*The Best Albums of 2015* - Post your favorites

I hadn't heard Devils Train before.  Me likey!

The King's List for 2015

1. Enforcer - From Above
2. Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
3. Wilson, Steve - Hand.Cannot.Erase
4. Anekdoten - Until the Ghosts are Gone
5. Morse, Neal - The Grand Experiment
6. Hatchet - Fear Beyond Lunacy
7. Beardfish - +4626 - Comfortzone
8. Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud
9. Disturbed - Immortalized
10.  Praying Mantis - Legacy

11. Ambush - Desecrator
12. Black Trip - Shadowline
13. Impellitteri - Venom  
14. ELO - Alone in the Universe
15. Ram - Svbversvm
16. Helloween - My God-Given Right
17. Richards, Keith - Crosseyed Heart
18. W.A.S.P.  - Golgatha
19. Leprous- The Congregation  
20. Tangent, The - A Spark in the Aether

21. Ghost Ship Octavius - Ghost Ship Octavius
22. No More Pain - The Post Human Condition
23. Eclipse - Armageddonize
24. Scanner - The Judgement
25. Kadaver - Berlin
26. Night Demon - Curse of the Damned
27. Guardians of Time - Rage and Fire
28. Queensryche - Condition Human
29. Agusa - Tva
30. Trixter - Human Era

Honorable Mention:
Pantommind - Searching for Eternity
Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror
Ensiferum One Man Army
Harmony Remembrance
Hollywood Vampires Hollywood Vampires
Immortal Souls Wintermetal
Korpiklaani Noita
Millenial Reign Millenial Reign
Quantum Fantay Dancing in Limbo
Riverside Love, Fear amd the Time Machine
Serious Black As Daylight Breaks
Signum Regis Chapter IV: The Reckoning
Waken Eyes Exodus
Worldview The Chosen Few
Stryper - Fallen
Wolfpakk - Rise of the Animal
Civil War - Gods and Generals
The Poodles- Devil in the Details
The Darkness  - Last of Our Kind
Nelson - Peace Out
Lonewolf - Cult of Steel
GX Project - Raze Some Hell

scottmitchell74 wrote:

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Dracula - Swing of Death (so catchy and melodic, with Jorn's voice in full effect)

Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror (Their best since NIME for me)

Diviner - Fallen Empires (What I think Dio could be putting out if he was born 30-40 years later)

Serious Black - As Daylight Breaks (Urban Breed just brings so much to anything he sings on)

Impellitteri - Venom (Two metal gods in one band! Here's hoping they continue to make it stick)

Gloryhammer - Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards (I like cheesy power metal, and they do it very well)

Stryper - Fallen


I've picked up others, but they are still being digested.

Had to make an amendment at #3:

Diviner - Fallen Empires  (Very good, and reminds me of a modern Dio)

New addition - forgot about Serious Black! (Thanks and good to see you, Exact!)

Here's my list in no particular order:

Black Trip - Shadowline
Visigoth - The Revenant King
Venom - From The Very Depths
Raven - Extermination
Armored Saint - Win Hands Down
Sorcerer - In The Shadow of the Inverted Cross
Satan - Atom By Atom
Saxon - Battering Ram
Ram - Svbversvm
Night Demon - Curse of the Damned
Enforcer - From Beyond
Motorhead - Bad Magic
Orchid - Sign of the Witch
Denner / Shermann - Satan's Tomb

My full best of article is here: http://themetalblogofmetal.blogspot.com/2016/01/see-me-burning.html

Stryper-Fallen
Queensryche-Condition Human
Armored Saint-Win Hands Down
Ugly Kid Joe-Uglier Than They Use Ta Be
Broken Teeth- Bulldozer

Fat Freddy wrote:

I didn't even buy enough 2015 releases to make a top 10, much less a top 15. So here's my Top 3:

Raven - ExtermiNation
Queensryche - Condition Human
Stryper - Fallen

Add Armored Saint's Win Hands Down and Motörhead's Bad Magic to this and there ya go, that's my Top 5.

1.         Dracula (Jorn-Holter) – Swing Of Death
 2.        Darkology – Fated to Burn
 3.        Symphony X – Underworld
 4.        Kamelot –  Haven
 5.        Europe – War Of Kings
 6.        Zieler -  ESC
 7.        Level Ten-  Chapter One
 8.        Queensryche - Condition Human
 9.        Final Sign - Hold High The Flame
10.       VooDoo Hill - Waterfall
..................................................................................
11.           Satan's Host  - Pre-Dating God 1&2
12.           Saxon - Battering Ram
13.           Serious Black -  As Daylight Breaks
14.           Denner/Shermann - Satan's Tomb (ep)
15.           UFO  - A Conspiracy Of Stars
16.           Red Zone Rider - Red Zone Rider

This year I've purchased:

Armageddon USA: Up in Flames (need to give it more listens, but my initial reaction is disappointment)
Armored Saint: Win Hands Down (solid with great vocals from Bush)
Blind Guardian: Beyond the Red Mirror (need to devote more time to this)
Grave Forsaken: The Fight Goes On (need to give it a proper listen, but what I've heard smokes)
Iron Maiden: The Book of Souls (need to digest it further, but I dig it)
Mortification: Realm of the Skeletaur (solid and enjoyable)
Nile: What Should Not Be Unearthed (needs a proper listen, but I dig it)
Stryper: Fallen (good but not quite at the level of NMHTP IMO)
Third Day: Lead Us Back: Songs of Worship (not bad but lacking some of their signature sound)
W.A.S.P.: Golgotha (love it)


My pick for number 1 is W.A.S.P.: Golgotha. Not sure how I'd rank them after this one. I'm still missing a few (such as Saxon) that could conceivably challenge W.A.S.P. for supremacy but for now Golgotha is my favorite album of 2015.

