My Top Albums for 2008

Okay, let me start this list by saying that 2008 was one of the best years for music that I've ever seen. I had an incredibly hard time picking the albums that would be cut from this list. There are a number of albums that could have made this list, and I'm very sorry that I couldn't put them all on here.

As it is, I had to expand my list this year to a Top 15. The reason for this is because 10th place on the list is basically a six-way tie. I'm also listing ten honorable mentions, which is much more than usual. Those are just two of the signs of how good this year in music was.

With that said, I now give you - My Top 15 Albums for 2008!

15. Twilight of the Thunder God by Amon Amarth


Recommended Songs:
#1 Twilight of the Thunder God
#2 Free Will Sacrifice
#7 No Fear for the Setting Sun
#9 Live for the Kill

14. The American Dream by Walls of Jericho


Recommended Songs:
#3 The American Dream
#4 Feeding Frenzy
#6 Famous Last Words
#10 Standing on Paper Stilts

13. Architect of Lies by Mercenary


Recommended Songs:
#1 New Desire
#2 Bloodsong
#3 Embrace the Nothing
#8 Execution Style

12. The Premonition by Firewind


Recommended Songs:
#1 Into the Fire
#2 Head Up High
#4 Angels Forgive Me
#5 Remembered

11. Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder by Cradle of Filth


Recommended Songs:
#2 Shat Out of Hell
#4 The 13th Caesar
#8 Honey and Sulphur
#12 Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder

10. The Incurable Tragedy by Into Eternity


Recommended Songs:
#2 Tides of Blood
#5 Diagnosis Terminal
#10 A Black Light Ending
#11 One Funeral Hymn for the Three

9. N by Norther


Recommended Songs:
#1 My Antichrist
#2 Frozen Angel
#4 To Hell
#7 We Rock

8. Total Brutal by Austrian Death Machine


Recommended Songs:
#2 Get to the Choppa
#13 Screw You (Benny)
#15 If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It
#16 It's Not a Tumor

7. The Cancer Empire by Zonaria


Recommended Songs:
#1 Slaughter is Passion
#2 Praise the Eradication
#4 Contra Mundum
#7 From the Abysmal Womb

6. Iconoclast (Part 1: The Final Resistance) by Heaven Shall Burn


Recommended Songs:
#2 Endzeit
#4 Murderers of All Murderers
#9 Black Tears
#10 The Bombs of My Saviours

5. Stormchaser by Light This City


Recommended Songs:
#3 The Anhedonia Epidemic
#4 Beginning With Release
#5 Firehaven
#6 The Collector. Part 1: Muse

4. Watershed by Opeth


Recommended Songs:
#2 Heir Apparent
#3 The Lotus Eater
#6 Hessian Peel
#7 Hex Omega

3. The March by Unearth


Recommended Songs:
#1 My Will Be Done
#2 Hail the Shrine
#3 Crow Killer
#4 Grave of Opportunity

2. For the Revolution by Kalmah


Recommended Songs:
#1 For the Revolution
#3 Holy Symphony of War
#6 Towards the Sky
#7 Outremer

1. Holographic Universe by Scar Symmetry


Recommended Songs:
#3 Quantumleaper
#6 Ghost Prototype I (Measurement of Thought)
#8 Trapezoid
#9 Prism and Gate


Honorable Mentions:
Blooddrunk by Children of Bodom
obZen by Meshuggah
Love and Other Disasters by Sonic Syndicate
Indestructible by Disturbed
Armamentarium by Neaera
The Formation of Damnation by Testament
Murder the Dance by Bleed the Sky
The Way of All Flesh by Gojira
Oblivion Beckons by Byzantine
Kolossus by Keep of Kalessin

Complete Amazement

Have any of you ever listened to an album from start to finish, and then listened to it again just because it was so amazing that you needed a second listen just to comprehend it all? I'm sure that there are a few albums that have affected you in some sort of similar fashion. I usually encounter an album like that every few years. The last one was Storm the Gates of Hell by Demon Hunter. After that album arrived last fall, I didn't expect another album to come along and stun me like that for a long time.

Well, I was wrong, it seems.

When I first put Holographic Universe by Scar Symmetry into my stereo, I was expecting a really good album. What I got was the best melodic death metal album I have heard since In Flames' Colony. I was, to put it frankly, blown away by the caliber of this album. Every single song, from "Morphogenesis" all the way to "Ghost Prototype II (Deus Ex Machina)," is pure, 100% quality. Not one song disappoints in any way.

The key to this album, in my opinion, is the new ground Scar Symmetry covers with their music. The melodies soar even higher, the solos shred more, and the symphonic elements are much more pronounced. In terms of musical evolution, Holographic Universe surpasses Scar Symmetry's previous two albums, Pitch Black Progress and Symmetric in Design, by a huge margin. This is a band that has perfected its sound to the greatest possible degree.

Any fan of melodic death metal needs to go get Holographic Universe by Scar Symmetry right now. You will not be disappointed, I guarantee you.