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Headbangers India Staff Picks: Top 13 albums of ’14
The year 2014 is clearly over, but it left in its wake several metallic gems that some of us writers just can’t get over. This year was especially eventful as it saw several top-tier titans returning with new albums, a lot of new promise emerging from different bands around the world and yet, disappointment also abounded as familiar faces quit bands and left legacies behind, tours got cancelled and some albums that just did not do justice to a band’s reputation were put out. While we would love to talk about the latter, we prefer instead to talk about those albums that we still can’t get over. Five of us have handpicked our top 13 albums (because 13 is so metal a number that its now considered lucky) each. You may agree with our lists, you may disagree or you may even find names that you had absolutely not heard of before this. We ourselves are quite surprised by how varied our lists are, and seldom have any common names. Tell us what your favourites were because we hope your year was as metal as ours.
Madhav Ravindranath:
2014 was a fine year for metal. Swedish metal legends At The Gates brought out their first album in 19 years and Exodus brought back Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza into the fold. Closer to home, Demonic Resurrection released their 4th full length The Demon King and followed it up with a UK tour, culiminating at Wacken Open Air, while Kryptos continued their love affair with Europe and toured 4 countries with Italian black metal giants Graveworm. As I mentioned, truly a fine year for metal. My Top 13 of 2014 was not easy to narrow down to; so many bands, so many great albums, not enough time to hear them all. In any case…
- Behemoth – The Satanist
- Exodus – Blood In, Blood Out
- At The Gates – At War With Reality
- Triosphere – The Heart Of The Matter
- Arch Enemy – War Eternal
- Falconer – Black Moon Rising
- Holy Moses – Redefined Mayhem
- Vader – Tibi Et Igni
- Cannibal Corpse – A Skeletal Domain
- Amoral – Fallen Leaves & Dead Sparrows
- Accept – Blind Rage
- Slough Feg – Digital Resistance
- Crimson Shadows – Kings Among Men
Honourable Mentions:
- Tankard – R.I.B
- Wolf – Devil Seed
- Overkill – White Devil Armory
- Job For A Cowboy – Sun Eater
- Machine Head – Bloodstones & Diamonds
Adarsh Rajagopal:
A year of a fair amount of fantastic releases. The year I dug deeper into stoner, sludge, and doom. Dead Congregation’s was easily the best death metal release of the year for me, although it hurts a tad bit to not have favorites Autopsy in my top 13. Legendary Judas Priest’s release was big let down, great to see Opeth doing some mad shit, while Mastodon just erupted like a volcano. And Over Kill still showing the world why they can literally “own” while a ton of thrash bands from the 80s seem to fade year after year.
- Grand Magus – Triumph and Power
- Sanctuary – The Year The Sun Died
- Mastodon – Once More ‘Round The Sun
- Overkill – White Devil Armory
- Dead Congregation – Promulgation of the Fall
- Suicidal Angels – Divide And Conquer
- Skull Fist – Chasing The Dream
- Eyehategod – Eyehategod
- Agalloch – The Serpent and The Sphere
- Triptykon – Melana Chasmata
- Holy Moses – Redefined Mayhem
- Monolord – Empress Rising
- Crowbar – Symmetry In Black
Manaswi Gundi:
2014 was a year with too many highs, which is always a good thing. Truckfighters, Whitechapel, Exodus, Entombed AD. Whilst the albums were amazing, the live gigs I attended will have to be the highlight. Opeth, Red Fang, Hatebreed, Carcass and The Ocean were simply mind blowing live. Definitely a year worth remembering. My top 13 of 2014:
- Yob – Clearing the Path to Ascend
- Opeth – Pale Communion
- Obituary – Inked in Blood
- Mastodon – Once More Round the Sun
- Killer be Killed – Killer be Killed
- At the Gates – At War With Reality
- Animals As Leaders – Joy of Motion
- Anaal Nathrakh – Desideratum
- Devin Townsend Project – Ziltoid 2
- Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter
- Behemoth – The Satanist
- Cannibal Corpse – A Skeletal Domain
- Corrosion of Conformity – IX
Anand Bhaskar:
I’d like to say that my proclivities for the heavy metal genre were invoked by bands that boasted of a classic metal soundscape. However, as I expanded my scope of listening to other sub genres in metal, I came to like a lot of the modern sounding bands who borrowed influences from electronica, pop and in some cases even reggae. 2014 for one, has been one year that brought forth bands and albums that are consistently redefining the heavy metal landscape and pushing the boundaries set by their erstwhile contemporaries. There are many albums that I heard, but here are my top 13:
- Feed The Rhino – The Sorrow And The Sound
- Overkill – White Devil Armory
- Monuments – The Amanuensis
- Intervals – The Light Within
- Accept – Blind Rage
- Anathema – Distant Satellites
- Chaos – Violent Redemption
- Wolf – Devil Seed
- Slipknot – .5: The Grey Chapter
- Killer Be Killed – Killer Be Killed
- Insomnium – Shadows Of The Dying Sun
- Bhayanak Maut – Man
- Demonic Resurrection – The Demon King
Ishaan Kumar:
A year of several slumbering giants reawakening (At the Gates, Sanctuary, Bloodbath, Behemoth etc), new alliances being forged (Conquering Dystopia, Killer be Killed) and of course the year that Cannibal Corpse released an album that made it to my top 13! Also the year I attended Hellfest Open Air metal festival in France, the single most memorable event of my life till date.
- Behemoth – The Satanist
- Septicflesh – Titan
- Mors Principium Est – Dawn of the 5th Era
- Evergrey – Hymns for the Broken
- Bloodbath – Grand Morbid Funeral
- Cannibal Corpse – A Skeletal Domain
- Anaal Nathrakh – Desideratum
- At the Gates – At War with Reality
- Sabaton – Heroes
- Triptykon – Melana Chasmata
- Insomnium – Shadows of the Dying Sun
- Conquering Dystopia – Conquering Dystopia
- Wolf – Devil Seed