In my humble opinion 2010 was a vintage year for heavy metal. Several classic acts came storming back to the forefront of the scene with terrific new albums and I was lucky enough to have some excellent new bands come my way.
On the gig front I saw several mind melting gigs from some of the biggest names in the industry and was privileged to be at some smaller, but no less brilliant shows. Who was lucky enough to make my top ten lists? Read below to find out!
Top 10 Albums: 1. Accept - Blood Of The Nations Read my review "Delivering the Teutonic Terror, We will give 'em the axe!"
So snarled new boy Mark Tornillo on the excellent cut
Teutonic Terror taken from my album of the year. That's right, Accept without Udo being a roaring success? I would never have thought it possible myself. But Wolf Hoffman not only found the perfect man to fill the German Tank's role but found some mighty riffs for him to put his gravel throated voice to. The sound of an institution reborn!
2. Enforcer - Diamonds Read Nina's Review Many bands try to emulate the sound of 80's New Wave Of British Heavy Metal but not one has come as close to distilling what made that music as exhilarating as Sweden's Enforcer. Their debut
Into The Night hit like a smack to the face and this follow up shows a maturing approach to dynamics and a superb grasp of melody. This can be summed up in the majestic
Walk With Me, where layered vocals and galloping rhythms combine perfectly to form an instant classic.
3. Pathfinder - Beyond The Space, Beyond The Time Read Alanna's review The first and most impressive of several debuts on this list, Poland's new power metal heroes fashioned something magical on their first attempt. Opener
The Whisper Of Ancient Rocks builds on some Stratovarius-esque, neo-classical guitar work and ushers you into the bands mystical kingdom for 70 minutes of fantasy metal that almost matches the best work of bands like Rhapsody and Blind Guardian. At points it's uplifting, at others hauntingly melancholic but at all times involving.
4. Katana - Heads Will Roll Read Nina's review Following on from Pathfinder, the second of the debuts on my list is Katana from Gothenburg, Sweden. Taking their cues from the more melodic, polished end of NWOBHM when compared to bands like Enforcer, the band never the less rush through
Heads Will Roll playing as if their life's depended on it. It's catchy, classy traditional metal that points to bright things for them in the future. If you don't believe me just listen to
Heart Of Tokyo and try to remove that chorus from your head, you will have a hard time shifting it.
5. Blind Guardian - At The Edge Of Time
Blind Guardian's last effort A Twist In The Myth was a strangely straight-ahead, joyless affair which felt like the band were on autopilot for the majority of it's running time.
At The Edge Of Time however wastes no time in diving straight back in to the delightfully grandiose with the nine minute, fully orchestrated
Sacred World. It's the sound of a band reconnected with their past as Hansi Kurch, Andre Olbrich and Marcus Seipen weave tales based on several classic fantasy books. The album does sag slightly in the later stages which prevents it from standing side by side with Nightfall In Middle Earth or Imaginations From The Other Side but it's still a welcome return to form.
6. Sabaton - Coat Of Arms Read Steen's review We all know the drill with Sabaton by now, hook-filled, keyboard heavy power metal which tells of heroic feats from some of histories crucial battles. This album doesn't re-invent their battle-hardened sound in the slightest. There are sections in tracks that will leave you with distinct impressions of previous albums but it's just such an enjoyable listen that I can forgive them. Top marks go to
Uprising and
Aces In Exile for being inspiring as you uncover their weighty subject matter and to
White Death for its unstoppable chorus.
7. Burzum - Belus Read my review Varg Vikernes remains a controversial figure in the music scene and rightly so, as he can quite correctly be referred to as a bigoted murdered. But ignoring his politics and previous actions he is also a master when it comes to creating trance-inducing black metal.
Belus was his chance to show the world that he was still in control of a genre he helped birth and it went some way to proving that he's still got what it takes.
8. Triptykon - Espristera Daimones
The last of the debuts on the list issues forth from a slightly more established source than the previous two. Tom G. Warrior disbanded his legendary band Celtic Frost expressing deep misgivings as drummer Franco Sesa (who track
A Thousand Lies is rumoured to be written about) to form Triptykon. This album was never going to be easy listening as much of it was written for the bleak masterpiece that was Celtic Frost's final album Monotheist. Tom's is a slow, bludgeoning, doom filled metal with drawn out, deeply downtuned chords filling the pits of the listener's stomach with dread. It's challenging and not everyone will make it to the end but for those who embrace it, disappointment will not follow.
9. Steel Tormentor - Return Of A King Read my review After a long, long lay-off you would be forgiven for forgetting all about Irish metal act Steel Tormentor. However, to write off this smashing comeback would be folly in the extreme. It's thumping traditional metal in the style Steve Harris used to make. The searing
Warrior and epic title track will have you hoping that a follow-up is not another six years in the making.
10. Danzig - Deth Red Sabaoth
The last few albums by the Evil Elvis hardly set the metal world aflame but there was something different about
Deth Red Sabaoth. It was the sound of Glenn courting his inner playful rock'n'roll demons and letting them guide him in a more hip-swaying direction. Even the rather flat production (get a proper producer in next time Glenn) can't spoil the fun as raucous opener
Hammer Of The Gods kicks things into gear. Danzig's vocals sound better than they have in years and southern gothic tinged numbers like
Deth Red Moon prove that it is still far from time to pull down the curtain on his long running career.
