Friday, October 20, 2017

Top 16 Albums of 2016

What month is it? October! Crap! I am so behind on posting this list.

That's how I've been feeling ever since the end of January when I actually finalized my list. I just never got around to editing it properly.  Now, let’s do a little reflection on last year and the music that was released. There is some great Hard Rock and Metal music that was released in 2016. The unfortunate thing is that I couldn’t listen to it all.

Now, without further ado here is my top 16 albums of 2016.


16) Hardwired… to Self-Destruct Metallica

I don’t think I’ll be able to appreciate this album or band as much as other fans, but I can certainly acknowledge their impact and influence that they had and still have today. Congrats to Metallica on their 6th consecutive number one album. Check out my review for my full thoughts.

Top 3 Songs:
1) “Spit Out the Bone
2) “Moth Into Flame
3) “Confusion




15) Theories of Flight – Fates Warning

Fates Warning’s album Theories of Flight is one of my favorite progressive albums to comes out this year. To me it surpasses Dream Theater’s The Astonishing. Check out my review for more details.

Top 3 Songs:
1) “Seven Stars
2) “The Light and Shade of Things
3) “SOS





14) Heavy Crown Last in Line

If you ever wanted to have that Dio fix that I yearned for, Last in Line’s Heavy Crown definitely filled that need. Being three fourths of the original Dio band, they pay homage to that music while offer songs that are original. Check out my review for more details.

Top 3 Songs:
1) “Devil in Me
2) “Starmaker
3) “Blame It on Me




13) Welcome to Fat City Crobot

I like Welcome to Fat City, but I much preferred Crobot’s debut album Something Supernatural. Many of the songs on this new album are growers and need to be listened to multiple times. Welcome to Fat City is more like part 2 of their first album. My only complaint is that Crobot didn’t differentiate the songs more. I hope I can catch them live and I look forward toward their next album. I love their trippy album cover. My review.

Top 3 Songs:
1) “Plague of the Mammoths
2) “Welcome to Fat City
3) “Hold on to Dear Life

12) Hallow Bones Rival Sons

Unfortunately, this is one of the albums that I was not able to review previously on my blog. Rival Sons is an absolutely great band that offers a great 70’s hard rock sound. They have continued on that trajectory and have crafted another awesome album in Hallow Bones. I also love their surreal album cover.

Top 3 Songs:
1) “Thundering Voices
2) “Hallow Bones Pt.1
3) “Pretty Face



11) Sittin’ Heavy Monster Truck

Do you like Canadian bands? Well do you like bands that bridge hard rock and metal? Well Monster Truck have all the findings of a Hard Rock band, but their tone is heavy enough for the average metalhead to bang to. Sittin’ Heavy is just great. Go check out my review of my thoughts on the album.

Top 3:
1) “Don’t Tell Me How to Live
2) “She’s a Witch
3) “To the Flame



10) Seal the Deal & lets Boogie Volbeat

Volbeat has a special sound that is unique to metal. It appeals to metal fans and hard rock fans. I’ve disused Volbeat with a friend and I consider this artist to be a ‘Rockabilly Metal’ band. Anyway, Seal the Deal & Lets Boogie is a superb album, go check out my review for more details.

Top 3:
1) “Seal the Deal
2) “The Loa’s Crossroad
3) “The Devil’s Bleeding Crown



9) DystopiaMegadeth

Dystopia was one of my most anticipated albums of the year. Many fans of Megadeth were very critical of their previous album Super Collider, but personally I liked that album. Dystopia is superior though, in its tone, musicianship and song writing. Kiko is phenomenal on this album and I look forward to Megadeth on tour and their next effort in the studio. I have a review that goes into detail of what I think of the album.

Top 3:
1) “The Threat is Real
2) “Fatal Illusion
3) “Poisonous Shadows

8) For All Kings Anthrax

Anthrax’s For All Kings was another of my most anticipated albums of the year. In comparison to their last album, Worship Music, For All Kings sounds bigger but it lost the edge that the previous album had. Again, I can’t really point to that one glaring factor that I have a problem with, but overall this is a great album by Anthrax. Check out my review.

Top 3:
1) “Breathing Lightning
2) “Monster at the End
3) “For All Kings


7) Sorceress - Opeth

Sorceress is the album that introduced me to Opeth. This is another album that I didn’t get to review. I really like this album. I love the progressive elements that meshes so well on this album. I know of Opeth’s history with death metal, but the current musical direction that Opeth is training definitely appeals to me. Go check this album out.

Top 3:
1) “The Wilde Flowers
2) “Sorceress
3) “Will O the Wisp



6) Brotherhood of the Snake Testament

I love their past three albums starting with The Gathering to Dark Roots of Earth. So, Testament’s follow up to Dark Roots of Earth of which is one of my favorite albums by Testament, Brotherhood of the Snake had some expectations placed upon it. It delivered. One thing I that I did not mention in my review was that this album has a strong presence in the rhythm section.

Top 3:
1) “The Pale King
2) “Neptune’s Spear
3) “Stronghold


5) MagmaGojira

Gojira is another metal band that has its roots in the heavier side of metal. While in my review some of the vocals were hard to listen to, because of the accent. Magma is a phenomenal album and I love the intensity of the music. I can’t wait to see Gojira live and look back in their discography. Check out my review of their album.

Top 3:
1) “Stranded
2) “Silvera
3) “Pray




4) The Evil Divide Death Angel

Death Angel is one of my favorite thrash metal bands, and I absolutely love their last album The Dream Calls for Blood. So, the expectations were high for The Evil Divide. Actually, I originally had this album in the top three, it’s because of the next album that it’s not in that spot on my list. Anyway, go check out my review of the reasons I love this album.

Top 3:
1) “Hatred United / United Hate
2) “Let The Pieces Fall
3) “Breakaway


3) Breathe in the Water Kyng

Kyng’s last album Burn the Serum was my favorite album of 2014. So, for me their follow up album had some serious expectations. I really like this album and it’s no surprise for me that it ended up in the top 3 on my list. You can check out myreview to see my full thoughts.

Top 3:
1) “Follow Blindly
2) “Closer to the End
3) “Not Enough




2) The Last Hero Alter Bridge

Alter Bridge’s fifth album came out of nowhere for me. I was not a fan before but now I am. I love this album. Check out [my review] of The Last Hero, for my reasons on why I love this album.

Top 3:
1) “The Last Hero
2) “My Champion
3) “Crows On a Wire





1) The Stage Avenged Sevenfold

I had no expectations for this album. All I knew was the good critical and fan recation. In fact, the guest writer of this blog, Jacob, is a huge fan of the band (although I may be underselling his fandom). I listened to it, and I loved the progressive elements on the album, the vocals to the guitar riffs were awesome. The Stage is phenomenal and I have not been able to put it down since I first got it.

Top 3:
1) “Paradigm
2) “The Stage
3) “Sunny Disposition


Honorable Mentions:
Clean Your Clock [Live]Motörhead
Battle Cry [Live]Judas Priest
Metal ResistanceBabymetal
XIMetal Church
Book of Shadows IIZakk Wylde
Diamond Head – Diamond Head
End of Days – Discharge
The Astonishing – Dream Theater
Who You Selling For – The Pretty Reckless
Victorious – Wolfmother
JomsvikingAmon Amarth

There are too numerous amount of albums I’ve listened to, but I can’t list them all.

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