the-best-metal-of-2015

The Best Metal of 2015

In a year rife with division, one band brought metal fans worldwide together like no other.

Much has been made of heavy metal’s diversity, especially over the last 15 years during which the breadth of the genre has far exceeded what was once perceived as “metal” 30 years ago. With expansion, however, comes division, and with each passing year it feels like metal is being divided between different audiences who want different things from their heavy music. Underground fans want to keep their music insular. Mainstream fans like the status quo. Traditionalists prefer metal to be more song-oriented than technically proficient. Prog-oriented audiences love the increasing technicality of extreme metal. Others like it when metal bands venture outside the genre for inspiration. Some want theatricality, some would rather see bands perform in street clothes. What was considered heavy metal 30 years ago might not be what a teenager considers to be heavy metal at all. Escapism versus catharsis. Cartoonish rubber masks versus kvlt corpse-paint (both are wonderful contrivances, come on, people!). Decibel, Revolver, Chips & Beer. Great variety, yes, but often little common ground.

Which makes this year’s list of the ten best metal albums all the more fun. In fact, it’s a very good reflection of that variety metal brings. There’s something for everyone here, from extreme, to melodic, to underground, to progressive, to traditionalist. Best of all, though, in a year where few people could agree on anything that was released, along came the greatest band in heavy metal history to bring the entire heavy metal world together with a late-career masterpiece.

So on behalf of fellow contributors Jeremy Ulrey, Chris Conaton, Jedd Beaudoin, Brice Ezell, and Dean Brown, who all provided their own unique perspectives in the making of this year-end list, I hope you enjoy. And of course, Up the Irons. Forever and ever. — Adrien Begrand

 

Artist: Ghost

Album: Meliora

Label: Loma Vista

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/reviews_art/g/ghost-album-2015-300×3001.jpg

Display as: List

List Number: 10

Display Width: 200

Ghost
Meliora

Ghost remain one of the rarest of heavy acts: interested in high concepts, disinterested in comic book Satanism and other brooding shenanigans, the band continues to pen memorable melodies that deliver dark news. The music sometimes throws hints of a heavier, darker Fairport Convention despite dwelling in the house that Sabbath and Purple built. The opening “Spirit”, the heavy, heavy “Mummy Dust”, the remarkable complex “Cirice”, and “Deus in Absentia” are among the highest of the highlights but “Absolution” ain’t bad either. Ghost offer us the perfect blend of classic heavy elements tempered by the knowledge that we’ve seen it all before but still can’t wait to watch. — Jedd Beaudoin

 

Artist: High on Fire

Album: Luminiferous

Label: Entertainment One

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/d/d8add87f.jpg

Display as: List

List Number: 9

Display Width: 200

High on Fire
Luminiferous

Matt Pike and the mighty High on Fire returned leaner — literally and figuratively — and a hell of a lot meaner on their seventh album, and from the opening salvos of “The Black Plot” onward, the band feels re-energized. They’ve never been lacking in intensity, but that rampaging volatility, so masterfully harnessed by producer Kurt Ballou, is offset by some of Pike’s catchiest riffs in a very long time. High on Fire are at their best when Pike’s classic metal inclinations are allowed to rise to the surface, and whether it’s the simple swagger of “Carcosa”, his wonderful, nonsensical hesher poetry, or his authoritative, shredding solos, the man is firing on all cylinders here. It’s the finest High on Fire record since Blessed Black Wings. — Adrien Begrand

 

Artist: Royal Thunder

Album: Crooked Doors

Label: Relapse

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/reviews_art/r/royal-thunder-album-2015-200×200.jpg

Display as: List

List Number: 8

Display Width: 200

Royal Thunder
Crooked Doors

Royal Thunder’s third album was created under unusual circumstances: in the wake of the dissolution of the relationship between bassist/singer Mel Parsonz and guitarist Josh Weaver. The result is an astounding album rife with passion, tension, and sadness, even if you don’t know the backstory. That said, the back story plays an integral part, as Parsonz pours her soul onto her lyric pages unflinchingly and eloquently, with Weaver adding emotion with his own voice: his guitar. So what you have is a remarkable continual exchange between the two, Parsonz crying in pain, Weaver’s solos wailing away, sometimes simultaneously. Because the guitars aren’t riff-oriented but textural, there’s been some debate about whether Crooked Doors is metal or hard rock, but considering the emotional power and force of the album, which is so foreign to heavy metal, its heaviness is undeniable. — Adrien Begrand

 

Artist: VHÖL

Album: Deeper Than Sky

Label: Profound Lore

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/blog_art/v/vhol-album-2015-200×200.jpg

