Another year has passed us headbangers by and, man, have we seen the release of some killer albums! As has been the case, for a long time this is not an easy list to make by any stretch of the word. It takes a lot of thinking and fidgeting. But, in the end this list is what I came up with. As always, I do hope that this list is indicative of my varied taste in hard rock and metal, and will cause some discussion among you guys and gals. Your opinion is always welcome.
10. Deicide- To Hell with God- I have loved the last few Deicide albums, but this album marks the band at their decidedly most evil best. Heavy, brutal, and as anti-God and Satanic as ever. The title track has a great pounding opening and the whole song will just pummel you, straight to hell!!
9. The Pretty Reckless- Light Me Up- Gorgeous Taylor Momsen ranked in at number 40 of my top 70 Hottest Babes of 2011, and with good reason. But, the leggy bad girl also put out one hell of a hard rock album. With a voice far beyond her young age Momsen shines in the vocal department. I know Europe got this album last year, but we here in the states didn't get till this year. And, I honestly listen to this one a lot, so there was no way it wasn't gonna make the list. Plus, "Zombie" is one of my personal favorite tracks of the year.
8. Children of Bodom- Relentless, Reckless, Forever- CoB have long been one of the my favorite melodic death metal acts, and their lead signer one of my fav front men in all of metal. Their latest offering is fast, technically savvy, and instantly recognizable as another great work from them. As always few bands can shred like these motherfuckers!!
7. Warbringer- Worlds Torn Asunder- It never ceases to surprise me just how good these guys are. I always call these guys the American answer to Kreator and Sodom, because that's what best describes them. This album is finely crafted, fast, angry, and super-heavy thrash metal that will make you feel as if your getting the ass whooping of a lifetime.
6. Amon Amarth- Surter Rising- While I liked the last album they put out,
Twilight of the Thunder God, this is a much better album and a more solid return to form. While, it still is not on the level of the classic
With Odin on Our Side, this is still heavy and pounding viking melodic death metal at it's best, crafted by the kings of it. The cover is also one of the year's coolest!
5. A Pale Horse Named Death- And Hell Shall Follow Me- This late addition (I only heard it this week!), is dark, brooding, and heavy. Featuring Sal Abrucasto, former drummer of Type O Negative and Life of Agony, on vocals and guitar, it has to be one of the most exciting debuts I have heard in many a moon. Fellow fans of Type O take heed this is the real deal. And, let me say this, had I heard this earlier in the year, it may have ranked even higher as, the more I hear/ think about it, the more I like it!
4. Machine Head- Into the Locust- Machine Head continue to produce some of the best albums of their career. After, the mighty
The Blackening, I and many others wondered where could they go from there? After all, that album was called their
Master of Puppets. And, then comes this one, with songs that even longer and more complex. Mixing the groove and thrash metal sounds Machine Head are carrying the flag for real metal high. And, that horror movie style cover is fucking cool as hell!!!
3. The Black Dahlia Murder- Ritual- Unquestionably one of my favorite death metal acts, these guys are fucking heavy but are also incredibly fun to listen to. There horror and geek love are forever. Pummeling fast riffs, super killer blastbeats, and some of my favorite cookie monster vocals manage to seal the awesomeness of this band and this album.
2. Chthonic- Takasago Army- My favorite black metal act release what is unquestionably my favorite black metal album of the year. This is a band just continues to get better with each and every album. I mean think about how much I loved their album,
Mirror of Retribution, which ranked in at number 4 in 2009, well this one is even better than that one!!!!
1. Anthrax- Worship Music- While, I said picking the order and albums to appear this list was not easy, one pick was: this one. No album I heard this year was on the level of near perfection that this one was. It is not the best album of the year, but also the comeback of the year. And, the band's very best since Persistence of Time. It's heavy as fuck and proves that these members of the big four have not lost a step despite the years it has been since making an album, let alone one with Joey Belladonna. And, let me tell you this, Belladonna sounds better than ever! Everything in this album works and kills it. There are so many amazing, close to perfect, and perfect songs. And, "I'm Alive" is unquestionably my favorite song of the year. Raise those fucking horns, cause one of my all time favorite bands are back better than ever!!!
Honorable mentions:
Five Finger Death Punch- American Capitalist
Skeletonwitch- Forever Abomination
Evanescence- Evanescence
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Now playing:
Anthrax - I'm Alivevia FoxyTunes 
You have read this article 2011 /
A Pale Horse Named Death /
Amon Amarth /
Anthrax /
Children of Bodom /
Chthonic /
Death Metal /
Deicide /
Machine Head /
The Black Dahlia Murder /
The Pretty Reckless /
Warbringer
with the title The Pretty Reckless. You can bookmark this page URL http://thestoryoc.blogspot.com/2012/01/the-10-best-metal-albums-of-2011.html. Thanks!
One of my favorite hard rock acts, The Pretty Reckless, played a great show this past Friday the 13th at Irving Plaza, and I had the pleasure of attending with two of my best friends, Alan and Kristin.
debut album, Light Me Up and stuff off their new EP Hit Me Like a Man. In fact, I think the only song they didn't play off their full length album was the sad but beautiful track You. They also did a killer cover of System of a Down's classic track Aerials.
