The best of 2009.Another year, lots of great albums, a few not so great, a ton of live shows, festivals, parties and other amazing experiences!
Albums of the year:
1. Wolf: Ravenous.
2009 has been a great year, offering many exciting releases from well known artists and newer bands alike. However, to me, there's no doubt what album stands above the rest as
the best: Wolf's Ravenous! From I first got into Ravenous and till now, I can't count how many times I have listened to it. The album stands as the soundtrack of 2009 for me personally. Firmly rooted in classic 80's Metal, Wolf deliver a vision and take on the style, completely their own. Tasty guitar riffs, enjoyable, melodic solos and a singer, with lungs of leather -it's all there!
2. HammerFall: No Sacrifice No Victory.
Good, old, reliable HammerFall! I'm aware not all agree, but I'm one of these people who really think the Swedes have held a high level of consistency throughout their carrier. Sure, some albums are better than others, but No Sacrifice, No Victory delivers! Pontus Norgren shows his worth, among other parts, on the enjoyable instrumental Something For The Ages. Say what you want about Any Means Necessary, there's no denying it's catchiness. Uplifting songs like Life Is Now and Legion compliments the more old school styled material like Hallowed By My Name. A near flawless record, except the completely pointless Knacks cover.
3. Cauldron: Chained To The Nite.
Old school, NWOBHM-inspired, honest Heavy Metal! A great album, only a few misses away from being flawless! I've been rather addicted to songs like Chained Up In Chains, Bound To The Stake and Midnite Hour.
4. Wizard: Thor. Read full review.
A very enjoyable onslaught of melodic, yet ballsy Heavy Metal. Wizard has proven to be a rock solid institution in the German Metal scene, and Thor are among their greatest releases.
5. Powerwolf: Bible Of The Beast.
A Rather odd mix of gothic keyboards, modern Power Metal and Maiden-influenced riffs add up to Powerwolf's own unique style. I've always liked them, as ridiculous as the lyrics and the clichéd painted-faces image can be. The most important, the music, rocks! Actually, the album's been growing more and more on me throughout the year!
6. Sacred Steel: Carnage Victory.
Wow, what an album! Being a Sacred Steel fan, following the band from the beginning, I was slightly disappointed by their latest Hammer Of Destruction, and feared that they had lost it. No need to worry! Carnage Victory is simply the band's best album since the magnificent Slaughter Prophecy, a tough-as-nails, all-guns-blazing True Metal assault! Hard, heavy and True as Steel!
7. Saxon: Into The Labyrinth.
Saxon seems to play harder and harder, the older they get! Which is cool, when the results are as splendid as this! With simple, to-the-point tracks like Live To Rock, melodic-but-heavy stuff like Battalions Of Steel and even more epic minded material, like Valley Of The Kings, this albums is varied and should leave no Metalhead unsatisfied!
8. UDO: Dominator.
The old Accept front man have shelled out class album after class album since 1988 and Dominator is no exception. After the not-too-great Mastercutor, Dominator sees the German Tank return to form with melodic yet aggressive classic Metal, and hooray for that!
9. Saint Deamon: Pandeamonium.
This is my first Saint Deamon album, and I'm quite impressed. I love Jan-Thore Grefstad's vocals, known from Highland Glory, and the album provides a great mix of Power Metal with slightly progressive touches, even for someone not big on Prog, like me. The magical titletrack is worth it all, and one of my most played songs of the year!
10. W.A.S.P : Babylon.
W.A.S.P. have crafted a solid and enjoyable album. I am in particular, ahem, crazy about the opener, Crazy. I feel Babylon is closely connected to albums like The Headless Children and The Crimson Idol, by which I mean, focused less on party-rock and more on strong songwriting skills and reflecting lyrics. The result is a rather enjoyable and atmospheric album.
Other great stuff:
Manowar: Thunder In The Sky (EP).
A welcomed return to form for the Metal Kings, especially the track Let The Gods Decide, which could have been a lost track from the 80's, circa Battle Hymns to Sign Of The Hammer era. This is a fantastic song, with the rest of the songs being great as well, except the completely unnecessary million different versions of the saccharine ballad Father. That idea seemed fun for about five minutes. It only adds insult to injury that Manowar, one of the few bands that actually can write good, moving ballads, have written the most sugary, nauseating one in their carrier.
CrashDïet: Caught In Despair (demo song)
The Swedish glam-rockers introduced their new singer Simon Cruz (ex-Jailbait) with a fresh new song, and what a great start for the frontman! This song is no less than spectacular, it has a fantastic feel, and even the slightly rough demo sound suits it, and makes it sound better. Simon Cruz proves he is a singer out of the ordinary with the right mix of range and balls, a logical choice for CrashDïet. Download it for free at the
Crashdïet homepage.
