Year in Metal: 2003

DIMMU BORGIR: DEATH CULT ARMAGEDDON
2003 saw Dimmu Borgir break through to the mainstream. I actually bought this album at Target of all places. This is by no means a great album, though it is still my favorite from the Norwegian symphonic black metal band, but it was instrumental in my interest in black metal. It was an album that caused me to look deeper into the genre. There are some damn good songs on it though and I do remember it completely freaked out my girlfriend (who later became my fiancee).

ENSLAVED: BELOW THE LIGHTS
The seventh album by Enslaved is more of a mix of their earlier black/Viking metal style and their later more progressive sound. This album features the haunting "Havenless" which is my favorite song by the band. Enslaved was at the peak of their creativity on this album, crafting several classic songs while retaining the depth and atmosphere of their previous works.

LOST HORIZON: A FLAME TO THE GROUND BENEATH
Yes, the album cover is cheesy as hell, but this is easily one of the best power metal albums of the decade. The Swedish band has thus far only released two albums, this being their last, but it is an incredible album. The vocals really make the album, being technically impressive and incredibly emotive. The music is powerful, majestic, and epic. This is a brilliant power metal album that is unfortunately too often overlooked.

SWALLOW THE SUN: THE MORNING NEVER CAME
I have made my feelings on this album pretty clear for some time. One of my absolute favorite albums in the death/doom genre and a true blind buy. This is the exact opposite of the prior album as it is extremely dark and depressing. It crawls along at a snail's pace and leaves the listener feeling dread and darkness overtaking them. And this was just the band's first album. It also has one of my favorite album covers of all time, perfectly capturing the feel of the album.

THE CROWN: POSSESSED 13
The Swedish death/thrash band released their last album before going on hiatus, the horror-themed Possessed 13. This album featured the return of original vocalist Johan Lindstrand, but was otherwise more of the same from The Crown. Hyper-fast death/thrash that takes no prisoners and leaves the listener reeling.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Akercocke: Choronzon; Arch Enemy: Anthems of Rebellion; The Black Dahlia Murder: Unhallowed; Children of Bodom: Hate Crew Deathroll; Dragonforce: Valley of the Damned; Lamb of God: As the Paces Burn; Moonspell: The Antidote; Overkill: Killbox 13.

BANDS THAT FORMED IN 2003: Abysmal Dawn, Korpiklaani, Through the Eyes of the Dead.

Underrated Power Metal Albums Pt. 2 of 2

This is the last post from this series, for now anyway. As Kelly suggested, there are other genres to look at, but I won't be able to do as much with them.

HIBRIA: DEFYING THE RULES
Hibria is a power/speed metal band from the underrated metal hotbed of Brazil. Possessing a flair for mind-numbingly fast riffing and powerfully infectious songs, this is an incredible album that I have heard almost nothing about in the metal community. Such a shame as this is truly what power metal should sound like. Yes it's extremely melodic, but it also gets your head banging like a good metal album should. Strongly recommended.

LOST HORIZON: A FLAME TO THE GROUND BENEATH
The Swedes sure know their metal. Sweden has tons of great death and black metal bands, and even thrash metal bands. Here is yet another of the country's surprisingly great power metal bands. Like Tad Morose, Lost Horizon sees very little press in the States, and I'm not sure it's much different elsewhere. Lost Horizon is like Tad Morose in that they are extremely melodic, yet they are not as classically oriented and are much more traditionally metal than their contemporaries.

MANTICORA: 8 DEADLY SINS
Denmark is another underrated country for metal as nearly all of their metal bands are terrific. Manticora is the only power metal band I am aware of from the country. They play a more progressive style of power metal and this album is carefully crafted into an epic concept album. Featuring sharp guitar riffs and uniquely layered vocal melodies, this is a terrific album that calls to mind early progressive/power metal expermenting bands like Blind Guardian, without the fantasy-inspired lyrics.

LIEGE LORD: BURN TO MY TOUCH
Yet another early band in the American power metal scene, Liege Lord had a very short career and only released three albums, all of which are extremely hard to find. Which is unfortunate as this band had some great music. Originally a Judas Priest cover band, Liege Lord took their influences and molded them into their own original sound. They were considered one of the pioneers of American power metal. This is a short, sharp piece of metallic fury, a testament to a criminally overlooked band.

LETHAL: PROGRAMMED
I had never even heard of this band before blindly picking up a cassette in a used music store. It had the Metal Blade logo on it, so I suspected I would be getting something decent. What Lethal does is play power/progressive metal similar to the early sounds of Queensryche and Fates Warning, but with more of a traditional metal edge and more melody. The vocalist sounds a lot like Geoff Tate, with an incredible, bonechilling tenor. There is very little information out there about this release, but it is clearly a diamond in the rough.