Top Ten Gigs: 1. KISS at The SECC, Glasgow, 09.05.10 Read my review I had been waiting years and years to see KISS live and honestly didn't expect them to play a gig in my hometown again. But the buzz surrounding the
Sonic Boom album brought them to Glasgow for an incredible show. In fact, it felt like more than a gig, it was an event. The band pulled out all the stops in terms of stage show and picked a near flawless set list. The crowd responded in true Glasgow style and went suitably mental. I can only hope the band return one day as even after this two hour show you could see everyone was hungry for more.
2. Danzig at Sweden Rock Festival, 10.06.10 Read my full festival report Another band I had pretty much written off seeing was Danzig, this time I had to do a bit of travelling to seem them but it was more than worth it. The poor weather that characterised most of this year's Sweden Rock abated in time for the arrival of the group and Glenn Danzig backed by a band including Tommy Victor of Prong and Johnny Kelly of Type O Negative fame conjured up an hour and a half of black magic to an ecstatic crowd.
3. Iron Maiden at O2 Arena, Dublin, 30.07.10
A great gig and a great weekend away came in the shape of a jaunt to the Emerald Isle to see Brucie and the boys on the first leg of the European Final Frontier tour. The set list may have been disappointing to some, the majority of it drawn from Brave New World onwards, but while I could have done with another classic or two I thoroughly enjoyed the gig. Opener
The Wicker Man announced the bands intent to power through a superb set which contained a very poignant version of
Blood Brothers dedicated to Ronnie James Dio who should have been supporting them that night with Heaven And Hell.
4. Twisted Sister at Bloodstock Open Air, 15.10.10 Read my full festival report When Twisted Sister hit the stage there is only one thing that you can be sure of. you will have a fucking blast. Their closing set at this years Bloodstock was no exception. The band pulled out every trick in the book to rock the crowd off their feet. This included what Dee Snider dubbed
"The Donnington Special" during an extended
I Wanna Rock which involved the whole audience jumping at the same time while punching their fist in the air and screaming the word
"ROCK!" A heavy metal show in the truest sense, come back to the UK soon guys.
5. Freedom Call at The Classic Grand, Glasgow, 08.10.10
If a piss poor attendance of around 50-60 people was a disappointing end to the German power metal bands first UK tour then they certainly didn't show it. Frontman Chris Bay was beaming from ear to ear for the majority of the very intimate show and the band played a cracking set. This included some of my favourites in
Metal Invasion and
The Quest (hearing this particular song up close and personal, wow) as well as the excellent
Merlin- Legend Of The Past from their latest record
Legend Of The Shadowking.
Highlight of the night was Chris using a bit of Glasgow slang told to him by my mate and telling a dickhead (there is always one) in the crowd
"Shut it, Pie" after he continually made "comedy" shouts for a bass solo.
6. Blaze Bayley at Bannermans, Edinburgh 26.02.10
Another end of year list for
RevelationZ, another entry for Blaze Bayley in the top gig section. The man and his band are a touring machine and well worth a trip to the capital city for a night of beer and heavy metal. I saw Blaze in Glasgow later in the year but it's the Edinburgh gig that stands out, as it was an exhilarating show in a small, packed to the rafters and very sweaty venue.
7. Watain at Sweden Rock 12.06.10 Read my full festival report As the night grew dark on the final day of this years Sweden Rock, torches were lit and the five grim, blood drenched spectres that make up Watain were summoned to assault the assembled audience with not just their own black metal mayhem but also a six song
Bathory tribute set. It was a commanding show with pyro and plenty of flames scarring the mind of the viewer. Moment of the night was the bands vicious take on
A Fine Day To Die that began their Bathory set.
8. Pavement at Glasgow Barrowlands 05.05.10
Last time American indie rock legends Pavement played Glasgow was back in 1999 and they made the unfortunate decision to split up less that a week later. Unfortunate for me as I missed the gig and thought I would never see them. So as you can imagine when the reunited in 2009 then announced a 2010 UK tour I was rather excited. The band didn't let me down, kicking off the set with a stunning version of my favourite Pavement track
In The Mouth A Desert. The lengthy twenty-seven song set really kicked into gear with a maniacal version of
Unfair that really got the crowd bouncing. Moment of the night for me was a beautiful rendition of
Stop Breathing.
9. Sabaton and Alestorm at The Garage, Glasgow 12.10.10
The second Sabaton gig of the year for me (after their gig at Sweden Rock) was an outstanding affair. It was thrilling first of all to see the Garage heaving with about 600 or so punters for a power metal show and secondly because Sabaton never, ever fail live. The material from new album Coat Of Arms went down as well with the baying Glaswegians (who had been warmed up by a decent show from fellow Scotsmen Alestorm) as the old favourites like
Back In Control and
Attero Dominatus. There was no place in the set for
Price Of A Mile this time round but the show stopping version of
Primo Victoria made the garage bounce from back at the bar all the way to the barrier and ensured that no one went home dismayed.
10. Manic Street Preachers at The O2 Academy, Glasgow 29.09.10
As soon as the The Manics strode onstage and kicked into the riff-tastic
Sleepflower from the very underrated
Gold Against The Soul album I knew I was in for a good night. The band played something from every album including a cathartic
Faster, a tender
This Is Yesterday and an acoustic version of their normally savage punk number
Stay Beautiful, where lead singer James Dean Bradfield let the crowd sing the
"Why don't you just fuck off!" chorus before stopping the song to playfully chide us for our foul language. The new material off their latest album
Postcards From A Young Man was well received, with the gorgeous chorus of
Some Kind Of Nothingness sending my sprits skyward. Mega-hit
Design For Life closed the set in a hail of feedback as always and rounded off another excellent Manics gig.
