The revolving door that is Iced Earth has been doing it’s thing once again and Plagues of Babylon, which was only released around a week ago, already features an ex member, drummer Raphael Saini, who admittedly was only working on a short term basis until they found a full time replacement for Brent Smedley. It’s also the first album for bassist Luke Appleton and the eleventh that Jon Schaffer’s heavy metal baby have released, on which he is the only permanent fixture.
Sonisphere Announcement 3
So Sonisphere have begun the process of fleshing out their undercard, which let’s face it, is really the best part of any festival. As anyone who reads regularly (do those people exist? I have no idea) will know, I have a ticket to this festival already so I have a slight (or possibly large) personal investment in it being good. So let’s see what they’ve given me.
Top 5 gigs of 2013
So to continue my end of year round ups we have the top five gigs (that I attended, can’t really give my opinion on ones I wasn’t at) from this year.
Top 20 Albums of 2013 – Number 5 to Number 1
Here we are, the biggest music award presented by this blog. My top 5 albums of the year. Find the first three sections here, here and here.
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Top 20 Albums of 2013 – Number 10 to Number 5
We’re into the top 10 now! Check out the first two parts here and here.
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Top 20 Albums of 2013 – Number 15 to Number 11
Here’s the second part of my albums of the year. You can find 20 – 16 here.
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Top 20 Albums of 2013 – Number 20 to Number 16
So as the new year begins it’s time to look back over 2013 and talk about all that was good. This was yet another incredible year for music and as usual lots of albums I really liked were unable to make this list, but that’s just the way it goes. So without further ado here is 20 to 15 in my top 20 albums of the year.
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Ministry – From Beer to Eternity
From Beer to Eternity is going to be the last album, at least for now, released by Al Jorgenson’s Ministry, following the death of guitarist Mike Scaccia. It’s the industrial metal titans 13th album and will bring to end a career filled with a fair share of controversy.
Katatonia – Dethroned and Uncrowned
Coming out of Stockholm, Sweden Katatonia have taken a similar career path to their friends in Opeth. Starting off as a death metal band they are considered forerunners of the genre, but are now at a position in their career where they can be said to have outgrown it and moved away from their metal roots. This was summed up in last years release Dead End Kings which was more of prog rock album than a metal one and gained a mixed reaction, with some fans harking back to the metal sound they knew and loved and some embracing the brilliance of this new Katatonia. This year Katatonia went one step further with Dethroned and Uncrowned a crowd funded album that saw them taking the tacks from Dead End Kings and stripping them back even further.
Trivium – Vengeance Falls
With a star that once burned brighter than a hot day in hell, Trivium should be one of the biggest metal bands on the planet right now. However, a dodgy second album and an inability to regain their former momentum has led to them floundering in the middle of the scene, well liked by many but not embraced by the masses. With their sixth album, Vengeance Falls, they are attempting to rectify that by bringing in David Draiman to produce, a controversial move to say the least.
Ramblings About Wrestling 