#7 Sometimes the World Ain’t Enough by The Night Flight Orchestra
While technically not metal, The Night Flight Orchestra harness plenty of metallic elements on their newest offerings, blending the bombast of 80’s arena music with the soulful power of 70’s classic rock and adding a dash of progginess. The band is composed of several metal veterans, most notably Soilwork frontman Bjorn Strid, who demonstrates range and soul not even hinted at while performing with his main band. In fact it’s safe to say Strid’s powerful and emotive voice is the highlight here, though there are many other great aspects that compete for the honor, including the highly polished songwriting and the warm organic production quality. This is an album that begs to be heard surrounded by flashing stage lights and the haze from fog machines, but absent that, try it with some brandy and a cigar. Sometimes that really is enough, even if the world ain’t.
#6 Perdition by Irish Moutarde
Breaking with my tradition, I’ve included a second non-metal album on this list. I’m just enjoying the unique blend of punk rock and Irish folk music that these Québécois have created too much to leave them out. The combination of the electric guitar, banjo, and bagpipes is flawlessly executed, and when combined with boundless punk energy it makes for a great ride, especially on the faster paced songs like “Terre Rouge” (one of my favorite songs of 2018). The highlight here is definitely the banjo, which sits very high in the mix and just sounds incredible. Banjo is a naturally high energy instrument, and it blends perfectly with the punk rock aesthetic, doubly so when supported by the power of the guitar and the primal and savage atmosphere provided by the pipes. Prepare your tapping foot for plenty of action; Perdition is guaranteed to get your jig on!
#5 Conqueror’s Oath by Visigoth
Though it shocked the metal world by being voted album of the year on Metal Archives, Conqueror's Oath is ironically a slight step down in quality from the band’s debut album. That said, it’s still a great big beast of a recording and deserves most of the praise it gets. What it lacks in consistency, it more than makes up for with extremely high points, most notably on “Traitor’s Gate,” which is not only the best song of the year, but easily one of the best songs this decade. Frontman Jake Rogers sounds like a beefier version of Zachary Stevens as he rampages and bellows across eight tracks of classic doom-influenced heavy metal glory; his apex moment coming with a monstrous and impassioned performance on the aforementioned standout track. Raise your drinking horns to Visigoth, because they are a young band showing they are here to stay and are intent on conquering the metal world by fire and the sword.
#4 Astral Necromancy by Hoth
With a perfect blend of aggression and melody, Hoth’s third full length delivers quite an icy punch. As mesmerizing and beautiful as the aurora borealis, Astral Necromancy never for a moment loses your attention thanks to an unending string of breathtaking tremolo riffs, firebreathing lead work, and some of the catchiest songwriting that black metal has ever seen. Wrap that all up in a flawless production job and you have a real wampa of an album. Forget saving Luke Skywalker; venture out past the fourth marker to experience this polar vortex in its full frostbitten glory.
#3 The Last Emperor by Judicator
I don’t know what exactly is going on in Utah, but somehow the land of Mormons has produced two of the five best albums this year (Visigoth are also from Utah). On the surface, The Last Emperor doesn’t offer much of interest. The galloping riffs vaguely sound like Iced Earth or Blind Guardian, but the vocals of frontman John Yelland often sound like they are straining to match the power of the guitar, unlike the beastly vocalists of those bands. And yet...there is an indescribable power to this music. Despite his shortcomings, Yelland is surprisingly charismatic and his range is undeniably impressive. But the real magic lies in the lyrics. Recounting the tale of the First Crusade, the most epic (and least depressing) of all the crusades, Judicator delve into source material that is rich with individual heroism, human suffering, triumph against all odds, divine intercession, massive military clashes, and a sense of grand and sweeping historical and geographical scale. Judicator take the essence of their inspiration and distill it down into a pure metal form. Sure, I could rave about killer riffs, high energy, catchy choruses, or Hansi Kürcsch’s spine-tingling guest spot, but the real charm of this album goes far beyond any technical musical element and deep into the realm of the holy. Take up your cross and strike out for the east because Judicator are on a crusade to bring metal to the heathens of the world, and they won’t stop until Jerusalem is safe again.
#2 Jord by Panphage
If it is possible for an album to transport you to a time and place that you’ve never been and yet feel every detail of that locality, Jord is that album. I’ve never been to a Germanic heathen ritual in the mountains of 9th century Sweden, but when listening to this album I am there and can experience everything; smell the pine, feel the crunch of snow under my fur-lined boots, see the glint of moonlight on my fellow Norseman’s axe, hear the crackle of the fire, and taste the mead on my lips. Only a very powerful piece of music can do that. A one man project by a man known only as Fjällbrandt, Panphage’s magic lies mostly in the rhythm section, where an unending, blistering stream of tremolo picked notes and blast beats hypnotize you into being transported to that alien yet familiar locale. And yet the album avoids getting lost in atmosphere completely, as the riffs are catchy, headbangable, creative, and exploding with energy; Fjällbrandt’s bark is savage and distinct; and the songs stick in your brain long after the chill of that Scandinavian winter night has subsided.
#1 Back to the Sea by Dagon
I can’t decide what is the most remarkable fact about this album being #1 of the year: A) It is a melodeath album, a genre that has been devoid of interesting ideas for well over a decade now, B) Dagon continue to find inspiration for top notch songwriting in exclusively ocean-based thematic elements, C) It’s also been nearly a decade since this band released an album, 2009’s bone-shattering Terraphobic, or D) That these guys took nine years off and came back without losing a single iota of their magic. Seriously, this is an absolute kraken of an album. Highlighted by Jordan Batterbee’s creative and high energy drum patterns, and seven seas worth of riffs, solos, tempo changes, breakdowns (ones that actually sound amazing), and catchy choruses, Dagon have captured lightning in the bottle twice now with their second masterpiece album in a row. This album is more powerful and savage than a perfect storm and more enticing than a siren’s call. Return back to the sea and surrender to the mighty power of Dagon, masters of ocean metal!
So there you have it, the best albums of 2018. But even though I didn’t write about them, there was a number of other really good album that came out. So I’ll end with giving you an honorable mention list in no particular order. Keep it metal, brothers and sisters.
Honorable mentions
- To Cross the Line by Decaying
- The Sound of Steel by Exmortus
- Wanderschaft by Alphayn
- Queen of Time by Amorphis
- Palo by Kalmah
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