The 20 Greatest Albums of 2015
Thanks 2015, you kicked ass....
4. Satan – Atom By Atom
Source // www.hrrshop.de
The NWOBHM proved as strong as ever in 2015 and Satan were at the forefront of the movement.
Furnished with exquisite riffs and the soaring vocals of the talismanic Brian Ross, Satan’s kingdom was a stronghold of modern yet classic heavy metal that was beyond shit hot, it was positively searing!
A stunning tour de force from a group of musicians who somehow, after 35+ years in the business, are operating at a level most bands can only dream of, while expectations for Atom By Atom were high, few could have expected an album of this calibre. With no weak tracks, no weak links and no end of highlights, 2015 belonged to Satan.
Ave Satana!
3. Saxon – Battering Ram
Source // hammer.kenspo.net
Saxon album number 21 battered down our doors in October and Biff and the boys delivered yet another classic slab of time-honoured heavy fuckin’ metal!
Beyond reliable, Saxon are now an institution and while Battering Ram may have reigned in some of the thrashier moments displayed on 2013’s Sacrifice, this album was still overflowing with the kind of pure, punchy and powerful heavy metal that Saxon deliver so well.
After 39 years, Saxon’s ferocious hunger and passion for their craft proved ever present and they remain proud standard bearers for the music we love; Battering Ram simply reaffirmed Saxon’s position as the best British heavy metal band in operation.
I think that “under the red cloud” from Amorphis should be on here. Or the new luca turilli album “Prometheus” or the new blind guardian ” beyond the red mirror”.
Good call on Amorphis Johan, Under The Red Cloud made the shortlist incidentally! Thanks for reading and commenting \m/
Clutch on pole position? Well done! Saxon just number three? Are you kidding? 😉 But hey, good work!
Number 3 is pretty high though right! 😉 Cheers Joshua, glad you liked the feature \m/
Nice to see Paradise Lost on the list. Awesome album, also fantastic to see Saxon at number 3. Well compiled.
Cheers Andrew, Paradise Lost’s The Plague Within was a cracking return to form (if you prefer their death/doom period of course). Battering Ram was just exceptional! \m/
Byzantine album “To Release Is To Resolve” should be on this list and in the top 10… otherwise very well done
Byzantine are a good shout Richard, thanks for reading and commenting \m/
if you love heavy metal, where’s iron maiden?
How dare you question my love for HEAVY METAL! 😉
Look, in my opinion (and that’s just my opinion) The Book Of Souls was average. I still love Iron Maiden (and heavy metal, obviously!), I just did not love The Book Of Souls.
How about some 2015 masterpieces like Iron Maiden’s Book of Souls, Slayer’s Repentless, Lamb of God’s Sturm und Drang, Kataklysm’s Of Ghosts and God… and the list goes on.
Hey Andy, the lack of Maiden is covered above, Relentless was in our 2015 Best of Thrash feature, the L.O.G & Kataklysm albums were great, just not better than the albums selected. As ever, selecting just 20 albums always means some fall foul of the cull, regardless of merit. Thanks for reading and commenting \m/
Awesome list, Andy! As always your articles are rich and great to read. The exclusion of My Dying Bride’s “Feel The Misery”, Queensryche’s “Condition Human”, and Mgla’s “Exercises In Futility”, (Melechesh’s “Enki” wasn’t as good as previous works but I would take it over that Nile album)are quite glaring omissions. Ares Kingdom also made a truly remarkable album and although I really love Manilla Road, I would substitute “The Blessed Curse” with Tulsadoom’s “Storms Of The Netherworld” easily.
All that aside, a really awesome list actually. Nice to see Swallow The Sun’s magnum opus celebrated. To me, it really is the finest they’ve ever been…and on a triple album???? Fancy that! More than I can say for a certain classic heavy metal band that also went big with the album format…
Cheers Victor, totally agree with you regarding Swallow The Sun. An outstanding achievement!
Oh, and the name’s Chris by the way….Andy appears to be someone who didn’t appreciate my list as much as you 😉 \m/
Hahaha…yeah! I absolutely meant you,Chris!
Thought as much 😉 haha \m/
Obviously you did not listen to Michael Schenker’s new effort. It sounds simultaneously fresh and familiar – a sure sign things have been done right. As a classic heavy effort it is miles more inspired than the latest Priest or Maiden albums. The tunes, tones and playing leave no other address besides heavy metal to file it under, so it should be considered here.
Was it really that obvious? Actually, you’re right, we didn’t…but we will now! Thanks for reading and commenting \m/