Tom’s Albums of the Year 2016

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Like always when the end of a year crawls near, the top lists of albums of the year pop up everywhere. We combined the top lists from the members of our editorial team to get to our ultimate list of 2016 for you to check out. But since we’re with a lot of different people, they all get the chance to share their complete personal list of heavy hitters.

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10. Stuck Mojo – Here Come The Infidels

Stuck Mojo surprised me this year with this new record, I didn’t know they were busy making a new one. It sounds as they have never been away. Grooves mixed with rap and excellent vocals of the new boy Robby J. Fonts make this an excellent record which brings back the good old days of Pigwalk and Monster.


9. Suicidal Tendencies – World Gone Mad

Mike Muir is never gonna stop, that’s for sure now. As a big fan of them their latest releases didn’t do it for me, there were good songs on it, but as a it turned out the whole picture wasn’t that good.  Now they are back, don’t expect the metal of the  Lights, Camera, Revolution era, it’s more old school with groovy, aggressive character , this is a good one.


8. Gojira – Magma

One of the newer bands in my list, the french band Gojira brings with their latest effort a nice balance between spheric, rhythmic and aggressive tunes. You can’t stand or sit still on this one.

 

7. Otep – Generation Doom

cover_Otep_GDFor me Otep Shamaya is the best female metal voice ever, aggressive, melodic but not too poppy or too soft, she has character. Her very feminist and politically critical lyrics fits nice together with the brutal riffs . “There is a monster in the garden, you call him God” … enough said !!!

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6. Korn – The Serenity Of Suffering

2016 seems to be the year of the comeback of older bands. Korn surprised me also with their latest effort. Well-balanced songs, groovy as hell, nice vocals, this is the one they should have made after Life Is Peachy.

 

5. Monte Pittman – Inverted Grasp Of Balance

Monte Pittman, who doesn’t know this guy, is the guitarist of Madonna and has also been part of Prong as a bassist. On this record he shows his talent as a guitarist and  songwriter. Sometimes very thrashy songs and sometimes rock ‘n roll with a nice vocals over it. Check it out.

 

4. Devin Townsend Project – Transcendence

story_toms-albums-of-the-year_devintownsendprojecttranscendencecdOur Canadian genius multi talent Devin Townsend must be in this list. Although in the beginning this disc was quite disappointing, after several times I became more addicted and discovered what for masterpiece he has made again.

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3. Testament – Brotherhood Of The Snake

The oldies of Testament are still big in the game, and how! Their previous work was already excellent but this really stands out, think of a mix of The Legacy, Low and The Gathering. Fast guitar hooks, excellent solo work and the one of a kind voice of Chuck Billy makes this a classic.

 

2. Periphery – III Select Difficulty
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The progressive pioneers of the djent subgenre raised the bar very high. This will be for sure become a classic in the djent genre. Very varying songs, incredible guitar work and vocal lines and the production of Nolly (bass) is just outstanding. This is almost the record of the year.

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1. Prong – X No Absolutes

Tommy Victor has done it again. This is Prong, nothing more nothing less. Fast groovy hooks that grab you by the balls and make your body move, just incredible.

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Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep Of Reason.

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