Display as: List

List Number: 7

Display Width: 200

VHÖL
Deeper Than Sky

Following up a promising debut that hinted at very big things to come, the West Coast indie supergroup realized some of that potential on Deeper Than Sky. Featuring guitarist John Cobbett and bassist Sigrid Sheie (both of Hammers of Misfortune), guitarist Mike Scheidt (YOB), and drummer Aesop Dekker (Agalloch) the foursome achieve a psychotic but oddly cohesive blend of classic 1970s heavy metal, ’80s thrash, and progressive hard rock that is truly unlike anything that ever came out in 2015. As much as it is a marvel how the band is able to stop on a dime and shift from passage to varying passage — the 12-minute title track is a perfect example — Cobbett ties it all together thanks to melodic riffs and expressive solos. From the deranged d-beat piano tune “Paino” to the godly “The Desolate Damned”, one of the finest metal tracks of 2015, VHÖL have fun all the while, and what you hear is the glorious product of such wonderful chemistry. — Adrien Begrand

 

Artist: Napalm Death

Album: Apex Predator — Easy Meat

Label: Century Media

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/reviews_art/n/napalm-death-album-2015-200×200.jpg

Display as: List

List Number: 6

Display Width: 200

Napalm Death
Apex Predator — Easy Meat

As hard as it seems to believe in 2015, back in the late ’90s Napalm Death had a bit of a hit-or-miss reputation. In short, they tended to retool their sound fairly radically from one album to the next, to the extent that even the most open-minded of their fans had a hard time engaging in all of it. Then, in late 2000, Enemy of the Music Business happened. That blistering assault on the recording industry reached back to the band’s beloved grindcore roots out of sheer necessity, and Napalm Death haven’t looked back since. Apex Predator -– Easy Meat arguably outpaces even the aforementioned Enemy of the Music Business in sheer ferocity, but tunes like the title track and “Hierarchies” demonstrate a band still comfortable in their own skin when it comes to experimentation. Apex Predator strikes an almost utopian balance between giving fans what they want and dropping jaws with renewed expectations at the same time. — Jeremy Ulrey

5 – 1

Artist: Faith No More

Album: Sol Invictus

Label: Ipecac

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/s/sol_invictus.jpg

Display as: List

List Number: 5

Display Width: 200

Faith No More
Sol Invictus

We’ve reached the end of the year and we’re past all of the recaps of Faith No More’s career, reviews of their triumphant North American tour shows, and reminders that they were at least partially responsible for rap-metal and bridging the gap between alternative rock and heavy metal. What we’re left with is Sol Invictus, a comeback with remarkably little rust on it for the band’s first album of the 21st century. Faith No More sound just like they always have, which is to say heavy and catchy in equal measure and seasoned with an appealing contrariness. Lead single “Motherfucker” showed that spirit is alive and well by letting keyboardist Roddy Bottum take lead vocals, relegating all-world vocalist Mike Patton to the chorus. But what a chorus it is, and Jon Hudson’s triumphant guitar hero solo, all 15 seconds of it, just soars over the song. “Superhero” thrashes along before hitting the singalong chorus and melodic bridge, but then abandons those bits to spend its back half jamming out with the song’s creepy piano riff as its anchor. “Cone of Shame” puts Hudson’s sparse, gothic guitar riff front and center and then lets Patton loose to be as unsettling as possible before the rest of the band finally kicks in. The band even shakes off the dour mood of the rest of the record to close out on the upbeat, acoustic guitar and harmony-laden “From the Dead”, which seems to teasingly celebrate the band’s own return. — Chris Conaton

 

Artist: Tribulation

Album: The Children of the Night

Label: Century Media

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/reviews_art/t/tribulation-album-2015-200×200.jpg

Display as: List

List Number: 4

Display Width: 200

Tribulation
The Children of the Night

Tribulation jumped the ranks this year to the big leagues, with Century Media’s wide release of The Children of the Night ensuring the band enough active ears to potentially reinvigorate a mostly underground fan base. The Swedish quartet seized the day here, crafting a mini-masterpiece that’s both gripping in its immediacy as well as quietly ambitious, the unfussy arrangements belying a genuine sense of ambition made all the more alluring by its lack of pretension. The Children of the Night didn’t loudly announce its presence but rather gradually ingratiated itself over time as one of the top releases of the year, a combination of critical lauding and fan-based word of mouth combining to cement Tribulation as one of 2015’s biggest surprises. — Jeremy Ulrey

 

