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The Year In Review – Top 10 Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Albums of 2019

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“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” – Voltaire

The year of 2019 might be reaching its inevitable end in the blink of an eye for most of us, but if there’s one thing we must admit is that it has been indeed a year of countless events, episodes and changes with a huge impact on how pretty much everything works in our Heavy Metal universe. For instance, 2019 was the year where we unfortunately witnessed the ultimate campaign by Thrash Metal titans Slayer, who at the same time left an undisputed and brilliant legacy to Heavy Metal and a giant hole in our hearts and in the global Thrash Metal scene. Do you think there’s any band that can fill that gap created by the end of Slayer? In my humble opinion, although I love bands like Exodus, Testament and Death Angel, I doubt anyone can claim Slayer’s throne as the meanest, most demonic and most pulverizing band of all time, but that doesn’t mean Thrash Metal is dead and gone. Quite the contrary, it’s still alive and kicking, with many of the underground bands reviewed at The Headbanging Moose contributing to keep the flame of such distinct subgenre of heavy music burning bright.

In addition, 2019 was also the year we lost many of our rock and metal icons, including André Matos (vocalist of Angra, Shaman and Viper), Larry Wallis (former guitarist of Motörhead), and Timi Hansen (former bassist of Mercyful Fate and King Diamond), as well as several talented musicians from non-metal styles like Marie Fredriksson (lead singer and keyboardist of Roxette), Keith Flint (frontman of The Prodigy), and the “King of the Surf Guitar”, Mr. Dick Dale. However, even with all those significant losses, we can say 2019 was a productive year for rock and metal music, with many iconic and underground bands delivering some fantastic albums for our total delectation, and that’s why here we are again with The Headbanging Moose’s Top 10 Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Albums of 2019, excluding EP’s, best of’s and live albums, to prove once and for all that heavy music will never, ever die. Having said that, enjoy our list of top metal albums for this year that’s coming to an end, and keep raising your horns high together with us in 2020!

1. Rammstein – Rammstein (REVIEW)
A magnificent lecture in Neue Deutsche Härte from the bottom of the flaming hearts of the pioneers of the genre.
Best song of the album: Deutschland

2. Necronomicon – UNUS (REVIEW)
Canadian powerhouses of Blackened Death Metal return with the heaviest, most obscure and most infernal opus of their career.
Best song of the album: Infinituum Continuum

3. Rotting Christ – The Heretics (REVIEW)
It’s time to burn in the fires of the dark and occult Black Metal crafted by the greatest Greek institution in the history of heavy music.
Best song of the album: Fire God and Fear

4. Soilwork – Verkligheten (REVIEW)
Swedish Melodic Death Metal masters return in full force with a fresh, groovy and addictive album of first-class heavy music.
Best song of the album: Stålfågel

5. The Agonist – Orphans (REVIEW)
Canadian juggernauts of Melodic Death Metal return with a brand new album that’s more extreme, more melodic and more exciting than ever.
Best song of the album: Blood as My Guide

6. Helevorn – Aamamata (REVIEW)
Embrace darkness and melancholy with the breathtaking new opus by one of the most interesting names from the current Spanish scene.
Best song of the album: Aurora

7. Slipknot – We Are Not Your Kind (REVIEW)
The world’s most famous masked metallers are back with a fantastic album that proves once again why Heavy Metal is our kind of music.
Best song of the album: Unsainted

8. Amon Amarth – Berserker (REVIEW)
Raise the shield wall, hold your hammers high, and unleash the berserker that lives inside you together with Amon Amarth.
Best song of the album: Shield Wall

9. Target – Deep Water Flames (REVIEW)
Let’s all dive into the incendiary deep waters of Technical and Progressive Death Metal ruled by this amazing band from Chile.
Best song of the album: Oceangrave

10. Singularity – Place of Chains (REVIEW)
The emotions of being wrongfully imprisoned turned into an ass-kicking hybrid of Technical Death Metal and Symphonic Black Metal.
Best song of the album: Ritual of Regret

And here we have the runner-ups, completing the top 20 for the year:

11. Grand Magus – Wolf God (REVIEW)
12. Hiss From The Moat – The Harrier (REVIEW)
13. Lucifera – La Caceria De Brujas (REVIEW)
14. Alunah – Violet Hour (REVIEW)
15. Dö – Astral Death Cult (REVIEW)
16. Rifftera – Across the Acheron (REVIEW)
17. Rage Of Light – Imploder (REVIEW)
18. Rexoria – Ice Breaker (REVIEW)
19. HerezA – Death Metal Drunks (REVIEW)
20. Aephanemer – Prokopton (REVIEW)

Also, let’s not forget about some of the best albums which, although might be short in duration, they did bring to our ears an endless amount of heaviness, speed and harmony this year, accrediting them to be part of our Top 10 EP’s of 2019. As you can see, those EP’s were recorded by the most diverse types of bands and artists from all over the world, becoming some sort of “tasting sample” of what we can expect from those metallers in a not-so-distant future.

1. Eleine – All Shall Burn (REVIEW)
2. Quilombo – Itankale (REVIEW)
3. Master’s Call – Morbid Black Trinity (REVIEW)
4. Violent Life Violent Death – Sadness Rains (REVIEW)
5. Angra Demana – Triptych Of Decay (REVIEW)
6. Vorga – Radiant Gloom (REVIEW)
7. Shuulak – Citrinitas (REVIEW)
8. Moanaa – Torches (REVIEW)
9. Exuviated – Déliquescence (REVIEW)
10. Sophist – Betrothal To The Stone: Conception of Mephisto (REVIEW)

Do you agree with our list? What are your top 10 albums of 2019? And, as usual, don’t forget to tune in every Tuesday at 10pm BRT on Rádio Coringão to enjoy the best of classic and underground metal with Jorge Diaz and his Timão Metal, and every Thursday at 8pm UTC on Midnight Madness Metal e-Radio for the best of underground metal with The Headbanging Moose Show!

Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year! See you in 2020!

And before The Headbanging Moose takes a well-deserved break to recover our energies and return in full force in 2020, how about we enjoy what’s probably one of the best and most detailed “Christmas” songs of all time, the fantastic Valhalleluja, recently released by Italian Heavy/Power Metal outfit Nanowar of Steel? This is the perfect soundtrack for your Christmas night with your loved ones, especially if you give someone anything from IKEA as a Christmas gift. Well, simply watch the official video below and follow the lyrics to understand what I’m talking about. Having said that, let’s all pray to Odin, drink beer and sing Valhalleluja together with Nanowar of Steel, my friends!

Album Review – Master’s Call / Morbid Black Trinity EP (2019)

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Behold the rise of a new Black Metal entity from the UK and their debut EP, encompassing the darkness of faith, body and spirit with three powerful tracks that each tell a different potent story.

Originally conceived by guitarists John Wilcox and Dave Powell in the birthplace of metal itself, Birmingham, England, in 2014, but only reaching its full shape and form in 2016 after recruiting lead singer Shayan, bassist Adam Tricklebank and finally  drummer James Williams, Wolverhampton-based Black Metal unity Master’s Call walk forth through the flames beyond the gates with conviction and grit on their side, going against all odds and standing strong no matter what. For instance, vocalist Shayan, born in Tehran, the capital of Iran, where rock and metal music are banned (especially where anti-religious lyrics are concerned as the country’s hardline Islamic government considers it blasphemy), didn’t stop writing and performing Black Metal even with the potential risk of jail or even execution, proving how obstinate and passionate for extreme music Shayan and his bandmates from Master’s Call are.

Now in 2019 it’s time for this unrelenting British horde to unleash hell with their debut EP Morbid Black Trinity, an album highly recommended for fans of bands like Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Conjurer and Behemoth, encompassing the darkness of faith, body and spirit with three powerful tracks that each tell a different potent story. Recorded and mixed by Neil Haynes at The Parlour Studios in Northampton, mastered by Peter In De Betou at Tailor Maid Productions (Necrophobic, Dimmu Borgir, Watain) in Sweden, and featuring a creepy artwork created by the band’s own John Wilcox and Adam Tricklebank, Morbid Black Trinity is not just another fantastic extreme music album from the independent scene, but a beyond solid statement that Master’s Call are among us to stay and to keep spreading darkness and rage in the name of their beloved Black Metal.

An ominous intro morphs into a thrilling fusion of Black and Death Metal the likes of Behemoth in the first track, From Once Beneath The Cursed, led by Shayan’s sulfurous roars and James’ thunderous beats, while Dave and John extract the most metallic sounds you can imagine form their scorching hot guitars. Depicting the incarnation of a physical embodiment conjured from the underlying madness, hate and evil of the world, the entire song couldn’t sound more imposing than that, with poetry and darkness flowing as one from its vile lyrics (“Rise oh ferocious beast that lies within / At last we have reached the time to strike this mortal coil / So let loose the pain, gathering the serpents below / Sweet death shall conquer them all / May its annihilation bless our hearts / For we have snuffed long in slumber / Of the prison of life that you call a gift / We’ll burn it! / Scorch the solar as we have awakened”).

Rising from the depths of hell once again, Master’s Call offer our avid ears the fulminating The Spire Cranes, representing the holy buildings that tower high to cast the reach of their oppressive symbols of faith afar, but can be broken down through the cracks in their holy walls. Dave and John’s riffs dictate the song’s vibrant rhythm while James keeps crushing his drums mercilessly and Adam makes the ground tremble with his bass lines, all enfolded by Shayan’s deep, demonic vociferations. And lastly, the icing on the cake comes in the form of almost seven minutes of visceral Blackened Death Metal blasted by Shayan and his horde in My Eyes Are The Night, with Dave and John bringing hints of Thrash Metal in their amazing riffs, sounding violent and somber from start to finish. Assuming the perspective of a hunter that stalks the night, preying on victims who have lost themselves amid the atrocities of the world, by manipulating them into sacrificing themselves for the false hope of a greater existence beyond our own, this austere aria of darkness makes it impossible not to break your spinal cord headbanging to the brutal beats by James, ending the EP in a beyond demonic vibe.

In a nutshell, the gates to the underworld are open thanks to the awesome music crafted by this unstoppable group of musicians from the UK in Morbid Black Trinity,  and if you want to know more about such up-and-coming act you should definitely follow them on Facebook, and of course if you’re already a longtime fan of both classic and modern-day Black Metal go grab your copy of their debut EP directly from their BandCamp page. Although short in duration, Morbid Black Trinity already shows all the potential Master’s Call have and how furious and obscure their music can be, leaving us eager for more of their malevolent compositions in the form of another EP or full-length release and, consequently, pointing to a bright (or maybe I should say dark) future for this sharp and dauntless Black Metal entity.

Best moments of the album: From Once Beneath The Cursed.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2019 Independent

Track listing
1. From Once Beneath The Cursed 5:50
2. The Spire Cranes 5:07
3. My Eyes Are The Night 6:41

Band members
Shayan – vocals
Dave Powell – guitars
John Wilcox – guitars
Adam Tricklebank – bass
James Williams – drums