Best live performances of 2009:
Blind Guardian, Bloodstock festival.
The German metallers delivered a perfect gig at the Bloodstock festival in the UK. Played to perfection, Blind Guardian offered a great set of old and new songs, with a few surprises, and a great contact to the audience. It gets me every time, how powerful and truly magic the Guardian's music is live.
Europe, Bloodstock festival.
Fantastic show from the Hard Rockers, old rockers and new gems was delivered with equal strength. Europe seems as hungry and focused as when they first started out!
Enforcer, Sweden Rock festival. Read festival report.
Energetic and enthusiastic performance from one of the greatest new bands! I expects huge things from them in the future!
Forbidden, Sweden Rock festival. Read festival report.
Finally seeing the first Thrash band I got into ages ago live was a real treat! They didn't disappoint, delivering a perfect performance of the first two albums.
HammerFall/Sabaton/Bullet, vega, March 26th 2009. Read full review.
Three totally awesome bands on one night? This could only be good, and it was. Especially HammerFall's set stands out as maybe the best concert, I've ever seen from them. Sabaton was totally on fire, and Bullet bought the entire hall back to the start 80's! A perfect evening!
Edguy/H.e.a.t, KB, Malmö February 5th 2009. Read full review.
Great to see my heroes deliver the songs from the great new album Tinnitus Sanctus live, along with tried and tested classics from their impressive backcatalogue. H.e.a.t is not really up my alley, but actually they are quite a good live band.
Primal Fear/ Brainstorm, The Rock, Copenhagen, November, 6th 2009.
Seeing Ralf Sheepers is always a joy, he´s one of my all-time fave singers, and seeing him live. I always get shocked at how powerful and flawless his voice really is. Add to that a talented band and lots of class songs, and you have a great evening.
Samael/Paradise Lost/Ghost Brigade, The Rock, Copenhagen, November 24th 2009.
Great to see my heroes in Samael again, always delivering a raw, powerful performance!
Riot, Sweden Rock Festival. Read festival report.
Getting addicted to the Thundersteel album just prior to the Sweden Rock Festival, I was eager to see Riot, and they delivered a perfect show, with the charismatic and strong vocals of Tony Moore being the highlight.
Disappointments of the year:
Manowar only releasing an EP.
As a guest at the Magic Circle Festival in 2008, where Manowar headlined two nights in a row, I heard with my own little ears, that Joey DeMaio promised us a long list of things being released from the Manowar-camp before the next festival. These include a book, co-written by a German author, a full length movie, a game, and most importantly, a sparkling new album. Until now, the Metal Kings have released.tadaa: an EP! Please don't promise that many things you can't keep, guys. To make things worse, Manowar spend lots of time and energy to record 15 (!) versions of a sappy ballad. Come on! All that energy could have been better spend, making a new album. Sorry to be complaining so much about this, but Manowar is my ultimate, number one fave band, and it bugs me they seem to become more and more inconsistent. The EP had some kick-ass material, but it should have been a complete album.
Freedom Call not releasing anything.
Freedom Call, another of my fave bands, seem to be going through a lot of trouble, including various line up changes and an inability to release an album that should have been released ages ago, but still haven't seen the light of day. I need some sign, that these guys are not completely through, because I'm starting to fear they are. Give me something; a great new album, some live shows, anything.
Missing Wolf and Cauldron's London gig.
Being obsessed with Cauldron and in particular Wolf, I really wanted to go see their show in the UK, but flight tickets were too expensive in that time period, so I couldn't. I'll probably have the chance to see Wolf again sometime soon (they´re Swedish), but maybe not Cauldron (Canada), so it's a darn shame.
ChrashDïet new years eve show, 2009/2010 at The Rock, Copenhagen.
I had been looking intensely forward to finally seeing CrashDïet live. Unfortunately, the show was rather uninspired; the guys didn't really seem to be enjoying standing on a stage, being rather inanimate and dead. It wasn't a totally horrible show, but far from the glory rush, I expected. Looking forward to seeing the guys another time, when they have a better day. The show was without any bite, rather lifeless.
Looking forward to in 2010:
2009 has been a great year for Metal, and I have high hopes for 2010. A few of the things, I look forward to the most:
Seeing
Iron Maiden perform live at Wacken Open Air again! Last time was amazing.
And some great new albums (hopefully): Gamma Ray - To The Metal (out January)
Enforcer - Diamonds (out around April)
Freedom Call - Legend Of The Shadowking (hopefully out in January)
Crashdïet - Generation Wild(out in March)
One Man Army And The Undead Quartet - Title TBA
Sister Sin - Title TBA
Sabaton - Coat Of Arms (out May)