My list isn't in any real order, and there's not a lot of metal included, but that's just how the cookie crumbled this year.

The Tallest Man on Earth - Dark Bird is Home
Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
Chvrches - Every Open Eye
Panopticon - Autumn Eternal
King Crimson - Live at the Orpheum
Everything Everything - Get to Heaven
Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
Plini - The End of Everything (EP)
James Bay - The Chaos and the Calm
Laura Marling - Short Movie
Between the Buried and Me - Coma Ecliptic
Alabama Shakes - Sound and Color
Susanne Sundfor - Ten Love Songs


I was really disappointed with the new Tesseract album after how much I loved Altered State. And the new Faith No More sucked too.

I need to give some albums some more time before I consider them a favorite, though, like the new Joanna Newsom, Steven Wilson, and Deafheaven.

Was a great year for me,I could of added 10 more to this list easily.

1.Invocation Spells - Descendent the Black Throne
2.Bulldozing Bastard - Under the Ram
3.Ranger - Where Evil Dwells
4.Evil Madness - Bastards Get Rotten
5.Infernal Slaughter - Spilling Blood and Hate
6.Morbid Devastation - Ending up in grave (Demo)
7.Division Speed - Division Speed
8.Killer - Monsters of Rock
9.Invincible Force - Satan Rebellion Metal
10.Unholy Force - Embrace The Unholy Death

Here's my top list:

1- UDO decadent
2- Queensryche human condition
3- Enforcer from beyond
4- Stryper fallen
5-Saxon battering ram
6- Speedtrap straightforward shooter
7- WASP Golgotha
8- Armored Saint win hands down
9- Annihilator suicide society
10- Raven extermination

Wurthless wrote:

Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear

Thanks man! I was recommended this album by a work friend and by the time I got home I had forgotten the title. Will give it a listen 

MetallicSeminarian wrote:

This year I've purchased:

Armageddon USA: Up in Flames (need to give it more listens, but my initial reaction is disappointment)
Armored Saint: Win Hands Down (solid with great vocals from Bush)
Blind Guardian: Beyond the Red Mirror (need to devote more time to this)
Grave Forsaken: The Fight Goes On (need to give it a proper listen, but what I've heard smokes)
Iron Maiden: The Book of Souls (need to digest it further, but I dig it)
Mortification: Realm of the Skeletaur (solid and enjoyable)
Nile: What Should Not Be Unearthed (needs a proper listen, but I dig it)
Stryper: Fallen (good but not quite at the level of NMHTP IMO)
Third Day: Lead Us Back: Songs of Worship (not bad but lacking some of their signature sound)
W.A.S.P.: Golgotha (love it)


My pick for number 1 is W.A.S.P.: Golgotha. Not sure how I'd rank them after this one. I'm still missing a few (such as Saxon) that could conceivably challenge W.A.S.P. for supremacy but for now Golgotha is my favorite album of 2015.

I'm gonna change a bit and bump Grave Forsaken: The Fight Goes On to the #1 spot now that I've given it a good listen. I can't get enough of it. The whole record is chock full of killer hooks and riffs and it's a short album which I prefer for thrash. This album has kicked my butt  and deserves the top spot on my list.

Boris2008 wrote:

Wurthless wrote:

Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear

Thanks man! I was recommended this album by a work friend and by the time I got home I had forgotten the title. Will give it a listen 

Yeah it's a really nice album. The genres are fairly blurred too, I just expected some sparse indie folk-rock, seeing as Josh Tillman (Father John Misty himself) was the drummer in Fleet Foxes, but what's there is all over the board. At times it makes me think of Dark Side of the Moon, actually. There are elements of psychedelia, folk, pop, and rock music. And the lyrics are full of wit, humor, descriptions of love and some nice commentary on the american dream's shortcomings. It's not a perfect album by any means, but I found myself listening to it almost compulsively for a month or two. It's a good listen all the way through and it's good when it comes up in shuffle too.

Top 10 in alphabetical order:

Dew-Scented - Intermination
Dr. Living Dead! - Crush the Sublime Gods
Dr. Shrinker - Contorted Dioramic Palette
Feral - Where Dead Dreams Dwell
Grave - Out of Respect for the Dead
Malevolent Creation - Dead Man's Path
Motörhead - Bad Magic
Skeletal Remains - Condemned to Misery
Unleashed - Dawn of the Nine  
Viking - No Child Left Behind