Best of Metal 2008

by HellHammer • 3 Jan 2009, 14:59 • Journals
From what I've heard so far, (although there are surely alot of quality albums I must have missed), IMHO:

30: United States of America A((Wake)) - Northern Lights (Melodic Progressive Metal)
29: United States of America Agalloch - The White (Atmospheric Folk/Dark Metal)
28: Switzerland Mirrorthrone - Gangrene (Experimental/Atmospheric Death/Black Metal)
27: Greece Septicflesh - Communion (Atmospheric Death metal)
26: United States of America Eldrig - Mysterion (Epic Orchestral Black Metal)
25: Sweden Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God (Melodic Death Metal)
24: Sweden Isole - Bliss of Solitude (Epic Doom Metal)
23: Norway Enslaved - Vertebrae (Progressive Black/Viking Metal)
22: Sweden Thyrfing - Hels Vite (Viking Metal)
21: Germany Equilibrium - Sagas (Epic Folk/Viking Metal)
20: France Alkemyst - Through Painful Lanes (Power/Speed Metal)
19: Italy Holy Martyr - Hellenic Warrior Spirit (Epic / Doom Power Metal)
18: Norway Sorgsvart - Vikingtid Og Anarki (Folk/Black Metal)
17: United States of America Leviathan - Massive Conspiracy Against All Life (Black Metal / Ambient)
16: Finland Draugnim - Northwind's Ire (Pagan Blackish Metal)
15: Brazil Krisiun - Southern Storm (Death Metal)
14: Switzerland Darkspace - Dark Space III (Ambient Black / Dark Metal)
13: Belgium Gorath - Misotheism (Progressive Black Metal)
12: Finland Moonsorrow - Tulimyrsky (Viking/Folk/Black Metal)
11: United States of America Falls of Rauros - Hail Wind and Hewn Oak (Black / Folk Metal)
10: Germany Crom - Vengeance (Viking Metal)
9: Sweden Ereb Altor - By Honour (Epic Viking/Doom Metal)
8: Kyrgyzstan Darkestrah - The Great Silk Road (Pagan Black Metal)
7: France The Austrasian Goat - Pieces Of Oblivion (Funeral Black Metal)
6: United States of America Pharaoh - Be Gone (Power Metal)
5: United Kingdom Forefather - Steadfast (Black/Viking Metal)
4: Sweden Grand Magus - Iron Will (Heavy/Doom Metal)
United States of America Ogre - Plague of the Planet (70's Heavy Rock)
Norway Communic - Payment Of Existence (Progressive Heavy/Power Metal)
Greece Battleroar - To Death and Beyond... (Traditional/power metal)

Demo of the year

United Kingdom Solstice - Only the strong (Epic Doom Metal)

Bootleg of the year

United States of America Wolves in the Throne Room - Live at Roadburn 2008 (Black Metal) (HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Crap of the year

United States of America Metallica - Death Magnetic

Notice the complete absence of good thrash and death albums being released this year...Also if anyone knows any other good releases, please share here.

\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m//\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/
Comments
71
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sm0keninja 3 Jan 2009, 15:05
Wolves in the Throne Room is not black metal.
They may sound it, but if your ideology is about forest worshipping nature glorification and at the same time you preach about human rights, It's hardly anything to do with Black metal.

Taken from WITRR interview:
"Satanism has nothing to do with our vision."

"Our music is inspired and informed by the tribal war-spirit found in Burzum; Our roots in the underground punk scene; deep ecology and eco-spirituality; eco-feminism

I hope you understand that this band is everything what black metal IS NOT

I'm not saying this band is "shit" or their music is shit, I actually like them, but calling it black metal is like saying that you could make black metal with christian lyrics.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk52/JWK88/P4010122.jpg?t=1207035676
This is what WITTR is about :)
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HellHammer 3 Jan 2009, 15:08
=D

the fuck :D

so only satanists can make black metal according to you :D
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sm0keninja 3 Jan 2009, 15:24
No I was not saying that.
I don't know what is black metal to you, but for many people it is not just music.
I hope you someday understand that you cannot be a black metal band and preach about human rights and be anti-racist at the same time.

Black metal is nihilism in its purest forms and if you bitch about things like "oh I like black metal but can't listen to that black metal band because it is so racist music" like WITTR does in their interviews how could you listen any black metal at all ?