Artist: Between the Buried and Me

Album: Coma Ecliptic

Label: Metal Blade

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/9/91mbae27iyl__sl1500_.jpg

Display as: List

List Number: 3

Display Width: 200

Between the Buried and Me
Coma Ecliptic

Four albums into their reinvention as a full-on progressive metal outfit, Between the Buried and Me have created a record that perfectly balances their metal and progressive sides. Coma Ecliptic is more focused on melody than ever before, letting Tommy Rogers use his singing voice in new and interesting ways without abandoning the metalcore screams that previously dominated the band’s sound. We’ve heard soaring melodies from Rogers before, but his snarling, scuzzy M. Shadows meets Gerard Way performance (and its accompanying metal on Broadway music) on “The Ectopic Stroll” feels completely new. The complex, technical side of the band is present, as always, but here it feels like they’ve found a way to integrate their disparate, genre-bending ideas into complete thoughts. Even Coma Ecliptic’s longest song, the ten-minute “Memory Palace” has a conceptual and songwriting backbone that makes it cohere better than many of the band’s previous epic length tracks (which often sound like collections of great ideas strung loosely together). Detours like the pulsing electronics of “Dim Ignition” and the doomy low piano and acoustic guitar intro of “Turn on the Darkness” keep the album’s curveballs coming while the solid bed of thundering riffs and fiery leads that have been the band’s stock in trade for the past decade keep it grounded. — Chris Conaton

 

Artist: Deafheaven

Album: New Bermuda

Label: Anti

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/reviews_art/d/deafheaven-album-2015-200×200.jpg

Display as: List

List Number: 2

Display Width: 200

Deafheaven
New Bermuda

With New Bermuda, Deafheaven continued to refine their sound, expanding their sonic palette while continuing to pound out the blastbeats, heavy riffs, and throat-shredding vocals. But since they are the latest band to break out of the metal scene and into the music nerd fandom at large, they also continued to be one of the genre’s most divisive acts. Metal’s decades of built-up insularity seem to make the core fanbase suspicious when a band catches on with non-metal fans. So Deafheaven have to absorb everything from accusations of unoriginality (we know Alcest did it first), bitching about how they aren’t true metal, and even criticisms of their haircuts (yes, really). Still, New Bermuda is powerful stuff. The five tracks here find guitarist Kerry McCoy pushing the band even further into shoegaze and post-rock passages while still barreling through black metal sections that fit George Clarke’s howls perfectly. But the catchy guitar heroics of “Brought to the Water”, the thrashy opening riff in “Luna”, the pleasantly laid-back first three minutes of “Baby Blue”, and the delicate ending of “Come Back” provide contrasts that make the hard stuff hit harder. Closer “Gifts for the Earth” is the one that really tries something else, attempting to shoehorn Clarke into an upbeat rocker whose verses practically cry out for an actual singer. That doesn’t quite work, but what does work is the song’s two-minute piano-laden outro that sounds like Oasis circa 1996. “Hey, this black metal band sounds like Oasis for a couple minutes” may not be a selling point for everyone, but Deafheaven is taking big swings and connecting the vast majority of the time. — Chris Conaton

 

Artist: Iron Maiden

Album: The Book of Souls

Label: Sanctuary Copyrights/BMG

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/b/band011.jpg

Display as: List

List Number: 1

Display Width: 200

Iron Maiden
The Book of Souls

Many up-and-coming bands lucky enough to find themselves on year-end “best-of” lists do so by riding a wave of goodwill due in no small part to a lack of pre-existing expectations. It’s not that they don’t merit the honor, it’s just that they are afforded a less intense degree of scrutiny and second-guessing as their longer in the tooth peers. Iron Maiden represent the latter contingent: while themselves benefitting from over 30 years of built up goodwill – not to mention singer Bruce Dickinson’s victory over tongue cancer earlier this summer – Maiden have spent those same decades establishing a rather elite bar for themselves. Most recently this has not quite worked in their favor, as many fans felt their last studio album, 2010’s The Final Frontier, suffered from too much of a focus on musicianship and not enough on actual songwriting. This year’s The Book of Souls earned its spot on this list by giving us the best of both worlds: epic, lengthy instrumental workouts fused seamlessly with bottomless hooks and some of the band’s most heroic guitar playing in a history chock full of iconic axe work. This year’s finest, no qualifiers needed. — Jeremy Ulrey

Publish with PopMatters

PopMatters Seeks Book Critics and Essayists

Call for Papers: All Things Reconsidered – FILM Winter 2023-24

Call for Papers: All Things Reconsidered – MUSIC Winter 2023-24

Submit an Essay, Review, Interview, or List to PopMatters

PopMatters Seeks Music Writers