Top 20 Albums of 2010

Yes, it's that time again. The end of the year is upon us, which means it's time to roll out what albums made this year amazing for me. However, there are some people that have pointed out something about my past year-end lists, so let me make a quick disclaimer before I start this shindig:

I listen to a LOT of music. I have a 160 GB iPod that is maxed out with music, and I intend to get another one in the future and max it out as well. My music is my life. That said, I did not get to every album that was released this year in the rock and metal world. In fact, I didn't get to nearly as many as I wanted. I will listen to the albums I missed in the future though. At that time, if I determine that one of those albums is good enough, I will adjust my rankings to accommodate it. Thus, this list may change in the future. If you are not okay with that, I am sorry, but they are my rankings, not yours. I do my best to remain consistent, but that isn't always possible. Unlike last year, when my choices were extremely clear-cut for me, I spent hours agonizing over this list, trying to find a way to order it and decide which albums meant the most to me. It's been reordered and reconsidered more times than I can remember, and as I said, the chance exists that it will be redone again in the future. About the only thing I can promise is that my top three will always stay the same. For everything beyond that, I'm standing by the order that I have listed here for the foreseeable future.

Now that that's out of the way, we can move on to the list itself. As I just stated, I listened to significantly less music this year than I did last year. There are multiple things that factored into that, most of them having to do with the fact that I actually write about the music I listen to now instead of just listening. Either way, if you remember last year's top 200 list and were hoping for something similar, I must unfortunately (unfortunate for me, at least) announce that I will not be reaching that milestone. Hell, I have a long way to go before I get to even half of that. However, to make up for that fact and my lack of reviews for several weeks, I will give you an extended best-of list for this year.

Album Review: "The World is a Thorn" by Demon Hunter

Demon Hunter is one of the most stalwart bands in the modern metal scene, a model of perseverance in the face of adversity. This is a band with only two of its founding members left in the lineup, and all members, new and old, are involved in other projects, be they other bands, businesses, or jobs within the music industry. Thus, fans are lucky to see Demon Hunter tour once a year, if that much. However, despite their other commitments, the band manages to release albums on a consistent basis no matter what, and on top of that, each album they release expands on their previous work, making it stronger and more original. The World is a Thorn is no exception. On this, their fifth album, Demon Hunter have managed to top 2007's beyond-excellent Storm the Gates of Hell and set themselves well above their peers in the metalcore scene once again.

Yes, this is an absolute necessity

Okay, so as many of you know, I am a huge fan of Demon Hunter. What some of you may not know is that, in the three years that I have been a fan of theirs, I have never seen them live. What still less of you probably know is that, in that three year period, they have only participated in two US tours, and on both of those tours, the closest they've ever come to me is Philly.

Now, I have been watching the clips that the band has been posting on MTV from their forthcoming DVD, "45 Days," and after seeing these clips, I have come to this conclusion: I absolutely, positively, unequivocably, HAVE to see Demon Hunter live at least once. There is no debate about this. If, for some reason, I am never able to see them live, or even worse, they break up before I can see them live, I will regret it for my entire life, I promise you that.

The corollary to this conclusion is that, the next time they tour, I am going to see them, and I don't care what I have to do to get to see them. If I have to drive two hours to Philly to see them, I will. If I have to drive three hours to Baltimore, I will. If I have to drive five hours to Buffalo, I will. Bottom line - I am going to see them live on the next tour, and that is a promise.

If you're interested in helping me attend whatever show I go to, or if you are just interested in also going to the show, please inform me. Help and support are always appreciated.

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.