Vanishing Point's 2014 album Distant is the Sun was seven years in the making and well worth the wait. This is the first of two Aussie metal albums in this top 10. It's nothing new or original, but The Fateful Dark is a top-notch album and my biggest surprise of the year.įinally, we've reached the top 10.drum roll please. Fierce, guitar driven songs that is catchy and powerful. They remind me a few bands and the lads were recently awarded a grant from the British government, as part of the Music Export Growth Scheme. A great natured blend of aggressive power metal with thrash and traditional metal thrown in and you have Savage Messiah. Savage who you're asking? Hey, if you haven't heard of this UK thrash/power metal band yet, then you don't know what you're missing. The debut album was nothing short of excellent and bettered Cavalera's own band he shares with his brother Igor, Cavalera Conspiracy and their 2014 released later in the year.Īnd now, the album came in at #11 and. Lastly, Max Cavalera teamed up with some big names in the music business to form Killer Be Killed. Gamma Ray were their usual solid self with their 2014 album, while Stormwarrior continued their trend of releasing top Viking-related European power metal albums with Thunder & Steele. While some may have forgotten Iced Earth's latest album, as it came very early in January, Jon Schaffer and co released a great CD that surpassed Dystopia and surprised many. Epica and Xandria continue to produce great albums and after a four year absence, Triosphere return with another quality release. Aussie band Voyager had an excellent album with V, and will continue making long strides overseas as they deserve. It was good to see Warrel Dane back in the metal scene after the demise of Nevermore bringing back his original band Sanctuary. #16: Triosphere – The Heart of the Matter A lot of different influences puts this creative and emotional album into the "cannot classify" box, yet probably the second biggest surprise of the year. Quiescence is their debut and the album is a refreshing breath of air in the metal scene. A big surprise for me with this group of albums is the one by Shores of Null. While they are not fully back to glory yet, (r)Evolution is a big step towards that goal. All these bands you see released solid albums in 2014 and it was good to see Hammerfall back in the winner's circle after a few uninspired and tired albums. If my list extended beyond the top 10, from #21 onwards then these are where the above albums would sit. Vanden Plas – Chronicles of the Immortals- Netherworld (Path 1) Honourable Mentions (in no particular order) Apologies also go out to Sister Sin, Axenstar, Riot V and a few others, as I never got to hear their 2014 albums before writing this top 10. So here is my Top, which will also include some apologies, some honourable mentions, the top 20-16, the 15-12, and finally a segment I like to call "missed out by that much".Īpologies will go to any power metal release that came out in mid-late December, possibly the new Pythia album and the new Angra album, as I wouldn't have been able to hear it before the finalising and posting of this list. Overall, it was a great year for metal in general, one that everyone would agree to, with many highlights. And what a year too, releases from some of my favourite bands (Gamma Ray, Primal Fear and Iron Savior just to name a few), from January right through to December. Yes I also love my symphonic, gothic and traditional metal genres too, with a touch of thrash and other sub-genres but it was for me at least the year of the power metal. Maybe though, it felt like a lot when considering that there were so many excellent albums being released, rather than just a few absolute killers amongst the so-so/good majority that occurred a year or two ago.Īs a metal fan that prefers the power metal genre over everything else, 2014 was a superb year for me personally, with brilliant power metal releases coming out all year long. I've never seen so many churned out week after week. Someone mentioned that 2014 was a massive year for heavy metal releases. Staff Picks of 2014 A List by Sean Dudley