2010's Got Metal Heads Anticipating Nothing Less Than the Best

When the New Year came rolling in I was expecting pretty much the same momentum of album releases like that of 2009. Let me get into the details of the albums that I've so far stacked up on my music shelf. Before we begin I must request metal heads reading this, to open a Last fm account. It keeps all your music in one place, while interacting with people like yourselves, share views, reviews and comment on the latest. Not only does it sort out your music and keep a tab on what you're listening to, but it updates on any upcoming releases from your favorite artists. Some of you may be familiar with how to get started on Last fm. For the newcomers, it involves first downloading a software that synchronizes it to your music player, so that whenever you've got tracks playing, it 'Scrobbles' them via the Last fm software and posts it to your account. Pretty neat.
I will randomly discuss what albums are must haves to download and check out, so feel free to look it up and get head banging.

Album Must Haves:

1. Cyclamen - Dreamers EP - The album is a re-recorded version of the last demo released in 2008. They're slowly spreading their roots, widening their array of fans worldwide. Hailing from the land of the rising sun, these Japs know how to bring it. They can go from heavy riff work to melodic subtlety showcasing their versatility to go from heavy to soft. Best tracks on the album - Never Ending Dream, Djent! Djent!, Princess Mononoke (2010).

2. The Crinn - Dreaming Saturn - These guys are extreme. A technical progressive metal band, these guys can make your brain shape shift within seconds. This album randomly goes from explosive technical metal to melodic proportionality. The album needs time to grow into the crevices of your mind by letting the music melt gradually by being within their heavy atmosphere. Best tracks on the album - Incipience, Meat Eating Machines, Anaphylactic Shock and Syzygy.

3. Cynic - Re-Traced EP - I have fallen hard for these guys. Ever since I heard the 'Traced in Air' album released in 2008 I've been a huge fan. Paul Masvidal has a way of calming your insides with his smooth vocals usually with the help of a vocoder to give him that eerie robotic yet mesmerizing voice. Tymon Kruidenier filled in on 'Traced in Air', while Tony Teegarden featured in the 'Focus' album both as death growl vocalists. Cynic has revolved around concepts of spirituality and delve into the realms of a higher conscious state of being. Deep and thought provoking, it balances out a heavy side to their music with a very ethereal quality. Best tracks on EP - Evolutionary, Integral and Wheels within Wheels.

4. As I Lay Dying - The Powerless Rise - Straight forward metalcore, this album is saturated with heavy riff work and layered in with good drum work. Tim Lambesis growls in throughout the album. Make sure to check out their 2007 album 'An Ocean between Us'. Best tracks on the album - Anger and Apathy, Anodyne Sea, Parallels and Only Change is Constant. You'll fall in love with the riff and drum work. Trust me. These guys can seriously pull it off by not being just straightforward metal heads, but keep rhythms constant by not subjecting their music to mediocrity in this album.

5. Slash - Slash (self-titled) - Slash has crashed into this year sliding into May with probably the best in collaborative albums. Featuring artists like Iggy Pop, Nick Oliveri, Alice Cooper, Fergie, Nicole Scherzinger, Chris Cornell, M. Shadows and more; it starts out with signature hard rock but takes a surprising shift into a more heavy setting with 'Chains and Shackles'. Best tracks on the album - Chains and Shackles, Nothing to Say, We're All Gonna Die, Doctor Alibi and Saint is a Sinner Too.

6. The Ocean Collective - Heliocentric - If there is one album that outlines the way the world began, the theory of the sun being stationary at the universe's center while the earth rotated around it - a view by Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei and Darwin's theory - it's this one. Loïc Rossetti explores a more calming vocal side, rarely touching the hardcore patch of metal. It's mostly a very soothing album with fluctuating heavy areas. All in all a very good album. Best tracks on the album - The Firmament, Epiphany and The Origin of Species. Be sure to check out their album 'Anthropocentric' coming out later this year, exploring the opposing view of those who believe the earth is at the center of the universe.

Albums to explore on your own and formulate:

1. Cyclamen/Haunted Shores Split EP
2. Sevendust - Cold Day Memory
3. WitchSorrow - Witchsorrow
4. Archons - The Consequences of Silence (2008) I put this down for an upcoming band with lots of potential but cloaked by shadows.
5. Periphery - Periphery
6. Ozzy Osbourne - Scream
7. Tool EP (later this year)
8. Harvey Milk - A Small Turn to Human Kindness
9. Cancer Rats - Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones
10. Avenged Sevenfold - Releasing later this year (check out track single 'Nightmare')
11. Defeated Sanity - Chapters of Repugnance
12. Lair of Minotaur - Evil Power
13. Alcest - Ecailles De Lune
14. Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
15. Veil of Maya- [Id]

Happy listening.