#2 The Devil’s Blood – The Time of No Time Evermore

As European as the Renaissance, as inviting as a red light, as despair-ridden as a dungeon full of skeletons, and as classic as Thin Lizzy, no new band caught my attention more this year than The Devil’s Blood, who rock the Transylvania castle party in a HUGE way. They released a demo in ’07, and a 7″ and 5-song EP last year, so call this one their first full-length, and it’s nothing but a gorgeous offering of ’70s metal (you know, the kind of metal that’s more rock n’ roll than metal, the kind that bands like Deep Purple played) and sacrilegious pop, an occult rock n’ soul record of wicked lore, perhaps summoned from the days of yore. Modernly speaking though, it’s like Urge Overkill jamming with Shiny Mama — this band is clearly the lovechild of Nash Kato and Yana Chupenko sent to hypnotize us all and steal our virtue. Yes! And their song “I’ll Be Your Ghost”? Yeah dude, far and away my favourite song of the year.

Listen to “I’ll Be Your Ghost” from The Time of No Time Evermore!

(more…)

#4 Mastodon – Crack the Skye

Are Mastodon the best heavy metal band in the ’00s? Maybe. Just maybe. If not, they’re definitely right up there and all these “new wave” metal bands that I listen to today have certainly taken some cues from the mighty Mastodon. They bring it all to the table: power, technique, melody, riffage, beard, and unholy mountain madness. They’ve never faltered, never failed — not for one album, not for one song. Where previous efforts saw the band taking giant, crushing strides over land and sea, Crack the Skye is a cosmic hellfire, an astral, spiritual journey right into the centre of oblivion. Mastodon’s long, strange tales have conquered every plane and this, their last release of the decade, proves once again that they also conquer the metal world.

Check out the video for “Oblivion” from Crack the Skye!

(more…)

#6 Priestess – Prior to the Fire

This one was a long time coming, almost four years in fact, and it blew every expectation I had right out of the water. After releasing their debut, Hello Master, Priestess was rolling quietly along until everything exploded; they signed to a major label, toured with some of the biggest bands in the biz, received increased radio airplay, and lent songs to smash hit video games. Fame, however, didn’t change them. In fact, they steered so clear of a commercial sound on Prior to the Fire that their label wouldn’t put it out. So that delayed things a bit, but Priestess finally found another way to release the album and despite the brilliance and success of Hello Master, there’s no doubt that Prior to the Fire is the album Priestess had always wanted to make. Stoner rock, progressive rock, classic rock, heavy metal…it’s all riffs and it’s all here in full bearded surround sound glory. And it’s completely perfect. This is my band, no doubt about it.

Listen to “The Firebird” from Prior to the Fire!

(more…)