And If you haven't noticed, the biggest carrying force, the biggest inspiration in black metal has always been; Satan ( And what this archtype personally represents to you ).
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HellHammer 3 Jan 2009, 15:35
I personally think that people tend to seperate the music of black metal of its ideologies, and only absorb the music, forgetting its ideas. Frankly I dont really care if a band is "kvlt" enough through their music and behavior of the band in real life, if I just like their music. But I get your point and I agree with it, but most bands confuse the difference between "paganism" and "satanism", often thinking that its the same, when its not at all.
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sm0keninja 3 Jan 2009, 15:38
I think we reached an agreement :)
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Deactivated6096 3 Jan 2009, 15:14
oh jesus, i'd rather see him give that cd to me :(
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Frop 3 Jan 2009, 15:43
I had a talk with one of the guitar players at the last Roadburn Festival, he didn't mind people calling it BM. Personally I try to avoid lyrics and ideologies as much as possible and just concentrate on the music. WITTR is black metal genius as far as I'm concerned. Hail Mother Earth!
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Tragedy 3 Jan 2009, 15:05
best album 2008:

Agrimonia - st (crust/doom/metal) http://www.myspace.com/agrimonia
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urtier 3 Jan 2009, 15:05
Sweden Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe (Melodic DM)

Edit: I also liked Sweden Sonic Syndicate - Love And Other Disasters (Meldodic DM) :-d
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huPoo 3 Jan 2009, 15:09
Dunno about 2008 but best ever Japan Blood Stain Child - Freedom
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unblind 3 Jan 2009, 15:10
a few that spring to mind

doom:vs - dead words speak
bloodbath - the fathomless mastery
opeth - watershed
swallow the sun - plague of butterflies
tiamat - amanethes
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dejx 3 Jan 2009, 15:11
agree with crap of the year :D
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Deactivated6096 3 Jan 2009, 15:13
best demo is hypothermia - kaffe & blod


also worth mentioning:

hypothermia - gråtoner
mgla - groza
coldworld - melancholie²
lifelover - konkurs
kataklysm - prevail (wasn't really that good, but better than half the crap that was released this year)
nyktalgia - peisithanatos
kalmah - for the revolution
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over_ 3 Jan 2009, 15:14
actually, you could just put all of that into crap of the year.
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smu 3 Jan 2009, 15:16
Netherlands Legion of the damned - cult of the dead
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mana 3 Jan 2009, 15:23
wheres FranceGojira - The Way Of All Flesh ? :o
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rhoc 3 Jan 2009, 16:51
totally agreed!
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Mayzzee 3 Jan 2009, 15:25
no mnemic?
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teente 3 Jan 2009, 15:26
tbh 2008 was quite a poor year for metal releases... most of them just didnt fill my expectations, or were simply not good at all. Just to mention some that either were good, or dissapointment:

amon amarth - thunder of the twilight god - after epic wooos this was rather a dissapointment
cult of luna - eternal kingdom - after salvation and sath, another let down (but ye, some tracks are rly good)
funeral - as the light does the shadow - epic fail, tho has one of the best songs of this year in it - in the fathoms of wit and reason
gojira - the way of all flesh - the last tracks just couldnt save it :(
grand magus - iron will - pretty good
isole - bliss of solitude - definitely a nice surprise, really good album
mar de grises - draining the waterheart - pretty good album
norther - N - even moar epic fail than the previous :D
septic flesh - communion - better than expected
swallow the sun - plague of butterflies - rly good

thats pretty much it, the rest just delivered what was expected
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HellHammer 3 Jan 2009, 15:40
amon amarth is amon amarth, you need to see them live tbh :D
eternal kingdom had only 1 good track, and if i want sludge i listen to isis :D
the new funeral was utter shit after from these wounds which was easily my favourite ever funeral doom album
plague of butterflies had me yawning through all the album, their songs didnt touch me like "hope" did
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teente 3 Jan 2009, 16:25
1) cant rly say anything about them live, i dont say it was a bad album, it was definitely good, but wooos was awesome
2) ye, i exaggerated it "some" shouldve written like "a few", + its often only a part of the song that is rly good
3) +1, but Lowe's appearance in the fathoms of wit and reason and the feeling of the song were just epic compared to the rest of the album (oh man, i want a new candlemass or solitude aeturnus album)
4) well, it was good for me, sure Hope is a better album, but this one delivered and definitely was one of the better albums this year
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crook 3 Jan 2009, 15:41
i loved the new amon amarth album tbh
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Nonix 3 Jan 2009, 15:28
i dont know any of them:-/
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crook 3 Jan 2009, 15:40
PRIMORDIAL TO THE NAMELESS DEAD.... ow wait, 2007 :(
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HellHammer 3 Jan 2009, 15:45
Best band ever for me :))
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crook 3 Jan 2009, 15:48
Agreed :D
Most other music sounds plain after listening to some primordial songs

