-banged as hard as I could for the entire time the band were onstage. The rapport between band and crowd was top notch with plenty of good natured heckling and even some football style chanting. Top marks must go to the mental Polish guy who kept screaming for the band to play Freezing Moon by Mayhem. God knows why, but it was entertaining.

8. Saxon, Doro and Sweet Savage at the ABC, Glasgow (Read my report)
As I've already written a review of the gig I'll keep this short and sweet- Just look at the bill for a moment. Do you seriously think it was anything other than a bloody brilliant gig?

9. Anathema at Bloodstock (Read my full festival report)
They were one of the odd men out on an 80% all metal bill, but you wouldn't have known that by the overwhelming reception they got. Sticking mostly to their faster songs like Empty, Fragile Dreams and the classic Sleepless the band still managed to find time in their short set to include a beautiful rendition of A Natural Disaster and the surprise cover of the festival, Iron Maiden's Phantom of The Opera.

10. Monster Magnet at The Garage, Glasgow
Dave Wyndorf may have finally answered the eternal question "Who ate all the pies?" but that doesn't mean the man is anything less than an ever-living Rock God. The Magnet were on fire with this show that made the 700 capacity Garage seem like Wembley Stadium due to the size of the riffs and lightning rig the band managed to cram into the venue. In fact I can't find any better way to sum up how good this gig was other than in the bands own words "Space Lord, Motherfucker!"