Nice list btw
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Deann 3 Jan 2009, 15:45
The new Volbeat album is pretty nice, though I dunno if ur into that sort of stuff :)

And Death Magnetic wasn't as good as ppl expected, though I don't think it deserves the words *crap of the year*. But as you said, "imho".
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HellHammer 3 Jan 2009, 15:48
well calling it "crap of the year" might have been a bit harsh, but after listening to the band saying it is "a return to the roots" or "this is like kill em all"... what can i say :)
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Deann 3 Jan 2009, 15:55
Agreed, it's nothing like that. My only point was that it isn't a second St. Anger either :)
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mana 3 Jan 2009, 16:02
need link to somewhere i can see where someone of the band has say its like Kill em All.

Thou i didnt like Death Magnetic, i could not say that its crap of the year. imo its huge improvement compared to st. anger. name as big as metallica will always disappoint people when they release new album, because they just cant reach what they had when making 3 first album.
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HellHammer 3 Jan 2009, 16:06
Someone showed it to me @ Metal Hammer magazine, I think it was in an interview with them before Death Magnetic was released.
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mana 3 Jan 2009, 16:15
just readed an interview from the So What! magazine, and they were asked if you'd had to compare Death Magnetic to one of your previous album, what would it be? they said that its not so close to any of theyr previous albums, but if they had to pick one, theyd say ...And Justice For All. and i, this is just my opinion of course, can find many things familiar with AJFA.

But always when it comes to music its everyones own opinion :)
sorry for crappy english :D
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Frop 3 Jan 2009, 15:46
Virus - The Black Flux, absolute masterpiece.
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cRz 3 Jan 2009, 16:00
in flames, disturbed ?
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infect 3 Jan 2009, 16:01
ALL BULLSHIT
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WSFGeneralz 3 Jan 2009, 16:02
all hope is gone
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trigerek 3 Jan 2009, 16:17
Fucking please
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Thomm 3 Jan 2009, 17:15
Disappointment of the year 2008, when compared to older albums...
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eulee 3 Jan 2009, 16:18
Finland Kalmah - For the Revolution?
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trigerek 3 Jan 2009, 16:19
At The Arena ov Aion - Live Apostasy
by behemoth

love it \m/
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sAm. 3 Jan 2009, 16:36
It sucks donkey balls ;x
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Gero 3 Jan 2009, 16:42
image: Metal%20Bar%20RL-B003

Here you have some metal
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Thomm 3 Jan 2009, 17:14
I am not so much into that folk/viking/ stuff. FEAR OF THE LARP! Only heard few of them and didn´t like.

I enjoyed listening Diablo´s new, Triviums new was nice for few plays. Can´t remember any awesome new stuff. Except Heaven Shall Burn, but that was new only for me. Blabber blabber.

Nice looking list anyway, maybe someone will get something out of it.
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duumed 3 Jan 2009, 17:28
Good list, although I'd place Draugnim and Equilibrium a bit higher. Other good releases:

Finland Catamenia - VIII: The Time Unchained
Sweden Draconian - Turning Season Within
Belgium Pantheist - Journey Through Lands Unknown'
Finland Shade Empire - Zero Nexus
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Mulukkv 3 Jan 2009, 17:43
Shade empire +1, Mutta vanha levy > *
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Maikhol 3 Jan 2009, 17:59
Meshuggah?at the gates?in flames?decapitated?the haunted?Rotten sound?soilwork?keep of kalessin and ofc Hypocrisy
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Deactivated6096 3 Jan 2009, 18:12
at the gates haven't released a new album for 13 years already?
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RedoX 3 Jan 2009, 18:03
metal sux
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Maikhol 3 Jan 2009, 18:39
at the gates members are now in the haunted
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BlackJack 3 Jan 2009, 19:23
In Flames - Cloud Connected (Remix)
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Trevize 3 Jan 2009, 19:54
mentally challenged 17-18 years old kids and around 30 years old black fashioned guys with a baseball hat but without a wife. thats metal.
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0V1E 3 Jan 2009, 20:02
thats just, sad....
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